#it's all set in a special bit of history that never actually happened but does contain any and all ye olde things i want to shove in there

[nostalgia-tblr]

have just typed the word "affianced" into a fic, i am so glad/horrified that the mcu has at last allowed me to write the messy faux-historical fiction of my dreams.

[captainmera]

i never realised just how much tgb had changed how i thought about the characters (mostly vee) until yesterday when i was re-looking over my toh fan-art. You wrote them so well that i forgot that it wasnt all in the show. like how vee and gus weren't shown to being best friends, vee never got to be angry/shocked by hunter or just willow still holding a little grudge against amity. They are just cool details and im so clad they were added! ps your great

Thank you! Wow that's very flattering! I'm glad you are enjoying it!

I really like Vee, and the more I think about the gang's time in the human-realm, the more I sit back in my chair and think "Ah man, these arcs are really necessary and interesting though.."

Vee also holds a lot of plot, as a basilisk. We can speculate what the reason is that they were extinct, for example (grimwalkers were extinct too).

Wat I really enjoy about TOH's characters are how easily and smoothly they weave into each other's themes and arcs. Their personalities and histories makes them all perfect friends to both build them up and break them down. It's a chefs kiss.

Vee is no different! The set-up for her character was perfectly slotted in to what the other characters needed for their time in the human-realm. And the theme I think the human-realm was supposed to embody.

The demon-realm arc for Luz was a hero's journey, but because of the foil of the trope, and that the point was that: there is no hero/chosen one actually, and the rebels didn't make it in time like in the books, and just because it's a different realm it didn't mean Luz could escape - escapism is temporary.

Dana has said grief and hope are core elements of the story, and she chose to tell it through a foiled trope of being chosen/hero's journey, layered with a religious trauma lens.

To me, looking at Luz as the main character, means looking at her as a nerdy girl in need of escapism, wanting to find purpose, and avoiding her emotions about her dad's passing.

The return to human-realm would be, for Luz, a turning point where TOH turns from being about a hero's journey and a journey about the steps of grief and healing - at the end of it, she will find the light.

Vee, to me, is kind of like a new take on the guide character. She is not a guide, in the sense that she has all the answers, but rather all the truths.

She was right when she told Luz she had everything and still chose to run away. They're not the same. Vee is also a lot better than Luz at being normal and fitting in, something Luz has been playing off and avoiding facing. Luz sees herself as being different as a bad thing, she tried to run away to a place where "weird" was normal and that didn't work out. Now she's back home and feels that it's all her fault bad things happened, because she is herself. And the person she is is different. And different didn't mean special, just different. Of course she's depressed.

The same is true for all the other characters. Vee gets to reflect their truths too, simply by being crafted, narratively, into being the guide.

Hunter gets to face his actions as the GG, come to terms with the nuances of his bad actions, whatever reason he committed what he did. Find forgiveness not just from Vee but himself too. He gets to start over, just like her. She shows him it's possible.

Gus gets someone to share his dream with, his love and enthusiasm for the human realm. A place that Vee feels is more home than where she came from. Gus gets to grow as a person, both morally and intelligently. As does Vee, she gets somebody who shows her that she doesn't just have to be a refugee, she can have a purpose here. She can be an ambassador.

Willow was set up to have an arc where she mistook her newfound magical and physical strengths (she is working out a lot in canon after she changed track), for inner strengths. Willow is a sensitive girl, and a bit of a berserk (I mean she was willing to burn her own mind just to hurt Amity). Willow having to face Vee, who isn't physically stronger than her but is significantly further down the road of being internally strong, is something Willow can learn from. Perhaps even have conflict with! (but more so a conflict with herself than with Vee, really.)

With Amity, Vee has a simpler role. I think to Amity it's more so showing that it's possible to live in the human realm, and giving her hope that going back and forth is a future for everyone who wishes to do so. Creatively speaking, I think Amity and Vee more so to bounce off one another for the plot, rather than character growth or decline.

Camila, I think, is the most interesting. Because she has now spent approximately a year with Vee, half of it thinking she was Luz and having feelings about her daughter having changed so much, the line "I'm glad youre still creative" comes to mind. As well as the terror of losing Luz again. But also, because she has had her own unseen arc and development with Vee, and them having bonded into a foster family that we never got to see glimpses of, it goes without saying that Camila has already done the internal work to take on more kids if that's necessary. I think she saw these kids by her door and thought "yep. They're mine now too." Vee, I think, is interesting to toss into the family dynamic between Luz and Camila, who seemingly are misunderstanding one another significantly. Vee sees them both, and can be a voice of reason when it comes to it. Or if it would come to it.

ANYWAY MY RANTS ARE LONG. IM DONE. THANKS FOR READING.

[sirfrogsworth]

Frogman's Camera Buying Guide

A few weeks ago someone asked if I could recommend an interchangeable lens camera (ILC) to supplement their smartphone photos and hopefully get better pictures of important things like vacations and pets.

I decided to go very extra with my response and due to that... I'm still not finished with it.

I'm worried I am letting this person down because they did not ask for a giant post explaining every detail about cameras in the history of forever.

So I am going to do a camera recommendation post without as much explanation and hopefully I can finish the giant post at some point in the near future.

If you want to take better pictures you are probably going to need a camera with a decent sized sensor, a fast lens, a tripod, and a flash.

The bigger sensor gives you more dynamic range so you can capture brighter and darker things in the photo.

A fast lens has a giant hole in the front that lets in a ton of light. That hole is called the aperture and the bigger it is, the better your photos in dark environments will be. So you will want something that does f/1.8 or f/1.4 (lower f-stop number = bigger hole = more light). This can also help you get a lot of cool background blur.

A tripod will help get you longer exposures without any blur from camera shake. Especially good for landscape photos.

And a flash is for taking photos of pets and other moving subjects when you are indoors and don't have a lot of light. A flash is an absolute game changer for indoor photos.

HOWEVER, never point it directly at your subject.

Point it at a large white ceiling or wall. The flash happens so fast that it freezes motion. It is how I got all of my indoor photos of Otis.

Here he was playing and being rambunctious and he is not blurry.

I used no special settings. I just stuck on a flash and pointed it at the ceiling and suddenly sheep are sticking to things.

Oh, and one other huge benefit of using a flash... you can take much better photos of pets with dark fur. So if you have a cute little void in your home, a flash can help you capture detail in their fur.

Just lift the shadow slider in your image editor and that beautiful fur will reveal itself.

If you get an ETTL or TTL flash, it will output the correct amount of light automatically. You can literally just put your camera in automatic mode, aim the flash at the ceiling, and press the shutter button.

Before I talk about recommendations I want to make one thing very clear.

GETTING A GIANT CAMERA WILL NOT AUTOMATICALLY GIVE YOU BETTER PHOTOS.

Aside from my flash aimed at the ceiling trick, a big boy camera is not a magic solution for better photos. In some cases, you might actually get *worse* photos than your smartphone. You need to learn the basic fundamentals of photography and you also need to learn some basic photo editing skills.

Smartphones employ powerful algorithms and computational processes to make every photo you take look as good as possible.

ILCs say, "Here is your RAW data, you figure out the rest."

You don't have to become an expert, but if you watch this free 6 hour photography course, that will ensure you have the knowledge needed to improve your photos.

Okay, let's get into the nitty gritty of buying a nice new old ILC.

If you are on a tight budget and cannot afford a fancy mirrorless camera, I would highly suggest a used DSLR. You can get them for very reasonable prices. And unlike just about every other modern technological gadget, cameras and lenses are built to last for decades. So I have no qualms about recommending used photography gear.

However, I do highly recommend using either KEH or MPB, as they have a long trial period and decent customer service. If something goes awry with your used gear, KEH has a 180 day warranty and MPB has a 6 month warranty. So there is much less of a risk than eBay or Facebook Marketplace. You pay a bit of overhead, but the piece of mind is worth it.

Before I start my recommendations I want to quickly explain the difference between APS-C and Full Frame camera bodies. (For brevity's sake I am going to omit Micro Four Thirds bodies as they are not typically geared toward beginner photography.)

APS-C has a "crop" sensor. It is a bit smaller than full frame and does not perform as well in low light (more noise). However these bodies are cheaper and can still produce great photos. You can see above the sensor is still significantly larger than a smartphone. APS-C adds a 1.5x zoom to all lenses. This can be annoying in small spaces but advantageous for outdoor photography like wildlife and sports. You can use full frame lenses on a crop sensor body (within the same brand). APS-C lenses are usually cheaper but of lower quality.

Full frame has a larger sensor that will give you less noise in low light. It is also much easier to get background blur. Full frame also allows you to work in more cramped spaces. You *cannot* use APS-C lenses on a full frame body. However, the lenses meant for full frame cameras tend to be better quality in general.

If you can save up a little more and get a full frame body, I would recommend it. These bodies used to be geared more toward professional use, but since mirrorless cameras became popular, used full frame DSLRs have become much more accessible to those on a budget. Full frame cameras make it easier to get better results in challenging circumstances. And challenging conditions are really the main area where ILCs still kick a smartphone's ass.

For tight budgets I would recommend the following...

Canon or Nikon APS-C DSLR camera body

50mm f/1.8 lens (Nifty Fifty)

18-55mm APS-C lens (good for landscapes and portraits)

Yongnuo ETTL Flash

There are lenses called "superzooms" which can go from (as an example) 18-200mm or 70-300mm and other crazy focal lengths. That sounds fantastic and very versatile... but these are usually utter shite. You may be tempted to get one of these lenses hoping it can do everything you need, but there are no free lunches in lens land. Unless you are spending many thousands of dollars, the wider the focal range, the worse the lens will be.

When you stick to the 18-55mm range, you can be assured the images will be decent. And if you find yourself really needing a telephoto lens, you can save up and add it to your collection later on. The 18-55 will give you wide angle for landscapes all the way to slightly telephoto for portraits and moderately close wildlife. This lens cannot be used indoors or at night without a flash. Which is why I recommend the Nifty Fifty for that purpose. $100 for a moderately sharp low light lens is a no brainer.

Also, stick to Canon, Nikon, Sigma, or Tamron lenses. You can try exotic 3rd party lens brands when you know more what you are doing. And always make sure the lens has autofocus before buying.

It's hard to give you exact recommendations as used items are not reliably in stock. So I'm going to show you an example of the above, but I am not necessarily saying you should buy this *exact* combination. You might be able to get something similar with Nikon as well.

Canon 60D APS-C DSLR

50mm f/1.8 lens

Canon 18-55mm APS-C lens (EF-S mount)

Yongnuo TTL Flash

(I wouldn't recommend getting a used flash, as the Yongnuo is already a great price and you can't know if someone used the flash 100,000 times or 20 times.)

Altogether that is about $500. You can start with the 60D and the 50mm Nifty Fifty for $330 and add on the other two items later on.

My recommended full frame setup...

Full frame Canon or Nikon DSLR body

50mm f/1.8 lens (same as before)

24-70mm full frame zoom lens (full frame equivalent to 18-55mm)

ETTL Yongnuo flash (same as before)

And an example from KEH might be...

Canon 6D Full Frame DSLR

Canon 50mm f/1.8 Lens

Sigma 24-70mm Full Frame Zoom lens (EF mount)

Yonguo ETTL Flash

And that would be about $800 total.

Again, you can start with just the camera and 50mm lens and add the other items later. So invest $500 initially and go from there.

And just to give a Nikon example as well...

Nikon D600 Full Frame DSLR

Nikon 50mm f/1.8 Lens

Tamron 24-70mm

Yonguo ETTL Flash (Nikon version)

I highly recommend researching any camera body and lens before purchase. I can vouch for the items above, but you should definitely check out some YouTube videos before buying.

All of the stuff on KEH and MBP is marked down in price for aesthetic reasons. They do test everything to make sure it is functional. If you care if the camera or lens looks pristine, it will cost a little extra. But if you don't mind if it is beat to hell, you can save some money. Ugly or not, you will get the same photos out of the gear. As I said, photography stuff is built to last for a long time. Almost all repairs are due to user damage and not defects. And usually defects manifest when the product is brand new.

Oh, I forgot about the tripod!

Amazon's $35 tripod is surprisingly decent. It even got a good review on a very picky tripod review site. I recommend starting with this and then upgrading when you know more what you need out of a tripod.

Amazon 60 inch Tripod

I worry I'm leaving out a lot of important information, but hopefully I can expand in the other post I am working on.

That said, if anyone is thinking of buying a camera and you are not sure about the items you selected, please feel free to message me and I will help you assess your choices. Please make sure you include a budget range when asking for buying advice.

I hope that helps. I will try to finish the more in depth post soon. And it will include tips for how to get better photos from your smartphone if you cannot afford an ILC at the moment.

Further resources...

Recipe for Landscape Photos Froggie's Encyclopedia of Lens Terms

[mewmeomei]

streamer!twst : heartslabyul (platonic ver.) edition !!

romantic ver here!

heartslabyul , savanaclaw , octavinelle , scarabia , pomefiore , ignihyde , diasomnia + bonus

a/n : hellor mei here and i hope u enjoy this.. i (probably) had fun writing this soo!! please have fun reading it too (⁠.⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.⁠) also i got a bit lazy after caters part sorrg ☹️

desc: what if they stream?? and what if you're their friend??

characters: riddle rosehearts, trey clover, cater diamond, ace trappola, deuce spade

(gn! reader)

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

riddle rosehearts !

he's definitely an educational streamer

and he got a set up that looks like a classroom

a big ass whiteboard, a desk and a lot of tools

he teaches math & history from middle school to highschool

people calls his streams "cute tutor bf roleplay" 💀

(^hes unaware btw)

he has all the stuff prepared before streaming, like the whole stream schedule is so organized it's kinda scary 😭

at the end of each stream, he asks the viewers is there any questions, his face gets super close to the camera to see the chat better

like this v

stands there in silence as well 💀

the first time he did this he went viral on the internet for like a week

the people who watches his streams are either 1. actual people who wants to learn/study their maths and history 2. they just think hes cute (90% of them are in this category) or 3. his friends

he occasionally has special guests on, usually trey or chenya

he actually never planned to have special guests on his streams like ever but they crash his streams quite.. often

like

"alright, now at page 78-" "hey riddle (at the window)" "AHHHHHHHHHGGHHHHHHHH"

it makes the stream more entertaining

trey and chenya acts like his students and interrupts his lesson every 10 minutes asking questions

the viewers can see riddle getting redder each question

once he got so red he got compared to bob the tomato from veggie tales

has never fully lashed out on live cuz.. embarrassing

off stream tho

chenya and trey goes temporary deaf right after

he also sometimes show off some harmless spells on live and everyone loves it (this totally happens)

with (name) !

(name) is his stream mod

he doesn't have too many viewers so it's easier to manage

and plus (name) is probably his sanest friend with a lot of free time

so he asked them to be his mod

tgt at day 1 ‼️‼️‼️

they watched his channel grow, from 1 to 100k followers in a year

yeah it was impressive

they felt like a proud parent fr

(name) jst interacts with the chat and helps him fix up a few things most streams

some questionable donations and messages pop up from his viewers from time to time and (name), who was scared of riddle going 🍅🍅🍅🍅💥💥💥💥💥💥, IMMEDIATELY blocks them

like you see it for like a second, blinks, then that message is gone

it felt like it was just an illusion

once (name) fell asleep during a stream and a very, VERY questionable donation came and riddle saw it

"xxx donated 10$!: haha how big are you"

riddle started scolding the viewer and it got heated

riddle gets louder each sentence he says, the viewer responds quicker each time

eventually (name) woke up from a half-yelling riddle and realizes what was going on

they had to block the viewer, call riddle during the livestream and attempt to calm him down

ppl forgot what happened immediately and the chat is full of "omg mod voice reveal!!??1!2!???!!!!"

riddle calmed down after a minute, he then apologized to his viewers

off stream, (name) called him again and apologized for falling asleep and not blocking them immediately, they of course got an earful from riddle but he forgave them anyways

"it's alright, just dont let it happen next time. how about we go to trey's to get some pastries? take it as an apology from me."

trey clover !

i think we can all agree he does cooking/baking streams LMAO

he def bakes/cooks while chatting with the viewers

he has a hand cam + face cam

he explains what he's doing at the moment, because he knows some people bake/cook with him

^he also provides the recipe a day before the stream starts

his followers are probably mostly older women and thirsty teens

sometimes he invites cater, chenya or riddle on his channel as guests

he rarely interacts with the chat if they ever collab since, he fears that the three will burn his kitchen down 💀

ESPECIALLY riddle

they probably had a bag of flour explode on them before

trey asked riddle to open the flour (big ass mistake i say.. 😥)

the bag was weirdly tight, riddle couldn't open it with his weak arms

he got frustrated, then he pulled it with all his might-

POOF!

the bag exploded 💀

trey and riddle are now covered in flour

they just stared at eachother as riddle very awkwardly sets the bag on the kitchen island

the chat kept laughing at them as they stare at the flour

so they decided to just pour the remaining flour in the batter

at the end of the stream, while trey is showing off the pastry they made, all the viewers could focus on is the very..

floury background (wow im such an english genius)

they had a blast cleaning the kitchen after 😍🫶

he also sometimes plays games with cater

its usually when a new horror game comes out and its trending

he usually doesn't jump at the jumpscares but one time he got scared so bad he screamed bloody murder

it got clipped and it just became a meme

cater kept bringing it up whenever they talk to torture trey

(hes super embarrassed lmfaoooo)

with (name)!

(name) is another frequent guest on his streams

they're friends with trey before he started streaming

trey could still interact with chat often if the special guest that day is (name) since they at least wont destroy his kitchen 💀

chat LOVES them

chat thinks they're sweet

sometimes a little QnA happens and (name) just leans on the island as they answer each and every question

cue trey doing all the work in the back LMAO

during a stream where trey's baking a cake for his own birthday, (name) and the other three (cater, chenya and riddle) snuck in his house with a plate of cream in their hands

just as trey was waiting for the cake to bake, they all barged in and threw it on him

BUT because (name) charged towards him first, and the other three decided to throw it, they also got slapped with the cream

it also got on trey's cameras 😭

chat actually got jumpscared when they barged in wwwww

they all end up laughing anyways

"geez, it also got on my camera! haha, why don't you clean my kitchen for me later, (name)?"

cater diamond !

he probably does almost every kinds of streams

makeup, gaming, just chats, karaoke etc.

he usually does just chats

he responds to almost like, everything chat says to him 💀

he probably tried doing an asmr stream before

fails the first few seconds and then just decided its gonna be a mukbang stream instead 😒

his stream titles probably all starts with "cay-cays blablabla"

he often has guests on his channel

like everytime it's a new person

they always look like they're being held hostage

sry just felt the need to draw that 🥺🙈

he gets sponsors often

probably has like 1m followers

he streams often and is actually entertaining

on his gaming streams he plays at least 2 games

so it's like 4 hours long if he decides to do a gaming stream that day 💀

he probably plays roblox horror games often 💀

and those shit itch.io/steam indie horror games

after getting jumpscared by those games he SCREAMS with an echo and then bursts out laughing

why do i feel like he will accidentally say something problematic and offensive on stream then immediately end the stream

and runs on magicam and types out a long ass apology the second he ends the stream

he's suddenly sonic the hedgehog 😰

on halloween he probably does a makeup stream before starting a gaming stream

just so he can play horror games in his halloween costume at like 3am

speaking of 3am

i think he may or may not did THOSE types of 3am videos 💀

not stream related but 😭

cay-cay tries the AMONG US potion at 3AM and turns into THE IMPOSTER‼️‼️😱 (REAL)

with (name)!

a friend of his that appears on his stream pretty often

either in person or online

if they are his special guest that day they'll either play roblox/multiplayer games or do some indoor activities

in horror games cater always forces them to walk in front of him

but somehow he always gets jumpscared/killed first 💀

they will go in a laughing session for 3 minutes 💀

in person streams with (name) is even more chaotic

once cater was doing a pranky pranky on (name) 🤪

he finally got permission from them to do their make up

he lied to them saying that he's gonna do vkei make up on them

oh yeah and chat doesn't know he's pranking them AND (name)

everything seemed to be going fine until he pulled out the green makeup palette

"..uh cater i dont think the vkei make up you're doing for me needs green?" "oh yeah that picture is just for reference~ im adding some stuff ! 🥰🥰"

then he painted their entire face green

the chat saw what (name) looks like and is going WILD

cater gave them the mirror trying so hard to not laugh that he's basically vibrating

"cater i dont look like mana sama" "y-you do look like mana sama.." "i look like shrek cater"

he started to cry laughing as he tries to take a photo

(name) just looks at him in disbelief while getting closer to the camera

they started whispering things that will get his account banned

and he did get banned for a month🥰

and it got harder to try and get (name) to do in person streams w him

"im sorryyy (name)!!! i promise i won't pull a shrek prank on you again~ please come back on my channel? chat misses you!!"

ace trappola !

gaming streamer.

he streams fortnite and valorant.

he also plays often with deuce

he totally has a smp server w deuce

i know almost nothing about valorant and fortnite so i cant say anything about who he mains 😞

he probably curses the fuck out of his teammates and gets banned like every month cuz of his super offensive words 💀

he's that type of streamer who's extremely problematic but you still want to watch him bc he's also super entertaining 😒

his smp streams are the most popular

he argues with deuce often because he kept taking deuces diamonds

"I FINALLY FOUND ONE WHY DID YOU TAKE IT" "geez i just need it for my sword and i only took some" "ITS THE FIFTH TIME THIS MONTH ACE GIVNEITBEBEJFIFRI"

he surprisingly has a lot of followers

ugh

half of the reason why he's popular because of clips of him raging bc he lost to children on roblox "longest answers wins"

everytime he loses he opens voice chat and starts yelling at the children

some kids talk back to him so it's just..

stupid 🧍

its either he got so mad and left the game or he curses the kid out of the game

he once rage quitted so HARD he slammed his keyboard that it broke and even slightly cracked his monitor 💀

i feel like he'd get so mad if he loses to a girl in a game of valorant

no...NO...NO!!!!!!!! i-i lost to a FEMALE 🤢🤢!!! DISGUSTING!!!! -ace trappola

probably got edited into a sad edit audio before

he reacted to almost every video under the audio, made fun of them, then got sick of his own voice 🧍

everytime he plays a horror game he goes "oh i wont scream only pussies screams im a man"

first minor jumpscare he hit a high note

he kept trying to convince chat he did not get scared and became ariana grande for a split second

he just gives up trying to convince everyone he didnt scream after the tenth jumpscare

with (name)!

they met through deuce

became pretty good friends after playing a few games together

ended up joining his and deuces smp server

and started to show up on his stream sometimes

everytime the three of them plays together they had to babysit adeuce

because of that chat just started calling ace "baby ace"

he doesn't appreciate that

so he stopped arguing with deuce too often and (name) is finally relieved

once he decided to do a crafting stream cuz (name)s visiting in person

they were making 5 minutes crafts products.

everything was tested on ace

chat has took multiple screenshots of him wearing those stupid stuff

(name) has changed their every social media profile into a screenshot of ace wearing a stupid 5 minutes crafts product

he's starting to find it kinda funny now

"hey, (name). change your profile picture... it's getting so ridiculous im starting to find myself funny."

deuce spade !

he does bike streams!

he puts a monitor on his helmet everytime he goes out on a ride on his blastcycle and streams them

occasionally has someone behind him and it's either ace or epel

with epel the stream is very nice since their conversation is really wholesome

and if it's with ace..

well uh

ace would scream, deuce would scream back

and it becomes a bass booted stream of two guys screaming at each other

also when deuce turns back while arguing with ace all the chat can see is

new ace_trappola meme

as stated in ace's part he also does gaming streams

the smp streams with ace and sometimes aiming games

he goes on cater's stream sometimes

probably got dressed up as a magical girl once in cater's stream

just that alone got him LOTS of followers

his chat are so nice too

they love him, he loves them

he really appreciates his chat

actually gets a lot of fan mails 🤧

he has like 26 streams of him unboxing fan mails

probably got emotional once while unboxing and cried

got the whole chat panicking 😭

overall a wholesome biker guy that streams 🥰

with (name)!

appears in most of his chat/game streams

in the smp streams they usually exchange super valuable stuff in private

their houses in minecraft are connected while ace's is isolated

chat finds their friendship absolutely adorable

in one of their streams, where (name) went to his house, they decided to watch those brain riddle videos (specifically the ones from bright side)

it's just a dumb & dumber combo trying to solve the riddles

when they actually got one right (which is the last one) they got so happy and (name) just straight up tackled deuce to the ground

deuce hit his head very hard on the ground and his earphones snapped 💀

he uh

fainted for a bit 💀

(name) thought they committed a murder and BEGGED the chat to not report this to the police..

he woke up after like 10 seconds 💥

they just sat there for a minute staring at the camera with the broken earphones on the table 💀

then they ended the stream, after a day that clip of (name) tackling deuce and deuce fainting went viral 💀

well they basically flew so

"ahh.. every viral clip of me is so embarrassing!.. well, at least it was fun, hehe."

[ruibaozha]

HEY RUI I'VE GOT A QUESTION my sister and i are trying to come up with a conceivable LMK Nezha backstory which is... difficult, and you know more Nezha history so I was curious what you might think.

Nezha was a warrior in Heaven long before Wukong was born, and the whole Ao Bing happened almost a thousand years before Wukong came into existence, so Wukong probably never actually knew that much about Nezha's actual story- only bits and pieces. Yet at the same time, Wukong saying 'when did you stop being fun' implies that Wukong knew him when he was a rebel

and in actual JTTW, Nezha is still kind of a hotshot, so it comes to ask, how/why did Nezha become so much more serious?

JTTW: Wukong and Nezha beat the shit out of people together in between the 8 years of JTTW: (apparently deeply traumatizing thing happens to Nezha that alters his whole personality) the fire sealing: "well great job Wukong, you nearly got us all killed!"

which, honestly, doesn't make much sense?

of course, LMK is very casual with accuracy when it comes to characterization/chronological set up, so…

just interested in what you might think, if you have any thoughts. thanks! :D

Hello hello!

Ahhh this is something I’ve wondered myself and think about every so often. To be honest, I was very confused when Lego Monkie Kid started to use parts of Canonization of the Gods because it is so different from Journey to the West. The publishing of both stories is separated by nearly a full century and from two very different people.

It’s obvious from character dialogue that both Nezha and Sun Wukong have known each other for a very long time. At least within LMK Nezha had consistently been portrayed as overly responsible until the Season 4 specials came out. Honestly I liked seeing Nezha act with sarcasm and a snarky attitude, which is more accurate to how he’s typically portrayed anyway. Maybe being injured interferes with his serious attitude haha.

At least personally I believe a very severe type of betrayal may have happened between them. Again based on character dialogue Nezha used to trust Sun Wukong, probably back when he was still “fun” to be around. Even as a deity serving under the Jade Emperor (or Buddha) he’s responsible but still childish and can be very arrogant at times. As a whole LMK Nezha is confusing to me, as is the rest of the show. And like everyone else I also have to wait to see how this is explained, if it ever does get elaborated on.

This does make me wonder now just how familiar with Nezha’s background Sun Wukong actually is. It’s completely possible that Nezha never spoke to Sun Wukong about what happened at Chentang Pass. If I keep writing this answer I think I’d go into a rant about how LMK handles its own world building - so I think this is sufficient for now.

[paper-starz]

/ay itsa me, a idiot that uses Dotty's acc.

/so I was wondering..

/cross over between Seven Sins and Self-aware Swap? Like. What could go wrong? A hand full of self aware puppets, and a handful of literal demons, in which a few have REALLY weird powers.

/Barnaby's ability is so useless that I love it.

YEESSSSSSSSSS!!! I can already see the interactions.....

The Julies

7S!Julie: OOOH! I LOVE HOW YOU DID YOUR HAIR!!!

SAS!Julie (smiling through clenched teeth) Thanks.... I did it myself...

(They are both very neutral towards each other. 7S! Julie tries to be friends, but SAS!Julie is a bit defensive...)

The Barnabys

SAS!Barnaby: Oh hey who are- WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR LEGS?????!!!!

7S!Barnaby: Relax man, I'm fi--

SAS!Barnaby: POPPPPYYYYYYY!!!!

(They are both friendly with each other. Both bonding because of their love of jokes... especially the dark ones that SAS!Barnaby tends to make at times.)

The Franks

SAS!Frank: What are you supposed to be...?

7S!Frank: A demon of course! Specifically pride (starts explaining demon hierarchy/ history)

SAS!Frank: (Starts writing EVERYTHING down) Yes! This could be useful for my theories!

7S!Frank: ...Theories?

(They are both friendly with each other. They both share a love of butterflies and they both love infodumping all the research that they have collected. I see 7S!Frank listening to all of SAS!Frank's wacky theories.)

The Eddies

SAS!Eddie: I like your tie

7S!Eddie: Thank you! I like your scar! Makes you look super cool!

SAS!Eddie: Thank you! I got it from Home!

7S!Eddie: W...What?

(They are both VERY friendly with each other. I see both of them loving to chill and hang out with each other. Though, sometimes SAS!Eddie does say something something INCREDIBLY concerning once in a while)

The Poppys

7S!Poppy: Oh my! That smells delicious!

SAS!Poppy: Thank you!

7S!Poppy: We must share recipies!

(They are both friendly towards each other. They like to swap recipes once in a while, maybe even drink tea together. XD. I see them as two old lady friends who gossip.)

The Sallys

SAS!Sally: (Literally just existing)

7S!Sally: Ugh... STOP SHOWING OFF!

(They don't get along well at all. Mostly because 7S!Sally seems to be jealous of her counterparts... well, everything! 7S!Sally does not realize that SAS!Sally needs to be perfect though...)

The Howdys

7S!Howdy: Where the HELL is my counterpart?!

SAS!Howdy: (hiding because he is WAY too scared to even meet the guy).

(They DO NOT get along well. 7S!Howdy thinks his counterpart is pathetic and cowardly, while SAS!Howdy thinks his counterpart is greedy and mean. Also! HE'S. A. DEMON! YOU SHOULD NEVER TRUST THEM!!!!)

The Wallys

7S!Wally: Wanna see a magic trick?

SAS!Wally: Of course!

7S!Wally: WATCH THIS-- (sets a tree on fire)

7S! Barnaby: DAMMIT WALLY NOT AGAIN--

SAS!Wally: Wow! So pretty! I wanna touch it!

SAS!Home: NOOO-

(Both are friendly towards each other! SAS!Wally has lots of things to learn about when he's with his counterpart! 7S!Wally just likes to cause chaos while SAS!Wally tags along.)

The H O M E S

SAS!Home: I LOVE your Wally! He's so cute!

7S!Home: Yes, he is quit-- WHAT IN GOD'S ACTUAL NAME???

SAS!Home: Is... Something wrong?

7S!Home: WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR FUCKING SIN LEVEL???? TORTURE? MUTILATION? EXITENSIAL HORROR AND DREAD????

SAS!Home: Torture... Oh! Hehehe! I guess you could say I run my own special kind of hell over here!

7S!Home (absolutely mortified): And here I thought it was impossible to meet someone as scary as me....

(Both are neutral to each other. SAS!Home is pacified as long as 7S!Home doesn't tell Wally the truth. 7S!Home is both impressed and horrified at Home. Sure, 7S!Home is the literal Lucifer in this AU... but he tortures BAD GUYS! THE ABSOLUTES SCUMS ON THE PLANET. Not... these poor puppets.)

I also see some other interactions like:

7S!Howdy: (talking to SAS!Wally) Pfft! How is my counterpart afraid of you? You're practically harmless!

SAS!Home: (looms over in the back)

7S!Howdy: Anddddd there's the harm.

SAS!Frank: (talking to 7S!Wally) Wow! And what are your special powers?

7S!Wally: Oh! Fire!

SAS!Frank: Oh, do show me!

7S!Wally: I would... but I have nowhere to practice on.

SAS!Frank (points at SAS!Home): There's something you practice on!

(7 Sins Au belongs to @dottyorange!)

[clotpolesonly]

I'm so curious about the Declan was abused by a priest au 👀

my friend Cami and i can't help it, we just look at promiscuous characters with intense trust and intimacy issues and ask "is anybody gonna hc a history of sexual abuse here??" and then don't wait for an answer adlkjfgh

this verse -- (dubbed "the Wesleyverse", after our OC priest, Father Wesley) -- began with "and i am not gonna think about the reputation the catholic church has for sexual abuse of young boys because i have already delivered plenty of trauma and angst upon my boys and it also it feels uncouth alkdfjhadgf 😅 bUT ALSO" which was met with a resounding "I WENT THERE TOO" from Cami, and it spiraled from there

i'm just saying, a quiet self-sufficient anxious boy with an unstable home life and who has already had the importance of keeping secrets drilled into him would be very convenient for a sexual predator. socially isolated and emotionally unfulfilled. the ignored child, the overlooked, no one's favorite -- desperate for the validation and attention that he doesn't get from his parents, at least not the way he wants it. resentful of his brothers and their specialness.

Father Wesley made him feel special. like he was the important one for once, more important than all the other boys, more important than Ronan who he could've chosen instead. Father Wesley gave Declan all the attention and praise and reassurance that he craved, and all it took was playing some private games. secret and unpleasant and ever-escalating "games" that made Declan feel bad in a variety of ways, but Declan was used to that. cleaning up after dad's and Ronan's dreams were games, according to Aurora, and those made him feel bad too. those were unpleasant too. those made him afraid too. those were things he couldn't tell anyone about too.

how is a 6yo supposed to know the difference between a secret that should be kept and a secret that shouldn't be? a game he has to play behind closed doors whether he wants to or not and a game he needs to tell a trusted adult about?

(there aren't many adults he trusts anyway. who is supposed to be more trustworthy than their priest? Father Wesley speaks for god, doesn't he? he's the highest authority. right?)

so anyway. all that lasted a while, maybe from ages 6 to 8, when Father Wesley stopped wanting to play with him. it took months for Declan to realize that he wasn't coming back, that for better or for worse it was over. (relieved, yes. hurt, also yes. abandoned. unfavorite. if Father Wesley doesn't love him anymore, does it mean god doesn't either?) he put it behind him, labeled it as over and done with, and he did everything he could to bury it and pretend it never happened. he never told anyone and he never intended to.

it's been 11 years since the abuse stopped, Wesley's been retired from St Agnes for 5 or 6 years, a whole lot of shit has happened and life has been very busy for Declan (set post-TRK, more or less lol). things are finally calming down a little bit. the Gray Man has the underground shit handled for the time being, he and Matthew are back in town (because reasons, don't ask about georgetown, it's not important) and his relationship with Ronan is stabilizing. everything is fine.

and then Father Wesley gets arrested.

Gansey forwards the article to Ronan. Ronan shows it to Declan when he's stopped by monmouth for whatever reason, like holy shit, this is crazy, can you believe this??? fucked up, amirite??

doesn't notice at first that Declan has gone completely still.

it isn't until he mentions that the police are going through all the evidence to see if they can identify the victims -- indicating that it's not just, ya know, possession of materials from the internet, but actual production, records of his actual abuse -- that Declan fucking bolts. and Ronan is like UMMM?? DON'T LIKE THE IMPLICATIONS OF THAT

and here's the thing about the Lynch brothers. they may not get along. they may have a lot of water under the bridge. they may be liable to attack each other at the drop of a hat. but the second someone else attacks one of them? they close ranks. Ronan may not like his brother all that much but it's still HIS brother, thank you very much, his family, and anybody who lays a fucking hand on him is gonna suffer the consequences.

he has to chase Declan down. checks his condo, checks his work, checks the Barns, even calls Matthew to ask if he's seen him. finally finds him at the absolute LAST place he expected -- the church. it's late afternoon on a tuesday or something and there's no one else there. it's just Declan, alone in the sanctuary, with a rosary that Ronan hasn't seen him actually use in years.

Ronan doesn't remember ever having seen Declan cry before, and he's not crying now but it's obvious that he has been. that he's fighting to keep control of himself now. says he came here to be alone.

Ronan says fuck that, he's not just gonna leave.

after a minute, Declan abruptly sits up, suddenly blank and businesslike and steady, and he tells Ronan to ask his questions. which is.........disturbing, for Ronan. because he's seen this face before. he's seen it a dozen, a hundred, a thousand times. it's the cool detachment that's always rubbed Ronan the wrong way, earned Declan accusations of being an unfeeling robot, someone who just didn't care as much as Ronan did about anything or anyone.

had this face always had all this under it? could he really just pull it on over top of.........of ALL THIS and pretend that none of those feelings were there?? hide them that well?? fucking hell.

Ronan refuses to ask any questions. he has plenty, of course, but he's not here to interrogate him. (he doesn't even know how to put his questions into words anyway, fuck, he's just trying to wrap his head around it.) Declan said he wanted to be alone, obviously he doesn't wanna talk about it, so Ronan is gonna sit here with him for as long as Declan wants to be here, and later if Declan wants to talk about it then, then they can talk about it, and if not, they won't, and that's it.

it's silent for a few minutes as Ronan sits stubbornly and tries not to look, but out of the corner of his eye he can see as Declan's face crumbles bit by bit. as he fights so hard to keep his composure and, without opposition to set himself against, fails.

(he's not used to Ronan not pushing back, not being combative or accusatory. he definitely never expected support. and it's hitting him that Ronan knows. that pretty soon, everyone in town is going to know. Henrietta is a small town, it's a gossipy church community, they're only a few years off from when predatory priests were headline news all over the world, this is not staying quiet. and there's evidence. identifiable evidence and a police investigation and calls being made to victims. there is no way that his name is staying out of this no matter what he does. the situation is officially outside of his control, and that's terrifying.)

he's never cried in front of Ronan before, not since they were very small children, but even his prodigious repression skills have a failure point and he's reached it. he's curled in on himself and there are gasping, gulping sobs in the silence of the empty church, and Ronan eventually throws caution to the wind and does what he would do if it were Matthew. he puts a hand on Declan's back, just maintaining contact, proving that he's there and he's not leaving.

........

SO ANYWAY

this verse goes on and on, my anon friend, this is the set up and we just kept spinning out the thread for literally a year at this point, i think it was jan 2023 that we started talking about this concept 😂 it's not always one linear narrative, we branch off into "ooh i wanna see when X happens" in a patchwork kinda fashion, just rolling around in the sandbox and exploring the premise and also all the relationships and the way this particular trauma interacts with all the other traumas and also Ronan and Matthew's traumas and all their dynamics with each other.

Cami and i lean toward the self-indulgence of letting the Lynches actually make the occasional healthy and productive choice, because there is nothing more cathartic and satisfying to us than having them actually talk to each other, so by god these little fuckers are communicating in a semi-functional manner most of the time. they love each other, goddamn it, they're gonna fucking act like it. also about 30k in we finally got Declan into therapy 😂😂😂 good god he needs it, lmao.

.......i also accidentally got REALLY INVESTED in an OC, Jeremy, who was Father Wesley's next victim, the one he moved on to after Declan. i did not mean to start shipping Matthew and Jeremy, but here i am, a Meremy stan. i love them. #otp

so. lemme know if you want more, lol. i've got so so much more alkfdjh

[hyperfixingfr]

I'd like to remind everyone that Hoagie being autistic isn't just a headcanon - it's heavily implied. It may have been intentional, it may not have been. My vote goes for it being completely intentional, however. I mean, this show does have a lot of diverse characters (even if some aren't the greatest representation for their diversity...)

I'm sure we all know this kid is like, super into planes. SUPER into planes. We've seen his room, right? Instead of hanging planets or stars from the ceiling like most kids do, he's got PLANES on the ceiling. For fucks sake, he (very passionately) wrote a presentation on the ENTIRE history of the airplane in the USA. Most kids don't have that kind of dedication for the things they enjoy. Also, no neurotypical kid, at age ten, knows the entire history of the airplane in the USA. It's clearly a special interest for him. He isn't hyper focused on it and putting his attention towards that subject and that subject only, however he does have extensive knowledge on it. That one was probably very obvious to just about every viewer. They don't really hide the fact that he's educated on the topic of planes. Something I do believe he's hyperfixated on, is anything Yipper! related. He's shown to be attached to that specific franchise, and whenever he's watching or reading something, it's almost always about Yipper!. He's never depicted showing interest in other media (beyond the Doctor Who rip off of the universe, which I'm 95% sure was SUPPOSED to be a joke about autistic people), as if he were hyper focused on Yipper! and currently unable to enjoy other media.

(Image depicts his room, which as you can see, is filled with stuff related to airplanes and Yipper!)

Onto something a little less noticeable. Hoagie has an unusual set of obtained knowledge. He can be considered mediocre at just about anything in terms of knowledge, yet he happens to know facts that not many people know (or care to know). It's not directly stated, but he doesn't have the best memory when it comes to things you literally just told him. Somehow, he manages to remember these facts, and along with that, remember minor details about his friends that they most likely told him long, long ago. This is a pretty common trait in autistic people.

This clip is a personal favorite of his facts and random knowledge. I mostly cropped this from a Tumblr because of the change in tone from Hoagie to Nigel, but I think it demonstrates exactly what I mean.

An even less obvious one is his mannerisms. He often fidgets with his hands or positions them differently whenever he's nervous, mostly near his face. He also stims a lot, vocally and physically. Things like rolling on the floor, repeatedly hitting something lightly, clasping his hands together, biting his nails, tapping his foot, and many more. He seems to have an anxiety disorder of some kind, so this stimming is mostly as a way to calm himself down.

One thing that I know is definitely overlooked is how affectionate he is, especially with his best friend. He gets very touchy with Wally, holding him close very often, standing in front of him in an attempt to shield him, holding his hand, and at one point even kissing him on the cheek in a S6 episode. He's touchy with Tommy, too, as they tend to hug very often. Some autistic people hate touching others, but there are quite a few who actually feel touch starved and need to feel physical contact with people close to them. He's also very affectionate verbally, too. He's often trying to compliment his friends, and even stated in an episode that he's "a bit of a softie" for defending Joe(?). He was shown in a very early episode feeling sad because of a mistake he made that caused everyone to feel annoyed with him, which can be linked to high empathy (along with everything else affectionate he does). He seems to avoid verbal conflicts, and seems especially emotional after any conflict he does get into. He seems to suffer from too much empathy.

Summary: he's just a silly little guy

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC REVIEW: Wake Me Most Wickedly by Felicia Grossman

4/5. 4/9/2024.

Vibes: older woman/younger man, Snow White retelling, Jewish historical romance

Heat Index: 6.5/10.

Sol Weiss is looking to live up to the example (and expectations) set by the half-brother who raised him--and that means marrying the right woman. The right woman is NOT Hannah, with a shady past and a shadier lineage. But after she rescues Sol from an attack, he can't get her out of his head. And the more she tries to stay away, the more he wants her...

If you're looking for something light and fun--though not at all silly--with a good dose of interclass conflict and a rough around the edges heroine, this is for you. It's not often that we see heroines who are a) older than their heroes, which Hannah is and b) the more "dangerous" one (in theory) in the couple. At the same time--though Sol is funny and sweet, he's not a milquetoast. Seriously, how could he be with Hannah if he was?

It's like... a feel-good book, but not without stakes. Which is what I think Felicia Grossman is starting to specialize in. With, of course, a strong focus on the 19th century Jewish community in England, which--how often do you see that in romance, despite it being a huge part of the era.

Quick Takes:

--You often do see heroines who have a bit of an edge, but it's less often that you see them actually do things that make them seem more worldly and, dare I say, competent than the hero. Hannah is introduced here as someone who has a lot of responsibilities, doesn't shy away from her sexuality (but also, you get the sense, has never really had someone truly care about her needs), and isn't above committing crimes.

And then... she saves Sol. It's not that Sol isn't competent--more that he doesn't have as much life experience as Hannah. Which tracks, as he's literally younger than her and also comes from a more sheltered background. But I wouldn't say he's spoiled. He's willing to learn. He's eager to learn, really (in every way... yay, a hero who's less experienced in bed than the heroine!).

Sol is a good dude, but as I said before, he's not a boring dude. He wants to do the right thing, but Hannah quickly becomes his priority. Also, he does crochet at one point, and I did find that delightful.

--To be clear, I am not Jewish, and my understanding of Jewish customs and history is superficial at best. But it's clear that Grossman has done her research regarding the era, and I really appreciate that her characters' identities are woven in to the fabric of their beings. Like, there isn't a Very Special Episode Where We're Reminded That The Characters Are Jewish (which I've seen happen when writers who aren't Jewish write characters that are). It's just always there.

--One thing I really liked as Sol and Hannah's relationship progressed was the way that he clearly started to take care of her. I love an independent heroine who takes care of people (Hannah does not have a kid, phew, but she does have a sister she's trying to set up for a better life) and resists the hero trying to care for her. That's done really well here. Sol is like, mildly outraged that this woman doesn't have people looking out for her, and it's very sweet.

--This is a Snow White retelling! There are nods to elements like the Seven Dwarves. I don't know that I would call this a particularly heavy retelling, and I'm not sure that the retelling element was super necessary? But it was cute.

The Sex:

There are several sex scenes in this one, all of which are good, and they usually revolve around Hannah's pleasure. Sol is not super experienced, but he's READY to jump in, and it's really great. In fact, their entire sexual relationship (which begins before the halfway mark, thank God) begins with him basically going "let me help you RELAX" which. Gold. He's a GOOD boy.

For the fans of a face-sitting scene.... There is a great one in this book wherein she is shocked! Shocked I say! And he basically goes "hold on to the bed frame I'm working here".

Anyway, this is a super fun, fluffy-but-not-TOO-fluffy read that gives you something beyond the typical hero/heroine dynamic (which I still love) along with a solid dose of heat. It's for the girlies (and not-girlies) who just want to go home after a long day's work and have our shoulders massaged, and also perhaps other things too. We love to see it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Preorder here:

Amazon

B&N

Bookshop.org

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

Does anyone ever think about how creepy certain characters in Naruto are?

Mainly Rin, Minato, and Sakura.

Like. Most characters have some sort of background to them. Most of the Konoha 11 and their teachers have clans, Kurenai has her father. Even if they don’t like Anko, we see people like Orochimaru use their lack of support system. It has real world consequences.

But... these three don’t have that. Rin and Sakura are meant to be ‘the normal ones’ on their teams, but we never see them interact with their families or friendssans their team (and Ino ig - again another powerful clan heir. Hmm...). Hell, both of them are way too obsessed with a member of a very powerful and also kind of hostile to the government (for good reason) clan who Danzou has been shown to want to manipulate. Rin almost doesn’t seem human in her mannerisms at times, and in the manga seems to copy Obito’s reactions a lot. Sakura quite literally has a split personality inside her head to show her ‘actual’ emotions to things, which is powerful enough to break out of the control of the heir to a clan famous for that exact jutsu. She is able to do that in the firts place. Rin is able to immediately perform an eye replacement with the eye from her dying best friend to her other friend/crush, and the eye still works fine. Not just fine - as good as it could given the circumstances. She’s able to switch off her emotions and do this literally as Obito is dying. Sakura just so happens to choose to become Tsunade’s apprentice, despite showing no previous interest in medical ninjutsu, after she, a person with a clear history of trying to make at least some changes within the shinobi system that gives Danzou easy acces to recruits for ROOT, becomes the Hokage. Despite being ‘civilians’, both girls have shown a total readiness to fight in hard situations - more than Naruto himself.

As for Minato, he knows many classified jutsus that only the second hokage was able to do, somehow is as good or better at sealing than a girl literally from a clan who specialized in it, had a connection to both Hiruzen Sarutobi and the Three Sanin through Jiraiya. His teammates are never mentioned. His friends are never mentioned. When his students die, both of them, his reaction is muted, almost barely there, and he doesn’t really seem to understand Kakashi’s grief at all. Even after that, he still puts Kakashi, at this point still a teenager, into ANBU Black Ops without much hesitance. He barely seems to care for his students at all. Despite Kushina’s offer that would have left Naruto with at least one living parent and would have gotten rid of the Kyuubi for good, to seal it back within herself and die, Minato still chooses the option - sealing himself - that leaves the Kyuubi still able to be used and Naruto without a support system aside from the Kage government.

And all throughout this, we never see their friends. We never see any of them having any support system aside from their teams. We never really see any of them with actual goals - Rin especially. Yeah, ‘Hokage was Minato’s goal!!’ and it just so happened the stars would perfectly align so this kid with no shown ninja background or connections was in the perfect position to be mentored by someone who turned down being Hokage and then... he became Hokage. It’s still really suspicious. You could argue the same is true for Tenten and Lee, but a) both have stated goals, even if they’re not really focused on, and b) neither of them have the other ‘creep’ factors (Rin’s mannerisms, Sakura’s second personality, Minato’s reactions) that set off alarm bells in my head.

Like idk. Maybe it’s just bad writing or drawing or animating, but... there’s something about it that makes me wonder. I’ve said before I think Sakura should have been a ROOT agent, but this is why I think within canon there’s actually a possibility all three of them were plants. Maybe not ROOT, but... seems a bit too weird for me to just brush off.

[bleachbleachbleach]

I hope this doesn't come off as rude or weird, and you are doing well! I'm dipping my toes into Bleach fanfiction and I have a question that might be more world-building-ish. We know there are prosthetics in Seiretei; do you think there are other assistive technologies (e.g. hearing aids) there? I mean, Mayuri seems to have...misplaced his ears and given himself a set of prosthetics/implants instead. Who do you think would be the go-to department for those things? I hope you have a good day!

Not rude or weird at all! I hope the amount of time it’s taken us to respond didn’t feel rude or weird; we are just… always on this strugglebus. 😅

I’m excited to hear you’re dipping your toes into Bleach fanfic! There is never enough fanfic on this website. <3 And WORLDBUILDING is involved? Say no more! And I love how much work the word "misplaced" is doing in your description. XDD Love it.

I do not have the canon citations for this handy, but it seems like a lot of the major bodywork in Soul Society is more the purview of the 12th than 4th. We know that Kira’s rebar job, and whatever else was required to anchor his being (more or less), happened at the 12th. If you want to be de-zombified, that’s the 12th. (Though in fairness, by that point Unohana was dead and Isane had more than enough to handle without also taking on special projects.) And Hinamori also had dealings with the 12th post-Winter War (which I’m sure was a gr8 environment for her mental health)*—but anyway!

You’ve already seen our post about accessibility/disability studies and the Gotei 13, which gets a little bit into my thinking re: 4th vs. 12th, so I’ll skip over that and say that in the present-day Gotei, the 12th is going to be your go-to for assistive technologies or body modifications.

But what does that mean for the availability of, research direction of, and cultural response to these things?

* Speaking truthfully, though, I think that maybe it… could have been? I mean, not interacting *with Mayuri* if ever she did, but other people in 12th.

I’ll share some of the directions I’d think in, if I needed this for fic. I’d love to hear about your own worldbuilding around this as well!

Availability/Usage Notes

Mostly whenever the Gotei needs something from the 12th, they just have it, because of course they do. Or Mayuri works some mojo and several episodes later they have it. So we could make the argument that if you need an arm, or new ears, or an eyeball, then the 12th can make that happen.

But what if it’s not that simple? Because the 12th also seems like the kind of place where people are… working on stuff, but might be driven more by curiosity than the desire to enact public good, or offer a viable service. Most of that stuff is probably prototype-only, and all of the time and materials and actual working samples may be few and far between. It’s ~artisanal~

And probably fairly dangerous! Or at best, not without risk, and perhaps not without a lot of other factors to need to consider and/or accept/deal with. We know that stuff from the 12th does… get tested, and it’s not like they don’t have the time/lifespans to be collecting longitudinal data, but I’m positive they do not have the kind of oversight and ethnics boards that we do, and it’s not as though our human history (and contemporary lived experienced) isn’t already populated with some pretty heinous intrusions of bodily autonomy/informed consent/etc., even with all that.

I’d be interested to know:

how hard it might be to get the materials required to create any form of assistive technology at the 12th, or to replicate a successful result.

how much risk one takes on, in accepting such a technology from the 12th.

what it’s like to then live with this tech

You might have a "simple" prosthetic like Kuukaku’s, or you might have a whole new arm, like Soi Fon.

Do you get a new arm and never look back?

Do those neural pathways require a different kind of maintenance than the original?

Are there treatments to keep the body from rejecting the new limb? Are there medications?

Are Mayuri’s implants the same as the ears his body came with, or do they function differently? Is sound still an interpretation of vibrations or is here now something else involved? Does sound sound like sound in the way that it does to others?

Research Direction

Kind of going off that, I think the impetus for the research that’s happening would also have a huge impact on how these technologies functioned and what they are intended to do for the user. 

Again, this is something that continues to be complicated (and often frustrating) in our world. You probably know this too well! But in general, a lot of the assistive technologies in our world have been developed for the express purpose of making X thing more accessible, in a world that is otherwise largely designed for some normative, abled prototype of a person.

I am…not convinced that is always, or even often, the case at the 12th. I’m sure they have many labs that do feel a focused direction to their research (military applications), but I don’t think altruism, quality of life, accessibility, or disability justice likely factor in all that often. So what does that mean for the forms of technologies that are available? What does it mean for the potential divide between theory and praxis?

I'm not saying the 12th approach is all bad (okay, some of it involves the completely ubiquitous, unremarked upon death and/or abuse of their research subjects, which seems Bad)--some of it is about genuine curiosity, and some of that curiosity is about understandings things that exist in ways different than oneself, and/or in understanding oneself as different from others. And I do think it's valuable for a lot of these guys to not be trying to "fix" some specific thing (more on that in the next section).

I think there’s a lot of potential here for different labs to have very different approaches to and visions for their research.

How many of them were given a problem that they’re supposed to solve practically?

How many of them observed a phenomena, and are working on stuff that will help them observe it better, or break open some new vantage point from which to observe it (replicate it?  harness it? destroy it)?

How many of them have a fetish they’re exploring?

How much slippage is there between these things, within and across labs?

Cultural Response

One thing I enjoy about Bleach is that while we don’t necessarily see a lot of visibly disabled characters, or see different ways of being highlighted in the narrative, we do see many different choices characters have made about their lives. And sure, maybe it’s not always an element of choice—maybe Kyouraku’s eyeball was seared into oblivion so bad there was no hope of any form of prosthetic or eyeball transplant or some other more magic-forward alternative.

But limb replacement seems fairly straightforward (and again, maybe it’s really not, and Soi Fon and Hacchi and Hitsugaya and anyone else who’s ever lost a limb just doesn’t talk about it); we know Kuukaku has all the money and connections anyone could ever possibly need in Soul Society, yet she has (chose?) a basic prosthetic. Tousen remains blind. And uh, this does get a bit weird at the end of the winter war with the bug-ifying and the exploding, but before things got Complicated, he spent centuries living life as a blind man, where his other senses took center stage and meaningfully shaped his experiences and way of being in the world. Atau doesn’t seem to have any visible hearing aids, but we do know that he signs, and that forms of communication other than vocalized speech are his primary. One would also hope that that means Soul Society has a signing Deaf community of which he is a part, as well.

In Soul Society, there’s a bunch of magic that can "fix" someone, but doing so isn’t a foregone conclusion, and there doesn’t seem to really be a prescription for what root someone would need to take. (Minus Yhwach telling Yamamoto he should’ve gotten a new arm.) There are characters who choose to make use of this technology or that, and characters who choose otherwise. These are all potential ways of being, each with their own considerations, both practical and persona. And it seems like there’s a lot more allowance for that than in many spaces in our world (the military, for instance).

At the same time, like that other post of ours points out, there’s not a lot of thought given to accessibility or support, so this has its limitations. XD And maybe those limitations come out of things similar to what I was talking about with regard to research directions—is there a goal of accessibility being foregrounded, or is it a bunch of dudes (who may or may not be part of the target audience for their tech, if there is a target audience at all) making/breaking shit? It might also have to do with the ways that shinigami bodies, even as they do seem important and not entirely afterthought, are not as critical to their existence as ours are. Shinigami are not as anchored to the body. Maybe this gives them a freer sense of the strictures that "must" govern it/relationship to it; maybe it also supercharges the forgetting, of the ways that it does materially impact ways of being in the world.

As far as what cultural responses to using or not using assistive technologies might be, I imagine a lot of shinigami don’t actually think about it that much, because it hasn’t occurred to them to think about it. Everyone probably thinks Mayuri is a weirdo, but probably not nearly as much as Mayuri would like, and probably not because he replaced his ears. There’s so much other stuff going on with that man. XD He probably wishes he got more of a reaction out of his "hmm… okay then" co-workers! But I like the idea that a shinigami’s sense of what is "normative" is relatively broad. At least where the body—the just-the-organs body—is concerned.

Since that’s not at all the cultural response to other forms of "deviation," like Hollowfication, for instance. Which is certainly a bodily change/non-normative way of being, but which is treated in an absolutely different way. THAT’S a deformity; that’s the grotesque; that’s incompatible with life in the Soul Society. That’s the line.

Anyway, that sure is a whole Post, but those are some directions and questions I personally find invigorating. I hope it was also useful to your own brainstorming, as a jumping off point or as counterpoint to the ways you want to explore things. I’d love to hear your own thoughts as well, and definitely feel free to tag us in any worldbuilding headcanons you choose to share! :)

[fiddleturnips]

Backupsmore University

Okay, so. The following is not very well written and has been heavily edited in my actual draft - the chapter it was in has been broken up and spread between like three different chapters. However, I realized that the context for Why Fiddleford Is Like That is sort of important for my other snippets to make sense.

Content warning for depression, but this section does not contain graphic detail. Further content warning for the American Public School System in the Nineteen-Seventies. (Specifically: the school system's relative inability to absorb non-average children.)

"Ah. Right." Stanford sat back down. The broken mug scraped across the tiles and clattered as Fiddleford swept. "Well, we were in high school. It was close to graduation. We'd been fighting anyway. Big time for me, because it was around the Science Fair-"

"Scholarship season."

"Yes."

"Your family weren't that well off, am I rembering right? I seem to recall you were seeking a full ride and couldn't get it."

"I was going to go to Westmore. If I could afford it, I would have anyway. But Backupsmore was a lot more manageable."

Fiddleford laughed. "Ain't that the truth."

"Wait, you were full ride. And you were, what, seventeen Freshman year? What were you doing there?"

"They weren't that strict on school transcripts," Fiddleford said. "A lot more welcoming of science and engineering portfolios. And I needed full ride, I wasn't getting a dime after a bug came by and wiped out my school stock."

"Your… your what?"

"Oh, you wouldn't have this sort of thing. Some of us livestock breeders, when a kid's young, we'll start to set some animals aside for them. You invest in a couple of pigs, add to the herd when you can, teach the kid to care for 'em, and when it comes time for high school graduation you can get a sturdy few grand even if it's just a small herd, then if you invest it right and keep an eye on the price of pork, you can pay a kid through college with a bit to spare. Only mine all got sick and died out."

"That is fascinating and tragic. You never talked about this."

"Yeah, I never talked to the Yankee kids about the fact that I was going to a bum school because my papa couldn't afford a better one because my pigs died and I didn't have school transcripts 'cause I didn't go to school. How do you think that woulda gone over?"

Stanford did know about Fiddleford's school history. At this moment, he was significantly exaggerating. He had gone to school, and he had excelled at school - for about two thirds as long as any other kid, if you combined all of the months.

Pines and McGucket were close college friends, in a lot of the same classes and clubs, spending study hours together in the tucked-away rooms that let them get as loud and melodramatic as they wanted. At first, Fiddleford had joked that he'd done a lot of special programs for county fairs as a kid. Then, he'd joked that nobody taught him per se as he'd just up and swallowed a library one summer and they all figured that was probably that. Then he'd joked that he was a dropout, and when pressed on that he'd grudgingly admit that no, he was homeschooled.

Then eventually the two boys got close enough and he got tipsy enough for it all to come out. The whole story was that the older he got, the more he skipped grades and got shifted to advanced classes and eventually got stuck in the school's Special Education department because as it was they had no idea what the hell else to do with him, the more he'd get bored and start stealing books from older kids and building things out of school supplies and on one memorable occasion stuck a fork in the electrical outlet - he'd been found with third-degree burns on his hand and a paper beside him calculating the exact voltage available from the wall outlet in comparison to the shock a human being could survive - anyway, the more all of that happened, the earlier in the year his Ma and Pa would have the hard conversation that the trouble he could cause at home was nothing like the trouble he was already causing in the classroom.

By high school, his Ma had sat him down and said: Look. You need an education. Every single word of what they teach you in those there classrooms matters, even the stuff you think is dumb and silly. So you're gonna stay home this year, we're getting permission to let you do experiments in the local tech college's labs for Chemistry and such and the rest you're figuring out on your own. And at the end of the year, you are submitting reports about what you learned to every single teacher in the school, and we'll see if they find fault in your methods.

She'd meant for him to get through Freshman core curriculum. He'd gotten through that most of the electives. The next year, he did the rest of the core curriculum and they rented out some textbooks from the local tech college, plus a special weekly tutoring session with the Language Arts teacher because his critical thinking was a bit underdeveloped and another with the AP Maths guy to whip his self-correction into shape. The year after that, they had a sit-down with a representative of the County and a recruitment man from a university and the principal of the high school he'd dropped out of. He couldn't legally leave the public system until he was at the legal age, but they all agreed that he was doing just fine on his own until then.

He wasn't seventeen when he enrolled at Backupsmore. He was sixteen. And he'd already tested out of Freshman and Sophmore classes, and the only other one there who'd done that was Stanford. The two were friends because up to that point, neither one had ever had a peer.

Stanford Pines was a by-the-book scientist. He'd completed every year of school the way it was intended, on time, and with very high marks. He'd also completed science fair projects and extracurriculars. Once he reached university, he kept a full schedule, his days planned to the minute, with an exercise routine and designated journaling time. His accelerated schooling happened because he did things to the letter, bull-rushed through the political game, took every advantage he could get, and was so damn good at his job that nobody could find a reason to keep him from going at it.

Fiddleford McGucket was a free thinking engineer. He couldn't keep his head on straight enough to follow orders, but he was "such a delight to have in class" and "unfailingly diligent with his homework" and "not afraid to do the hard, boring work that needs doing for a project's success," so he kept getting special treatment anyway.

For Stanford Pines, his combined arrogance with his peers, aggressively growth-minded attitude, relentless self-paced work schedule, and unfailing results put him through twelve doctorates and a self-guided grant program.

For Fiddleford McGucket, the combined inexperience working with others, habit of taking on all the work that was available to him so he could prove he was worthwhile, commitment to doing everything perfectly right the first time no matter how loaded his schedule was, and desperate, desperate need to fit in for once left him plastered to the floor of a bathroom stall trying not to cry out loud while he psyched himself up to get back to the lab every spring and autumn night for a year.

Pines and McGucket had both set astronomical standards for themselves that no normal human could possibly hope to achieve. Difference was, Doctor Stanford Pines had somehow done it.

[zorphie]

🖊 tell me a little about eden!

GLADLY ty for the ask btw! ok ok so this was way longer than I meant for it to be so everything is below!

- he's a prince from avalon. ran away because his family situation is a little /Much/. not so sure about them siding with morganthe and their whole rebellion against king artorius. koda and amari led him to wizard city where he tries to leave his former identity behind and yea . they teach him how things work n everything :) he does end up changing his last name. he's all about having freedom to express himself and screw conformity

- he doesn't know magic prior to this and it's really hard for him to get it down- sets unbelievably high expectations on himself all the time . having cyrus as a teacher is ten times harder but he's Really determined to impress him and get ahead of everyone. his friends have taught him how to slow down and pace himself though and have healthier work habits. graduation is probably the second best thing that's ever happened to him

- he's a huge nerd and i love him for that. knows the most strange hyper specific facts. special interest in history 100%. also prone to visions of the past and future in his sleep. myth wizard things. future visions are a bit hard to decipher and blurry but he has the best memory known to man as myth magic's affected him overtime. he used to fizzle a lot because he could barely remember the names of things or the creatures he summoned came out weird because myth requires the user's full attention. or they straight up wouldn't get along and he didn't want to become part of the list of wizards who's summons went wrong and destroyed ravenwood property.

- the type of guy to go "oh my raven how did you not know that exactly 200 years ago zeus had breakfast on a sunday but this breakfast was special because he chose orange juice instead of apple and it symbolizes the prophecy that foretold the destruction of (world you've never heard of in your life)"

- his pet is a basilisk and it's not the average tiny size of pets. it's like huge and he's walking around campus with it. casually. he *Will* send it into duels against enemies, no pips or mana required. everyone is worried about its venom and stomping into classrooms unannounced but its friendly and likes sleeping all the time

- he loves building machines n stuff.. hands on projects are so fun to him. while storms are usually inventors and myths are usually the poets/writers(?) for eden and devin it's the other way around. oh yeah and they're trying to master astral magic together because eden's too confident to learn from the actual scholar and devin learned it unconventionally so it's safer to practice it with someone he trusts

- his scars are from a weird accident concerning .. erm. black holes and shifts in the fabric of time and realities. He's ok 👍

- personality wise he's calm n serious. full of sass but it's alrifht❤️. he does have a sense of humor around his friends, they mean a lot to him and he knows he wouldn't be here w/o them. he might come off as a jerk first impression but it's unintentional, he'd probably be Hella confused. he will make it obvious if he's holding a grudge against you though . he's very very blunt lol. also extremely competitive, Especially if you're putting in as much effort as he is. he's at the pvp arena with devin All The Time... eden has shifted from the idea that "competition means he needs to be the best" to "competition is fun" because of devin 100% though. They have so much banter. have i mentioned they're gay yet

[ruvviks]

i can't pick just one of those OCs to ask about... SO! gimme your favourite fact(s) about each of them!

THAMKS AAA ok so a little bit of background info first: darkwater creek is a town that's essentially stuck in some sort of a pocket dimension >:^) you can enter town freely but as soon as you're in there it's very difficult to leave because trying to leave town almost always results into wandering directly into a place called the loop, which is a ring-shaped dimension in this other dimension which is also nearly impossible to escape from <3

if people are interested, here's my pin board for darkwater creek and here's the one for the loop tee hee >:^)

the characters i drew are all from darkwater creek! aside from the town being a setting for an original story i'm also working on making it into a TTRPG >:^) the characters are all from different lineages and archetypes which give the players different features to play with in the game, it's not finished yet in the slightest but it's a start and i am VERY excited about it teehee

so jin and suki are twins. or. well. that's what they tell other people. in reality, jin is suki's clone :) cloning people is a thing that can happen in darkwater creek, they have. pretty fucked up technologies there because of a special energy they get from the loop which kind of serves like magic a little bit but it's Different <3 either way suki's parents cloned her when she was younger and then used the large sum of money they got from it to try and escape town, and they left suki there with her new twin sister. the girls are now obsessed with the loop and try to find a safe way to travel to and from it because they believe their parents are stuck in there and they have. so many questions for them that they want answered. understandably so LMAO

the twins are best friends of armando who is arguably the most normal one of the whole group <3 he's the only one who doesn't have loop energy running through his veins so he's lichrally just some guy but!! he is very friendly and social and knows a lot of people in town, and just in general knows a lot about town and about history :) he's also very interested in the loop and is helping the twins with their research <3

ryder is also part of their friend group, the four of them have been besties since middle school basically <3 the problem is, ryder died in a car accident in their last year of high school :( the crash happened at the edge of town and ryder's body was never found because they ended up in the loop somehow and loop energy turned them into a phantom, meaning they're kind of stuck between dimensions and neither fully dead nor fully alive. the twins can see ryder because of the loop energy but armando can't actually see or hear them which is. a bit difficult sometimes since ryder DOES still hang out with them. but they're making it work <3 LMFAO

it's important to know that they were all besties in high school because they also weren't all that popular there :( bullied even on some occasions, by the popular kids. and gaige was friends with those kids back in school </3 not a bully himself but also did not do anything to stop his friends out of fear of being disliked etc etc and so on, basically a pathetic wet rag of a man but at least his tits looked good while doing it. at some point he stumbled into the loop on accident while piss drunk and he got stuck in that dimension for about a month (which equals to about two loop years so he was in there for a while aha xoxo), to the point it turned him into a necron; still sort of human, but his physical form is always falling apart a little bit </3 when he stumbled out of the loop again he was found by the twins and. well. soon enough everyone in town was scared of him </3 but the twins, armando and ryder aren't so they allow him to stick around and he becomes just some guy and now they're friends <3

that is all i have about the gang right now!! i'm hoping that now that i've actually drawn all of them i'll have motivation to do more with them but we shall see >:^)

[ofmermaidstories]

MERMSMERMSMERMS wowowowowowow!!

i have so much to say about the chapter. I finished it this morning, and i do want to do an actual detailed analysis but i don’t have the writing in front of me so i’ll just go through all the things that first struck me!

The beginning of the chapter the flashback to when izuku is still a fledgling hero and the loneliness your portrayed. The repetition of the empty apartment really just struck home and it made his sadness and dissatisfaction with the end of knight-shield that much more potent!

Now izuku is no more 21, he’s older and smarter, but those same demons are still haunting him, and seeing his perspective of what happened during katsuki’s and weeds dance with death really solidified the what was happening to both of them at that point in time. Izuku rushing to the hospital after landing and him and katsuki both sitting down “expecting the worst”, heroes cut from the same cloth. It made me a bit sad) thinking about his optimistic, (maybe naive), view on happy endings and what him, his friends and other heroes have worked towards, what they deserve.

but katsuki gets his happy ending!! weeds is ok. and he has his birthday party. This was one of my fav parts of the fic. Reading the joy spread across katsuki’s face as he realizes that his friends gathered to celebrate and love him. the quiet contentment izuku and kirishima watch him with as he celebrates. perfectly sets up the scene for izuku and reader to meet!

Watching their meeting from izukus perspective was that much funnier. He’s such a dork and i love him for it. his quiet mortification when they see each other again in the meeting and he realizes reader recognized him. perfect!

As we watch reader and izuku begin their hangouts, the thing that struck out to me was how hard and fast izuku fell. I’m surrender its slow and slow you don’t see it coming until you do, just like katsuki said on that rooftop. At first izuku uses the reader like an escape! a reprieve from the chaos of his world and heroics, but it’s obvious she becomes something more to him at time goes on. It’s especially interesting that to watch how the dynamic between him and his close friends changes as well but i’ll get to this part later!!

quick intermission before the sad stuff!! but SHOTO DROPPING THEY BOMB ON US THAT HE GOT MARRIED?!? I DEADASS THOUGHT HE WAS JOKING IN THAT DRY WAY HE USUALLY DOES I WAS JUST AS SHOCKED AS KATSUKI TBH😭😭😭 honestly it just makes me all the more excited for his and his readers story!! This revelation honestly made me think of idea of a short drabble that has been plaguing my mind everytime we talk within this universe. if you actually decided to write this i would die: but the whole of class 1a plans a game night/wedding celebration for shoto and reader??, and at some point in the night they convince the big the big three and their respective partners to play the newlyweds game! (if you don’t know what that is basically two people receive question and try to guess what their partners answers would be)! but anyways it turns into a whole thing because it always does between those three and it’s the most entertaining game of the whole night. ps.(katsuki’s quiet care for shoto even if he tries to hide it in his gremlinness really comes out when he wants him back in the city during investigation and his anger when shoto told them he got married i love ❤️, i love how you always expand on certain characters relationships and dynamic because it makes the universe that much more real 🥺)

back to the sad stuff!: but izuku and katsukis relationship has always been special, especially in the way you have portrayed it in this universe merms. Their history is so rich and it’s the core of the bnba itself. You do it such justice. Their love and care for each other is so obvious. They are sixteen and deku idolizes katuski, continues to place him on this pedestal, his symbol of victory, and katsuki is struggling because he feels that he’ll never catch up izuku or be half the hero he is so he lashes out. They are twenty-somethings and katsuki is still trying to atone for his shortcomings and struggling with the guilt of his childhood mistakes. they are twenty-somethings and all Izuku was is to shield katsuki from that guilt because he’s finally gotten to a place by his side and merms it breaks my heart everytime. They are both so fiercely protective of each other (even katsuki would never admit it)

Everyone is so fiercely protective of izuku, and we see it in his interactions with the people he loves. And reader makes that choice, understanding her history with bullies and what they represent, to portray katuski like that, not entirely wrong no, but completely against Izuku’s wishes and how he wanted to see one of his closest friends depicted in something so close to his heart

When i’d read this part id been peeved for reader, I completely understand her point of view (and honestly i would’ve reacted in the same way given the circumstances). Yet i could not contain the quiet heartbreak and reading izuku watching katsuki read the first scans. The pain of watching an artist whose work you respected seeing you in that way. devastating. I was making little noises of sadness the whole time. (I was also very curious at where the first meeting between katsuki and reader occurs in this timeline, right after izuku and reader had gotten their fried sticks standing right next to the trash can and vending machine with izuku in his bright clothes),

The events after the fallout, watching izuku desperately trying to make things right in his own obsessive way. The festival itself, watching from his perspective. The tiredness and ache and guilt from carrying the world on his shoulders. , beautifully and well written.

The reoccurring motif of his arm, refusing to taking care of himself and put himself first constantly. Yet in this case with reader, he’s choosing to be selfish. to be secretive , to keep this for himself. Circling to the changing dynamic of his close friendships, especially with ochako! He’s 17, When he chose to be silent in the golden light of UA, as watches uraraka, now he’s 20 something and he’s choosing to be silent as he realizes his giving the heart that everyone assumed was her to someone else. Katsuki’s quiet protectiveness of both of his friends. Again spectacularly written.

There’s so much more i have to say about sero, mineta, aizawa, tenya, HANA!! the reader herself!!!!!! but i’ve already written so much and i don’t want to overwhelm you!

Again thank you so much for all that you do, letting us have a look in your mind and creating stories where our favorite characters fall in love and find their happy endings 🥺🥺. I’ve been reading your works since 2020 and you’ve come so far!! I will always be a loyal reader and lover of your works. I am so excited for chapter 6 and i can’t wait to see what you do next :))

much love, and hopefully new anon

-🍄

🥺 i need you to know that i kicked my feet like a kid when i first read this. i have trouble answering things because i have this urge when someone writes something thoughtful to like—squirrel it away LOL, it’s almost like wanting to squeeze the life out of something cute? i wanna rattle it around and then hide it under my pillows. press it in-between the pages of my diary. keep it secret forever. Gnaw on it and then dig a hole.

the fun thing about like, writing for a main character like Deku (in this way) is that he is so good… so it kind of makes his small selfishnesses look massive, if that makes sense? because he’s all about like, getting in there, helping people, winning by saving and saving by winning etc etc. and i think in fanfic you can really play that up!!! which, obviously, i’ve chosen to do in SJLT—idk, there’s something so satisfying about him as a lead, in a way that Bakugou doesn’t provide. 🧐 idk, i can’t name it, i just know i enjoy it (which is why i let myself loose with part i there).

i like to think Deku holds onto the happy ending thing because—he needs to. Because they’re going through so much, in canon, and i have no doubt they’ll win—and it will just prove to Deku that they can get there, they can grow up and be these big Pro Heroes and things will be okay. so after a shake-up like the mining-cave and his freak out, and then realising it’s some kind of instinctual response to Bakugou’s loss—yeah. They’d both sit there in the hospital, heroes cut from the same cloth, waiting for the end. ☹️ Proven wrong, though, thanks again to the narrative! 💅🏽✨ Gotta keep ‘em on their toes.

RE: Deku falling hard and fast—idk, i think it’s one of the things that makes him more fun than Bakugou! you have to earn it with the gremlin, work up towards like you’re befriending an alleycat. and by contrast Deku just—takes people in. And I think he’s kind of oblivious to his own feelings, albeit in a stubborn, deliberate way, but i have always seen him being just… easier, emotionally. 🥺 until the self-doubt sets in, whether that’s his own or someone elses.

shouto getting secretly married cracks me up. 😌 for now, anyway. we’ll see how much i’m laughing when it comes time to write it out LMAO. i absolutely believe that the Big 3 and their partners would be a nightmare combo in any game though, omg, could you imagine? it’d be unbearable LMAOOO.

(a Shouto & Katsuki friendship is one of my favourite thingsssss in fic; i guess we don’t get to see much of it, from Deku’s POV, but i cannot wait to get my grubby lil mitts into Shouto’s fic because he and Katsuki have a reason to team up and it’s just sdlkfjlksdfjlksdfj. Best Friends Forever.)

and okay, here is the thing: deku is the star of the show. like, in My Hero. Obviously, LOL. But everyone is canonically protective of him!!! 🥺 He is the sun they’re all gravitating around. i like to think an adult!Deku, one generally comfortable in his skin, routinely saving the country, would inspire that kind of devotion easily. and then you have gromits like Bakugou on TV just like, idk, scaling the wall out of sheer demon rage—if anything i think i needed to make Reader even more judgemental of him and protective of Deku LOL. i think people would just look at Deku and hear something like, “oh, Ground Zero used to bully me” and instantly be like: this man is too forgiving. and maybe he is. but it’s not Deku to want him to be punished for it, to grind his face into the carpet where his mistake’s still wet, you know? whatever happens in the current war arc, if they make it out alive Deku is only going to want one thing: to be with his friends as they follow their dreams and become Heroes. so i’d be mad if i was deku too. Kacchan will always be fundamental to who he is and everyone in their lives just has to accept that (including our Readerchan).

(Reader and Kacchan’s first meeting happened before the comic’s initial draft! so Bakugou making a bad impression probably didn’t help LMAOOO).

i’m always so curious about how like, a lack of communication can lead to so many—mistakes. it’s an admission of guilt, with how Deku’s holding his tongue. he knows he needs to talk to Ochako—and it’s not even because i picture Ochako like, waiting for him, in a needy way, but just in a, she is his friend and they do have history—romantic history, no matter how careful it was—together and idk, he needs to do better by her. and also he needs to free Kacchan from being on venting-duty.

but anon!!!! hello. 🥺 this is me + u on our way to tea to talk about our favourite fics and tropes and why x reader works so good and also why everyone else is wrong about it. i want you to know that i have thought about this ask every day since getting it!!! if you think about it, in a way, we’ve been together on this ride for what—two years? 🥺 i hope i can tell the rest of the deku story in a way that’s fun, for you. 🌷 thank-you for being here, anon. thank-you for saying hello. 🥺

[bubblelesscoke]

  Omen likes art.

  More specifically, Omen likes to be the one making the art.

   That's no news for anyone. He likes drawing, he likes writing stories, he likes creating... He is constantly coming up with new ideas and concepts. His mind is basically a dream machine and his hands are his tools to bring those dreams to life.

  He also likes Never. He actually loves Never. Sure, they've had their rough patches here and there, and sometimes Never can be a bit too much, but Omen loves them regardless.

  He loves Never so much he's almost always thinking about them. During art history class, he doodles their face in his notebook while taking notes. When he's away from Never, he can't stop thinking about them, their laugh, their face... When he's sad or tired or overwhelmed, he knows Never will help him through and be there for him, in their own way.

  The point is, Never is an amazing partner and Omen wants to show his appreciation for them. Like, really show it. Not just the little compliments he whispers to them during long nights, nor the little kisses he places along their neck early in the sleepy morning.

  (Never always calls him a sap and insists that he does more than enough for them. Omen just ignores them and keeps showing his love in his small, sweet ways.)

  And then an assignment for one of his art college classes comes in, and he's figured it out.

  The assignment is nothing too special. Make a portrait of someone, anyone.

  Of course, there's more to it, the assignment has requirements. The size of the portrait, the method, the materials used, but none of that matters to Omen, because this is another chance to show Never how much he loves them.

  And so, it begins.

  Of course, Omen is not just going to ask Never to pose for him for the portrait. They definitely would if he asked them to, but this was a surprise, so that option was off the table. Omen would have to do with the next best thing, which were pictures.

  And Omen happens to have a lot of pictures of Never.

  Like, a lot.

  He can't help it, they're just so pretty.

  Back to the point, Omen is scrolling through his gallery, looking at all of their pictures, and thinking. He doesn't want to recreate a picture that already exists. He wants to make something up, to imagine something beautiful all on his own.

  Then, after some days of deep thinking and different sketches, he gets the perfect idea.

  He works on it day and night, in their office, and whenever Never asks him what he's doing, he refuses to show them, saying that it isn't finished or that he's shy about it.

  ( "C'mon, I bet it looks awesome!"     "No it doesn't! Just, stop prying!")

  He hands it in when it's time, and a few days later the teacher gives the paintings back to everyone.

  (Omen had not only gotten an A+, but he also got a little post-it note attached saying 'Good job! This painting is gorgeous!!' and a little smiley face.)

  And so, it was time for the surprise.

  Omen gets home and makes sure Never isn't around, then quickly gets to work. He prepared the pizza dough while the oven was preheating, then added everything else. Knowing all the toppings Never likes by heart, he adds them to one of the pizzas, while he puts the stuff he likes to the other. He stuffs them in the oven and sets the table. He cleans their living room and he makes sure everything looks OK.

  When Never gets home, tired and hungry, the smell of pizza almost makes them want to cry. They quickly take off their shoes and go drop their messenger bag inside their office, taking off their coat on the way to their bedroom where they see Omen sitting on the bed, reading some advanced sigils book, glasses on. He quickly looks up at them as sets the book down.

  "Hey, how was your day?" He asks in a soft, warm voice, and dear God Never couldn't be more in love with this man.

  "It was fine, tiring. Did you get the pizza for tonight already?" They say, hanging the coat behind their bedroom door.

  "Actually, I'm making it from scratch. Kinda wanted to treat you and I know you like how I do it, so I thought 'Why not?'. Anyway, it's still going to take a while until I have to take it out of the oven, so you can just shower and put on something more comfortable."

  With the way Never was looking at him, one would think that Omen had just gifted them the universe. They look so so tired, yet so so grateful.

  "Oh, uhm... OK, thanks. Are you sure you don't need any help?"

  "Hundred percent. Go shower and relax, and then later we can talk about our days."

  Never nods slowly, grabbing one of Omen's old T-shirts and some sweatpants, along with some underwear, and walking to the bathroom.

  Never gets out of the shower and instead of going to their bedroom, they go to the kitchen, just in time to see Omen pulling the pizzas out of the oven. They wait until he sets the food down to wrap their arms around his waist and nuzzle the back of his neck, feeling all fuzzy inside.

  "That smells really good." They mumble against his neck, wanting attention. Omen turns around and wraps his own arms around them, their head now against his chest.

  "Thanks, darling. Go sit down, I'll bring the pizzas over."

  They eat their dinner while talking, telling each other about their day. Turns out, the Sanctuary needed Never to take a bunch of stuff to a lot of different places, so they had to teleport a lot and ended up exhausted.

  They finish dinner, and before Never can get up, Omen speaks up.

  "By the way, I kind of have a surprise for you..."

  Never looks at him for a couple of seconds, then watches as he grabs something from behind his chair.

  (How the hell had they not noticed there was something back there?)

  Omen hands it over, and Never holds it carefully. It's a big, rectangular thing wrapped in wrapping paper. It's a bit light so Never starts to think what could it be.

  "Is this the thing you absolutely forbid me from seeing?"

  Omen smiles knowingly as he rests his head on top of his hands, "Maybe."

  Never looks at him for a second before they start tearing off the paper, careful not to break the thing inside. Once it is completely uncovered, Never stares at it, astonished.

  It is, indeed, a painting, as Never thought it was. But that isn't the surprise, no.

  The surprise is the fact that the person in the painting is none other than Never themself.

  A beautiful painting of Never, laying in bed, hair messy, a cocky smile on their face and hooded eyes, light blush covering their cheeks.

  Not only is the painting gorgeous, with the pallette being different hues of pinks and purples and greys, with some green and yellow here or there, and some brown for hair, but it is also extremely detailed. The light freckles they have on the bridge of their nose are there, and Never is sure Omen must have had to look at a bunch of pictures of them to make sure he got them all in the right place.

  For a few moments, Never doesn't speak. They're too busy staring at themself. Omen looks at them expectantly, waiting for a reaction.

  That reaction is Never jumping from their seat and hurrying to hug Omen tightly, eyes wet from emotion. Omen just hugs them back, chuckling lightly.

  "I'm guessing you liked it?" he asks teasingly. Never nods quickly against his shoulder and starts to press kisses there, mumbling 'IloveyouIloveyouIliveyou' under their breath.

  Then they look up and kiss Omen like he's going to die tomorrow, and Omen kisses back just as enthusiasticly. All the love and adoration they feel for each other is transmitted with a simple kiss.

  (The painting hangs in their living room, near the TV. It is beautiful and Never wants everyone who comes over to see it.

  Omen is just happy they liked it so much, and insists that Never doesn't need to do anything back, that they already do enough.

  Never promptly ignores that.)