#LOOK AT ALL OF THOSE LITTLE DOTS. ALL PROGRAMS. ALL LIVING LIVES.

[wynandcore]

Okay I wanna show my favorite piece of Uprising concept art, it’s been in the back of my mind ever since I saw it

Look at that.

[lets-try-some-writing]

I request your input on how the autobots (tfp) would deal with.. the fact rabies exists. That (almost) any organic creature can get it and basically get turned into a slobbery hyper-agressive zombie. How would they deal with the fact their beloved humans are not one of the few who are immune? I imagine it started by one of the kids rushing into base because there was a rabid dog not far away, leading to the autobots to look up videos and documents about rabies, perhaps?

This is such a random ask, but sure. Let's lore this.

Ghouls, spark eaters, various parasites, all of those are fairly common knowledge on Cybertron. The Bots are aware of things that can send a mech spiraling into madness, illness so severe a mech can lose their mind in agony. Ratchet witnessed the Rust Plague, Optimus got to see the effects of Dark Energon up and personal down at Primus's Core. Each living Cybertronian is well accustomed to things that mess with the mind.

That said, rabies is... interesting.

When Jack came into base looking tired, Miko a little unnerved, and Rafael unusually quiet, the team were rightfully concerned. Jack spoke of a wild dog that he described as rabid. He had to drive it off by throwing rocks and seemed rather unsettled as he elaborated. The team understood to an extent why a dog might be concerning for the children considering their size. But the moment Rafael mentioned it probably had rabies and he wanted to go in to get checked to see if anything might have happened to him, the team perked up in concern.

Out of curiosity, Ratchet went and looked up the condition. Arcee in turn questioned the children, asking how dangerous this 'rabies' was. The answer left the team very uncomfortable.

A disease that can't really be stopped, one that degrades the mind, driving an individual to madness and urging them to attack and lash out, acting out of the ordinary until they expire... it was eerily similar to several programming based ailments, usually of the lethal variety. With the dots connected, Optimus not so quietly gave the order for the children to always be escorted in. Bumbleebee, Arcee, and Bulkhead were quick to comply.

Not a soul wanted to see their three little humans turn into something as horrific as a ghoul because of a mere dog.

[koolades-world]

Can you do headcanons with all the brothers + Simeon of an MC who if you look closely enough you can see traits that Lilith had

Like “Oh hey the shade of [color] for MC’s eyes looks familiar!” *Five minutes later* “wait a damn minute.”

Or MC could have a similar face to her but it’s different enough so you have to stare at their face for a bit until you notice

Even better if MC also slightly looked like Lilith’s lover too

hello! sure thing :)

any lilith prompts are so fun to me!! angst central lol

enjoy <3

Mc that looks like Lilith and her lover

Lucifer

you reminded him of his little sister

he noticed that pretty quickly

but it took him longer to notice the traces of the man that had caused his current circumstances

but, he couldn't be mad at you. it wasn't your fault and he wasn't going to burden you with that thought

Mammon

he had always wondered why the two of you got along so swimmingly so quickly

he almost didn't want to connect the dots

almost.

he tried his best to think of you when he looked into the eyes that the two of you shared, but of course he couldn't help but think of the sister he'd lost

Levi

the first few times he saw you, he didn't put two and two together

but once he did, he was almost upset and could only remembered how sweet and kind lilith was

but, you were just as nice and even if you didn't know it, you helped him through his grief for a second time

despite being a demon, he really was blessed to have you in his life

Satan

upon meeting you, he didn't really intend to get to know you that well

he wasn't planning to entertain this exchange program, but something about you drew him to you

you almost reminded him of himself but he just couldn't place his finger on it

part of him knew that you were both reminiscent of lilith, but he never said anything. he didn't want to reopen his brother's wounds

Asmo

he spends so much time with you and looking at pictures of you so he was bound to notice soon

it finally clicked after a little staring at a picture the two of you had taken that day for his devilgram

of course he's reminded of all the raw emotions he felt right after he learnt of her fate

but now, at least, he's able to connect those features to not one, but two of those he holds close to his heart

Beel

he was the one who noticed first

of course, he'd never forget her face and the two of you got to know each other early into the exchange program

meeting you really helped him, especially since he was lonely in belphie's absence

eventually, he does tell you how you remind him of lilith, but not how your face physically looks like hers. he doesn't want you to think that's all he sees in you because you are a separate person to him

Belphie

when you meet for the first time, something is hauntingly familiar about you

but he just chalked it up to the lighting. after all, seeing lilith in you was impossible

once he learns the truth, he struggles with it himself but eventually comes to terms with it

he can blame himself less now, knowing that lilith was happy and that you're living proof

Simeon

as the only one of the group left to deal with the aftermath, it was constantly on his mind

meeting you in a way helped him relinquish himself of his guilt

lilith had been happy after going to earth

you were happy too, so he'd never even think of bringing it up to you

[charliegyrth]

My Former Best Friend - Part 4 of 5

Landon Starts to Grow

Read Part 3 here.

Living with Landon very quickly settled into a routine. He’d work out of my living room in the daytime while I used my home office. In the evenings when I didn’t go out with friends, we’d stay inside and watch TV. (I assumed that he watched TV alone when I was out.)

I always picked the programs, of course. Mostly reality shows and sitcoms.

And of course, we shared three meals together. He didn’t know how to cook (I guess his wife did all of that), so I ended up doing everything myself. I enjoy cooking, so that wasn’t a big deal. Plus, it made Landon even more grateful to me. I was feeding him, sheltering him, allowing him to work. He relied on me for everything and felt so worthless because of it.

I knew that I was fostering a pretty unhealthy dynamic, but I couldn’t stop myself. Every awkward “thank you” or “sorry” filled me with an electric charge.

That’s what led me to overcook for him. I gave him servings that were twice what he’d normally eat. I never forced him to finish it all, but he did anyway. He knew I wanted him to. After that first week, I increased the sizes even more.

I also started adding extra ingredients to his food. A bit more butter. Extra cheese or sugar, depending on the food. I made the same meals for myself, but I kept those separate so I could adjust the recipes. Even when we had something as simple as oatmeal for breakfast meant that my serving used water while his used half-and-half.

You probably thing that I was trying to get him fat. But honestly, that thought never crossed my mind. All I was thinking about was the power. I was weaponizing his guilt to push him into fullness, but I never considered how his under-exercised body was slowly adapting to the calorie onslaught.

That realization didn’t come until two weeks into his stay. I was in my office at the time, working on an editing project that ended up being easier than expected. I’d finished early and went out into the living room to see what Landon was up to. He wasn’t there. His work computer was on but the couch was empty.

This surprised me. He never left the house.

I felt a weird sense of disappointment, knowing that he was doing something without telling me, without asking for my permission.

Pretty soon, the front door opened and he limped back inside, gasping for breath. His shirt was drenched in sweat, clinging to his body. That’s when I finally noticed the changes. In the span of two weeks, his waist had thickened and his stomach bulged out in an unmistakable starter belly. A sliver of hairy skin was exposed between his shorts and the bottom of his shirt.

I immediately connected the dots. I’d made him gain weight. And that little belly was the single hottest thing I’d ever seen. I’d done that. I’d used my power over him to permanently change him.

I immediately sat down to hide my erection. Thankfully, he was too busy catching his breath to notice.

“Went for a run?”

“Yeah,” he panted. “Just around…” (Huff.) “The block. I hope… that’s okay.”

“Of course. You don’t have to ask permission.” Then my devious streak came back. “Did you see any neighbors?”

He collapsed onto the couch, his new belly jiggling. “A few.”

“Great. I didn’t know that you wanted to meet them. I’ll have to introduce you, tell them who you are and why you’re staying here.”

His eyes widened. “I’d… rather you didn’t.”

“Well, it’s a close-knit community, so they wouldn’t appreciate a complete stranger invading their space, you know. It’s only fair if they knew who you were.”

“No!” he shouted, then immediately looked guilty for raising his voice at me. “I mean, I don’t think I’ll be going out there again. It was… more difficult than I realized.”

“Oh,” I said, slathering on the compassion. “So that was a one-time thing?”

He sighed. “Yeah.”

“Okay. Good to know.”

I felt so proud of himself. In less than a minute, I’d convinced him to give up on his pathetic attempt at exercise. I wasn’t going to get the neighbors involved, of course. I only knew a couple of them by name, and none of them would care about some random jogger. But it was a believable excuse and he fell for it.

I guess that’s the moment I finally realized that my plans for Landon had shifted. He had two more weeks under my roof, and in that time, I would do everything I could to get him fat. That way, once he left my life, I’d still have power over him. His body would forever carry the effects of his time living with me.

I shifted in my seat. God, I was rock hard now.

And it wasn’t the fat that was turning me on. In fact, it was the exact opposite. I found fat men deeply unattractive. Always had. But knowing that I was ruining Landon’s perfect body and then sending him out into the world… God, that was delicious.

“So you must’ve really worked up an appetite,” I said.

“Not really,” he mumbled, looking down at his soft stomach.

“Okay,” I said. “Well, just in case, I’ll fix up some snacks while you’re in the shower. No pressure or anything.”

I left a giant bowl of chips on the coffee table next to his laptop, along with a bowl of guacamole that I’d mixed with sour cream. Even though he didn’t want it, everything was gone in an hour.

Read the final part here. You can find all my stories here.

[devilat-thedoor]

Smile Pretty

A/N: one of many ideas birthed in the DMs with my bby Li ( @stardustvanfleet ) the way our conversations can get so easily carried away is insane. but i live for it and i love her so so much and this wouldn’t have come to be without her. i do have an idea for a Pt2 if it’s wanted? and i’ll be back to regularly scheduled programming after this. but i hope you enjoy🩵

Word Count: 2.4k

Jake x f!reader

Warnings: Smut 18+ Minors DNI(Striptease, Dirty Talk, Degradation, Oral[m&f rec], Camera use, Spit, Cumplay) If i missed anything, please let me know!

“God, I love that fucking dress…” Your boyfriend murmured to himself as he ushered you through the front door. After locking up, he turned back to you, hands immediately finding your waist, and pulled you in for a kiss.

You held a single finger over his lips and pushed him away. “Sit down… I have a surprise for you, baby.” Spinning around, you stalked deeper into the apartment as he followed behind you.

Jake shrugged his jacket off and slung it over the back of the leather chair in the living room before sinking onto the cushion, “What did I do to earn a surprise?” He asked, watching you slip into the bedroom, and pulled his phone from his pocket.

“You planned a nice date before you leave for tour… I wanted to repay the gesture.” You called from the room and began peeling your dress off to slip into the skimpy, black bra and g-string, trimmed in a cherry red, scalloped lace. You’d purchased the set earlier in the week after Jake told you he’d planned a date night for the both of you and knew you’d want to surprise him with something sweet, after dinner, to end the night. After looking yourself over in the full length mirror, adjusting the cups and situating the thong just right on your hips, you pulled the short, black satin robe over your shoulders and tied it up. Fluffing your hair out, you commanded the echo dot that was sitting on your dresser, “Alexa, play Foxey Lady by Jimi Hendrix.” You poked your head out of the door, seeing Jake’s face looking down at his phone, before leaning against the door jamb in a sexy pose.

When the music began to play, his eyes lifted to see you standing there, wrapped up like a present in the silky, black material. His mouth hung open as you pushed off the frame and gave him a smile before slowly toeing towards him. “Wait- just hang on a second…”

You stopped in your tracks, confusion twisting your features as he fumbled with his phone. “Jake, what are you-.” Your question was answered by the way he lifted his phone, holding it horizontally to record you.

He held his hand up, pointing at you with a hungry stare, “…Aaaand….action���. Let me have my surprise now.” Biting your lip with a playful smirk, you started towards him again, one foot in front of the other. Halfway across the room, you made a show of pulling the tie loose on the robe and letting it fall open, finally showcasing the racy set you’d picked just for him. You smiled when he shifted in his seat, palming his hardening cock with a squeeze. “Goddamn, angel. You look fucking beautiful.” He was watching you on the phone screen and you made sure to look straight into the camera for him as you let the robe slide down your arms into a heap on the floor.

You did a slow twirl, allowing him to see the little red bow that connected the strings at the back of the panties, “Do you want me to unwrap your present, Jakey?”

He gave an eager nod, all but drooling as he watched your hands fold behind your back to unclip the bra. “Fucking hell…” The garment fell to the floor, exposing your breasts to Jake and his phone camera. When you hooked your thumbs into the panties to pull them down, he stopped you, “Leave those on…for now.”

“Okay…” You stood in front of him, leaning down to place your hands on his knees and give him a kiss. He flipped the phone enough to capture the kiss on his little home video as he pushed his tongue into your mouth. Your hands traveled up his thighs, ghosting over his erection, to unbutton his pants. Breaking away from the kiss, you looked at the phone and back to him, “Time to call cut, baby… Turn the phone off.” You dropped to your knees in front of him, giving him an expectant look.

He halted the recording, giving you his big pleading eyes. “Can I just record a little bit? Just enough to get me through the first few tour dates…until you come visit?” He pouted his lip at you in a silent plea.

Your resolve melted, a new excitement forming at the idea of making a film with Jake. “Fine…only a little bit.”

A grin stretched across his face, “Hold this for me.” He passed you the phone and stood up, pulling his zipper down. You took the opportunity to resume the recording and aim the camera at him, taking care to capture the very minute he dropped his pants to reveal his thick length, stiff and bouncing after being freed. He took the phone back, chuckling at the way you gazed at him. Jake turned the lens back on you, pushing your hair out of your face, “Smile real pretty for the camera, angel.”

Looking up, you stared directly into the lens again and flashed a beaming, toothy grin as you reached to grasp his cock. “How do I look, baby?” You used the sexiest tone you could manage, letting your tongue gather the precum from his tip.

Jake breathed out a sigh, his eyes fluttering momentarily, “So fucking pretty when you’re on your knees…hungry for me.” He paused, grabbing your chin and pulling your lip down with his thumb to show your teeth. “Are you gonna take my fat cock down your throat, pretty girl?”

Your eyes widened at his vulgar speech. He was never shy about being vocal, but he was definitely playing up his dialogue for the sake of his film… So you would do just the same, be the star of the show for him. “I am, Jakey… I’m gonna take every inch.” You ran your tongue across the edge of your teeth and locked eyes with him, “You wanna fuck my mouth, baby? Make me gag?” You were stroking him slowly with a firm grip as you held eye contact.

“Look at the camera, babe.” He focused the camera on your face, shuddering as you rolled your fingers over his head, and waited for you to stare back into the lens. “Now suck my fucking dick.” You didn’t need to be told twice, instantly leaning in to pull him into your mouth. You kept your eyes trained on the phone as you took him further, slithering your tongue along the underside. “Fuuuuck…deeper…” He grunted, placing his free hand on the back of your head to push you down, “You said you’d take every inch. Be a good girl and fucking…take it.” Jake held your head in place, rocking his hips against you as he watched you through the screen. Every few moments, his head would fall back or he’d release a guttural groan as he snapped his hips harder. The first gag was mild, just a minor throat spasm, but when he aimed for another with a sharp thrust, you squeezed your eyes shut with a violent cough. He gripped your hair to pull you from his length, admiring the thick string of saliva that kept you tethered to him. “Hmm. My filthy fucking girl.” He gripped himself, tracing your lips with the tip before tapping his cock over your face, “Spit on it, angel…make a fucking mess.” You obeyed, pushing a glob of spit through your lips to coat his length. “Open up and let me cum in that sweet mouth of yours.”

Opening your mouth wide, you let your tongue hang out, ready and waiting for him. Jake slipped back in, immediately finding his rhythm, and began hitting the back of your throat with blunt, pointed strokes. “Look at you, fucking choking on me…” He brushed his thumb below your eye, wiping away the black, streaky tears from your running mascara. You moaned around him, hollowing your cheeks to suck harder, and he twitched against your tongue. “Goddamn, angel…I’m almost there. I- Shit…” His face screwed up as you began to pump his cock while bobbing your head faster, driving him straight to the edge.

“Come on, Jakey. Let me have it, baby. I’m starving for it.” The way he was throbbing in your palm made it clear that he was close, but you were taken by surprise when he let out a deep, strangled groan and painted your lips with the first rope of his release. You took him back into your mouth, allowing him to empty his seed on your tongue with a soft hum.

Just as you were about to swallow, Jake grasped your jaw, demanding through his labored breaths, “Hold it…Show me.” He growled when your brows drew together in question. “Stick that fucking tongue out… and show me what a good little cumslut you are.” He let go of your face and straightened up, making sure the video was in focus to capture the display. You flashed a mischievous smile and rolled your tongue out to reveal Jake’s cum coating it. Pulling your tongue back into your mouth, you pushed his release through your grinning teeth and let it drip over your plush lip and onto your chin, giving a lewd exhibit for the film. “Good girl. Now swallow it.” He watched proudly as you gulped him down before dragging his thumb across your chin and pushing the leftover mess into your mouth, “You’re not one to waste, are you, pretty baby?” You sucked on his digit as you shook your head. He took his thumb back and cupped your cheek with a warm smile.

You grasped his hips, using them as leverage to pull yourself up from the floor, and snatched the phone from his hand. When he opened his mouth to protest, you looped your hands around his neck and jumped, locking your legs around his waist, and pressed your lips to his. Jake held you up, his hands gripping your ass hard, and carried you to the couch. “My turn?” You asked quietly as he laid you across the cushions, “Do I get to make my directorial debut?” You pointed the camera at him as he hovered over you, leaving a trail of gentle pecks between your breasts.

He stopped his path right below your navel to look up into the lens, effectively making eye contact with you. “You wanna film me eating this sweet, little cunt, angel?” He continued to work his way down after you nodded, smiling to himself at the soft whimpers cascading from your mouth. When he made it to your panties, he bit the right string, pulling it and back and letting it snap against your hip with a wicked laugh. His fingers slipped beneath the straps to peel the g-string down your legs. “God. You gotta see what I’m seeing…” He pulled the phone from your grasp and turned it back on you, aiming directly at your pussy as he dragged his middle and ring fingers through your folds, showcasing how wet you were by the amount of arousal coating his digits. Jake flicked his fingers over your clit, drawing a mewl out of you, before giving you phone back. “Hold the camera steady, baby… I don’t want you to miss a second of this.” The second his sentence concluded, he jumped in and began lapping at your clit, thrashing his head back and forth with a hungry groan.

Your hands ached to pull on his chestnut locks, to scratch his scalp, but you kept them still to hold the phone in place. “Fuck, Jake…You- Ohhh.” Your thoughts were cut off when you looked down at the phone screen to catch his eyes, staring deep into your soul as he closed his lips around the sensitive bud and pushed his long fingers into your cunt. The eye contact felt so incredibly intimate paired with the way you watched him devouring you through the screen, like it was a movie made for your eyes only. His fingers curled against your gspot, forcing your eyes to finally roll as you bucked yourself into his face. “Ahh… Baby, please. Don’t fucking stop…” 

Jake was pulling out all of his tricks; careful nibbles with his perfect teeth, pressing all your sweet spots with his calloused fingers, the rapid flicks of his tongue turned to flat, slow drags. He was eliciting sounds that you’d never made before, luring them from the depths of your chest as he wound you up. “Sweetest fucking pussy, angel. Cum on my tongue so I can give you a taste, sweet girl.” He removed his fingers, hooking his hands around your thighs to hold you down as he focused all of his attention on your clit.

“Shit. Jake…ohh fuck, Jaaake…” The heat was spreading through your body, burning bright and blinding as your trembling hands dropped the phone. The device clattered to the floor with a thud but neither of you made a move to grab it. It was mere seconds before you were taken by your climax, the world tilting and shifting around you in a dizzying tailspin. You couldn’t make a sound, your jaw hung wide in silence as your vision blurred. Jake pushed his tongue through your entrance, using it to coax you back to reality and bring you down from the high.

Your body went limp, relaxing and melting into the couch as he retracted his mouth and crawled up your body. Holding true to his promise, he pressed his lips to yours, slipping his tongue into your mouth to allow you a taste. You wrapped your arms around him, pulling him closer, but he was moving sideways, reaching. When he broke away from the kiss, you opened your eyes to see him picking the phone up and flipping it to the front facing camera. He looked at his reflection on the phone before angling it to fit the both of you on the screen, “We look good on camera, don’t we, angel?”

“Mhmm…” You glanced at the phone and pressed your lips to Jake’s cheek, “We look real good, baby.” You could feel his cock growing again as he began to grind into you with a devious smile.

He turned his head to face you, pecking your lips and catching your bottom lip between his teeth for a moment. “How about we go finish our movie in the bedroom, hmm?”

[pinkinsect]

going insane over shidou ryusei recently and seeing your posts about him being connected to hide songs are making me even more crazy. can i know more about your thoughts.. maybe what you think his backstory will be like.. (<- i have clinical shidou disorder)

hi sorry to hear about your shidou disorder. as a fellow sufferer i have to say it doesn't get better.

i don't have a set backstory in my head for him, just conclusions of things it's like from all of the supplemental info we've gotten for him. to succinctly sum up my thoughts about what his backstory will be like: Not Great!

tl;dr: there's so many dots to connect that anything could happen at this point. but i think that possibly, shidou's backstory is one of deprivation; either deprivation of physical needs, self-determination, or both. though i don't have a set idea of how exactly that may have happened, there's a few options—poverty, an abusive household, family members with too many expectations, too many restrictions on himself or his behavior. i wouldn't be surprised if he'd been arrested at some point (it's happened before. it could happen again) or if he had been in the foster system, where the aforementioned conditions occurred, given there's absolutely no mention of any immediate family members in the egoist bible—and he seems to really hate santa, though that could be for other reasons.

the rest of this is basically explaining why i think so—it ended up being awfully long (it turns out i cant Not summarize rocket dive/pink spider/ever free) so the rest of this is under a cut. let's go!

there are plenty of people view shidou as someone who is Just Horny And Violent; Born A Freak Forever A Freak. and you know what? i fuck with that type of character, but i think there's more to shidou than that.

during the U-20 match, he has his trademark "football is a biological phenomenon" speech (which is probably quickly overshadowed by its last line, "right in the womb," and i can't blame everyone. it is baffling), that gives us some of the first deeper insight into shidou.

"Every human on the planet wants to leave proof of their own existence behind. The act of passing on their own genes has been programmed into all living beings. They connect with others, wound others, do things that make them persist in the memories of others. Those who create something, those who want to become something, and of course, those who make children. They're doing something that leaves behind proof they existed."

shidou often says he wants an explosion, but another way to think about it is freedom. he wants the freedom to play the way he wants, to live the way he wants. and for soccer, that's through finding people he can create an explosion with—people he can play freely with.

(i think this has been acknowledged by other characters too; given shidou's placement on the Isagi Yoichi Type Indicator compass and noa telling kunigami to "take away [shidou's] freedom" by marking him. i choose to look into individual word choices in blue lock since kaneshiro seems to like making specific word choice relevant later)

shidou is all about freedom, and i think that could come from being deprived of it, in some ways.

a lot of the supplemental info we're given about him could be described as "things someone does just because they can." people often go through their lives taking certain things for granted, until it's taken away. once it's returned to them, you'll see a sort of appreciation that might seem a little out of the ordinary.

(personal experience, so it might not be great evidence, but plenty of people who've spent a lot of time in prison seem to gain a newfound appreciation for couches and making food late at night.)

his morning routine consists of "going onto the balcony naked and soaking up the sunlight, dancing however he likes, and yelling whatever comes to his mind ("stuff like capillaries and flesh rupture!!")." is it strange? yes, but to me it's an appreciation of freedom; one's free will to do and say anything, and to let the sun hit you while you're doing it.

something else that sticks out to me from the egoist bible is his favorite and least favorite foods; yukhoe and bean sprouts respectively. i normally wouldn't mind it, but the juxtaposition of something that can be so indulgent and really cheap produce is interesting to me, especially because of his reasoning for hating bean sprouts: 「フォルムが貧弱で萎える」, which I would translate as "They look weak and wilted," but the words used for weak and wilt can also mean "insubstantial" and "to lose passion." that extra translation detail could be a reach and extraneous information, but similar to my earlier point, kaneshiro seems to really like using words with multiple meanings instead of more clear cut synonyms. the top of shidou's scale being a rich, fatty dish of raw meat and the bottom being bean sprouts is interesting to me, and fits this picture of shidou that isn't necessarily hedonistic, but is "living deep and sucking the marrow out of life" in a very explosive way.

now a section specifically for hide songs because there's so much

as you mentioned, i really think that the hide songs will tie into shidou's backstory; an awful lot of the characters' favorite songs represent their character in the past or present. pink spider is his favorite song, and rocket dive is mentioned in chapter 253 in regards to shidou's goal.

for those less familiar with hide's work, pink spider was written as an answer to rocket dive, and the cd for the single contained a third track: five minutes and twenty-seven seconds of silence, then a short clip of ever free, the titular single released several weeks after his death.

all three songs deal with a desire for freedom, and to break out of the monotony of one's surroundings for something new—but with varying tones and approaches.

rocket dive has an endlessly encouraging tone, ending happily with a new star being seen in the sky (and this is a reach, but shidou's given name—ryuusei—is a homophone with the japanese word for meteor/falling star, ryuusei).

pink spider, shidou's favorite song, is about a spider so trapped in its surroundings it kills anything that comes close, until it learns there's more. and to reach it, it steals a butterfly's wings and flies and fails and tries again, and we never know if the spider succeeds at its second attempt at flight, or is resigned to watching the sky from the ground.

ever free's speaker is trapped on the ground, and faced with the questions "how much does love cost?" "can you eat a dream?" in response to their own questions about how love feels and what it's like to feel their dreams. but still, they dream of flying toward freedom, of escaping. like pink spider, and unlike rocket dive, we don't ever know if they make it off the ground.

despite the order of songs released being rocket dive -> PINK SPIDER -> ever free, i think that the order the songs represent shidou may be the opposite. he started, trapped, wings closed, uncertain, but had the dream of freedom inside of him. and though he may have hurt someone—or lost someone—in the process, he seized that freedom, and the expanse of the future awaits him to live in and make a name for himself.

something specifically about love being something that could be bought, or a dream being something that could be eaten, makes me want to think that shidou had a lot of expectations, or restrictions, placed on him as well.

hide in general is shidou's favorite, though, not just that one song of his. hide's live performances are high energy, and he's just really funny when talking to the audience between songs? it fits the massive amount of his songs are upbeat lyrically and about sex and desire, but an equal amount are about difficulty controlling unhealthy behaviors, cynical, or reflecting on one's own flaws and the loss of others.

the duality there makes me think of shidou's other favorites, chainsaw man and a clockwork orange—both media that can be, and often are, interpreted on the surface as simply spectacles of violence and sex, but are also acclaimed for their deeper themes. it could be like shidou, in a way. there's layers.

to sum it all up. i think shidou probably was in foster care. maybe was sexually abused. probably also saw a lot of bad things happen to other people, so it's nothing personal to him on a surface level, at least. he's out of that situation and deciding to enjoy the hell out of life. probably repressed and that's why he cries when alone at night (possibly nightly ?) for reasons he doesn't know.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Three years of science: Ten cosmic surprises from NASA's Webb telescope

Since July 2022, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has been unwaveringly focused on our universe. With its unprecedented power to detect and analyze otherwise invisible infrared light, Webb is making observations that were once impossible, changing our view of the cosmos from the most distant galaxies to our own solar system.

Webb was built with the promise of revolutionizing astronomy, of rewriting the textbooks. And by any measure, it has more than lived up to the hype—exceeding expectations to a degree that scientists had not dared imagine. Since science operations began, Webb has completed more than 860 scientific programs, with one-quarter of its time dedicated to imaging and three-quarters to spectroscopy. In just three years, it has collected nearly 550 terabytes of data, yielding more than 1,600 research papers, with intriguing results too numerous to list and a host of new questions to answer.

Here are just a few noteworthy examples.

1. The universe evolved significantly faster than we previously thought.

Webb was specifically designed to observe "cosmic dawn," a time during the first billion years of the universe when the first stars and galaxies were forming. What we expected to see were a few faint galaxies, hints of what would become the galaxies we see nearby.

Instead, Webb has revealed surprisingly bright galaxies that developed within 300 million years of the big bang; galaxies with black holes that seem far too massive for their age; and an infant Milky Way-type galaxy that existed when the universe was just 600 million years old. Webb has observed galaxies that already "turned off" and stopped forming stars within a billion years of the big bang, as well as those that developed quickly into modern-looking "grand design" spirals within 1.5 billion years.

Hundreds of millions of years might not seem quick for a growth spurt, but keep in mind that the universe formed in the big bang roughly 13.8 billion years ago. If you were to cram all of cosmic time into one year, the most distant of these galaxies would have matured within the first couple of weeks, rapidly forming multiple generations of stars and enriching the universe with the elements we see today.

2. Deep space is scattered with enigmatic 'Little Red Dots.'

Webb has revealed a new type of galaxy: a distant population of mysteriously compact, bright, red galaxies dubbed Little Red Dots. What makes Little Red Dots so bright and so red? Are they lit up by dense groupings of unusually bright stars or by gas spiraling into a supermassive black hole, or both? And whatever happened to them? Little Red Dots seem to have appeared in the universe around 600 million years after the big bang (13.2 billion years ago), and rapidly declined in number less than a billion years later. Did they evolve into something else? If so, how? Webb is probing Little Red Dots in more detail to answer these questions.

3. Pulsating stars and a triply lensed supernova are further evidence that the 'Hubble Tension' is real.

How fast is the universe expanding? It's hard to say because different ways of calculating the current expansion rate yield different results—a dilemma known as the Hubble Tension. Are these differences just a result of measurement errors, or is there something weird going on in the universe? So far, Webb data indicates that the Hubble Tension is not caused by measurement errors. Webb was able to distinguish pulsating stars from nearby stars in a crowded field, ensuring that the measurements weren't contaminated by extra light. Webb also discovered a distant, gravitationally lensed supernova whose image appears in three different locations and at three different times during its explosion. Calculating the expansion rate based on the brightness of the supernova at these three different times provides an independent check on measurements made using other techniques. Until the matter of the Hubble Tension is settled, Webb will continue measuring different objects and exploring new methods.

4. Webb has found surprisingly rich and varied atmospheres on gas giants orbiting distant stars.

While NASA's Hubble Space Telescope made the first detection of gases in the atmosphere of a gas giant exoplanet (a planet outside our solar system), Webb has taken studies to an entirely new level. Webb has revealed a rich cocktail of chemicals, including hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane, and sulfur dioxide—none of which had been clearly detected in an atmosphere outside our solar system before. Webb has also been able to examine exotic climates of gas giants as never before, detecting flakes of silica "snow" in the skies of the puffy, searing-hot gas giant WASP-17 b, for example, and measuring differences in temperature and cloud cover between the permanent morning and evening skies of WASP-39 b.

5. A rocky planet 40 light-years from Earth may have an atmosphere fed by gas bubbling up from its lava-covered surface.

Detecting, let alone analyzing, a thin layer of gas surrounding a small rocky planet is no easy feat, but Webb's extraordinary ability to measure extremely subtle changes in the brightness of infrared light makes it possible. So far, Webb has been able to rule out significant atmosphere on a number of rocky planets, and has found tantalizing signs of carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide on 55 Cancri e, a lava world that orbits a sun-like star. With findings like these, Webb is laying the groundwork for NASA's future Habitable Worlds Observatory, which will be the first mission purpose-built to directly image and search for life on Earth-like planets around sun-like stars.

6. Webb exposes the skeletal structure of nearby spiral galaxies in mesmerizing detail.

We already knew that galaxies are collections of stars, planets, dust, gas, dark matter, and black holes: cosmic cities where stars form, live, die, and are recycled into the next generation. But we had never been able to see the structure of a galaxy and the interactions between stars and their environment in such detail. Webb's infrared vision reveals filaments of dust that trace the spiral arms, old star clusters that make up galactic cores, newly forming stars still encased in dense cocoons of glowing dust and gas, and clusters of hot young stars carving enormous cavities in the dust. It also elucidates how stellar winds and explosions actively reshape their galactic homes.

7. It can be hard to tell the difference between a brown dwarf and a rogue planet.

Brown dwarfs form like stars, but are not dense or hot enough to fuse hydrogen in their cores like stars do. Rogue planets form like other planets, but have been ejected from their system and no longer orbit a star. Webb has spotted hundreds of brown-dwarf-like objects in the Milky Way, and has even detected some candidates in a neighboring galaxy. But some of these objects are so small—just a few times the mass of Jupiter—that it is hard to figure out how they formed. Are they free-floating gas giant planets instead? What is the least amount of material needed to form a brown dwarf or a star? We're not sure yet, but thanks to three years of Webb observations, we now know there is a continuum of objects from planets to brown dwarfs to stars.

8. Some planets might be able to survive the death of their star.

When a star like our sun dies, it swells up to form a red giant large enough to engulf nearby planets. It then sheds its outer layers, leaving behind a super-hot core known as a white dwarf. Is there a safe distance that planets can survive this process? Webb might have found some planets orbiting white dwarfs. If these candidates are confirmed, it would mean that it is possible for planets to survive the death of their star, remaining in orbit around the slowly cooling stellar ember.

9. Saturn's water supply is fed by a giant fountain of vapor spewing from Enceladus.

Among the icy "ocean worlds" of our solar system, Saturn's moon Enceladus might be the most intriguing. NASA's Cassini mission first detected water plumes coming out of its southern pole. But only Webb could reveal the plume's true scale as a vast cloud spanning more than 6,000 miles, about 20 times wider than Enceladus itself. This water spreads out into a donut-shaped torus encircling Saturn beyond the rings that are visible in backyard telescopes. While a fraction of the water stays in that ring, the majority of it spreads throughout the Saturnian system, even raining down onto the planet itself. Webb's unique observations of rings, auroras, clouds, winds, ices, gases, and other materials and phenomena in the solar system are helping us better understand what our cosmic neighborhood is made of and how it has changed over time.

10. Webb can size up asteroids that may be headed for Earth.

In 2024 astronomers discovered an asteroid that, based on preliminary calculations, had a chance of hitting Earth. Such potentially hazardous asteroids become an immediate focus of attention, and Webb was uniquely able to measure the object, which turned out to be the size of a 15-story building. While this particular asteroid is no longer considered a threat to Earth, the study demonstrated Webb's ability to assess the hazard.

Webb also provided support for NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, which deliberately smashed into the Didymos binary asteroid system, showing that a planned impact could deflect an asteroid on a collision course with Earth. Both Webb and Hubble observed the impact, serving as witnesses to the resulting spray of material that was ejected. Webb's spectroscopic observations of the system confirmed that the composition of the asteroids is probably typical of those that could threaten Earth.

In just three years of operations, Webb has brought the distant universe into focus, revealing unexpectedly bright and numerous galaxies. It has unveiled new stars in their dusty cocoons, remains of exploded stars, and skeletons of entire galaxies. It has studied weather on gas giants, and hunted for atmospheres on rocky planets. And it has provided new insights into the residents of our own solar system.

But this is only the beginning. Engineers estimate that Webb has enough fuel to continue observing for at least 20 more years, giving us the opportunity to answer additional questions, pursue new mysteries, and put together more pieces of the cosmic puzzle.

For example: What were the very first stars like? Did stars form differently in the early universe? Do we even know how galaxies form? How do stars, dust, and supermassive black holes affect each other? What can merging galaxy clusters tell us about the nature of dark matter? How do collisions, bursts of stellar radiation, and migration of icy pebbles affect planet-forming disks? Can atmospheres survive on rocky worlds orbiting active red dwarf stars? Is Uranus's moon Ariel an ocean world?

As with any scientific endeavor, every answer raises more questions, and Webb has shown that its investigative power is unmatched. Demand for observing time on Webb is at an all-time high, greater than any other telescope in history, on the ground or in space. What new findings await?

A near-infrared image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows a region known as the JADES Deep Field. Tens of thousands of galaxies are visible in this tiny patch of sky, including Little Red Dots and hundreds of galaxies that existed more than 13.2 billion years ago, when the universe was less than 600 million years old. Webb also spotted roughly 80 ancient supernovae, many of which exploded when the universe was less than 2 billion years old. This is ten times more supernovae than had ever been discovered before in the early universe. Comparing these supernovae from the distant past with those in the more recent, nearby universe helps us understand how stars in these early times formed, lived, and died, seeding space with the elements for new generations of stars and their planets. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, JADES Collaboration

A transmission spectrum of the "warm Neptune" exoplanet WASP-107 b captured by NASA's Hubble and Webb space telescopes, shows clear evidence for water, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, sulfur dioxide, and ammonia in the planet's atmosphere. These measurements allowed researchers to estimate the interior temperature and mass of the core of the planet, as well as understand the chemistry and dynamics of the atmosphere. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI)

A near- to mid-infrared image from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope highlights details in the complex structure of a nearby galaxy that are invisible to other telescopes. The image of NGC 628, also known as the Phantom Galaxy, shows spiral arms with lanes of warm dust (represented in red), knots of glowing gas (orange-yellow), and giant bubbles (black) carved by hot, young stars. The dust-free core of the galaxy is filled with older, cooler stars (blue). Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee (STScI), Thomas Williams (Oxford), PHANGS team

[lumiidragon]

during the live how did you do that thing where you gave the lines little squares you could move to edit the line? it looked really useful

i loved your stream and your art :D

Oh and is it~! So I use Clip Studio Paint for starters and I dunno if this works on other programs the same way.

So it's pretty simple. With Clip Studio, I can use vector lines. This is as simple as making a new Vector Layer: (NOTE: This ONLY works on Vector Layers!)

Now that I have a Vector Layer, I can draw what I want with any pen I want. I normally use the G-pen for drawing and coloring. Most of the drawing process is freehand, but editing some lines to refine it is what I do for the Inks of my images and can be super helpful instead of redrawing the same part a dozen times. Take this horrible square for example:

Yeah, I could redraw the square, but let's just edit the lines instead!

So on your Vector Layer, go to the bottom of your toolbar and select the 'Correct Line' tool. Go to 'Control Point' and make sure 'Move Control Points' are selected.

The control points are the little red outlined dots in the lines that only show up when you hover over them with the Correct Line tool selected. You can do a LOT with this tool, but this is just a basic line edit tutorial. Each of those dots can be edited using the drag-and-drop method.

Like this. You can also add and delete control points with this same tool in the Tool Property box. This is also helpful for when you need to get your lines to match up how you want.

So with that, I just went back to my square and deleted some unnecessary control points (because less is better) and simply used the drag-and-drop method to re-adjust the open gap and pull the lines together.

Now if you're working with curved lines, that'll take some different types of adjustment.

The line will bend and follow the control point that you are moving, so it's more of a matter of placing them in specific ways so the lines bend to how you want.

For example, I only adjusted the control points that were crammed in the top corner and didn't move the ones on the bottom or the middle point at all.

So to make this smoother, I had to go and adjust the lower points as well. Mostly, this really is just all about adjusting, deleting, and adding control points.

I mostly use the Correct Line tool for super long lines that I just draw too wobbly or have trouble connecting in one go or long curved lines to make them less ragged. However, you can really use this for a lot of different things and once you get the basics, it's super easy~

I hope this helps at least a little~! If you come to future streams, you'll probably catch me doing this at least once or twice in most of my pieces as little editing assistance~ :P

[fizzigigsimmer]

Saw a gif set of gator and honestly. I need more gator in my life… so… do you have any caligator ideas/headcanons you could share with us? 🥺

You know nonny, same. I was thinking the other day (ages back) about interesting ways these two characters might meet. One of my favorites is the idea that Roy runs one of those "Scared Straight" programs for teens, that promises to put your little trouble maker onto the right path and spit them out a god fearing little angel - with nary a gay thought of course. The Stark County Redemption Center. Whose official motto is "The road to redemption is pathed in suffering" or some other ridiculous conservo-nazi gibberish. Anyway. Neil sends Billy off to Stark County to work on the ranch and learn good values or whatever, and after a few botched escape attempts Billy makes it his mission to seduce Gator because he can't think of a bigger fuck you to everyone than rising to the top of the pecking order and making daddy's boy call him daddy. Roy's unhinged enough he might just kill Billy for it, but he's okay with going out in style just so long as he gets out of this hell.

Only when he was plotting out this glorious revenge fantasy he forgot to factor in how much he'd like it. He's never been the center of someone's world the way he feels like he is with Gator, begging for whatever Billy wants to give him. No one's ever really loved Billy enough before to want to stay or be anything like a real friend to him, so there's no way he could have accounted for how Gator awkwardly trying to be more than just his booty call would would make him feel either.

He doesn't give up easy, no matter how many times Billy reminds him he's just a piece of ass, and shuts him down for trying to bond over stupid shit like sports and guns! It's like Gator can't quit. There's something in him that can't separate the fucking and the claiming from the idea that if Billy wants him that way, then it must mean that Gator is worthy. The way he never can be for Roy. It's witnessing Roy punishing Gator for something more Billy's fault than his that finally cracks his shell. It gets to Billy, watching Roy abuse Gator, more so even then the fucked up abuse he dishes out to everyone else; because that's less personal. Billy and the other teens aren't looking for love from that douchebag the way that Gator is.

Billy tries to be kinder to him after that. Not so mean or so rough. Even though Gator truly doesn't seem to mind that, he thinks they both deserve to try something different from the poison they've been fed their entire lives - a gentler touch. Music and then cars is the first mutual ground they find, safe ground to shoot the breeze over between chores and school with the other guys, and then comes more risky conversations about runaway mothers and cruel fathers. Hushed confessions about what they'd do with half a mind, and pipe dreams about the life they'd make for themselves if they had a chance.

It's messed up and codependent as fuck, but Billy thinks he might love Gator and those big dumb bambi eyes of his, more than he's ever loved anything before. And that's how suicidal revenge plans start morphing into escape plans. Additionally, I think it would be fantastic if Gator, along with Billy, Nadine (Dot) and the other Stranger Things Teens were all students at the center for various reasons, and the gang comes together to form some sort of rejects club and together they cook up a plan to get the hell out of there and expose the center for being the toxic hell hole that it is.

[this-is-a-dystopian-parable]

Reacting to the new Three Houses photos!

My Three Houses brainrot is setting in and I have to keep myself from going insane and/or spoiling myself before I see it. So lets go through the new photos released by Playbill yesterday (May 3rd)! My predictions below, but I don't know any more than you do so there won't be any spoilers!

Right off the bat. The set? STUNNING. Giving Octet/Comet/Ghost Quartet if it had a proper set. The concept of the show is an open mic night so the bar setting is a given, I love the little tables with menus, makes it very Great Comet. I love how many of Dave's shows are set in a specific place that the performance factors into. You are at an academic lecture, a jazz club, a church basement. Wonderful job by dots.

Love that the Grandmother and Grandfather double as the bartenders/waiters here. A note about the cigarette from the playbill, these are herbal cigarettes that are actually smoked for real, they just don't have any effect. Just a fun fact for realism.

ONSTAGE BAND lets gooooooo. You can see the other two characters sitting at the two little tables downstage.

No thoughts. Pretty :)

DRAGON DRAGON DRAGON DRAGON

I'm SO curious why he's here. I had assumed, naturally, that the puppet in this case would be the Wolf. But no, there's a dragon here??? My prediction is that this is either connected to the video game references in the show (we'll come to that), it's a puppet a character made, or it's some hallucination/dream sequence.

Dragon is sitting at the bar??? He's havin a drink??? Oh my god???

Band onstage!!!

You can see how close the audience is in this one!!!

More that are close-ups. My only note here is that the background behind the bar is different! So I assume it changes between characters.

HERE WE ARE. THE SIMS PLUMBOBS. THATS SO SILLY. I'm also really curious about the way Dave would use the context of the Sims in this show. Like I'm predicting it's going to be more than "people playing video games stuck at home" but will also have some comment about socialization and human connection. Since Mia Pak doesn't have one here, I feel like we're likely to see an Octet style form where during each person's individual story, the others act as a side characters.

Oh my gooood he is so unhinged and silly. What is he up to. The intense glare. The plumbob again. My prediction is that he will sort of hang around and antagonize from within each person's story, taking on different roles and acting as an omnipotent force.

ALSO. ELECTRIC GUITAR. Giving Beowulf but also The DJ. I guess that's what I'm leaning towards with his style of antagonism, he's just there to poke fun at them and be mean and have fun. I love him, he looks like he's having so much fun.

I love the boxes but it's also really surreal, because I JUST did a show in October that was also about quarantine and featured tons of cardboard boxes. Seriously. The playwright had decided to clean up the house during quarantine, and put things into boxes to keep them organized. But he fell into depression and for months just lived out of the cardboard boxes he didn't have the energy to unpack. This show was about a depressed woman who couldn't sleep, and was haunted by a Pierrot clown and a puppet. Anyway. I'm getting similar vibes here.

Those are all my thoughts on the photos! But I have a couple more from the updates to the program, which you can access here.

The characters have new names added to them! It's now Susan/Shelob, Sadie/Pookie, and Beckett/Zippy. I wonder what these are about, if they're just other characters they play within the stories. My prediction is though that they're either online names or related to the Sims bit mentioned earlier.

According to the program, there are only THREE musical numbers. Not acts, "musical numbers" that's the exact wording.

First House: Susan

Second House: Sadie

Third House: Beckett

Coda

Dave Dave Dave. Maybe this is a previews thing, and the different names just haven't been solidified? Either way, I support doing whatever he wants from a show standpoint but I'm curious how it would translate to an album. Of course, that's a problem for another day!

Woof. Long one. Thank you for sticking with me here and stay tuned because I am going to be sharing a LOT more about this show as it develops!

[adultswim2021]

Childrens Hospital #1: “A Hospital Isn't a Place for Lazy People/What Is Love?” (aka: "A Hospital Isn't a Place") | July 11, 2010 - 10:30PM | S01E01

We love our cartoons, don’t we folks? We HATE when live-action takes up our valuable cartoon time and replaces all of our beautiful cartoon guys. 

From the Twisted mind of Rob Corrdry comes Childrens Hospital, a web-series-come-real-series-but-just-barely that serves up wacky spoof jokes and a bit of a thumb in the eye of shows like Grey’s Anatomy, in that both are soapy medical dramas where attractive doctors fuck and suck their way through America’s healthcare system. All of the characters on the show are constantly making out, except unlike Grey’s Anatomy this is a children’s hospital so there’s kids around.

The show draws inspiration from other shows, like M*A*S*H (Michael Cera as the off-screen announcer on the hospital’s loud-speaker system is clearly a nod, replete with direct references to the show), E.R. (a later episode [possibly others] is a direct parody of their live-episode stunt) and St. Elsewhere (certain episodes of this show resemble St. Elsewhere’s famous format-breaking episodes).

I’ve mined TV from my youth/pre-birth-non-existence and will occasionally connect certain dots to bits of this show, but I’ll try to point them out when we get to those episodes. Or, I’m lying about that, and won’t have anything to show for myself. Remains to be seen. My point is, I’m pretty deficient in knowing about more recent medical dramas, so feel free to yell at me in the comments when I miss stuff. 

The show’s origin was as a web series, originally found on The WB’s website. The webseries episodes were shorter than your normal Adult Swim show, so they combined two episodes of the web series to make a single Adult Swim episode. Each one of these two segments originally had closing credits, and a different-looking title screen.

The DVD opted to include the original web series versions instead of the updated Adult Swim ones. Also, they had to add a little extra content to make time, so they added a fake commercial between the two segments as well as an outro where Rob Corddry “Thanks for Watching!”s us. This first episode features a fake ad for NTSF:SD:SUV::, which would eventually become it’s own show. Very sneaky. I think for a time there existed digital versions that followed this format EXCEPT they cut out the fake commercial in the middle for some reason. All I know is whatever versions I have on my plex server seem to include everything as-aired on Adult Swim.

I had my chance to be an early adopter to Childrens Hospital after hearing Rob Corrdry talk about the program on various podcasts. I turned my nose up at it, because watching TV on internet just seemed too scary to me back then. So the first time I actually watched was at this years’ San Diego Comic-Con, I think? They screened the first episode of season two, which followed season one after a very short break (I think it was a one week hiatus, actually). It played pretty well in a room full of people waiting for the Fables panel to start. I remember liking it, and laughing! 

But: DO I LIKE IT NOW? I guess. It’s okay. I mean, it’s another one of those joke-machine style shows, but it has that stink of “people are having A LITTLE TOO MUCH FUN making this”. You know what I mean? Like, you can tell everyone who worked on this show was smiling all day and it sorta ruins the comedy in a weird way. I’m not sure. For what it’s worth, I purchased this on DVD back when I was trying to be a completest for Adult Swim on DVD. I still technically own it, I think, but it’s stowed away in a box of other DVDs I pruned from my collection with the intention of trying to sell them. I don’t know where they are, so as such I won’t be covering things like deleted scenes or outtakes on a per-episode basis. I think those DVDs had some extras on them?

The plot of this episode is mostly focused on the two pretty girls breaking up with their boyfriends; one simply doing it in solidarity with the other. They are roommates and it becomes clear that there’s a hot girl-on-girl crush going on. Webisode one ends with the two chicks about to kiss, but it’s comically ruined by a sneeze.

I owe this DISGUSTING, SLEAZY, GIRL-ALMOST-ON-GIRL action mostly to the guiding hand of David Wain, who was involved with the show. If the man has a trademark, it’s having hot women on your show, and writing numerous scenes with them making out with various people, and then eventually, as if it’s just a foregone conclusion, having them make out with each other. I really do think he launders his sense of humor into productions where attractive people can make out like it's high school again. I think this might be why I offered the “too much fun” theory of comedy acting being on display.

David Wain strikes me as a guy who didn’t get laid when he was young so he became a creative and now he just tries to figure out the least-creepy way to surround himself with beautiful women. To be a little revealing, I’m more-or-less made of the exact same stuff as Wain. I’m not even condemning him. I might just be writing these things from a place of jealousy, honestly. He might even be my hero!!!!

Other stuff happened, but it wasn’t too significant; I think they were setting up something with Rob Huebel’s character being a former cop or something. Him and Nick “bacon and eggs” Offerman have an over-serious conversation about it, in which they invoke 9/11 as having happened “seven years ago”, a joke I had to pause to think about because it’s drilled in my head right now that I’m watching 2010 Adult Swim, but this is 2008 Webisode stuff. I thought they were about to make a joke about John Ritter dying on September 11, 2003, but alas this show wasn’t written by me and my friends. 

Another joke I feel like picking apart is one where one of the girls tells the other that she has a booger by describing it as a “Stalagmite”. SIGH… the word she was looking for was stalagTITE. The way you can remember this is: A stalagTITE hangs TIGHT to the ceiling, while a stalagMITE MIGHT one day reach the ceiling. Sorry, I was literally a tour guide for a cavern for a summer, and this is literally the only thing I remember from any of it. 

Okay, pedantic stuff about episode titles: I did a mild amount of research and found that for some reason there seems to be two sets of episode titles depending on which source you look at. These episodes (both web versions and Adult Swim versions) don't seem to be on the Library of Congress web searcher. I-tunes versions and other for-purchase digital platforms use very long titles, which seem to be two titles corresponding to each webisode. When I encounter these titles, they are separated by a comma and not a forward slash, which is the usual standard for episode titles where the show is made up of shorter segments. I alone have decided to override the comma and insert a forward slash. It just comforts me to do it that way.

So, I'm airing on the side of using the elongated per-segment titles as the "episode title of record". These titles, by the way, I could not find being used in conjunction with the actual webisodes. Weird! Like, I went and looked at the old WB website that originally housed the short webisode versions and they didn't seem to have titles there, just "Episode 1", etc.

Oh, wait, I forgot to say how one of the guys on here has clown make-up on. One of the guys on here has clown make-up on.

EPHEMERA CORNER:

MAIL BAG:

Kon, being a HUGE BITCH about my previous post, writes:

Isn't it e?????????? No it's not

Kon, I'm sorry that guy called you a huge bitch before and I don't condone that kind of name-calling. But I have a humorless explanation that involves the video not uploading correctly, and me needing to close the tab on my write-up in progress and opening the last auto-saved draft, which apparently happened while I was in the middle of typing the word "enriching" or whatever I was writing. Please forgive me for that, and the swearing

Some tidbits I remember about this Frankenhole: I remember Dino or someone talking about how some black members of the animation staff walked off the show because they felt it was racist (all the famous black men advising Jefferson to treat women like shit) and that they last-minute added the bit where Obama and Wilt Chamberlain disapprove of the song to make it seem less bad. Tidbit #2: I liked that Jefferson's voice was inexplicably a Don Adams impression

LOL, I don't think they were wrong to feel that way! That song was probably the bit that worked the least for me, but it was bouncy enough to keep me smiling. Also I am racist :(

I worked on the shooting of the Dino's Dungeon segments and he freaks everyone out at wrap when he hopped back into the coffin and said "im going to bed everyone" which got a good laugh but he proceed to shift his body so hard in there that he knocked the coffin off it's stand and shattered it into a thousand pieces. He was badly cut up after that and I never worked with him again. Hope he's doing well though.

I think he likes getting hurt so he probably had fun doing that. Did you notice a stiffy

Yah i gotta agree with you on the Frakenhole visuals. Not very good. Looks like paper craft. Not real.

It bothers me more often than not, but I guess I like that they did something unique. The main guy looks kinda good. I don't like the creases, they drive me bananas

I know Looney Tunes doesn't have too much of a purchase on it's blog because it's not original content but with Bugs Bunny 85th anniversary coming up have you considered doing anything special for it? Like maybe an Ephemera Corner or a brief shoutout to the guy who practically invented irreverence in cartoons? Am I off base here?

I do actually believe that it's almost TOO harmonious that early Adult Swim sorta feeds directly from all the early stuff that happened to be in the Turner cartoon library at the time it started (Looney Tunes, Tex Avery MGM stuff, Popeye, Hanna Barbera etc.). Even the 15-minute timeslot is hearkening back to the original one-reel format of those toons. Three cheers for Bugs Bundy and his famous cartoons!

[tai-templates]

Oh, What a Bittersweet Dream! . . . RP Template ! ─── Free to use (with credit!)

This was honestly a little healing. Techno is one of my favourite content creators - and it still hurts to think about him sometimes. I know during the time when he passed - so many rp servers removed him from the character list.

I didn't remove him from any of my servers. There's no hate or criticism towards them - because everyone grieves in different ways. But I felt like removing him wasn't right. I just thought it'd be much better to celebrate the stories and narration he created - through our work instead.

At least he'll keep on living - through us. Through his fans, and the people that loved him. Thank you for all the memories ♡

Let's make some more, yeah ?

Instructions on how to edit below.

Notes :

I've made this as easy to customise as possible for those without image editing programs! Only the cover page might need some editing!

But you can also use a rectangle image instead of an oval portrait!

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[seijorhi]

Pretty Young Thing

A yandere Erasermic commission for an anon, I hope you like it bby!!

Aizawa Shouta x reader x Hizashi Yamada

TW non-con, breeding kink, pregnancy, surrogacy, pregnant sex, smut, age-gap, nsfw

“Don’t you think she’s a little young, ‘Zashi?”

“It’s up to you both how involved you are during the first stages and the overall pregnancy. Normally we suggest an initial meeting with the potential surrogate for all three of you to get a feel for one another and decide if you want to proceed with the arrangement, but should you wish, we can–”

“No,” he interrupts, sparing Hizashi a fleeting glance. “We want to meet her.”

Beneath the desk, his husband squeezes his hand. 

Hizashi quirks an eyebrow, pausing midway through fixing his hair in the mirror. “Whaddya mean, babe? She’s in her twenties ain’t she?”

He’s not wrong, but that’s not the issue. They picked you, they both picked you, but there’s this lingering unease that he can’t seem to shake. It’s not so much your age specifically, he knows that you’re only a few years younger than the majority of the other women whose profiles they’d seen – you’re old enough to understand what you’re getting yourself into and agree to it, at any rate – it’s just that he doesn’t quite understand why somebody your age would want to do this.

And there’s something different about you, it’s just a feeling of course – he hasn’t yet had a chance to confirm his suspicions, but he wants to meet you and decide for himself.

“We do have a number of potential surrogates with promising Quirks if you’re considering pursuing that option for your child,” the Doctor told them, smiling as they flipped through page after page of profiles.

Hisako, 35, Quirk: Sun-flare

Nozumi, 26, Quirk: Mimic

Koharu, 28, Quirk: Seismic Wave

Chiyoko, 33, Quirk: Golden Whip

Yuzuki, 32, Quirk: Silencer

There’s dozens of them – which is more than he expected. 

Aizawa knew coming in that this wasn’t normally the process, that this agency catered specifically to Heroes – was recommended by the Hero commission – but it still feels strange, just browsing through pages upon pages of potential candidates to carry their baby. 

Was he supposed to be feeling some kind of emotion looking at these profiles? The women were all healthy, each of them attractive, in their own ways (nothing but the very best, the Doctor had reassured them with a smile). This woman, whoever they picked, she’d be carrying their baby, yes, but that was the extent of it. She wasn’t going to be a part of their lives beyond that, so what did it matter if she was nice or liked to cook or play tennis?

There were stats, of course. Their education and IQ’s and little snippets of history, but they were all impressive, otherwise they wouldn’t have been included. Were they supposed to choose based on their Quirk? One that might compliment his or Zashi’s? Quirks were troublesome things to begin with, and–

“Wait-wait, Shou, hold up,” Hizashi’s voice cut through his musings, long fingers wrapping around his wrist midway through turning the page. “Go back one.”

He does as he’s told, flicking the page back.

Y/N, 23, Quirk: N/A.

A lone eyebrow lifts. Quirkless, huh? A blank slate.

But that’s not what caught Hizashi’s eye.

“She’s kinda cute, don’tcha think, baby?”

It feels weirdly like a first date, nervous jitters and all – though he’d like to believe he’s better at suppressing that now then back when he was a teenager. Aizawa hasn’t bothered to shave, but his hair’s tied back in a loose bun and he’s pulled out a suit for the occasion – he’s even wearing a tie for fuck’s sake. Beside him, Hizashi’s ditched his usual leather jacket and ripped jeans for, well, nicer jeans and a button up floral shirt.

And then there’s you. Standing in the doorway of the cafe glancing around like a little lost lamb, he recognises you instantly from the picture on your profile, but the moment your eyes meet his he’s struck with the realisation that the picture didn’t truly do you justice.

Because you do look young (at least compared to their thirty odd years) and it might just be the hesitant smile adorning your face as you start to make your way over, or the charming little summer dress falling to your mid-thigh, swishing hypnotically with every step, but Shouta feels something catch in his chest the more he stares. You really are… what was the word ‘Zashi had used? Cute?

Yeah. You were cute. 

The agency had offered to host this little meetup at their clinic, and while he hadn’t particularly cared one way or the other, Hizashi’d been insistent. He’d wanted this to feel ‘natural’. 

‘I don’t really wanna meet our potential baby mama for the first time in some boring, sterile office, d’you?”

He’d only bitten back a sigh at the time, shaking his head. It wouldn’t have been worth upsetting him by reminding him that the girl was technically a glorified incubator. He had every intention of being involved in this process, but this initial meeting was to establish two things. Firstly, that after meeting them, you still felt comfortable with carrying their baby, and secondly, he wanted to make absolutely certain that you weren’t trying to get anything out of this.

Oh, he knew you were getting paid, handsomely, he’s sure, but the thought that you, or any of the women the agency had fobbed their way might not all be in this for altruistic reasons had crossed his mind. 

You were just so young.

But he was more than happy to determine those two things in a ten minute meeting at the agency. 

Hizashi was not, and so here they are. 

Ten minutes in, and he finds himself glad of his husband’s insistence. Hands wrapped around your mug of coffee (you should enjoy it while you can) you chatter away with Hizashi, beaming and blushing, tripping over your own words in your nervousness. 

You’re about as dangerous as a kitten, and he allows himself to relax enough in his seat to enjoy watching the blonde charm you. 

“So why don’t ya tell us a little about yourself, songbird?”

“There’s really not all that much to tell,” you say with a sheepish laugh, but they listen as you talk anyway. It’s nothing the profile hadn’t already told them, nothing spectacular that would make you stand out in the crowd. 

And yet, an hour and a half later, you’re trying in vain to distract him and Hizashi both so that you can slip your card in with the bill to pay for lunch, and Shouta finds himself oddly amused.

There were other candidates – ones with impressive Quirks, smarter than you, more accomplished than you, older than you–

“Ya sure you don’t want a lift, sweetheart? It’s no trouble.”

You smile again, demure little thing, and shake your head. “Oh no, really it’s okay. It’s not far and… I like the walk. Thank you, though.”

– but none nearly so endearing, he thinks. 

And when they watch you disappear into the crowd, one final wave thrown over your shoulder, Hizashi’s fingers lace with his once more.

“So she’s our baby mama, huh?

He’s silent for a moment. “I suppose so.”

—

The agency recommended, at least in the initial stages before the implantation procedure took place, that any communication between the three of you should go through them. 

Hizashi had your number programmed into his phone before you’d even left the cafe, and he’s been texting you every day since – to the point where it wasn’t unusual for Shouta to come downstairs and find Mic chuckling to himself, fingers dancing across the keyboard on his phone as he replies to whatever message you’ve sent. 

Shouta, for his part, tends to message only to check in.

How are you feeling? Any side effects from the meds?

Your response comes a little slower than usual, and it’s almost an hour before finally he receives it.

Sorry they’re cracking down on us using our phones at work :( 

Everything’s good so far! The doc said i should be on track for our appointment next week!

… is it weird that I’m a little excited haha?

His brow furrows at that. You hadn’t mentioned a job – at least not to him, he’d have to ask Hizashi later whether you'd said anything to him. 

Why on earth were you still working? He’d seen the contracts, he knew exactly how much you were getting paid for this little venture, wasn’t that enough to support you?

He makes a brief mental note to make sure that whatever job you were working at, you stopped long before the baby was due. You might just be a surrogate, but he’d be damned if his baby was put in jeopardy because you were needlessly exerting yourself. 

Nevertheless, his expression softens somewhat as he reads the second part of your message. You were excited, hm? 

Well, that made three of you.

Both he and Hizashi’d been willing to come along to the clinic with you – he’d even submitted a formal leave request to take the day off from UA, but the Doctor had assured him that it wasn’t necessary.

“The procedure is quick and relatively painless. She’ll be home within a few hours, and so long as she remains off her feet and doesn’t undertake any strenuous activity, she will be perfectly fine.”

It hadn’t sat particularly well with Hizashi who’d spent the afternoon huffing and complaining about the clinic trying to kick them both out of the process. That much, he expected – he understood it to an extent; the agency catered specifically to Heroes, most of their clientele probably had busy schedules (which was true in their case as well). There wasn’t a need for them to be present at such a minor procedure, even if it did hopefully mark the beginnings of your pregnancy. 

What he hadn’t expected was the twinge of discontent he felt settle in his own stomach. The Doc might’ve preferred they stay out of this, but at the end of the day he really didn’t give a shit what she or the agency wanted.

So he messaged you.

Do you want us there with you?

He watches those three little dots bounce for almost a solid minute before finally your reply comes through.

No, it’s okay, you don’t have to come. The Doc said it wouldn’t take long and I don’t wanna be a burden for you guys

It’s not really an answer to his question, and he briefly wonders if Hizashi might be right about the agency interfering, but he’s not going to fight you on it. 

At least, that’s his plan until Principal Nezu pulls him aside at the end of a staff meeting and tells him that he’s found somebody to cover his classes tomorrow if he still wants the day off. 

“Ya gotta go, babe. One of us should be there for our ‘lil mama.”

He asks you what time your appointment is and there’s a surprisingly pleasant fluttering in his stomach when you walk through the clinic doors and catch sight of him sitting in the waiting room.

It’s a momentary surprise – you almost do a double take, but a smile lights your face and you ignore the receptionist in favour of racing towards him. 

“Shouta, I thought you weren’t coming!” Your arms wrap around his middle, squeezing tightly.

He finds himself returning your hug – albeit somewhat stiffly – but he’s glad he made the decision to come. The Doctor wasn’t wrong, you’re only in with her for just under twenty minutes, and when you come out there’s a tremble in your legs, but you seem otherwise fine.

It goes without saying that he’s driving you home, though you try once again to beg him off.

Kitten, when are you gonna learn that so long as you’re carrying his and ‘Zashi’s child, they’re going to go out of their way to make things easier for you – whether you want them to or not.

Yet your quiet discomfort on the drive home doesn’t slip past his attention. Maybe it’s because he’s become accustomed to your nervous rambling, but there’s something odd about the way you’re sitting so quietly, fingers twisting in your lap as you stare out the window. He knows that if Hizashi was here, he’d be chatting your ear off, but he’s never been one to fill silence with unnecessary small talk.

Though he can’t exactly help the way his own mind drifts. Are you in pain? The Doc didn’t say anything about there being any pain, only that you should rest over the next few days, so it shouldn’t be that. Perhaps you’re just lost in your thoughts – it’s strange for them having a surrogate, he can only imagine what’s going through your own head now that it’s actually begun. He hopes that you aren’t having second thoughts, almost opens his mouth to ask before thinking better of it.

You’re entitled to your thoughts and feelings, whatever they may be, and if you wanted to talk to him about them, you would. 

It’s not until the scenery outside starts to change and the fancy sky-scrapers give way to dingy apartment blocks and dilapidated buildings, crammed in together too tightly that he realises that it’s not discomfort that’s written across your face, but embarrassment.

This was your neighbourhood?

Shouta recognises it, and really he should have picked up on it earlier when you’d given him the address – he’s spent more than a few nights patrolling the area. It’s a hotspot, not for the high-class, dangerous villains plastered across the news every night, but thieves and murderers. Petty thugs who prey on the weak, those addicted, with nowhere else to go… you live here?

Surely with the money you’re getting from the agency, and your job on top of that, you can afford a better neighbourhood.

He glances at you out of the corner of his eye, watches as you all but shrink into your seat, and when you speak, your voice is little more than a whisper.

“You can just drop me off at the corner here.”

He pulls the car to a stop by the curb, and for a moment neither of you speak. He doesn’t know what to say, and judging from the way you’re nibbling on your bottom lip and glancing up at him, you don’t either. 

“I–”

“Thank you,” you cut him off with a tight smile. “For coming today, and for… this. I-I really do appreciate it.” 

The words aren’t quite sincere, but he only nods – noting the miniscule sigh that escapes your lips at the action. “Of course. Anytime you need us, just call, okay.” He waits for you to nod before continuing, “Do as the Doc said, rest.”

You all but scamper from the car after saying another goodbye, though Shouta waits until you’ve disappeared into the crumbling apartment block before driving off.

Maybe the inside is nicer, but he sincerely doubts it.

—

“You should’ve seen it, ‘Zashi.” The two of them are curled up on the love-seat, half empty containers of takeout littering the coffee table in front of them. “I just can’t figure out why she’d be living somewhere like that.” 

The blonde frowns. He’d been messaging you throughout the afternoon, so he knew that the appointment had gone fine. It wasn’t that he expected to come home and find the erasure Hero jumping for joy, but the subtle discontent on Shouta’s face had been enough to make him pause. 

“You’re worried about our ‘lil songbird?” he asks, pushing away just enough so that he could turn to study his face. 

The short nod says plenty. Of course he is – even if you weren’t potentially carrying his child, you’re young, beautiful and far too innocent for your own good. In places like that, you were easy pickings, and you don’t even have a Quirk to protect yourself. His job requires him to assess his students’ strengths, their failings and weaknesses and their progress. He doesn’t need to see you in action to know that you wouldn’t be able to hold your own in a fight. 

It bothers him. 

“She’s not safe there.”

Hizashi hums, but instead of settling back against his husband’s side, he straightens up further. “Well, why don’t we go take a look-see, huh handsome? Make sure our sweet thing’s pad’s all safe ‘n sound, put your mind at ease. Whaddya say?”

As he stares into those imploring green eyes, Shouta knows that he should say no. 

Concerned or not, there’s still a line, privacy that should be respected. He’s tired and this is the only night that they both have off this week. Your place is almost twenty minutes from theirs, and it’s already late – almost midnight. The list goes on, there are a thousand reasons that he should say no.

“Fine. Just for tonight.”

—

Two weeks later, the two Heroes receive a call from the agency; the blood test came back positive – you’re pregnant. 

In the blink of an eye, at least to Shouta, this becomes startlingly real. You’re pregnant. They’re going to have a baby. Boy, girl, it doesn’t matter… You’re pregnant, and as his husband ends the call and yanks him by his collar into a fierce kiss, he realises how important this is.

How important you are, just by the virtue of carrying their baby.

They invite you over for dinner to celebrate, and while he’s never been one to flaunt the comfortable lifestyle he and Hizashi have, he does find it strangely pleasing to watch you wonder wide eyed through their apartment. He’d be the first to admit it’s big – bigger than they’d ever probably need, though with the baby on the way maybe they’ll finally be able to make use of all that extra space.

Mic grabs you by the hand, eagerly dragging you towards the nursery he’s already begun setting up. “Once I heard the good news, I just couldn’t wait to get started! Our little rockstar’s gonna have the sweetest crib, don’tcha think? Ain’t it amazing?” 

He’s already started painting and there’s a wooden cot halfway assembled and the beginnings of a musical mobile pushed off to the side waiting for him to return to it. It’s hardly close to being finished, but you just grin, gazing at the mural he’s started on the walls. “It’s amazing,” you say.

“I knew ya’d like it!” he beams.

Shouta hangs back as Hizashi guides you through the rest of the apartment, chattering excitedly away. He likes seeing his husband happy, and somehow you manage to bring it out of him without even trying. It’s still early days but Shouta has to admit that already you’re more to him and Hizashi than he expected, or even anticipated. You fit well with them, seamlessly, as if you’d always been a part of their lives.

After dinner, they drive you home despite your protests, and Hizashi insists they walk you up to your apartment. You’re no doubt under the impression that they’re doing it to be gentlemanly, missing the shared looks between the two men as they pass the out of order elevator and tread down hallways with stained carpet and peeling wallpaper, ignoring the leering yellow eyes of your neighbour, peeking out from the crack in the doorway as they bid you goodnight, ‘Zashi squeezing you extra tight.

There’s an uncharacteristic hardness in his husband’s eyes as they both slip back into the car, “No way in hell are we lettin’ her stay here.”

On that at least, there’s no arguments from him.

—

Hizashi, unsurprisingly, is the one to bring it up.

The three of you are grabbing a bite to eat after your first ultrasound. This time, both of them had been insistent on being there, and he’s glad they were. Seeing that grainy image of their baby, hearing it’s heartbeat – strong and steady – had filled him with an emotion he’d never felt before.

It was happiness and excitement and wonder and awe all mixed up and wrapped into a gut punch that stole his breath away, and while Hizashi had burst into a loud fit of tears, burying his face in Shouta’s neck while reaching for your hand, he’d managed to keep his own at bay.

Mostly. 

Regardless, you have little choice but to indulge them when they drag you out to one of the blonde’s favourite restaurants – on the proviso that they had you home in time to get ready for work.

“Songbird, there’s something the two of us have been meanin’ to ask ya.”

You perk up a little, hastily swallowing down your mouthful of food so you can reply, “Oh?”

He wonders if you notice the way your hand already instinctively drifts to your stomach, your barely there baby bump. 

“Why’re ya livin’ in a place like that, sweetheart?” You freeze, the corners of your smile slipping, but Hizashi continues, “Ain’t the money from the agency enough? We know you’re working that other job as well… we just…”

Shouta can physically feel you tensing like a bunny caught in a trap, and he doesn’t know what possesses him to reach out, sliding a hand across the table as you pale, but you take it regardless. 

“Talk to us. Please,” he begs. “We just want to understand what’s going on. You have to realise that it’s not exactly a safe neighbourhood, and it’s not just you we have to worry about anymore.” Dark eyes flicker pointedly towards your stomach. 

It’s a dirty tactic, but that doesn’t mean it’s not the truth. Did you realise how much danger you were truly in? Not just from the common street thugs – though frankly he thinks it’s nothing short of a miracle that you’d managed to get this far unscathed – but any number of villains with a grudge against either one of them, or Heroes in general. If they found out a pretty, quirkless thing like you was carrying their baby, how long do you think it would take before they tracked you down and kicked through your door?

Your eyes flicker between the two of them, and you swallow shakily. “I-it’s…” you break off, taking a deep, steadying breath, “It’s all I can afford right now.”

“But, hun, what about–”

“I know,” you say. “The money for the surrogacy isn’t for me. It’s money I owe.”

Neither Hero speaks a word as you talk, telling them about your uncle, the man who raised you, how his business went under a few years back and you both lost almost everything.

Shouta isn’t surprised to find out that your uncle turned to loan sharks when the banks turned him away and threatened to take your house. Alarmed at the man’s blatant stupidity, yes, but not surprised. Your eyes start to water when you tell them about how he died a few months back – a hit and run –  and the visit you were paid only a week later, informing you that your uncle’s debts were now yours, and payment had better come through quick. 

Your hand’s trembling in his by the time you finish. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t have any options, I didn’t know how else to get the money, and they said that i-if I didn’t pay up, they-they’d–” a sob catches you unawares, and once again it’s Hizashi who’s out of his seat and at your side in a heartbeat, sliding into the booth beside you, pulling you into a one armed embrace. 

It’s his eyes that you meet, and Shouta understands. He doesn’t need you to explain what threats were made. You were scared, terrified probably, and you had every right to be. 

“I didn’t know what else to do,” you sniffle. “I’m sorry for lying to you.”

Really, he should be furious. Disappointed at the very least. 

“Move in with us,” he says instead, ignoring your sudden, startled intake of breath. “At least until the baby comes.”

He should be, but this works better.

—

It takes a little longer than he’d like to convince you, but the two of them wear you down and a few weeks later Shouta finds himself carting boxes of your things up into the spare room in their apartment.

Despite the fact that you’re pregnant with their baby, you’re terrified of being a burden to the two Heroes, but it’s because of the baby that you eventually relent.

They want to be close, involved. They want to know that you’re safe – and their apartment’s state of the art security system will make sure of that when they’re not home with you. They want to make sure that you’re not exerting yourself, that you’re eating the right things and not running yourself ragged at a job you don’t need, stressing yourself out needlessly and putting the baby at risk.

All of that’s true. 

It’s just not the entire reason. 

At first, he convinces himself that it’s for Hizashi, as well as his own peace of mind, but he’s starting to wonder if that’s the full truth of it. Because of course he wants to keep a close eye on the pregnancy – he knows that this can’t be easy on you. You have no family left, and if you have any friends then they’ve done an excellent job of keeping you at arm's length. 

You have nobody but them, and it does bring him some modicum of peace to know that you’re just down the hall if anything goes wrong. 

Hizashi adores having you there with them, having somebody else to cook for, somebody to come home to at the end of a long day. More than a few times, they’ve both returned from a night of patrolling to find you curled up on the couch, fast asleep with a blanket over your legs and a book slipping from your fingers, having tried, and failed, to wait up from them.

You tune into Mic’s radio show on the nights you can’t sleep, and on the odd mornings that you wake up before either of them, they come downstairs to find bacon sizzling away in the pan, a pot of coffee already brewing. There’s something oddly charming about the way you pout while you pour it for them, knowing you can’t have any yourself.

“You’re a special kind of masochist, ya know?” Hizashi teases, sidling up beside you to grab a cup.

You sigh dejectedly. “I must be,” you reply as he plants a kiss on your cheek and squeezes your side affectionately, but it’s impossible to miss the sparkle in your eyes. You’re happy here, with them. 

Shouta warns you from pushing yourself too much, but even he can notice the apartment’s tidier when they arrive home than when they left, the freshly baked goods sitting on the countertop that weren’t there yesterday.

“I just… I know I can’t pay you back for all of this, I just wanna make myself useful,” you tell him one night when he asks about it. “I still feel like I’m taking advantage of the both of you, staying here…”

“You’re carrying our baby, that’s enough,” he reminds you, his calm, steady voice brooking no disagreement. And yet, as dark eyes study your face, he can tell that it’s not enough for you, so he sighs, and in a quiet voice adds, “We like having you here.”

He likes having you there. Sitting at the dining room table, helping him grade papers, lounging around on their rare days off together – helping Mic set up the nursery, volunteering to go shopping with them for baby stuff. He’s lost count of how many pregnancy books you’ve bought, pouring over them with a fine tooth comb late at night – often falling asleep in the process, leaving him and Hizashi to carry you off to bed with a barely there kiss to your forehead.

You fit between them in a way he hadn’t quite expected. Not a burden, not an interloper, but as if there was always a place carved out for you with them, and it’s only now that they realise that there was something missing to begin with. 

It doesn’t quite click until he finds his thoughts drifting towards you at work, his fingers drumming along the top of his desk so he can stop himself from reaching for his phone. He’s not usually so distracted teaching, and as the hours drag he finds himself glancing towards the clock on the wall, counting down the hours, minutes, until the day is done and they can return home to you.

Shouta can’t pretend for much longer that there isn’t something oddly satisfying watching your belly grow and your breasts swell as your pregnancy goes on. You’re glowing, and soft and beautiful, and he could kid himself and say that it’s just the normal effects of pregnancy, but there’s some part of him that’s strangely proud when your shirt rides up and he catches a glimpse of your baby bump – knowing it’s his child you’re carrying. His and ‘Zashi’s and yours.

And oh, he wishes that it was only pride that burns through his veins at the sight of you, barefoot and pregnant, pottering around the apartment. Hizashi’s the one to hold back your hair and rub your back soothingly when your morning sickness hits, but it’s Shouta who takes care of you when you start complaining about aching muscles and joints.

He tells himself that it’s purely about comfort, namely yours, ignoring the way you flush and stutter when he drags you up the stairs and pushes you gently towards the bed, telling you to lie down on your side. 

It’s just a massage, yet the moment his fingers run along your soft skin and a breathy moan slips from parted lips, the very last vestiges of the facade he’d built up in his head crumble into dust. 

You’re perfection. Bared and beautiful beneath him, making the prettiest noises for him as he works away at your muscles, expertly releasing all of your tension. He’s glad that your eyes are shut and you’re lost to the bliss, you don’t notice the way his breath hitches and becomes rough and heavy, the way his cock twitches in his sweats, blood flowing south as you arc into his touch. 

Such a responsive little thing, aren’t you?

“You’re amazing,” you moan, and though you can’t see that either, Shouta smirks. “Please never stop.”

It’s a good thing he has restraint, because it’s taking absolutely all of his to stop himself from taking more. 

He wants all of you. 

Wants to tease and taste.

Take.

Wants to hear those pretty fucking moans take the shape of his name… Hizashi’s name.

And maybe he might have felt guilty for those perverse thoughts, for the way he wants to tear the rest of your clothes off and fuck you nice and proper, breed you–

If his husband hadn't been standing by the door, watching the two of you for the last ten minutes. Shouta doesn’t need to look to know that it’s not anger or jealousy burning in his gaze.

He knows that his husband’s far from disgusted, knows it from the way Hizashi grabs his wrist on his way back down the hallway, pulling him instead to their bedroom and shoving him back onto the mattress with a wicked grin.

There’s something positively feral in the blonde’s expression as he hovers over him, forcing Shouta back down with a hand splayed across his chest, the other reaching down to his sweats to free his aching, needy cock.

“You’ve been holding out on me, baby,” he sings.

—

They have time.

Your due date is still months away, and you’re comfortable, here with them. 

There’s no reason for you to consider leaving until the baby’s born, and Shouta is adamant about keeping it that way. Hizashi can huff and puff and moan all he likes, he knows that they have to take this thing with you slowly. He won’t risk spooking you and losing any chance they have.

That’s not to say that he doesn’t empathise with the blonde, what with all the affectionate hugs and touches you thoughtlessly bestow, the way you’ll plonk yourself down on the couch between them so they can feel when the baby’s kicking.

Hizashi’s gotten to the stage where he’ll drop to his knees to shower your stomach in kisses when he gets home of an evening before sweeping you up into a hug of your own, his face a mask of perfect innocence when he catches sight of his husband’s less than impressed expression over your shoulder. 

Having you here with them, this little temporary faux family dynamic the three of you have found yourselves in is easy, domestic and nice. It should be enough, but it’s not.

“It’ll be weird, going home after this,” you hum absentmindedly one night.

Preoccupied with the noodles you’re toying with in your bowl, you miss the sharp look shared between both men.

“Whaddya mean, sweetheart?”

If you notice the odd stiffness to the words, you pay it no mind, simply shrugging. “I mean once the baby’s born. I dunno, I think I’ve become too comfortable here freeloading off of the two of you…” you glance up, smiling a little. “Going back to work and finding a place on my own again, starting fresh, it’ll be different, that’s all. Not bad different,” you hasten to clarify at the blonde’s nearly stricken face, “just… different.”

“Well it’s not like we’re gonna be forcing ya out, hun! You’re always welcome to jam with us for as long as you want.”

You shake your head with a rueful little laugh, “We both know I can’t do that. You’ll have the baby to worry about and the last thing I want is to feel like some awkward interloper, always getting in the way – especially after everything you guys have done for me.”

Hizashi’s fingers dig into the meat of his thigh, tightening with every word out of your mouth.

“No,” you say, shaking your head. “I’m not saying I’m never going to come around to hang out or anything, but once this baby comes I’m gonna have to figure out what I’m going to do with my life.” Your eyes meet his, wide and hopeful, and Shouta’s reminded once again of just how young you really are. “I can go anywhere, do anything. It’s kind of exciting, don't you think?”

It was a mistake, to think that you’d come around to them on your own. 

You were young and naive, still living out a rose tinted fantasy where the world was your oyster and all you needed to do was reach out and take it. And maybe he’s partially to blame for that, taking your problems and getting rid of them, making you feel safe and comfortable, not realising that that security didn’t extend outside of these four walls, outside of their protection.

They need you, but kitten did you ever stop to think that you need them, too? 

Shouta had made the mistake of forgetting how this all came to be – you hadn’t wanted a family, you were just trying to save your own skin. You still think that you can make it on your own, without them. 

He supposes he shouldn’t blame you for your misplaced idealism, it’s only natural after all. Some people just don’t know what’s best for them.

They need to be shown.

—

You don’t stir as your bedroom door swings open. 

Not as Hizashi pulls back your sheets, groaning softly at the sight of your swollen breasts and precious baby bump, stretching against the confines of your silk pajamas. “Ain’t she a fuckin’ dream, Shou?”

Not as the blonde busies himself in carefully sliding your sleep shorts down your legs, or even as Aizawa gathers up your wrists, pressing a kiss to each one, and binds them to the headboard with his capture weapon.

“Gentle, ‘Zashi,” he murmurs when the blonde crawls up on the bed beside you. “Nothing too rough.”

You wake as long fingers caress your cheek, tilting your face towards him so he can kiss you properly.

Shouta hadn’t bothered to turn on the lights, but bathed under the soft glow of moonlight from your window, he watches your eyes flutter open, the momentary confusion that flashes across your face followed by realisation, horror, as you try to jerk back and cry out–

Only Hizashi doesn’t give you the opportunity, winding his hand through your tresses and anchoring you against him, forcing your lips open so that he can deepen the kiss and groaning appreciatively when a terrified whimper escapes you. 

You still haven’t noticed Shouta kneeling on the bed between your legs, too preoccupied by Hizashi’s tongue sliding against yours. “Relax, kitten,” he says, laying his palm on your thigh, letting his thumb glide over the smooth skin.

“Let us take care of our cute ‘lil baby mama, yeah songbird?” Hizashi adds, breaking away from the kiss with a lovesick grin.

Tonight is solely about you. Your pleasure, whether they have to tease it from you willingly or not.

Your tears are kissed away, your broken little pleas swallowed under ‘Zashi’s greedy lips as Shouta shuffles down the bed, nudging your thighs further apart so he can lie between them.

The keening cry that leaves you at the first stroke of his tongue against your warm sex is a thing of beauty.

Blood rushes to his cock as you writhe, and he tightens his grip as much as he dares to keep you locked in place as he delves in again. There’s little finesse to the way that Shouta eats your pussy – it’s a simple study of reactions; the way you gasp and shudder when the tip of his tongue circles your clit, the way your pussy clench and quiver around the muscle when he eases it inside of you, massaging your spongy walls.

Never one to be left out, Hizashi decides that there’s a better use of his attention than just your lips. With your arms bound, he’s not able to take your top off entirely so he settles with yanking it down, freeing your breasts.

“Fuck baby, you’re so pretty. Look atcha!”

Your tits must be tender and aching, because the moment Hizashi’s mouth envelops one of your nipples, sucking at the pert nub, a fresh sob bursts from your lungs and you’re trying desperately to wriggle away.

Hizashi just frowns, breaking away for a second to brush a stray lock of hair back behind your ear, “Ah shit, sorry babe! I’ll be gentle, promise.”

Shouta’s far too preoccupied by the intoxicating taste of your sweet cunt to notice whether he actually does or not, but he trusts him not to push you too far. There’ll be plenty of time for that later.

Your baby bump is cute and all, but Shouta wishes that it wasn’t blocking his view of your face – he wants to watch every little expression as he slides two thick fingers into your dripping cunt and your hips buck up to meet him. It’s a twisted kind of pride he feels, pride fused with filthy, maddening pleasure as he pulls a string of choked moans from you with just a few shallow thrusts of his fingers.

His jaw’s slicked with your juices, your cunt sucking his fingers deeper when he turns his attention back to your poor, neglected clit. He can tell that you’re close, not just from the needy whimpers and the way your muscles are tensing beneath him, but the desperate canting of your hips, rocking up against his face even as you beg for relief.

“Shouta, Shouta, please– oh god, please stop, p-please!”

He longs to wrap a fist around his throbbing cock, desperate to help relieve the burning ache deep in his gut as you cum for the first time on his tongue. Or better yet, maybe have Hizashi wrap that perfect mouth of his around his cock and suck him off–

But now’s not the time for him to be greedy. 

Rough fingertips prod at your walls, searching for that hidden little spot that’s gonna make you go wild–

You almost convulse when he finds it, and Shouta can’t help but smirk against your cunt as you tighten and quiver around his digits. With Hizashi playing with your tits, pressing hot, open mouthed kisses along your neck, Shouta’s lips wrapped around your clit, tongue flicking at the sensitive pearl as he suckles on it and long, thick fingers driving you to madness with each and every stroke, it’s too much for your poor, pregnant, oversensitive body to handle.

You cum with a strangled shriek, and Shouta almost moans at the flood of juices that gush from your trembling cunt onto his waiting tongue. 

“How’s she taste, baby?” Hizashi asks, green eyes blown wide, his own erection straining against his leather pants. 

Shouta doesn’t waste a beat, pushing himself up with one arm and grabbing his husband’s wrist with the other, yanking him into a fierce kiss – letting him taste your honeyed juices on his tongue.

Fingers tangle in dark locks, tugging him closer, and ‘Zashi lets out a low, throaty groan. It’s rough and eager, a slow burning frenzy that makes the blood in his veins sing with excitement. With their lips still locked, the blonde hastily yanks at the zipper on his pants, freeing the painfully hard member with a tight hiss. 

But when he finally does break for air, it’s not Shouta that he addresses, but you, lying spent, crying and breathless between them, beautiful in your fucked out state.

“You can’t expect to put on a show like that and not get me all worked up, sweet thing,” he coos, taking his flushed, throbbing cock in hand and giving it a few slow, cursory pumps. “I’m gonna fuck ya so good, baby – have you singin’ like a little birdie for me,” his eyes meet Shouta’s, a wicked smirk tugging at his lips. “Nothin’ but the best for our cute ‘lil wife. Whaddya say, songbird? Lemme make you feel all nice and special, yeah?”

[shsy7573]

We’re in This Together - Ch. 12

For more info or chapter index, see overview post

WARNING: This chapter contains segments of character death. (SPOILER’S FOR CHAPTER : It’s fine tho I swear)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own own Voyager or any of the characters in this fic (except for the aliens. Those were my creation.)

*This story is not beta-read and has not been edited or proof-read in any way! This was just something I threw together over the past three days and decided to post as my first entry on this site!*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CHAPTER TWELVE

B’Elanna watched Janeway’s laboured breathing as she slept. Even though she was sleeping, the Starfleet Captain’s expression was anything but peaceful. Her pain, it seemed, was potent enough to follow her into unconsciousness. Voyager’s Chief Engineer brushed her knuckles gently over the woman’s cheek, and watched as her expression softened ever so slightly.

The touch, despite how soft, was enough to jostle her from sleep. Her eyes face contorted as the full force of the pain came back. She opened her eyes a crack to see her Lieutenant smiling down at her.

“Sorry, Captain. I didn’t mean to wake you. You can go back to sleep if you’d like.”

Kathryn huffed, starting to sit up. Immediately she regretted it as the whole world went out of focus, and black dots danced at the edges of her vision. She fell un gracefully back down with a thump, and closed her eyes.

“That’s all right… I don’t… I don’t think… I’ll be going… back to sleep… anytime soon.”

Torres furrowed her eyebrows in sympathy. “Do you want a pain killer? We have used them for a while. I took one this morning when I woke up for my shift.”

Kathryn shook her head slightly, the best she could manage in her agony. “They don’t… help.”

The engineer placed a gentle hand on her Captain’s forehead. She winced at the heat of the Captain’s skin, and turned to pull out the woman’s water.

“Here,” she murmured, pouring some of the cold liquid onto the woman’s face, “this should help a little. Drink some too.”

B’Elanna helped sit Janeway up enough so that she could comfortably drink. When she’d had enough, the engineer set her bottle back down, and lowered the Captain into her lap.

“Thanks,” Kathryn breathed, blinking groggily up at her companion. The feeling of the cool water on her skin was an instant relief, but it was short lived as the area slowly warmed up again.

“Anytime.”

Kathryn closed her eyes again as her breathing returned to its heavy, slow rhythm.

“I wish there was something I could do to make you more comfortable.”

Janeway inhaled deeply before responding, “you’re… doing… your best… Voyager… be here… soon.”

B’Elanna couldn’t help but wince again as the Captain spoke. Every one of her words seemed to take a little more out of her. Torres couldn’t even begin to imagine what sort of pain the woman was in.

“Yes, they’ll be here soon. Just save your strength. I’m not going anywhere.”

The Captain hummed, and swallowed harshly in response.

“I hate to break it to you, Captain, but I don’t think you’ll be able to jump right into work after this. I know you really miss looking over the system's reports, but the Doctor’s gonna be on your ass about resting for at least a week.”

B’Elanna was reworded by a couple of small, barely audible chuckles that jostled the Captain’s body.

“I’m still looking forward to that sonic shower. And after that, you’re welcome to join me on the holodeck or you like. I was thinking of forcing Tom to write me a new program. Or, I supposed I could do it myself, but- who has the time for that? Nothing too spectacular, thinking a nice, long quiet beach with soft white sand, big blue waves, and no tunnels of caverns in sight. Maybe a couple people out in the water, just having fun and living in the moment.”

As Torres spoke, Kathryn allowed herself to get lost in the words. She imagined herself on such a beach, and the thought made her smile. The warmth of the sun on her, the cool breeze blowing in from the sea as the setting sun turned the sky pink. Big waves on the horizon, where you could just make out a couple of surfers getting the last of their waves in before turning in for the night. It was where Janeway wished she was right now.

“It sounds… nice…” she rasped.

“Yeah? I thought so too. With you on my side, maybe you can order Tom to make it.”

The Captain smiled at this, and B’Elanna took it as a win.

-

After a couple hours, the Captain’s breathing really started to shallow out. B’Elanna had taken to holding her hand firmly as she struggled to stay awake.

“Just hold on a little longer Captain. Help is on the way.”

The only sigh that Janeway both heard and understood the Lieutenant was a small squeeze of her hand. B’Elanna squeezed back, running a hand across the woman’s face.

“Give me one second, okay? I’m just gonna check to see if the homing beacon is still active.”

Gently, B’Elanna let go of the Captain, and took off her comm. badge. Amazingly, even after all the floods and spider-attacks and rock climbing they’d done, it had remained stubbornly pinned to her Starfleet uniform. Speaking of said uniform, it had seen better days. There were several holes in the fabric, the biggest ones being on her chest and around her back.

Upon inspecting her badge, she was able to confirm that the homing beacon was still indeed active. That was good. It meant Voyager would know just where to find them when it arrived.

She placed the badge back on her uniform, and grabbed the Captain’s hand again. Not even bothered with how covered in sweat it was.

“Good news, Captain. Looks like our luck hasn’t completely run out yet. The badge is still working.”

The woman’s lips twitched, B’Elanna took at as the best the attempt woman could muster at a smile. She brushed her thumb across Kathryn’s forehead, sending a silent plea to her ship as watched her energy dwindle. Please, Voyager. Hurry.

-

At this point, B’Elanna had given up on keeping track of the hours passed. All she knew was they had been sitting here forever, and there was still no sign of Voyager.

“I’m sure they’ll be here soon. They’re probably just trying not to overreact.”

B’Elanna was alarmed by the lack of response from Kathryn. She’d been chatting to her idly on and off for the last little bit, and the woman had always at least managed a twitch of her fingers. Now though, there was nothing.

“Captain?” She asked, giving the woman a slight jostle with her knee.

No response.

She tried again, pumping the woman a bit harder.

“Captain! I told you not to doze off on me again!”

But B’Elanna knew that wasn’t what this was. Not this time. As she watched the woman’s chest for any sign that she might be breathing, she was alarmed to be greeting by a complete and utter stillness.

“No!” She gasped, sitting up and laying the woman’s head on the ground beside her.

“No, no, NO!”

She started chest come pressions.

“Come on, Captain! Don’t do this to me again!”

Tears streaked her eyes as she pushed the palms of her hands deep into the woman’s chest. She knew she was probably going to break her ribs with pressure like this, but she would take broken ribs over a dead Captain any day.

“Come on, please! Please, you can’t leave me! Not now!”

Two inches deep, one hundred beats per minute.

“We’re in this together, remember?!”

Help will be here soon.

“You promised!”

They have to be here soon

“Please, just hold on!”

Then, the worst thing that could have possibly happened, happened. Faintly, at the very edge of her senses, she heard the sound of scuttling.

B’Elanna’s chest compressions stilled as she listened to confirm what she was hearing. 

No! Not now! Please, not now!

Fat tears dripped from her eyes, and down onto Kathryn’s face as she leaned over the dying woman. Desperately, she placed one hand on her cheek, and the other one in her hand. She leaned down until she was nose to nose with Janeway’s slack face. “I’m not leaving you,” she whispered. “You hear me? I’m not leaving you! So don’t you dare leave me!”

No response.

A sob racked her body as she pressed her hand firmly into Kathryn’s face.

“Please!”

No response.

She heard the sound of a hiss behind her.

All the despair in her face fell away at the sound. The tears still poured down her face as she drew her phaser and turned around.

Eight of the Arachnomen faced off against her. Each of their eyes locked on in hunger, madness, and intent to kill.

Looking at the creatures, B’Elanna was overtaken by a blinding, thick blanket of unimaginable fury. This, all of this was their fault. One of their kind had killed her Captain. Her friend and all these creatures cared about was food. They were disgusting, and retched, and the purest form of evil that, other than the Borg, no other species ever came close to.

And they were not going to take her Captain away from her when they were this close to getting home.

“YOU WON’T TOUCH HER!” B’Elanna roared, but the Arachnomen didn’t seem phased by her fury.

With one final hiss, the hoard lunged, and B’Elanna started firing.

In an instant, a cascade of pincers, hands and fangs engulfed B’Elanna and the Captain. The half-klingon fired her phaser like a mad woman, doing everything in her power to keep the creatures’ fangs from biting her, and to keep all of them away from the lifeless form of her Captain underneath her.

Pretty quickly, B’Elanna’s rage subsided just enough for her to realise that she could never right off all these aliens at once. So, thinking fast, she improvised.

The engineer shot her phaser right at the base of one of the stalactites. The large spike came crashing down, impaling one of the Arachnomen, and covering the area in a thick, quickly dissipating layer of debris.

Using the opening, B’Elanna threw Janeway over her shoulder and fled towards the nearest tunnel. Her feet carried her even faster than they had the day before. It didn’t matter anymore that Janeway was dead weight, Torres’s survival instincts were kicked into too high a gear for her to be slowed down.

The aliens ran after her as she clambered up the tunnel, dodging their long, outstretched limbs and shooting blindly behind her as she continued her beeline through the tunnels.

The Arachnomen were gaining rapidly, their brief moment of surprise not nearly enough to keep the Chief Engineer in the lead for long. She pushed her legs to run faster, practically throwing herself down the passageway as it began to twist and turn.

After five minutes of running for her life, B’Elanna’s felt her eyes widened as they gazed upon her next obstacle. The ground veered up in a sudden slope, approximately seven feet tall, and with very little ways to jump up it. Not unless you had spider limbs.

With a pounding heart, the engineer used all of her strength to throw Kathryn up the the top of the wall, before leaping up as high as she could and draping her arm over the ledge.

One of the aliens grabbed a hold of her leg, and began to drag her back down towards the ground. B’Elanna kicked and screamed as the others piled on. She managed to tear her leg free of one, and used the face of another to shove herself further up the ledge.

One of the aliens jumped up towards the ceiling, and made a frantic grab at her shoulder. It missed, however, and its long spider-limbed hand shot past B’Elanna and managed to grab hold instead of the Captain’s arm. It dragged her body backwards, and B’Elanna shrieked in protest as she held the body of her comrad on top of the ledge.

She rammed her arm out, smacking the spider's own limb hard against the corner of the ledge. It shrieked, letting go of the Captain in its pain.

As hard as she was fighting, Torres’ heart lurched as she felt the seemingly endless sea of grasping limbs starting to drag her back down the ledge. She clawed desperately to the tunnel floor, kicking mangled legs back at the spiders, but it was no use. There were too many of them.

Just as she was convinced that there was no way out of this, a voice came through on her comm.

“Voyager to away team, do you read me!”

B’Elanna kicked one of the aliens off her, giving her just enough leeway to reach up and press her badge. “Chakotay!” She shouted, her voice riddled with pure terror as she was pulled further away from Janeway, “I can’t hold them off anymore! You gotta get us out of here!”

“Stand by for transport.”

“Sick bay, Chakotay! Both of us!” B’Elanna ordered

“Acknowledged!”

B’Elanna screamed as she lost her grip on the tunnel ledge. Just as her body was dragged into the commotion of the Arachnoman’s frenzy, her and Janeway’s bodies dematerialized into the transporter beam.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 314: ...Or You Live Long Enough to See Yourself Become the Villain

Previously on BnHA: Some random assholes were all “let’s throw exploding spears at All Might and see if it activates his Conqueror’s Haki” and SURPRISE, MOTHERFUCKERS, IT DID!! Elsewhere, Lady Nagant confusingly tried to capture Deku alive by shooting him in the stomach, but to be fair I guess that’s what happens when you send an assassin to do a bounty hunter’s job, so yeah. Deku was all “ouch”, and then because this is a shounen he basically just straight up forgot about it, and did a big fancy Smokescreen thing, and then activated his mildly incomprehensible new ki-blasting quirk which he got from the Third. En and the Third were all “hey Deku maybe let’s not just impulsively activate all this shit in the heat of battle when you don’t know how to use it yet and you’re already injured,” and Deku was all “thanks for the quirks guys but I’ll take it from here” and snuck up on Nagant and grabbed her arm and so now what’s going to happen I wonder.

Today on BnHA: Nagant is all “[shoots Deku again]” because of course she is lol. Deku is all “tell me about AFO!” and Nagant is all “why would I tell you anything?” and then proceeds to tell him her entire life story which is FILLED WITH SO MUCH MURDER, YOU GUYS. Holy shit. So basically she was an assassin for the HPSC, which we already knew, but somehow it’s one thing to know that, and another to actually see her running around capping dudes in the forehead and being covered in more blood than the elevator from The Shining. Anyway, so you’ll never believe it, but all that murder had a negative impact on her psychologically, and eventually led her to question everything she believed about hero society, and so she killed her creepy boss and was promptly sent to Tartarus. This extremely fun chapter ends with Overhaul showing up all “HI, HELLO, I’M STILL HERE”, because for some reason he is still here. Why are you still here, Overhaul.

“the beautiful Lady Nagant” oh you know your audience don’t you Horikoshi

well all right then! so I’m guessing this means that she is not, in fact, going to roll over and die just because Deku’s out here all “GOT YA!” like they’re playing a game or tag or something. ffff may the manga gods have mercy on our young suicidal protagonist

lmao so Deku is all “GOD I’M SO SMART, WHAT A GOOD STRATEGY I HAD, CAPITOL JOB THERE OL’ CHAP, CAPITOL” and lol, okay. I mean, it was a good plan though. but I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop here

“I’ll make you give me information on All for One” well there you go, lol. Deku Angst arc still fully engaged. still no light in his eyes either of course. just a lil chaotic ball of sleep deprivation and rage

lol, fucking THANK YOU though

oh my god what the hell did she do to him lol

did she shoot him with her elbow??? fucking look at this?? THIS IS WHY WE LISTEN TO HAWKS oh my god Deku are you dead

WHAT’S HAPPENING, IS THIS GOOD OR BAD, WHO’S WINNING

things that I wish I could tell from this panel which I unfortunately cannot tell

did she stab him or shoot him?? can you imagine if it was the former lol. why does Horikoshi keep stabbing all my kids. look Kacchan now the two of you can match

did she actually hit him or did he get away??

or did she hit him and then he jumped away?? just, what

well anyway, so now Deku is asking her why she sided with AFO, but he seems a lot more pissed off than when he was interrogating Muscular, though. probably because she shot him three times. fair enough

oh my god

does Lady have a blog here on tumblr dot com?? -- does Horikoshi have a blog here on tumblr motherfucking dot com?? why do I suddenly feel like this man is out here sneakily reading up on all our discourse

oh my god Deku it’s almost like getting up close and personal with someone who can shoot custom bullets from any distance and any position with deadly accuracy was a terrible fucking idea

IF ONLY SOMEONE HAD WARNED YOU NOT TO ENGAGE WITH HER AT ALL COSTS. IF ONLY SOMEONE HAD HAD THE FORESIGHT TO DO THAT sob. can you imagine how much shorter this series would be if characters actually listened to Hawks. Hawks, and Momo. why do we even let anyone else run the show ever

OH MY GOD

DEKU, RUN

OH MY GOD WHAT IS HAPPENING

this looks a lot like what happens to me whenever I play One’s Justice. those fucking combo attacks that you can’t fucking escape from and so your character just has to stand there getting their ass whalloped repeatedly while you wonder why you paid $40 for this

but anyways though. so Lady who did you kill?? I bet they deserved it, don’t worry I forgive you

(ETA: ANYWAY SO FRIENDLY REMINDER THAT LADY NAGANT DID NOTHING WRONG EVER IN HER ENTIRE LIFE. aside from murdering all those innocent people and shit. but there were CIRCUMSTANCES, and THEY WERE EXTENUATING, OKAY.)

-- holy shit

looks like the HPSC arc is back on the menu boys

so are we about to learn that the HPSC was going full Hydra on people’s asses? secretly dispatching anyone they deemed a threat to society?? “taken care of” as in you fucking shot them??

so then was the “hero” she killed actually one of the guys who was giving or carrying out these orders?? holy shit Lady, up until now I’ve mainly just been stanning you for your flawless eyebrow game and metal af quirk, but this shit could actually get real very quickly, and I am prepared to genuinely and sincerely love the shit out of you depending on what we learn next about your backstory

oh my god?!?

so wait, hold up. am I reading this right?? basically the HPSC started murdering vigilantes because they were worried they were gaining too much of the public’s favor?? holy fucking shit???

oh my GOD oh my god

“it’s been a while since I scarred you all with the dead dog and the graphic slaughter of an entire innocent family, huh,” Horikoshi says thoughtfully. “anyway so what do you all think of my new creation, the Spaghetti Bullet.” well, Horikoshi, so you know that squished-up face that Kermit the Frog makes sometimes? yeah. that’s what I think, if you must know lol

holy hell the juxtaposition

I’m actually kind of surprised to learn she had a lot of fans? what with her M.O., I was expecting her to have been an underground hero like Aizawa, but apparently not? then again I still have absolutely no idea how any of that works. I really need to read Vigilantes already

oh snap

nothing like a sweet dose of assassin trauma to finally round out our BnHA Trauma Bingo!! well done guys, we finally collected all of the traumas! hooray!

noooo Ladyyyyyyy

holy shit what a fucking chapter. like, this man promised us an assassin, and went and fucking delivered. I was not expecting it to be this dark, lol, but holy shit I am here for it

you know, at some point you have to start questioning the logistics of this, though

I mean, how do I put this... her quirk isn’t exactly subtle. that murder scene from a few pages back looked like the first season of Dexter for fuck’s sake, that’s not exactly “disappearing” people now is it?? and I mean, her bullets are literally made from her own fucking hair; it seems like it would be impossible not to leave any evidence behind. did no one start to wonder who the fuck was going around murdering all these people? or did the people who asked too many questions wind up getting conveniently “disappeared” themselves??

and hey, speaking of asking too many questions

holy shit is he blackmailing her??!? or no, wait -- what the hell is he reaching for in his pocket boy you better not

(ETA: what exactly was this man expecting fdslkjd. “uh oh my unstoppable hair trigger assassin who is literally always armed is asking questions, better announce that I am going to shoot her and then reach into my pocket veeeeeery slowly while she stands there all of two feet away.” how did this guy ever function as the head of a shadow government with these decision-making skills, I’m genuinely baffled.)

OH MY GOD LADY YES

this. right here. is why “run the fuck away” was damn good solid fucking advice. oh shit. but my god did this dude have it coming

so wait lol has she just been narrating all of this out loud to Deku this entire time

okay but can we just stop for a moment and appreciate the fact that they’re having this deep conversation about the dark secrets of hero society right in the middle of their intense mid-air sniper free-for-all lol

holy shit you guys, Nagant’s the one that should have made the tell-all video. I mean, no offense to you, Dabi, I’m sure you worked very hard on your video and did a ton of crunches every day so that you would look good with your shirt off while you told the world all about how your dad was a jerk. but seriously...

this is already like 100x more convincing than what he put out. also, gasp, is it another flashback

yes it is oh my gosh

so the HPSC Chairladyperson whom ReDestro killed used to be this guy’s direct subordinate, huh? I wonder if she kept the whole assassin program going after she took over. can’t say I was feeling any particular kind of grieving way about her death before, but certainly not now lol

but unfortunately Nagant has finally lost me at the same place where all of the villains inevitably do, which is to say when they somehow make the dubious mental leap from “society sucks and is bad” to “let’s just be openly fucking evil lol, worth a shot.” because when heroes murder innocent people and cover it up, that’s obviously bad (and I mean, it absolutely fucking is lol, don’t get me wrong); but when villains murder innocent people straight up out in the open without giving a fuck, they’re righteous revolutionaries? just -- is there really no non-murdery middle ground here?? I guess that’s what Deku and co. are for, hopefully

anyways oh shit Deku seems to have spotted something?? and he’s doing something weird with Blackwhip what

oh, he spotted her, I guess

lmaooooo

new favorite Deku panel right here. a masterpiece

oh my god you guys our little boy is starting to grow up before our eyes

you love to see it. and you can tell with those elipses that he’s gearing up to say something really cool and determined and badass like the shounen protag he is, yes please, Deku ilu so much please do your thing

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

IS THAT A TEENY TINY LIL EYE SPARKLE THERE OMG. still not anywhere close to his usual standard, but that’s some clear resolve there in his eyes there at long last! it always shines the most clearly when he’s being true to himself and his ideals, so I love that it finally shows up again here, when he’s reaffirming his resolve to help others no matter what

uh oh so what’s Lady going to do now

is it time for a trump card?? kinda sounding like it’s time for a trump card

???

I lied btw, this is my new favorite Deku panel. but anyways what is she up to now lol

ohhhhhh, lol

why does she seem shocked, lol. here I thought this was part of her plan, but apparently she forgot all about ol’ “Look Ma, No Hands” back up there

and so I guess that’s it for this week! so we’ve learned basically everything now about Lady and her quirk and her history with the HPSC and why she agreed to work for AFO. pretty much the only question that still remains is why the hell she decided to drag this asshole along for the ride! because I still cannot figure that out dsklkjlkf

(ETA: actually now I’m kind of wondering if they maybe have some past connection we don’t know about yet. when exactly was Nagant sent to Tartarus? is it possible she was ordered to track down and kill Overhaul at some point before that, but never got around to it? or something else along those lines? idk but now I’m curious.)

anyways Deku, I know that your empathy has no bounds and that you’re on a “saving villains” kick right now, and good on you... but also, if you decide to just like, skip all of that shit just this once, absolutely no one will hold it against you, I’m just saying. just, all I’m asking here is maybe let’s think twice before we start trying to reform guys who imprison and torture little girls for profit. I think maybe that’s a good place to draw the line. next week is going to be a very interesting chapter lol