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goodnightmemes · 2 years ago

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GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY (2022) SENTENCE STARTERS

❛ You can’t keep making excuses for every one of [name]’s insane whims. ❜

❛ Genius always looks like insanity at first, though, right? ❜

❛ Hey, please stop fire-spinning inside. ❜

❛ I say it like I see it, no filter. If people can’t handle it, that’s their problem. ❜

❛ You’ve got to stay off the Twitter. ❜

❛ Are you mocking me? ❜

❛ This can’t Shazam. It’s a lamp. ❜

❛ Where’s my speargun? I gotta pack. ❜

❛ He told me you haven’t left the bath for a week. ❜

❛ My mind is a fueled-up racing car, and I got nowhere to drive it. ❜

❛ I need danger, a hunt, a challenge. ❜

❛ There’s someone here for you! With a box! ❜

❛ Hello, stranger danger. ❜

❛ Excuse me, I love your accent. I had to try it. ❜

❛ You must be very special. ❜

❛ When you throw a murder mystery party, you do it right, buddy. ❜

❛ I’m not here. ❜

❛ He’s just staying here. He’s going through things. ❜

❛ This rich-people shit is weird. ❜

❛ This is stretching my stride-taking abilities. ❜

❛ Okay, let’s stop talking and actually start hanging out and having fun. ❜

❛ Why is it on the roof? ❜

❛ I wanted to ask, what are you doing here? ❜

❛ Is this part of the game? ❜

❛ I’ve learned through bitter experience that an anonymous invitation is not to be trifled with. ❜

❛ You really try. I like that. You really make an effort. ❜

❛ You never know when shit’s gonna go down. ❜

❛ I’m uncomfortable. I’m gonna go for a swim. ❜

❛ It’s true. I say it like I see it. ❜

❛ If you want to shake things up, you start with something small. ❜

❛ That’s the place where you have to look within yourself and ask, “Am I the kind of person who will keep going?” ❜

❛ That was some real red-pill stuff. ❜

❛ Every single one of you is holding on for dear life to [name]’s golden titties. ❜

❛ Wow. That was so real. ❜

❛ I’m a truth-teller. Some people can’t handle it. ❜

❛ It’s a dangerous thing to mistake speaking without thought for speaking the truth. Don’t you think? ❜

❛ Are you calling me dangerous? ❜

❛ A few cocktails before I’m murdered. ❜

❛ Halle Berry! That has a kick. ❜

❛ This simple thing that you thought you were looking at, it suddenly takes on layers and depth so complex, it gives you vertigo. ❜

❛ Every time we’ve gotten to the point where I’m going to strangle you, you pull something like this, and it’s magic. ❜

❛ I wanna be responsible for something that gets mentioned in the same breath as the Mona Lisa. ❜

❛ This is reckless. And you’re gonna get somebody killed. ❜

❛ It’s been a memorable weekend already, to be sure, but now the real fun starts. ❜

❛ Tonight, in this very room, a murder will be committed. ❜

❛ Well, to be clear, I mean, I didn’t know what a “blood diamond” was so… ❜

❛ What am I supposed to do now? Play Yahtzee all weekend? ❜

❛ I like the Glass Onion as a metaphor. An object that seems densely layered, but in reality the center is in plain sight. ❜

❛ It’s like putting a loaded gun on the table and turning off the lights! ❜

❛ Well, I’m out of here. Tomorrow morning. Gone. ❜

❛ You’re murdering my vibe. ❜

❛ So you come here, in your Gucci flats, telling us that we owe you? ❜

❛ What do you want? A check? You want performative pity? ❜

❛ I want the truth! ❜

❛ But me, I’m tired of pretending like you’re the victim in this game. ❜

❛ That changes things, right? ❜

❛ Have we ever not pulled through? Pulled it off? ❜

❛ We won’t know the cause of death without an autopsy. ❜

❛ Listen, I must insist that nobody touch the body or disturb anything around it. ❜

Are you treating this as a crime scene then? ❜

❛ I’ll pay you one billion dollars to tell me which one of them tried to kill me. ❜

❛ Oh, fiddlesticks. ❜

❛ Is that a speargun? ❜

❛ Oh, hell’s bells! Just, everybody, just stay here! ❜

❛ I can peel back the layers, I can take it to a point, but what lies at the center, only one person can tell us who killed [name]. ❜

❛ You’re not in the bath again, are you? ❜

❛ Heavens, the dog ate the caviar again. ❜

❛ It’s a stupid idea, right? ❜

❛ Listen, I want to be clear, huh? I am not Batman. ❜

❛ Any feelings of reverence or respect that you had for me when you crossed my threshold, buttress those feelings now. ❜

❛ Yeah, I’m trying real hard to buttress, but this sounds nuts. ❜

❛ Is this safe? ❜

❛ I shouldn’t be here. This is nuts. But I’m here. So let’s do this. ❜

❛ The reality-distortion field ends here. I can’t let you do this. ❜

❛ Look me in the eye! You know it’s a lie! ❜

❛ You must be really great at Clue, huh? ❜

❛ I’m very bad at dumb things. My Achilles’ heel. ❜

❛ This is your last chance to back out. ❜

❛ I think it’s really shitty what they all did to you. ❜

❛ I sold my soul for this. ❜

❛ I thought you said you didn’t drink? ❜

❛ That’s hard kombucha. That’s Jared Leto’s hard kombucha. ❜

❛ We’re running out of time! ❜

❛ Please. Think of the danger here. You gotta step back and let me handle this. ❜

❛ I never email anything that I wouldn’t want to see on the front page of The Times. ❜

❛ I think maybe you should take up drinking. You’re just killing it. ❜

❛ Something is just teasing the edge of my brain. ❜

❛ Oh, if I ever meet Jared Leto, I’m gonna whoop his kombucha-brewing ass. ❜

❛ My therapist says this is a toxic relationship. ❜

❛ We will do what we always do. Deny, half-apologize, and then go silent awhile. ❜

❛ Please tell me you did not think sweatshops are where they make sweatpants. ❜

❛ I will do whatever I have to do to save myself, and he is my only lifeline. ❜

❛ This never happens in Clue. ❜

❛ He’s a son of a bitch. Leave his ass. ❜

❛ I don’t feel sorry for him. He deserved what he got, and you are better off without him. ❜

❛ Please don’t kill me! Oh my God, please don’t kill me! ❜

❛ I’m not trying to kill you, you crazy bitch! ❜

❛ Shitballs! ❜

❛ It hides not behind complexity, but behind mind-numbing obvious clarity. ❜

❛ A veritable minefield of malapropisms and factual errors. ❜

❛ Oh, please. Just tell us who tried to kill me. ❜

❛ Nobody tried to kill you, you vainglorious buffoon. ❜

❛ What is reality?! ❜

❛ Does he keep a vial of poison in his tooth or something? Is that a rich person thing? ❜

❛ Oh, it’s so dumb, it’s brilliant. ❜

❛ No! It’s just dumb! ❜

❛ You dim-witted, brainless jackass! ❜

❛ Your one murder, with any panache at all, and you stole the whole idea from me. ❜

❛ Wow! We got some big accusations flying around here. ❜

❛ You need evidence, and you’ve got nothing. ❜

❛ Anywhere you go, it’s going to be your word against mine. How do you think that’s gonna go? ❜

❛ There’s nothing I can do. Except maybe offer you some courage. ❜

❛ I hope your little bitch tantrum gave you closure ’cause it accomplished nothing! ❜

❛ You’re ruined. ❜

❛ Did you get the son of a bitch? ❜

#rp meme #sentence starters #rp sentence meme #sentence meme #rp prompt #roleplay meme #roleplay prompts #sentence starter meme #rp memes #rp prompts #*Movie

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stuartpitfall · 2 months ago

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I don’t know if the leaks are accurate but I was reading one of the threads and apparently Ivy and Icewing encounter some wild cats, tell their entire story including Galestar and the symbol for Stormclan making it clear there are other wild cats that need help.. and the plot gets haulted by one of the old wildcats going “we don’t believe you despite everything you’ve told us”

And god can I just say how fucking TIRED I am of this plot point? It seems like every single book we have one leader going “oh even if you seem to be telling the truth I don’t believe you so scurry off” before inevitably they turn out to be correct and we get that moment of “oh I should’ve believed you all along”

We’ve been getting plots like this since AVOS. It was the worst in the back half of TBC and has gotten even worse in ASC. They spent a book on this bickering instead of establishing Splashtail’s ternary before he goes execution mode on Harelight because leaders arguing is soooo much better than establishing the main threat right before the final book!! And now we’re doing it in a super edition. For no reason I can tell other to extend the length cause now after getting all the way to the Wildcats to ask them for help they gotta go all the way back to Stalk and Tumble to bring them back and all the way back to the wild cats AGAIN just for the arbitrary “we were wrong and should’ve believed you” pay off it’s heading towards.

Please please please one damn story where instead of conflict from dumb leaders we get actual conflict. It was going so well in the first half of Ivypool’s heart and then they drop this out of nowhere. Damn you Prowl Seek. Damn you.

#God it’s frustrating #Warrior cats #Ivypool’s heart #Ivypool’s heart spoilers

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optimal-spark · 1 year ago

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Earthspark Spoilers!!

I feel like a LOT of people are completely misinterpreting the Starscream situation so I have to make a post of my own about it.

Looking up ES Starscream stuff on here I’m met by one post after the other going “I can’t believe Starscream abandoned the other seekers! What a piece of shit!!” And I can’t help but wonder if we’ve all been watching the same show or if people just have such a bad bias against Starscream specifically.

Throughout the course of the entirety of ES we have seen nonstop situations of decepticons abandoning each other when things get hairy. Swindle, Hardtop, Soundwave, the cassettes, Novastorm, Skywarp. Everybody has abandoned each other and treated each other terribly at some point. Is it bad? Yes. But why are people acting like Starscream is the only one who’s done it and like he’s Satan incarnate for it while the other cons are innocent for the very same thing?

The decepticons have all around been instilled with the idea that everyone is bound to betray them one way or another. They have the mindset of every man for himself when it comes down to it. Novastorm and Skywarp have abandoned each other and those they’ve worked with. It is how things have just played out. Starscream is just one who had an arc about such a thing so it’s more in the spotlight and fleshed out. He does not trust people. He cares about the seekers (despite what some fans believe) but he has a very intense paranoia of what will happen if he does not try to look out for himself above all. He needs to rationalize this without allowing guilt and other emotions to override. If you think he doesn’t care about his seekers rewatch the scene where the Terrans reunite with each other after he and Hashtag talk about Megatron for a brief moment, watch how he puts on a scowl for them reuniting, then see how his face changes when he sees Novastorm and Skywarp. Also watch how they listen to what he tells them when they want to leave. They all care about each other, despite abandoning one another when things get hairy. It is absolutely something they have gotten drilled into them over time due to a mix of trauma (especially on Starscream’s end where we actively see his hallucinations) and simple patterns learned over the years of being a Decepticon.

Again: Starscream is NOT the only Decepticon that abandons ship when things get extra risky. Every single Decepticon we meet has done the exact same thing once or more throughout the duration of the show. Starscream’s was just spoken about more and turned into an arc so we couldn’t miss it. And he, alongside the other Decepticons, grew from that. He wasn’t the only one to stop turning away when things got scary, the other cons came with him. Therefore they had a similar arc of their own.

One thing about Earthspark is it shows that the characters are the farthest thing from black and white. They all have their own trauma. They have all done bad. They should be held accountable for it, but I am baffled by the intense vilifying of Starscream (and likewise babyfying of Nova and Skywarp) for something every single con has done in the show.

It is giving us an amazing look at character dynamics alongside mental health issues and what trauma can do to someone.

#earthspark #Starscream #Novastorm #Skywarp #transformers

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abbatoirablaze · 1 year ago

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Racing Stripes, Chapter 5

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: angst, protected sex, smut, cheating?, allusion of a rough relationship

“Aw and that will take Sebastian Vetel out of the race as he’s taken massive damage to the rear wing!”

“Could it spell disaster for Leclerc in the future though? That hit was one that might be concerning!”

“If I was an engineer for Ferrari that would be my question!” the first man agreed, “it could be an early race for quite a few of our competitors today!”

“It was fucking stupid is what it was!” Charles growled, as he sat pouting about the error, “Sebastian was in my way and-“

“And what?” one of the engineers asked, “the incident was your fault, Charles. You have to be more careful with the car!”

Charles’ jaw tightened and he looked towards his team principal, “a-are you going to let him talk to me like that?”

“Charles, you took out both of the cars,” the principal frowned, “you took points away from us, when we could have gotten some.”

The younger man rolled his eyes, not wanting to hear the debriefing.

“Where are you going?” Sebastian asked.

“To my room!” the young Monegasque driver replied quickly, shuffling out of the meeting room. On his way out, he happened to come across the beginning of the choosing process. He rolled his eyes, knowing that Lewis, who had come in first would choose Sebastian’s wife for his fellow teammate, and that while Valtteri came in second, he would choose Sugar, just like Max would choose his normal girl, the French-born La La.

But he was surprised to see Alex Albon choosing one of the other driver’s girlfriends, Mon Ami. And just as that surprise managed to catch him off-guard, he was even more surprised to see that Lando had chosen Sheila.

Charles knew that being with whoever chose you was part of the job as a motorsport’s girl, but there was a little hit to his ego when she smiled at him and took his hand. He felt the slightest tinge of jealousy as he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it.

Charles spat on the ground before moving on, rage taking over as he decided that the best way to work out his aggression would be by going to the gym.

“You are sweet…Lando…”

The young man gave her a sweet smile and shook his head, “I’m just being a good friend…”

Her brow quirked and he shrugged his shoulders as she asked, “but what do you mean?”

“Lance has been bragging all week in the gym that he was going to score points that way he could score with you!” he replied honestly, a sigh leaving his lips, “I know that you are typically around Charles…but…well, he placed nineteenth.”

“I am there for whomever picks me, Lando…”

“And I know that you have feelings for the man who placed just one position lower than Lance…”Lance said softly. Her eyes shot to his and he gave her a sad smile, “it sucks when you want someone but you cannot have them…don’t you think?”

And just like that it clicked into place, “h-how did you know?”

“We’ve all got some secrets, Sheila…every single one of us.”

“And what’s yours?”

He sighed, “Doesn’t matter…what matters is that I am a man of my word, and I think that if someone is in love then they should be with that person…”

Both of them became silent when the elevator doors opened. Valtteri wrapped his arm low around Sugar’s waist and pulled her close before clearing his throat, “excuse us…I’m taking my girl out for dinner…”

“Right,” he nodded. Lando didn’t look at Valtteri or Sugar’s eyes. Instead, his eyes were focused on her hip, where he could see the distinctive discoloration of a bruise forming, “are you okay?”

Valtteri’s brow rose and he followed Lando’s line of vision. The normally stoic Finnish driver smiled and pulled gently on his girl’s shirt, making sure the bruise wasn’t showing, “Sugar…such a klutz sometimes…isn’t that right?”

“S-so clumsy!” she admitted with a nervous smile, “I-I ran into a door knob the other day when I turned a corner!”

“We must be going!” Valtteri smiled, pushing past the other couple. Sheila frowned, seeing the nervousness in her fellow motorsport girl’s eyes, but she said nothing. Everyone was aware of how the Finnish driver could be, and no one wanted to be next on the list to deal with him, so they just let it go in silence.

But she felt guilty as she stepped into the lift, waiting for Lando to pull his attention back to her, “a-are you okay?”

“What?” he asked, finally turning towards her, “ye-yeah. Yeah. I’m great.”

“She’s yours, isn’t she?”

Lando’s attention turned towards her momentarily before he shook his head and pressed a button for the correct floor, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sugar…”

“What about her?” he asked.

Before she could respond the elevator dinged, signaling that they were on the correct floor. He pulled her out of the elevator and towards a door. Stopping, he put his finger to his lips and knocked on the door. She gasped when it opened a few seconds later and Daniel was standing there in a pair of sweats.

“I believe this is yours, mate,” Lando smiled, urging her towards the Australian. Shelia felt a blush rise to her cheeks, and the cheeky Australian matched her blush, “take care of her, will ya?”

The couple stood in silence for a moment while they figured out what to do. Daniel internally wondered if Lando had said anything to her, and she wondered if he’d said anything to Daniel; both of them too nervous to actually confront their feelings.

“D-do you want to come in?” She nodded, and he stepped aside, allowing the Englishwoman inside of his hotel room. He swallowed nervously, suddenly feeling vulnerable. He rushed to his bags and started to search for a shirt, “I’m sorry. I-I just got out of the shower an-“

“Please…do-don’t apologize.”

He blushed even more as he pulled one of the plain tee shirts from his bag. Water dripped from his curls onto the soft cotton, “I-I’m surprised you’re here…Lando picked you…I thought for sure that he would have-“

“He’s in love with another one of the girls!” she said simply, cutting him off, “he uh-he was just being a good friend, because he knew that someone else between you and him wanted to pick me…”

He sighed, “Stroll…”

“Yeah…”

“You said he’s in love with one of the other girls?” he asked, “you must mean Sugar…”

“H-how do you know?”

“One of the guys made a deal with him in a qualy…said that they’d give up their spot and not push the car if he gave up the right to Sugar first. But he backed out of the deal when he was faced with standing up on his side of it.”

“Oh…”

He sighed, “but he still chose you…for me…”

“Lando is a good man…”

“Yeah…”

“Apparently one that thinks he sees something similar in us…”

“Is he wrong about that?” Daniel asked quietly as he stepped towards Sheila, “do I mean something to you, or nothing?”

“I-I think you already know that answer, Daniel,” she whispered as the Australian wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. She moaned as their lips met, instantly melting against them, “I-I love you. I love you Daniel…”

“I love you, Sheils.”

“Pierre,” she moaned gently as the Frenchman thrust into her again, hitting even deeper than he did before. Their fingers laced and she threw her head to the side, exposing her neck. A shiver ran up her spine as he growled against her throat, the vibrations sending a tightening feeling into the pit of her stomach, “Pierre! Don’t stop!”

“Mon ami!” he moaned as he nipped at her neck. Another shiver ran down her spine as the fine hairs in his beard scraped against her soft flesh. The sheets crumpled under them as his hips drove forward yet again, impaling her on his length, “gonna cum!”

“Cum pour moi, Pierre,” she moaned, “pour moi, mon Pierre!”

“J’taime mon ami!” he growled as he reached his high and filled the condom, “I love you, Zoey!”

“I didn’t say it back!” she all but cried as her boyfriend roared at her. She began sobbing against his chest, “I didn’t say it to him, Esteban. I promise. Mon amour n’est que por toi! My love is only for you, my heart.”

Esteban sighed, his heart breaking as he watched his girlfriend sob against his chest. He sniffled, upset over the fact that things had escalated that far. He regretted starting the argument with her. But she had been acting off all day around him, and it set him on an even further ledge than he had been, knowing that his once best friend was having sex with his girlfriend the whole week.

“Please…ne pleurez pas,” he begged, wiping away the tears that had accumulated on her cheeks. He lifted her face towards his and gently pressed his lips to hers in a tender kiss, “do not cry. I did not mean to make you cry, my love.”

“I don’t want to do this anymore, Esteban,” she whimpered, admitting how she regretted re-signing her contract, “I shouldn’t have done this…I-I should have just stayed home. I should hav-”

“We both thought it would be okay,” he admitted, taking on part of the guilt upon himself as he cut her off, “everyone knows that we are together, mon amour. I thought that they would respect our relationship like everyone respects Sebastian and his wife.”

“I-I can’t do this for another season, Esteban…I-I don’t want to disrespect our relationship anymore with this…Pierre…he-he doesn’t care about us together…neither does anyone else. I can see it in their eyes...”

“We have a plan!” he reminded her as he held her face, “remember? Just one more year…and you can retire. We’re investing our money so that we have a nest egg…and at the end of the year, we’re buying a house…”

“Next to your mother!”

“Oui,” he nodded in agreement, trying to remind her of what they were building for, “next to my mother…at the end of the season, I’m putting a ring on your finger, once and for all.”

“And on the honeymoon, we’re starting our family!”

He nodded, his lips curving into a smile as he pressed his forehead against hers, “we have it all planned out, mon amour. You just have to hang on.”

“Place higher then!” she begged sweetly, “I-I don’t like the idea of this being how I earn my paycheck. I-I don’t want to be with other men…only with you.”

“I will!” he promised. She sighed once more as he pressed his lips to hers in another gentle kiss, “I love you, Zoey.”

“I love you, Esteban.”

“And it looks like Esteban Ocon is forced to retire in lap 27!”

Esteban watched with bated breath. He stood in the corner of the room while the top ten were lined up, choosing their women for the week.

Lewis chose Sebastian’s wife so that no one else would choose her.

Valtteri chose his normal girl, Sugar.

Max chose his regular, La La.

But his heart broke when Alex walked straight up to his girl and held out his hand, “mon ami, will you do me the pleasure of spending the week with me?”

His heart dropped into his stomach as her eyes met his. He could tell that she was going through just as much emotional turmoil, but she turned her attention back to Albon and nodded politely.

Sebastian was quick to nudge him in the side as he joined him, “don’t get too hung up on that type of thing…”

He gave a heavy sigh, trying to think of a way to be polite to the kind driver. He appreciated the sentiment, but not the moment.

“What would you do if someone chose your wife and actually slept with her for the week?” The words came out sounding more blunt than he meant. He frowned, “I’m sorry…it just-“

“There is no stopping the emotion that comes with this situation,” the driver said with a sad smile, “it hurts…but if it’s anything like my wife and I, it was a joint decision…which means that you told her it was alright first.”

“She wanted to walk away last year,” Esteban admitted sadly. He swallowed his pride as he looked at the more experienced man, “she’s been saving up her money since she became a motor sport girl at eighteen. She wanted to walk away from it all…go to school. I begged her for one more year, and promised I’d marry her after…I just wanted our future to be secure…I didn’t think…”

“Hannah and I made a deal when we started dating that if one of us retired, both of us would,” he commented dryly, “it’s been years, and we have three children together…and there are plenty of times where I wished I’d let her retire…”

“Why don’t you?”

“People respect our relationship enough to not choose her,” he shrugged, “but it wasn’t always like that. I had men who were like Gasly and Albon trying to steal my wife away. There was a time when she was Kimi’s top choice.”

“H-how did you stop it?”

“I didn’t…” he sighed, “she did. When they get tired of hearing her say that she loved only one driver, and that it wasn’t them…eventually they got tired of trying. They don’t want to chase after something they won’t get.”

“What are you saying, Sebastian?”

“Wait out the storm!” he advised, “this is but a test of your love. You both will weather it if you want it.”

Chapter 6

#formula 1 #f1 #motorsports #ferrari #charles leclerc #lando norris #mclaren #danny ricciardo #danny ric #esteban ocon #redbull #sebastian vettel #racing stripes

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shushthisaintmytumbla · 1 year ago

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I guess its the Summer Solstice so here we are again! 6/21/23

Wow I knew I neglected my last pot but here we are back even later than the last one! Like i say everytime it is wild to see how much has changed in my life the past couple of years. Ups down and everything in between I come back to this spot everytime and see the growth I’ve made. All by myself. All for myself. I cant always see it but moments where I read back on the past I am brought right back to those moments and never lose sight of how I felt in the past.

I keep seeing on TikTok that today is a Summer Solstice meaning it is a great opportunity for manifestations so lets try this out why not! I guess I’ll start by giving a quick synopsyis of my life from the past 10 months or however long (wow sorry I abandoned this for that long!!!!)

Lets start with Work. I am still at the same OI job and feel like I have grown sooo much. I cant say im perfect at my job, but I know I have made a shit load of progress that i’m very proud of. I shifted off of working with my mngr which has made the biggest impact on my happiness at the job. I was going from having weekly panic attacks to not even having to review a single email anymore. I am really proud of myself for treading through the mud and getting to the point where I am at now. Now for the manifestation segment. I am going to get a promotion soon. This SUMMER! I FEEL IT. I am such a hard worker and really have gained the experience to move up in the company. I am confident it will happen in the next couple months. I cant wait to come back here and tell you all about it. It will be my first real promotion at a job which is something that I’ve really wanted to achieve since I havent gotten to this point at any of my previous jobs. You got this Case.

Now for relationships. Tricky subject and yep you guessed it D is still around. I have tested a coupe other relationships with E and A and C... but somehow D makes it through the motions of every single season. I do want to touch on E for a sec. I have grown to build an amazing relationship with him, but I havent seen him for a few weeks and I feel like the relationship is starting to fade. Im sick of getting 100% and then a week later not even 1%. I am fully aware it has nothing to do with me and more so his own struggles, but I do need to realize at the end of the day that its ok to want more from someone and he cant give me what I need as much as hes shown me how I can be treated in a healthy way. He’s the boy Ive always dreamt of how someone can treat/care for you, but this story just isnt ours at this point in time. Who knows what the future holds. Now D. Oh boy. As we all know its been a fucking roller coaster. I have felt the highest of highs w him and the lowest of lows. I do hold love for him (but not so sure ive ever been in love... idk what that even is lmao). We’ve gotten to a point where I feel like I have been holding my power for quite some time now. I don’t have the same anxieties as I had for him in the past and i don’t prioritize him over others. We’ve tried not speaking (jan 2023) for a couple weeks and ultimately he just came back and I allowed it. I cant cut him out of it killed me. It’s so fucking hard. I am working on figuring out his place in my life and how we can carry on without hurt, but I feel like I am slowy falling back in the trap/cycle. We had a really nice day together the other weekend and I felt those anxious attachment feelings creeping in... I need to remember the things that have happened and try to prepare for the worst, but is it crazy to say that what if we are meant for each other? The other day I was able to imagine being in a relationship with him and it shocked me how I felt so good the whole day. Idk prob the worst thought ever but.. idk.. why are we magents to each other? Lastly I wanna touch on friendships and new york life. My friends here are still the same (but Karina now lives in Miami) and I love them so much, but I’ve been feeling myself longing for my relationships in LA. There are many weekends where my friends here are out of town and I feel left alone many times. In LA I would have the comfort of my family when friends arent around, but theyre 100s of miles away from me. I really miss them so fucking much it hurts. I think the longer I am away the more and more I realize how special my family is. I especially feel bad being away from my mom. She asks me nearly everytime we talk when I’ll come back and little does she know I’ve been toying with the idea of returning once my lease is up. If not that I think I have 1 year left in me. It still shocks me to say it and feel confident in that, but I really miss my family. Thats truly the only thing pulling me back bc I love this city and who I have become here so damn much. Im not putting too much pressure on the decision as I still have 10 months on my lease, but it is in the back of my mind. I feel like I’ll lead myself to the right choice soon though. So much would change though. I told D the other day about the idea and he said he would be so sad which kinda surprised me. It would be the end for us if I did move back which im not sure is a good or bad thing. Sometimes I tell myself the love of my life is not here and I wont meet them till I move back lol. Im not sure where the future is gonna bring me, but im confident in myself to do what is right for me. Leaving my friends here would also be horrible, but at the end of the day if they are the friendships I believe them to be, we will still be as close as ever and planes exist!! I guess thats kinda it for now. But this is still the start to an amazing summer with so much fun in store I can feel it!!! I have a trip to the shore coming up next weekend and then im going back home for my bday end of july - aug. Later in the summer I am going to portugal with my family!!! and something BIIGGGG is gonna happen in the fam :o Cant write it in words here till it happens. Until then, I love you. Im proud of you. and life is always working out in my favor. <3 Love,

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a-reader-and-a-writer-for-all · 3 years ago

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Happy Meals

Fandom: DC, Batman, Batfam, Dick Grayson, Nightwing

Word Count: 1843

Notes: Fluff. Thank you to @lovelypastel2532 for the request!

“Dicckk!!! I’m hungry!” You whine from the passenger seat as the car turns onto the interstate leaving Blüdhaven.

Your boyfriend grins playfully at you. “I told you to eat breakfast before we left.”

“But I wasn’t hungry then! You know car rides make me want to eat!” You pout as you cross your arms over your chest.

Dick nudges your elbow with his. “We’ll be at the manor in about 25 minutes. And I’m sure Alfred will make you something to eat.”

“Come on!” You groan. “Can’t we just grab something to go? I promise not to make a mess this time!”

Dick sighs, knowing he can’t win this fight. “Where do you want t-”

“There’s one we haven’t hit off the next exit.”

A loud groan comes from the driver’s seat. “That’s what this is all about? Then why didn’t you just say so?”

“Because I didn’t think you would stop! Now hurry up and get in the right lane! The exit’s coming up.”

Muttering under his breath, but still shaking his head with a smile, Dick changes lanes before pulling off at the next exit. You squeal and plant a sloppy kiss on his cheek. “Thank you, baby! I’ll even pay this time! And besides, don’t pretend you don’t want to check too.”

Dick sighs again. “Fine. I am curious. We’ve been looking for months and one of these places has to have it. Maybe we’ll get lucky this time.”

He pulls off the street and into the McDonald’s parking lot. Surprisingly for this time of day, there is only one other car in the drive-thru line. As the two of you wait for your turn, you ask, “So, do you want anything?”

“I guess I might as well while we’re here. We can just get the usual.”

You nod as Dick moves up to the speaker and you lean over him to place the order. “Hi! Can we get two hamburger Happy Meals and two 6-piece chicken nugget Happy Meals, please? All with fries and a coke?”

The guy on the other end of the intercom gives you the total and Dick pulls the car forward. You try to hand him your credit card but he waves you off. “I don’t mind paying, that wasn’t the problem. I just don’t know why we couldn’t wait until we got to Gotham to get something to eat.”

“Because we’ve checked all the other McDonald’s around there. We haven’t been to this one before and it’s the perfect opportunity. Besides, I amactually hungry.”

Dick chuckles. “When aren��t you hungry?”

Before you can give a witty comeback, he pulls up to the window and pays. Once he gets his change, Dick then drives up to the pick-up window. Once he hands you all the food, Dick pulls into one of the parking spaces under a shady tree, turns off the car, and faces you. “Well…. What did we get?” He tries to act like he doesn’t care, but you can hear that slight note of anticipation just under the surface of his question.

You peer into the first box before setting it down. Picking up the second box, you open it and look inside. Without a word, you put it down and grab the third box. By this point, you can see Dick’s expression drooping slightly out of the corner of your eye. After barely a glance in the third box, you pick up the final Happy Meal. Peaking in the top slowly, you sigh as you see what’s inside. “Well…. If it makes you feel better, we didn’t get allJason’s this time.” You pop a chicken nugget into your mouth.

Dick reaches into the four kid’s meal boxes and pulls out three Red Hood figures and one Robin. He throws them to the floor in frustration.

You gently poke his arm with a fry. “Oh, come on. We’ve only gotten about fifteen or so Damians at this point. At least there was a little variety.”

“Over the past month and a half, we have been to practically every McDonald’s from Blüdhaven to Gotham and beyond at least once! We must have ordered over 100 Happy Meals! How in the world have we not gotten a single Nightwing toy! This is insane! Someone must have done something to the shipment or there was a problem with distribution. Because I know other places have them! This can’t just be this big of a coincidence.”

“Oh, thank God! You finally figured it out! I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep going with this!” You sigh in relief as you toss the fry you are holding back into the Happy Meal box.

Dick stares at you in confusion. “What are you talking about? What did I figure out?”

“Okay, so this wasn’t my idea. But you know your brothers. While alone, Jason may be extremely cunning, Tim may be brilliantly intuitive, and Damian may be extraordinarily strategic. However when you put them together on something, there never seems to be a braincell between them.”

“What did they do?” Dick asks skeptically.

“Well… when they heard that McDonald’s was going to start carrying Batfamily toys, they started arguing about who would be most popular and how much you would love getting your hands on the Nightwing one. Jason joked that it would drive you nuts not being able to find one. And so, the three of them thought it would be a smart idea to steal Bruce’s credit card and bribe the company that supplies the toys to send all the Nightwing ones to them instead of the restaurants in a hundred-mile radius of Gotham and Blüdhaven.”

“They did WHAT!” Dick cries out in disbelief. “And you went along with this!”

You hold up your hands in protest. “Hey, I only found out when the crates of toys started getting delivered. And that’s when I got my idea.”

“Which was….” Dick asks.

“Those idiots didn’t think their plan through. They kept the toys out of your grasp, but they were now stuck with hundreds of crates of them.” You shrug. “So, I offered to take them off their hands. They knew eventually you would find a way to get one, so as long as I didn’t offer one up until you figured out something was going on, I got to keep them all.”

Dick blinks in surprise. “Why on earth would you want hundreds of crates of Nightwing toys? I mean, I know I’m your favorite and you love me and all, but don’t you think that’s a little excessive?”

You shake your head. “You’re not seeing the big picture either. The guys were only focused on the momentary prank. I looked into the future. What happens when there are hundreds or thousands less of one specific item in a set than all the other items in that set? Especially with collector’s items?”

The realization finally dawns on Dick and his eyes grew wide. “They become a super rare collectable!”

You nod. “Exactly! I already checked the other day and prices on eBay for one of these things are close to $100. Give it a few more weeks or months, and there’s no telling how much they’ll be worth!”

“But, isn’t this kind of terrible?” Dick asks. “Sure, we could make a lot of money off of them from rich guys who can afford it, but what about the average kids who look up to me and want a Nightwing toy? How is it fair to them?”

“Another excellent observation and one I’ve already thought of.” You smile brightly at him. “We only sell half of them. We wait about a month or so until the market for them is nice and high, then we sell as many as we can for as much as we can. We can even auction some off that are signed by Nightwing himself! Get them certified and everything! I’m sure those would bring in thousands! At the same time, we take the other half and have Wayne Enterprises start donating them to underprivilege kids. You know, at orphanages, shelters, the poorer sections of town. Then, eventually, the market will stabilize again and those who couldn’t afford them before will be able to. And then, we take all the money we made selling the dolls and donate it to different charities.”

Dick stares at you, his mouth slightly agape. Just as you start to get worried he might be angry about the whole situation, he says, “That… is… genius!”

You smile at him. “Really? So, you’re not mad?”

“Well, mostly at my brothers but I can’t believe you could look at their prank and find a way to turn it into something so good and helpful for people. You’re amazing!” He leaned over the center console so he could grasp the back of your neck and pull you into a kiss. You smile beneath his touch and return his affection.

After a few minutes of awkwardly trying to make out over the shifter and your drinks, Dick backs away. “We better get going. Bruce is expecting us soon.”

You nod, but as he turns the car back on, you speak up, “Dick, can I ask you a question though?”

“Of course. What’s up?”

“If you knew that other places had the Nightwing toy, why didn’t you just ask one of your friend’s from around the country to send you one? Or, you could have had Wally drop one off instantly. So, why did you have us keep checking each McDonald’s around here?”

Dick blushes as he peers down at the steering wheel. “I don’t know. I kind of liked doing this with you. Like it was a little scavenger hunt for just the two of us. It was fun just having a short car ride and grabbing a bite with you. I know I don’t always have time to do much more than that between work and patrol, but it was a chance for us to spend time together.”

“Oh, Dick.” You brush your fingers across his cheek. “I really enjoy these times with you too. And I understand why you are so busy, and I love that about you. But just because we have all the Batfamily toys now doesn’t mean we have to stop our drives and dinner. I’m up for it anytime you want.”

“Really?” he asks.

“Of course, baby. Just say the word.” You link your fingers with his and you give his hand a tight squeeze. He squeezes it back and gives you a bright smile. Running your thumb over his knuckles, you say, “And you know, I heard they are changing up the toys soon. Do you want to try and collect all the Encanto toys?”

Dick’s face lights up. “YES! But don’t tell the guys.”

“Why? Are you embarrassed to be collecting toys from a kid’s movie?” You ask, poking him teasingly in the chest.

“Hell no! I just don’t want them stealing all the Luisa toys before I can get one!”

#sfw repost #fic #dick grayson #dick grayson x reader #dick grayson x you #nightwing #batman #batfam #batfamily #dc #dc x reader #mcdonalds #happy meal #fluff

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edoro · 3 years ago

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S2E9 Hunter-Belos Interaction Analysis

And here I am again with the meta analysis of s2e9, as foretold in the ancient prophecies. (Aoyama BNHA voice) I Cannot Stop Talking About Belos And Hunter.

As I said in the other essay, I think that the exchange at the beginning of this episode really exposes the heart of the relationship between Belos and Hunter.

S2e6 lays a foundation for us, and it’s an extremely compelling foundation, but it’s also nothing we haven’t seen before. Villainous ruler has a lackey who also turns out to be a terrorized younger relative who does their dirty work out of devotion and fear - we’ve all seen A:TLA, we all remember Zuko. S2e9 is where we realize that, for the purposes of the comparison I have just made, Hunter is Azula.

(This is neither an exact comparison nor meant to belittle the work TOH puts into its characters and plots. I find that type of relationship dynamic extremely fascinating and enjoy the unique spin TOH puts it. But it’s a useful and well-known cultural touchstone.)

He’s the golden child, the Emperor’s Special Little Boy, the genius teen prodigy who is destined for greatness, and it’s by holding that approval (or the threat of having it withdrawn as punishment for a disappointing performance) over Hunter’s head that Belos manipulates him and keeps him loyal and desperate to prove himself.

Belos isn’t simply cruel, distant, and emotionally unavailable. He hides his cruelty under a veneer of warmth and kindness and he manipulates the level of emotional distance and intimacy between the two of them depending on the situation and what kind of tone he wants to establish. He offers conditional and unpredictable access to emotional intimacy as a reward and withholds it as a punishment, trapping Hunter in this constant cycle of compulsive seeking and anxious avoidance where he’s just sort of always frantically doing things almost at random in the hopes that they will prove he’s good and make Belos love him.

The episode opens with Belos alone and unmasked, up late fiddling with the portal door he’s worked so hard to rebuild. This is the first time we’ve actually seen him on his own; every single other glimpse of him was filtered through the viewpoint of another character, defined by his interactions with them.

We’ve seen, at various points, how carefully Belos constructs himself for others. He’s clearly a man very conscious of his image, which I think the s1 finale demonstrates especially well with the way he spins letting Eda go for the assembled citizens. We can try to reverse engineer a sense of personality and purpose from how he acts in those scenes, sure, but the fact is that every time we’ve seen him up until now, we’ve seen what he wants the other people in the scene to see. We really know very little about his actual motivations or feelings about basically anything at this point.

In the beginning of this scene, though, before Hunter comes in, we get as close as we’ve gotten so far to the real Belos. There’s no one else in the room for him to need to manipulate or cultivate a certain impression of himself for. It’s just him and this project he’s spent who knows how long working towards, and the anticipation and frustration.

He hesitates before he puts that recently made substitute key into the lock. There could be plenty of reasons behind that - checking to make sure everything’s in order, nervousness that it might not work, nervousness that it might, a sense of triumph at getting so far, a very practical concern that this might quite literally blow up in his face, I could go on. We still don’t know what’s going on in his head here.

But he hesitates - and in the original storyboards, when it doesn’t work, he punches the door, which is an interesting show of frustrated petulance. That doesn’t happen in the final version. He just stands there instead, staring at it, his expression obscured, and we cut to Hunter watching him.

Hunter’s lurking, hanging back and watching Belos from behind a convenient bit of architecture. He looks very uncertain here. This is an ongoing thing throughout this entire scene - Hunter never seems to quite know where he stands, and the way he looks at Belos is at once fixated and fearful.

To me, this bit feels like he’s waiting for Belos to finish what he’s doing so as not to interrupt him. It comes across very much like another little bit of mood-reading from Hunter; he comes in to see that Belos is busy, so he waits, and then he watches as whatever Belos is doing doesn’t work, so now he’s waiting to see how Belos reacts, whether he seems frustrated enough that it’s a bad idea to approach him.

A second or so after this, Hunter says he wasn’t trying to hide, but honestly, he clearly was. He shooed the palisman off in a furious whisper and stayed lurking there, watching to see how Belos reacted. He’s obviously very startled to be directly addressed, but he can’t keep pretending he’s not there or slip off quietly without saying anything, so he has to go ahead and have this interaction.

That sort of tentativeness around interacting with one’s guardian is quite a tell. Hunter’s used to having to read, predict, and manage his uncle’s moods and adjust how he acts to account for them. Sure, everyone has bad days or times when they’re less patient, and it’s not necessarily abnormal to gauge what kind of mood someone’s in before you have a difficult conversation with them, but there’s very much a sense here that Hunter’s used to doing this and fearful of what might happen if Belos isn’t in a good mood.

There’s also the matter of how he addresses Belos. Here, Belos is ‘Emperor Belos’. Hunter’s form of address is very formal, even though it’s a relatively informal setting - late, no one else around, Belos stripped of his outer layers and his mask, though Hunter’s still in uniform.

There could be a number of interpretations for that. I can see it as being a way of Hunter trying to sort of preemptively make up for having sneaking around here, as well as him being nervous because he’s planning to ask Belos something related to his recent performance, so he’s slipping into formality as a way of coming across more serious and professional.

But it’s interesting that the way Hunter addresses Belos seems to be based on how Hunter is feeling or what kind of tone he’s trying to take, rather than the signifiers of the actual context they’re in. It goes well with the idea, I think, that Belos tends to be the one to set the tone here and that Hunter doesn’t necessarily know what it’s going to be until Belos does.

It also speaks to an aspect of Hunter’s character we get more insight into later on in the episode, that he seems to relate to other people heavily through the lens of his own feelings and experiences. He seems to have a skill for reading people or picking up on the dynamics in a situation, but not necessarily for interpreting them unless he personally understands them.

People have talked about the face reveal before, but it really is an interesting moment. It’s dramatic for us because we’ve built this guy up over the course of a season and a half as the ultimate big bad, the spooky faceless evil emperor, and suddenly he has a face, and he’s just some kindly-looking old man - but it’s not dramatic for Hunter, because he’s seen this face before.

The casualness of it really hits home. Belos is just a person. He’s just some guy. He doesn’t look evil. He looks fond and approachable, in direct contrast to how nervous Hunter seems to be.

This, too, is a form of intimacy between them. How many people have seen the emperor unmasked? It’s probably not a list that only includes Hunter, but it’s surely a very exclusive one.

(Especially considering how jacked up his ears are there. This is not the place to go into “Belos is a human man” theories, but those are not normal witch ears, and he has a vested interest in presenting himself not only as a witch but as the most gifted and powerful witch of all. Letting Hunter see him like this is another way of making Hunter feel special, like his relationship with Belos is a privilege.)

The mask also serves the purpose of - similarly to how the Golden Guard’s mask does for Hunter - allowing Belos to disguise his emotions and reactions. All anyone who sees him masked has to go on is the deliberately expressionless mask and his tone. Even his body language is cloaked under all the layers of robes. It’s a very deliberate way of cultivating an inscrutable sort of presence.

Without it, we see some interesting things. Whatever his face might have looked before, when he turns to look at Hunter, he’s smiling warmly, inviting…

But when he turns to look back at the door, that expression drops right off his face. We get what I can really only describe as petulance. His wording, too, is interesting here: “Without the power of the real key, it refuses to open.”

Not that the door didn’t open or won’t work, it refuses to. The door is framed as not just nonfunctional but defiant, like it’s willfully disobeying him rather than being, you know, an inanimate fucking object.

The way he expresses himself to Hunter is as much a performance as it is with anyone else, but I think this is a glimpse into his real feelings. He very much wants this door to work and he’s feeling angry and thwarted that it’s not, and blaming the door itself for not doing what he wants it to do. We can easily extrapolate this attitude towards how he treats the people in his life - in fact, we’ve seen it, with both Hunter and Lilith.

Hunter’s expression here really kills me. He spends most of this scene staring at Belos with exactly this face, this mixture of fear and worship. Belos is the central fixture in this scene to which Hunter is drawn and around which he orbits. He never takes his eyes off Belos and aside from a brief bit at the end of Belos’s little speech coming up, his face never changes.

It’s the sort of expression one might expect a much younger child to direct at an adult guardian who, in their eyes, is as big as God and controls the world. On Hunter, a sixteen year old, it comes across as somewhat developmentally odd, but it fits - Belos does control his entire world. Belos is the ultimate authority to Hunter, able to shape and reshape Hunter’s reality with nothing more than a word.

When Hunter asks about the rain in the Human Realm, Belos’s expression goes from that frustrated petulance to something that almost looks a little startled, like he wasn’t entirely expectring Hunter to interject. Then, once Hunter’s finished, he turns to look at him properly and once again he’s smiling as he shares a personal anecdote.

Every time he directly addresses Hunter, it’s in that same warm, pleasant way. Everything about how he’s talking to Hunter in this scene suggests a comfortable, familial sort of intimacy. He’s friendly, smiling, sharing stories about his life - when he asks, “Have I ever told you that before?” it suggests he thinks he might have, because he’s told Hunter other things about himself.

The single, tiny, silent shake of the head Hunter does also always gets me. He’s so quiet, so still, so tentative in his movements, not wanting to interrupt this moment, this intimacy being handed to him. He comes across as painfully hungry for any scrap of closeness, any further insight into Belos. These moments come at unpredictable intervals, subject to Belos’s own unreadable internal whims, and so when they do come along, Hunter must grab onto them tightly.

But then the moment ends, and Belos brings the subject back around to what exactly it is that Hunter’s there for.

“Are you spying on me to hear these boring old stories?” Obviously they’re quite fascinating to Hunter, but here I want to focus on his use of the word ‘spying’. It’s a bit loaded, and I think this is one of our first glimpses of how he slips in these little conversational barbs with that same fond look and warm tone.

As soon as Belos turns around to directly address him, Hunter straightens up, coming to a sort of attention. Belos is relaxed, playful even, but Hunter’s taking it very seriously, and it seems to me that he heard that teasing question as an accusation. And indeed, what Belos is asking here is: “Why are you here?” with an emphasis on the fact that Hunter was sneaking around.

Once more Hunter is tentative and unsure. He doesn’t really seem to want to bring this up. I get the impression he had to work himself up to coming in here in the first place, and then the conversation seemed to be going so well, with Belos being open and telling him stories, but now he’s got to bring the mood down by bringing up the thing he’s worried about - why Belos switched him out with Kikimora.

But as little as he wants to bring it up, he needs to know. He wants to understand why, wants the chance to try to prove himself, and also, he was asked a direct question - and we have seen that Hunter isn’t very good at lying. Omitting information or misdirecting, sure, but not outright lying.

And then, of course, we get to That Fucking Speech. This is where the scene got really good for me, because the next thirty seconds or so are just pure, weapons-grade compressed emotional cruelty.

Right here, though, this is important. “Everyone has a use, Hunter.” This is a belief we see Belos operate by in a lot of different circumstances. People are tools to him, and he manipulates and wields them in order to get what he wants, then discards them when he’s done.

It’s also the guiding principle of Hunter’s life. He believes entirely in this idea, that everyone has a use, that he specifically has a use, and he sees it simultaneously as a gift Belos has bestowed on him - a purpose and a future for a boy who didn’t ever think he’d have either - and a cage he’s been placed in. Having a use is a dual-edged sword, because it gives him a place and makes him worthy, but also means there are expectations he has to meet and therefore consequences if he doesn’t meet them.

We see just how thoroughly he’s been conditioned to believe that later on in this episode with how he talks and acts during the trip to Eclipse Lake. But this, right here, it isn’t just that Belos says this to him, reinforcing the lesson: it’s how he says it that’s important too.

This entire time, he’s approached Hunter with fondness and warmth. He’s treated him like a family member, like someone who he cares about. This interaction has been intimate and casual. When he says that everyone has a use, he doesn’t speak harshly or coldly. He smiles, he puts his hand on Hunter’s shoulder, he speaks in the tone of a teacher imparting a lesson.

Hunter has come to believe that he only has worth when he is fulfilling a purpose which Belos defines, but this isn’t because Belos tells him he’s worthless if he doesn’t. It’s because Belos tells him he has a purpose, in the manner of a man passing on the wisdom of his age, and then offers a reward for living up to that purpose. He doesn’t simply punish Hunter for failing to, but offers Hunter the promise of greater care and affection and approval if he succeeds, which is much more powerful.

Before I get into the rest of this speech, I also want to talk about Belos’s use of physical contact as a tool of manipulation. Belos changes the emotional distance between the two of them frequently during their interactions in order to set a certain tone, and physical touch is one way he does it. He doesn’t come across as particularly distant or withholding in that way - he actually touches Hunter in two out of the three scenes we see them interact in!

Sure, he’s not pulling Hunter in for a big hug, but he’s physically affectionate. The thing is, though, that it occurs entirely according to what Belos wants. Hunter doesn’t get to initiate or ask for touch; he simply receives it. It’s something that happens to him.

In s2e6, at the beginning, Belos puts his hand on Hunter’s shoulder in a similar way while looming over him, to lean on the sense of an emotional connection between them while he tells Hunter to be careful and not get hurt because of wild magic.

Then in this scene here, he repeats the gesture as he delivers his lesson. He then shortly deepens the touch from a hand on the shoulder - fond but distant - to an arm around the shoulders, which he uses to physically control Hunter by walking him down the stairs and out of the room. Hunter has no choice but to move with him, and so Belos exerts both physical and emotional control over him with this single gesture.

So it isn’t necessarily that Hunter is starved of affection or touch, but rather that he receives them conditionally and without any control over them. Any form of intimacy is at Belos’s discretion to give or withhold, and Hunter simply has to guess what mood Belos is in and what actions will bring about the result he wants. Since it’s unpredictable, and Belos can change the rules at any time without telling him, he never knows where he stands and he can’t settle into stable patterns of behavior.

This makes it much harder for him to understand the patterns he’s stuck in. There is no pattern, except that Belos will do whatever he feels is most effective to manipulate and destabilize Hunter at any given time. Hunter is trying to put together a puzzle with a handful of pieces that don’t match, and Belos has the box image.

Unpredictable stimulus like this makes it almost impossible to respond rationally or in a consistent manner. If it’s negative, like an unpredictable punishment, then the person subjected to it simply becomes anxiously avoidant. They live in constant fear of a punishment that they can’t predict or plan for. Because it could happen at any time, they feel like it will happen at any time, and they have to always be prepared for it.

So you get Hunter being nervous, trying to read Belos’s mood, trying to interpret the doublespeak and hidden implications he knows are in Belos’s speech, trying to suss out some hint or sign of what it is he’s meant to be doing and how to act correctly and therefore avoid punishment.

When the stimulus is positive, you basically get gambling. Hunter knows he can get a reward - his uncle’s love and approval - but he never quite knows when or how he’s going to get it. Sometimes, when he thinks he needs to be stiff and formal, Belos is intimate and warm. Sometimes, when he’s speaking from a place of love and concern, Belos demands distance and formality.

The most reliable way he knows to get it is to succeed, but he only vaguely knows what Belos expects of him, so he just tries to frantically come up with anything that sounds plausibly like a success or in line with what he knows Belos wants or has wanted in the past and then do that in the hopes that it’ll work.

That’s much harder to break away from than if he reliably knew he would not get rewarded. It’s much harder to plan for than if he reliably knew when and for what and how he would be rewarded. It’s an abuse tactic designed to keep the victim incredibly disoriented and off-balance, unable to comprehend the patterns of behavior they’re being subjected to, blaming themself and trying to alter their own actions to try and gain some sense of control over their circumstances - but control isn’t possible.

So, anyway, onto the rest of that speech. Remember, this is Belos’s answer to “Why did you switch me out with Kikimora?”

“Everyone has a use. Kikimora has her intricate little plans, the scouts carry out orders…” I find the line about Kikimora interesting. At first, I interpreted it be Belos subtly saying that he knows Kikimora’s been plotting against Hunter, and that he isn’t planning to do anything about it. That Hunter needs to be able to handle it, and if he can’t, then he isn’t worthy.

I don’t think that anymore - I think that Belos intentionally sent Kikimora to Eclipse Lake knowing it was a fool’s errand as a way of punishing or potentially getting rid of her for having tried to kill Hunter, who he needs around and in one piece - but I think Hunter may have interpreted it that way.

Hunter, after all, knows that Belos doesn’t strictly mean exactly what he says here, but he’s also not always that good at accurately reading the subtext. He also, later, takes “stay safe in the castle” to mean “go do something to prove yourself or I’m replacing you”, and I’m pretty sure Belos did indeed want him to stay the fuck home. That’s the danger of cultivating an environment of mind-reading - sometimes your mind doesn’t get read correctly.

Then we get to this line: “And as for you, well…”

Look at Hunter’s face and body language. As he has been throughout the entire scene, he’s so incredibly attentive to Belos, like Belos is the only thing that exists. He’s afraid, too. He desperately wants to know what his purpose is, what his use is, how he can prove himself.

And Belos knows it. He’s drawing it out, teasing Hunter again. He’s being deliberately very cruel, pushing buttons that he himself has spent who knows how long installing to throw Hunter into a panic. And then he’s still very vague!

Hunter obviously wants concrete answers. He wants to know why he was switched out, he wants to know if he’s being punished, he wants to know what his purpose is and what he’s meant to do. He wants to know how to act. He needs firm, specific directions, but instead he’s left to struggle through a sucking swamp of implication and misdirection, left to intuit Belos’s desires and punished for his failure to.

(And, of course, the beauty of this sort of treatment is that even if he does do everything exactly right, if it isn’t convenient for Belos to praise or reward him at that moment, then he can just invent an infraction. How is Hunter going to know the difference?)

Instead, Belos simply reiterates that the Titan - an entity only Belos can speak to - has ‘big plans’ for Hunter. They’re very important, yes, but Hunter doesn’t get to know what they are. Belos is the keeper of that information. Belos is the one who molds Hunter into who and what he’s supposed to be to live up to those plans, and Hunter simply has to try to grow as he’s instructed.

And then of course we have this shit. “It would be such a hassle to find a replacement.” That’s just pure intentional emotional terrorism. He knows Hunter is afraid of being replaced and constantly trying to live up to his vague, unexplained expectations. He intentionally cultivates the atmosphere of competition and backstabbing in his coven, encouraging people to fight with each other for his attention.

The message there is very clear: he could replace Hunter, and in fact has already spent enough time thinking about doing so that he has an idea of what he would have to do. He doesn’t want to, because it would be a hardship, but it’s completely within the realm of possibility.

Furthermore, because it would be a hassle, that means that if Hunter does fail badly enough to warrant replacing, his failure is, in and of itself, causing problems for Belos. One last disappointment.

This threat is not particularly veiled at all. Hunter reacts visibly and intensely to it, absolutely panicked. And yet Belos delivers it in that exact same fond, warm tone he’s said everything else in! He could almost be making a joke, the sort of teasing “I’ll give you away/get a new one” type of joke that some parents make, that in a different relationship might indeed land as one.

It doesn’t here, though, because it’s not. It’s a threat. It’s manipulative cruelty. It’s of a piece with “These outbursts are painful, and so is watching you fail.” There is a point past which not even Belos can keep giving Hunter chances, and it would hurt Belos to have to reach that point and dispose of Hunter - but he will if he has to.

This is why I think that while Hunter definitely needed to hear Amity tell him that there are people who won’t make him feel worthless, he’s not actually ready to hear it or really apply it to himself. It’s not that Belos makes him feel worthless, it’s that if he screws up, he will be worthless. Belos is only telling him directly what will happen. He’s making both his expectations and the consequences clear. If Hunter brings those consequences on himself through his own poor behavior, then that’s not really something Belos did, now is it?

Ironically, I think Belos really does want Hunter to stay in the castle. He does need him. I think he was genuinely rattled to hear Hunter was presumed dead for a period of time, because it would have disrupted his plans. (Also, maybe he does care about his nephew, maybe not.)

Hunter, however, doesn’t even assume for a moment that that’s the case. Which is extremely sad in its own way, but, then, he clearly learns well from example, and he’s been shown plenty of times that his physical health and safety aren’t really that important to Belos.

I think he’s pretty desperate here, too, to have been pushed to being so blunt. He tries to interpret and understand the implications, but here he’s been driven to just outright asking if this is emotional punishment for his failures.

Which earns him this chilling and sudden departure from the avuncular warmth of the entire rest of the scene. He spoke out of turn, refused to accept what he was told, and correctly identified the abusive dynamic going on of how Belos is manipulating him - none of which Belos likes.

So now Belos is a bit more overt with the stick. He lets that look of cold disapproval and disappointment linger for a silent beat or two, then slowly and deliberately smiles a much less kind smile and simply tells Hunter, “Good night” before shutting the door in his face.

So, in a way, that’s an answer. Yes, Hunter, this is punishment for your failure. No, you’re not going to be handed a chance to make up for it. Go to bed.

He’s also, in essence, saying, “Guess.” He won’t confirm or deny. He’ll leave it as subtext, up to Hunter to interpret the nuances of tone and expression and precise word choice for any possible meaning he can extrapolate. He doesn’t have to be overtly cruel to Hunter, because he can just do this, and then Hunter will torture himself.

And that’s what makes Belos so insidious an abuser to me. He knows exactly what he’s doing here and he does it incredibly well. The damage from this sort of treatment is absolutely debilitating; it takes years to even begin to understand the extent to which one was manipulated and abused, much less figure out how to process and reverse it and develop healthy patterns of relating to others.

And it’s so hard to identify. You can’t tell Hunter his uncle doesn’t love him, it’s just not true. His uncle smiles at him and puts his arm around him. His uncle tells him stories about his life and his travels in the Human Realm. His uncle teases him. His uncle speaks to him with fondness and warmth. His uncle teaches him how to live in the world. His uncle believes in him, his uncle knows he’s special, his uncle knows he can be better.

You can see throughout that Hunter is hurt. He feels the knives Belos is sliding between his ribs here. But he doesn’t realize he’s bleeding. He doesn’t understand that Belos is being cruel, because Belos does it so gently and kindly, and Hunter’s been taught that this, right here, is what being loved feels like. This is how family treats you.

And on the surface, it is. I have seen plenty of people say that this scene made Belos seem softer, more personable, more relatable. That’s not just because they’re misinterpreting it, it’s because he’s doing that on purpose.

He’s trying to come across that way. He’s presenting the appearance of a loving family member to Hunter and using that to manipulate him with. Someone who hasn’t been emotionally abused in this way or doesn’t have the context for this relationship would see this and think it was perfectly normal, because it looks and sounds that way on so many different levels, and that’s something Belos is doing on purpose.

(Whether or not he truly does love or care for Hunter is honestly beside the point. As I mentioned, I find it reductive to assume abuse and love cannot coexist, because it’s my experience that they almost always do. Additionally, I find it just more interesting to assume Belos does love him, but is still willing to hurt and use him for his own goals. But the point really isn’t what Belos feels, but how his actions make Hunter feel.)

So that’s how we get Hunter in the state he’s in for the rest of this episode, rushing frantically to do exactly what he was told not to do because he’s so afraid of being replaced and so desperate to prove himself. Belos winds him up and Hunter goes marching, abusing himself on Belos’s behalf.

Meanwhile, Belos hasn’t said or done a single thing that an outsider who isn’t familiar with this type of abuse or someone who’s privy to their other private conversations could find objectionable. He especially hasn’t said or done anything Hunter could concretely point to and say that it was done to hurt him. Hunter knows the end result is that he is hurt, yes, but that’s not his uncle’s fault, it’s the consequences of his own behavior.

It’s just incredibly insidious and very densely layered. The folks on the writing team here really knew what they were doing with this.

Thank you for coming to my TEDTalk.

#hunter toh #emperor belos #the owl house #long post #meta #emotional abuse #oh boy is it ever #the experience of writing this was just going 'i want to put belos in a jar and not poke any airholes in the lid' every 20 seconds #somehow this one is longer than the other one. how is it longer. help me

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psychewritesbs · 3 years ago

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Chapter 161: Hyper-focused Yuji is GOAT + Megumi’s slow descent into darkness

Happy JJK-Sunday!

Now that I’ve been reading JJK for some time, it continues to amaze me how even the smallest and most seemingly insignificant details hold the most importance.

Knowing this makes for an interesting reading experience because it forces me to trust my intuition when I see/read something that feels off. That being said, I feel like this chapter is the perfect example of what I’ve been fearing would happen with Megumi.

A lot of us feel like he’s going to loose himself at some point, we just don’t know what that will look like. With this chapter, Gege might be starting to flesh out that answer.

But before I gush on and on about Megumi’s state of mind, let’s jump right into Yuji because that’s where the chapter starts...

Hyper-focused Yuji is GOAT

Or a Masterclass on How to Create a Shonen Protagonist

One thing Gege has done remarkably well with his characters is that they all feel extremely human and relatable in one way or another. Yuji in particular is an excellent character because he is modeled after your typical Shonen Protagonist, but with a twist.

In other words, Yuji doesn’t need to have the single-minded determination to become “the greatest [Jujutsu Sorcerer] there ever was” (you can replace [Jujutsu Sorcerer] with Hero, Hokage, Pokemon Trainer, Pirate, Super Saiyan, etc.) because his motivations are grounded in his every day life--helping people have proper deaths and using his strength to save people.

Instead, the way I see it, Gege shows us Yuji’s single-minded determination as a Shonen Protagonist when he hyper-focuses during his fights. As Gojo puts it, Yuji simply goes for the home-run every single time.

It’s almost like he has blinders on and all he can perceive is how the battle is playing out and what his place is within the battle’s dynamic.

To me, this is one of the things that makes Yuji an absolute GOAT of a Shonen Protagonist.

Not that Goku, Midoriya, Naruto, etc. aren’t amazing characters in their own right; simply put, Yuji is in a league of his own because he is incredibly human and relatable.

I’ve also noticed that one of the things that is setting New Gen Shonen apart from the classics is that the characters seem to be more human. Sort of like Denji’s single-minded motivation as a Shonen Protagonist is to squeeze boobs or get kissed.

I also have to admit that I hardly ever root for the Shonen Protagonist, but I can 100% tell you Yuji has become my favorite Shonen Protagonist because he is incredibly endearing and relatable as a person.

New Characters Introduced

One of this chapter’s interesting bits came from Amai recognizing Yuji.

Ah the can of worms this panel opens... how does he know Yuji? etc.

Remember, seemingly small details always have a bigger role than we think in the grander scheme of JJK-things.

I am just speculating here but I would not be surprised if Yuji ends up teaming up with Amai or something along those lines. With how strong Yuji is and how weak it appears Hanyu and Haba are, it’s definitively in their best interest to get on his side.

These are the Hunger Games after all.

... sorry, did I just say Hunger Games? I meant the Culling Game.

Now that we’ve gotten to see what it’s like inside the colony, I have to agree with @nanaminswaifu that the Culling Game reminds me a lot of the Hunger Games.

Just like in the Hunger Games, the characters are teaming up to increase their chances of survival and to take down other opponents. What’s interesting is that some of these characters have positioned themselves strategically to be able to attack newcomers for easy points.

Which brings us to Mr. Moody McAngsty, aka Sea-Urchin-Head, and what I foresee to be his slow and gradual descent into darkness.

Megumi’s Slow Descent Into Darkness

It looks to me like Megumi’s growth arc during the Culling Game is going to be a hell of a slow burn.

Moving forward, I feel like we’re going to continue to see Megumi consistently continue to reach new levels of personal madness and despair, culminating in another feral-Megumi-type-moment sometime during this arc.

I am intuiting this from seeing that his interactions in this arc are incredibly cold-blooded.

I’m going to go ahead and say that again because I cannot over-emphasize this enough: Gege is starting to introduce the idea that Megumi can be incredibly cold-blooded.

Yes, you could say Megumi thinks Remi’s “cutesy” behavior is irritating and that Remi attacked him first and that’s why Megumi is so cold-blooded with her. I too agree.

But I feel like we can’t deny that up to his point we’ve only seen Megumi as your typical “quiet and aloof deuteragonist” for the most part. The exceptions being his tiny blip when fighting against Todo, when battling the Yasohachi Bridge cursed spirit, and when unleashing Mahoraga on Shigemo.

Other than that, Gege has always portrayed Megumi as mostly disinterested, calm and collected, cranky at most, and even incredibly kind-hearted.

But the Megumi we’re being shown is cold-blooded and ruthless.

While this cold-blooded attitude gives Megumi depth as a character, right now it also looks to me like Gege is starting to show us all of the anger and anxiety that is slowly coming to a boil under Megumi’s typically calm exterior.

What it comes down to is that Megumi doesn’t have time to waste nor does he care about anything or anyone that is not Tsumiki or Yuji. In other words, he is ruthless and saves people unequally.

It goes without saying that becoming Remi’s “knight” is only a means to an end, not an act of chivalry. He even straight up confirms he would not hesitate to kill her for points if she betrays him.

Oh, but it gets better.

Not only does she look shady af and appears to be showing us her true colors, but I wonder if Gege dropped one of those seemingly insignificant details in the panel below.

That tiny bit in the bottom-left-hand side of your screen in the panel above...

“Is he being enticed into a path of carnage...”

Does it remind you of anything?

Like... say... a certain panel from chapter 110?

One of the things I keep hearing across the fandom is how much Megumi is starting to look like Toji. I too noticed back in chapter 158 that their likeness felt very uncanny.

With that tiny bit of possible foreshadowing from Gege and how he quite possibly meant to draw Megumi to resemble Toji, I can’t help but wonder what Gege’s plans for Megumi are and just how deep down into his darkness Megumi will let himself go.

I wrote a companion piece to this post because I felt like I had more to say on the subject and I literally have no responsibilities in my life other than creative expression. So go read about my thoughts on Megumi becoming a puppet of carnage if you’re interested.

Predictions and Gege’s Health

Finally, crazy-hair-inspired-cursed-techniques aside, I would not be surprised if Remi is leading Megumi into a trap with her Yakuza boyfriend who beats her up or something wild like that.

Let’s be real here, would you trust a Scorpion with your life?

Or maybe she just slows Megumi down because she’s not that strong and he has to protect her if he wants to be lead to Higuruma.

Again, if sorcerers like Remi, Hanyu, Haba and Amai are targeting people entering the barrier, their strategy might involve targeting easy targets for easy points because they can’t hold their ground against the truly talented sorcerers like Kashimo and Higuruma. This is a life-and-death scenario after all.

We’ll see how it all plays out in two weeks time since Gege is “on break” next week.

I do hope Gege is doing well health-wise. When NANA went on hiatus over a decade ago because Ai Yazawa was hospitalized I was heartbroken--she has not resumed NANA as of 2021. Even worse... CLAMP are the queens of indefinite hiatuses.

I pray the same doesn’t happen with JJK and this is just a break meant to give Gege breathing room.

Breathing room = better working and creative experience for Gege = better art and experience for the fandom.

What I Personally Want to See Moving Forward

This is totally head-canon since it has not been 100% confirmed that Megumi’s domain expansion is barrier-less like Sukuna’s, but I would love to see Megumi use his domain expansion like Sukuna used Malevolent Shrine during Shibuya.

The way I see it, if our boy is desperate for points, he could literally cast a wide net and kill all of the people and sorcerers caught within that wide radius for quick, dirty, easy points.

Which reminds me I also have to poke fun at myself because:

Me: omg I’m so upset that Megumi is being set up to suffer by Gege 😫

Also me: show me some dark Megumi! show me show me show me 😈

The irony being that Megumi suffering and Megumi going feral may or may not be intricately enmeshed.

A Personal Thank You

To all of you who read, like and reblog my posts, thank you 🙇🏻‍♀️.

I love the friendships that I have created here because of our shared love for JJK--that is why I created this account and why I choose to write about JJK and anime.

Don’t hesitate to connect, let’s nerd out about JJK together 💪🏼✨.

#jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen manga #fushiguro megumi #Itadori yuji #jujutsu kaisen theory #jjk theory #jujutsu kaisen meta #jjk meta #jujutsu kaisen spoilers #god I love jujutsu kaisen #jjk ch 161 #gege akutami

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makeste · 4 years ago

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BnHA Chapter 306: the beginning of the WHAT

Previously on BnHA: Nana and the Gang were all, “hey Deku, we can read your thoughts and feelings so we should already know the answer to this, but for some reason we want to quiz you on whether or not you’d be down to kill Shigaraki Tomura.” Deku was all, “um okay, well tbh, probably not seeing as Saving People has been my entire thing since literally the start of the series.” The Vestiges were all, “yes that makes perfect sense and again we already knew that, but well, good for you buddy and I’m glad we had this talk. Anyway I guess we should ask these two cryptic fuckers in the corner to finally turn around now before we run out of -- ” and then the chapter ended. Because OF COURSE IT DID.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “YOU DON’T NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, WOULDN’T IT BE SO MUCH BETTER IF I GAVE YOU A CONFUSING CHAPTER WHERE EVERYONE FINALLY LEARNS ABOUT OFA, AND GOES BACK TO THE DORMS, AND THEN THE CHAPTER ENDS WITH DEPRESSED NOMAD DEKU STANDING ON A PRECIPICE WITH GRAN TORINO’S TATTERED CAPE FLOWING IN THE WIND.” Everyone is all, “???????????” Horikoshi is all, “also the parents are moving to the U.A. campus, and Jeanist’s neck is two and a half feet long, for everyone that was wondering.” Everyone is all, “WHERE ARE KACCHAN AND TODOROKI AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WHO ARE THE SECOND AND THIRD USERS”, and Horikoshi is all, “:)” and fades away into nothingness like the fucking fae he is. Like a fucking imp who’s kept his end of the cursed bargain. What, the, fuck.

okay guys, so after the longest Thursday of my fucking life, during which I was secretly hoping that my spoiler containment net would be somehow be breached, inadvertently exposing me to theta spoiler radiation, so that I could be all “oh no... spoilers... there’s nothing I can do... I have no choice but to look” (which sadly did not happen), it is finally Friday and the chapter is finally out. so I’ve got my clown kit at the ready and other self-deprecating memes on standby, and I’m ready to go. and I should note that I’m also ready for Horikoshi to pull some absolute bullshit and be like, “oh you know what, we haven’t checked in with Rat Principal in a while have we” and spend the entire chapter on nonsense like that. I’M READY FOR FUCKING ANYTHING so bring it

(ETA: it would be nice if this man wouldn’t call my bluff every now and again.)

oh, right, we were due a color page! wow look at this

isn’t this supposed to be the future?? what’s with all of these staticky CRT TVs

anyway, so! is this the first time we’ve seen Tomura’s stylish finger prosthetic glove thingy in color?? because I didn’t expect it to be red. also, at some point you just have to give in and change your pants into cutoffs or something, Tomura. start a new trend of stylish villain capris

meanwhile Deku is dressed like he’s going on a journey into the desert to find a mystical oasis. actually this cape looks a lot like Gran Torino’s. I have to go back and see if Gran’s is all raggedy like this

(ETA: it wasn’t before but APPARENTLY IT IS NOW. I also forgot that Horikoshi had showed it sitting on a side table in the hospital a few chapters ago.)

lastly, AFO looks like someone’s thumb after they’ve been washing dishes for twenty minutes. you are just the ugliest dude in history, and as always, fuck you

HAHAHA SOB I KNEW IT

oh, Twowy McTwoface is finally starting to turn around? better CUT BACK TO DEKU’S HOSPITAL ROOM THEN. wouldn’t want to accidentally ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS or SOLVE ANY MYSTERIES, god forbid

well, whatever. whatever!! anyway so now someone’s knocking at the door. I say “someone” but we all know it’s Hawks

yep

they were actually standing outside the door for a while hoping they’d overhear another juicy plot conversation, but no such luck this time

lmaooo Jeanist wtf

acting all embarrassed, but you’re really just as curious as Hawks is. making him do all the dirty work for you huh

ARE YOU SERIOUS THIS IS AN INJUSTICE

so like two seconds after Katsuki gets dragged away you open the door for the rest of them!! well, fine!! I really want it to be a more private/personal moment between the two of them anyway so let the other kids check in on Deku first then

and in the meantime, time to see Hawks put the thumbscrews to All Might’s resolve lol

I wonder how much of it Hawks has already put together in the last five minutes. One for All is something connected to All for One that Tomura seems to want. Tomura was apparently targeting Deku. that’s more than enough to make a few deductions right there. I wonder how much Hawks knows about Deku’s quirk. he did watch the sports festival, and he ran into the kids interning under Endeavor that one time

okay well maybe he hasn’t put the rest of it together just yet, but Hawks is making a pretty reasonable pitch here to All Might

also this is a pretty spectacular view. is this a hospital or a hotel??

AHLKJLKJLKJ ARE YOU SERIOUSLY GOING TO TELL THEM

OH MY GOD HE IS?!?!

JUST LIKE WE ALL EXPECTED, THE NEXT TWO PEOPLE TO LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT OFA ARE GOING TO BE HAWKS, AND BEST FUCKING JEANIST

-- LFKLKKLDK ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS. ARE YOU --

( •̀_•́ )

[sitting cross-legged on the ground pulling up little clumps of grass and letting them fall from my fingers one by one] yeah. sure. okay. fine. sure

-- OKAY, NO. NUH-UH. NO

everybody better hold tight cuz I’m about to pick up this whole chapter and yeet it into the ocean like a fucking frisbee lol

HORIKOSHI I DON’T CARE ABOUT THESE PEOPLE SITTING HERE WATCHING TV WTF

-- OH

well okay then. proceed. though lord help me if they’re about to reveal the secret of OFA to the whole fucking world skdkj

oh snap

well, there it is. pretty much what I expected, but it’s good to actually get to see this moment with him taking responsibility

though at the same time, thank you Horikoshi for not forcing us to sit through the rest of that

their fucking faces omg. okay but seriously, what nation doesn’t secretly love a good scandal

the Endeavor Pamphlets, part two. thank you for giving the country something to opine about on twitter in these trying times, Enji

so now they’re asking about Hawks and Jeanist but I cannot even focus on anything all of a sudden because what?!

is Jeanist even a real actual human being you guys?! are we sure he’s not three kids sitting on each other’s shoulders?? are you related to that one guy with the really long neck from the Jedi Council?? are you Orochimaru, bro??

so now Hawks is apologizing for the murder of Twice, and for hiding the connection with his dad

the fact that he has to give this serious formal apology and beg forgiveness for the shameful crime of Having An Abusive Father is really something else, though. just. it’s realistic, but I still hate it

moving on now to the one thing he actually does owe the public an explanation for

not to go all “Hawks did nothing wrong” on you guys yet again, but seriously. 100% facts. fandom can (and no doubt will) debate this until the end of time, but if Twice had gotten away they wouldn’t be having this press conference right now because there wouldn’t be any heroes left to give one. anyways though, I’ve already said more than enough about that in previous posts

so now some severe-looking lady with the weirdest fingers I’ve ever seen is saying that her mother was injured during Machia’s rampage

and she’s basically all “a fuck lot of good ‘I’m sorry’ does us all about now.” true true

wow she’s really getting fired up

and now Enji is basically saying that he understands that an apology isn’t enough, and what they really need now are solutions. okay, well! SO THEN WHAT IS THE PLAN THEN

hmmfsdgh

this eloquent PEZ dispenser makes a good point you guys

wait, hold up

CERTAIN citizens?? um excuse me, what??

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh shit

holy shit. well, this will go over well

okay! so this tells me a number of things, though

basically the minute that Hawks learned about One for All, he realized that anyone connected to Deku (e.g. Inko) would be a target for AFO. AFO wants OFA, meaning AFO wants Deku, and one of the easiest ways to get to Deku would be to target his family

Hawks therefore realized that Inko needed to be placed into protective custody

but the fact that ALL of the hero course students’ families (and is it only the U.A. hero course, or all of the hero course students across the country?) are being given protection tells me that Hawks and co. don’t want to single Deku out as being important. so then it looks like they’re not going to tell everyone about OFA (or at least not the public. which, good). so rather than drawing suspicion by saying “we’ve got to protect everyone connected with this one kid”, they’re making it seem like all the U.A. kids’ families are getting this treatment

but since the heroes are now spread so thin, they can’t just send a protective detail to each and every family, so they’re bringing all of the families to the same place instead to better keep an eye on them

so that’s all well and good, and a very smart move. except that idk how all of this is going to go over with the general public, all of whom are probably feeling unsafe at the moment, and who will probably see this as preferential treatment -- basically just the heroes looking after their own and leaving everyone else to fend for themselves

(ETA: okay so @hanashimas’ translation clarifies that U.A. is offering their services as an evacuation shelter for everyone who wants it, not just the families of the U.A. students. that’s much more appropriate so I withdraw my previous “wtf” reaction lol.)

anyway though here’s Mitsuki and Inko

can we take this as confirmation that the two of them really are friends? that’s one piece of fanon that I’ve always hoped was true, so I’m gonna go ahead and say it’s confirmed

(ETA: also this means that Hagakure’s parents (or maybe “parents” in quotation marks) will supposedly be moving in as well. sure am curious as to how that’s going to go.)

now someone in the press crowd is asking whether U.A. can provide adequate security, which is honestly the LAST thing I expected these people would be outraged about lol. shows what I know I guess

(ETA: again though, this makes sense if the “certain civilians” thing was just a translation error.)

LMAO DAMMIT ENJI

YOU CAN’T JUST ALWAYS PULL THE “JUST WATCH ME” TRICK AND EXPECT IT TO SHUT DOWN THE CONVERSATION EVERY DAMN TIME YOU ASSHOLE

-- OH MY GOD RED ALERT

TIME TO ANALYZE THIS BECAUSE OMG

WASH CAN’T BELIEVE HIS FAMILY GROUP CHAT IS STILL SENDING HIM FUCKING MEMES AT A TIME LIKE THIS. HE DOESN’T GIVE A FUCK IF THE DABI DANCE IS TRENDING ON TIKTOK, MOM!!

FOR A MINUTE I THOUGHT MT. LADY WAS HOLDING MIDNIGHT’S TORN-UP MASK, AND BY THE TIME I REALIZED THAT’S ACTUALLY HER MASK AND NOT MIDNIGHT’S, I HAD ALREADY CONSTRUCTED AN ELABORATE HEADCANON IN WHICH MT. LADY AND MIDNIGHT WERE SECRETLY DATING BUT HADN’T COME OUT TO ANYONE YET, AND THEN TRAGEDY STRUCK, AND NOW MT. LADY IS GETTING READY TO SET OUT TO SEEK VENGEANCE. AND WELL, NOW THAT THIS HEADCANON EXISTS IN THE WORLD, I’M NOT SURE IF I’M READY TO GET RID OF IT

MIRKO HAS GOTTEN HERSELF A PROSTHETIC (ROBOT??!) ARM, NOTHING ELSE THAT’S HAPPENING IN THIS CHAPTER IS EVEN SLIGHTLY IMPORTANT!!! HELLO!!!!!

AIZAWA WITH THE EYEPATCH GOOD LORD. THE WORLD ISN’T READY. HE LOOKS LIKE HE HASN’T SLEPT IN NINETY-EIGHT YEARS, BUT SOMEHOW HE MAKES IT INTO THE HOTTEST THING EVER AS PER USUAL

WHO THE FUCK IS THIS FUCKING GUY. ARE WE SUPPOSED TO KNOW HIM? IS THIS KAMUI?? WAS THAT THING WHICH I ALWAYS ASSUMED WAS HIS HAIR ACTUALLY A HELMET OR SOMETHING WHAT

LOL AND MEANWHILE

you tell me, Dabi! weren’t you the one who said that wouldn’t be enough to kill him? what even is your endgame here. I’m starting to worry about the villain brain cell supply you guys. I feel like Compress took most of them with him when he left

OH??

“when asked about One for All, Endeavor fucking lied through his teeth.” well, well, well

SLKDFJLSKGDJLKLKGJL THE DORMS

( ⁰ ⌂ ⁰ )

SLDKJFLKJWLKJLK

WLKDJSLKJFWKELKSDJLKHGLK

HDSMFLKGKL:GDSELK

OCHAKO’S HAND IS SHAKING OH MY GOD

THERE’S YOUR KAMINARI, EVERYONE!!

RHA’S SCANLATION TEAM REALLY THREW DEKU’S HANDWRITING UNDER THE BUS HERE HUH

HE TOLD EVERYONE!?

WHY THE FUCK IS HE WRITING IT AS A LETTER

(ETA: 9. also if he really wrote every kid in his class then that means the U.A. traitor -- or Hagakure as we like to call her around these parts -- also knows about OFA, and knows that Deku has run the fuck off and isn’t at U.A. anymore. so that’s just great!)

OH HELL NO

the hell does that mean, you must leave. leave to go where. son you are not up and leaving to go power up and lead us all into a timeskip. and I swear to GOD, if you left Kacchan too...!!

MY GOD I CAN’T PROPERLY ABSORB ALL OF THESE OCHAKO FEELS RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I’M TOO TERRIFIED TO SCROLL TO THE LAST FUCKING PAGE, FUCK

I JUST GOTTA DO IT. I JUST GOTTA SUCK IT UP AND DO IT. FUCK

FUCK

WHAT. THE. FUCK

y’all I’m not even gonna waste your time with more keysmashing, JUST ASSUME THAT I AM DOING IT NONSTOP, FOREVER. and let’s just jump RIGHT IN HERE

okay so here I thought that All Might and co. had taken him away somewhere to train, but that is CLEARLY not what’s going on here. this kid is standing here in his Apocalypse Aesthetic hero costume which has CLEARLY seen better days, with Gran Torino’s cloak (GUESS THAT EXPLAINS THAT, THEN?? SO DID GRAN FUCKING DIE EXCUSE ME WTF), and a fucking backpack. this little green idiot has RUN AWAY FROM HOME. this is the absolute LAST THING ON EARTH I ever expected to happen so PARDON ME WHILE I SCREAM CONFUSEDLY INTO THE VOID

he does not look okay. you guys he doesn’t look okay at ALL. he has NEVER looked like this. this isn’t just a “I’m sad because I’m leaving all my friends behind” kind of look on his face, or even just a “Gran Torino died maybe and I’m still having emotions over it” look. this is an EXHAUSTED, dead look in his eyes. something terrible has happened

WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR ARMS DEKU. THE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING DOWN WITH YOUR ARMS GODDAMMIT

love how this random building is just straight up collapsing, like that’s just a normal thing that happens every day now. lovely

APRIL MEANS IT’S NOW FULL ON SCHEDULED ALL-MIGHT-DYING-HOURS, BUT LET’S COMPLETELY IGNORE THAT THOUGH BECAUSE FUCK THAT NOISE

“THE SECOND USER? WHO KNOWS? CERTAINLY NOT ME” HORIKOSHI I SWEAR TO GOD

“BAKUGOU? NEVER HEARD OF HIM!” HORIKOSHI PLEASE

WHERE. IS. KACCHAN

did he go with Deku?? did he get a chance to talk to him before he left?? did he get his own private letter which he read and then promptly blew up in a fit of panicked rage?? is he going to go after him?? DOES HORIKOSHI KNOW WHAT HE’S DOING TO ME RIGHT NOW?? OF COURSE HE DOES, DON’T BOTHER ANSWERING THAT

omg. though actually the fact that we’ve already jumped a few weeks forward makes me hopeful that there won’t actually be another timeskip, or at least not much of one. I’m sure that’ll be the big debate of the week, but I don’t think we can jump too far forward here. for starters because of that All Might prophecy I mentioned. and also because TomurAFO isn’t just going to wait around for months. and also because I’m 100% sure that Deku’s running-away backpack is just filled ENTIRELY WITH NOTEBOOKS and this asshole cannot possibly survive more than 3 days on his own. UNLESS SOMEONE COMES TO HELP HIM THAT IS. OR SOMEONES, EVEN. OMG. omg omg omg. fuck this chapter lmao

#bnha 306 #midoriya izuku #hawks (bnha)#takami keigo #endeavor #todoroki enji #best jeanist #all might #uraraka ochako #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha

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ambeauty · 2 years ago

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WIP Wednesday Thursday Friday?

My bestie @escapism-through-imagination forced my hand so here I am. 🤣

“Follow me.” Kory pulls his jacket sleeve by the elbow to get him to follow her. Her long legs travelled briskly to their destination. She knew by heart where she was going. And even in wide corridors she walked with purpose. Like it was her own runway. They make a couple of turns before they get to the West African art corridor. She rounds a corner quickly and he almost bumps into her before he stops himself by grabbing her waist to slow her movements. He pulls his hands back quickly.

“Careful,” he reacts, cheeks blazing.

“Sorry I got excited,” she apologizes.

“Show me,” he nods his head toward the display.

Inside the glass incasement is an elaborate headdress. At the center, is a bright yellow diamond. At least five carats.

“Kory,” he warns.

“We need it Dick. It’s from the Fulani people of Cabo Verde. My people.”

“Did you notice how many guards there are stationed around here? One, every five feet. There are cameras everywhere. This particular glass is reinforced and tempered. Multiple inches thick. I need to know your plan immediately. Fuck I still need to know what you did in the Met.” He covers his mouth in mild horror. This woman was out of her mind and he followed her here.

“You noticed a lot in the little time we’ve been here. Are you the feds?”

“Hell no. Do you think you would’ve gotten this far if I was?”

“You know a lot about glass and security.”

“I work for Wayne Enterprises. And that’s besides the point,” he breathes out in frustration.

“The point is you wanted to help real people and not just write checks. In order do that, I need you donate to this museums foundation like the good son you are and then I need you to use those ‘Wayne Enterprise’ skills to help me with this one.” She pointed with her eyebrows at the stone.

“Jesus, Kory. This is nuts.”

“Jesus has nothing to do with it. Queen Elizabeth and her colonizing ancestors for sure,” she snorts. “Look you can give me the emerald.” She taps the spot on his chest where he was holding it. Solid just as she assumed. “And go back to Gotham.” She slides her hand up to his shoulder, lingering a bit before she removes it. If she mildly flirted to get her way, no one was here to tell her it was wrong.

“I don’t lie Kory. And I wasn’t about being a completionist. Don’t start anything you can’t finish. And you can’t finish this. Not without me. I’m in. After lunch you’ll tell me everything. EVERY. SINGLE. DETAIL.”

In an effort to conceal their conversation, his face was mere inches from hers. He smelled like Bleu de Chanel and peppermint. An arousing concoction if she let herself linger on it for too long. Her green eyes brightened, looking up the few inches he had on her, at his agreement and his brown ones crinkled in the corners in realization that she had won.

“I can’t stay after lunch. I have a work thing, but I will tell you tonight. I promise. Don’t worry, Rich Boy. We got this.” She tapped his shoulder again and turned to strut off.

Post any WIPs if you have them babes! @selinascatnip @meerakory @jonskory

#tag game #current wip

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bluediamonder · 5 years ago

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it was a lot more than a hug: an (unintentional) short essay on mental health & steven worm

I LOVED THE HUG OKAY.

I’ve seen a lot of people saying things like “uGh thE eNdiNG sUcKEd geTtiNg a hUG doEsN’T sOLvE aLL yOuR pRoBLeMs”. but in my opinion, that’s exactly the point.

All throughout the second half of SUF, they’re trying to show us that there is no one way to feel immediately better and have all of your problems solved. He goes to pretty much every source he can. The gems aren’t necessarily seeing what he’s going through, Connie isn’t going to solve this for him, his Dad is helping in an unhelpful way, so he goes to Jasper and that went haywire, so he goes to the diamonds and they just make it worse. And then what is he supposed to do?

Every single time Steven goes to a person to “help” him, he’s going to them seeking help in order to fix it. and there’s a big difference between the two.

I have anxiety, depression, and OCD, and often when I’m panicking or having moments of high anxiety, I do what Steven did: I seek out people not to help me, but to fix it for me. I then react the same way Steven did - with anger - when people try to help instead of just fixing it.

Anxiety, depression, panic, none of those things can be completely and magically cured and rid of in the snap of a finger. But in the moment, for people like me, for a person like Steven, the thought of that feeling not being entirely solveable is petrifying.

It’s like if someone is drowning and splashing around: you can’t get the life ring around them because of how much movement and commotion they’re creating. But they’re drowning, so you can’t just tell them “Hey, stop moving so I can help you!” From your perspective, you’re trying to help them by encouraging them to do something that will in turn allow you to help them. But to that person, if they stop flailing, they’re going to sink even further, and that is terrifying, so much so that they can’t even consider that you might be wanting to help them. All they can process is that you told them to stop doing the one thing that they don’t want to do: sink. Even if they’re sinking just for a moment, before you save them, that doesn’t matter. That feeling of sinking is terrifying, so they end up splashing around more.

When Steven seems to be babbling on, almost comedically, in “Everything is Fine”, trying to convince himself he’s fine, he’s gotten to a stage that I was in for a while, a sort of mania, where he is not only attempting to convince everyone around him that he’s fine, he has convinced himself that he is fine. This is a huge red flag for people with bipolar disorder or manic depression (NOT diagnosing Steven, I am not a professional, I’ve just experienced many of these things and been surrounded by people experiencing these things and professionals explaining them to me. Like I said, I was in the hospital for this, so). Everyone around him starts to see that he is, in fact, not fine, as they’ve already surmised. But the physical consequences of them not doing anything, not doing enough, are starting to manifest.

When he morphs into the Steven Worm, he has lost his sense of self. He doesn’t know what to do with himself, he can’t exist within himself with the world he’s created. He didn’t tell the Gems about the hospital, he didn’t tell his dad he was angry, he didn’t actually tell Connie he needed her he just proposed. He doesn’t know what to DO with all of this. So it explodes around him.

He can’t control his feelings, himself anymore. He feels he’s lost control. For me, a human, this morphs into a panic attack. But for him, he’s a gem, he turns into Steven Worm.

Not even the diamonds, the most powerful beings in the entire Gem universe, are incapable of changing him. His emotions bring White Diamond to her knees. But what they’re doing wrong here is they’re trying to fix him!

When Connie bolts in on Lion and is making her (iconic) rallying cry, she never says they need to fix Steven or heal him; she says they need to help him. Because that’s the only way he can get better.

When you go to the psychiatric hospital, you don’t go to get fixed. You’re in an environment where you’re made so you’re not a physical danger to yourself, and then you do a shit ton of work. You have therapy multiple times a day, every day, all week. You do work, they don’t just fix it for you. And this is the solution that we need to see portrayed. This is the solution they did portray in SUF.

Mental health disorders can’t be fixed. And Steven’s problems weren’t solved with a hug.

But we needed to see the hug. Because Steven needed to see the hug.

The hug wasn’t just about hugging him. It was about literally forcing him to come face-to-face with the love and support he had been inadvertenly, and then intentionally, pushing away. It forced him to say, “Okay, this is who I am right now. And these people love me.”

I had to have the people in my life tell me over and over that they loved me when I went to the hospital. I had to have my doctors tell me that they cared for me, my therapist tell me that I wasn’t talking too much, because I didn’t believe them. I had convinced myself I wasn’t worthy, I was a fraud, just like Steven. Sometimes you need that love in your face, surrounding you so that it is the only thing you can see, for you to be able to let it in.

The hug didn’t fix everything! That’s the big thing. The hug was a pure, beautiful moment, but I don’t believe it was meant to be a plot device to try to fix everything. Everyone was still emotional, he still destroyed things, he scared people, he scared himself. That wasn’t all magically fixed because of the hug. But his resolve to do the work, get help, and accept what happened to him - that is what made him go from Worm Steven to Boy Steven.

And afterward, we seen Steven has grown. He hasn’t morphed, his hair hasn’t changed, he’s not pink. But he’s grown mentally. He’s communicating more making plans, his disposition has changed.

Previously on this post, I said" I don’t like that they called what he had a meltdown (again, I vouch that it was a gem version of a panic attack)" However, I learned that this is actually a really good term to describe what Steven experienced, and as a person in my ask box (@a2Ieep) noted, could be relevant to the headcanon/idea that Steven is autistic, or at least autistic-coded, as well as his PTSD or cPTSD. None of us can diagnose Steven but that also means I shouldn't just pass off terminology like that! I realized it gave people who self-identify as autistic, the same feelings it gave me as I struggle with panic and anxiety. While we surmise different meanings from the meltdown, it was a meltdown. We all feel so touched by it, and Steven's meltdown felf like a panic attack to me, that doesn't mean it isn't a meltdown, and that it can't be meaningful to someone else with autism or PTSD. Steven's meltdown is just as meaningful to someone who has autism or PTSD, as it is to me with panic attacks. Erasure of someone else's feelings on my part was not okay, regardless of my intent or my own strength of different feelings. Plus, it was his choice to use that term. I just want to make it clear that at first I didn't like the term, but it is actually a really important term to use. I didn't expect the post to blow up like this, so I wanted to make this edit known and seen as it's a really important of this post. Thank you to everyone for understanding! And thank you to @tentacrocacles @transtistic @satoshigekk0uga @mercurialmeditator @possumpiebruh and @a2leep for sharing their feelings ans thoughts with me, which helped me to realize this and investigate and alter my own sentiments!

but YALL STEVEN HAS A THERAPIST NOW! He’s is not only getting the help that he needs, he is showing that he is going to continue needing this help, and that’s okay! He’s making plans to visit people, to go see the world, on his own terms!

He’s scared and sad of leaving the gems, and it’s also time to leave the gems. It’s time to move on, and be a new Steven.

We’ve seen a lot of Stevens the past few weeks. But Steven driving off past the Big Donut into the night was my favorite Steven. That was vulnerable Steven. That was Steven doing the work to be himself, to exist with his feelings and the ways he had acted, and the things he had gone through. That was my boy. Steven Universe.

When I saw my mom for the first time while I was in the hospital, the first thing she did was give me a big hug (I was a blubbering mess, of course). But it wasn’t just that my mom was giving me a hug. She was telling me she was there for me, she loved me, she was telling me she would stay up on the phone with me as long as the doctors would let me, she would drive 3 1/2 hours from our home in Michigan to the hospital in Ohio at a moments notice (I went to school in Ohio and went to the hospital there too before coming home). That hug was her forcing me to see that she was there for me, even if I didn’t believe it, or didn’t want to believe it.

So yeah, Steven got a hug. But it was a lot more than a hug, okay? Take my word for it

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redrobin-detective · 3 years ago

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while you were sleeping

“Now here’s what’s going to happen,” Grandpa Max said in a gravelly, rough voice he only used when he was barely holding onto his anger. Gwen held her crossed arms tightly, trying to seem stern when she really felt scared. “You are going to relinquish your control over my Grandson and you are going to do it now or else-”

“Or else what, Grandpa?” Ben asked with a blank expression. Or at least, the thing wearing Ben’s face and body did. It hadn’t quite mastered fine motor control yet so seeing her cousin’s usually animated face so slack, his posture so awkward like a puppet on a string... it was unnerving.

“Or I’m going to remove you from his person and get him back myself,” Grandpa growled. He slammed his hands on the railings of the stretcher Ben was sitting on and leaned close to his face. “And don’t call me Grandpa, you are not my boy, you are not even real. You are a hunk of metal and machinery and I don’t care if you are the most powerful device in the universe, Omnitrix, I will tear you apart piece by piece to rescue my family.”

The Omnitrix tilted Ben’s head awkwardly, it’s too bright green eyes staring at Grandpa Max with a fury Gwen rarely saw from her cousin.

“You will never separate us. We will not allow it,” the Omnitrix hissed, clawing Ben’s right hand protectively over the alien watch. It’s usual green interface was blank having spread itself through Ben’s entire body. Three days they had just assumed Ben was tired from the battle in the Atraxi Nebula. Three days that Ben had been acting weird and not right while the Omnitrix possessed him. Three days of brushing it off until Rook had noticed the changes to the watch and alerted them that something was very, very wrong. “And you’re one to talk about saving us,” the Omnitrix spat out. “All you do is make demands of us, send us far and wide to fix other people’s problems and never helping our own.”

“Cut it out with this we and us. Ben is a person and you’re just a machine,” Grandpa sighed with frustration, rubbing at his eyes.

“There is no Ben or Omnitrix, there is only us,” the Omnitrix stated as if it were obvious. “We have long since merged. Ben and I are one in the same which is how we know how damaged we are.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Grandpa sneered.

“It means,” the Omnitrix continued with lidded, angry eyes, “that Ben doesn’t want to come out. His mental state collapsed in battle leaving our physical form in danger. We had to take control to get us to safety. Ben is safe and cared for right where he is and he will return when he is ready and not a moment before.”

“How do we know you’re not lying?” Grandpa Max screamed, finally losing his cool. Gwen flinched and she noticed the Omnitrix slid its eyes over towards her before flickering back to Grandpa. “According to Azmuth, you’re not supposed to be sentient, you’re not supposed to possess your host! Why am I supposed to believe you that you’re not holding Ben hostage?”

“Because we have been there for every injury, every bout of self-doubt and loneliness, every tear shed in grief and misery,” the Omnitrix whispered with venom dripping from every word. It’s eyes glowed so brightly it cast dark, ominous shadows on Ben’s face. “While you and everyone else looked the other way and pretended it was fine to thrust the entire universe on a child’s shoulders. The only one we have been able to rely on for years is ourselves and it wasn’t enough.”

“I-,” Grandpa Max started to defend before deflating a bit. He looked over at her, unsure of what to say. Gwen gave him a curt shoulder shrug; she hadn’t exactly been overly attentive to Ben’s mental health the last few years herself. With the way he acted, it was easy to assume he was handling things alright but the signs were there now that she was looking. It shouldn’t have gotten this bad that the Omnitrix had to possess him and point Ben’s struggles out. “It’s not like that, Ben would’ve told us if it was too much.”

“Which is why his psyche is in fractured pieces,” the Omnitrix said with an eye roll. It was just how Ben did it, for all that the actions were jilted and ungainly, it had Ben’s mannerisms down exactly. “We left the Master in your care for years and this is how we ended up.”

The Omnitrix leaned forward, it’s elbows balanced on Ben’s knees and it’s fingers laced together under Ben’s chin. It stared at them judgement in it’s stolen eyes. “So here is what is going to happen, Grandpa and Cousin. We are going to take care of Benjamin, as we have done from the moment of our joining. We will keep our body healthy and safe from harm, we will patrol and go on missions to keep our home and the universe intact. We will also work to undo the damage you have done to Ben and when he is healed and ready to resume control, then we will retreat and let Ben make the decisions.”

“You can’t do that,” Grandpa said with a dry rasp.

“We can,” the Omnitrix countered steadily. “You will have to kill us to separate us and we will kill you before we let any harm come to Ben. Do you understand?”

“You say we’ve hurt Ben,” Gwen said softly, not liking the Omnitrix’s unfocused, uncoordinated gaze on her. “We probably have just like he has done the same to us. We’re human, just because you love someone doesn’t mean we don’t make mistakes.” It frowned in thought. “But you don’t heal by locking yourself up and not addressing the problem. If Ben, if he’s hurting, then he needs to be out here where we can fix it. I know you love him and want to protect him but this isn’t the answer.”

For the first time since the conversation began, the harsh look softened on Ben’s face. It almost looked human this way. If the Omnitrix and Ben really were one being by this point, then it wouldn’t give into anger for long. It just wasn’t in their nature.

“You are right in a way, Gwen,” the Omnitrix said with a slight nod, sitting up from it’s aggressive slouch. “It’s not a surprise, you’re right most of the time,” the Omnitrix said with a little quirk of the lips that was very Ben. The mirthful expression tightened into one of frustration. “But we still need time. Ben is fragile right now, he needs to rest, to recover. When he, when we, are ready then we will listen.”

“Okay,” Gwen nodded, reaching out and grabbing Grandpa’s hand tightly before he could fight anymore. “Okay, well we’re here for you if you need us.”

“Right, thanks,” the Omnitrix looked away and picked at Ben’s ripped up jeans. Did the device share Ben’s ADHD? Was it just copying Ben’s nervous habits to trick them or were the two of them so blended together it wasn’t one or the other but simply different parts of a single whole? She couldn’t help but wonder if Ben would’ve been this same person if the Omnitrix had never bonded with him.

“Well, it’s late and we’re tired. We’re gonna play some video games then meet Rook for patrol tomorrow unless you plan to stop us from doing our job.” The Omnitrix said, it’s voice heavy with accusation as it glared at Grandpa.

“You may go,” Grandpa said forcefully, unhappy with the situation but unable to stop it. “But this discussion isn’t over.”

“Of course not, I’m still waiting for your apology about your treatment of us,” the Omnitrix sniffed with a flippant wave as it hopped off the stretcher and walked out of the room where it would continue to act as Ben and live his life for who knows how long. But who was to say that he wasn’t Ben, some aspect of him that they never saw. Either way, dealing with it, dealing with them, just got a lot more complicated.

#I watched both venom movies today and was... inspired #everyone keeps talking about how fun and cute the omnitrix possession au is #and I still cant help but see the inherent horror in it #IS it Ben? IS the omnitrix such a part of Ben that they're indistinguishable?#How can you know when one begins and the other ends?#this could still just be an aspect of this blended BenOmnitrix person #one that the main Ben personality kind of pushes down and is now shining through with Ben kind of retreated #and it loves Ben so so much #and is furious and protective as hell on his behalf #can you imagine talking to someone you know super well and finding them almost exactly the same but still *different*#and almost perfect copy bc it IS ben the watch knows every single detail about ben #its honestly just the motor issues and its more forceful aggressive personality #but once that smooths out... how would they even know if Ben 'returned'#is it really a return if hes been here all along and its just been a different aspect of a personality #ok Im getting way too metaphysical when I have work early tomorrow #friendly reminder this au haunts me #I am incapable of thinking of it as cute #when the very idea terrifies me

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bukojuiice · 4 years ago

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— what they would be like as disney princes

ೃ pairings: (izuku midoriya, katsuki bakugo, shoto todoroki, and eijiro kirishima x fem! reader)

ೃ tags: headcanons, disney au!

ೃ warnings: none

ೃ my nav → my mha writing masterlist → my katsuki bakugo x reader smau

ೃ if you want to be a part of my mha taglist. send me an ask! ♡

ೃ s/o to bestie @lovelytarou for her big brain and for helping me think up which of the princes kiri could be 😚💕

ೃ please do reblog if you enjoyed!! it really helps writers and content creators on tumblr! (feel free to add tags too because i love reading them and my heart swells with happiness when people love my work!)

ೃ extra note: adding my own little twist to these hcs, they are disney princes with quirks!

ೃ taglist: @chibishae34 @sparkykatsuki @ramunegoddess, @serossimpy

Eijiro Kirishima – as Li Shang from Mulan

- *Mulan voice* Eijiro? Eijiro? Eijiroooo

- Eijiro Kirishima is the handsome son of the Army General and it’s very obvious that everyone swoons for him. Yes, everyone in the army.

- He’s manly, brave, sweet, caring, and responsible. What more can a soldier ask for?

- “LET’S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS! TO DEFEAT THE VILLAINS!” (ok that sounded better in my head)

- during the “I make a man out of you” sequence, kirishima uses his hardening quirk to not only hype up his warriors but also for that extra effect. He’s just bad-ass and hot like that.

- Eijiro wakes up at 5 am to train and work out. And yes, he does that shirtless. It helps him move a lot more and of course, it’s pleasing to the eyes.

- H I S T O N E D M U S C L E S. that’s it. That’s the headcanon.

- He needs that daily grind after all !

- You swear you could hear the other soldiers sigh dreamily every time they catch him work out.

- Whenever he praises his fellow comrades, he smiles a very cheeky smile, his shark teeth cutely popping out and it’s just so endearing and charming.

- After being ridiculed and belittled by your fellow comrades for being physically weak, you wanted to prove them that they were wrong. You continue to stay determined as you decided to create your training regime that consisted of waking up at 5 am in the morning to train too (and this was prior to knowing that kirishima would wake up at the same time to work out too. Oooh~ what a coincidence.)

- “(Y/N)! You like him? Helloooooo!? Him and I even share the same hair color! He ain’t worth it!”

- “Mushu, please. You are a discount version of him. Now, I’m going to go and train now.”

- You leave your tent at exactly 5 am, and as you began to stretch and do warm-ups outside, the biggest tent across yours suddenly opens up too, revealing General Eijiro Kirishima… in his shirtless getup.

- “A-ah! Good Morning General Kirishima!” You stand up straight, shifting your weight to the right leg and bending your left, bowing to him.

- He nods at you, shooting you a small smile. “You’re up early. Early for a new recruit! Do you plan to train?”

- “Y-yes! I will be using the pole and training weights sir!” You bow your head, as you remain standing straight.

- He hands you over the weights. He refuses to give it to you, instead insists to tie it on your wrists and help you up the wooden pole.

- General Kirishima holds you by the waist, making sure you don’t fall and you’re positioned correctly onto the pole. “Alright. You’re positioned in the right way now, you may proceed.”

- You continue to hold onto it, lowkey about to bang your head on the wooden pole as you were about to die of embarrassment.

- “(Y/N), he’s just being nice and just treats you like any other soldier under his command. Don’t expect too much!” Mushu whispers from your side, as soon as general kiri steps back and was not within earshot of the two of you.

- “I don’t have my hopes up at all, Mushu. I’m not expecting anything.” You sigh, trying to reassure yourself as you began climbing up. The weights pull you down, but you must persevere.

- “You can do this, (L/N)!”

- “(L/N)!?” You squeak, losing your focus, slipping down the pole and back to square one. You were a fumbling mESS

- “woah woah woah. Is everything alright?” he was about to hold onto your waist again, making sure you don’t fall off or fall down. You collect yourself before becoming too flustered to answer.

- “Y-yes General Kirishima! I’m fine!”

- When your gender had finally been revealed after the battle against the villains, Kirishima did not feel betrayed albeit just disappointed that you had to hide that fact for far too long and wasn’t being open to him when the two of you became much closer

- He’s been in love with you ever since the beginning.

- He’s always admired your passion and your drive. However, due to him being the general, he wasn’t so sure to approach you without being biased.

- “You don’t find a girl like that in every hero’s journey.”

Katsuki Bakugo �� as The Beast

- Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a blonde young prince lived in a shining castle. Although he had everything his heart desired and his quirk was one of the most powerful many have seen, the prince was belligerent, selfish, and unkind. But then, one winter's night, an old beggar woman came to the castle and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold.

- Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the prince sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away, but she warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within. And when he dismissed her again, the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress. The prince tried to apologize, but it was too late, for she had seen that there was no love and no humbleness in his heart, and as punishment, she transformed him into a hideous beast, and placed a powerful spell on the castle, and all who lived there.

- We’ve been known, the B in bakugo stands for beast (insert lenny face for a certain implication)

- Essentially, Bakugo had two quirks at once. Not only was he now a beast, (a physical quirk) but he also has his explosion quirk.

- He’d pretty much look the same as the beast from the Disney movie, however there’s some blonde highlights in his fur and he’s much more aggressive and intimidating to look at. His fangs more emphasized and he has a much softer appearance; like that of a huge pomeraninan.

- Ok…. no thoughts head empty just thinking about katsuki having an even huskier voice now that he’s transformed into a beast.

Katsuki Bakugo, who was ashamed of his newly transformed monstrous appearance, shut himself in his castle, The rose the old woman had offered was truly an enchanted rose, which would bloom until his twenty-first year. If he could learn to love another, and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time. As the years passed, he fell into despair, and lost all hope, for who could ever learn to love an explosive beast?

- Significant members of Katsuki’s posse who were turned into magical items were Eijiro Kirishima, his castle maître d' whom had turned into a candelabra, his annoying majordomo, Tenya Ilda became a pendulum clock, the head housekeeper, Ochaco Uraraka had turned into an enchanted teapot, the vice-head housekeeper, Denki Kaminari had become a little tea cup, Mina Ashido, the lady-in-waiting became an enchanted wardrobe, and lastly, Hanta Sero, the Castle’s Valet and Chaffeur, became a coat rack.

- All of Katsuki’s servants try their very best to make their prince change his ways, however, to no avail, their efforts have been fruitless. They were about to lose hope as Bakugo was about turn 21, which meant the rose would no longer bloom until… you came.

- Gran Torino, your grandfather, had gotten lost in the woods and ended up finding Bakugo’s castle to seek shelter, not knowing he had been trespassing all along. After Katsuki finds him, he throws him to the castle dungeon.

- You were the spirited, headstrong and bookish “beauty” of the town, however only being admired for your looks and not for your intelligence. You really had enough of this village and wanted to get out of here asap but after your grandfather had told you to wait just a little bit more, even though you frankly had enough of Monoma, the ~most handsome~ yet the biggest jerk in town constantly asking for your hand in marriage.

- The disappearance of your grandfather had prompted for you to search for him, leading you too, to the beast’s castle.

- Once you get there, you are to be greeted by Bakugo in his very beastly form, terrifying you. However, you stood your ground, asking for your grandfather. Gran Torino is set free under the condition of you having to stay in the castle instead.

- At your first night, you refuse to join him for dinner enraging him.

- “Where is she?” Bakugo grits his teeth, growling at Ilda.

- “Aha- Well- You see… she’s not coming.” Ilda mutters nervously, his clock hands waving in weird chopping gestures.

- “WHAT!?” Bakugo’s voice echoes around the dining hall, He leaps out of the room, busting the doors open, whilst Kirishima, Ilda, and Ochaco follow suit.

- He bangs the door, “OI OI OI I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO COME DOWN FOR DINNER?”

- “I’m not hungry.” You reply softly.

- “ HAH? YOU COME OUT OR I’LL BREAK DOWN THE DOOR!”

- “Master Bakugo… I could be wrong, but that may not be the way to win a girl’s affection.” Kirishima speaks in a hushed whisper, grimacing.

- “Please attempt to be a gentleman.” Ilda says slowly and matter of factly.

- Bakugo grits his teeth, scrunching his eyebrows, pointing to the door. “But she’s being… SO DIFFICULT!” he turns to the door, as if wanting you to hear what he was saying.

- “Gently… Gently…” Ochaco repeats, trying to calm the prince down.

- Bakugo rolls his eyes and repeats his words more softly this time, “Oi… will you come down for dinner?”

- “No.”

- He turns to his servants once again, pointing to the door, his mouth forming into a pout.

- “O- It would be my greateest pleasure if you would join me for dinner.” He could barely muster out the words. “Please?”

- “No, thank you!”

- “YOU CAN’T STAY THERE FOREVER!” He barks, “THEN GO AHEAD AND STARVE!” He storms out of the hall, running his way to his castle wing.

- After you were saved by the beast from the wolves, you tend to his wounds. Bakugo was rather… stubborn and didn’t want you to touch it or even press hot compress onto it.

- He continues to growl lowly, still seething from the pain, attempting to lick it just like any other canine would do.

- “Don’t do that.” You try to stop him from doing so, he growls at you, moving his wounded arm away from you. The castle servants watch in fear, taking a few steps back.

- “Just hold still.”

- “GRRR! THAT HURTS!”

- “If you hold still, it wouldn’t hurt as much!”

- “IF YOU HADN’T RAN AWAY THIS WOULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED!”

- “If you didn’t scare me, then I wouldn’t have run away!”

- “PHAH! WELL YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE GONE TO THE WEST WING!”

- “Well, you should learn how to control your temper!”

- He was about to protest, until he couldn’t think of anymore good comebacks, he stops. he pouts and rests his head on his hand as a sign of defeat.

- After that night, the two of you had finally warmed up to each other. Wanting to surprise you and at the suggestion of Kirishima and Ilda, Bakugo had finally given you the chance to explore the west wing. Surprising you by leading to you the castle’s huge and well-kept library. A place where he seeks solace and peace.

- You never expected him to be someone so aggressive yet be so interested in reading and of other mediums of knowledge. You had a lot in common and a feeling was blossoming between the two of you. In turn, you help him act more like a gentleman.

- You continue to spend time with him, not knowing that you were slowly but surely falling.

- “There’s something sweet and almost kind, but he was mean, coarse and unrefined. And now he’s dear, and I’m unsure, I wonder why I didn’t see it there before?”

- As much as bakugo denies that he isn’t in love with you, he’s actually always had. He had just feared that you would never love him in return.

- With the help of the fashionista turned enchanted closet that is Mina, she brings out a beautiful golden ballgown hemmed with golden roses, with off the shoulder sleeves and golden gloves to complete the look. You tie some of your hair into a neat bun, with the majority trails down your neck in a beautiful and flowing motion.

- Bakugo on the other hand, was dressed in such a refined and handsome way. He wore a golden vest over a white dress shirt with a white kerchief. And, to complete the look, his very trusting stylists, Kirishima and Kaminari styled him in black pants.

- As you dance the night away, the chandelier adorned with sparkling crystals hanging above you, the mural in the ceiling looking ever so heavenly, and calming waltz music to accompany you… it was a dream come true.

- You nestle your head onto Bakugo’s shoulder, the latter looking a bit surprised yet his mouth forming into a small smile as he continues to guide you by hold your hand, twirling you around and just dancing with you. No other peering or judgemental eyes to stop the two of you from doing so.

- Did I mention that he was an amazing dancer? Perks of being a prince I guess, but it’s also one of his natural talents.

- Bakugo lets you go back to your grandfather that same night, watching you leave with your horse on the balcony.

- He loves you, so he has to let you go.

- Monoma and the village people ambush the castle to kill the beast, the castle servants trying their best to keep them at bay and the ever so arrogant village hunter climbing his way to Bakugo, you rush to the scene, and as soon as Bakugo sees you, he regains his strength and sends Monoma falling down a pit.

- Bakugo was able to go back to his quarters with you helping him down, taking one last look at you.

- He smiles half-heartedly, still trying to catch his breath. “You came back…”

- “Of course, I came back.” You fight the tears trying to form in your eyes, hugging him tightly and trying to comfort him in his last moments. “If only I’ve gotten here sooner.”

- “I-it’s better this way.”

- “We’re together now! Everything’s going to be fine…”

- “At least, I got to see you one last time.”

- “P-please… Don’t leave me… I love you.”

- As the last rose petal was about to fall, Bakugo is knocked out and is slowly succumbing to his wounds. It is through your genuine care and love for him, along with his change of heart and new resolve (albeit still retaining most of his temperamental and pompous personality, he is able to keep it in check) he transforms back into a human.

- Along with all those who lived in the castle turning back into human, the castle retaining it’s original bright and vibrant colors and atmosphere, you and Bakugo live your very own happily ever after.

Izuku Midoriya – as Hercules from Hercules

- A babie Izuku had been sent down from godlihood to live as a mortal, as his parents, All Might, the God of Thunder, and Inko, the Goddess of Marriage had wanted to protect him from AFO, the God of the Underworld, who will take over Mount Olympus if Izuku does not take him down according to a prophecy.

- He grows up as a simpleton, the adopted son of both farmers, dreaming to make it big out there, with very ambitious and pure dreams of becoming a hero.

- But after, being belittled by his very own peers for not looking the part as he couldn’t control his gifted super strength, scrawny, timid, too pure for this world and quite weakhearted, Izuku wanted to prove to them that he will become a hero in the future.

- “Sometimes… I feel like, I really don’t belong here. Like I’m supposed to be someplace else…” Izuku confesses sincerely, his adoptive father looking at him in worry as he did not want to stop the young boy from learning who he actually was and all the potential he has.

- “If you found me then… where did I come from? Why was I left here?”

- His adoptive parents hand him over a golden medal with a thunder and lightning symbol that was said to be hanging around his neck when they found him. This was his answer that raised more questions.

- He embarks on his journey to find one of the temples of All Might, as this was the only thing the symbol on the medal could allude to.

- Okay but go the distance fits Izuku so well! A pure and hopeful young boy seeking to make a difference in this world and just wanting to become a hero by the most wholesome means.

- “I have often dreamed of a far off place, Where a hero's welcome would be waiting for me. Where the crowds would cheer, when they see my face, and a voice keeps saying this is where I'm meant to be…”

- just imagining izuku’s boyish voice singing this is just aaaaaaa

- He eventually finds one of the temples, learning that all along, he was the son of the legendary God. All Might tells him he must prove his worth and earn back his godhood by becoming a true hero.

- His father tells him to go search for Shota Aizawa, the famed instructor who has taught many great heroes in his time. Gifting Izuku a Pegasus, he embarks on another journey again to find the man, so that he may be trained.

- When he arrives at the home of Aizawa, the teacher had retired as none of his heroes have ever earned a constellation in the sky, prompting him to expel them.

- Izuku however, explained to his soon-to-be teacher that he wasn’t like the others, and… he proved true.

- Although Aizawa was hesitant at first, he liked the kid’s determination and sheer will, so he began to train him.

- Maybe, he could make a difference.

- After his training and after undergoing an amazing transformation, Izuku was finally ready to start his way to achieving Godhood and becoming a true hero.

- On the way to a nearby city, Izuku encounters you, a totally not damsel in distress and totally not a pawn of AFO, being tormented by a minotaur.

- Izuku saves you and you couldn’t help but notice how pure and how gentle he was. You thank him albeit with a tint of sarcasm, hoping the two of you would meet again as you venture deeper into the forest to go and meet with AFO, whom you made a deal with in order to bring back your lost lover from the dead- only for them to leave you soon after.

- You were once a very soft and romantic person. So open to giving love to others and never shying away from any form of affection. However…

- After that terrible experience, you developed a cynical outlook. Not taking slack from anybody, always keeping your distance, barely interacting with others and showing no interest in forming any genuine relationships with others ever since.

- Izuku reminded you that there was still some good in this world.

- His genuine innocence, his boyish yet handsome looks, his pure determination to save others and his charismatic wit just swept you off of your feat.

- However, you still had to keep your distance. You just weren’t ready to trust anyone again after that what had happened.

- Izuku finally reaches his destination, defeating a Hydra using both of his wits and his strength, as he becomes a celebrated hero around the city of Musustafu.

- Since then, he jumped from city to city, striking down every otherworldly monster that AFO had created to try and defeat him, and making him somewhat of a celebrity.

- Izuku, however, remained humble. Knowing full well that the fame he had gained was not needed in order to become a hero.

- In fact, it was what could become a hero’s biggest downfall.

- Whilst chilling around in a huge museum dedicated to Izuku’s efforts, you pay him a visit and the pure and wholesome boy, clearly enthralled by you since the beginning, became very flustered at the sight of seeing you.

- You start playing with your words, flirtatiously manipulating him to get him to go on a date with you.

- “(Y/N) by the gods, he’s so pure why would you do this?” you thought. “what did he do to deserve this from me?” yet, you were bound by a contract with the god of the underworld, so it’s not like you have any choice right?

- You go on a date with him, and end up falling reeeeeeal hard.

- The two of you end your date in a romantic park, filled with conveniently placed statues of couples and a statue of Izuku, in the middle, near the fountain for you to fawn over whilst singing one of the best Disney songs ever to.

- Aizawa hastens him to leave as they still have training to do, but he doesn’t leave until he picks a white flower from a tree, giving it to you, and planting a soft kiss on your cheek.

- Midoriya hops on his Pegasus and they flutter away as you continue to watch his figure travel farther and farther away from you.

- You observe and play with the white rose on your hand, sighing dreamily, until you snap back into your senses and think about the matter at hand.

- “Ugh… what’s the matter with me? You’d think a girl would learn.”

- *Cue Music and the Muses known as Ochaco, Tsuyu, Momo, Mina and Jirou)

- “Who d'you think you're kidding~ He's the earth and heaven to you. Try to keep it hidden, Honey we can see right through you. Girl you can't conceal it We know how you're feeling... who you thinking of~”

- The muses continue the musical number, yet in your heart you just need to deny these new and fuzzy emotions you were feeling for Izuku.

- “No chance no way I won't say it, no no. (You swoon you sigh why deny it oh oh) It's too cliche I won't say I'm in loveeee…”

- After all the ordeals Izuku had to go through to save you, (literally jumping into the river styx to recover your soul) his willingness to sacrifice himself for you was the final key needed to ascend to Godhood, and so that he may join his parents and the other gods in Mount Olympus once more.

- However, this would come at a cost, if he were to go back to Mount Olympus, that would mean he wouldn’t see you ever again, instead only being able to watch over you from up and above.

- And so, he chooses to remain on Earth with you, and even without his godly status, he could remain as the striking and true hero he is.

- The two of you watch the night sky as All Might forms a constellation on the sky just for Izuku. Not only making Aizawa also proud, but also as a sign that Izuku himself- (and your love) was worth seeing in the stars.

Shoto Todoroki – as Flynn Rider from Tangled

- Ok this is a bit of a stretch and I KNOW IT IS

- Fantasy au Shoto has a white horse, and Flynn rider befriends a white horse that hates him. that’s the closest similarity these two have.

- Flynn rider is my favorite unofficial Disney prince, and shoto is my favorite mha boy so let’s just roll with this!!

- Shoto Todoroki was a lost prince turned thief, and after he rebelled from his controlling and manipulative father, His only way of escape was if he turned to a life of thievery, hiding his identity and straying away from his mantle as the Prince of the Todoroki Family.

- He was very rebellious and mischievous, yet was also stern and rather monotone at times. He would crack jokes, but they would fall flat most of time and despite being absolutely handsome and looking very charismatic and charming on the outside, he wasn’t the best at picking up any gestures or flirtatious remarks said to him.

- He approached some thieves before and very innocently asked them how to live the life of a rogue, the bandits laughed at him but were nice enough to give him tips. The first advice they told Shoto was to take up a moniker. So that he wouldn’t be easily discovered or found by security officials. They jokingly called him The Half-Hot and Half Cold prince, because of his looks and his quirk.

- Not knowing that he was an actual prince. A wayward prince to be specific.

- Shoto didn’t care enough so he used the nickname given to them and went on his way to a different castle.

- After abandoning his kingdom, he chooses to live freely by his own means, and making the most of his time as a free man and not as a prince. You only live once after all.

- He then leaves for the Kingdom of Corona, being forced to create a trio with very unfriendly bandits, Sato and Koda. Their mission was to steal the crown on the eve of your birthday and hope to sell it for an absolutely impossible price.

- After they successfully infiltrate the palace and steal the crown jewel, Shoto stacks the prized possession into his satchel, betraying Koda and Sato, using them as a scapegoat, and making his way to a nearby forest settlement where he may hide and then move on to the next kingdom.

- However, he underestimated the castle guards as they were able to find traces of him. Shoto, not wanting to back down from a fight, uses his ice quirk to prevent the guards from following him in any further into the forest. (He refuses to use his fire quirk due to its relation to his father)

- Knowing that it wouldn’t take long before the castle guards would find him again, he had to go somewhere and hide first.

- He then sees an obscure and weirdly placed tower in the middle of the forest, thinking that he may take refuge there. And so, Shoto uses his ice quirk once more to elevate himself onto the only open window of the tower.

- He was about to start adjusting to his new surroundings as he steps foot inside, until…

- BANG!

- The last thing he heard was the sound of a clanging frying pan.

- Unbeknownst to him, he was hit on the head by said frying pan.

- Shoto wakes up to see that he was tied to a chair and his precious satchel gone by his side. He observes his surroundings to see that he was not tied by a rope, but instead tied using someone’s long and luscious hair. Hair so long that it was scattered all around the room.

- “Is this… hair?”

- You appear from the darkness, a very smug look spread upon your face, gripping the frying pan tightly.

- You were the lost princess of the kingdom of Corona. You were kidnapped by Mother Midnight, and she raised you as your own, keeping you locked in the tower so that she can use the regeneration powers coming from your hair to make herself younger.

- Each year, the king and the queen release lanterns in the sky on your birthday, hoping for your safe return.

- It was too much of a coincidence. You know in your heart that the lanterns are meant for you. Yet, Mother Midnight constantly forbids and refuses you from leaving the tower.

- “Who are you? And how did you find me?” You grit your teeth, interrogating him, your frying pan ready to hit on him if he dares to make a move.

- Tsuyu, your pet chameleon and best friend was watching the half-and-half man intently.

- “I’m the Half Hot- Half Cold Prince.” He says simply, barely moving and showing any emotion. You stare back at him, puzzled. What the heck was wrong with this guy?

- “I mean, your actual name.” You repeat yourself as you slowly continue to approach him.

- “Oh. I’m Shoto. Shoto Todoroki.” He says plainly once again. “Can I have my satchel back please?”

- “Nope.” You reply, popping the p. “Why are you even here for the first place? Is it for my hair!?”

- “He tilts his head in confusion, “Of course not. I was being chased and saw this tower, so I used my quirk and got up here. Now, may I please have my satchel back?”

- “Hmm… if you say you’re from the outside then… I need you to take me to the lights.” You climb up your room balcony, pulling the curtain away to reveal the beautiful mural you made in dedication to the lanterns that are released from the kingdom every year during your birthday. “Then, I’ll give you your satchel.”

- He looks at the mural in awe for a moment then breathes a hefty sigh, “Alright. We have a deal.”

- You untie him from your hair. He stands up quickly and was about to descend down the tower. “I can use my quirk to bring us down-“

- “Nah.” You hold up your hand in front of him, throwing your hair down and using it as a swing as you glide down with grace.

- Your eyes meet the grass and you take a deep breath before you take your first step on it and then…

- “My life will finally begin.” You take in your surroundings, feeling overwhelming happiness about to burst inside you.

- Shoto catches up to you, using his quirk to slide down the tower. He crosses his arms, at the sight of seeing you jumping around like a little chipmunk who has not seen any land, a contempt look plastered upon his face, just wanting to get this job done and head on to the next kingdom he could go to.

- “THIS IS AMAZING!” You watch him resting by the tree, leaning on it. You kick a pile of leaves to get his attention as you twirl around in your place, still taking in all these wonderful sights.

- “Look. We have to get to the kingdom grounds as soon as possible or else-“

- “It’s (Y/N).”

- “Excuse me?”

- “I’m (Y/N). I just remembered that I didn’t tell you that a while ago. Sorry!” You smile cheekily at him and because of how adorable you looked; he gave you a pass.

- “Alright. Let’s go then, (Y/N).

- Your adventure was absolutely chaotic. From entering a tavern full of scary bandits, for them to actually be softies all this time who were willing to help you see the lights. When the castle guards track down Shoto in the tavern, the bandits help you escape through a hidden passage, but find yourselves stuck in a flooding cave.

- Thinking that this was the end of both of your adventures and your lives, Shoto reveals to you that he was the missing prince of the Endeavor Kingdom and you also reveal to him that your hair glows when you sing.

- Bingo.

- Flower gleam and glow… Let your powers shine… Make the clock reverse… Bring back what once was mine.” You sang softly, your hair began to emanate a glowing light, as it served as a guide to get you out of the cave.

- Shoto’s hand was injured due to the very rough and dangerous properties inside of the cave and so, you heal him with the powers of your hair.

- Once again, repeating the song he had wanted to hear escape from your lips once more, your hair begins to glow as the wound on his palm was no more.

- He looks at you in awe. Noticing details about you that he hasn’t noticed before. How your eyes twinkled differently, like a star from a night sky. Your smile always radiating sunshine, and your aura emanating nothing but warmth and comfort.

- He was in love with you.

- How long did it take for him to realize that?

- “Are we almost there?” You wave your hand in front of his face and he snaps back into reality. “Ah yes. We’ll be in the village where the festivities will take place.”

- “THERE ARE FESTIVITIES!?”

- You reach the kingdom the morning after and began to partake in the festivities. All that Shoto could do was watch and admire you from afar as you danced and make merry with the townsfolk; not until you pulled him into the middle of the dance.

- He was awkward and wasn’t so used to having all this attention around him ever since he left his royal life, but you guide him well in the dance floor, getting lost in the moment, the two of you gaze at each other’s eyes, and the cheers of the townspeople unfortunately snapping you out of the moment.

- That night, the king and the queen, along with all of the townsfolk, flock to their boats for the annual cruise and lantern releasing.

- To surprise you, Shoto was able to snatch and rent a boat. The two of you board on it that night, and Shoto rows all the way to the middle of the lake and get a clear view of the ethereal spectacle that was about to take place.

- The first lantern, released by the king and queen, floats solely by itself. You rush to the other side of the boat, the boat rocking furiously due to the excitement. Your handsome companion on the other hand, was trying to keep the boat into place.

- You hold on to the edge of the boat as other lanterns follow suit. The huge boats around you were releasing their lanterns too.

- You look up at the sky, watching the lamps color the night. It was such a beautiful moment. Watching these floating lights reminds you of a comfort and inexplicable feeling from within. There was something about the light emanating from these paper lanterns, some of them bumping into each other, creating unique shadows, like that of shooting stars who were about to ascend back into the night sky.

- Lanterns continue to light up the night sky, as if they were like bright dreams. Lighting everyone’s resolve and everyone’s hearts.

- “All those days watching from the windows, All those years outside looking in. All that time never even knowing, just how blind I've been. Now I'm here, blinking in the starlight, Now I'm here, suddenly I see. Standing here, it's all so clear, I'm where I'm meant to be. And at last I see the light. And it's like the fog has lifted And at last I see the light. And it's like the sky is new, And it's warm and real and bright, And the world has somehow shifted. All at once everything looks different… Now that I see you.”

- After you felt too immersed into the beauty of the lights, you turn back to Shoto who was holding on to two lanterns that the two of you could release. A loving smile present on his face.

- You smile back at him, and the both of you release it into the sky.

- “All those days chasing down a daydream… All those years living in a blur… All that time never truly seeing things, the way they were.”

- The two of you look up to see the floating lights arise and you were immersed once again. Shoto fixes his gaze on you, admiring your beauty and your enthusiasm to see the lights you’ve always dreamed of seeing. He could do nothing but smile at you, as he’s truly fallen in love. He really has. His heart thumping loudly at the presence and the warmth that you’ve given him. Something that he had been seeking for so long.

- Now she's here shining in the starlight, Now she's here suddenly I know.”

- You continue look up. A lantern engraved with a sun symbol approaches your boat, and you point at it, pushing it up at the sky.

- “If she's here, it's crystal clear… I'm where I'm meant to go.”

- Shoto knew this was his only chance. His smile turning into that of a frown, as thoughts of not seeing you again came across his mind. He grabs your hand, touching it softly. You perk up a little bit at this gesture, but you smile back at him. Your eyes glimmering love and warmth once again.

- You hold both of his hands, grasping it firmly yet tenderly. The two of you gaze at each other’s eyes again, this time no one were to interrupt. This moment would just be between the two of you.

- You notice how beautiful Shoto’s heterochromatic eyes were from up close, the love shown in his eyes could only be for you and you feel your heart racing at that thought.

- And at last I see the light, And it's like the sky is new. And it's warm and real and bright, And the world has somehow shifted… All at once everything is different… Now that I see you.”

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