#who he rescued on a train

[vaguelyaperson]

One of my favorite tropes in bkdk plays into the fact that Izuku is, first and foremost, a goddamn otaku.

And this isn't focused on his nerding out over any and all Dynamight merchandise (though that is part of it), but that Izuku is a socially awkward clueless MESS who inwardly cheered the first time he spoke to a girl on the phone.

Izuku has no clue what he's doing when it comes to romance. He's gonna stutter and fumble over everything. He's going to miss so many cues. He's gonna be panicking at 2am to Kaminari and Kirishima, over whether or not Kacchan would appreciate a bouquet of flowers. He's going to end up giving Kacchan a lego bouquet instead. He's gonna feel like a perv anytime his thoughts turn anywhere slightly indecent towards Kacchan. He'll be even more enthralled by Kacchan than ever before. He's going to think a Matrix movie marathon counts as a date (to his luck, with Kacchan, it will.) He's going to inadvertently do the most heart-felt, romantic, suave things when he's not even trying.

Look. Basically he is just going to be like every graceless but well-intentioned nerdy boy in his first relationship. And to his saving grace, he'll be dating a boy just as socially awkward as him - but in a different flavor.

[megamindsupremacy]

So like, y'all know that popular Star Wars fic trope of Time Traveling Obi-Wan Kenobi where he dies and then wakes up in his 11ish year old body back in the Jedi Temple? You know how usually he wakes up, has a few minutes/hours of confusion, and then goes about trying to act like he was at age 11 while slowly fixing everything wrong with the Jedi Order? Personally I think he would not do that.

I think that Ben "Lived As A Wizard Hermit For Two Decades On Tattooine, Left, And Then Died Immediately" Kenobi would wake up as an eleven-year-old, have a panic attack, attack the nearest adult Jedi while accusing them of Doing Weird Sith Shit To His Brain, fucking flee, only then realize he has time traveled, steal someone's ship, go flying out of the temple to god knows where, continue panicking, crash into a random moon while distracted, nearly die, build a survival camp out of his broken ass ship and eat whatever bugs he can find, get kidnapped by pirates, overthrow said pirates, steal their ship, and then very calmly return to the Jedi temple like nothing happened.

Then and only then do I think he would start trying to act like a normal human person (while also dodging questions such as "what the fuck was that" and "where were you" and "is that a pirate's ship?"), except he'd be bad at it due to having lived as an Insane Wizard Desert Hermit for the past twenty years who has experienced enough trauma and time that he doesn't super well remember the details of his childhood, what with all of the wars and death and wars and such.

His acting convinces nobody, but nobody is sure what exactly to do about All Of That so he's for the most part left alone (after very vehemently refusing sptherapy), all the way up until he catches a glimpse of palpatine out of the corner of his eye and then its On Sight

[halflifebutawesome]

I'm not articulate in the slightest but like. Something something the first and last time you ever canonically see Barney Calhoun is when you're departing on a train or tram.

[bonefall]

I think Nightcloud's Thaw (assuming you keep that title) is a great idea not only because your Nightcloud is so interesting and because she as a character deserves more spotlight, but also because it would be interesting to see Crowfeather begin to change from her perspective. After all, you said it was a surprise he offered to help save Breezepelt at all- and what better way to show that than for us to not be inside his head when he makes the decision to offer to help?

I'm feeling more and more confident about it. I think BB!Nightcloud is absolutely the best choice of a character to observe the events of "Crowfeather's Trial," now Nightcloud's Thaw.

Nightcloud's Thaw is an okay title for now, but I want to bat around some more names.

It's meant to invoke the way her life begins to turn around, after Crowfeather's exile; beginning with that reveal, how Crowfeather's behavior reaches a breaking point in the Clan, her reputation turn-around, and finally accepting Crowfeather's help in aiding Breezepelt.

So "thaw" is one way to put it... but if I could capture something more related to the change of seasons or time, that would be good too. Nightcloud's Daybreak, Nightcloud's Horizon.

We can go through Nightcloud's process of unlearning with her.

The dread and fury at the reveal, the shock when Crowfeather actually sees a consequence, and the way that suddenly the Clan is sympathetic towards her in a way they'd never been

How this newfound empathy feels somewhat insulting to her, but, how it helps her start to realize that she DOESN'T deserve how Crow treats her.

Makes it easy to truncate most of OotS, can quickly be described as "they stayed together slightly longer, but if it wasn't dead, their relationship was quickly dying."

And really get to the meat of the story with how Crowfeather deflecting the blame of their son's Dark Forest training on her was the LAST straw. For everyone. Including Crowfeather himself.

(I think I'll actually change around the fight in the BOTTE to be Breeze attacking CROW, and Lionblaze STOPS him. Because killing his pathetic dad, in the end, wouldn't fix anything and would ruin his life forever. Really change it to stress that no one likes Crowfeather because of how he keeps treating people. If Crow wants to turn that around, he has to CHANGE.)

(Plus, something just feels nice about letting the two have a bond. Something about how they were both pulled out of the dirt at the Kitty Olympics and washed clean by Nightcloud, starting this deep, brotherly bond somehow. I'll have to revisit this.)

Nightcloud alone can link the way that Crowfeather is trying to change himself, AND the way Breezepelt is getting worse, in the way I want

She's cautious of Crowfeather, for good, obvious reasons. He hurt her, and has only ever used her good faith as leverage against her.

And she's charitable to Breezepelt, because she knows exactly what pain is behind his rash, emotional behaviors.

SO I can frame them both in the way I want through her eyes.

Plus, I need a place to put her childhood. If it's not here, I wouldn't have a good spot to put it.

I could link all the flashback segments with having Addersong pass away, since he would be VERY old at this point. It could be very bittersweet for her

She spent so much time away from her beloved mentor, who taught her so much.

She could have had so many wonderful years with him, his advice, and his songs. But now he's an elder in his last moons

All because she let her heart be hardened after the death of her family. Pain lead her astray so many times...

I'll probably rework a LOT of the stoat stuff. I know right away there's a lot of actions in CT I want to rip away from Crowfeather and hand over to Breezepelt; a lot of the loud, openly argumentative moments he has with Onestar for example. SHOW the way that Breezepelt interprets Harespring/Darkseeker's diplomatic responses as "sniveling and traitorous" to him.

Have Nightcloud be trying to bridge this gap between Breezepelt and his Clanmates with her new reputation, and it just not working.

Maybe shuffle Nightcloud's disappearance near the end of the book, around the time that the Kin appears. Show that his mother being suspected dead was a BIG reason Breezepelt made such an emotional choice to join the Kin, and bring his other allies with him.

[perenlop]

okay so as a gen 5 stan who does adore the story in bw and bw2, and now that gen 5 has experienced both a vicious hatedom that wouldnt hear a single positive thing about the games, and now a super protective fandom that insists they were perfect and had zero flaws... can we admit now that the bw1 story at least was. a little mid.

[theloveinc]

c.w: fem pronouns

Just watched the new Hunger Games movie and I need to slobber on some district!Bakugou for a while! 😫😫

Like imagine you're both there for the Reaping and a random boy's name is called and both your shoulders drop just a bit because at it's not Bakugou. However, your name is called for the female tribute and Bakugou immediately volunteers. He can't step in for you since there has to be a female tribute, so he steps in as the male tribute so he can at least protect you during the games, even if that means killing or to be killed 😫😫

FUCKKCKCKCKKKKKKKKK and you're just bawling as he walks up to the stand, half out of sadness half out of rage; he finally, finally escaped the games (this being his last reaping), yet here he is, just offering himself up on a silver platter all because of you.

You can't say you don't love him even more for it, are even a little relieved, but... now you're both gonna die and you're not sure who to blame. Bakugo trades places with the random boy (who practically runs off stage) and goes in to comfort you, tell you it's all gonna be okay as the peacekeepers start leading you away, but instead of accepting the gesture, I can imagine you swat him off, angry because he didn't just save himself.

(It doesn't get any easier as time goes on—in waiting for your turn to say goodbye to your family, you can hear his mother berate him for being weak and softhearted, his father is practically nonverbal with tears, disowning him unless he's able to make it home. In boarding the train to the capital, your district mentors tsk at him for "choosing" a girl over a lifetime of freedom, and even the news can't seem to stop bringing up the fact he volunteered only after you were picked.

It makes Bakugo mad, furious even, and more determined to win given how they underestimate him... but it's not like that protects you along with him.)

and even though he never brings those moments up to you once they pass (and you forgive him enough to at least speak to him), there's still these question of what your strategy is going to be. Do you play up the fact that you're a couple, or do you pretend that you don't know one another (except at night, when you can finally sneak into each other's rooms without anyone noticing)? Do you team up in the games as soon as possible and do the whole thing together, or see how far you get alone???????????????

UGH, JUST.... WHY WOULD U DO THIS BAKUGO ????????!!!!!!! we know he gets you both out though

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Giving myself a spa day and washing my hair while thinking about what would happen if totk Ganondorf actually won is a strange way to relax but ok brain. You do you.

[help-me-find-a-name-please-lol]

i have depriving myself down to an art form

[yore-donatsu]

“That’s all, King ? On the ground with a simple "slap". Pathetic !”

[musette22]

Evanstan AU: firefighter Chris & EMT Sebastian who 1000% has to scold this very, very handsome guy for running back into the fire to get a kids beloved toy (or smth else idk) when his compressed air was already low. BC of that he's inhaled some smoke &, yes, he's absolutely going to hold this oxygen mask to his face so he can get a better look at those eyes whiling trying to come up with a non-inappropriate pick-up line. Love you 😘

Oooooooooohhhhh OKAY OKAY, I am SO here for this 😍 This would work extremely well for both Evanstan and Stucky, ooofff.

Big, rugged fireman Chris/Steve who cares more about helping others than about his own safety, and fearless, caring EMT Sebastian/Bucky who's immediately got Chris's number (figuratively at first, and later that night also literally) and tells him to sit the fuck down so he can check him out. Over. Whatever.

Chris only complies because he's a little woozy from the lack of oxygen and a lot stunned by this gorgeous EMT with the most beautiful eyes he's ever seen. He might even say that bit out loud, whoops. But he can't be held accountable for what he says while he's high on adrenaline and oxygen, okay? And Sebastian can't be blamed for going all red and flustered: he is on the site of a fire, after all (not to mention tending to the hottest guy in all of New York - the state, not the city)

UGH, I neeeed this, thank you!!! ❤️‍🔥

[aestheticitii]

i like to think the reason volo is so surprised that togepi likes him is that he actually hated togepi at first.

now, i'm assuming it's the same togepi as in PLA and dimensional shenanigans mean that he was pulled in with the wrong version of her.

so, allow me to set the scene, under the cut:

this story takes place almost six years before our protagonist (who is akari, in my heart) arrives in hisui. volo, seemingly a young man, arrives at cogita's place, due to a letter she sent to him.

she reveals to him that the pokemon nearby have been spooked badly by something, or someone. he agrees to take a look, if she'll share a particular book with him.

so, volo sets off and finds an injured hisuian decidueye, who attacks him with impunity. during this fight, he notices and correctly deduces that:

a) this decidueye was injured by someone, and

b) he has something to protect, likely a child

because of the book that's promised to him, and because volo sees value in having such a strong pokemon aid him, volo begins his attempts to "befriend" the decidueye.

the next day, while he's still injured (for which cogita displays motherly concern, which volo dismisses due to his resentment of her), he returns to heal the decidueye—and leaves some berries that not only help heal injuries, but are also good for young pokemon to eat.

this goes on for roughly a month before decidueye decides he can trust volo with the existence of his child—togepi, then a helpless egg. and volo, while he refuses to analyze it, actually enjoys spending time with decidueye. it's the first time he's done so in years, since the passing of the two pokemon who had followed him through his childhood (and died for it).

but good things aren't meant to last. though decidueye heals up nicely, he's still rather weak because of his injuries, which were long left untreated. he lasts for another three months before he entrusts togepi, still an egg, to volo, expending the last of his energy to go find an heirloom he and his deceased mate wanted to leave for their child.

and volo hates togepi for it.

every time he looks at the egg, he considerd smashing it. "if it wasn't for you, decidueye would still be alive." he can't fathom decidueye's actions, nor can he accept it as "selflessness (on decidueye's part)" instead of "selfishness (on togepi's part)".

mind you, togepi is an egg. she can't do shit.

but he always stops himself before he does anything he'll regret, eventually convincing himself that raising a pokemon from the beginning ensures loyalty—at least until togepi finds a better master, or learns that volo could do nothing for her father.

but volo, despite how twisted he is, ends up charmed by how togepi follows him around. even if he's rude and cold at times, though he does the bare minimum, she still looks at him as if he's hung the sun, the stars, the moon—even the clouds in the sky. and volo is weak to that genuineness, despite thinking that togepi has every reason to hate him, even though he internally treats it with revulsion.

[now, for an intermission, things volo has definitely thought about togepi:

(after she presents him with a daisy because she thinks it'll look good against his hair) "i wonder if there's anything in that empty head of yours. silly girl, you should be worrying about yourself."

(when togepi tries to change his towel when he gets a fever) "i know that it's only a matter of time. i know that. but if i close my eyes, i can return to the past and take you with me. so, just for today...i..."

(after someone says that it's amazing how well-behaved togepi is) "that's like remarking on a daughter obedient to her father. in exchange for gems and other finery, she plays a quiet, docile fool, until she has no need of him. that's why...i need to find the rest of those plates soon. so that...we can remain together i will never be betrayed."]

and togepi, despite being young, can understand volo is hurting, but is ultimately a good person. volo is not only the closest thing she has to a dad, but she's also the only one who can worm into his heart now, or so cogita says. so she makes it her life's goal to make volo happy, because she hates it when he's unhappy, even if it means making very questionable decisions and hurting someone else she loves.

[now, another intermission—things togepi has definitely thought about volo:

(after he smiles sadly) "ah...don't smile like that." (smushes his cheeks, causing him to snort and laugh) "please let him always be happy. please let me make him happy.”

(after witnessing a father-daughter pokemon duo in the wild) "a father? the way you're looking at them...it seems like you also don't know what a father is." (after being told what a father is) "ah, that's not true. it seems we're not the same. i have a father...and i'm not old enough to be yours..."

(after being told what volo wants to achieve) "if the world is remade...then will you and i ever meet?" (cuddles in beside volo) "but you said, 'we'll do it together.' so...whatever you need me to do...i'll do it."]

after all, it only makes sense that volo's pokemon are equally crazy, and possibly very devoted to him. that craziness is why n lies to volo—it's not that togepi tells n their plans, it's that she's frighteningly devoted to him, almost in the same way some members of team plasma acted.

[by the way, cogita also gifts him some letters from his deceased mother (who was her niece) that she found while cleaning. that's actually the reason she calls him, because it's his mother's birthday. they end up celebrating it for the first time in a looong time, and cogita thinks she might've raised him right (nope)]

[captainderyn]

When the local coffee shop reopens to allow dogs, you turn your writing session into a rainy day training session.

[aromanticasterisms]

read through alien space for star rail context and every frame himeko's in you can faintly hear me in the bg trying hard not to think about how much she looks like diluc

[rowanthestrange]

one minute of silly puppy playing with and teething on his nylabone, to the background restaurant noise of a silent travelvlogger (to get him used to the television and different kinds of ambient sounds).

[psycherprince]

ways my emotional support cat has emotionally supported me thus far:

-got the zoomies while I was crying and distracted me by being fucking goofy

-found a bottle of Lexapro that had rolled under my bed (after he knocked it off my nightstand, but he did find it)

-crawled up on my shoulders like a parrot, preventing me from getting any work done (benefit unclear), pic related

-whined like a little baby when I wouldn't let him bite my face (???)

-REFUSES to let me piss without supervision (the bathroom door doesn't close all the way sometimes and he just bonks into it until it opens)

-forces me to get out of bed and bothers me relentlessly when I don't (this one actually is really helpful)

-does this:

[elder-dragon-93]

Legit some of the best characterizations I've seen are when a character is basically a human (or half-human) shaped cat.

Cloud, Sephiroth, and Genesis

Ardyn and Noctis

The Sparda Boys

The Elric Brothers

Most of the cast of Katekyo Hitman Reborn

Sasuke... when he's not being a total cunt

I'm sure there are plenty of others floating around in my head but DMC and FFs VII and XV have eaten my brain recently so these are the examples that have managed to stay stuck in my head.

Honorable Mention goes to Toothless, who while not human, is definitely cat-coded.