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agentofmischief · 3 years ago

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Birthstone Legacy Challenge

Ok, I don’t post a lot on here, but I’m a huge fan of the sims. I’ve been playing it since gen 1 back in 2000. So, I’ve been having fun with challenges, especially the past couple years with 100 Baby, and I’ve found online. And after reading hearing and reading up on Lilsimsie’s Not So Berry Challenge, I had an idea of my own challenge. So, I thought I’d share if anyone else wanted to play along.

Disclaimer: These challenges mean nothing in regards to people born in that month. I simply took symbolism and cultural aspects of each stone to create a challenging and interesting playthroughs you might not think to do.

Lifespan requirements: Normal (not sure if it’s possible on Short, but if you want hard mode, do it).

The idea is to start with your month’s birthstone, then each generation is the next month’s stone for either 10 generations (traditional Legacy), or 12 if you wan to do the full year. You could also start on the month after your birth month with a full year play-through, so your birth month acts as a “finale”. Might be helpful if say your birth month is April, and you know your month’s stone is Diamond and to you it sounds like a finisher, or if your birth month is December, and you’d just prefer to start with January’s stone. It’s up to you.

These will just be listed month by month, so they are easy to find.

Like in the other color challenges, you want to model your sim with the stone’s colors in mind. You should also build their house with their stone’s color in mind.

1. January stone: GARNET

Color: Dark Red

Garnets have a high refractive index, which causes them to look as if they are emitting light. Due to this phenomenon, travelers during the crusades would carry them to ward off evil. The stone represents Faith, Love and Constance.

Traits: Good, Ambitious, Cheerful

Goals:

- Complete the Soulmate aspiration

- Complete the Law career as a judge.

- Must maintain career until death (meaning no retirement, quitting, or being fired).

- Must have at least 2 kids after the soulmate aspiration is fulfilled.

- All children must be raised with all green character values and no lower than Bs in school.

2. February stone: AMETHYST

Color: Purple

The word Amethyst comes from the Greek word, amethystos, meaning “not drunken.” This comes from a myth where Dionysus was so enraged, he vowed his wrath on the next human he saw, which was a young woman, Amethystos. To “save” this woman, Artemis turned her to stone (note to self, don’t ask Artemis to save you ever, because her track record sucks). Dionysus calmed at seeing the stone’s beauty, and poured his wine on it, giving the stone it’s purple color. In more recent centuries, amethysts have been associated with piety and rank in the Catholic Church, as bishops are given amethysts when they are appointed.

Traits: Genius, Bookworm, Snob (If you have Snowy escape, replace one of these with Proper).

Goals:

-Complete the Knowledge - Renaissance Sim aspiration.

-Complete the Education Career as a Professor.

-Can not go to bars or nightclubs

-Max out Logic, Writing, and a musical skill (Violin, Guitar, Piano, or Singing)

-Can never marry or enter into an official dating relationship; HOWEVER must have at least 1 kid at some point to continue the legacy. This can be through adoption, which is more likely if you want to play pure piety or you have an Ace sim in mind, and the adoptee must be a child or teen. The other option is through secret woohoos if you want to play the more historically accurate, seedy way. **If you are playing with Risky Woohoos, you can have max 2 kids living with you. All others children must be removed from the house and into a Townie’s home once they become toddlers.

3. March stone: AQUAMARINE

Color: Light Blue

Due to aquamarine’s sea-like color, they’ve long been associated with traveling and the sea. Sailors used to put them under their pillows to calm themselves. They are said to inspire peace and ward off poisons.

Traits: Loves Outdoors, Glutton, Loner

Goals:

-Complete Angling Ace aspiration.

-Eat out of the trash 5 times without getting sick.

-Have an aquarium with 10 fish.

-Catch a vampire squid. ** Or if you have Island Living, you must become a mermaid.

-Must eat and learn to make Pufferfish Nigiri.

4. April stone: DIAMOND

Color: White/Silver

Diamond is the hardest stone on Earth, and is often associated with wealth and treasures. The word diamond comes from the greek word adamas, meaning unconquerable. They are the most popular of the stones, and so recently have been “Lab Grown.”

Traits: Ambitious, Insider, Perfectionist

Goals:

-Complete the Scientist career.

-Complete Leader of the Pack aspiration.

-Find all the crystals.

-Must clone a diamond.

-Become best friends with Judith Ward and have a framed selfie with her in your house.

-Date/marry someone in the Style-influencer career.

5. May stone: EMERALD

Color: Dark Green

Emeralds are an old stone, first mined in ancient Egypt. Cleopatra was known to wear them frequently. They are said to symbolize fertility, wisdom, and Spring. It’s also said to heal heartbreak.

Traits: Jealous, Romantic, Materialistic

Goals:

-Master Gardening skill.

-Date and 100% romance a politician, then break up with them.

-Have at least 3 kids from multiple partners (each must have reached 100% romance first).

-Breed a frog worth over $100

-Must complete Fabulously Wealthy aspiration

-Does not marry, UNLESS you have Strangerville, and can marry an Officer in the Military Branch. However, when they die, so does your sim.

6. June stone: PEARL

Color: White/Cream

Pearls are created by oysters and are considered the “perfect” gem, as it needs no man-mad alterations. Pearls are often attributed to wisdom through experience, as well as innocence and fertility.

Traits: Childish, Perfectionist, Family-oriented

Goals:

-Must have 5 kids before becoming an adult.

-Must complete the Curator aspiration.

-Must master 10 skills. ** If you are using Tiny House perks, 15 skills.

7. July stone: RUBY

Color: Bright Red

Rubies are well known for their blood-red color, earning their association with health and vitality. They are also symbols of love, passion, and prosperity.

Traits: Self-Assured, Romantic, Self-Absorbed

Goals:

-Complete Serial Romantic aspiration.

-Master Cooking, Athletic, and Charisma skills.

-Complete Doctor Career.

-Must Woohoo at least once in each: Closet, Jacuzzi, Observatory, Bush, Spaceship, Lighthouse, Pile of leaves, Shower, Coffin.

8. August stone: PERIDOT

Color: Light Green

Peridot is the stone of compassion, bringing health and peace to emotions and the mind. It inspires eloquence, creativity, and good cheer.

Traits: Creative, Vegetarian, Goofball

Goals:

-Complete the Painter Career.

-Master Painting, Photography, and Handiness skills.

-Paint 5 Masterpieces.

-Craft a bathtub of excellent quality.

-Complete Painter Extraordinaire aspiration.

9. September stone: SAPPHIRE

Color: Royal Blue

With the most famous sapphires being Princess Diana’s iconic engagement ring and The Heart of the Ocean in Titanic, it’s now wonder Sapphires hue long been associated with nobility and power. The stone symbolizes strength, loyalty, and focus through self-discipline.

Traits: Materialistic, Genius, Insider ** If you have snowy escape, Proper takes place for Materialistic.

Goals:

-Complete the Law Career as a Private Attorney.

-Complete the Mansion Baron aspiration.

-Must start a club with Wealthy requirement ($30,000+). *If you start a fraternity/sorority in University, it counts if wealthy is listed as a requirement.

-Max out Charisma, Logic, and Writing skills.

-Must marry another club leader.

-Must get Gold in Wedding Social Event, and pay full $1750. Minimum of 10 guests.

-Must have a son. (He does not HAVE to be the continuation of the Legacy, but he can if you want. Also, if you have a born daughter, but decide to transition her, that does not count. Since it’s a click of a button without game mechanic influence, it’s kind of cheating. HOWEVER, if you decide your born son should transition, it still counts. This is mostly to take the steps during pregnancy to make a boy (since we’ve all watched others influence for a girl 1000x), That or to keep going until “the odds are in your favor.”)

10. October stone: PINK TOURMALINE

Color: Pink

Pink Tourmaline, also known as October rose, represents humanity, sympathy to others, and humanitarian work. It’s believed to carry the virtue of love that is unconditional, offering comfort to children and lasting friendships.

Traits: Unflirty, Gloomy, Outgoing

Goals:

-Complete the Politician career as a Charity Organizer.

-Complete Friend to the World aspiration.

-Adopt 2 kids (Do not have to be legacy continuation).

-Max out friendship/be best friends with 4 sims before becoming an Adult. The friendship must be maintained throughout life.

-Have a rose garden.

-Write 5 Children’s books.

-Volunteer with family 5 times.

*If you get the pop-up asking to donate to charity, you must if you have the money.

11. November stone: CITRINE

Color: Dark Yellow (almost Gold)

Citrine’s yellow stone radiates happiness, creativity, and wealth. Named for it’s citrus like color, it’s no wonder it’s the stone for a month known for it’s food. Citrine is known also as the Merchant’s stone for it’s golden color.

Traits: Cheerful, Foodie, Creative

Goals:

-Complete Culinary Career.

-Complete Culinary aspiration.

-Master Cooking and baking skills.

-Own a fruit and vegetable garden with every possible fruit and veggie in your game.

-Own a Bakery or Restaurant.

-Cook an Excellent quality Grand Meal.

-Learn 10 Food Stall recipes.

12. December stone: Turquoise

Color: Blue/Green (Teal)

Turquoise is an odd one. In European cultures, it’s the stone of friendship and attracts money and luck, but is also frequently used in Evil Eye talismans. Historically, Montezuma II gifted these gems to Cortez, the Spanish Conquistador. The Apache used turquoise as well, as a charm on their bows for better aim.

Traits: Evil, Outgoing, Kleptomaniac

Goals:

-Max out Mischief and Charisma skills.

-Complete the Criminal Career.

-Complete Public Enemy aspiration.

-Start a Kleptomaniac club.

-Steal an object worth $10,000

-Marry someone with the Good trait, and cheat on them 5 times.

Happy simming!

#thesims #the sims legacy #sims challenge #legacy challenge #birthstone #The Sims 4 #sims 4 challenge #sims 4 legacy #Birth Stone Challenge #birth stone legacy #birth stone #gemstone #gemstone challenge #gem challenge #lets play #color challenge #color legacy challenge #sims 4 color

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timetravelersdoctor · 5 years ago

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Happy ending (multiple au's)

So I thought of a few happy ending au's for different fandoms. So here we go

Batman (no particular version just in general):

Bruce Wayne may have lost his parents but he would never let that make him bad or dark. Raised by his Butler Alfred pennyworth bruce decided to be a hero.

He trained and took up the name batman. He faced many enemies as Batman but made many friends. Outside the mask bruce Wayne took a class to become a therapist he has a doctorate and runs the company. He listens to his employees and their troubles. Preventing many villains in the making. He trains the next gen of heros and retires.

Harry potter:

Harry was a young boy eleven years old when he was told he was magical. He got to go to a school and learn magic. He made friends and faced trials along the way.

What kind of trials you ask? Well Harry was destined to defeat a great evil but he would not face this evil alone for the prophecy stated 'he can only be as strong as his allies and they together and only together can defeat the evil' his friends and the adults faced every event together many were injured but none died. Harry lived on traveling with his friends adopting children that had no home. He never married and died surrounded by family.

Steven universe:

Steven was unique a half gem half human. He was born to a Greg universe and a gem named rose quartz also known as pink diamond.

Stevens mother made mistakes before he was born but when she learned that she and her love could have a child she decided to fix them before giving up her form for the child. So she went and revealed herself and explained everything. The other diamonds listened. Changes were made and friends reunited and steven was brought into the world he would be raised by his father and visit his mother's family on occasion he grew up a mostly normal. After all nobody is normal.

Um that's it for now. If you happen to like my writing and want more please go ahead and request it. I will write almost what ever you want. I know this isn't enough to go on but I have a few more writings on my blog if you're interested.

#batman #batman au #steven universe #su au #steven universe au #harry potter #harry potter au #hp au #writing

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tempusetspatiumsims · 5 years ago

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Gen 9 & 10 - High Medieval Age

“With the fall of the invaders and the restoration of the crop supplies, governments emerge once again. Community lots, old customs and learning once again emerge”

Social ranks are back but the rise and fall of the population from previous eras might have changed how social classes are developed in this age. In this Age, ranks are developed based on which family has the biggest resources (Crops, collectibles, lots and simoleons in the Household), Influence (Friends outside the Household), and Skills (Total Skills gained of the entire Household) at the end of the Dark Ages. The family who has the most resources will become part of the Monarchy, the next in line are the Nobility / Lordship after that are the Cityfolks (Merchants), and last, on the social ladder are the Peasants. The Clergy Class will be conformed by sims from different households and social classes, your choice.

Some General Rules and unlocks for all classes:

o Aspirational Changes - “After a couple of centuries, some Medieval Sims discovered the pleasure of a life surrounded with expensive things while others simply wanted to see their children grow up.”

Sims may now also pursuit the Successful Lineage, Super Parent, Academic, and Mansion Baron aspirations. Also, by this time your sims can choose another aspiration once they finish the first one. if your sim by random choice get the Academic aspiration then they have to leave their household and join the Clergy

o New Activities - “Medieval Sims found many new ways to keep themselves entertained, and made sure that their children were given plenty of opportunities to hone the skills they would use later in life.” Sims may now also buy and use dolls/bears, kids’ activity tables, monkey bars, pianos, pipe organs, punching bags, horseshoe pits, pumpkin carving stations, puppet theaters and wishing wells.

o Romance in the Kingdom - “Though most Medieval Sims found love in one partner, some Sims’ desire for more extended beyond mere material wealth.” Sims may now use the “safe” woohoo option.

Females always get the social status of their husbands therefore, the female moves out to their husband's household.

Male Sims may take lovers of any gender in secret, while females can only have affairs with males.

If a female is caught cheating on her husband, she must be removed from the family. If she was pregnant at the time, that child is considered a bastard and cannot be added to the main family. Illegitimate sons will take their mother status unless their fathers decide to recognize them as part of the family.

Monarchy:

The firstborn son will become King and will take the Throne once that either, becomes an Adult or if the previous King dies before his adulthood. As Heir of the throne, he should never move out of the castle except for going to the University. If the monarchy runs out of Male heirs the throne will belong to the closest Male familiar and the previous Monarchs entire family is demoted into Nobles.

Heirs must take a job in Politics (Politician Branch). Non-Heir Males can take a job on the Military (Officer Branch). Also, they might own Big size farms and employ peasants to work for them. Female members of the Monarchy can't take any jobs. They will use their free time to cultivate their Charisma, Painting, Singing, Violin, Flower Arranging, and Pipe Organ Skills.

Male teens must go to school and later be sent to universities.

They have to Marry with members of the Monarchy Or Noble Class Sims. They can have affairs with sims of other social classes. Bastard sons are not eligible as an Heir.

May have as many servants as they want. Servants would live in the castle but they would be treated as peasants.

Clergy:

The oldest member with more influential friends (Monarchy, Nobility, Wealthy Merchants) and with more earned skills will become the High Priest and the Head of the Church Order.

The Clergy is the keeper of the Education, Knowledge, Graveyards and adoption system. They are in charge of Universities (Britechester at this moment), Libraries and graveyards lots also this class belongs to University teachers, Librarians, and social services NPCs / Townies.

Once you join this Class you have to change the Sim aspiration to Academic, also they live under an abstinent vow. They can not marry anyone in their lives. The Church will maintain its population by adopting unwanted children from other sims and/or with those who are willing to take the vows.

The Clergy gets their funds by taking the Education Career (Professor and Administrator Branches), Politics (Charity Organizer Branch), Selling fruits and vegetables from their farms, Selling baked goods, asking for donations from sims and by receiving a tax help from other citizens.

Nobility / Lords:

The firstborn son will be the family Heir at the moment he becomes an Adult. As Heir, he should never move out of the castle except for going to the University. Non-Heirs males members can join the Church but they must leave the family castle and lose their nobility titles.

Heirs must marry members of the Monarchy or Nobility, however, non-heirs can marry whoever they chose.

Heirs and Male Non-Heirs can take a job in either Politics (Charity Organizator Branch) or Military (Officer Branch) Also, they might own medium sized farms and employ peasants to work for them. Female members of the Nobility can't take any jobs. They will use their free time to cultivate their Charisma, Painting, Singing, Violin, Flower Arranging, and Pipe Organ Skills.

Single women of the family are not permitted to live alone. However, if her husband dies, they can live alone if they want.

Must send their kids and teens to school. But only male members can go later to the University.

If a Nobleman is marrying a member of the Monarchy he must have a job in Politics or Military, have his Charisma, Fitness and Research & Debate Skills maxed.

If a Noblewoman is marrying a member of the Monarchy she must have at least a level 7 on at least 3 of the following skills: Charisma, Painting, Singing, Violin, Flower Arranging, and Pipe Organ. The Bride’s family must give to the future husband 5.000 $ as a bethroyal gift.

May have as many servants as they want. They would live in the castle but they would be treated as peasants.

Each week, the family must pay taxes, 15 % of their hand cash as taxes to the Monarchs.

Cityfolks (Merchant Families):

The firstborn Sim will be the family Heir at the moment they become an Adult. As Heir / Heiress, they should never move out of the house lot.

Cityfolks may marry whomever they desire however to marry a member of the Nobility, the family must have at least 15000 $ in hand cash, at least level 7 on the Charisma Skill and reached at least a Good Reputation.

If a young woman is marrying a member of the Nobility, the Bride’s family must give to the future husband 3.000 $ as a bethroyal gift. No Bethroyal gift is required for Peasants.

May own Get Together Retail Stores, small farms and/or sell their goods on the City Living / Jungle Adventures “Come and Get it Street Store” tables. Teenagers can help with the business or take a job in the Manual Labor (Males only) or Baby Sitter (Females only)

May “Rent” rooms to other Cityfolks and Peasants with the Discovery University Roommate feature

They can hire peasants for help in the business, farms or home help.

Only wealthy families can send their kids and teens to school. Also, Only wealthy families can send the male members of the family to the University.

Each week, Cityfolks have to pay 30% of their hand cash as taxes to the Nobility.

Each week, Cityfolks have to pay 10% of their hand cash as taxes to the Clergy.

Peasants Families:

Any Sim, no matter the sex or birth order can be the family Heir. But you have to delimitate who is going to be the Heir / Heiress once they reach the Young Adult stage. As Heir / Heiress, they should never move out of the house lot.

They can work for Monarchy, Nobility, or Merchants families as domestic help, farmers, prostitutes, gems and metal gatherers and/or in stores. But also can take a job in the Manual Labor, Fisherman (Males only) or Baby Sitter (Females only). They can share a community garden with other peasants.

Peasants can get married to whomever they want but if the person is on a higher social rank once they move in, they lost their status and becomes a Peasant.

Peasant kids and teens can’t go to school

Male teenagers may go to school if they reach a high Charisma

Each week, Peasants have to pay 30% of their hand cash as taxes to the Nobility.

Each week, Peasants have to pay 10% of their hand cash as taxes to the Clergy.

#TS4 #TS4 History Challenge #Medieval #High Medieval Age #Through Time and Space #Through the Eras #Rulebook

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knitmeapony · 6 years ago

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Gather round, all ye lads and lasses and lovelies, and allow me to Regale thee with a tale from Gen Con 2009.

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Laurie. She like to play Nockers in changeling the dreaming games, and she played one of her finest that year. The mechanic of an Airship crewed by her friends characters, filled with camaraderie and sarcasm. This was her first year of mighty costuming. She had pants made entirely of pockets. She had a gas mask purchased at the thrift store. And most delightful of all, she had a wooden box, modern in construction and sturdy, that looked a bit like a treasure chest. It was used to store drill bits originally, and it was given to her by her father. The game that she played that year was a three-day-long game. It was filled with characters of every type in the world of Darkness, including some very sweet but very clueless vampires. They were young, they were Tremere, and they were just trying to impress their Elder.

One of the plots that ran through every genre was an epic search for something called the box of Baba Yaga. The box of Baba Yaga was way way above the Nocker’s pay grade, but she was aware of it. She was aware of it in no small part because the young vampires decided to Quest for the Box by wandering around, asking everyone they saw if they knew anything of it.

The trouble was, they tended to forget who they asked already. The first time they asked, she said no. The second time they asked, she said no with great profanity and emphasis. The third time they asked if she knew where the box of Baba Yaga might be, with every ounce of sarcasm she could muster she said “yeah, I got your box of Baba Yaga right here” . These poor children were young. They did not understand sarcasm. It would be their undoing. They begin to question her constantly. If she knew where the box of Baba Yaga was, why was she hiding it? Where were they find it? Could she give it to them? Finally, at the very end of the second night, she held out the little Treasure Chest that was in her pack and she said here! Look! It’s the box of Baba Yaga! They did their Duty and rushed back to the Chantry and told their Elder they had found the box of Baba Yaga, in the hands of a very tricksy and dangerous Changeling.

And so, unbeknownst to the young woman, plans were made to kidnap her character at the beginning of the next day.

So the game began. And so she was kidnapped. There was very little she could do, and very little her friends could do to help her. Fortunately, she came equipped with one very important thing. She knew that these vampires were far too old to know any modern dance or music. So after some great show of reluctance, she agreed to give them the box of Baba Yaga and teach them the ritual to open it. She took them out to the yard behind the Chantry, she bade them All circle around , and with a mighty voice she began the ritual.

“Now first,” she said, “you must put your right foot in. And now, to show respect and deference, you must draw your right foot out. But show no fear, and put your right foot in again, and sway it back and forth like the tide. Then raise your hands high in the air, and widdershins three you must turn yourself around, because that is after all, what it is mother fucking all about.”

Making ancient and Powerful vampires do the hokey pokey is a mighty bunk indeed. It fueled a cantrip that allowed her to leap far above their heads and far out of their reach, safely away and gone. Now that alone makes the story memorable. But why, you may be asking, do I have a paper Ruby at the top of this post? The game Rubies of Eventide came out that year, and they had these fun pop up gems as their giveaway. And for giggles, our heroine had been gathering as many of these up as she could, flattening them, and putting them inside her treasure chest.

So when her character lept to safety, what was left to do? The head of the Chantry turned to the primagen, and ordered him to open the treasure chest. And the primagen turned to his childe and ordered him to open the treasure chest. And so on down the line until the lowliest of the Tremere crept forward, and with two careful fingers flipped open the treasure chest. Dozens, perhaps hundreds of Rubies of Eventide jumped out, looking for all the world like a video game or a cartoon where mighty riches tumble out of magical chests like a fountain of cardboard and rubber bands.

And that’s I shall forever keep a Ruby of Eventide, though I have never played the game, because as far as I’m concerned this is what it’s mother fucking all about.

#larp #gencon #true story #changeling the dreaming

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vicehectic · 6 years ago

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Vongola Vigilantes (1/?)

Based on this post I made a while ago, or you know, just this:

“...instead of Class 1-A and the Vongola 10th gen being the same age, the Vongola are a long established vigilante group that’s a pain in police’s and villain’s sides (most heroes either have neutral opinions or quietly agree with the Vongola) while Izuku loves them and is their number one fanboy.”

Parts 1 / 2 / 3 / ?

Also on AO3

A good portion of the city is flooded. Electricity is out, communication is down, and a chuck of the population is missing.

That's the context of the video Izuku is watching. He knows it like the back of his hand and keeps the memory close to his heart, but Izuku is easily a thousand of the million views that the video has racked up.

It's not even a good video, especially in this day and age. It's grainy and horrible and it's at 360p, but it still has millions of views. The video is also years old but views still increase by the hundreds every day.

A voice is heard behind the camera as soon as it starts.

“The tsunami hit yesterday,” it's a female voice, exhausted, tired and without hope as she pans her device across the wreckage of the city she can see from the hole through a wall, “It came without warning, without even an earthquake. The other people who survived in the building think it's a villain's quirk,” there’s a long pause, “Some good heroes are if they can't even stop this long scale attack,” she says cynically.

The voice sighs and the video is shaking, “We were lucky enough to live on the upper floors of the building, but the building is leaning, and it won't be long until it tips, with all of us in it. I can feel it and the kids have stopped believing me. Kids are smart nowadays,” there's an empty laugh that follows.

The video jerks suddenly and the voice is suddenly full of disdain, “Those dang heroes! Where are they? We're in this collapsing building either waiting to starve or tip over. Heroes are never there when we need them,” she says with contempt.

There’s a long moment where all the audio is just strong wind hitting the mic and the video just shows the wreckage of a building across from it.

Then there's a yell, “Hello, is anyone EXTREMELY there?!” it's a loud voice with a mechanical quality to it, but it is ear catching and unique, especially when the voice emphasizes the word “extremely”.

The video immediately jerks as the female voice yells, “Yes! Yes! Over here! Please! There are families trapped over here! Please help us!”

There's a moment of just nothing, until a man suddenly appears through the destroyed wall of the building. He's wearing an out of place black business suit with a yellow dress shirt and a black skinny tie. He has a strange white mask that covers his face and because of the quality, Izuku can't quite make it out, but Izuku has already committed that mask to memory from more clear pictures and videos. There's a pale yellow sun painted with watercolors at the left chin, while on the right side of the forehead, there's a black outline of an open clam with two rifle bullets crossed within it. The man's white hair is slicked back, and there isn't a hair out of place. There are formal shoes to match his attire on his feet, but there's a sparkling yellow fire like substance coming out the bottom that allows him to fly into the building easily.

The man approaches the woman behind the camera slow enough to show he means no harm, but fast enough to show his urgency. As he comes closer it's easy to make out a gold object with a bright yellow gem wrapped around the upper left arm of the man over his suit.

“Ma’am,” the man says, “Please lead me to the others, we need to get you all to extreme safety,” while the voice is completely serious, there's a strange quality to how he puts slight emphasis on the word “extreme” again.

The video jumps up immediately, “Of course!” the woman says and they both start to move, rubble is all the video shows for a while but there is still audio.

“How many people are extremely with you ma'am?”

There's a grunt, “Three dozen?” the woman asks rather than answers, “At least.”

There's silence for a couple of moments before the man is saying something, and it's not Japanese. But luckily subtitles appear on screen, translating the Italian words the man says, “I'm going to need some help around here Alaude.”

Alaude has a note next to it, noting that it's a name and not some sort of unknown word.

The video cuts to a different view, where the woman has her video focused right on the man who had called out to her, “Excuse me,” she asks, “But what are we waiting for?”

The man looks directly at her and the voice is suddenly very cheerful and bright, “Extreme reinforcements! Before they arrive, can I ask if anyone is injured?”

There's a murmuring in the crowd that is presumably behind the woman but a man steps into frame holding a child in his arms, “My little boy, Kaidoh, he got hit by some debris.”

The man in the mask immediately rushes forward pulling something out of his pocket, “Sir, if you allow me, I could heal your son before his injury gets extremely worse. Is that okay with you?”

The father of the child stares at the masked man, “Is that a scalpel?” he asks, scandalized.

The masked man immediately jabs the scalpel against his hand but it's completely unscathed, “It won't cut through anything. It's just an extreme tool I use to channel my powers.”

The father stares for a second before nodding, laying the child in his lap. The masked man immediately moves forward and the scalpel in his hand lights up in sparkling yellow energy. The man gently brushes the scalpel against the wound on the child's head and the wound stitches back together in seconds.

There's awed gasps that can be heard, but it only lasts for a second when a newer voice says, “Knuckle.”

The video turns in a flash and it takes a second for the video to focus on a man wearing a similar suit to the man referred to as “Knuckle”. He also wears a black suit and tie but has a dark purple dress shirt instead. He has a similarly blurry white mask but Izuku has also committed that to memory. The white mask is similar to Knuckle’s with the same clam and bullet combination on his right forehead, but on his left chin is the same watercolor painting of purple clouds. The man's hair is an inconspicuous normal black and he steps closer to the group surrounding Knuckle without even glancing at them.

“Is this all of them?” the man's voice is also mechanical, altered in some way, but it's also very cold and lacks emotion at its base.

Knuckle nods enthusiastically, “Let's get going while we can, while the building extremely remains intact.”

The new man turns away from the group and heads for a wall. The man lifts his left hand and there's a rather large silver bracelet around his wrist with a purple gem that lights up in a sparkling purple energy, similar to the yellow energy that Knuckle has, and then strikes the wall. The walls goes down immediately, screams of terror filling the mic of the camera the woman has.

“Alaude!” Knuckle scolds with a disapproving tone, “That's not extreme at all!”

Alaude barely glances back, “It's here, get them on it.”

The woman behind the video rushes forward with a gasp and in seconds, she's at the edge of the building, pointing the camera towards a floating slab of earth, “Oh my god,” she whispers out of disbelief. She turns the camera towards the masked men, both who had joined her at the edge, “Who are you people?”

Alaude is the one who turns to answer her, “Vongola.”

The video ends as soon as the word leaves Alaude's mouth.

Izuku’s mouse clicks on the close button of the tab, closing the video titled “First Appearance of the Vigilante Wonders: The Vongola.”

“They're so cool!” Izuku whispers to himself as he clicks on another video.

“-They call themselves the Vongola. Now, with us today we have a vigilante expert from Tokyo University to talk with us, Professor Tadashi Hito. Tadashi-sensei, could you tell us about we know so far about the Vongola?”

“Well they suddenly appeared during the aftermath of a villain's quirk, rescuing civilians using their quirk. They seem to be a group eight people who suddenly decided to assist the civilians in the city to rescue them. As it is, in the laws of Japan, quirk usage in public areas by those who are not licensed to do so is a crime. For these individuals to appear out of their good will to help civilians could be considered heroic, but it's illegal for them to take such action. And seeing how those individuals decided to disguise their appearances and voices, they knew what they were doing could be punishable by law.”

“Vongola, that's what they're calling themselves. That means ‘clam’ in Italian, and it's a rather strange title for themselves-”

“From eye witness reports we have been able to identify the codenames they called each other. Giotto, G, Asari, Daemon, Spade, Romeo, Knuckle and Alaude-”

“The vigilantes who call themselves The Vongola have appeared again, stopping a hostage situation in a local bank-”

“The Vongola Vigilantes have been leaving a clam mark on the victims they take out-”

“-we don't have any leads on them at the moment but we are doing our best-”

“The Vongola? I think they're great. Petty crime has dropped-”

“-what they're doing is punishable by law. They may think they're helping but they're just needlessly breaking laws. We have heroes and laws for a reason-”

“-gola have been spotted in broad daylight! They seem to be the individuals code-named Asari and G-”

“-the police gave chase but in the end vigilante Romeo and Spade disappeared-”

“-in his testimony that Vigilante Daemon from the Vongola saved the young hero's life-”

“I would say the leader has to be Giotto, he's hardly ever spotted, but he's without a doubt doing things in the background-”

“-definitely seen heroes working with some guys of the Vongola. But they always seem to escape by the time police-”

“It has been ten years since The Vongola emerged from the shadows of a flooding incident, and not once have they been identified nor caught. They've been saving civilians all over Japan from simple petty crimes to large-scale villains’ crimes. What we know about the vigilantes is scarce, and for what we know, they could be our co-workers, our next door neighbors, or a regular customer at some restaurant you always go to. There's not much we can do for them, but we can thank them for the service they've given Japan. I can't imagine what would have happened if I hadn't been saved by Knuckle and Alaude all those years ago from that collapsing building. I wouldn't have been able to see my children grow up to be who they are today. So, for that, I am eternally grateful.”

Yeah I did a thing. Idk if I’ll continue this or not? Feedback is appreciated though!

EDIT! I continued the thing! Read here!

Parts 1 / 2 / 3 / ?

Also on AO3

#boku no hero academia #my hero academia #katekyo hitman reborn #hitman reborn #khr x bnha #khr #bnha #mha #should i continue?#feedback is appreciated #my work

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lung-worm2023 · 7 months ago

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Shhhhh, They’re playing uno.

#captain underpants #tetocu #the epic tales of young gems #young gems tetocu au #The void rulers #the void princess #The void master #The void masteress #<- In order #Young gems next gen!Darkness

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dr-fumbles-mcstupid · 6 years ago

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My Hero Academia Rec list

So here is a list of all the BNHA fic i am reading that i love Please make sure to look at the tags and last updated date of the fics below. Most of these are W.I.P.’s The fics are listed in alphabetical order. and all pairings are in listed in alphabetical order by first name

Afterpoison

Author: Fire_Of_Yin

Rating: Mature

Status: In progress

Warning: Non-Con

Summary: That day at the mall, things took a much darker turn, and in fear of All Might getting hurt, Izuku covers it all up. He soon starts to deny it himself, until it comes back and hits him with panic attacks, nightmares, and a rapidly decreasing will to live. As time goes on, Izuku hits rock bottom, and Katsuki is left to pull him out of it all, despite their unstable relationship.

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki, Izuku/Shigaraki

NEW All The Light that Can’t be seen

Author: Evil Teddy Bear

Rating: Teen and up

Status: Complete

Warning: Major Character Death, Women in refrigerators

Summary: Years ago, Yagi Toshinori met Midoriya Inko during his daily commute to Yuuei, and it was love at first sight. Unfortunately, their story didn’t have a happy ending.

Izuku might have grown up ignorant of his origins, but the truth has a tendency of eventually getting exposed— one way or another.

Pairing: Gen

NEW And then the sun rose

Author: Grayclouds

Rating: Mature

Status: In progress

Summary: Eijiro Kirishima is three years old, too young to even start elementary school, when his mother tells him that they’re moving to the city of Musutafu. That is when he first meets Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo. This single meeting changes their lives forever.

Pairing: Ejiro/Izuku/Katsuki

NEW Atlas Inherited

Author: midoizuku

Rating: Tenn and up

Status: In Progress

Summary: Midoriya Izuku has plenty of reasons to be nervous. A lone 15-year-old has to deal with:

-A secret that, were he to tell anyone, would send the world toppling into havoc.

-A chilly heir-to-the-Fire-Nation-throne that seems hellbent on finding him out.

-Word of an ominous organization gearing up to ruin life as everyone knows it.

...You could say he's a little bit stressed out.

(In other words: Avatar AU)

Pairing: Izuku/Shouto

Atonement

Author: pornosophical

Rating: Mature

Status: In progress

Warning: Suicide Attempt

Summary: “If you want a quirk so damn badly, just throw yourself off the fucking roof and hope you get one in the next life!” Izuku jumps, and Katsuki learns that it’s harder to build than destroy.

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

A beacon in the dark

Author: NohaIjiachi

Rating: Teen and up

Status: In progress

Summary: “My thanks.” He says, smiling back. “What is your name, boy?” “I’m Izuku! Izuku Midoriya, sir!” The boy replies, excited, looking up at him. And Toshinori looks into the unmoving washed out green, into milky white pupils visible behind the mess curly hair, and realizes. The boy is blind. The boy that he distinctly saw dodge a series of fairly quick attacks, light on his feet and clearly used to some kind of training, the boy that had thrown him the bottle at the perfect height and perfect speed, the boy that has easily collected his spilled groceries and orderly put them back into the little plastic bag— The boy. Is blind.

Pairing: Izuku/Shouto

Before midnight

Author: DriftingGlass

Rating: Explicit

Status: Complete

Summary: Izuku Midoriya takes the same train to and from school Monday through Friday, morning and night. His only company during these lonesome hours comes in the form of another boy his age—a teen with scarred hands and blood gem eyes, a stranger with ash-blond hair who walks in a shroud of danger and mystery. "Would you stop with that fucking muttering, idiot?"

And before Izuku can find his footing, his life becomes a full-blown collision course thanks to walking cannonball Katsuki Bakugou. (And along the way he may have found the missing fuel to his fire).

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

Bleeding hearts are fatal

Author: anonymouseling

Rating: Teen and up

Status: In Progress

Summary: Quirk: Self-Inflicted Healing Can heal others by absorbing injuries through touch. Izuku has always been a kind and selfless person, but when he finds that he has just the quirk to let him help others, he can't help it if maybe he over does it once in a while. But bleeding hearts and what not.

Pairing: Gen

Bloom in winter

Author: E_va

Rating: Mature

Status: In Progress

Summary: Izuku Midoriya used to want to be a hero. It seems a distant dream, now, after everything that he's done—after everything that he's been made to do. But it's still there. It's a dim, flickering flame, burning lower by the day. He doesn't have time to concern himself with that though, these days he's too focused on staying alive to think too much about what he can never have. Then All Might takes a job teaching at UA, and the universe says hey you know what would be fun? What if we fucked Izuku over even more than we already have? and thus, Izuku ends up in the General Education class of UA with strict instructions to report everything he can, because, thank fucking no one, he just can't catch a goddamn break. AKA Hisashi Midoriya is a member of one of the most notorious underground supervillain organizations, and Izuku is being forced to help them (even though, trust him, he'd really rather not). Too bad that they don't predict that Izuku's going to get adopted by half the faculty when they send him to spy on the prestigious hero academy.

Pairing: Gen

NEW The Book of Deku

Author: melody_dramatic

Rating: Teen and up

Status: In Progress

Summary: Midoriya Izuku is born with a quirk, and it is a terrible, burning thing that will not let him rest. It has stolen his ignorance, his innocence, and his safety. It has driven him to restless obsession. But he is still Midoriya Izuku, and he will be a hero, whether his quirk cooperates or not.

AKA: Izuku gets a quirk that's actually awesome except for the part where it keeps messing with his head, but he's not about to let that keep him down. Even if it means resorting to vigilantism.

Pairing: Izuku/Ochako

Bruises and broken glass

Author: DeadDoveExtraordinaire, Raccoonheck

Status: In Progress, being re-worked

Rating: Mature

Summary: year after Deku throws himself off a building to his death, Bakugou is taken hostage by a villain who bears a striking resemblance to his dead childhood friend. Probably because they're the same person.

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

NEW Buff Boy

Author: AjSpammin

Rating: Teen and up

Status: Complete

Summary: "Somebody sit on my back."

"What?"

---

Aka they learn just how strong smol Izuku is.

Pairing: Eijirou/Izuku

Burn your wings

Author: oWhiteKiwibird

Rating: Teen and up

Status: In Progress

Warning: Child Abuse

Summary: Izuku inherited his parents’ quirks, but he swore he’d never use his fire. He knows first hand how—bright, burning, scorching, painful, terrifying—destructive it is, after all, and Izuku promised (promised his mother, promised himself) that he’d become a hero who stops that kind of despair. Even if he has to burn his own wings to do so. But when someone with the exact same pain, problems, and fears shows up... Izuku can't help but try to heal them. And in doing so, he himself may be healed.

Pairing: Izuku/Shouto

but you gotta get up at least once more

Author: simkjrs

Rating: Teen and up

Status: In Progress

Summary: Izuku’s never run into this problem before with anyone else, but it’s still not much of a problem. “Oh, that’s alright,” he says. “I don’t have a Quirk.” Tsukauchi stares incredulously at him, and then looks at the iron bar that Izuku is currently straightening with his hands. Midoriya Izuku does not let his lack of a Quirk prevent him from being strong. Also known as that one AU where Izuku follows the ridiculous training regimen of Saitama from One Punch Man and becomes stronger than anyone ever imagined he could be.

Pairing: Gen

NEW By Design

Author: EtherealBeing

Rating: Explicit

Status: In Progress

Summary: As time went by, Izuku found it more and more difficult to reconcile his perceived quirklessness with the ever-growing permanence of his imaginary friend, Kacchan. This boy he’d created, whose very existence was designed to balance out his own shortcomings — he couldn’t always see him. Hear him. Feel him.

Kacchan, this boy whom Izuku made as an extension of himself — he wasn’t always real.

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

NEW Can I Get A Side Serving Of Sugar And Order It To-Go

Author: cricketmilk

Rating: General audiences

Status: Complete

Summary: After hearing that Midoriya had never been on a date before, Kirishima offers to take him on one himself.

After all, that's what bros are for.

Pairing: Eijirou/Izuku

Chasing the sun

Author: Soulstring

Rating: General audiences

Status: In Progress

Summary: Eijirou’s mother told him that the sun is a star that hangs in the blue sky, far away from them because it’s too hot to touch and too blinding to look at. Kirishima Eijirou is three years old when he finds out that’s not entirely true. It takes ten seconds to come to that conclusion and even less to become smitten with the one he finds on earth. An AU where Kirishima and Midoriya meet each other as kids, grow together as childhood friends, and ultimately fall in love.

Pairing:Ejiro/Midorya

Coloured bricks, pick up sticks

Author: wyrvel

Rating: General Audiences

Status: In progress

Summary: Midoriya Izuku is a very warm person. Not his personality (though that’s also true). It’s his quirk. His quirk is that he’s warm. - Eight-year-old Izuku is positive that his quirk isn't useless. It's just something that requires a little more work than usual, and if he researches the ins and outs of quirks and scientific theory, he'll prove it! All he has to do is to find his body's physical limits, and push them until he learns how to make it work for him. Easy, right?

Pairing: Gen

The curse of the anime protagonist

Author: masterdipster

Rating: Teen and up

Status: In progress Summary: Or; the one where Izuku is blessed with the most heroic quirk in existence. The problem is, er, being a hero's the last thing he wants to be.

Pairing: Gen

Cut from the same cloth

Author: ShanaStoryteller

Status: Complete

Rating: Explicit

Summary: When Endeavor finishes delivering his ultimatum, All-Might uses one of his precious minutes in his hero form to punch Endeavor in the face. The force of it sends the number two hero staggering back and into an alley wall, leaving an Endeavor-sized imprint in the bricks.

“THAT IS NOT HERO-LIKE BEHAVIOR!” All-Might roars.

Endeavor find out some secrets, and the price of his silence is the marriage of Izuku Midoriya, the anonymous hero Deku, to his youngest son.

Pairing: Izuku/Shouto

NEW daisies bunches and heather branches

Author: halcyonwhispers

Rating: Teen and up

Status: Complete

Summary: izuku falls in love with the foul-mouthed tattoo artist next door.

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

NEW The Dark Below

Author: DarthPeezy

Rating: Mature

Status: In Progress

Summary: Izuku was never Quirkless. Sometimes Quirks hide until they are triggered. Izuku died and came back. He gazed into the abyss and it followed him home. Everything he thought he knew about the world is about to change because there are monsters lurking in the dark below. Izuku wonders if he is one of them.

Pairing: Gen

Notes: This is another Quirk!Izuku fic.It has a great ambience to the whole story and has some great worldbuilding and of course, all the angst.

Daymare

Author: IntrospectiveInquisitor

Rating: Explicit

Status: In Progress

Summary: Izuku Midoriya has endured a decade of abuse, ridicule, and social ostracization due to his status as 'Quirkless'. Even his childhood friend, Katsuki Bakugou, has tossed him aside and made it a mission to drill his uselessness home. But despite his obstacles and the derision of his peers, Izuku will never give up on his dream of being a hero, and will never feel shame for being called Quirkless. Because it's easier than acknowledging that he has a Quirk at all.

Pairing: Ejiro/Izuku

Has a podfic by me!

NEW Death and Taxes

Author: Penkindisbestspecibus

Rating: Explicit

Status: In Progress

Summary: It is a widely held belief that in the universe, there are only two constants - Death, and Taxes.

The truth is much simpler. Death is merely the Tax all Life must pay. Some more than others.

Pairing: Ejiro/Izuku

Notes: An izuku has a quirk AU. He can’t die. I really like this one. Izuku is really affected by his quirk and he is a much differnt character from the one in canon while still being recognizable.

Demolition lovers

Author: TMOTC

Rating: Teen and up

Status: In progress

Summary: It was a mistake, Shouto thinks, to fall in love with a hero. (Or the one where Todoroki is a quirkless school nurse and Pro Hero Deku’s longsuffering boyfriend.)

Pairing: Izuku/Shouto

NEW A Demolition Boy & his Cryptid BF

Author: kewltie

Rating: Teen and up

Status: Complete

Summary: Bakugou of the Demolition Squad is famous for running one of the most popular Youtube channels on the web that regularly blow shit up and jumped off a perfectly good building for shit and giggles. He's also famous for his Cryptid BF��, never appearing on camera except for a few bodyshots and all information on him is kept locked up tighter than Fort Knox, therefore drawing all sort of attention and curiosity toward his mysterious boyfriend.

Deku from Deku Explains is a hopeless chatterbox who is known for uploading 20-30 minutes video that talked about his favorite shows and comics and have one of the most devoted following on Youtube. He also can't seem to shut up about his boyfriend Kacchan, who regularly make his presence on the channel as a disembodied voice.

They should theoretically have nothing in common except a shared platform to host their content and an army of fans with an endless curiosity and devotion to their Youtubers. Vidcon is where we lay our scene and the internet is about to get a rude wake up call.

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

NEW The Devil went down to Tokyo

Author: Orphaned recently, unsure if they are continuing

Rating: Mature

Status: In Progress

Summary: The creature lent down, its massive jaws opened as it crooned out the words; “You see me, child?” It’s voice was as soft as a babe’s skin, yet chilling as a murderer’s heart.

But Izuku paid no mind. He giggled as he tapped the creature's rusty red horns, ignoring the fact he was facing a terrifying monster. “Of course I can silly!”

“Hmmm.” The creature said thoughtfully, its rumble like the roar of a motorbike. “This is exceedingly peculiar indeed.”

Or.

Izuku was born with a Quirk that makes him what the Americans call a 'cryptozoologist', D&D players a 'op necromancer' and everybody else a 'weird kid with little to no sense of personal space'.

Pairing: Katsuki/Iida/Izuku/Shouto/Ochako

NEW Edna’s Intervention

Author: RoseJennison

Rating: General audiences

Status: Complete

Summary: At the end of each school year, UA hires a consultant to evaluate the costumes the first year students designed for themselves, to make sure they are both aesthetically appropriate and safe to use.

That consultant is Edna Mode.

i.e. A story where Edna Mode comes to UA and gives costume advice to Class 1A. And she isn't afraid to call people out about their questionable choices.

Pairing: Gen

Erased potential

Author: theslytherinpaladin

Rating: Mature

Status: In progress

Summary: Midoriya Izuku, determined to become a hero before ever meeting All Might, looks for another way. He might not have a quirk, but that can’t be all that being a hero is about. He has the intelligence, the drive, the determination. All he needs now is to know how to use it. Enter Aizawa Shouta.

Pairing: Gen

New A Fight to the death

Author: iknewaman

Rating: Explicit

Status: Complete

Summary: Izuku isn’t competitive by nature, but when the blond, cocky asshole from the other table’s team gets involved he suddenly becomes hellbent on winning. Rival Pub Quiz AU

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

NEW Finding that balance

Author: Itcamefromashes

Rating: Tenn and up

Status: In Progress

Summary: “I really don’t think we need to have this conversation right now!” Midoriya Izuku called out, his red face only making his freckles stand out more as he attempted to cover himself with his arms, “There could be a much better use of your time! Like lesson planning! Or training! Or literally anything other than this!” He gave up in hiding from view and instead lasered his focus on a crack in the school’s tile.

Pairing: Gen

NEW Free-Falling

Author: theDapperDemonicGentleman

Rating: General Audiences

Status: Complete

Summary: The quiet Slytherin boy who never participates in practical lessons turns out not to be a squib after all, which is excellent news for Ochako and her whole falling to her death situation. Although they could all probably do without the side-effects.

Pairing: Gen

NEW FUCK!

Author: LNoGame44

Rating: Teen and up

Status: Complete

Summary: Bakugou didnt know when it started. Maybe it had being going on for a while and he hadn't noticed it. But every time it happened, it sent a shock up his spine and boiled his blood. No one else reacted to it. They all continued as if their train of thought hadnt just been violently derailed and Bakugou was getting fucking sick of it.

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

NEW Fuck! Stay down will you!

Author: InkspillsNotebook

Rating: Mature

Status: Complete

Summary: A mission gone wrong leads to unexpected events, leaving heartbreak and realizations a bit too late.

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

NEW Gentle Nightmares

Author: artemancy

Rating: Teen and up

Status: in progress

Warning: child abuse

Summary: Izuku's life is a cosmic joke.

Kidnapped as a child and used as a tool for evil, all he wants is to be seen.

Punchline: With a quirk like his, that's never going to happen.

Pairing: Gen

NEW Get by with a little help from my friends

Author: SpectrumArcadia

Rating: Mature

Status: Complete

Summary: Midoriya goes into heat early and asks his childhood friend to scent him so he can safely get home without being accosted.

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

NEW Grief Counseling

Author: Merrywetherweather

Rating: Explicit

Status: In Progress

Summary: Katsuki remembered the first time he had failed to save someone, watched helplessly in horror as an elderly man had been crushed beneath the girth of a thrown car. He had already propelled himself forward to grab a small boy when he noticed, too late, the car fly by overhead. Two other heroes had been on the scene at the time and had assured him.

There was nothing that could have been done.

Most of class 1-A had already gone through a similar experience. The only one left with a clean track record in the rescue department had been Deku.

Well, except for today.

A slowburn fic where Kacchan tries to convince Deku to take advantage of the grief counseling provided for free to heroes experiencing their first failed rescues. Lots of flirting. Healing their relationship comes first. The romantic bit where they fall helplessly and stupidly in love comes after.

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

Guillotine

Author: PsychoLimbo

Rating: Teen and up

Status: In Progress

Summary: After being told by his favorite hero that his quirk would be unsuitable for hero work, Izuku takes it upon himself to become a hero by himself - without the limitations of a license. (An AU in which Izuku is essentially Deadpool with less murder)

Pairing: Eijirou/Izuku/, Izuku/Shouto

NEW How to train your shitty Omega

Author: deanvspanties

Rating: explicit

Status: In Progress

Summary: Izuku will have Bakugou's knot. He's Izuku's alpha after all.

I'm sorry for this, but I just had an image in my head of omega!Izuku destroying the school, hunting down Bakugou, and demanding his knot.

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

NEW How was Your day?

Author: Pt_Tucker

Rating: Teen and up

Status: Complete

Summary: "Hi Kacchan, how was your day at work?"

“YOU FUCKING PUNCHED ME THROUGH A BUILDING! THAT WAS MY DAY AT WORK!”

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

A hymn for destruction

Author: clenchedhands

Rating: mature

Status: In Progress

Summary: They say that if you stick a frog in pot of boiling water it will, of course, jump out. However, if you turn up the heat slowly, its senses will adapt and it will not notice until it is too late. This is what Todoroki Shouto thinks of when he hears of the new villain that has been dominating the news lately. Bakugou spoke, “I know him. His name is Midoriya Izuku. He- we though he killed himself.” (Midoriya Izuku doesn't go to UA, doesn't get One For All, and doesn't get told he can be a hero.)

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

If I only had a heart

Author: LunartheDragon

Rating: Mature

Status: In Progress

Summary: Being born quirkless wasn't a curse, Midoriya Izuku refused to believe that, and he would show the world through astonishing intellect, bravery, and a heart that feels for all paths he crosses that this is true. Even when damaged, ridiculed, and put down, he will be strong, for all these things are a challenge. A challenge from the very universe to become something great and change the foundation of society as he knows it.

Pairing: Gen

NEW I’ll Carry you home

Author: Renesvetta

Rating: General audiences

Status: Complete

Summary: While training with All Might, it wasn’t uncommon for Izuku to be so exhausted at the end of the day that he unwittingly fell asleep without regard for where he was. It consequently became part of All Might’s routine to help his young protégé home. During that time, Izuku may have let loose more than one sleepy confession towards his mentor.

Pairing: Gen

New The Intervention

Author: IwaizumiFanClub

Rating: Explicit

Status: Complete

Summary: Deku’s grasp was gentle but firm as he slowly guided Bakugou’s face to his front again. The look in his eyes had changed; instead of innocent, it was more assertive. . . dominating. They were still wide and unblinking, though, as if Deku was daring him to try anything. As if Bakugou even could, with his entire back flush against Todoroki’s chest.

“That wasn’t very nice, Kacchan. Do you want to try again?”

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki/Shouto

Notes: Some really hot porn with some really good feelings

I Summoned a Demon 101: an In-comprehensive guide to Corporeal Demon Do's and Don'ts

Author: EAter

Rating: Explicit

Status: In Progress

Summary: Midoriya Izuku was born with a quirk: the ability to summon and bind demons from an alternate plane to do his bidding. With only a few days left until the UA entrance exam and still no offensive-type demons in his arsenal, Izuku makes a desperate attempt at summoning one corporeal, a feat he had never before attempted. He'd say it was a success but, he doesn't actually know if it'll be more a help or a hindrance. Especially since Bakugou Katsuki is, well, kind of a shit.

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

I am cold, can you hear me

Author: midoizuku

Rating: Teen and up

Status: In Progress

Summary: As Todoroki learned from a tender age, growing up with your dad as the #2 hero in all of Japan has a few hazards--especially when you’re his designated prodigy and are constantly being goaded to do more, to be better. Said hazards include: getting dragged to literally every villainous scene to observe from the sidelines, rigorous (and sometimes illegal) training sessions, and family issues out the whazoo. But hey, at least his dad’s rival's kid is kind of cute.

Pairing: Izuku/Shouto

NEW It's not really a quirk (but yeah sure let's go with that)

Author: Asarielle

Rating: Teen and up

Status: In Progress

Summary: It had been ten years since Bakugou last saw the friend who followed him around. Since then, all he’s had are letters he was told to burn and a cryptic sense that either Deku was the coolest (and only) friend he’d ever had… or he was batshit crazy. Honestly, what's he supposed to think when he gets a letter about Deku living with werewolves? And why did he say that demons were after him? Also, how can you have a power that's not a quirk? Deku had some explaining to do, and it better be the show-and-tell kind, or Bakugou was going to explode his face off or make him sit still in one place or something.

Featuring: an Izuku who was raised in a werewolf culture, has no concept of personal space, uses a magical ability to explode things/pause time, and sometimes accidentally summons demons to his location. Throw in some Dekubowl, cuddles, crack treated seriously, and a bit of PTSD and action to balance it all out. This was originally a thought experiment into how many people Izuku can be shipped with before the Dekubowl falls apart, so it also features soulmate theory, a dash of first time romance, and a swamp of polyamory for everyone to figure out.

Pairing: Dekubowl

NEW Ignite the Ashes

Author: IceEckos12

Rating: General Audiences

Status: In Progress

Summary: The Dragon is said to be one of the worst supervillains in history. His capture and subsequent incarceration was celebrated as a resounding victory for All Might.

Less well-known was that the Dragon had a son. His name is Midoriya Izuku, and he will spend the rest of his life trying to escape the shadow that his father cast.

With his mother's loving support and All Might's careful guidance, he will become a hero.

Pairing: Gen

NEW I’m Friends with the Monsters in my closet

Author: GIOpet

Rating: Mature

Status: In Progress

Summary: Denki hunched his shoulders as he got closer to the group. Everyone was leaning in to hear what he had to say.

"So, what do you think his deal is?" He discretely nods to the blond leaving the lunchroom.

"He acts like a delinquent." Ochako says with a slight frown.

"Or maybe he's crazy." Mineta adds.

"Well, I think he's very cool." Kirishima joins in. He saw nothing wrong with the guy.

Pairing: Izuku/ Katsuki

Notes: A really good creepy story, it has such an ambiance to it and you aren't entirely sure what is going on.

In the eye of the storm

Author: CheshireButton

Rating: Mature

Status: In progress

Summary: Izuku Midoriya is a scientific prodigy seeking a cure for a rapidly spreading neurodegenerative disease. A potential clue in his research points to a fabled island, guarded by an eternal storm from which no travelers have ever returned. He navigates through the hurricane and discovers an island that is anything but uninhabited. He must adapt to survive against the natives who place intruders in three categories: warriors, mates, or meat

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

Izuku is afraid

Author: Sleepingugly

Rating: Mature

Status: in progress (The first story in the series is complete)

Summary: Izuku doesn‘t have a quirk. He swears. His mind isn’t always on the ocean. He lies. (He’s just maybe drowning. He promises it’s nothing.)

Pairing: Gen

NEW Leave at your own chosen speed

Author: MikkiOfTheAnbu

Rating: teen and up

Status: in progress

Summary: He learned later that Deku’s heart was broken, shaping the word “congenital” in his mouth until it made no sense. Katsuki thought it was bullshit. No one, no one, had a stronger heart than Midoriya Izuku.

(In which Izuku has a bad heart but also a really good one, and the real heroes were the friends we made along the way)

Pairing: Gen, Eijirou/Katsuki

NEW Leviathan

Author: Rest_in_RIP

Rating: Mature

Status: In Progress

Summary: Izuku's only truly used his quirk once. He was four years old.

He took thirty-two lives that day.

Now, he's sworn never to let that power possess him again. Hiding the true nature of his quirk from everyone, he hides behind the thin facade of a useless, showy quirk, refusing any and all connection to the mysterious creature recognized in a few sparse news reports as the Leviathan.

Lies don't last forever, however, and one day or another, his world will have to come crashing down.

Pairing: Gen

NEW Li2CO3

Author: dweeblet

Rating: Teen and up

Status: in progress

Summary: Izuku was born to be a villain.

This was the least he could do.

Pairing: Gen

Notes: I love, love love this fic. It features a quirkless Izuku who has a disorder where he doesn't really feel emotions. What i love about this, is instead of using this as an excuse to go kill things, he works at being good (Along with medication and a therapist). It really reminds me of a line from the movie thoroughbreds (Which you should all watch if you havent) “I don’t feel things. That doesn't make me a bad person, it just means that i have to work a little harder than everyone else to be good.”

Limerance

Author:Serie11

Rating: Mature

Status: In progress

Summary: Izuku stares at the TV. “Mum, what’s a Hero Duo?” She ruffles his hair. “It means that the two of them are soulmates. They’re stronger together, so they fight together. They support each other.” Izuku sighs dreamily at the screen. “I wish I could be part of a Hero Duo one day.” Someone who would always be there for him? It sounded like a dream come true. Then of course, Izuku finds out who his soulmate is: and his dream suddenly feels a lot more like a nightmare

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

Live a hero

Author: BeyondTheClouds777

Rating: Teen and up

Status: In progress

Summary: "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." Or, you're raised a villain, rebel when you're nine, and fight against the odds to become a hero anyway. That's how it is in Izuku's case

Pairing: Gen

With Podfic by me!

Looking glass

Author: twistedthicket1

Rating: Mature

Status: In progress

Summary: Midoriya Izuku goes missing as a child. No villain is ever held accountable, no one ever brings his mother any answers. For ten years, the only people who remember the quiet, Quirkless boy are Inko and Bakugo Katsuki. They both feel his loss in different, inexplicable ways. Eraserhead's been on the hunt for an elusive villain only known by the press as 'Ghost'. No fingerprints, blood, or evidence of any kind can ever be found at the scene of the crimes. All of the villain's cases inevitably run cold. Izuku wishes he'd been born Quirkless after all. Maybe then, he could've believed in heroes. Maybe then, he could've turned into someone good.

Pairing: Izuku/Shouto

New Love Notes

Author: aideyn

Rating: Teen and up

Status: Complete

Summary: Prompt Fill: Izuku doesn't take love confessions seriously due to bullying.

In middle school it was a pretty common prank for people to leave fake love notes in Izuku's shoe locker and then stand him up (or worse) when he responded to them. In high school, Izuku is fairly popular with his peers, much to his own surprise, but when he receives his first love note his first response is, as usual, to ignore it outright, to the bewilderment of his classmates.

But his secret admirer doesn't give up, and Izuku's weak excuses for ignoring the notes piling up begin to wear thin with his classmates.

Pairing: Eijirou/Izuku

NEW Mark me up

Author: Flightless_Bird

Rating: Teen and up

Status: Complete

Summary: Katsuki's gaze cut into him again like a lightning bolt and it took Izuku a second to realize what the tilt of the blonde's head meant: come here.

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

A matter of perspective

Author: SkyGem

Rating: teen and up

Status: In progress

Summary: When six-year-old Midoriya Izuku is kidnapped right out of his own front yard, it takes four years for them to find him again. But the boy that comes back isn't the sweet, cheerful boy that was taken. This boy is hurt and broken, and All Might finds he can't bring himself to let go. (Or alternatively, the AU where All For One fucked up and chose Izuku as his protégé instead of Shigaraki Tomura.)

Pairing: Gen

NEW Milk and Honey

Author: Magdaleria

Rating: Mature

Status: In Progress

Summary: Izuku isn’t naïve, for all that he still wants to be a hero. He’s done his research, he’s lived with his mother day in and day out, and a part of him knows. Even if he doesn’t think he could say it out loud, he knows.

His mother isn’t going to live forever. Kaa-san loves him more than anything in the world, and he does her, and he never wants to hurt her. So he tucks her back into bed, cleans up the dishes, does his homework, and he waits.

Because he’s living for her. For now, he has to live.

He waits.

_____

A story in which Midoriya Inko is terminally ill, and becoming a hero isn't the hardest thing Izuku has ever done.

Pairing: Gen

NEW Never too old to learn

Author: iknewaman

Rating: Explicit

Status: Complete

Summary: Katsuki has only ever heard of how omegas behave when nesting, but actually seeing it happen is… educational, to say the least.

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

NEW NomuZuku Series

Author: TubbsTheCat

Rating: Teen and up

Status: In Progress

Warning: Human Experimentation, Suicidal ideations

Summary: The Alliance decides to go for a more subtle approach to their anti All Might weapon, abducting the child he intended to pass One for All to and turning him into one of their Noumu.

Pairing: Gen

NEW Oblivious

Author: Soulstring

Rating: Teen and up

Status: Complete

Summary: “C’mon Bakugou. Admit that you’d miss us and our cuddling nights.” Katsuki sputters and takes his hand back, hardly minding Eijirou’s dissatisfied pout. “We don’t cuddle.” “Are you sure, Kacchan? If I remember correctly, yesterday we all fell asleep on Kirishima-kun’s bed and—” “—because you know how much I hate being cold!” In which Izuku and Eijirou are having a hard time convincing Kacchan that they're all, in fact, very much in love and dating. For KiriBakuDeku Week.

Pairing: Eijirou/Izuku/Katsuki

NEW One Phone Call away

Author: saltandburnit

Rating: Teen and up

Status: Complete

Summary: “Don’t feel bad for not picking up the phone, Mom. There’s- there’s been an accident…” Midoriya Inko receives a voicemail. Yagi Toshinori a very disturbing phone call. Midoriya Izuku doesn’t know which one was worse but he was glad he could hear at least one comforting voice right then.

Pairing: Gen

NEW The Path to Villainy

Author: Greyliliy

Rating: Teen and up

Status: Complete

Summary: Against his will, Izuku has transferred to U.A.’s General Studies program in order to spy for Shigaraki and his League of Villains. It’s a warped version of his old dream, but at least Kacchan is there. (It's a shame that only makes things worse.)

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

Notes: I really like both of the stories in this series. It has a sort of reluctant villain Izuku who is def Yandere for Katsuki. This series follows his fall.

NEW Persephone

Author: nikk_pfefferneuse

Rating: Teen and up

Status: In Progress

Warning: Medium character death

Summary: "Stop killing my dad's tulips, stupid!"

The boy looks up, and Katsuki is greeted with the biggest, greenest eyes in the whole entire world. Round baby cheeks dotted with freckles. Petals in his hair.

The air is stolen from his lungs. Words leave him. The world stops moving.

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

NEW put a bullet (where I should've put a helmet)

Author: canlah

Rating: Teen and up

Status: Complete

Warning: PTSD, Depression

Summary: Midoriya Izuku has a very high pain threshold. It's useful, until it's not.

It isn't until Izuku reaches his breaking point that he realises he doesn't have to carry this pain by himself.

Pairing: Gen

Put the meat on my bones

Author: wonduhwoman

Rating: Explicit

Status: In Progress

Summary: “Dude,” Kirishima said, “How much did he tip you?” Katsuki glanced down at his hand clutching the money, “Two-hundred bucks.” Sero whistled low. “What’s this?” Yaoyorozu asked, stealing the slip of paper off the bar before Katsuki could protest. She unfolded it, eyes widening, “He gave you his number, Bakugou! He even drew a winky face next to it!”

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki/Ochako

A path to trace

Author: aquaticflames

Rating: Teen and up

Status: In Progress

Summary: Everyone on the planet is assigned a cell phone at birth, personalised to the owner and carrying their life in its small casing. On an hourly basis, new words appear on screen, notifying the user of the key events their soulmate will encounter within that timeframe. Misplace it and risk losing contact with your soulmate forever. Break it and you die- it's really that simple.

Pairing: Izuku/Shouto

NEW Phantom Be Still in My Heart

Author: widdlewed

Rating: Teen and up Audiences

Status: Complete

Warning: Major Character Death

Summary: Bakugou Katsuki's world was ripped apart, tossed to the wind as nothing but scraps of what it once was. Left with a suffocating weight of guilt, remorse, and self-hate, Katsuki struggles to continue living in a world where Heroes can't save those who need it the most.

Pairing: Gen

NEW Play it cool

Author: warschach

Rating: Teen and up

Status: Complete

Summary: Izuku accidentally becomes Katsuki's secret cuddle buddy.

(or that time Izuku and Katsuki snuggle on real pretenses then false ones, each finding a way to poorly miscommunicate their emotions cause what do these boys do aside of making carters in infrastructures and in each other, make the whole class of 1-A weep for them, and manage a romance to bring Ryan Gosling to the brink of tears.)

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

NEW Quirkless

Author: InkHound

Rating: Mature

Status: In Progress

Summary: Izuku's heartbroken at the tender age of four— the doctors have confirmed he is quirkless. But the truly crushing blow is when not long afterward, little Izuku has a chance meeting with his number one hero; All Might, who tells him that without a quirk, he can't be a hero (it's just too dangerous).

Later that night, Izuku is watching his favorite All Might video in a daze. He puts the question to his mother; can he still be a hero, without a quirk? He watches as she freezes up, pale-faced and wet-eyed before she rushes to his side and speaks in a trembling, tear-filled voice;

"Oh baby, my sweet baby 'zuku," she says through her tears, "Of course you can."

And everything changed.

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

Quirk: the gamer

Author: pinchess07

Rating: Mature

Status: Abandoned

Summary: [Welcome to your life: THE GAME!] Today is your fourth birthday, and you just activated your quirk, [The Gamer], for the first time! Congratulations! [The Gamer] This is your Quirk! They say that there's a microscopic chance of developing a quirk that's entirely unrelated to your parents' quirks, but no one really knows where quirks came from, so what do they know? Just accept this gift from the gods! It comes with two initial Skills: [Gamer's Body] Passive. Lv. Max. Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game. After sleeping in a bed, HP and MP are restored and all status effects are removed. Injuries will result in pain and a decrease in HP but won't result in physical damage. Depleting MP down to 0 results in [Fatigue]. Depleting HP down to 0 results in a loss of consciousness. [Gamer's mind] Passive. Lv. Max. Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Grants immunity to [Confusion], [Panic], [Rage], and [Fear].

Pairing:Midorya/Bakugo

Quirk Type: Memento Mori

Author: RoseJennison

Rating: General audiences

Status: In progress

Summary: Izuku wasn't sure what his quirk type would be called. He'd never heard of anyone else having a quirk like this, so it would probably have a category all to itself. 'Memento Mori' seems like a fitting type name. 'Remember Death'. With his quirk, it's important to remember that all things must die. Because if one individual denies death for too long, another must take their place. Pushing Daisies AU- in which Izuku has a quirk that allows him to bring dead things to life with a touch. The catch is that they will go back to being dead if he ever touches them again. Plus, if he keeps them alive for too long, another similar life will be taken in their place.

Pairing: Izuku/Hitoshi

Roots

Author: HunterOfTheWild

Rating: Teen and up

Status: In Progress

Summary: To be a hero, that is Izuku's only wish. But then why does he dream of green canopies and fragrant blooms? Why do his limbs creak and tremble, and why does Kacchan's quirk scare him so? Izuku will have to dig his roots deep if he wants to become a hero

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki, Izuku/Shouto

Registered quirk: open heart

Author: Liketolaugh

Rating: Teen and up

Status: In Progress

Summary: Inko liked to say that Izuku had always, in a way, had his quirk. From the time he was born, she told him, he’d cried when others cried, laughed when others laughed, and had a way of knowing when something was wrong. Sometimes when she was upset, he’d tug on her skirt, smile, and say, “Happy please!”

Pairing: Gen

NEW The Small claim of bones

Author: jurassicqueer

Rating: Mature

Status: In Progress

Summary: When Izuku is five he kills his father.

He had wanted to be a hero but that dream was crushed- butchered when he and his mother were waiting in the hospital, when the doctors announced that Hisashi had died hours ago. When Izuku had ripped his father’s heart apart in his chest, killed him before he knew he was dying, a future as a hero had ended. That was the first and last time Izuku would ever use his quirk on another person.

But fate has other plans, and against the forces of destiny, Izuku hasn't a chance.

Pairing: Gen

NEW Soft

Author: IfItHasAFandomImAPartOfIt

Rating: General audiences

Status: Complete

Summary: For BNHA Cuddle Week Day 1!

Kirishima really likes having Midoriya's attention on him. It doesn't happen often but.... He has his attention now though, and having Midoriya next to him, focused on him, makes his chest swell with too many feelings.

Pairing: Eijirou/Izuku/

NEW Soft Spots

Author: Saysi

Rating: Explicit

Status: Complete

Summary: Midoriya and Bakugou don't have the best of relationships - except when they find themselves alone.

Bakugou quickly finds himself developing a soft spot for the nerd.

Happy birthday Midoriya!

Pairing: Izuku/ Katsuki

Something borrowed

Author: ThisCat

Rating: Teen and up

Status: In Progress

Summary: Izuku wants to be a hero. There's nothing in the world he wants more than to be a hero, no matter what anyone says, his teachers, his classmates, or even Kacchan. He's going to be a hero. Even if his quirk is what it is. Even if he's limited to slight sensory abilities 90% of the time. Even if his quirk in action is the quintessential villainous ability. He's going to be a hero, and he's going to find a way to do it without pushing anyone else down. Somehow.

Pairing: Gen

Something like a star

Author: realisticallycynical

Rating: Teen and up

Status: In progress

Summary: “An empathy quirk, huh?” It’s clearly a hypothetical question, though the monotone way he says it makes it sound more like a statement. “Unusual, but it explains why you’re up here.” There is… so much about that statement that doesn’t make sense.

Pairing: Gen

Standing in awe of death

Author: Ramabear

Rating: Explicit

Status: the series is still in progress, but a lot of the individual stories are completed

Summary: Katsuki drives Izuku over the edge and, together, they discover Izuku wasn't quirkless after all. Rekindling their childhood friendship, Katsuki and Izuku begin to test out the limits of Izuku's incredible new quirk. It is a very messy process.

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

NEW Triangle series

Author: crabapplered

Rating: explicit

Status: the series is in progress, but the first story is complete

Warning: Dubious consent (Would have been non con, but the parties aren't exactly aware of what they were doing)

Summary: Midoriya and Todoroki get hit by a quirk that triggers heats and ruts. In the 48hrs that follow, the secret that Midoriya has kept hidden is painfully revealed. Both Todoroki and Iida must find a way to keep him safe without hurting him further...and they'll need Bakugo's help.

Pairing: Iida/Izuku/Shouto, past Izuku/Katsuki

A trip up no memory lane

Author: acernor

Rating: Explicit

Status: Complete

Summary: Midoriya loses his memory to a villain's quirk in senior year and re-meets his classmates for the first time. With 20x the confidence, he takes absolutely 0% of Bakugo's shit, and pushes back when Bakugo tries to push him around. Bakugo likes it.

Pairing:Midorya/Bakugo

NEW United in the storm

Author: theslytherinpaladin

Rating: Mature

Status: In Progress

Summary: Midoriya Izuku may have saved All Might during the attack at USJ, but in doing so he attracted the attention of the League of Villains. Unable to strike at All Might directly, the League decides to focus on a much easier target. Afterall, how can they ignore someone so completely undefended?

Pairing: Izuku/Shouto

Until you come back home

Author: dandelion_weed

Rating: Teen and up

Status: It is a series that is still in progress, but the stories are stand alone and could be seen as complete

Summary: Saturday finds Katsuki in front of Izuku's apartment, holding a box of expensive snacks for afternoon tea in one hand and Izuku’s goddamn poster in another. In his backpack are his change of clothes and toothbrush for the sleepover. He’s ready for war. --- Katsuki tries his hand at apologizing, being a better friend, and maneuvering both his life and growing feelings for Midoriya Izuku, and succeeds with extreme damage to his pride.

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

Victim of circumstance

Author: Chalcet

Rating: Teen and up

Status: In Progress

Summary: When you're a Quirkless orphan on the streets, you have to fight twice as hard for just about everything. Survival. Respect. Allies. Most of the time, you're just barely scraping by. And, for that matter, so is everyone else around you. So Izuku does what he does best: he helps. Sometimes that means mediating gang disputes; other times, it's something as simple as grocery shopping. It's not like anyone else will, after all. With so many hopes riding on him, there's only ever been one option. Quirk or no Quirk, UA or no UA—he's going to become a hero.

Pairing: Izuku/Katsuki

Vicious

Author: feelslikefire

Rating: Explicit

Status: In progress but only one more chapter to go

Summary: Midoriya and Bakugou wind up in the very last position either of them thought they'd be in: Hero Partners. It's not fun, but they learn to cope. Their first big assignment together takes them undercover to infiltrate a cult, but the situation turns out far more sinister than they first thought. (Or: Midoriya and Bakugou pretend to be Fake Married, join a cult, start having sex, and learn not to suck as partners, not necessarily in that order.)

Pairing: Midorya/Bakugo

A wallflower’s thorns

Author: A_ToastToTheOutcasts

Rating: Teen and up

Status: In Progress

Summary: Maybe one day he'd be unafraid to tell people that he existed. Stand tall and announce that he was, in fact, there. For now though, he was more than content going day to day, weaving past his classmates and having them none the wiser. (Aka where Izuku does, in fact, have have a Quirk, it's just that no one notices)

Pairing: Izuku/Shouto

We can all be heroes

Author: Amandyalmonds

Rating: Teen and up

Status: In progress

Summary: Izuku wanted a lot of things. To not be quirkless, to save lives, for Kacchan to act like his friend again. But as the years went by, none of these things happened, until he started running into the now-graduated class of 1-A. Or, Izuku listens to Kacchan's bullying and doesn't apply to U.A. He still wants to save lives. So instead of becoming a pro-hero, he becomes a paramedic.

Pairing: Izuku/Shouto

What I am

Author: vanabean

Rating: Mature

Status: In Progress

Summary: "Shouta can see it even as it lays dormant. It curls alongside the darkness, their tendrils caressing the shadows like a doting parent. He watches the power ripple in Izuku’s dark irises like pulsing lighting, sees the flash of something dark and hungry hidden in the murky depths of his pupils. If Shouta hadn’t already heard the kids calm, sweet voice, and his polite way of speaking, he would think the child was from some twisted part of Hell."

Pairing: Gen

With what was left behind

Author: C_AveryWrites

Rating: teen and up

Status: In Progress

Summary: When Izuku was eleven years old, All Might had announced he was a guest speaker at an event being held at a local college, and Izuku had begged and begged his mother to take him until she gave into his pleading. That was the happiest day of Izuku’s life. To be able to meet his idol in person, to hear him speak about what it was like to be the Number One Hero, about the things he felt on and off the job, about his life as a person behind the smile that defined All Might. It’s something Izuku will never forget. *** Midoriya Izuku was born insignificant in a world where those who were extraordinary prospered. The world around him was special, basking in the radiant sunlight of a bright future while he was caught in their shadows, destined to live an empty life without meaning. That was before he met Tsukauchi Naomasa, and certainly before he met U.A. Hero Course Class 1-A.

Pairing: Ejiro/Midorya

NEW Yesterday Upon the stair

Author: PitViperOfDoom

Rating: Teen and up

Status: In Progress

Summary: Midoriya Izuku has always been written off as weird. As if it's not bad enough to be the quirkless weakling, he has to be the weird quirkless weakling on top of it.

But truthfully, the "weird" part is the only part that's accurate. He's determined not to be a weakling, and in spite of what it says on paper, he's not actually quirkless. Even before meeting All-Might and taking on the power of One For All, Izuku isn't quirkless.

Not that anyone would believe it if he told them.

#my hero academia #boku no hero #fanfic rec

7 notes · View notes

indischen · 3 years ago

Text

Are Lab-Grown Diamonds Forever? Depends on Who You Ask

When Michael Coan went in for an interview at Christie’s, one of the world’s most prestigious auction houses, his interviewer laid out 20 items for him to price. Some of them were diamonds. Coan, who currently teaches gemology at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York but knew less about diamonds at the time, made up his mind: He wouldn’t be getting this job.

“I walked in there not knowing a darn thing.” But Coan took a stab anyway, listing off prices: “This bracelet’s $20,000, this is about $45,000, this is $12, this is about $18,” he remembered saying. “I’m thinking, ‘Okay, that’s it. I had a good day. I’m leaving.’” But he had priced the items closely enough — and landed the job.

The predicament that pleasantly surprised Coan years ago underscores a conversation that’s been shaking up the jewelry industry in recent years: how much a diamond is really worth. In a world where diamonds can quickly be grown in labs and customers are increasingly aware of ethical and environmental consumption concerns, both lab-grown and mined diamond companies are crafting a precise narrative to woo prospective customers.about:blankabout:blank

First produced in the early 1950s, synthetic diamonds are cheaper to manufacture and purchase than ever before. Meghan Markle even sported lab-grown diamond earrings on a London outing. Leonardo DiCaprio, meanwhile, has thrown his weight behind a lab-grown diamond company, the Diamond Foundry. The market for lab-grown diamonds increased as much as 20 percent in 2019, according to Bain and Company, a management consulting firm. Still, it remains unclear just how synthetic diamonds will carve out their place in the jewelry world —- but diamond experts harbor strong opinions.

What Is a Diamond, Anyway?

Clear, crystalline and sharp, diamonds are known for their hardness. They’re actually the hardest naturally occurring substance in the world and, although they’re solely composed of the element carbon, diamonds themselves are considered a mineral.

Diamonds aren’t found that deep within the earth — only about 100 miles. But to form naturally, they require precise conditions: Carbon must receive 725,000 pounds per square inch of pressure, which only happens within the earth over the course of billions of years.

Although we often associate diamonds with sparkly rings and engagement promises, most of them don’t end up in jewelry. Only 30 percent of natural diamonds make the cut to be considered “gem quality,” according to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). The rest are used for industrial purposes, mostly as an abrasive, a tool to polish or sand other materials. But the vast majority (by some estimates, 98 percent) of diamonds don’t come from these natural byproducts and are mostly synthetic. “The only way that mined diamonds are economic is if they’re sold as jewelry,” says Paul Zimnisky, an independent diamond industry analyst.

The Diamond’s Dark History

Diamonds weren’t always a crucial part of the engagement equation. They didn’t receive a major marketing campaign until 1947 when De Beers, one of the oldest and most prominent diamond businesses (considered a monopoly for a time), ensured that these shiny gemstones became synonymous with marriage proposals. about:blankabout:blank

The infamous ad featured the slogan, “A Diamond Is Forever,” with images of dreamy prospective wives sporting dazzling rocks. Around 20 percent of brides received engagement rings around when the ads started, but the portion shot up to 80 percent by 1990, according to a 2019 report by De Beers. In turn, it became one of the most successful ad campaigns of all time.

But diamonds have always had a sinister side — one associated with conflict borne of a history of colonial exploitation for natural resources and economic gain, coming at the expense of the independence and stability of the inhabitants of diamond-rich nations. In countries including Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola, diamonds mined by forced labor have funded violent rebel groups.

Gemstones linked to these acts are known as “conflict diamonds.” An effort called the Kimberley Process was established in 2000 to curb their market presence, verify diamond origins and create a legitimate flow of capital to these countries. But diamonds can’t always be traced back to their original source. Overall, certification processes aren’t foolproof.

Not to mention, the climate crisis has increasingly alerted customers toward the extraction of the world’s limited natural resources and its environmental toll. According to the Diamond Foundry, a manufacturer of lab-grown diamonds, the synthetic version comes with a much lower carbon footprint production, emits lower quantities of greenhouse gases, creates less waste and uses less water. Of course, the natural diamond industry’s Diamond Producers Association disputes this, and published their own figures that pointed to the opposite.

Enter Lab-Grown Diamonds

While working for General Electric in 1954, physical chemist H. Tracy Hall created the first synthetic diamonds that could be reproduced commercially. They weren’t meant for jewelry, but rather as industry-oriented abrasives. Since then, the technology to “grow” lab-made diamonds has become more advanced and less costly. Lab-grown diamonds of “gem-grade” are easier than ever to manufacture, and make up a small but steadily growing portion of the diamond trade — about four to six percent, according to Zimnisky. about:blankabout:blank

Today, synthetic diamonds can be created with high-temperature high-pressure or chemical vapor deposition techniques. In the first method, carbon material is enclosed in a multi-layered container and then essentially pressed with enough force on all sides by anvils to change the carbon’s atomic structure. With chemical vapor deposition, slivers of existing diamonds are placed in a high-temperature chamber where carbon-rich gases break down their molecular bonds and the pure carbon attaches to the slivers or “seeds,” accumulating slowly as pure diamond, eventually turning the “seeds” into sizable gems.

To the untrained eye, lab-grown diamonds seem identical to mined ones, and can only be identified as “lab-grown” with specialized spectroscopy equipment.

Many of the worlds’ manufactured diamonds also come from countries that mine them, and according to Niraj Sojitra, they’re here to stay. Sojitra manages a lab-grown diamond business called Unique Lab Grown Diamond. They grow their gemstones in India, and have offices in four countries. When Sojitra started the business seven years ago, they saw it as the future of diamond jewelry. “In the world population, how many people can afford a natural diamond? It’s like, two or five percent, maximum,” he says. “So we were thinking about the largest scheme for people who cannot afford natural diamonds.”

Recently, lab-grown diamonds have gained legitimacy as bigger companies like De Beers and Pandora began selling them, Sojitra says. It also helps that the GIA, a major accrediting body, began to certify lab-grown diamonds. “People used to think we were crazy. Now they realize we were not crazy. We did the right thing,” he says.

The traditional diamond industry, unsurprisingly, argues that natural diamonds provide jobs for people in developing nations, and emphasize lab-grown diamonds’ environmental toll (the energy used to power diamond plants). about:blankabout:blank

To this, Sojitra says that his business plans to transition into solar power to run the India-based labs within the next few years. And Sojitra rejects the premise of lost jobs. “There’s no machines working the labs. There are people handling the machines,” he says. “So, is it better to work in an air-conditioned office and handle the machines, or do you want to go down and dig in the earth?”

Why Natural Retains Its Appeal

The marketing of the “natural” diamond, however, still influences our collective imagination and stirs our desire for a good story. Michael Fried, CEO of an online diamond exchange called The Diamond Pro, says that customers who choose natural diamond want to feel like they’re buying something special. “They’re driven to the story of something that’s been in the ground for billions of years that’s been forged over time,” he says. “It all pulls on people’s heartstrings in a certain way. I’m not saying it’s logical, but people are still driven towards it.”

Coan, meanwhile, feels that synthetic diamonds won’t be able to fulfill that need. “I don’t think natural diamonds will ever lose their place above synthetics, because in the mind’s eye we equate it with Frankenstein,” Coan says. “Diamonds truly appeal to the mystery, the lore. Diamonds truly are forever — nothing comes close to a diamond.”

A Place for Both?

There’s plenty of reasons to choose lab-grown diamonds or natural ones, but experts say that neither will win out any time soon.

Fried points out that though younger diamond buyers at his online store are interested in making a more “ethical” purchase, ultimately it’s not always up to them — but rather, who is paying for it. “Millennials and Gen Z’s are 100 percent more interested in lab-grown diamonds.” But that doesn’t mean that they’re not getting pressure from other places, he says. “How many parents or in-laws are going to be okay with a lab-grown diamond?”

Still, Sojitra says that more and more young people are interested in making what they see as a more ethical choice. “It’s pocket-friendly for most people, and especially the millennials.” Major companies have started selling synthetic ones, he adds, possibly sensing that the tide has turned.

The market says otherwise: As synthetic sales grew in 2019, Bain & Company predicted that rough and polished diamond sales would decline by 25 percent and 10 percent.

Even if certain consumers’ preferences for the natural version linger, the Earth has a finite amount of profitable diamonds (which some speculate may run out by around 2050, or at least bring dramatic supply gaps in coming decades). In 2019, Bain & Company foresaw an 8 percent annual decrease in natural diamond supply beginning in 2021, a shortage now likely amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ultimately, the natural diamond industry can’t possibly keep mining forever, Sojitra says, “Natural diamonds are going to vanish in the next ten, 15 years. And then what? Day by day, the cost is getting higher.”

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vegalocity · 7 years ago

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Everyone with Starco babies can emulate the style of the show so well, I decided to try my hand at it. So I aged up Asteria enough to inherit the wand and threw in the two other notable Daughters of the next Gen. Inheriting the stoic nature of the butterfly line, Asteria becomes a babysitter for the kids of Aunt Star’s Court of the Different Realms.

Eliza ‘Lizzie’ Ordonia-Thomas is kind of a re-fit of a character I made up to be Jackie and Janna’s adoptive daughter for a previous fanfic, aged up a little bit and made more of a mischeif maker, Lizzie was adopted at a pretty young age by Jackie and Janna, approximately the same age as she connected with Janna quickly and was taught all she knew of the dark side. Lizzie insists that she’s an innovator in Magic-less witchcraft, when in truth she’s just copying pages from her mother’s research whenever she can. The pink and bows were entirely her decision, and she’s always happy to explain that it makes people underestimate her.

Danielle ‘Dani’ Lucitor is the eldest daughter of Tom and Kelly (yes very pair the spares of me, shut up I legit think they’d be good for eachother) and is rambunctious in every phrasing of the word. A fighter in both spirit and build, her father’s temper was pretty quickly and easily channeled into learning swordsmanship with her mother. While the sword she carries around is only a practice sword, the proper sword weight with a dulled edge, she’s happily affixed a blue gem of unknown origin onto the pommel and insists that she could take out anything that gets in her way.

All of the Biological Children of the new generation are too young for Asteria to have a real connection with, making her have to reach out beyond the children of her Aunt’s Court, when left alone with the daughters, as well as the Sons (who are coming Soon) Asteria’s adventures are more or less High Fantasy Adventures in Babysitting.

#Star vs the forces of evil #starco baby #Svtfoe #svfoe #Asteria Butterfly #Dani Lucitor #Lizzie Ordonia Thomas #My sizing isn't off btw #Asteria's just short #Also there aren't enough Starco babies with Weapon Wands #So Asteria's got a spear

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sethnakht · 7 years ago

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sw fics i love (vader + leia-centric)

because it’s helpful to organize one’s thoughts. a work in progress.

long post is long.

old but memorable (written before 2013)

ebony and jade by brendon j. wahlberg, with illustrations by ian mcintosh (gen, vader + mara). lord vader & the emperor’s hand team up against a jedi and his psychedelic plants, and it’s glorious.

father’s heart by fernwithy (gen, vader + leia, series). vader befriends young princess leia. the fic that shaped me as a child. politics, corruption, betrayal, handmaiden culture, unspoken affinities, and fire.

the penitent by bellebayard, fernwithy, jediskysong (mostly gen, some anakin/padmé). begun in 1999 and now only available in its original form*, it seems - the jedi council forums, where so much fic was written back in the day - and only incompletely, this post-rotj anakin redemption story is the sprawling product of collaborative authorship (and a follow-up to “father’s heart”). ymmv on some of the plot devices and characters as a result, but it had an enjoyable take on skywalker family dynamics and a riveting, fully-realized trial for vader. *if you find a better copy of this, please message me!

the smart one by fernwithy (gen). written in 2002. excellent outsider pov on vader, who has taken especial interest in a particular piece of naboo art. a meditation on art and politics.

by the grace of lady vader by fernwithy, ami-padme and alderaan21 + the ascension of the queen by fernwithy, ami-padme (vader/dark!padmé, han/leia). written from 2000 until right after aotc on the jedi council forums (original posts + comments here & here). this story has remained with me as a set of unforgettable scenes and images - amidala in blood-red veils, praising schoolchildren for their talents and services to her empire, luke the obedient child, leia the freedom fighter, vader at once gratified and disturbed by what they’ve all become.

dark labyrinth pt 1 | 2 | 3 by Shayne1 (luke, han, chewie, vader). luke’s in trouble. vader kills the best lead on his whereabouts, and has to team up with han to find him. terrific voices all around.

various one-shots (also here and here) by MjMink (gen, mostly luke + vader). these were incredibly influential back in the day, and still manage to surprise and delight.

tamarisk by Arco (vader gen). splendid little vader adventure with memorably gory imagery and one hell of a bizarre twist

about turn by Mina / Mina1 (gen, vader + leia, vader + luke, luke + palpatine, background han/leia). written in 2001. vader & leia work together to save luke from the emperor. creepy luke-emperor interaction plus some nice scenes on tatooine. see also: legacy (vader + leia), a lovely short where vader survives rotj and leia has to come to terms with him, and in plain sight (vader, luke, leia), a variation on the theme.

deep as you go by @garnettrees / Meredith Bronwen Mallory (vader/padmé). written in 2002. vader creates a clone of his wife. a terrifying glimpse into his psyche - and the ethics of cloning. “but she’s not the painting, she’s just the print – no texture.”

return of a jedi by JHMLYNDALE (gen, vader + leia, rotj-legends cast). written in 2005. luke, han, lando and mara jade all die in the attack on jabba’s barge. leia, vader, and their allies take on the emperor. if you can stomach the character deaths, this is one hell of a ride.

equally cursed and blessed by Mina / Mina1 (gen, vader + luke, rotj-legends cast). written between 2005 and 2008. epic luke + vader story with a vividly-portrayed full cast, particularly leia, lando, chewie, piett and palpatine.

the protege by jedinemo (gen, vader, luke, obi-wan, leia). written in 2007/8. vader discovers a familiar clone skulking around the imperial palace. vader’s personality issues are on full display.

missing in action by cwbasset (gen, vader + luke). written in 2008. my favorite take on the ‘luke and vader crash-land together’ trope. includes grade-a vader-artoo bickering. fantastic author, see also: shattered (wip, luke + legends & prequel cast, time travel AU)

omelas by Deja Vu (vader, luke, xixor). short story from 2009 that packs quite a punch.

interregnum by PlaidButterfly (clone trooper + vader). written in 2011. short and chilling story showcasing just how desperate vader is to believe he’s still the hero.

canon-compliant

and there I shall find by ambiguously. lovely take on post-TFA General Organa in a whump/survival scenario, speaking - listening - to her father’s hated ghost for the first time. Anakin is insufferable, jealous, smug and sullen and somehow still unable to understand why his children were kept from him - and yet also knowingly deploying his worst traits to keep the daughter so like him alive. Leia has no reason to forgive but is listening, and not only to his engineering advice. Hopeful, with flashes of humor, and crawling with sorrows that would never end

the black buzzard by @jerseydevious (vader + luke). sweet, sweet body horror and father-son banter. see also gleaming in the wreckage

bursts of stardust by @redrikki (anakin/padmé, assorted cast). set of insightful shorts, including AUs, that lend shade and nuance to anakin, padmé, the jedi order, even palpatine.

the funeral pyre by anendda_rysden (gen, vader, piett). superb story showcasing vader’s struggle with his own body from an outsider pov. vivid, powerful writing. contains sci-fi/horror elements.

liberation by redone (gen, vader + luke). vader’s walk with luke from the throne room to the end. written in 2002, as lovely now as it was then.

PRojects IN Controlled Environments, version Sith by Beth Winter (vader, ocs). clever imperial outsider pov on vader, showcasing his engineering skill. ketha, the female protagonist, picks up on fascinating little details, my favorite being: “The handwriting was atrocious, a combination of two different styles - one with romance holo titles flourishes, one absolutely primitive - and cramped enough that she needed to zoom in.”

the sith who brought life day by ophelia_interrupted (vader, ocs). vader is often at his best when one has to guess at what’s going on behind the mask, a job all the harder for imperial underlings without access to the force. very nice outsider perspective made all the richer for how believable it remains while mixing the serious and humorous.

speak to me by @cyberdyke-industries (kylo ren, anakin/vader’s force ghost). read this now. this gets what makes kylo and vader monsters, what makes them pull at us - a way of being vader both understands and condemns. cinematic, mythical, chilling down to the level of syntax. the ending is less a cliff-hanger than an image to think through, a powerful allegory..

AUs

everything, including in the valley, by @darth--nickels (many wip, vader-centric, be aware that you need to be logged into AO3 to see them). gems, all of them, even if some may never be finished. my go-to for insights into vader’s psyche. vader is hilariously and horribly unstable–suicidal in one moment, megalomanic and full of bluster in the next, and yet deeply compelling through it all.

> timetravel / parallel universe

of queens, knights and pawns (wip) by @chancecraz (vader + leia, han/leia on the horizon, full cast). tfa!leia ends up reliving her life as anh!leia, and comes to terms with both her past and future. this story is currently my life. come for leia yelling at vader, stay for the lovingly realized cast, their constant miscommunication, and deep-seated psychological trauma. see also scenes from the middle game, encounters in queens told from the perspectives of other characters, starting with a harrowing vader pov, and of dreams and other whims, a au re-write of chapter seven with old man luke!

queen’s gambit by @bedlamsbard (anakin/padmé, padmé/obi-wan, tcw!cast), sequel to wake the storm. this swept me away. ymmv on the pairing(s), but the opening scene alone deserves an essay, and there’s so much to love here: incredible world-building, a full and well-realized cast of characters, political intrigue, media critique, and finger-biting tension.

out of the dark valley by @irhinoceri (anakin/padmé, eventual luke/mara, leia, ahsoka, cast). riveting au where vader is able to return to his rots!self with his consciousness intact, and make slightly different choices. things still go downhill, and the author is unafraid to explore those dark and frightening places, especially with leia.

stand the hazard of the die (wip series) by KeelieThompson1 (anakin/padmé, vader + luke, TCW!cast). young luke is sent to the past, but his mind is marked by a sith lord’s magic and the trauma of what he’s seen. anakin and padmé have to deal. lovely exploration of a situation where anakin does not fall (yet), but vader is still a factor and palpatine still at loose. leia’s story here is at once highly tragic and highly amusing.

edges of the world (wip) by @glompcat (leia, vader, ahsoka, anakin/padmé). leia organa and leia skywalker switch places, de-stabilizing anakin and shocking vader. a brave and important story about the struggles of identity, growing up, what family means, and finding acceptance.

reflected legacy (wip) by DAsObiQuiet (han/leia, anakin/padmé). legends!leia and han are sent back in time to when anakin still dreams of his mother. terrific characterization. see also hindsight is not perfect + the dangers of foresight (wip series), where vader’s consciousness is sent back to his tpm!body, and his emotional stuntedness is both a boon and a problem.

old man luke (wip) by @scarletjedi (luke, obi-wan, anakin). tfa-era!luke - and possibly his sister - ends up in the middle of the clone war. enjoyable exploration of how age contributes to perspective.

> canon divergence before ROTJ

afterimage (wip) by @garnettrees (vader/padmé). vader pursues the promise of resurrection. for those who enjoy clever metaphor, games with myth, linguistic invention, and a shot of gothic horror. “The first word she says is, ‘Help’. ‘I am here,’ says the thing in the dark.”

betrayal of the finest sort (wip) by @cadesama (vader/padmé, vader/obi-wan, ahsoka). relentlessly bitter, spiteful dysfunction at its best. fantastic author, see also: if blood be the price (padmé/anakin, obi-wan, AOTC!AU) and lost things that are never found (adult!ahsoka/anakin, leia, rebel!AU).

echoes of mortis by @sunshinedaysforever (anakin/padmé, cast). powerful what-if with palpable, believable character growth. see also time to change the road you’re on (wip; anakin + ahsoka, timetravel).

flesh of my flesh by @igrockspock (vader + leia, gen) - when precocious eleven-year old Leia is taken from her home on Alderaan to live with her birth father in his lava castle, both understandably have to adjust. An absurd situation that the author mines for its humor and the humanity it can reveal while never forgetting what Vader is and what he ultimately wants.

how the other half lives (series in progress) by @reedroad (luke + leia + vader, OT + Rebels + comics cast). gorgeously written switched!au, with prince luke and jedi leia. and while much remains the same, the devil’s in the details. vader steals his scenes: angry and awful.

in loco pirates + palpatine ad portas (wip) by @izzythehutt (gen, vader, palpatine, luke, leia, aphra). vader, driven by his fear of weakness, and luke, who sees right through him. lovely father-son interaction offset by an utterly compelling and terrifying palpatine. leia’s in for the ride, too. also: hondo!

in which vader discovers he’s a father by @glompcat (gen, vader + luke + leia). vader kidnaps or discovers one or both of his children, in situations varying between the harrowing and humorous.

the light you leave behind (wip) by @laventadorn (anakin/padmé, anakin/obi-wan, ahsoka, tcw!cast). great author in many fandoms. this particular story features vivid action and even lovelier domestic scenes - wonderful characterization especially of the female characters, from padmé and ahsoka to ventress.

masquerade (wip) by PlaidButterfly (gen, vader-centric). vader is forcibly taken out of the suit, only to find that the emperor has his hands on luke. memorable for the physical description of vader as a kind of grey-haired shaggy bear, his chilly interactions with leia, and his attempt to survive unnoticed in the lower levels of Coruscant by returning to what he knows best: fixing things.

on the day ... by @cacchieressa (vader + leia, series in progress). vader discovers his daughter and comes to an agreement with her parents

the tyranny of kinship (wip) by @amarielah (mostly suitless!vader + leia, cast). vader and anh!leia come to an understanding. leia shines in particular, bringing across that astuteness and political savvy she’s often said but not shown to have. see also precious illusions (wip; vader/vision!adult!ahsoka), an unsettlingly lovely take on vader’s contradictory impulses.

slipping by radioboca (gen, vader, leia, luke, bail, breha, han, etc.). leia gives in to her hatred for her biological father. leia is so, so young in this story, and painfully, palpably afraid. vader just thinks he’s doing the right thing.

violence in the library (wip) by @radioactivepeasant (gen, vader + luke). alien meets star wars. a heady mix of uncompromising gore and father-son shenanigans, with a great supporting cast and lots of humor.

> canon divergence after ROTJ, i.e. vader!lives

wounds by @azalea-scroggs (han/leia, vader + leia). luke dies in the battle of endor - vader acted too late to save him. leia is left with her grief. mesmerizing take on vader and leia, their struggles to hold on to reason despite overwhelming emotion. a powerful statement on mourning. see also: black squadron (wip, vader + luke), a take on the ‘luke becomes an imperial pilot’ scenario where luke is faced not only with vader, but also his own morality.

love thy enemy (series in progress) by @threadsketchier (vader + luke, leia, cast). vader survives rotj, but luke may not. body!horror, angry!leia, lovely prose and quality angst.

the trial of darth vader by The Librarian (ocs, vader, luke, leia). brilliant examination of vader’s crimes and legacy from the perspective of his prison interviewer, the kind of man vader would not have hesitated to kill. while this might seem like the lead-up to a trial rather than the trial itself, the reader is invited to be a juror of sorts. vader is dispassionate and alert, reciting information with cold precision, warming only to artoo and luke in his prison cell as his suit wastes away, unsure if he can use the force again - some incredibly memorable scenes here.

the smell of burning by deaka (luke + vader). luke saved vader, but at what cost? short but searing conversation between luke and vader about selfishness, about the costs of getting what one wants, about forgiveness, about whether we change so much in a setting as telling as it is metaphorical.

unvadering (wip) by @cadesama (vader, ahsoka, luke, leia, cast). vader loses the suit and works for the alliance now, but what does that really change? a conundrum nicely played-out in a scenario where ahsoka hadn’t known what he became. features glass-smashing leia.

untitled by @jerseydevious (vader + luke). vader survives rotj and is subjected to probing questions from an alliance doctor. poor luke plays interference

untitled by @sith-shame-shack (vader + luke). vader survives rotj and surgery, slipping in and out of consciousness. panic over loss of the suit, consuming awareness of touch, exhaustion tempered by luke’s presence.

#star wars #darth vader #fic rec list #leia organa #luke skywalker #ahsoka tano #padmé amidala #stories that shaped me #long post

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one-of-us-blog · 7 years ago

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Robot of Sherwood (Doctor Who S08E03)

Today Drew is forced to watch and recap “Robot of Sherwood”, the third episode of Doctor Who’s eighth series. Clara’s in the mood for some men in tights, and that means it’s time to take a trip to Sherwood Forest. The Doctor is convinced that the man calling himself Robin Hood is a fraud, but what does he have to do with these hunky robots running around?

Keep reading to find out…

Eli, first of all, I’m so sorry this is so late! I had a great time at Gen Con, but it’s really got my schedule out of order! Plus my dog needed a tune up and then I had to recharge him on the way back from the shop, and you know how much of a hassle that is. Anyway, you did a great job with your last recap! I’m thrilled you enjoyed that episode so much, and I agree that it’s a great showcase for a side of Blanche we don’t always get to see. I always get a bit of a kick out of seeing Sophia carrying that giant phone book, but I agree that the A plot was much meatier overall. I don’t want to delay any longer, so I’m gonna dive right into my recap!

Buttocks tight!

Episode directed by Paul Murphy and written by Mark Gatiss

In an unusually friendly gesture for his current incarnation, the Doctor tells Clara that she gets to decide where and when they’ll go on their next adventure. Anywhere in the universe and any point in time, she just has to pick! She has an idea, but she thinks the Doctor will make fun of her for it. She finally admits that she’s always had a thing for Robin Hood, and, as predicted, the Doctor shuts her down by pointing out that there never was an actual dude named Robin Hood who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor. He’s just a folk hero, like John Henry or Fong Sai-yuk or Steven Seagal. He tries to sell her on some adventures to real places with real people, but Clara insists on heading to Sherwood. He relents and they head to ~1190, all the while assuring her she’s in for some disappointment. The TARDIS appears in Sherwood Forest and is immediately hit with an arrow, which was fired by a man who appears to be Robin Hood.

After the credits, Robin is trying to figure out how the Doctor made the TARDIS appear out of thin air, and then informs the Doctor that he’ll be confiscating the TARDIS. He’s a thief, remember? Clara emerges from the TARDIS in some time-appropriate garb, and Robin Hood is instantly smitten. Clara’s feeling pretty squishy, too, but the Doctor insists this cannot be Robin Hood. Robin takes offense at this and again insists he’s going to steal the TARDIS, leading to a fight between the two. Robin Hood is armed with a sword, the Doctor, for some reason, is armed with a spoon. The Doctor loses a button from his coat, but he wins the fight. They both end up in a stream, and Robin and Clara have a good laugh.

In a nearby village, the Sheriff of Nottingham and a squad of burly helmeted knights are harassing some peasants, stealing gold and kidnapping people to come and do hard labor at the castle. The young ward of an old man named Quayle is being taken to work in the castle, and Quayle begs the Sheriff to take him in her place. The Sheriff refuses, and kills Quayle after the old man lashes out. The young ward is dragged away, along with all of the village’s gold.

Back in the Forest, Robin Hood introduces Clara to his #squad. There’s Will Scarlet, Friar Tuck, Alan-a-Dale, Little John and some other guy who never gets identified. Is he Munch the Miller’s Son? Arthur a Bland? David of Doncaster? Who knows! Clara is thrilled to be with the real Robin Hood and his real Merry Men (a name the boys take quite a liking to), and the Doctor’s had just about enough of it. He’s figured out these guys aren’t holograms, but he’s still got plenty of theories that could explain all of this away as a big, fat hoax. Clara talks to Robin about the dark days that have fallen on Sherwood, and we get the usual set up to a Robin Hood story: King Richard the Lionheart is away, his evil tyrant of a brother, Prince John, is abusing the throne in his stead and Prince John’s lackey, the Sheriff, is running amok and terrorizing peasants.

Clara’s picking up that Robin is a pretty sad guy, and he explains his tragic backstory (which she already knows). He used to be Robert, Earl of Loxley, but he spoke out against Prince John and lost his lands and title. More importantly, he lost his beloved Maid Marian. Marian told Robert he had to stand up for what he believes in, and now he has to be the hero Marian wanted him to be by being Robin Hood. The Doctor interrupts all of this by asking about the time of year; Robin says it’s autumn, but the Doctor points out how green and sunny it is in the Forest. Robin tells his Merry Men about the contest the Sheriff is putting on to find the best archer in the land. Clara says it’s a trap, but Robin already knows that and it’s not going to stop him from winning.

The next day the contest for the golden arrow is in full swing, and the Sheriff and Tom the Tinker, Robin Hood’s alter ego of choice, are the only ones left in the running. The Sheriff hits the bullseye on his turn, and Robin pulls his usual splitting the arrow nonsense. Tom’s about to claim the golden arrow, but then the Doctor fires an arrow that splits Robin’s arrow. He’s standing further back, so he says he’s won the contest. He tosses aside the golden arrow, though, and tells the Sheriff the only prize he wants is enlightenment. Robin Hood splits his arrow, and the Doctor continues this dick measuring contest by splitting that arrow. Robin Hood one-ups him again, so the Doctor just explodes the target with his screwdriver. The Sheriff is very impressed by the Doctor’s pyrotechnics, and orders his beefy guards to seize him. Clara’s ready to fight and Robin Hood, who reveals his true identity to the crow, declares that he’ll protect the Doctor’s honor. Robin slices the arm off a guard, revealing that the hunk is actually a robot. Whaaat!

The robot guards retract their helmets, revealing that they have some crazy face lasers at their disposal. The Doctor declares that Robin Hood surrenders, and, apparently feeling nostalgic, uses some good old Venusian aikido to disarm the rogue. Robin has his Merry Men flee to fight another day, and he, Clara and the Doctor are taken to the Sheriff’s dungeon. Speaking of, that ward from earlier is hard at work in the Sheriff’s castle. She tries to help another prisoner who’s reached the end of his rope, but the roboguards destroy the man in front of her. Elsewhere, Robin, Clara and the Doctor are chained up. Robin and the Doctor are still getting on each other’s nerves, and Clara’s had enough of it. The Sheriff has confiscated the Doctor’s screwdriver, meaning neither he nor Robin have any sort of plan of escape. A guard, who’s been listening outside to determine who the ringleader of the three of them are, comes in to take Clara, the only one not consumed with squabbling, away.

Back in the Forest, the Merry Men plan to rescue Robin, and Alan-a-Dale notices that the Sheriff only ever loots gold; there are gems and silver for the taking out there, but he only ever wants gold. In the castle, we see one of the roboguards forging a circuit of some kind from molten gold. Elsewhere, the Sheriff chats up Clara. He discusses the Doctor’s ‘wand’, and frankly asks Clara if she comes from beyond the stars. In the dungeon, Robin Hood and the Doctor hornswoggle the guard, but they’re still so consumed with their bickering that they kick the keys to their shackles down a drain. Elsewhere, Clara tries to pull a fast one on the Sheriff and gets him to spill the tea about how he saw lights in the sky one night, and from the crashed sky ship came the mechanical men. The mechanical men saw him as their natural leader, and will only obey him. The Sheriff says Nottingham isn’t enough for him anymore; once he’s taken the throne from the Prince, he’s going to take over the world.

Back with the two stooges, they’ve managed to make it out of their cell but they’re still chained together. Clara wants to know why the Sheriff is hitting up the peasants for gold when he has access to a sky ship, but he’s done answering questions. He says he wants her to be his consort while he’s king of the world, but she’s not feeling it. Robin and the Doctor manage to get out of their chains, and the Doctor finds an entrance to the sky ship. He checks the ship’s database and sees that its destination was the Promised Land. Wait, that again? The Doctor sees that this whole castle is actually the ship; it disguised itself as the castle and merged into the local culture in an attempt to keep a low profile. The Doctor says the engines are damaged and leaking radiation, and the radiation is keeping Sherwood in summer even though it should be fall. The Doctor says the Sheriff is just another part of the ship’s disguise, and Robin part of that disguise, too. He’s the hope the Sheriff’s workforce needs to keep going. Robin is offended at these accusations and the two start to fight again, but they’re interrupted as the Sheriff and his guards, with Clara in hand, bust in. The Doctor says the charade is over, but the Sheriff still orders his guards to kill Robin. Robin grabs Clara and jumps out a window, killing himself and Clara. Or, at least, the Sheriff thinks they’re dead, but the Doctor sees Robin carry Clara to safety.

Alone with the Sheriff and his roboguards, the Doctor realizes that he’s using gold to create a matrix to repair the ship’s engines. The Doctor says there’s no chance the engines can be repaired and that this ship is just going to be a giant bomb, but a roboguard knocks him out. He ends up downstairs with the ward as the castle’s engines start to rev up.

Clara wakes up in Robin’s camp, and Robin wants answers. The Doctor explains the situation to the ward, and the two begin to plot a riot. Robin demands that Clara tell him what she and the Doctor know about him as the Doctor, the ward and the other peasants begin to riot. They use gold surfaces to reflect the roboguards’ lasers back at them, and the guards start dropping like flies. The Sheriff figures out what’s going on and goes to personally deal with this pesky Doctor as the Doctor sends the peasants and the ward, who gives him a grateful kiss on the cheek, to safety before the ship can launch and explode. The Sheriff arrives and ignores the Doctor’s warnings, and informs the Doctor that Robin Hood isn’t one of the robots he’s been running with. The Doctor realizes, to his horror, that Robin Hood really is real, just as Robin and Clara arrive to rescue the Doctor as the Merry Men take the castle.

Robin and the Sheriff fight, and Robin gets disarmed. Using the same trick the Doctor used during their earlier fight, Robin gets the better of the Sheriff and sends the villain falling into a vat of molten gold. The peasants, the Merry Men, Robin, Clara and the Doctor all make it outside as the castle takes off. The Doctor says it can’t reach orbit and will explode too close to the ground, but he realizes that the golden arrow might give it enough gold content to boost its way into the atmosphere. Robin can’t shoot because he was injured during his fight with the Sheriff, the Doctor can’t shoot because he cheated earlier and actually sucks and Clara can’t shoot because she’s never shot an arrow before. Robin says the three of them can do it together, and, somehow, that works. The ship reaches orbit just in time to explode, and everyone celebrates.

Later, Robin gives Clara some archery lessons before she and the Doctor head home. Robin tells Clara that the Doctor is lucky to have her, and she says Marian is lucky to have him. He’s close to giving up on getting her back, but Clara tells him not to give up. Robin talks to the Doctor about how one day he’ll be thought of only as a legend, but Robin’s okay with that. Robin reveals that Clara told him all about the Doctor’s story, which the Doctor doesn’t like, and Robin says that even though neither of them are heroes they can pretend to be ones long enough to inspire other people to be heroic. The two of them shake hands, and the Doctor joins Clara in the TARDIS. The Doctor takes off, but he leaves Robin a present. The young ward, who was actually Maid Marian, appears, and she and Robin are joyfully reunited.

The End

~~~~~

This is a bit of an odd one for me! I thought the performances were all a lot of fun, but the story itself was… I don’t know, kind of lukewarm for me. I don’t know what it is, but I’ve never really had much of an interest in Robin Hood (even the cartoon with the sexy fox version) and I feel like that lack of preexisting fondness played a role in me not being in love with this one. The plot itself also didn’t really hold up for me; how did the golden arrow give the engines any kind of boost? The engines were repaired with a matrix made of gold, not just loose bits of golden junk in the vicinity of the ship. I liked the twist that Robin was a real guy who just got sort of Johnny Appleseeded by history, and like I said I thought there were some great performances, but I just don’t think this is an episode I’m going to remember in any sort of detail in a few months from now.

I give “Robot of Sherwood” QQQ½on the Five Q Scale.

Tune in Friday when Eli will chuckle it up with the next episode of The Golden Girls, “Comedy of Errors”, and the after that on Saturday I’ll be back to post my recap of the next episode of Doctor Who, “Listen”.

Until then, thanks for reading, thanks for laughing and thanks for being One of Us!

#one of us #doctor who

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cycas · 8 years ago

Text

East of the Mountains

In which Maedhros is planning to export dwarf-made dragon-proof armour to the Vanyar, Elrond and Elros are in touch with Cirdan via palantir, Maglor has to do more manual labour than he’d like, and we meet what’s left of the descendants of Maedhros’s Nirnaeth ally, Bór the Faithful. Elrond & Elros are 17.

Taken from a longer thing I’m writing, but I think it stands alone and fits the themes Torture & Adjusting/Coping. About 3200 words, gen.

There was little sign of the Enemy here, East of the Ered Luin and so far south, although twice Maedhros’s scouts found signs of long-abandoned camps, piled with the bones of orcs. Their swords rarely flickered with the light that said servants of the Enemy were near. This land was not under the control of Morgoth, not yet.

They came down a long grassy slope, and could see in the distance a wide brown river, running south and west across a green and fertile land that lay along the river-shore. Here and there along the river there were small villages of low wooden houses, with pale roofs that shone in the sun. Across the river, the forest began again, fading away south into green distances. The trees were coming into full leaf here down by the river, and the sun was warm.

They came out of the trees, and made for the largest of the villages across the fields. As they approached, thickset shaggy dogs came out, first barking and then approaching with wagging tails to greet the Elves with wriggling delight.

Their owners were close behind: stout strong-looking men and women with brown faces, wearing clothes made from well-tanned deerskins and carrying bows, with broad knives upon their belts. The men were bearded, almost like dwarves, and the women wore their dark hair in thick plaits. Their leader, a stocky man who wore a red gem around his neck that was clearly of Fëanorian design, hurried cheerfully to greet Maedhros.

“Borthin!” Maedhros said, clasping the offered hand, “It’s good to see you again!” “And to see you, my lord!” Borthin released Maedhros’s hand so that the others could shake it too. “We have had no more trouble with raiders since last you came to our aid, I am pleased to say, although we are keeping up the patrols.”

“That’s good to hear,” Maedhros said. “This is my brother Maglor; you’ve heard of him. These are our kinsmen, Elrond and Elros. They are half-Elven princes out of the West, descended from the Men and Elves who were our allies in the Great Battle. I think you know the others? Elros, Elrond, this is Borthin son of Ioreth, daughter of Iorin, who was the sister of Borthand the faithful.”

“Delighted!” Borthin said, shaking hands all round with great enthusiasm. “A star shines on us, isn’t that how you say it? Here are some of the people of my house: Heldfast, Held the Young, Borlass...This is Borfast the Steadfast, and this is Aleborn, he’s the headman of the next village... But I see you come in armour, are there enemies about? Should I sound the alarm, and call our people to arms?”

“No, we are not expecting an attack. ” Maedhros reassured him. “We have seen no orcs for days, indeed. It is only that we came down from the North this time, and it is easier to wear armour than to carry it.”

“How is the war going, my lord?” Borlass asked. She was a notably short and broad woman, wearing beads on strings around her strong brown arms, and a wide smile. A small child was hiding behind her skirt.

“Too slowly for my taste, alas,” Maedhros replied. “But the Noldor and Vanyar hosts are holding the Enemy in battle. I do not think he will turn his attention this way soon, unless we are very unlucky. How does the building go?”

Borthin shook his head, his cheerful face suddenly fallen into embarrassed wrinkles. “I am sorry, lord. We could not get the beams in place. I was hoping that we might get help from the Dwarves to move them before you came by again. We have cut the timber and it’s all seasoned and ready, but to move such large pieces...”

“Let us go and have a look at it,” Maedhros said. “Among my people we have plenty of experience with moving wood and stone.”

“You’re building a quay on the river?” Elrond said, some time later peering at the plans spread across the width of a tree-stump and then looking around at the wide brown waters of the river, sparkling in the afternoon sun. They had taken off their armour and left it in Borthin’s small wooden hall, which was a welcome change, for the day was warm. “Why? I didn’t see any ships?”

“We don’t build ships,” Borthin admitted. “Small boats, yes. For duck-hunting or fishing, no problem. We make those very well. I would venture to say you could not find a finer canoe than ours in Middle-earth! But you can bring them ashore anywhere. I understand that the sort of ships that the lord Maedhros speaks of cannot do that.”

“Well, not if we are going to load them,” Maedhros said. “But we are not expecting Borthin’s folk to build the ships. That is where I am hoping you may agree to help us, Elrond. Look, here at this map. You can see that this river flows west to the Sea. If you can persuade Círdan to send ships up the river, then we can send dragon-proof armour from Belegost directly to the Vanyar at Eglarest. We will not have to cross East Beleriand at all, or deal with the armies that are ranged all along the Sirion. Our enemy has no ships of his own, so this would be quite outside his reach. What do you think?”

Elros frowned at the map. “And the river is navigable all the way to the sea, is it? What about the tides? Does the map show the high or low tide mark?”

Maedhros looked pleased. “I thought you’d be good at this.”

“Our hunters take boats down the river, almost to the Sea,” Borthin said, running a broad finger along the map. “They turn back where the banks become sand. There are no rapids downstream, and the river runs wide and deep. But I’m not sure how deep it needs to be.”

“Elros and Elrond may know about that, I think,” Maedhros said.

Elros gave Maedhros an amused look. “You do remember that we left the Havens when we were seven, don’t you?” he said. “But very well. Let us have a proper look at this map.”

“Down a little.” Maedhros called, “A little more. All right. It’s in place, you can let go!”

Maglor, Carnil and ten of the people of Bór let the rope fall slack. Maglor stepped back, rubbing the sweat away from his eyes, and walked over to inspect the huge beam of timber they had just lifted into place on the river shore.

“That doesn’t look as if it will ever move again”, he said to Maedhros. “Tell me it was the last one!”

“It is the last one,” Maedhros said, staring at the plan. “Until Borthin and Máramo get the others over here, tomorrow, at any rate.”

“That’s good,” Borfast said, stretching. “About time we took a break! ” He walked away upstream a little way to a place where a small stream came down to the river making a small sandy beach, and began to bathe his feet. The other Men of Bór followed him into the water. Borlass and a few of the children came down from the houses to join them. The children began splashing water at each other joyfully, squealing.

Maglor looked at the plan over his brother’s shoulder, and groaned. “Would it not be easier to carry the armour piece by piece to the sea?”

“We would have to carry it all ourselves,” Maedhros said. “Neither Dwarves with their ponies nor the people of Bór and their dog-carts can easily cross the many streams that join the Baranduin, unless we built bridges, which would be harder still. Then we’d have the problem of the fens. The small boats can’t carry enough weight. This is the easiest way.”

“I don’t like your definition of easiest,” Maglor said darkly.

“I’d offer to help, but...” Maedhros waved the silver hand innocently, to illustrate his inability to haul on a rope.

“Very convenient! Though I think Borthin would be upset if you did.” Maglor threw himself down onto the grass next to Maedhros and closed his eyes. “He doesn’t seem too happy about me hauling ropes, let alone you doing it.”

“Borthin will preserve the last shreds of my princely dignity if it means he had to put up the entire quay himself,” Maedhros said, mock-solemnly. “Fortunately, this means that I have a jug of... whatever this is. Carnil! Put that rope down and come and have a drink. You’re making Maglor look feeble.”

Carnil laughed. “That will never do,” she said. She put the coiled rope out of the way, sat down gracefully on the sheep-cropped turf, and accepted a wooden cup.

Maedhros said, “I did wonder though, if we should try to stop Elrond and Elros...”

“Stop us doing what?” Elrond said cheerfully, climbing up the bank to flop down on the grass next to Maglor. He was shirtless, wearing only breeches and a good deal of mud.

“I get the impression that Men like their kings to be too dignified to dig holes in the mud,” Maedhros told him, handing him a cup. “And you two are getting very muddy. Is this likely to cause trouble if word of it gets back to the isle of Balar?”

“What, more trouble than accepting drinks from the House of Fëanor?” Elrond considered. “If anyone asks, I shall claim it is only my Elven ancestry that has led to me being covered in mud. I’m sure everyone will believe that without question.”

“Getting your hands dirty and carrying out backbreaking labour is in the finest tradition of the kings of the Noldor,” Maglor said, without opening his eyes. “You should have seen our father after a day in the forge. I don’t see the appeal myself. I should have been born among the Sindar. They have a proper appreciation for a musician’s hands. I have a blister!”

“I weep for you,” Maedhros said, poking him with a foot, and then handing him a cup when he opened his eyes and sat up, blinking.

“Anyway, Elros isn’t muddy any more,” Elrond said. “That’s what I came up to tell you. We’ve finished straightening the bank. He’s gone swimming.”

“So he has,” Maglor said, looking down the river, where in the distance beyond the people who were paddling in the shallow water, a dark head was making a vee of ripples on the surface of the golden sunlit water.

“That looks very cool and pleasant,” Carnil said, setting down her empty cup. “I think I’ll join him.”

“I’ll come with you,” Maglor said, draining his cup and hauling himself to his feet with an effort. “It would be good to wash the sweat off. And perhaps cold water will help the blisters.”

Maedhros watched them walk along the bank, to the place where there was a gentle sandy shelf that folded down towards the water. Elros came swimming in to greet them.

“Gil-galad says that Círdan will send a ship to try the passage of the Baranduin when next the tide is right. Perhaps a fortnight, he thinks,” Elrond said.

“We won’t have the armour ready by then,” Maedhros said, and paused. “But you know that, of course: we have not had time to complete the revised patterns and get them made up... But they aren’t coming for that, are they? They’re coming for you and Elros.”

“Yes,” Elrond said. He looked down and picked a piece of drying mud off his leg.

“Thank you for the warning. Maglor and I should leave this place, then. Do you think Gil-galad will kill Borthin and his people in revenge, if we are not here?”

“No!” Elrond looked taken aback. “I’m sure that’s not...”

“Círdan is very level-headed, but Gil-galad...”

“Gil-galad is not as reckless as you think he is,” Elrond said. “He doesn’t like you very much, and you can’t blame him for that. But for most of us, dislike doesn’t mean violence is inevitable.”

“No. No, of course it doesn’t. Sorry.” Maedhros shook his head as if trying to clear it.

“I thought perhaps...” Elrond trailed off uncertainly. Maedhros waited.

“Elros and I thought... We thought that perhaps Elros should go to Balar with Círdan, to see how our people are doing there, and I should stay here in the east with you. For a while. Making dragon-armour for the Vanyar in the workshops of the Dwarves is a good idea. Everyone thinks so. But it needs someone here to talk to Círdan and Gil-galad and the hosts of Valinor.”

“It was only ever going to work if it could become your plan, not mine.” Maedhros said. “Even Círdan is hardly going to trust me.”

“So you think it would be best if I stayed?”

Maedhros looked surprised. “I thought you’d both want to go home. You could still coordinate things with the dwarves from Balar. Borthin knows you now, and so does Audur.”

“Balar isn’t our home,” Elrond said, a little awkwardly. “The Havens was our home, but it’s gone. Our parents are gone too, and... and it seems they cannot return. If we have a home now, it’s with you.”

Maedhros’s face twisted and his eyes widened in alarm. “Oh, be careful,” he said, almost in a whisper. “On the House of Fëanor the wrath of the Valar lieth from the West unto the uttermost East, and upon all that will follow them it shall be laid also...

“Don’t follow us, Elrond! To evil end shall all things turn that we begin well; and by treason of kin unto kin, and the fear of treason, shall this come to pass. So Mandos foretold, and every word was true.”

Elrond looked at the mud on his boots for a long moment. It had dried a pale colour, and was splitting into tiny cracks. “Didn’t you just say, it was only ever going to work as our plan, not yours? It’s my idea that I shall not go to Balar, not yours. I am not staying to follow you. Nor even Maglor, though he’s less terrifying than you are... It’s possible to be fond of people without following them, or even agreeing with them, you know.”

Maedhros blinked in surprise. “I suppose it is. I wish I’d worked that out when I was your age.”

“Anyway,” Elrond said, looking at the swimmers in the river below, “Elros doesn’t think it will be like going home, either. But Gil-galad needs one of us on Balar, not both.”

“Gil-galad has agreed to this? And Galadriel?”

“Do Thingol’s heirs require the permission of the Noldor to come and go in Middle-earth?” Elrond asked, with a raised eyebrow.

For a moment, Maedhros was taken aback, then he looked amused. “I’m sure that went down well.”

“Gil-galad needs someone to lead the Edain; that is his main concern. He wanted both of us to go to Balar, but... I said one of us should stay here. He said: it would be wise to keep an eye on you, if I was sure I could do it without getting killed. But Galadriel told me to follow my heart.”

“It will please Maglor,” Maedhros said. “Well, it pleases me too, I admit. I thought we would not see either of you again.”

Elrond gave him a sideways smile, bright as the river under the sun. “I want to ask you something though,” he said. He got to his feet, and took a deep breath, as if bracing himself. “Can you try? Try not to assume defeat is inevitable and that you can’t do anything but go on killing and killing until the darkness takes you. I know it’s hard. But just... try. Maglor is trying.”

“Maglor is much better at hope than I am. He has never had to let go of it.” Maedhros ran his finger along the silver cuff of his metal hand.

“Why not try? What do you have to lose?”

“Hope hurts more than despair,” Maedhros said, as one stating an obvious fact. “I learned that on Thangorodrim. When the sun first rose, and Fingolfin’s trumpets sounded before the gates of Angband and echoed on the mountain, I had hope. But they could not breach the gate, and they turned and went away and left me hanging on the mountain. That was the worst time. Each sunrise I tried not to hope that this would be the day Morgoth would relent and kill me... It was almost five years, from the sunrise, until Fingon came.”

“But he did come.”

“Yes... Since it is you who asks me, I will try to hope.” He looked up and met Elrond’s eyes. “Don’t rely on my succeeding.”

“All right.” Elrond smiled again, pleased. Then he had a different thought. “They are running low on fresh water, on Balar. Elros thought we could begin moving some of the Edain to this side of the mountains; the children and the old men and women, at least... Do you think that would work?”

“I think you should ask Borthin. These are not my lands: it was Borthin’s great grandfather who made alliance with me and he paid dearly for it. Borthin is descended from him in the female line. I understand that means his line is considered a new one, but in any case, I have never asked Borthin for any oath.”

“Do you think Borthin sees it like that? You saved his people, last time the orcs attacked, didn’t you? He names himself, ‘Faithful’. ”

“That is an alarming thought... Very well, I am in favour, then. I must find out if Borthin can be persuaded to declare he is king in his own right. I’m loath to bring the Doom of Mandos down on him for no good reason. Perhaps you can offer him an alliance with the Edain?”

“I expect so. Elros likes Borthin, too.” Elrond scratched a crust of mud from his elbow. “You are right, I am very muddy. I’m going to swim and wash the mud off. Are you coming?”

“You want me to come and swim in the river?” Maedhros said, incredulous.

“Why not? It’s a warm day. Maglor is swimming.”

“It is a warm day and there are orcs led by Balrog generals just the other side of the mountains, and armies of Men in alliance with Morgoth only a few days north of us.” Maedhros said. His hand wandered to his sword hilt, and he drew the sword just a little, to check if it shone.

“You looked at that when I said Elros was in the water,” Elrond pointed out. “It wasn’t shining then, and still isn’t. Orcs don’t like sun, or water.” He paused, considering. ”The sword might be cumbersome in the water, but you could probably swim with a knife, if it would make you happier.”

Maedhros laughed. It was a harsh laugh, but a real one. He got up, and began to undo the buckle of the strap that held his silver hand in place. “I shall see if I can manage without one.”

#maedhros #feanorianweek #elrond #feanorians in the War of Wrath #holidays on the baranduin #quenta narquelion

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