#I can't believe I wasted more time on the picture than the post itself

[la-merlaison]

Louis XIII and his cooking adventures 🍴🥞

When it comes to our Louis XIII cult, I often refer to the king's iconic omelettes, but what about his other stuff? For example, he really loved sweets (like beignets or jams), but could he also cook them? The answer is YES, and that's not even all yet!

Louis was a curious child who's head was already filled with various interests and cooking became one of them when he was only ten years old at the time (which is quite unusual for a king). First ever case of the king cooking was recorded on february 11th of 1611, when he was preparing milk soups for the Duchess of Guise / Catherine of Cleves. So milk soup, most likely, could be Louis' very first dish made by himself!

Of course many kids have a sweet tooth and our precious omelette king was not an exception which I guess is why he started to learn how to cook mostly from recipes of sweets. Also, take a shot every time I say "sweets" or "cooking" (don't..) 🕊️

So, among 17th century royal sw- *ahem* DESSERTS we had in our menu – a jam, quince jelly, beignets (basically french donuts) and marzipans. In a well-known, among many of y'all Louis stalkers, journal of his doctor Jean Héroard I found some clear evidence of Louis XIII cooking some of these himself, so here it is feat. me periodically panicking over my own translation because my half-french friend is too busy atm and I don’t wanna bother them:

June 6th, 1611 — «He walks through the corridor from the study to the paneled gallery where he had an oven for making jams, he is amused to see how it's done.» I know it's not exactly him cooking, but I just wanted to leave it here :")

October 15th, 1612 — «Madame comes to see him; he has fun making jam with Mademoiselle de Vendôme»

January 29th, 1613 — «He often has fun making almond milk and marzipans at Madame's house.»

March 6th, 1615 — «It was very cold; he goes to the kitchen, makes omelettes, beignets, fried eggs; it was he who made them and ate a little of that he tasted.» Pretty sure the last few words could be translated better because it's always rather my terrible french or a little confusing way of Héroard's writing, so feel free to correct me.

February 3rd, 1616 — «He is preparing a small snack of dry jam for the queen, who must come to him at two o'clock. After going back to bed, he happily forms various battalions of his little silver men.»

February 5th, 1622 — «He leaves Saint-Germain, goes to Pontoise, where he enjoys making and eating beignets; while dining at Cormeille, he suddenly goes to the goblet in which he makes little cream puffs.» The original text says «petits choux au lait» and I have no idea what could that exactly be, but it seems like some sort of little éclair-like buns made of milk? Little cream puffs?? Maybe by «choux au lait» Jean meant «choux à la crème» which were invented back in 1540 in France.

I know you've been waiting for the quince jelly too, but unfortunately I couldn't find anything about the jelly :c Though, judging by what we've got here It's still quite possible Louis could cook quince jelly as well, hmm... Anyways, if you know something I don't know of the jelly mystery, hit me up!

In the future, this great love for desserts will be inherited by his son Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (brother of Louis XIV), who is also a very interesting character in history!!

In conclusion I must say that Louis not only had a sweet tooth, but also a big love for trying out different things, all this curiosity and pure excitement, even when it comes to something so simple and familiar like food, will never ever stop to fascinate me :"D

Btw speaking about Louis 'trying out different things', I of course still have a lot to share on this as well! Stay tuned and have a good day/night 💘💘💘

[bitter-sweet-coffee]

look idek what warning to put here, but there's like, a novel and a half below the cut that's just... 6 hours of me going on tangents i never finish or clarify. no proofreading. no organization. it's absolutely not worth your time. but... i literally spent so long writing it that if i don't hit post it'll somehow be even more pointless?!?

basically there are no positive outcomes in any scenario with this post but the only remaining tragedy achievement is me writing all this and then deleting it. what proof will i have that i wrote nonsense for HOURS to avoid my research because i double dosed my meds and had too much caffeine?!? i gotta save this for the memories because no one will believe me if i tell them i live a fucking crazy life and use this as an example.

also for the record i'm goin thru it psychologically at the time of writing this. like, mania-turned-psychotic-episode, overstimulated, disassociated, exhausted, and currently procrastinating a LOT of serious things which only adds to my stress and scatterbrained gibberish. so like... please be kind but also don't get all freaked out either; i have enough psychological control rn to assure you i'm fine and this is just how i am sometimes... but i usually don't make extensive posts online during my more unstable periods. i gotta use the internet rn anyways tho so who's gonna stop me from hyperfocusing on the WRONG tasks?!? 🤪

okay, just had to say all that, and if you think my disclaimer is long? honey... you don't even have a big storm coming just keep scrolling and don't look back. don't click read more. it's not just "read more" like, it's MORE. a LOT more. too much. and like, there's literally nothing valuable there it isn't like my usual longposts that have a point or vague coherence. it was simply a huge waste of my time and it'll be an even bigger loss for you.

i can't even recommend mental stability as armour or a requirement since taking that away from you will make me feel bad, so if you're healthy please don't damage yourself with this.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENT: freaks, executive dysfunction regulars, people in boring classes, insomniacs, and sadists can proceed. and i'm STILL sorry to y'all because i didn't enjoy this either.

... so tell me why social media discourse takes itself more seriously than these people.

i've had profs with multiple doctorates and influential publications that changed academic discussions forever who like, roleplay deltarune characters on discord with students to avoid marking papers or cancel the last 2 weeks of class because they don't want to do 9 am lectures and know that we're all busy and probably gonna skip anyways. profs who change their mind and take assignments out of the syllabus since no one wants to do them and they don't wanna mark them. profs who forget their own publication deadlines because they were reading fanfiction, profs who hate the university administration more than you do, profs with mental health issues, queer profs, profs who play video games, or have tumblr, or make spotify playlists for every lecture and think the grading system is stupid, profs who hand out extensions if you ask because they weren't going to mark them all at once anyways, and profs who assign weekly pdf articles instead of big books and 300 dollar textbooks— even their own— because they're exhausting to read and super overpriced.

so many instructors in english literature are shifting away from academic essays and towards multimedia creations and fun writing prompts. "i don't want to read a 30 page research essay when i can read a brief informal paragraph explaining how this video game has the same vibes as this anonymous poem!" and "you can record a podcast or paint a picture or write fanfiction or do a minecraft letsplay as a character or honestly? do whatever you want as long as there's passion with coherent thoughts behind it!" and "word limits are stupid because adding nonsense to drag out your argument makes the paper worse: write whatever comes naturally as long as you sufficiently explain your argument but please don't make me read 70 pages in a 200 level course this is supposed to be easy on everyone"

i'll be real with you: academics are fucking bored. the content is stale. students dismiss profs because they seem like pretentious assholes who don't care about who/what they teach, but 99.9% of the time profs only seem dry and unapproachable because no one reciprocated their enthusiasm, and it was super awkward during classes, so they stopped trying.

some younger profs haven't stopped trying because they understand and haven't gone numb to their own content yet, and it's so painful to watch them put out good vibes and get ghosted by hostile students too focused on marks or checking things off their to-do list when the profs themselves would prefer conversations over the stupid assignments they're required to give you.

we talk about gamers, artists, other freelancers, musicians, thespians, dancers, and so many other career paths that require sacrifices, risks, and prejudice THAT I AM NOT DISMISSING but at least there are people acknowledging the isolation, instability, mental and physical health issues, social-wide neglect, and resilience of these people. to some extent anyways. people who break free from the mold and do something they love in spite of the consequences?

well, haha, if you voluntarily pay a fuckton of money and spend the duration of your 20's in school when everyone around you is actually earning money from jobs or at least enjoying their friday nights THERE IS SOMETHING DEEPLY WRONG WITH YOU!!! even if you get placement, if you don't have tenure (hard to get) the faculty is gonna dump extra shit on you that needs to be perfect or say goodbye to your crappily paid job. do you know how many publications and conferences and deadlines and actual work goes into that crap?!? you're supposed to answer questions no one in your field gives a FUCK about with no guidance or support or outline even though everyone is demanding you get your research done and then they're never happy with it. the elders in your field hate you (a cycle that hasn't been broken yet because those older esteemed people with tenure were in your boat once too) and i have a feeling no one outside the academic world likes you either since you're too hard to understand, pretentious, have no life, etc...

oh and on top of that? you gotta teach a bunch of people who don't wanna be in your class, hate the content because a) another instructor ruined it for them or b) it's a degree requirement and tbh you probably didn't have a choice either since 9/10 times this isn't what you wanted to teach and/or the faculty admin made you include it anyways. all that other work? well now you have to grade shit that a bunch of people didn't wanna write: even if profs have TA's to help with grading they're still required to handle a chunk of it and also deal with TA questions/concerns/regradings/pissed students/policies they're confused about that you're ALSO confused about. oh and a bunch of stupid questions since people don't read instructions and decide blame you for that?

also... do you know HOW FUCKING HARD IT IS TO TEACH??? you have to like, triple understand it and predict/plan for every fucking misunderstanding/question/problem that you can think of. including stupid questions. you'll also get a lot of people who ask things you either don't have the answer for or have the answer for but someone doesn't like it. and even if you're a flawless instructor who can handle every academic/behind the scenes/personal/basic human responsibilities or task (unlikely but i know profs who come close for at least 2 of those) someone is gonna be a dick about it.

... that dick is probably a student who is pissed they had to actually go to at least one lecture, semi pay attention, and read assignment instructions to get a good mark.

... brats who get mad about deadlines because they have other responsibilities and need extensions who go batshit insane when marks aren't released yet

... some y'all aren't gonna like this one: disabled students who say academia is ableist and profs are always evil if they don't accommodate and show sympathy because mental/physical health hinders their performance... but the thought that their prof might be disabled never crosses their mind. just like how you don't need to disclose that information, they don't either! profs can be neurodivergent. they can have conditions you aren't aware of. suffer from chronic pain. are battling an illness you don't know about. they can have mental illnesses. trauma. so many other examples, and this isn't a disability per say but THEY CAN HAVE PERSONAL EMERGENCIES TOO. maybe it's menstrual cramps, executive disfunction, someone close to them died, they relapsed on SH or addiction, are being abused or have been abused in the past, forgot their meds that day, cried all night, couldn't get out of bed, their favourite/comfort character died so they're feeling sick and can't focus on the lesson, didn't have time to eat because a loved one needs them, got triggered by the subject matter and don't know how to teach it, have a surgery next weekend and are worried about giving extensions since they won't he able to grade/put your marks in before THEIR deadline, had a bad interaction or just woke up feeling like crap so they're crossing their fingers the lecture runs smoothly, only to get shitty emails or bullied on rmp?

and y'know what? i don't care if your prof seems like a dick, because we're open minded about those appearing to be rude who are actually victims that didn't receive enough support to to their personal experiences and/or generational/ethical conditioning... until they're a 60 year old white guy who rolls his eyes when someone slyly ask a question or counters something he said to "school him" and "prove he's an overpaid, outdated, problematic bigot." maybe it seems really badass to people who are 2 weeks into the course... but he's been correcting that crappy misinformation for 30 years and your "okay boomer" attitude couldn't be more misplaced; this guy has probably been in the field longer than your parents have been alive and you think he missed this obvious oversight after teaching this course for decades?

if you think for a second that someone like my imaginary prof has it easy because of gender/race/sexuality/religion/ableness there are so many flaws to you logic because a) you can't confirm any of that shit and b) do you think extensions, accommodations, and other resources were available when they were getting their degree or even during most of their lifetime? i mean shit, we're all about helping meemaw understand what pronouns are and how they're used until it's your prof who was beat by his dad and classmates because "university is for devil worshipping snobs and faggots! if you think you're too good for the family business you're dead to me" and thinks this is normal. it doesn't matter if his peers/instructors were all "cishet white men" (since no one else counted as a person and they couldn't be anything else anyways) because if they were all forcefed toxic masculinity and misinformation that literally no one else could correct, embracing the privilege was their only move.

yeah yeah this isn't limited to profs since it's a sloppy and reductive commentary on entire generations that i'm not putting enough effort into, so take it with a grain of salt and try to hear me out in good faith since i'm improvising as i write this in a very unstable state with no intentions of proofreading or ensuring my point is clear. basically, the privileges we acknowledge in others are not the only ones out there because WE have privileges they don't. if you want "privileged people who benefit from the prejudiced foundation of a society that oppresses and profits off of suffering minorities" feat. more social media hot take discourse buzzwords etc etc etc.

"fuck reductive labels because they're inaccurate and build on outdated western mentalities, but also i'm gonna continue to judge someone based on labels i give them because i 100% know a person's race/gender/sexuality/ableness/psyche/religion/other things i consider to be privilege better than they do because they don't know what these things are and if they do it's wrong!!!"

okay, maybe YOU can pick and choose queer content based on if a contributor has a "your fave is problematic" entry or if the representation is approved by the community, take "am i gay?" quizzes in middle school, overcome internal prejudices through social media discourse, learn ethics through fandom trial and error, see enough cancellations to understand what NOT to do, or get enough adhd tiktoks on your fyp to self diagnose/get a formal diagnosis/access medical support/read articles and understand the medical side of things to validate your experiences/practice coping mechanisms and google tips/talk to other people with adhd/work on accepting you aren't a defect who didn't try hard enough/receive accommodations/know you aren't alone even if your current environment doesn't accept you because other places and people do. maybe this segment is too long but you at least has the time and ability to read it, on an electronic device, which you can access almost any time btw, and it'll give you access to endless content (which is somehow even more endless if you download a vpn and switch regions: yeah, infinity plus infinity level shit. oh and that's like 1% of the internet we're using all the maths in this parentheses tangent that's within a tangent within a tangent multiplied by a billion more regressed all inside a whopping procrastination activity. yay me! ok no more meta shit i already forgot where this fragment/sentence/paragraph/section/rant was going 7 times now)

okay. maybe you got this far and are totally lost, and i have no way of knowing how extensive the psychological damage is because I'M not even reading this post, so the real conversation is between you and the words on your screen, i have nothing to do with this experience. my fingers may have typed everything so far but my brain has been playing shrek 2 the entire time, so this is your mental health check since there is no thesis or sense of direction but i'm exhausted despite not being mentally present unlike you. i am just typing words as they appear based on writing patterns and routine from when i'm awake.

^^^ that's not a joke or shitpost btw so even if i've led you to believe it is at some point, so i am gonna be fully transparent in the caplocked paragraph below. it is as close as you're getting to me, bitter-sweet-coffee or whatever name you know me by, being aware and in control of my actions for the entirety of this derailed rant:

OKAY, BEFORE WE RESUME OUR SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING, I AM FORCING MYSELF BACK INTO MY BODY AND STEALING BACK MY SENSE OF SELF JUST TO EMPHASIZE WHAT I'M ABOUT TO SAY, SO YOU KNOW I AM BEING HONEST. BABES, I AM REGAINING CONTROL OF MY PSYCHE TO ENSURE THAT AMIDST ALL THIS DISASSOCIATED WORDVOMIT, YOU CAN TRUST SOMETHING 100% THAT I ACTUALLY MEAN. A MOMENT IN THIS BITCH THAT MY LESS UNSTABLE SELF WILL ALSO AGREE WITH. CLARITY BURIED IN THE 11TH HOUR OF THIS NEVER-ENDING STREAM-OF-CONSCIOUSNESS WALL OF TEXT. MY DARLINGS, i have no fucking clue what this post is supposed to be. there was probably an outline or vague concept 3ish hours ago when i started, but good luck asking me what it is now! some parts read like a viral tumblr psa but there are way too many rushed ideas that branch into tangents and unanswered questions. yeah i know there's no fucking coherence, but even though i'm aware everything i'm putting online this week is extremely concerning, it doesn't make anyone feel better if i say i know or put disclaimers because instability makes people uncomfortable. yeah we like freaks on the internet and y'all expect this shit from me by now, but even this is too much for my shitposting reputation, because at least i typically have enough control over my brain to proofread or follow a train of thought. i mean shit, not even i'm following this and it's my writing, which isn't even the most confusing thing i'm able to decipher, so unless you're god or extremely unstable this is probably the most incoherent thing you've ever read or at least since beowulf... or like, french. or russian cursive. or doctor-handwriting. or flat earth conspiracies. or the code to sonic 06 because NO ONE knows what the fuck happened there. actually, if you've used wattpad or twitter there's a chance you can make sense of this, but if you use either of those apps enough to comprehend their contents you're probably not fluent enough in actual recognized languages to successfully open tumblr and get here in the first place. okay, i can't think of anymore jokes that aren't even good so let's move on! basically, i love y'all, and even if i know this post is a train-wreck of a mistake that will worry people, it ain't gonna stop me. sure i might be goofy, unstable, informal, and hard to understand, but i also have credentials as an academic, well-spoken, published, articulate, accomplished, REPUTABLE person when i need to be in formal settings offline. FOR THE RECORD that's not a flex: we know i don't do labels or ego stroking beyond semi-satirical rarepair supremacy jokes and sonic lore flexes. my genuine intelligence has been my saving grace because i just KNOW if people thought i was some american teen from tiktok with no formal education or career accomplishments who regurgitates misinformation they saw on twitter y'all would REPORT ME!!! I WOULD BE BULLIED OFFLINE! "who's this cunt with the bad takes?!?" followed by "no no dw it's just another bsc moment on tumblr" is so important to bring up rn because it's not supposed to be a brag guys, my educational reputation is all i have to justify the stupid shit i post on here 😭 if i didn't remind people i am smart and accomplished when i need to be you'd think this is all i'm capable of and conclude that my stupidity is my full potential... THIS ISNT EVEN MY FINAL FORM! gah, i'm getting imposter syndrome and this was supposed to be the shorter heart-to-heart in a "brief" intermission that turned into another derailment. alright, even if there are glimmers of big brain theses buried anywhere that just needed an author from a healthier time and place, we know damn well i'd procrastinate/overthink/forget them if i deleted or drafted this monstrosity for another day... also i'm on mobile we know tumblr won't fucking save this LMAO IF THIS DELETES OR THE APP CRASHES (if you're reading this it obviously didn't, so idk why i'm @ ing a nonexist target) I'M GONNA BE SO MAD EVEN THOUGH THIS IS GARBAGE, SO A GLITCH FROM TUMBLR WOULD DO EVERYONE A FAVOUR. ITS MY GARBAGE THAT I WASTED VALUABLE TIME AND ENERGY ON!!!

wow. i discovered the text-block limit, that's embarrassing. at least it forced me to finish a thought (kinda) and complete my moral takeaway from like, 3-5 thousand words ago. SO LET'S GET BACK INTO IT!

okay look, i'm not suggesting it's everyone's job to be a doormat to mean old professors. that was where this was going, right? because even though spent a really long time on privilege and how older generations that are stuck in their ways deserve more compassion, you shouldn't let some dude hatecrime people and torture students. generally speaking, you shouldn't write off bad behaviour as a trauma response because even though i believe everyone is a good person if they have enough support, compassion, resources, and are encouraged to want to change... bitch this isn't a fucking utopia we're living in a fucking death circus. the last thing on people's minds is giving harvey fucking weinstein a redemption arc even if that would fix some shit because awful people learning to be good people teaches growth and self awareness that leads to more accountability and prevents more bad people from hurting others because resources and normalized support and systemic causes for bad people blah blah blah even I'M sick of my own tangents.

actually... this proves my point— the most recent unfinished one that is. YEAH, WE CAN UNPACK THE MORALITY AND PROGRESSIVE IDEAL COURSES OF ACTION AND UTOPIAN TAKEAWAYS FOR EVERY FUCKING SITUATION. NOT EVERYTHING IS BLACK AND WHITE. NOTHING YOU SAY CAN EVER BE ALL-ENCOMPASSING BECAUSE WORDS ARE HUMAN INVENTIONS THAT ARE NOT DESIGNED TO ACCOMMODATE EVERY SCENARIO. YAY, MISQUOTED NIHILISTIC DERRIDIAN HOT TAKES FOR MY GAY SONIC BLOG, RIGHT?!?

we all get it (probably). everything has an exception. but, as i stare anxiously at my clock and try to calculate how many hours i've been typing for instead of working on my actual work that matters, it's kinda obvious:

we don't have the fucking time or energy to do in depth discussions for every conceivable thing. no position will ever be enough, no words will capture truth in its rawest form because humans... have no clue what the FUCK they're doing. language, arts, the scientific method: the tools we use to express ourselves, the very resources we rely on as we try to pinpoint something undeniable, something constant, the way we go about actually PROVING something??? we can't even fucking agree on those! we made maths and sciences and words and arts but we can't even trust them because... well. if WE fuck up a lot and established ways to not fuck up... they're also fucked up.

sure we programmed computers and say they make perfect numbers but girl,,, WE made the computer and the numbers. sure it finishes our formulas better than we do but did the guy making the formula do a good job? maybe, but how do we know it hasn't been warped over time to an unrecognizable degree. there are billions of languages with endless dialects and regional variations for each one. WHO GENDERED THE FUCKING NOUNS IN FRENCH??? YOU'RE TELLING ME THERE ARE WORDS THAT ONLY EXIST IN ONE LANGUAGE? LIKE, THERE ARE NO TRANSLATIONS??? okay, so what the FUCK does that mean if we're the ones inventing translations in the first place? don't make me think about all the dead languages and their secrets or all the lost texts and stories... aight now i'm just sad

sceptic prompts aside, i hope you understand what i mean when i say we're never gonna do a perfect job of explaining shit. that's probably why i started so many things here and got distracted because i predict "what if's" and feel the need to sub-explain every ambiguity. that's not a valid excuse for this literary hatecrime but it's a bit of context i suppose.

where was this going? see my point?!? okay this was supposed to be the quick return to my pre-intermission thoughts that fixes shit, but nah it caused more problems. adding to the never-ending pile of jibberish.

RIGHT THE CRAPPY PROFS. yeah you have bigger things to worry about just don't be a dick and treat academia with a petty attitude but then demand acceptance and understanding because peace and love and social justice mantras. the diversity you're advocating for should extend to those who didn't have it, even if those people are shitty and misinformed as a result of their less progressive upbringing.

BASICALLY, EVEN THE PEOPLE YOU DONT THINK HAVE IT HARD DESERVE THE COMPASSION I WAS PUSHING EARLIER. the sobstory profs and the absolute cunts you want to strangle are both dealing with shit and i don't expect you to "fix them" but if i see people using bad prof anecdotes to justify hating all/some educators i'll eat your skin like it's kfc or something. idk, apparently people LOVE chicken skin! insert a featherless biped joke here if you want and if it'll make sense for you, i just wanted a threat that wasn't gonna be too mean because reading to this point is punishment enough even if you deserve worse lmao. the "privileged" profs still went through hell and the last thing we need are more generalizations based on profiling. mean profs could have been nice once so maybe power through the rbf and dryness by continuing to be nice and attentive: you might just save someone! and future students! and your gpa!

okay, no more lectures. here's some crap i wrote at the beginning that kept getting pushed lower and lower as i went on a billion tangents. it's probably more academic advice and silliness but i'm not gonna bother checking so uh, take it away past me...? yikes, good luck:

so, you don't wanna do that assignment? well, the prof doesn't wanna read it, neither does the TA. same shit new term, no one benefits, and they're marking a LOT more essays than you'll ever have to write

so, you didn't understand the reading and are afraid to say something in lecture in case you don't know what you're talking about? chances are your prof is either in the same boat and has no coherent plan for the lecture and also doesn't know wtf is going on, or this is their special interest they dedicated their career to and they'd rather just infodump the whole class anyways.

"i'm scared to go to office hours" these guys either have no social life and/or family, or they do and none of them understand what the fuck they're saying. do you know how hard it is to have normal conversations or make small talk when 99% of your brain is shit no one but maybe 4 other scholars in the world give a shit about?!? EXAMPLE FOR YOU FANDOM FOLK: IT'S NOT JUST INTERACTING WITH NORMAL PEOPLE, IT'S TRYING TO MAKE FRIENDS IN A DEAD FANDOM WHEN YOUR FAVOURITE CHARACTER IS A NOBODY AND YOUR FAVOURITE SHIP HAS NO CONTENT BESIDES YOUR OWN, EXCEPT FOR MAYBE 2 OTHER PEOPLE WHO YOU'RE TOO AWKWARD TO INTERACT WITH BEYOND FRIENDLY TAGS WHEN YOU REBLOG THEIR ART.

short answer to that ^^^ go to office hours. especially humanities profs or weird science profs, not just because you will do a LOT better on assignments but because they're lonely and appreciate it. when i go to office hours my profs are either trauma dumping or incoherently rambling about blorbos from their manuscript or batshit crazy theories no one wants to write/hear about.

like, think about how you feel when you get asks or nice tags or comments on your fanfic/art/videos. even questions about your au or opinions! hot takes maybe?

what about when new people follow you or ask questions about the fandom you've been in for years: when someone asks a silly question about the lore are you more likely to see red and fucking kill them, or use this as an excuse to infodump and excitedly point them towards secondary content and inform/motivate them, even splashing in your own personal theories? i know it's the second one don't lie to me or yourself.

at the end of the day, i just want people to know that the stimulating debates people have online in the 21st century are the fucking green forums, while the "scholars" and esteemed academics that so many people write off as pretentious or too serious are fucking losers. they're freaks. i want every academic to have tumblr because they're SO FUNNY OH MY GOD!!!

when i see y'all talk about blorbo from your shows all i can think is "damn this is more coherent than when i ask my prof a question and she excitedly rambles for 20 minutes without actually answering anything because she's so overjoyed someone finally asked" and am reminded of all the special interest/hyperfixation positivity. researchers are just people paid to get lost in their own thoughts and words because their niche is their universe and it gets lonely when no one else bothers to check in.

oh, and if they're dedicating their entire life to something no one gives a shit about and worker their ass off to make it profitable... they're one of us. probably into fandoms. assigns music to their work. make memes about their theories because no one takes them seriously anyways. absolute fucking LEGENDS

TLDR which i know y'all need:

profs are based as hell fjdksldldlds go talk to your instructors they're lonely like you are and listening goes a long way. the internet is way too serious now to the point our "serious" communities that we believe are more strict are actually the most lax places.

so like... when we talk about tumblr being the worst place ever and brought up it's cursed reputation for YEARS but then actually witness 2022 and go "nevermind.... this is the only fucking place online to exist safely" because what the FUCK are those other places doing???

yeah. that's academia. the tumblr of conversations (aka full of freaks but the fun kind: WAY LESS THREATENING AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY DAMAGING than the "silly sites" which have evolved into... no i don't even have a metaphor or joke for this one. it's just awful lmao)

cool idk how to end this after wasting 1/4 of a day making no sense, here's george:

[red-applesith]

You're very dismissive of reyloismine. They had so many things right last time, you can't deny it.

Look, as I said I had no idea who that person was before the last anon. I’m all for giving people the benefit of the doubt, and since you’re all so insisting that this person is legit I went to sleuth into their archive to make up my own mind. If you’ve been following me for a while you know I do not take anyone’s word at face value, especially when it comes to leaks and stuff like that.

I’m putting my observations under ‘read more’ and I don’t tag that post because I’m not interested in calling out anyone but my conclusion is that person read the Visual Dictionary one way or another right before it was leaked, because the only detail they had right and no one had predicted was the green milk and that info appeared on Reddit on Dec. 7 via the VD. That’s also the detail they chose to “prove their legitimacy” when objectively there could have been so many more interesting details pertaining to Reylo. Like if they had said “Kylo Ren slides in the corridors like a 4-year-old or “they hold hands” I would believe they were legit. 

Otherwise, from their blog, I have 0 evidence that between Dec. 5th and Dec. 14th they shared information that no one had been able to deduce from watching the trailers, reading the interviews or the leaks on Reddit (aka Shirtless Kylo for instance), especially because they talked like your typical psychic i.e.”Oh yeah, I said that but I didn't’ give details of where and when and I won’t.” or “I’m talking openly about seeing the movie and sharing my old speculation thread where I was about 15% correct pretending I was so right but I won’t say more because I don’ want to spoil the movie for people.” Even saying that there are “good and bad Reylo scenes” means jackshit.

So anyway, Nonnie, you do you but I don’t have to place my trust in someone who couldn’t provide real details and quotes before the movie came out.

Also now I’m annoyed at myself because I wasted the whole morning on that. 

On November 1st that person posted their timeline speculation that goes like that (Bolded Italic their words - my comments underneath. Pictures are theirs)

Episode 8 starts, where the last movie ends: Rey and Luke literal cliffhanger.

Everybody believed that would be the case because one of the first detail that came out from interviews is that there wouldn’t be any time jump, which is why the crew was back filming in Ireland.

However, turns out that the movie starts on D’Qar when they evacuate the base so the prediction for the movie itself isn’t 100% correct.

Luke bewildered, takes the lightsaber that once belonged to his father from a stranger. He asked who is she and how she found him. Rey tells him Leia sent her and that he is needed.

That was an easy one. We* pretty much all had deduced from the way Luke look at Rey at the end of TFA. 

(*collective reylo) 

Luke returns the lightsaber, does not want to be involved, and starts to retreats to his cave when Rey takes off her vest, and showing him that she is force sensitive.

The idea of Luke not wanting anything to do with Rey is there, but the hut/cave scenes and training scenes are all mixed up. There again, that wasn’t groundbreaking speculation since a lot of reylo fanfics started with the premise that Luke doesn’t want to train Rey.

The next day, Luke finds Rey still waiting for him. She was meditating, and he tries to guide her. With his help, her power grew, cracking the floor beneath them.

Continuation of the reluctant master theory, mitigated by the fact we had images of Rey cracking the rock beneath her but Rey wasn’t meditating before he found her. That’s all mixed up.

“I’ve seen this raw strength once before. It didn’t scare me then, it does now“ says Luke and dismisses her once again.

That was in the trailer and it made sense that it was that scene.

Kylo Ren wakes up and finds himself alive on the Supremacy. He does not remember how he got there. The last thing he remember is the scavenger defeating him on Starkiller base. His wounds have been treated, but the scars will remain. A daily reminder of his defeat.

That’s the start of about every fanfics. We knew that Hux had retrieved Kylo and we knew he had the scar from the promo pictures but it didn’t happen like that + turns out Kylo doesn’t even mention the scar at all.

He is escorted to Snoke, who belittles him for being defeated by a girl. He demands from Kylo to prove himself once again. Dismissing killing his father as any form of achievement. Then he is presented with his mask and lightsaber, salvaged from Starkiller base. Snoke orders him to wear it to hide the disgraceful scar.

Same, most fanfics had that kind of element. Snoke being an abuser it was evident he would belittle Kylo and call him on his failure. But the sentiment regarding the scar and the mask was completely wrong.

Once Kylo Ren is back to his chambers, he could not control his rage and destroys his mask.

That came directly from the trailer but it wasn’t in his chambers.

Kylo Ren acts fast and tracks the Resistance fleet, desperately wanting to prove his loyalty. To his surpise, he senses his mother being onboard, and Leia talks to her son. Asking him to come home.

They deduced that almost right from the trailers, apart from the fact that Leia doesn’t say anything at all.

It caught him off guard. He hesitates firing at her ship, then tells his mother to run away and buys her some time before he fires eventually to cover his tracks.

Same. The not firing comes from the trailer but Kylo’s supposed intention to buy some time for Leia to run away was really incorrect.

The Resistance fights back, Leia escapes unharmed and Rose helps an unconcious Finn escape as well.

100% incorrect. 

Back to Ach-to, Rey experiences a force vision, showing the events of the Jedi Massacre, her jumping into the ocean, fending off a sea creature, then fights Luke. I also believe, she sees Kylo Ren too.

It did not happen like that at all, and we all know the sea creature turned out to be the Thala Siren.

Rey decided to go back to the Resistance base the next day. In the meantime, she set a campfire near the Millennium Falcon and are cooking dinner with Chewbacca and R2D2. Luke visits them to say goodbye and gives her some advice.

100% incorrect

Time passes and Rey senses a new presence on the island. She runs towards Luke’s home, only to find the Knights of Ren.

100% incorrect. Also, the scene with Rey running towards the village was deleted in the final montage.

Rey and Kylo Ren duel, while Luke fights the remainder.

Never happened. But a lot of people believed the KoR would make an appearance on Ahch-To.

Rey learns that Kylo was able to trace her due to the force vision she experienced earlier. Somehow he was able to defeat her and takes her to Snoke.

100% incorrect. 

Snoke reveals his intentions with Rey. He wants to train her as his new apprentice. Discarding the old for the new.

100% incorrect

Kylo Ren goes on the offensive, and stops Snoke torturing Rey.

That was correct, but definitely not for the reasons implied above.

Finn learns about Rey’s abduction, infiltrates the First Order fleet with Rose and DJ’s help. DJ has a different agenda, and bombs the place.

100% incorrect apart from the fact that Rose, Finn and DJ are on the Supremacy, wearing FO uniforms

This puts the First Order on alert, resulting in Phasma and Finn facing off.

It didn’t happen like that either. But sure, the Supremacy is in flame and we saw Finn fighting Phasma.

Rey escapes and Kylo intercepts her, pointing his lightsaber at her. Not knowing whether she is consumed by darkness or still the same person. Kylo Ren turns off the lightsaber, not wanting to fight her.

Nope.

Kylo sill say a line similar to  “come with me and together we can rule the galaxy”

That was pretty obvious that it was going to happen, unless you believed Hux was holding his hand out to Rey lmao

She doesn’t and joins Finn and Rose, who board the Millennium Falcon piloted by Poe and Chewbacca.

Nope.

Poe takes the team onboard one of the resistance ships. Only for it to get attacked. The resistance retreat by using escape pods and head to the nearest hideout on Crait for cover. There, the team meet Leia and Luke.Luke returned to the base with Chewbacca and decided to join the battle.

I see where they came from when you look at the pictures, but the details are all off, especially Luke returning to Resistance with Chewbacca.

The First Order have tracked them down. This was it. The final battle.

A battle on Crait to finish the movie, wow who would have seen that coming?

Then on December 5, supposedly after they watch the movie they posted that

I got so many things right and wrong!

Personally, I see way more wrong than right. There’s 0 mention that Rey and Kylo have a Force Bond, there’s 0 mentions of Finn and Rose’s journey on Canto Bight, There’s 0 mention of Holdo or any other character that plays an important role in the story, there’s 0 mention that Kylo actually kills Snoke and becomes Supreme leader.

Still on dec. 5 someone calls them out and they mention the milk scene.

Then on the 7th the Visual Dictionary is leaked and that’s where people start believing they’re really legit. To me that just means they saw the VD. Afterward, why not share something that wasn’t in the VD and wasn’t in any trailer and being all cryptic? Something that wouldn’t have spoiled the movie and Reylo.

[bbq-hawks-wings]

Art reposting etiquette

I see art theft happen a lot, and whether or not it's true or has just been happening more frequently in the circles I follow I can't help but at least feel like it's becoming more and more of a problem.

To be clear, "reposting" is downloading art from a website that you did not make or own, and uploading it as a separate post, regardless of where and how it's presented - with notable exception of header and profile pictures assuming they are not trying to imitate the artist. Not all art theft is reposting, but all improper reposting is art theft.

As cut and dry as "stop art theft it's bad, don't repost art" posts make it sound, there are several benevolent reasons people may want to repost such as:

Believing they are spreading the artist's influence around the internet

Adding intrigue or a visual aid to a fanfiction

Sharing some neat art they thought was really cool

Just to name a few

Assuming the best in people, these are not necessarily bad reasons and DON'T MAKE PEOPLE BAD, but many often don't understand there's a dark side to the reposting issue.

People who may want more art may be unable to find the original creator

People may not realize that the artist makes rent with the very artwork you're enjoying and they may be looking at stolen premium content meant to put food on the table

People take art and further edit it so that it becomes even harder to trace back to the original

Malicious websites and bots find popular fanart and illegally use it to produce bootleg merch. This has a double-whammy effect when someone sees the merch IRL when out and about and wants it because it's cool art of their favorite character but don't realize the artist is actively being robbed.

Reposting art makes it harder for the artist to track down the thief and take legal action as well as actively funnels traffic away from their business. By and large it should always be assumed that reposting for any reason is damaging to the artist's wellbeing; and frankly, if you don't care you're actively hurting someone, it makes you the asshole, not me for calling you out.

But, that isn't to say reposting is NEVER allowed, but ONLY UNDER EXTREMELY SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES. That's the point of this post.

Before you can decide if you should even attempt to repost art, check these things first:

If it says directly on the art "do not repost" don't waste your time. They are not going to make an exception for you.

Check to see if the art is already on the platform you're planning to upload to (especially here on Tumblr). Often, artists make it a point to put their work in very specific locations for their own reasons. They may not want their work on your website at all and you need to respect that.

Gain the artist's explicit permission after explaining where you want to repost their work, which work you want to repost, and why with how you plan to credit them. If you gain permission, keep a copy of the conversation for your own protection. If you do not gain permission, don't repost at all.

If you gain permission to repost art, these things are an absolute necessity:

Mention of the artist's name

THEIR main platform of choice

link to the original piece used

It would likely look something like this:

Artwork uploaded with express permission by @[artist] on [website], found here - (hyperlinked to original piece)

Bonus information to include:

Additional social media handles of the artist

Link to the artist's Patreon and/or Ko-Fi if available

Link to artist's store if available

Hyperlinking the image itself so other users can just click it to find the work/artist

Remember reposting should be about the artist, NOT YOU. You didn't create the work, and even if you supported them via Patreon it still doesn't belong to you, nor are you entitled to it. A commission you personally paid for is the only piece of work of that artist's creation you are ever entitled to unless otherwise stated in a contract when you bought it.

To continue to cover my bases I'm going to address some stances that may pop up about the issue:

"I didn't know reposting was that bad!"

It's okay. That's why I made this post. In general, as a supportive fan and consumer you should try to learn how artists are rewarded for their work on different platforms. YouTube is different from Instagram is different from Facebook is different from Tumblr. Learn which best ways to support your favorite artists in the ways that are most beneficial to them, even if all they ask for is respect and a little appreciation. And do take down any art you may have reposted. It can continue to do damage by remaining up, but removing it almost always mitigates any future harm and genuinely helps. Now you know better and can be better moving forward!

"I can't get ahold of the artist for permission."

Don't repost it then. Remember, at the end of the day reposting is only good for the reposter in fake internet points or actual money/intellectual property stolen but always tangibly hurts the artist. It sucks, but they have a right to determine where and how their hard work is displayed.

"Whatever, I'll do what I want. Lol"

Enjoy your takedown. Hey, artists, did you know you can find each website's terms of service and figure out how to submit a report with the offending post and user, and they're usually good about getting it down within days?! Look for "misappropriation" that's your ticket! 😊

But seriously, repeat offenders can get permanently banned from sites and even sued for actual real-world money and damages over your precious fake internet points. It actually pays to not be an ass!

"But I just want to support the artist and reposting is so easy!"

You know what's even easier?

It's literally only one or two clicks to support the artist or tell them how much you love their work! Most other platforms make supporting content creators just as easy, and some platforms even PAY the creators based on them or enable them to grasp opportunities to be paid!

"But I don't want to bog down my followers with a huge reblog dump of one person's stuff."

Put it in queue to space it out, then.

"I don't have money to support the artist so I repost instead to give them exposure."

Time and time again it's been proven that reposting actively funnels money AWAY from them. You don't have to monetarily support them with much. Buy one thing from their store or give them $1 on Ko-Fi. If you can't even do that, tell them you love their stuff and shout to the rooftops where someone else can pay them; but don't make it harder for them to get paid. Too many artists "die of exposure."

"Why do you even care?"

I AM an artist. I currently support artists with real money monthly because I love their work. I only ever make money off my own art on commissions, and that relies on people being able to find me. I'm not even the one supporting my two children, husband, pet, and medical expenses with only this option to pay for it, and you bet your butt I still would be pissed if I ever found out my art had been misappropriated. Some people do this to SURVIVE and I want to see that those who do have as little unnecessary struggle with it as possible.

"It's fanart/fan content put on the internet for free I can do whatever I want with it!"

At least in North America the law says you can't. Did you know that the way laws are currently written, if someone takes a picture of you and finds a way to make money off that photo they don't owe you a dime? They hold the copyright to it. When art is displayed publicly, that copyright is not surrendered and is automatically afforded to the artist by virtue of it being their specific expression and work. By being their work, they can actually sue you for stealing their property.

Ask Disney, they're really good at it.

And to close this out I want to say one more thing: the internet has changed a LOT in the time I started browsing from the early 2000's. Rules are different, cultures are different, and for younger people especially you may not understand how some have had to (and still do) fight tooth and nail over this internet space and still make it.

If you didn't know all this, THAT'S OKAY! You're learning, and the internet is more or less a wild west right now. That means it's equal opportunity to be a killing field or a place we can lift up and support each other. Reposting is just one corner of the bad things that can come of it, but now you know how to help and even start reversing the damage.

Learn about how people who upload free content make money. When you find misappropriated work, report them to the site and try to inform the artist - don't even acknowledge the thief, just slap a ticket on them and move on. Teach others how and why reposting is bad and what they can do to help.

If you love free content, show respect and protect it. Otherwise, artists will have to put it behind a paywall and that content you loved will disappear over time. Respect will get you a much greater return than entitlement.

[vulcan-highblood]

What Heroes Do

(a "Ground Zero Rescues Izuku from the Sludge Villain" AU) 

Read this on AO3 Inspired by this post

Midoriya Izuku was trudging home from school, alone. This wasn't new to him. After all, Izuku had no friends in his middle school. He hadn't even had friends in elementary school. Not since everyone else started developing their quirks, and Izuku just… didn't. People weren't born equal. Some were born with great power, and with it, great responsibility. Others were born with no power, left to scrape by amidst the unnecessary cruelty of their peers. Izuku was a good student - top of his class, quiet, diligent, and kind to everyone. He loved heroes, and despite knowing that it was basically impossible to become a hero without a quirk, oh, he wanted to be a hero more than anything. Just that morning he’d been able to watch a showdown between a villain and some amazing heroes! He’d taken a lot of notes. Notes that had been mostly ruined when his notebook had been thrown in the pond by his classmates. They hadn't hurt him, this time. Well, not physically, though he still felt stung by the way the whole class had laughed when he’d declared his intent to apply to UA for high school. He wished that it had never been brought up. He sighed heavily, scuffing his shoes on the ground as he approached a dark tunnel. Just like my mood, Izuku thought glumly, before shaking those thoughts away. Who cares what they say? I gotta keep my chin up, he decided. Keep moving forward!

Lost in thought, he paid no mind to the filthy sound from behind him, until he heard a thick, soupy voice slur, “Aha, a medium-sized disguise…”

Startled, Izuku glanced back over his shoulder, spying a gloppy, slimy thing oozing up through the holes in a nearby manhole cover. The thing was towering over him, it's crazed eyes filled with malice, it's toothy sneer sunk in an oozing, filthy orifice.

Izuku stumbled, turning to run, but he was too late, too slow, too useless . With a swirl of foul-smelling glop, the horrible creature wrapped itself around him, surrounding him like a living pit of quicksand, binding his limbs and coating him with its viscous ooze. A villain?! Izuku thought frantically, and that was all he had time to think before the slime villain had covered his nose and mouth, forcing past his lips and down his throat. He tried to scream, but everything was muffled by the crushing force of the slime villain forcing itself down his throat.

“It’s all right,” the villain purred, “I’m only taking over your body, calm down. It’ll only hurt for 45 seconds, then it’ll all be over…”

Izuku tried to cry out, even as the creature dragged him into the tunnel, where no one could see him struggle. His throat burned where the muddy sludge poured into him as his heart pounded painfully in his chest. You have to save me, he thought, struggling uselessly against the creature, did no one expect this, this thing to come this way? As panic began to set in at the realization that no hero was coming to save him, he clawed futilely at the slime monster, who just laughed.

“You can't grab hold of me, I’m made of liquid!” the thing cackled viciously, enjoying the way Misoriya twisted and flailed, eyes wide and rolling with panic.

Oh god, Izuku thought, I can't breathe! I can't… oh god, I can't even fight back, I’m so tired… He felt his knees wobble, and he dropped his notebook, the one he'd been holding all along, the one he’d fished out of the pond… all for nothing. He was going to die here. I’m going to die, he thought, and then, Am I really going to die like this? Black spots were swimming in his vision now and he was so tired. Someone! I’m dying! His gaze landed on his notebook, which had fallen open to his costume design. I don't want to die… he thought resignedly, please…

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the street and the manhole cover went flying nearly fifty feet into the air. Izuku’s vision was growing blurry, but he saw plain as day an imposing figure with pale hair hair pointed in every direction, a dark mask across his face, grenade-styled gauntlets on his arms. The hero rose from the depths like an avenging angel, broad shoulders rippling as he pulled himself up out of the manhole and stood, the very picture of fury, pointing a finger at Izuku and snarling. “I found you, you piece of shit!” The hero pulled his hand back, making a fist, and laying a hand on his grenade gauntlet before stopping, his eyes bulging with surprise. “Shit!” he cursed again, “He got a kid?” then, “Hey kid, you still alive?”

Izuku couldn't breathe, couldn't move, but he blinked a lot.

“Shi- shoot, so any big explosions are out,” the hero grumbled under his breath before turning back to Izuku. “This might burn a little,” he warned, and then Izuku couldn't hear anything else but a high-pitched whine. He saw a white-hot flash, and felt searing heat on his face. He felt the slime creature being peeled away by the force of the blast and as the slime pulled away he fell to his hands and knees, coughing and choking and gasping for much-needed air. Dimly he could see Ground Zero - for that was the name of the hero who’d saved him - just destroying the villain until he was reduced to the size of a pet bottle. Ground Zero sealed him in the bottle and stared at a moment before muttering, “Huh. Guess I owe Red Riot twenty bucks now.” Then the explosive hero turned to look at Izuku, who scrambled unsteadily to his feet.

He wasn't sure whether to cry, gush, or just fall on his knees in adulation. Izuku settled for his usual reaction to high-stress situations, which was to start rambling helplessly. “Oh my god!” the curly-haired boy gasped, “You're the celebrated rookie hero, Ground Zero!” he beamed excitedly, his heart pounding wildly. He was alive! And he was meeting an amazing hero! If he were being honest with himself, he'd never really expected anything that exciting to happen to him in his entire life. “You’ve been climbing the ranks faster than anyone could have predicted! The brash hero with a terrible attitude and a 100% success rate! They say you’ll even surpass Endeavor one day!” Izuku took a breath to continue, but was interrupted by the hero, who folded his massive arms over a sculpted chest.

“I’ll fuc- fudging surpass All Might too, just you watch,” Ground Zero told him with a glower. “None of this second best business for me.”

Izuku frowned. “You can't surpass the symbol of peace,” he told Ground Zero solemnly, surprised that the hero hadn't realized this. No one could surpass All Might!

Ground Zero sputtered for a moment, then scowled at Izuku, “The fu-fudge kinda ungrateful nerd are you?”

Izuku blinked. “I’m sorry…?” he could feel his stomach twisting into knots already. “It's just that All Might is so amazing, and you're amazing too, I guess, but he's All Might, and I - don't touch that! ” he yelped as Ground Zero swooped down, picking up his ruined notebook.

“Jeez, kid, what did you do to this thing?” the pro hero asked absently, scarlet eyes darting back and forth as he flicked through the pages.

Izuku felt mortified. “I, I didn't do anything,” he protested weakly.

“Hmm,” Ground Zero commented noncommittally, before glancing up at Izuku and shaking his head. “Fuuu- fudge, kid, you are obsessed.” He closed the notebook, and eyed the cover. “Hero Analysis for the Future - number thirteen? Dam - ehrm - darn! You’ve put a lot of work into this, kid. I’m impressed.” He handed it back with a smirk, but it wasn't a mean-spirited smirk. “You applying to UA?” he asked.

Dumbfounded, Izuku nodded. Ground Zero thought my hero notebook was impressive! I can't believe it!

“It's a good school,” Ground Zero said, white teeth flashing into a predatory smile. “I was their best student.”

Somehow, Izuku doubted that was the case, but it felt rude to say as much, so he just nodded again.

Ground Zero preened, then, with a small frown of confusion, he broke the dreaded question. “So what’s your quirk, kid?”

Izuku felt his face begin to burn. “I, uh. I don't have a quirk.” He couldn't look Ground Zero in the eye.

“Huh.”

That wasn't the reaction Izuku had expected, so he looked up, surprised.

“There's lots of ways to be a hero…” Ground Zero began, then stopped. “Fuck it. I mean - shit, Fudge - I mean shoot! Goddammit. I mean goshdarn-”

“Kids swear in school all the time,” Izuku told Ground Zero. “I’ve heard worse, trust me.”

“Ah, thank fuck,” Ground Zero exploded. He crouched down so that he and Izuku were eye-to-eye. “Here’s the thing, kid. Without a quirk, you're fucked. Hell, even with a quirk. This job fucks with you on so many levels. It's great and shit, but it sucks ass too.” He shrugged. “You're shit outta luck without a quirk, and that's frankly a goddamn waste because you have a lot of knowledge and good instincts if that book of yours is any indication.” He stood up again, towering over him at full height. “I hate saying this, especially to kids, but… No, it’s never going to happen, you don't have what it takes, find a fulfilling job you’d actually be fucking good at.”

Izuku winced. That want at all what he’d wanted to hear. “Are you sure someone without a quirk has no chance-?”

“Fuckin’ most of the population doesn't have what it takes,” Ground Zero growled. “Get over yourself.” He turned to walk away, then paused. “Good luck, kid.” And then he jumped up, blasting off with his quirk to propel himself upwards like a human jetpack. Izuku watched him go, feeling as if he’d won the lottery and been bankrupted all within the span of five minutes.

With a sigh, he tucked his notebook under his arm and continued the long trek home. He knew he shouldn't have applied to UA, but he had to. What other choice did he have? He knew he couldn't be anything else. He needed to be a hero! He had to be! He felt something wet trickle down his cheek and he swiped at it curiously before realizing with a start that he’d begun to cry.

God, he was pathetic. Ground Zero was right, he didn't have what it took to be a hero. But dammit, he was going to try anyway! Because that, well...

That’s what heroes do. And no matter what anyone said, Izuku was going to be a hero someday.