#and you are about to singlehandedly read how much i love him

[wytchsbrew]

Part two of Unholy Devotion will be told through Wolfwood's point of view.

Do you know what that means, readers? It means I'm about to write a thousand words about how beautiful Vash is. Stay tuned for me writing through tears.

[mcdonaldsnumberone]

VARIOUS AND PRECIOUS (MOMENT OF INERTIA)!

what love is to them

gender neutral reader

NAGI SEISHIRO!

when you pamper him!

It’s easy for people to dismiss Nagi as a lazy genius who does little to fend for himself, but deep down, you know that there’s more to Nagi than the sleepy boy most people dismiss. He’s someone who wants a lot of love, having fended for himself living alone for most of his life, and if there’s someone who’s willing to feed him the affection he’s been lacking so long, of course he latches on like bees to honey. All Nagi ever wants to do is to sidle up next to you while you work or fold laundry and melt into your touch when you lean over to ruffle his white hair. It doesn’t take too much to make Nagi happy, but he knows for sure that nothing beats soaking up your attention like a touch-starved teddy bear. You certainly don’t have any complaints about him hogging you, especially when you’re the one enabling him.

“Give me a kiss…,” Nagi grumbles, and the boy plops his head down in your lap and sprawls his long limbs across the length of the couch. You glance up from the book you were reading, and your attention suddenly shifts away from the words on the page to the young teenager peering up at you expectantly with drooping eyes. “It’s so hard to stay awake.”

You giggle to yourself, and you set your book down to gingerly thread your fingers into Nagi’s soft hair. “Well, if it isn’t Sleeping Beauty. You’ve worked hard today at practice, haven’t you?”

He nods slowly, and his face practically glows as he soaks up your touch. You continue to stroke at Nagi’s hair, fingertips rubbing soothing patterns into his scalp. He sighs, “Mhm. I did all the training regimes that Christ Prince set up for me, and Reo made me do some passing practice with him. So much work…”

The boy clearly expects a reward for all of his efforts, and you stifle back another giggle at how adorable your boyfriend is. For being one of the most highly coveted players from the Blue Lock program, all he ever wants to do most of the time is cuddle up next to you and let the hours pass by. Who could look at such a doe-eyed, harmless sweetheart and realize that he’s the same genius striker that singlehandedly dominates the field?

You duck down carefully, and you press your lips once, twice over each of his eyelids. The corners of Nagi’s lips twitch upwards into a warm smile, and he settles down even further into your lap, happy and comfortable using you as his personal pillow.

“Happy now, Sei?” You ask quietly, tapping the tip of his nose with your pointer finger. Nagi lets his eyes flutter shut, and he pretends to think before shrugging innocently.

“Not sure,” he murmurs cheekily. “Maybe another kiss will help me make up my mind.”

ITOSHI RIN!

when you’re there for him!

Rin believes that to make it in this cold, cruel world, he has to face everything head-on and by himself. It’s how he tended to his tender, wounded heart when his older brother abandoned their collaborative dream, and it was this exact cutthroat philosophy that secured his success within the Blue Lock program. Rin is quick to weed and cut out anyone he deems as weak or unworthy of his time, but in reality, he’s nothing more than a young teenager who craves the warmth and validation of someone he admires. He needs someone to love him unconditionally, not because he can become the greatest striker and certainly not for the results he can bring. You’re the one who’ll drop everything to comfort him when he has a bad day or the only one he feels comfortable calling when he’s lonely at night. And once you’re in his arms, his bleak and frozen world seems a little bit more warm.

The clock reads 2 in the morning in bright red neon letters, yet it’s clear from the tight grip Rin has on you that your boyfriend has no intention of letting you go. There’s a horror movie playing in the background of his room, yet neither of you are paying attention to what’s happening on the screen.

“You know,” you lightheartedly begin. You’re snuggled up comfortably in Rin’s arms on his bed, cocooned in a mountain of blankets that smell exactly like him. “It’s probably not healthy for you to stay up this late. Don’t athletes have to maintain a really strict sleep schedule?”

The boy sticks his bottom lip out into a rare pout, a vulnerable side of him that he only ever shows to you. Outside of the safety of his bedroom, Rin is best known as a fearsome striker with an ice-cold heart, not showing any forgiveness to those he deemed inferior to him. Yet despite this impenetrable persona of his, the moment he called you late at night and asked if you were busy, you immediately halted whatever you were doing and practically sprinted out the door to get to his place as quickly as humanly possible.

Rin had happily welcomed you in, and it only took one look at his wide eyes and sad lips to realize how lost and lonely this poor boy was. You were more than happy to fill up the empty voids in his life, to kiss him and hold him and remind him of how loved he is, no matter how much his own brain tells him otherwise.

“I can stay up a little bit longer,” he grumbles, burying his face into the crook of your neck.

You grin, and you lovingly smooth down his black hair. “Whatever you say, buddy. You’re just saying that because you want to spend more time with me. Don’t worry, Rin. I’m not going anywhere.”

You hope Rin memorizes that promise. He loves you so, so much. And it’s this kind of quiet, endearing affection that makes Rin fall for you all over again.

MICHAEL KAISER!

when you don’t care if he lives or dies!

Kaiser is so, so, so horribly used to getting what he wants. Fans throw themselves at his feet in awe of him, and with just one well-timed show-stopping smile, he could make anyone fall in love with him easily. As a famous superstar, Kaiser knows he could have anybody he wants by his side: celebrities, socialites, the upper echelon of people that you could only dream about. Except his issue is that he’s fallen madly in love with you, and you physically couldn't care less about the arrogant blond who’s more of a thorn in your side than he is impressive. For the first time in his life, Kaiser has to work incredibly hard to win your favor, and as much as it frustrates him, it makes him fall even harder in love with you. Kaiser is nothing if not determined, so he’ll work through all of your sharp glares and prickly insults to win your coveted heart.

“Do you enjoy annoying me that much?”

Kaiser never knew being insulted like this could make him swoon. Not ever in a million years would he dreamt that someone who held his favor could treat him so callously, and never in a million years would he have dreamt that his heart would swell and skip a beat at that treatment. There are absolutely no signs of warmth on your clearly pissed off face, yet it makes the blond’s face heat up to see you glowering at him.

“I’m not annoying you,” he coos, attempting to step closer to you. You expertly step away from him, refusing to let him come any closer to you than necessary. Kaiser’s hurt, but at the same time, it excited him endlessly. “Any normal person would be honored to be graced by my presence!”

You roll your eyes at him, and your voice is tinged with such disgust when you acknowledge him. “Consider me abnormal then. I’m not quite jumping for joy at the thought of someone like you tailing me around.”

Everyone thought he had lost his mind when he admitted that he was falling for you. Admittedly, Kaiser thought it was crazy too: why have someone as unimportant and insignificant as you when he can have anyone he wants in the world? But it’s this exact roughness that makes him weak in the knees and leaves him breathless. He wants to see more of you, to see what it would take to make you melt under his touch and desire him as much as he desires you.

“Someone like me?” He repeats playfully. He wiggles his eyebrows, and he lowers his eyelids seductively to bat his long lashes at you. How many countless sleepless nights had he spent perfecting his appearance in hopes that you’d pay attention to him! “Someone as handsome as me? As sexy as me? As perfect as me?”

You scrunch your face up as if you had eaten something sour. “No! You’re the exact opposite of that!”

The German laughs heartily, and he stares adoringly at you with the kind of persistent tenacity that leaves the two of you in this oddly flirty song-and-dance. “There’s absolutely no need to play so hard to get, darling! One day, I’ll get you to admit how much you love me!”

“In your dreams, Kaiser!”

NOEL NOA!

when you do your best for him!

Noel understands that he’s not the easiest man to love. Not only is he the current greatest striker in the world, he knows that the pressure of being by his side isn’t to be taken lightly. While he loves you and cares for you in ways that he can’t describe, he’s more than aware of the sacrifices you have to make to receive his love. So he’s more than appreciative whenever you greet him with a big smile and an even bigger hug, reassuring him that no matter what life throws your way, you’ll be fine as long as Noa is there for you. Your efforts won’t ever go unnoticed around him, and he’s always quick to remind you that his heart only belongs to you. Noa is fiercely loyal, and so long as you keep your head held high, Noa will face the world bravely with you, hand in hand.

“Another early flight?” You purse your lips as you scan over his flight itinerary. The sheer amount of numbers and fine text made your head spin, and you had to blink and shake your head to clear your vision. “It’s just one thing after another for you, Noel. Your management really needs to give you a break sometimes!”

Noa had insisted that you didn’t need to come to every game that he was in. He knew you had a life of your own, and frankly speaking, even just following him around everywhere was a taxing task in it of itself. But you wanted to support your lover on every end, and you knew that by being there, that was your way of cheering him on wholeheartedly. 

Noa takes the itinerary from you, and he sighs deeply at the horrid hours and his unforgiving schedule. “Again, if it’s too much, you don’t have to feel obligated to follow me-”

“-Don’t you dare start on that lecture again!” You cut him off, placing your hands on your hips. “I want to go with you. I want to go to every single game you’re in, and it doesn’t matter to me if you score a million goals or if you’re sitting on the bench. Being there for you is the least that I can do.”

Noa smiles warmly, and he pulls you close to him and presses a soft kiss to your forehead. His chest fills with pride at your determination to support him. He would be lying if he said that he didn’t like seeing you in the stands, and nothing motivated him more than to know that you’d be waiting for him after every match to embrace him with open arms and tell him how proud you were for doing his best.

“I can’t stop you if you’re dead set on coming with me. Make sure you’re packed and ready though. Clearly we won’t have much time for any leisurely activity.” His voice softens slightly, and he kisses you again. His callous hands brush yours, and he squeezes your palms adoringly. In a hushed tone he reserves solely for you, he whispers, “Thank you for always wanting to be with me.”

x

[theygotbitchesinmedia]

okay so here is her review: https://arkadymartine.wordpress.com/2015/09/27/the-traitor-baru-cormorant-a-reviewresponse/

admittedly its from 2015- i haven't poked around to see how she may have changed how she feels about it, and i know she did blurb seth's recent scifi novel (Exordia), so there's no bad blood there or anything. it's also a positive review, in general- she ends with this sentence: "I highly, highly recommend this book; I have not thought so much about something I read in a long time."

i am also coming into this as someone who has read all of seth dickinson's work for the game destiny, where he was near-singlehandedly responsible for a good oh… 80% of the interesting women (& overall interesting concepts lol!) in the game, and his writing of one of those characters in particular as a complex and flawed character got him bullied viciously off of all social media. if you've tried to find his social media presence and havent found anything, that's why. so i mayhaps have a little more emotion in the game.

THAT SAID. here are some specific parts from her review i find really fucking annoying! and color the way i feel about Memory & Desolation, despite them being so incredibly targeted at me as a classics person AND someone who fucking loves the specific sub-genre of scifi her novels are.

"[Traitor] asks a question which I find compelling as a student of an empire and as a queer woman. That question is: what do we gain by complicity? What do we – we barbaroi, we women, we queer people, we imperialized – what do we get when we say yes? When we say yes I will hide my true nature? When we say yes I will subsume myself into the beautiful machine? When we say can we speak English? Or the literature I love just happens to be written by straight white men – and mean it, too, mean it with the kind of depthless love that a person can have for a text that speaks to them, which holds up a mirror to them?"

i dont think the use of the greek word for barbarian does anything here (she also keeps coming back to the greek term orthos in her review, which also pisses me off lol), i dont think empire is a "beautiful machine," and i don't think the invocation of identity politics is useful. like. i know she's a byzantine scholar but if your first association with empire is purely a finite Historical Empire instead of, like, modern US imperialism, or British colonialism, you are going into this discussion with a certain set of values and opinions! a set of values and opinions that let you call an empire a "beautiful machine" in all earnestness. this claim probably seems unsubstantiated and nitpicky now just from this excerpt but ill come back to it with more i promise. on the idpol front, she also says immediately after this that she does believe that straight people can and should write queer people, but that they should listen to queer people when they point out those errors. she then continues:

"But then, critique: there are two points on which I think Dickinson’s portrayal of a queer protagonist has faltered, and I think both of these errors arise from the fact that he isn’t part of – as far as I know at the time of writing this review – a queer community. Firstly, I disbelieve Baru’s awareness of her own desires… …For the first portion of the book, her queerness felt more like a character trait assigned to her for reason of plot than a naturally built part of her as a person… Secondly, I wonder where queer people in Falcrest are…"

theres more to these excerpts, but. i personally didnt find the depiction of baru's desire to be unrealistic, and also this was a review of Traitor, specifically, so where on earth would baru have heard about queer people in falcrest? and more importantly, why should we care so much about queer people in the imperial core? moreover i think the way seth does it with svir is very very well done, and illustrates the hypocrisy of empire in a way that does NOT seem like what martine is asking for here!!!

"Why am I invested? I myself am a student of empire. I’m a Byzantinist. My academic work is about empire and its seductions; it is the animating principle of my professional life. And: I am myself someone who loves order over disorder. Who looks for systems in all things. Who is comforted by structures; who is concerned deeply with propriety. But here’s my real criticism of this book: I don’t buy the seduction of the Masquerade. And I think if this book fails, it’s there: in that its empire is too easily read as undesirable. As profane, unethical, fundamentally wrong. It is really overtly evil." … "The Masquerade isn’t civilized. It’s civilization, but I don’t recognize it as civilized, and this is a problem with a constructed empire. An empire relies on itself as the definition of civilization – I would footnote here Ann Leckie’s Imperial Radch as a SFnal example of an empire which is built on this principle, and which, for this reader at least, achieves the facsimile. (But then my ancestors were not enslaved, we were exterminated; not annexed, but exiled. Perhaps I like the Radch better than the Masquerade because I can find a place for myself in it, and cannot imagine a place within the Masquerade someone like me would ever be safe –)"

and THIS. THIS RIGHT HERE IS MY BIGGEST PROBLEM. critiquing the masquerade as not "seductive" enough, calling it too evil to have people join it- how does someone miss the point THIS badly??? like. are you FUCKING serious??? how do you read a book about the immense violence of colonialism and your problem is that it is boohoo too violent for people to join willingly. google literally fucking anything the US has done ever!!! and the invocation of the concept of "civilized" as an objective quality, despite the recognition that the empire constructs what counts as "civilization" is so fucking unserious/simplistic/juvenile! why do you need to imagine yourself a place in the empire? in the imperial core specifically!

and i think this particular approach bleeds into her books. i read them at Least 2 years ago, so this is mostly vibes-based, and i will avoid spoilers.

there is such a focus on the allure of the imperial core, on the "beautiful machine" of the empire as she calls it. there is violence done, but it is abstracted away from the wealth of the imperial core. there are no economics there. the empire sees her independent station as a backwater, and there is some cultural tensions there, but there is no realistic violence and exploitation! it is not clear at all what maintains the empire, besides some abstract idea of trade. i also don't know what her Point is with the naming & language conventions, which are very clearly inspired in part by ancient Mayan- e.g. the empire and core planet are called Teixcalaan. and idk this may be reductive of me but i think if you are going to pull features from civilizations that have been colonized and use them to inspire fictional colonizing forces, you ARE saying something there! idk! and like, the ancient Mayan

and on the ~representation~ front, i also don't think she does a better job than seth tbqh!!! i felt like the characters getting together came out of nowhere and felt anticlimactic- there is also not the tension i think there should be with the main character being an ambassador-ish and the love interest being… idr. junior intelligence officer iirc? idk! and for all her critique of baru's desire for women not feeling "real" or present enough, i do not remember the main character in Memory having any real focus on it!

i enjoyed Memory just fine, but i don't think it says anything interesting or novel or even critical about empire, and i found her review of Traitor extremely shallow and useless, if very revealing about her own outlook on empire lol!!!

this has been at best Minorly proofread and edited but im not like, writing an academic essay on the matter and so i apologize for any inconsistencies.

oh man thanks for this this is really interesting. i went and read the whole thing and i agree a ton with your critique. i'm going to stick my thoughts below the cut because i went on for a bit here, in typical fashion.

i personally didnt find the depiction of baru's desire to be unrealistic, and also this was a review of Traitor, specifically, so where on earth would baru have heard about queer people in falcrest? and more importantly, why should we care so much about queer people in the imperial core?

NO BUT EXACTLY... for starters this is explicitly a novel about colonized people taking place in a colony where none of the major characters are from the empire. where, when, and how would we take the time to explore what queerness looks like for them and more importantly, like you've asked, why the hell should that be a priority for the narrative in this case.

in terms of 'i found this to be an unrealistic depiction of queer desire' 9/10 times i feel like what that means is 'i found this to be an unrelatable depiction' which is an entirely different critique. i know i'm working with two additional books worth of context that martine isn't working with here. but even taking into account just the characterization we have for baru in traitor i think this is suuuuch an unfair complaint. i'm gonna pull the entire quote she says about baru's sexuality here because i have additional specific gripes with it.

Firstly, I disbelieve Baru’s awareness of her own desires. In the first portion of the book, I do not ever feel the weight of Baru’s own awareness of her sexuality; there is an absence of carnality, a kind of intellectual version of lesbian desire which is, to me, inconsistent with the sort of desire I expect. Not until the introduction of Baru’s eventual lover Tain Hu do I get a sense of Baru as a woman who loves women. Further, considering how very much the Empire of Masks and Increastic philosophy criminalizes the sin of queer desire, I wish Baru had struggled more with the nature of her desire. For the first portion of the book, her queerness felt more like a character trait assigned to her for reason of plot than a naturally built part of her as a person. This markedly improved in the second half, where Baru notices women in a way she does not notice men.

For starters, it is insanely hypocritical to me to complain that her desire both isn't carnal enough and she processes it too intellectually, but that she isn't struggling enough with it. Baru intellectually processes things! That's her entire character from the getgo! She also has a difficult time conceptualizing other people as fully realized beings with their own agency. These character traits paired together don't make for a particularly passionate and carnal relationship to her sexuality. She is also, at her absolute oldest in this book, 21! (Or 22? I can't remember. I know she spends 3 years in aurdwynn) and has spent her entire youth being groomed to be a scholar. Of course detached intellectualism is her primary way of navigating all things. Why wouldn't it be?

Baru primary motivation is to save taranoke, she wants to save the taranoki way of life, and part of that way of life includes an acceptance of nonhetero nonmonogamous relationships. Sure, a different character arc may have involved baru actually internalizing and then having to break free of the trappings of race, gender, and sexuality that the empire tries to impose upon its citizens. but that's not baru and acting like this is a writing flaw rather than a character choice is insane to me.

There's absolutely no reason for Baru to lie awake at night pontificating about how wrong and dirty of her it is to want to have sex with women because we are never lead to believe even for a minute that Baru puts any emotional weight in incrasticism. She doesn't conceptualize it as sinful she conceptualizes it as illegal!

And "Not until the introduction of Baru’s eventual lover Tain Hu do I get a sense of Baru as a woman who loves women. " is killing me in particular because like. Yeah. Tain Hu is baru's first love. thats the point. But beyond that this is just not being able to see anything other than what she's looking for because i think the chapters covering baru's childhood make it pretty clear that her feelings for aminata and cousin lao (im not double checking the name but im pretty sure it was this) are deep and strong. the fact that they're not as explicitly and straightforwardly romantic and sexual as her relationship with tain hu doesn't change that, and in fact, points to baru's struggle with/development of her sexuality that she claims was somehow missing in this book.

like i just simply can't see anything here but someone who is seeing an emotional landscape they can't relate to and assuming that means it's flawed writing. skill issue frankly.

She's also fucking insane for acting like the masquerade is too cartoonishly evil to be appealing. once again im going to post her full quote here because i think its important to see

its empire is too easily read as undesirable. As profane, unethical, fundamentally wrong. It is really overtly evil. It punishes sexual “deviants” with mutilation and death. It murders children callously. It inflicts plague and withholds vaccines. It lobotomizes its own emperors for the sake of convincing its populace that the emperor is just. Most of all, the Masquerade is a eugenicist empire: it is explicitly founded on not purity of bloodline but on purification of bloodline, on making people useful to it. It makes people: it breeds them carefully, it indoctrinates them through schools, it uses drugs and operant conditioning to transform their minds and make them into automata tools. It commits every atrocity that a modern Western reader recognizes as abhorrent. This is a problem. It is a problem because we are asked, as readers, to believe that there are reasons besides blackmail that a person would willingly become an agent of the Masquerade. We are asked to imagine that the Masquerade is a beautiful machine.

for starters. "It commits every atrocity that a modern Western reader recognizes as abhorrent." MODERN WESTERN EMPIRES DID, AND OCCASIONALLY STILL DO, MOST OF THESE THINGS!!! THIS IS US! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!! I FEEL INSANE!!!!

I think the book makes it more than explicitly clear why the empire is appealing??? it has all of the capital???? its building schools and sewage systems and importing food and goods and teaching reading and writing??? baru's own internal narrative often shows her own strife at the fact that the empire has made genuinely incredible scientific advancements that offer significant improvements in quality of life to many, many people. martine actually acknowledges this in the next paragraph of her review, and then brushes it away as not being good enough. why? what about that doesn't convince you?

she is seeming to hugely ignore the fact that in the case of aurdwynn specifically, the bureaucracy of the empire is coming in to unseat feudal aristocracy! what the masquerade offers may not be particularly tempting to most of that ruling class, but its economic opportunities are more then believably appealing to the common people. i think this is made pretty clear when baru's ploy to use the fiat bank to make loans to the aurdwynni people and basically lessen the massive tax burdens from the duchies wins her huge favor with the public.

and frankly even for the ruling class the potential economic benefits are massive too if you're willing to participate in the empire properly. yes the empire doesn't have Moral appeal. it doesn't fucking have to. it owns pretty much every economy outside of the oriati mbo. the fact that that's not enough for her is as you've pointed out really really showing her biases and blind spots. 'no reason besides blackmail' MONEY!!!! MONEY! IT'S MONEY! THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT ACCOUNTING! HOW DID YOU MISS THAT!!!

and the invocation of the concept of "civilized" as an objective quality, despite the recognition that the empire constructs what counts as "civilization" is so fucking unserious/simplistic/juvenile! why do you need to imagine yourself a place in the empire? in the imperial core specifically!

And this is really it for me too, yeah. It's gross. It's absolutely gross. "An empire isn't believably appealing unless I, personally, find it appealing" there are people alive who are eugenicists, who love community policing, who believe in race science. the masquerade is an empire for them. the thing about empires is that they are only actually empowering for an incredibly small subset of people, and the fact that You, Specifically, Arkady Martine can't imagine being one of those people in this instance doesn't make it not believable. This is a shatteringly individualist way of engaging with a work.

As for your points about the way she handles empire in her own book obviously i can't have anything to say there because i haven't read it yet, but i do absolutely agree with you on this bit:

and idk this may be reductive of me but i think if you are going to pull features from civilizations that have been colonized and use them to inspire fictional colonizing forces, you ARE saying something there! idk! and like, the ancient Mayan

1000% i don't think this is reductive of you. whether or not you're consciously saying anything is one question but it's a choice that absolutely doesn't exist in a vacuum. out of curiosity i googled her to see if she was of mayan descent or anything and maybe she chose that due to some personal ties to the subject matter but she doesn't seem to be. which of course i don't think means she can't or shouldn't draw any inspiration from there but i do think all of these sorts of choices are meaningful

i don't really have much to say here to round off a conclusion but. wow. deeply deeply telling review that does not particularly make me want to read anything she has written beyond this.

[spoofymcgee]

i just finished reading realm of the gods and.

first of all it was a fucking incredible book. just. 10/10 no notes (you will see that this post does continue so actually i have many notes but still). the pacing is always so delightful in that we never spend too much time getting from place to place or on the things that don't matter. the characterizations were so consistent and so delightful. the dialogue was. god. i love the dialogue in these books so much.

and the thing that most surprised me was.

look.

i'm not like, wild, about numair and daine. i do think the age gap is still a little weird, but the fact that it's so extreme and the way they interact earlier in the book makes me think that this wasn't planned from the beginning, that ms. pierce just saw their characters evolving along that path and went with it.

and the thing is, it does work. daine has always been an incredibly self contained character who stands on her own so well. she has companions and friends but she's not so deeply involved with them as alanna, for instance. we see an example of this in the fact that she nearly gives up the mortal realm to keep her word. she values her honor and integrity and the various things that make her who she is over her relationships. Allan would never consider keeping her word over her interpersonal relationships.

so daine, as a character who stands so well on her own, who is so down to earth and straightforward and determined, doesn't see the age gap as an issue. she likes numair, he likes her, and she doesn't care about what reputation she might have. she wouldn't even consider that he might be manipulating her and she very quickly dismisses the concept that she might not be experienced enough for him. it's clear to her that he knows what he wants and he's just getting his frippery in the way.

meanwhile, numair is worrying enough for the both of them and their grandmothers because he's an overthinker and cares more about daine that he does himself. he didn't see her like this from the beginning, but he also didn't singlehandedly raise her. he wasn't really her guardian–she hasn't quite had a relationship like that since her mother, because she didn't need one. he was a friend, who was older than her, and a mentor, but she didn't want a father or even an older brother out of him. he's never seen her in the light of a daughter either, only as a younger friend and then someone experienced and powerful and level with him in different areas.

i guess it was just surprising how little it bothered me, thanks to the way she handled it.

anyway.

[letsgetrowdy43]

I want to hear more about Hayden’s birth

Okay, purr, so the second Quinn got on the flight to head to Edmonton for his third last game of the season Honey had her two best friends come over and help her take care of Warren because she knew she would be going into labour soon and wanted to make sure someone was there just in case for not only herself but also Warren.

It was kind of expected, but also she was really shocked and scared when she went into labour, mainly because Quinn wasn’t even in the same province and it was all happening so fast. One moment she was organizing the nursery with her one of best friends as the kids played in the playroom, and all of a sudden she just started getting contractions and then everything got really busy really fast. She called Quinn but he didn’t answer, cause he was on the ice, instead she left a short breathy voicemail and two short messages, and then she headed to the hospital.

She was actually pretty fine health-wise, but she was scared and felt really alone while waiting for Quinn. Even though one of her best friends was in the room she just needed her husband and a promise that he was gonna make it on time. Honey called his brothers and her family a few times to tell them that the baby was on the way and they chatted for a bit but then Quinn finally called her back and disrupted their peaceful phone call.

Quinn on the other hand was in a frenzy trying to get home. The second he read his text after doing his post-game interviews he was panicking trying to figure out the fastest route to get home.

He read the short "I'm in labour. Please come home" and immediately started to freak out that he was going to miss one of the singlehandedly important moments of his life. The second she picks up the phone he's like "Please tell me I didn't miss it" Honey just laughs at his slight panic, "Quinn I've been in labour all of an hour and a half, you have time," she laughs but then the laughs turn into tears, "I do need you to hurry up though, I really need you here," she sniffles into the phone which sends Quinn into an even deeper frenzy.

All the other dads in the locker room get it, but also are like "Act like you've been here before my god??" cause he is so all over the place and he has plenty of time to get home in time. He thankfully made it in time, and Hayden was born just a few short hours later.

Quinn definitely cried when he had his first kid, but there was something about having a little girl that had him really emotional, cause she was the most precious thing he had ever laid his eyes on. Honey had stayed pretty strong on the crying, but watching him interact with his daughter definitely had her emotional, he just kept whispering short "thank you's" and "she's perfect, you're perfect's" to his wife which had her on the brink of tears.

Honey was literally a god, she had the perfect birth and the nursing staff were literal gems and helped her through all of it.

Hayden kind of looks like a blonde carbon copy of Quinn and it's the cutest thing ever, whereas Warren carries a few of Honey's traits, Hayden is just all Quinn.

Warren got dropped off in the afternoon after everyone had had some time to sleep and the doctors and nurses had finished all of the post-birth routines. He was very excited to see Quinn again, squeals leaving his lips as Quinn retrieved him from Honey's best friend, the two of them hugging at the entrance of the hospital before Quinn told him all about his baby sister.

The little boy was a little skeptical because she was crying when he first walked in the room, but the second she was gently placed in his lap it all changed, he kept saying how much he loved his baby Hayd and how pretty she was as she rested in his arms. This had almost every adult in the room in tears as his little hands traced patterns on his sister's head, her eyes closing as she fell asleep in his lap.

it was definitely hectic, but also so cute, and everyone is just super happy to have a healthy baby and mama!!

[autisticlancemcclain]

fic rec friday 35

welcome to the thirty-fifth fic rec friday! where, on friday, i rec five of my favourite fics.

1. Send Down the Rain by @azapofinspiration

Lance missed rain. As much as he missed his family and his home, he missed rain almost as much.

However, rain has to exist somewhere out in the universe, right? Even if he can't go home, Lance should be able to feel rain and soak it.

Right?

Five times Lance tried to find rain and the one time he did

lance should have gotten the rain in canon. he needed that. and god did azap fucking deliver!! this fic is sweet and this fic is sad and this fic is melancholy and this fic makes you want to throw up and this fic makes you feel alive. i fckn love this fic

2. Brawler by @admiralcanthackett [GORE WARNING]

I have no summary for this beyond Lance and Keith get ambushed and Lance is a determined motherfucker who fights dirty. Keith is mildly turned on and largely impressed.

you ever want to see lance, feral, thinking only of protecting his family, rip someone’s throat out with his teeth? no? well, i didnt either, but it turns out that i needed to read it, so. and just to clarify this series isnt just lance going batshit insane, although there is plenty of that, it also has some tender klance gong over trauma so thats fun

3. nobody has to know (nobody but me) by xeah

Lance has a secret, and he’s taking it to the grave –except, he didn’t think the ‘taking it to the grave’ bit would happen quite so soon.

When the team head planetside on a diplomatic mission, Lance can’t decide if he’s ecstatic about it, or about to endure an intense bout of homesickness. Sure, the planet looks cool, the aliens themselves are pretty chill considering they’ve singlehandedly fended off Galra attacks up until now. But thanks to Pidge making the team clocks that run on Earth time, Lance knows that it’s almost his nineteenth birthday.

Yeah, he’s gonna go with the homesickness.

Unfortunately for him, the aliens they visit have two distinct qualities that, in any other circumstance, Lance would find cool; the ability to sense emotions, and the complete inability to keep secrets. That extends to their allies, as well.

He probably would have continued thinking those were pretty amazing skills –until the aliens sense negative emotions between the Paladins, and demand that to secure an alliance, the team must heal the dissent brewing in the fine cracks between each other thanks to the secrets they’re keeping, no matter how trivial.

Yeah. Homesickness probably wasn’t the right way to go.

okay, full disclaimer, this series isnt finished and i doubt it ever will be. HOWEVER. this fic is, and this fic is fucking stellar. magical realism has always been a fave of mine, and of course add vld and klance to that and ill always go feral. if you want to see amazing mcclain family backstory and tension so thick you could gnaw on it, swallow the L and read this fic you’ll only be a litle devastated that you won’t see how the series ends

4. Bruises by @admiralcanthackett

Lance is cornered by a Galra, cut off from the rest of his team. When he hears their disparaging comments, instead of asking for help when he can, he hides how hurt he is. He doesn't want them to think he's anymore useless than he already is.

you can tell that the author was mad when fae wrote this and honestly? yeah. yeah, sometimes u just have to be mad. sometimes thinks go to shit and its everyone’s fault and your pain becomes physical and you just have to grit your teeth and tell everyone to go fuck themselves. thats what lance goes thru here

5. Hybrid by @admiralcanthackett

Lance overhears one of the aliens insulting Keith after a successful mission and loses his temper.

yes another admiral fic but let me live i have always been obsessed with these fics and there are just so MANY of them okay. there will be more. but i like this one bc who doesn tlike protective lance??? who doesnt like keith realising that he’s worthy of being defended??? like cmon now

that’s it for today!! i’ll see y’all back next friday for the next fic rec post!!!

[jerseyshoresy]

I froth at the mouth over your fics!!!!!

May I please request something where some drunk asshole confronts the reader at MoDeans and hits the reader, then all of the LK crew starts coming over but reader just decks the cunt and lays him out. Wayne already guessing you'd be fine but everyone starts fussing asking questions and shit bur you're cool as a cucumber?

Okay so I'm OBSESSED with this idea of this because uh yeah anything with the LK crew at MoDean's is sure to be fun to write lol. And thank you SO much for your kind words, you're so sweet! I'm glad you like my writing and I'm honored you all trust me to bring your creative vision to life :) much love!! <3 <3

OH! ALSO! This isn't explicitly romantic because I wasn't sure if you were looking for more friendship or romance so it's implied Wayne x reader but it can be read either way tbh. Enjoy!

All Hands on Deck

Implied Wayne x gn!reader

Warnings: cussing, fighting, mention of blood, Gail being... Gail

Done was another long day of chore'n so you decided to hang out at MoDean's with your best friends, relieved to finally relax in good company. You greeted the group, all of whom already had drinks, and so you ordered yourself one, too, taking a seat at the bar next to Wayne.

"Y/n, how're you now?" he asked, his expression softening ever so slightly when you sat near him.

"Good, and you?"

"Not s' bad."

You smiled. "Glad to hear it."

Everyone was listening intently to Squirrely Dan, who was in the middle of a story about some guy and an ostrich--you weren't all too interested in the details-- so you took the time to peek around the bar, seeing who else from Letterkenny had shown up for the night. The regulars were there, naturally, as were some people you knew from high school. You even spied Jonesy and Reilly who had stopped flirting with women to flirt with each other. You shook your head, enjoying the stereotypical evening with the same people who were always around. Turning your head a little more to the left, though, and you almost choked on your drink. There was some guy you had never seen before, sitting at a table and downing beers like nobody's business.

"Who's that?" you asked Gail when she brought over your drink.

"Dunno," she replied, leaning in closer to you, "but he's from out of town. Heard he's from the city. Montreal."

"Really? Their downtown is pretty nice from what I've heard."

"I'd be happy to show him what a real nice downtown looks like," Gail groaned, gyrating her hips in a way that felt so dirty you had the urge to clean the countertop she was gripping seductively.

"Don't you have customers to serve?" you asked, earning a glare from the bartender.

"Don't you have a tab to pay?"

"Fair enough," you grumbled, taking a sip of your drink. You looked at the man one last time before turning back around in your seat. You were surprised someone from the big city would come all that way to be in Letterkenny, but it didn't matter to you. The guy was spending big money in alcohol consumption and singlehandedly keeping MoDean's in business for the next month, which was great for Gail and even better for you. You tuned into the conversation with your friends, wondering what the next topic at hand was.

"...and that's how I got cow spit in my eye," finished Daryl, earning looks of disgust amongst the group.

"How about you, y/n? How was your day?" inquired Katy.

"It was alright, nothing too interesting," you said. "The most exciting thing to happen to me was hearing some guy's here from Montreal."

Right as you said that, you accidentally made eye contact with the man from Quebec. You quickly averted your gaze, not wanting any trouble.

"So yeah, that's been my day. I'll be right back, I gotta go to the bathroom."

After you did your business, hands washed and dried, you starting making your way back over to your seat. All of a sudden, the screech of a chair being pulled out from under a table caught your attention and in no time, you were face to face with the stranger from the city.

"You got a staring problem?" he snarled, very obviously intoxicated with the way he was slurring his words. "You've been lookin' at me all night and I don' like it."

You went to reply angrily but you couldn't get any words out--the only thing in your mouth at that moment was a a drunk dude's fist. You staggered from the momentum of the swing, your face bleeding profusely, and your mind reeling from the audacity of this city dweller. You heard the chorused yells of the Letterkenny residents, all equally unhappy that the out of towner hurt one of their own. You knew your friends would be over any second to take care of the guy, you could see them running from your peripheral vision, but you wanted a piece of him first. Fueled by anger, you threw a power packed punch right back to the man. In an instant he was knocked out, his unsteady body crumpling to the floor.

"Holy shit, y/n, are you okay?" Katy asked, putting a hand on your back in a soothing manner. Daryl held a clean rag to your nose and mouth to stop the bleeding while Dan pulled out a chair and had you sit in it. You even saw some of the regulars take the man's unconscious body and throw it out behind the dumpster. Throughout the aftermath of the ordeal, though, you realized you never saw Wayne.

"Are you sures you're okays, y/n?" Squirrely Dan questioned.

You laughed. "I appreciate everyone's concern, but there's no reason to fuss. It was just one punch, I'll be fine. You guys go sit, enjoy your drinks. I'll be over in a minute."

They relented, taking in your condition one last time with worried looks before taking up their spots at the bar.

And now here came Wayne.

He stalked up to you, taking a swig of Puppers.

"Fuck, bud, you didn't even give him a chance." Another sip of beer. "I almost feel bad for the guy."

"Yeah," you sighed, "me too."

You enjoyed comfortable silence together for about a minute or so before Wayne spoke up again.

"You know, I didn't rush to your side because I knew you were okay. You're tough."

"I know." You met his eyes, the dingy lights of MoDean's doing nothing to dim their shining deep blue color. "Thanks."

Wayne was a man of little words, and you didn't feel like there were more words to be uttered anyway, but his look said it all. You spied the smallest hint of a smile on his lips as his head turned to the rest of your friends at the bar, already back to smiling and having a good time.

"Yeah," you answered, his question not needing to be asked out loud, "let's go have some fun."

[callsign-rogueone]

This is my reminder to you to Hydrate or Die-drate. The summer is hot in America, as someone in the medical field I have seen one too many people faint from lack of fluids.

On a stupid side to make you smile at a scenario while you drink a glass. After reading the bonus Xaden Scenes from FW; Garrick knew from the start that Xaden had a thing for Violet even back to the first time they sparred together. Very observant; do you think that he and a select few other Marked ones had a betting ring of if they would in the very least hook up? It made me laugh thinking about this at work cause like imagine:

Xaden and Violet first hook up, there is lightning everywhere; Garrick and Liam had to change the Armoire the next day, when they meet for the next dagger exchange a few of them exchange coins and Xaden is just like "Really guys? Couldn't do it when I wasn't looking and wouldn't know."

Or Alternatively where he just says "guys she's special to me." And Imogen sarcastically says "omg that's so surprising."

I’ve got my emotional support Starbucks cold cup on deck, not to worry 🫡 it’s an iridescent dark blue that reminds me of dragon scales. I have a matching red one too hehe

oh I believe they absolutely have a betting ring on that, and on several other things.

in my little au, I’m gonna have them use a devalued Tyrrish currency for betting and favors since cadets don’t get paid. the idea being that it’s like Monopoly money as far as Navarre is concerned, since they no longer accept it outside of Tyrrendor post-revolution. it only has value within the marked group because they agree that it does.

a little peek of that from an upcoming chapter:

“Tyrrish Krown,” he explains before Violet can ask. “A defunct currency that has no value against Navarrian coin. We just use them to settle bets and call in favors.”

“If it doesn’t have exchange value, then…”

“They bankrupted us. All we had left was our gold, and whatever they didn’t burn.”

so they’d use that as betting chips. anyway, I got off the trail and into the weeds here, back to the original question:

Garrick was absolutely on the side of “they’re gonna do it”. Liam too after he started spending more time with Vi / became her bodyguard. idk who would be on the opposite side. maybe Imogen, because she really didn’t want Vi in the group at first. she’d be extra pissed having to fork the money over to Garrick of all people.

Xaden would be deeply unamused. definitely like you said… “really. you had to do this in front of me.”

to which Garrick would come back with something like… “you are singlehandedly responsible for a lightning storm that we all had to witness.”

cue some brotherly bickering.

also I don’t remember who I saw post it first, but I agree with the theory that they just swapped the armoires — Xaden ended up with the broken one, since it was either that or having to ask the school for a new one… and he’s not going to explain the circumstances of it breaking to anyone else, no thank you. (and assuming that the wingleaders have specific rooms like college RAs… that means Dain ended up with it the year after, lmao)

Liam and Garrick were laughing about it the whole time. but they’d also constantly remind him for the rest of the year how much he owes them for making them haul a bigass cabinet up and down two flights of stairs.

the details of her window being repaired remain unclear. they’ve caused a fair amount of property damage with their love… 😅

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

What if Rosalie got a physical shield gift, like Renata?

( this is because of the trauma before her transformation)

Would she be uncomfortable about her gift and what it represents? Would Edward be jealous of Rosalie having a gift? How would this change the newborn battle in Eclipse? What about Bella's pregnancy and the confrontation in Breaking dawn? What will Bella think of Rosalie being both beautiful and strong? Will Aro consider the Cullens a bigger threat?

Would She Be Uncomfortable About Her Gift and What it Represents?

The thing about Renata's gift is a lot of what @therealvinelle and I theorize we headcanoned our way/theorized our way into.

It's a "hm, wonder why she had this gift" when we look at other vampires who have gifts that help them in situations before or after they were turned versus random gifts.

It's not necessarily something she would theorize or anyone else would either. Edward theorizes that gifts are an extension of yourself/talents you had in life.

Edward reads minds because he's super ultra perceptive like that, Jasper must have been charismatic, Carlisle is now a saint because his goodness was magnified by 10,000 degrees, Alice could see the future as a human if to a lesser degree, Rosalie is hot er pigheaded, and so on.

Edward wouldn't see a physical shield as a response to trauma/a gift clearly designed to protect her from physical harm, Rosalie must have had some sort of underlying shield talent. Clearly, Rosalie pushes other people away and nobody likes her.

Rosalie might wish she had such a gift with Royce, that this could have protected her if it hadn't been this latent stupid talent, but she may not realize she has it because of Royce (I doubt she would both because she wouldn't want to credit him/what happened and because it's not the prevalent vampire thoughts on gifts).

Would Edward Be Jealous?

No, because his gift is cooler.

The thing about Edward is because all these gifts are different he can convince himself he's the best or at least on par. Alice's gift is powerful, but Edward can read thoughts while she reads the future, so they work in tandem. Jasper's is useful sometimes, but he can only figure out emotions and he's influenced by them while Edward can hear thoughts.

We're talking about the boy who fucking convinces himself he's more powerful than Aro because he can hear only immediate thoughts within a ten-mile radius (if he knows them well, shorter if he doesn't) while Aro has to touch your hand but gets every thought you've ever had in your lifetime.

He fucking convinces himself he's more powerful than Bella, that she doesn't have a gift at all and just thinks weird, when Bella singlehandedly stops the Volturi's greatest gifts in their tracks multiple times right in front of him.

The best Bella gets is from Eleazar of "wow, you're a shield".

Rosalie just makes a stupid physical shield. Edward would regard this as entirely useless and a party trick.

Unlike Edward's totally useful gift.

How Would This Change the Newborn Battle?

... Funny you say that.

Guess who's in the tent with Bella and Edward and Jacob? There is no world in which Edward doesn't throw the mother of bitch fits to have Rosalie there protecting Bella with her shield. He hates it, of course, he'd much rather do it himself, but Bella's life is at stake and nothing will get through Rosalie's shield.

Rosalie's going to the tent (Rosalie doesn't want to go either, at all, but if this keeps Bella human and Edward not killing himself :( )

Somehow, I'm sure that tent conversation still happens, even though Rosalie's sitting in the corner, hating them all, hating everything, and "Bella, do you know what these two are like???"

"Edward is the love of my life and Jacob is my sun"

(Rosalie concludes Bella's cheating on Edward and Edward, Jacob, and Bella all know it. That or they're having a weird gross threesome thing and why does she know about this?)

What Will Bella Think of Rosalie Being Beautiful and Strong?

Nothing.

Edward insists to Bella, as he did in canon, that Rosalie is a stupid, vain, shrew who only cares about herself and is the worst in every way. Even her gift is stupid and look how hard Rosalie tries not to use it even though this is the one time it's actually useful.

All Rosalie has to do is guard Bella and she keeps trying to wriggle out of it.

And Rosalie hates Bella because she's jelly Edward's into her.

As in canon, Bella thinks Rosalie hates her, and is very intimidated by how beautiful she is, and that she's gifted period when all Bella can do is think in FM instead of AM.

Will Aro Consider the Cullens a Bigger Threat?

No.

One more Renata's in Rosalie's not ideal, but he could have taken her out with Jane and Alec easily. It's not the end of the world if he would have had to fight them.

Bella's the deal breaker where Bella alone concerns him and Bella with Rosalie concerns him only slightly more than Bella alone (makes it hard to kill Bella and stop her shield if the Cullens are being strategic, but this isn't much different than canon where gifts on Bella's team do work and they can protect her in a way the Volturi will have difficulty getting through if it comes to a fight).

[fallershipping]

Reading your stuff makes me want to try harder to write Looker better. He's such an interesting character but it can always be hard to write a character reacting to a situation that's out of their wheelhouse.

But I think maybe I'm starting to get a better grasp on it?? He IS a smart guy and a good detective and If he doesn't know something vital I'm sure he'd be determined to look it up. If there was an issue caused by a misunderstanding from him I think he'd want to fix it. I really appreciate your insight into him as a character! And you singlehandedly got me on the Anabel/Looker train full force I love them so much

HE IS a bit difficult to get but I think I got him clearer and clearer! Like the way he acts around Emma and Protag in XY is SO much different with how he acts with Anabel and Nanu. He can be fatherly, he can be heroic, he can be serious, and he can have mature adult friendly relationships. Different facets to his character!

I also think about the fucking Detective Steven event in Masters where Looker gets the event wrong for Steven and Shauna to win the game, where I just know Looker is half throwing the competition to let Steven and Shauna have their time in the limelight. He'll laugh and say "oh golly! my mistake!" but the moment Steven says "I could start my own private detective business since I do this so well" Looker is side eyeing him and silently calling him a filthy poser while also smiling. :)

I also think he can be both goofy and "cringy" with romance but insanely romantic too when he needs to be. He can be purposefully charming while also being deemed weird and uncool by others... They can say he's not popular with ladies but then he actually kinda is. And he WILL use other languages he knows, mostly French, to flirt.

He could act like he doesn't know something... Only to be shown that he DOES know something. He is very very aware of his surroundings, but can be mistaken as being oblivious. His thoughts are an enigma... which is why he can come off as spontaneous, too.

and im glad!!! im always glad to hear others enjoy Looker/Anabel :'> my beloveds... their relationship means the world to me. i hope we see that relationship shine again someday, not just standing in the same place or doing work. Their closeness is REAL

[kimbapisnotsushi]

miscellaneous haikyuu hcs that are scattered to the four winds bc i need to de-stress and i haven't done them in a while

tendou uses hair gel but tells goshiki that every morning he sticks a fork in an electrical outlet and that's how he gets his hair to stand up

goshiki, bless his soul, believes him

tsukishima freaks the fuck out when he learns that tenma asked out akiteru not because he's an overprotective brother or has misplaced resentment for the former little giant but because he's the biggest fucking fanboy of tenma's works

"what do you MEAN udai tenma asked you out what do you MEAN you've never read any of his works have you been living under a ROCK - "

this goes on for a whole hour and akiteru basically gets a free lecture of how amazing his little bro thinks his boyfriend is

when kageyama is really missing his grandfather he goes to the park where they used to play volleyball together and that's where he asks kunimi and kindaichi to meet him so they can finally have the proper conversation they needed in middle school

(i think about this hypothetical scene SO MUCH)

shibayama's parents own a cafe/bakery and the team converges there sometimes to hang out and will occasionally lend a hand

they help decorate it for the holidays!!

atsumu: "hey kita-san, i'm really sorry but i think i've caught updog" kita: "are you okay? do you need soup? tea? medicine? you should go home and take a break, i'll have gin send the notes to you, i'll let coach know - " atsumu, crying to the other second years later: "i can't fuckibg do this to him i feel like a momster"

kita DOES know the joke btw akagi did it to him back when they first met

inarizaki vbc is at war with inarizaki student council btw. inarizaki student council has been trying to steal kita for AGES ever since kita saved their asses in his first year from looking like total fools

kawanishi doesn't look like it but he is absolutely willing to fight for shirabu's right to be a snarky piece of shit

semi, exhausted, after stopping the third person that day from curbstomping shirabu: "kawanishi, why" kawanishi: "i like him like that"

sakunami is the most well-adjusted out of all the first years

at least every single one of them has broken some minor trespassing or breaking and entering law to play pokemon go

terushima is the type to try and show off in front of his crush and whenever this happens every single member of johzenji is determined to make him look like as much of a fool as possible

one day he's talking to komaki yuzuru and humble bragging about how oh so brave he was for his piercings and didn't even feel any pain or whatever and all his friends are walking by like

"hey yuuji thanks for singlehandedly lifting my parents' car out of that ditch they crashed into!!" "hey yuuji i heard you rescued twelve orphans from a burning house the other day!!" "wow yuuji i can't believe you steered an airplane after the pilot lost control and saved thousands of people!!" "hey yuuji remember that time you took on a whole gang of robbers and knocked out all of them??"

they are so fucking stupid i love them so much

reon is one of those early risers and tendou WILL throw a pillow at him if he doesn't shut off his alarm within five seconds of it going off

if it's winter and tendou has kicked all his blankets off then reon will carefully tuck him back in before leaving the room, flareon plushy included

reon has the BEST sweatshirt collection btw. they're comfy and have neat designs and everyone ends up wearing one at some point or another.

i love reon guys he deserves so much more love

kogane is a hopeless romantic and has a list titled "dream date spots" in his phone's notes app. there is an addendum at the end of the list in parantheses that says "must actually ask out sakunami first in order to go to dream date spots". kogane hopes to erase that addendum soon.

[mighty-mepoe]

Interesting (All Might) fic finds

Cute/Slice of life fics:

Slightly Cracked by Krisington

Really sweet, a bit bitter at the start.

The more Izuku made friends at UA, the more he realized that All Might was just as friendless as he himself had always been. Despite All Might's insistence otherwise, Izuku found this to be completely unacceptable.

Secret Identity fics:

Yagi-Sensei by Swiftwidget (or also HERE)

<3

A short drabble inspired by a post by alicekaninchenbau on tumblr. An AU in which "All Might" was not hired to teach at U.A. but instead Toshinori Yagi teaches Foundational Hero Studies and no one but Principal Nedzu, Recovery Girl, and Izuku know he is All Might. Toshinori actually does come through the door like a normal person.

Mr Yagi by Swiftwidget

Amazing, makes me smile every time.

Mr. Toshinori Yagi from the Second Secretarial Office: A kind, generous man with an uncanny knowledge about the Might Tower Staff who never hesitated to make their days brighter. At least, that's how they knew him. / Inspired by the Vigilante 006 Beta chapter in which Detective Tsukauchi meets Toshinori Yagi at Might Tower for the first time.

Missing Everything by Haptronym

Izuku misses a very important reveal and ends up with a villain-filled soda bottle instead. In the ensuing chaos, he befriends someone named Toshinori Yagi. All Might misses the chance to make a snap decision and ends up mentoring a very heroic, very determined child who has no idea who he really is.

No Such Thing As a Hopeless Case by Origamidragons

I read this fic ages ago and it has lived rent-free in my brain since then. Dead since 2019, but what is written is worth reading.

The story of how Toshinori Yagi (not All Might, Toshinori Yagi) singlehandedly defeated his archenemy's League of Villains by accidentally adopting them all. Or: Toshinori's gonna redemption arc everybody, just watch him.

GOT THIS POWER THAT IS TAKING ME OUT (shall I go now? you'll like it, you'll be the hero) by canbreathe, debesys (canbreathe)

Heart-warming.

<<"You do not have any kind of teaching qualification, do you Yagi-san?" "I, um," he desperately grabs at straws, "cleaning? I've done. Cleaning.">> All Might, or rather, Yagi Toshinori, becomes a janitor at U.A. It goes much better than expected.

Badass Small Might:

to measure time by sundefeater lou (sundefeater)

Dad Might becomes feral.

Five minutes. Five goddamned minutes. He had just wanted to restock some essential supplies at the nearby konbini while Izuku got some much needed rest with the aid of the last of the cold tablets and a cool compress. Or: Izuku is sick, the villains don't care, and Toshinori has had it up to here with these assholes.

Mr. Yagi by writers_writers

Beginning of manga-Bakugou learns some practical lessons.

With Aizawa still out of commission on the Monday after the USJ attack, the question is, who is going to teach Class 1-A. All might is out recuperating as well and the rest of the teachers are already stretched thin working on the security on top of their own classes. The kids are shaken and on edge from the devastating events the week prior and need someone with a steady hand and a kind voice to get them back to a sense of normality. It's a good thing that All Might's secretary offered to come in for the day just to keep an eye on them.

Yagi-san by soulofdarkandlight

All Might finds a way to be a hero without using his quirk.

When Nedzu asks All Might to retire, he surprisingly agrees. Little does he realize, it's All Might who agreed, not Yagi.

Harmony in War by Quisanne

(Restricted to AO3 users) Dad-Might and Dad-Zawa for your enjoyment. Also some Bakugrowth towards the end. I just love Aizawa's POV.

Aizawa and All Might go on a warpath to raze Aldera Middle School to the ground. A story in which Aizawa is the one smiling at people and All Might is the one intimidating everyone.

Dadmight:

The Best Day by Nicnac

So cute! All fluff with a tiny bit of angst in the predictable place. Worth a thousand reads.

All Might saves Izuku from the slime villain when the boy is only four years old. Things proceed accordingly.

Quirkless Yagi Toshinori:

Thunder by Hayato (TheLennyBunny)

Yagi Toshinori manages to become a quirkless hero in the harsh world of his youth.

This Autor has a whole mountain of amazing fics.

In this universe, he never meets anyone. He sits as an island, isolated, standing with stacks of notebooks and muscles gained from years of self-defense. He tells his middle school counsellor he wants to be a hero, and she laughs in his face.

Angst / Harsh fics (no bad endings):

Statistic by aconstantstateofbladerunner

When victims and bystanders are gaslighted into believing it's their fault, help is difficult to come by.

In a world where All for One was defeated the first time around, new villainous groups are constantly bubbling up just under the surface of society. New crimes need new tactics, so in an effort to flush out an alleged anti-quirkless group, All Might decides to go undercover as Yagi Toshinori, quirkless middle school teacher. But Toshinori hasn't been quirkless in a long time, and he learns the hard way how much things have changed.

Toshishan and Baby 'Zuku (I Know How the World Treat Us) by 18ems_girl

Super-cute! And it has some iteresting character studies.

A de-aging quirk affects Izuku and Toshinori and, while baby Izuku is happy to meet heroes, teen Toshinori is scared because he knows people treat quirkless kids awful.

Humour:

When Monologuing To Your Nemesis Goes Wrong by Ilentari

Crack. Also SPOILERS.

Ugh, he didn’t want to be subjected to this boring monologue anymore. Perhaps this was All For One’s plan? Rant to him until his ears began to bleed? All For One cleared his throat and started back up where he left off, and All Might sighed in irritation. “Why are you like this?” he groaned, wanting the villain to shut up. All For One initially had seemed annoyed by the interruption, but quickly brightened at the question. “I’m glad you asked!” He flourished his hands dramatically. “You see, once upon a time there was a baby born as evil as one could be—” That was stupid. All Might snorted. “Babies aren’t born evil.”

Take My Place on the Witness Stand by Quisanne

Hilarious. (Restricted to AO3 users) I also recomend the rest of the Series.

[Officer] Name, age, current address, and quirk, please, if you would. [Suspect] I'm afraid I can’t tell you most of these things. [Officer] Oh? And why would that be, I wonder? Would it allow us to track you down and find your stash of other stolen IDs? [Suspect] ...It's a matter of national security. [Officer] Yeah sure, and my mother is a late descendant of the Emperor. ----- OR: Yagi Toshinori gets arrested for having All Might's possessions on him and his friends are amazingly incompetent at getting him out. Maybe they're having too much fun with this.

The Torrid Affair of All Might and Yagi Toshinori by Speedwagons_Glorious_Mane

Super-fun.

It's the perfect cover. No one will ever suspect that All Might and Yagi Toshinori are the same person if everyone thinks they're dating.

Healing (literally):

Flashback by Psyckosama

Amazingly self-indulgent. A bit spicy at times. Really well written even if at first it seems it will be a chaotic fic.

On the day Izuku Midoriya was to receive All Might's quirk, the sacred torch of One for All, a young girl glowing with a corona of power runs up to the mentor and student yelling for them to stop as she desperately contains the energy within her. After pleading with Izuku to, impossibly, take One for All from *her*, she lays the weak and crippled Toshinori Yagi's hand upon her sparking horn and All Might is reborn in his prime. But who is this mysterious girl, how did she know the fateful exchange that would be taking place on that isolated beach, and what ominous portents does her appearance that day fortell?

[depressedhouseplant]

🔞 Five Star (Chanlix) 🔞

Synopsis: Chris is a depressed college student. Felix is the hot delivery guy who shows up at his door.

Tags: Unprotected sex (obvs), depression, massages that turn into sex, pet names

A/N: This is literally your classic pizza guy porno trope. Happy Sunday Night!

Chris clicked “place order” on the UberEats app and tossed his phone to the side. He had 10 notifications from his school email that he was ignoring. Half were from his professors. He hadn’t been to class in over 2 weeks. After the fight with his parents at the beginning of the year over changing his major, and surrendering to their desire that he stick with his business major instead of switching to music, he’d barely left his apartment. He’d taken a music theory class as an elective the previous semester and fallen in love. His parents insisted it wasn’t practical and they’d stop paying for his tuition and apartment if he changed his major. So Chris had given up. On all of it.

He’d been awake for at least 24 hours and he couldn’t quite remember the last time he showered. He was singlehandedly keeping the kids who worked for his zip code of UberEats in business. Chris shuffled into the kitchen and pulled a beer out of the fridge. His phone went off right as he sat back down.

Felix is on his way with your order.

“Huh,” Chris mused. That was an unusual name. Of course one of the previous drivers was named Neveah so maybe it wasn’t that unusual. He took a sip of his beer and leaned his head back on the couch. He hated feeling like this, but he wasn’t sure how to fix it. A loud knock made him jump.

“Yeah, hold on!” he grabbed his wallet and opened the door.

“Double cheeseburger extra bacon and large fries and onion rings for Chris?” the delivery guy, apparently named Felix, read off the tag. He was hot. He was really hot. He was lean with blonde hair and freckles dusting his nose and cheeks with what Chris could only describe as the face of a god. The second thing he noticed was he was Korean. Chris only knew one other Korean in the whole school. He couldn’t stop himself from staring.

“Is that right?” Felix asked, prodding Chris for a response.

“Yeah, yeah that’s me. I’m Chris,” he said, fumbling with his wallet for the tip.

“Well, Chris, your arteries might slam shut after this,” Felix smiled.

“Maybe,” he handed Felix a $10 bill. He reached in his pocket to get change.

“No, keep it,” Chris insisted.

“That’s like a 75% tip,” the other boy pointed out.

“I know,” Chris knew he was still staring.

“Are you...okay?” Felix asked. It was the first time anyone had bothered to ask him for the sake of asking. Chris couldn’t stop his eyes from welling up behind his glasses.

“No, no I’m not okay,” he shook his head. He clutched his food bag and tried not to start sobbing in the hallway.

“Hey, whatever it is, it’ll work out,” Felix said.

“It won’t. It really won’t,” tears fell on Chris’s glasses and the bag.

“Can I come in?” the delivery boy with the face of an angel asked.

“Sure,” Chris sniffed.

He carefully took Chris’s elbow and stepped inside, steering them to the couch. The apartment looked like a depressed person lived there. It was a mess with old food containers from previous meals scattered on various surfaces. Felix gently took the bag from him and placed it on the coffee table, shoving trash out of the way to do it.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” he asked.

“It’s my parents,” Chris confessed. “If I don’t stay in the major they want me to stay in then they’ll cut me off. I have to stay the perfect Korean son, you know? I got a B for the first time in my life last semester. I’m lucky I’m smart or I would’ve flunked completely. Of course, now I’m flunking because I haven’t gone to class in weeks. I hate my major so much, though. I’m miserable.”

“What do you want to do?” Felix asked, his voice deep and soothing.

“Music. I took a music theory class last semester and it just...spoke to me. I’m in business right now and it’s awful. It’s boring and my classmates all think they’re gonna be CEOs one day. We’re in Indiana for fuck’s sake,” he looked up after he cussed. “Sorry.”

“No worries,” the other boy smiled. “I’m a delivery guy because my parents didn’t want me giving up a full ride scholarship to Stanford for the dance program here.”

“You dance?” Chris asked. Felix nodded.

“It’s my life. I’m good at other stuff, but dance has my soul. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. They basically disowned me, but I know they’ll get over it when I make it big someday. Then I’ll be the good Korean son,” he smiled.

“So you get it,” Chris took off his glasses and wiped his eyes.

“I definitely get it,” Felix put his hand on top of Chris’s.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be holding you up. You should go,” he said.

“You were my last delivery. It is almost 1am,” Felix told him. Chris looked at his watch. He’d even totally lost track of time.

“Then you should go home. You probably have class…” Chris began.

“Honestly? I hate my roommates and try to stay out of there as much as possible. I’m happy to stay as long as you need someone to sit with you,” Felix replied.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to guilt you into anything,” Chris said.

“I’m the only boy. Guilt has no effect on me anymore,” Felix laughed a little.

“I’m an only child,” Chris said.

“Oh shit, that’s rough,” Felix winced.

“Yeah. I guess guilt still does work on me,” he said.

“Not everyone is as resistant as I am,” the other boy grinned. “You should eat. I’m sure your burger is cold by now.”

“Like I haven’t eaten cold Chinese food for a week,” Chris laughed, but it sounded more like a sob.

“Changed it up, huh?” Felix teased.

“I was getting sick of Kung Pao chicken,” he replied. He opened the bag then looked at Felix. “I’m sorry. I can share.”

“I’ll just have an onion ring. However, I will take a beer if you’ve got any left,” Felix eyed the bottle on the table.

“They’re in the fridge. Help yourself,” Chris replied.

“Thanks,” Felix got his beer then sat back down. Chris had already finished half the fries and onion rings combo.

“Damn, you were hungry,” Felix observed.

“Actually not really. I think I make up for not sleeping by eating,” the other responded.

“How long have you been awake?” he asked. Chris thought for a second.

“Well, I thought it was 24 hours, but if it’s 1am then it’s really more like 27 or 28,” he replied.

“You haven’t slept in 27 or 28 hours?” Felix did a very poor job hiding his surprise. Chris shook his head.

“You need to sleep,” he insisted.

“I can’t. I’ve tried. I end up staring at the ceiling because my brain won’t stop spinning,” Chris sighed. Felix shifted a little in his seat.

“I know I’m a total stranger, but I know a lot of massage techniques so maybe I could give you a massage before I go?” he suggested.

“That would be nice,” Chris replied, dropping his gaze.

“You wouldn’t need to get naked. I can work just fine over clothes,” he was quick to add.

But what if I want to? Chris thought.

“I like that idea,” was what came out instead.

“After you shower then,” he suggested.

“I...don’t remember when’s the last time I took a shower,” Chris blushed.

“Then I guess I’ll just have to drag you in there and make sure you do it,” Felix seemed completely unphased by his statement. He seemed completely unphased by all of it. Chris was sitting there in a shirt that was falling apart and dirty sweatpants. He may or may not have smelled bad. Yet this stranger seemed okay with it. Though Chris supposed he wasn’t a total stranger. Felix understood what it felt like to be the perfect son and the crushing weight that came with it. He wasn’t only gorgeous, he was ballsy.

“You’re staring,” Felix said.

“Oh, sorry,” Chris immediately looked down at his lap again. Felix laughed softly, but it wasn’t hurtful. It was indulgent.

“I’m used to being stared at,” he told him. “Hazard of the profession.”

“Right,” Chris dared to look up.

“And I also know how hot I am,” he smirked. Chris felt his whole body blush. If that was even possible.

“I...you...I didn’t mean to…” Chris stuttered. Felix put his hand on top of Chris’s.

“Hey, I’m not gonna take advantage of you. I can tell you’re not doing well. I just want to help,” he insisted.

“Thank you. I mean, not that I thought you would. I haven’t had a guy like you ever even remotely try to flirt with me,” he replied.

“And what kind of guy am I?” Felix grinned.

“Nice, hot, brave enough to stick it to your parents,” Chris said, averting his eyes again. Felix gently turned his chin back to look at him.

“I have a feeling you’re pretty nice and hot when you aren’t stuck in this vicious cycle,” he said.

“You think so?” Chris was genuinely surprised by the compliment.

“Let’s get you showered and I’ll give you the best massage of your life,” Felix smiled softly.

“Okay,” he nodded. Felix got up and put the leftovers in the fridge. He pulled Chris up off the couch. He was strong for his size. Very strong.

“I’ll take care of you, Chris,” he told Chris when he bumped up against his chest.

“You will?” Chris tightened his grip on Felix’s hands.

“I will,” Felix confirmed.

“Thank you,” Chris whispered.

“You’re welcome. Now let’s get you showered,” he said. Felix started the shower and pulled Chris’s top off over his head. They stared at each other for a moment.

“You can take your shoes off since you’re gonna be here a while,” he said.

“Right,” Felix looked down at his feet. “Don’t go anywhere.”

Chris took the opportunity to take off his sweatpants and underwear and get in the shower. He was closing the curtain when Felix came back.

“You could’ve just told me you wanted to preserve your modesty,” he said. Chris was glad Felix couldn’t see his face.

“You did need to take off your shoes,” he replied.

“Fair enough. Should I get you clean clothes?” Felix asked.

“I’ll be okay with the towel,” Chris thought for a moment.

“Now you’re getting risqué,” the other boy teased, sitting on the closed lid of the toilet. “Make sure you scrub everything.”

This guy really knew how to make him blush. Chris went as quickly as he could while remembering to wash his hair along with everything else. He shut off the water.

“Towel please,” Felix passed it to him without pulling back the curtain. Chris wrapped it around his waist and stepped out. Felix gave him a quick once over.

“Not bad,” he grinned.

“Thank you,” Chris replied quietly.

“Just the truth,” Felix followed him into the bedroom.

“How do you want it? You can put your clothes back on or any level of undress you’re comfortable with,” he said. Chris took a deep breath.

“If I cover myself with only the towel?” he asked.

“I promise I will remain professional. I won’t touch you anywhere you don’t want me to,” Felix told him. Chris knew he was serious.

“Okay,” he nodded.

“Got any lotion?” Felix asked.

“Top drawer,” the other replied as he settled on the bed. Chris hoped Felix would ignore the other 2 things in the drawer. At least for the moment. Felix didn’t say anything as he pulled out the bottle of lotion and settled next to one of Chris’s legs.

“Are your feet ticklish?” he asked.

“No,” Chris shook his head.

“Then I’ll start there,” Felix slowly started massaging Chris’s feet. He had no idea they were that tired and sore when he was barely walking around his apartment.

“Feel good?” Felix asked.

“Yeah, really good,” Chris replied. Felix moved up his calves. “So what year are you?”

“Sophomore. I’m 20,” Chris said, propping his chin up on his folded arms.

“I’m a freshman. Gonna have my 19th birthday next month,” Felix replied. “Damn you’ve got some knots in your calves.”

“You can go harder. If you need to,” Chris told him. Felix leaned more of his weight down on Chris’s legs.

“You’re definitely gonna make me work,” Felix laughed a little.

“You don’t have to,” Chris started.

“I told you I’d do it, so I’m gonna do it,” he slowly worked his way up Chris’s body until he reached the edge of the towel covering his ass.

“What do you want me to do?” he asked.

“Ummm, work on my back first?” Chris suggested.

“Sure,” Felix positioned himself on the back of Chris’s thighs and began working out his tense back muscles. He felt himself relax for the first time in weeks under Felix’s hands.

“Wow,” Felix said.

“What?” Chris asked.

“You’re making some pretty suggestive sounds there,” he grinned.

“I was?” Chris turned to look at him. Felix leaned down so his chest was almost flush with Chris’s back.

“The only time I make a guy sound like that is when I have my cock in his ass and I’m fucking him into the mattress,” he breathed against Chris’s ear.

“Would you...do that to me?” Chris swallowed hard.

“Only if you want me to,” Felix replied. “Though I would’ve thought you’d be a top.” Chris shook his head.

“I am very much a bottom,” he replied. He rolled over under Felix so he was fully exposed, half hard, with a fully clothed Felix straddling him.

“What do you want from me?” Felix asked, not so subtlety eyeing Chris’s dick.

“I want you inside me, but...be gentle…” he stumbled over the words.

“Do you want me to make love to you?” Felix raised an amused eyebrow.

“I hate that term, but yes,” Chris consented.

“I can do that,” Felix pulled off his shirt and tossed it somewhere to the side. He leaned down and carefully kissed Chris. It was like an electric shock when their skin touched. For as much as Felix was trying to be gentle and take it slow, a fire ignited in the cores of their beings. Chris pulled Felix closer, licking into his mouth, holding onto his cheeks.

“I need you, Felix. I need you so much,” he breathed, eyes glossing over with tears again.

“It’s okay. I’m right here,” Felix reassured him, kissing his nose, cheeks, then his lips. “I’m right here.”

Felix managed to sit up long enough to wrestle out of the rest of his clothes and get the condoms and lube. Chris pulled him back down almost immediately.

“I’m gonna take good care of you. Don’t worry, baby,” he cooed as he lubed up his fingers. He teased at Chris’s rim causing his breath to hitch. “Relax, baby. I have to prep you.”

“Okay,” Chris replied. Felix carefully slid one long, thin finger in then another one quickly behind it. He slowly massaged Chris’s sensitive inner walls, feeling him relax under his touch. Once he had 3 fingers in, he began to scissor Chris’s hole open. Chris dropped his head against the pillow and sighed.

“Feel good, baby?” Felix asked.

“Uh huh,” Chris breathed. “It’s been a while.”

“I’ll be gentle until you tell me otherwise,” Felix kissed him slowly, withdrawing his fingers.

“Felix…” Chris whined when he felt empty.

“Don’t worry,” Felix sat up and rolled on the condom ensuring it was generously lubed. Chris didn’t even have to be prompted to spread his legs. Felix pushed into him gently, watching for signs of pain or distress. Chris pulled him down against his chest and wiggled his hips, fully seating Felix inside him. He placed panting kisses on the corners of the other boy’s mouth.

“We’ve got time, baby,” Felix smiled. Chris looked up at him.

“Go deep. I want to feel you in my lungs,” he breathed.

“I don’t think I’m quite that big, but I’ll do my best,” Felix laughed, showing his dimples. He brushed Chris’s bangs back and began grinding his hips hard against Chris’s pelvis. Chris was dying for a connection. Maybe this was the wrong way to go about it, but it felt good. It felt right - having the delivery boy buried balls deep in him. Then Felix brushed his prostate for the first time.

“Fuck!” he grunted.

“Found somewhere good?” Felix teased. Chris nodded. Felix lied down so his entire body was on top of Chris’s and rolled his hips.

“You want me to finish you fast or keep going?” he asked, his face in Chris’s neck.

“Surprise me,” Chris replied, barely above a whisper. Felix kissed him hard, brushing his most sensitive spot with every roll of his hips. Chris whined into his mouth as he felt his orgasm building.

“Stay with me,” he breathed against Chris’s mouth. Felix snapped his hips into Chris two, three times and then Chris came hard between them. Chris was writhing around, smearing come all over both of them. Felix emptied into the condom with a feral growl. Chris dimly registered Felix pulling out and disposing of the condom. He felt him get off the bed then a warm, wet cloth on his chest.

“Gotta clean you up,” Felix smiled at him. “We made a mess.”

“Oh, thanks,” Chris gave him a sleepy smile. Felix carefully cleaned him until he was satisfied then put the washcloth back in the bathroom. He crawled back in bed and Chris wrapped his arms around him. Then Felix started to laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Chris asked.

“This is like a bad porno. You banged the pizza guy only I was delivering a burger instead of pizza,” Felix replied, rolling his head over to look at the other boy. Chris started to laugh too.

“I guess I did,” he grinned.

“The delivery guy is happy to bang you whenever you want,” Felix cuddled up next to him.

“I think I might actually be able to sleep,” Chris yawned.

“Then you’re gonna have to keep me around so I can fuck you to sleep regularly,” Felix kissed him.

“I like that plan,” Chris hugged him.

“Go to sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up,” Felix told him.

“Thank you,” Chris felt the weight of those words deep in his chest.

“You’re welcome,” Felix smiled. “Now sleep.”

Chris rolled over with Felix cuddled behind him and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. This was good. This was very good.

[rorybluez]

The EU French dub of "How Bad Can I Be?" got me in a chokehold so here's a rant-review of it

This is a collab with @etsulovesonceler :3 Absolutely do read their analysis on the DANISH 'How Bad Can I Be?' dub, it's bloody amazing

'C'EST MAL MAIS TANT PIS' aka 'I know it's bad, but f*ck it'

French dub was the first one I listened to with legitimate fascination and interest, so naturally it became my fave. I love how ENERGETIC and upbeat it is. It has the same effect as the Eng "how b-A-A-A-A-d can i be": it's catchy, flows and rhymes nicely and is impossible not to sing along to. You could've told me French was THE original version and honestly I would have believed you with ease, simply because it's SO DAMN WELL DONE.

Singer is a 10/10 for great vocals (obviously) and his acting towards the end of the song: he nails Once-ler's gradual descent into an arrogant, daring, untrustworthy and prideful character. Well, a lot of dubs did brilliantly on this part, but French one's full awareness of what he's doing makes him unique in my eyes. The way he sings out "Et c'est tellement GRATIFIANT" with so much DELIGHT, like he's truly relishing in his success is TASTY. Not giving two shits about the "bad" part at all, but it's The Once-ler, so it's a given I suppose.

SPEAKING OF, LEMME TELL YOU, FRENCH TRANSLATORS ABSOLUTELY COOKED HERE. Whoever wrote the lyrics, they must've been related to the creation of "Biggering" somehow or at the very least were big fans. Premise of his entire song is "I know DAMN well it's bad, but I couldn't care less tbh" The whole perspective is different now and stays somewhat true to "Biggering"s message. Rather drastic change from the original: bolder, blunter, harsher, honest, more ruthless and got a hella serious tone. Sure, he triES to excuse himself with "I don't know what has come over me" and "This is the life the fate chose for me" lines but…yeah, they're of little help, if any.

Some may argue that Once realizing his wrongdoings so early on in the song takes away from the impact "The Last Tree" had on him in the end, but if anything, I believe it gives him complexity. It's all about big talk, justifications and seeming indifferent until he actually HAS to face the consequences of his major fuck-up. The "Well too bad, could be worse for all I care" to "well damn, i should've cared" pipeline is real, which ultimately prompts him to say "actually, DO care. Care a whole awful lot" to Ted as his final message.

This dub singlehandedly added several layers to Once-ler's character with THIS LYRICAL DECISION ALONE and it's one of the many reasons why I adore it so much.

Besides, c'mon guys French is hot. Once speaking french? Attractive, next question.

European French lyrics and translation: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/how-bad-can-i-be-quel-point-puis-je-etre-mauvai.html-0

[lockdaisy]

How Resident Evil 4 Remake Makes it More Explicit that Leon’s Life SUCKS

While Resident Evil 4 Remake's new introduction insinuates it, supplemental material makes it explicitly clear that the ONLY reason Leon joined the government as a special agent after the events of RE2 was because they threatened to MURDER Sherry, a little girl, if he refused to work for them. In other words, Leon gave up his freedom for Sherry's safety. Actually, to put it even more bluntly, it means that the US government essentially enslaved Leon, who was already severely traumatized by the events of Raccoon City, and forced him to continuously re-traumatize himself over and over again by forcing him to undergo brutal training and throw himself into life-threatening missions where he endlessly has to fight against bioterrorist monstrosities

(I’ll add the rest under a read more to avoid cluttering the tag)

This fact adds a lot of tragic irony to the story and a lot of tragic elements to Leon's character as a whole. First, Leon, who the government enslaved into working for them by threatening a girl he viewed as his daughter figure, was assigned to rescue Ashley, the daughter of the president of the US government, and I can barely believe that the government had the temerity to give Leon that mission in light of his circumstances

Second, it makes the scene where Ashley, inspired by Leon, excitedly talks about her desire to become an agent "just like Leon" and go on missions "protecting the US from any and all threats" take a far more tragically ironic, painful turn since, unbeknownst to her, Leon very much did not willingly join the government, and she's talking about protecting the very government that enslaved her savior

Third, it really highlights Leon's inherent kindness. Although you could argue that Leon had no choice but to save Ashley, there was nothing that forced him to be kind to her. Even though Leon has all the reason in the world to hate her, since she's the daughter of one of the men who enslaved him, he nevertheless was nothing but kind, patient, and selfless to her, which emphasizes the intrinsic goodness of Leon's character

Fourth, it really makes RE4's ending a lot more bittersweet and Leon's character a lot more tragic. Considering the fact that Leon singlehandedly rescued the President's daughter, you'd think that that would've been enough for the government to grant Leon and Sherry their freedom, right? You'd think that President Graham, who must have known about Leon's circumstances and who is completely beholden to him for saving his daughter's life and preventing a huge bioterrorist catastrophe in the United States, would set Leon and Sherry free, right? Wrong. From what we saw in the other games and movies, Leon is still enslaved. In fact, in RE6, it was even made clear that they not only refused to grant Leon and Sherry their freedom, but that they didn't even allow Leon to watch Sherry, the girl he sacrificed his freedom for, grow up, and they put him and Sherry under the control of the legitimately monstrous Derek Simmons. So even though Leon sacrificed his freedom for Sherry, just because Simmons hated him due to the fact that he thought that he was “stealing” Ada from him, he was basically NEVER allowed to visit Sherry. And since RE6 made it clear that Leon became highly suicidal and that the only reason that he forced himself to stay alive was to protect Sherry, it really just makes Leon's life all the more tragic. He saved the President's daughter, he saved the world, again and again, but nobody will ever save him, and he will forever remain enslaved by the U.S. government

And... overall while I love the fact that they did imply it, since they never even did that much in the original RE4, I do wish that the game made it more explicitly clear that Leon was forced to work for the government against his will because 1) it adds a really fascinating element to Leon's character since he is the only member of the cast who was essentially enslaved in the fight against bioterrorism, 2) it would have really strengthened the parallels between Leon and Krauser since it would make it more clear that the US government screwed them both over in their own ways, and 3) it really explains Leon's grumpier, more cynical attitude in the game

I also think it's strange that Capcom goes back and forth between acknowledging and ignoring this part of Leon's character and lore, and I think it's kind of sad since it distorts the perception of Leon's character as a whole in the fandom. For example, in Infinite Darkness, it can basically be argued that the reason why Leon did what he did at the end was because he CAN’T go against the government's wishes without endangering Sherry's life. (And I’m not blaming Claire for being mad at him, either, since there’s a good chance that he kept the fact that they’re holding Sherry’s life over his head a secret from her in order to protect her from being targeted by the government). Instead, because Capcom doesn't really focus on his circumstances, it just makes it look like he's a government shill

It’s just... so tragic. Unlike Jill, Chris, and Claire, Leon literally had no choice in his career against bioterrorism. He didn’t become a special agent of his own volition; he was enslaved. And the only reason Claire didn’t end up in the exact same circumstances was because Leon, knowing that she still needed to find her brother Chris, encouraged her to go look for him, promising that it would be ok for her to do so since he would look after Sherry. And because of that, Claire left before she could get captured by the government like Leon and Sherry did, and so she got to have her freedom. And the only reason why Leon is still enslaved to this very day is because he cares about Sherry’s safety so much that he was willing to sacrifice his freedom for her. In other words, Leon ended up suffering because of his kindness. He was punished for being kind

And despite all that, even though his kindness directly contributes to his suffering, Leon still chooses to be kind and selfless anyway, and that’s just so... 

I love him

[merakiui]

I've finally managed to catch up to TMDG! I can’t properly express how everything was perfect from the beginning to the end. You singlehandedly raised the bar so high. Your Fic got me kicking my feet into air and giggling like a high school girl in love. I had to take multiple breaks to let the information in. And JADE, omg jade! the balance between his calculativeness, sly personality, and his romantic softness was on point! You nailed it! This is how i imagine he would be like if he genuinely had feelings for someone. All the details and subtle hints that you added were a nice bonus!

In fact, especially because of the details and subtle hints, I have read the fic twice now to make sure I didn't miss anything the first time I read it! I did notice quite a few things that i didn't notice the first time, and i'm surprised no one asked about this yet. But there was this one scene that made me go ":00". It's not about Jade nor floyd. Nope, it's actually Ace! 

This scene in particular: "Giggling, you throw yourself into the booth and wrap your arms around Ace to smother him in friendly affection. He fights it halfheartedly, his cheeks flushed pink." and the fact that Ace was the first to ask if there's something going on with you and Jade?! Am I reading too much into this? But does Ace have a crush on the reader?!

Also, i wondered if you had other endings in mind for TMDG? What if Floyd did, in fact, return the reader's feelings? That would mean all the practising on Jade was worth it in the end, and they'll get their happily ever after, but then would have become of jade? Or what if Jade knocked up the reader in the old Merfolk way with eggs? What will be become of the reader once she realises she's pregnant? or if she knew that Jade was the one in the bedroom with her? Assfgjk@£^&asfhjk@#£^ I'm so invested into this fic! Once again, i absolutely adore TMDG! ♡

-🌸

Hiii, 🌸 anon!!!!! >w< omg thank you so much for the kind compliments!!! I'm happy you enjoyed tmdg as well as Jade's characterization!! I think there's so much romance in subtlety, especially when it comes to Jade. He says so much without speaking sometimes. <3 aaaaa I loved writing him when he's soft and sweet with this underlying calculative edge!!

As for your observations regarding Ace, you're correct!! It's implied he has feelings for Reader. >:D Jade suspects it as well, evidenced by these instances where it looks like he's almost trying to expose Ace's crush to you (or at least make you aware of it):

I'm sorry, Ace. Jade isn't going to let you have Reader. >_< your chances of having anything more than a friendship with her are nonexistent. orz

Oooo alternative endings!!!! I actually did consider going the eggs route. I was going to write Jade with two dicks in his mer form, but I disregarded the idea after some thought. Although a route with eggs would have been fun to write about! I like to imagine in the unofficial sequel Jade will continue to be his charming, sly self and you'll continue to enjoy your fwb relationship. Jade's goal would be to slowly but surely snuff your affections for Floyd so that he can inhabit the empty space in your heart. And if you start to fall for him, perhaps you won't be so upset when you finally learn he's the one responsible for getting you pregnant. By then, he hopes you'll be happy. You won't have to know about that day in the dorm room. After all, what you don't know can't hurt you. :)