#more mature themes and discussions. idk.

[reddbuster]

Man I really wish there was more queer media out there where the characters being gay/trans isnt the focus or something thats often pointed out. like I want more media where theres an interesting and complex plot and characters and some of the main characters just HAPPEN to be queer. Like there's a b plot gay romance between some of the main cast or it subtly revealed that a character is trans and its not a big deal and their struggles are based on other things. And I want more stuff like this that ISN'T childrens cartoons. I want more media for teens and adults thats fun and complicated and interesting and leaves room for discussion and analysis where characters just exist and are queer and that's not the focus of the story at all.

[bluee08]

Astro observations 《3》

Disclaimer : Not an astrologer, take it with a grain of salt, only for fun.

🫧 Asteroid Orma in 8th house might be the people to leave an impression of being hella reserved in a mysterious way. Like they might tell you a story and you will always feel like there is something more to it.

🪩 Mars in 3rd house people often say something offending without meaning to and regret the very next second. Trust me it's not their fault, they wanted to say something else and ended up saying something totally unexpected. They also feel guilty about it for days and feel sad that they might have come off rude for no reason.

🫧 Neptune conjuct ascendant, they are the real chameleons. They can mold themselves as per the situation demands. Ngl it comes handy sometimes. Like I remember when I was in 6th grade I was caught into a very serious matter but I pretended as if nothing happened and flew away. When the other guys rattled me out to the teacher, she said It's impossible that I was involved and that she doesn't believe them. She didn't hear a single word against me. Lol no, I wasn't her favorite student or something. It's just that I had maintained a certain reputation among different sect of people as per my own convenience. Call it manipulation if you want, if that doesn't explain the planet itself.

🪩 Pluto trine Lilith, it's not always sexuality that comes to the mind when we hear about these folk. Lilith here is aware that pluto is her benefactor. But it takes time for her to feel comfortable in her own domain. She is powerful here and knows what she wants. Definitely won't take anyone's bullshit. Her transformation can be scary and ruthless if someone tries to pin her down.

🫧 Jupiter sextile Pluto have a deep interest in forbidden things. Learning things that often people consider taboo is their thrill. They may or may not share the knowledge but they are always resourceful about topics relatated to dark themes of life. Feel free to discuss anything with them, they won't judge you infact they will help you inhance your own boundaries. You will be surprised how normal they'll sound while talking about things that might trigger other people even if they have gone through the same.

🪩 The one guy I had a Aphrodite-Eros synastry with made me feel like...idk strange. I was on a constant pedestal. I cared a lot about him. His Eros conjucted my Aphrodite and I looked out for him a lot. There was a thick sexual tension but also comfort. He also made me get a taste of jealousy. Which I don't usually feel. I used to constantly compare myself with the girls he used to interact with. We were not dating but I just couldn't help but feel insecure. Not because of him....idk why I was acting like that when I knew I was pretty enough.

🫧 Mars opposite Venus people get sudden mood swings from doing absolutely nothing to doing everything in next one hour. Oh and they'll do it again if it ain't asthetically pleasing to the eye.

🪩 Sun sextile Saturn, trust me they do know how to control themselves and take things with a grain of salt. Their ego is well maintained and not fragile unlike others. Very understanding and real mature people.

🫧 Sun sextile/trine Moon are the most compassionate and intuned with their selves. They know themselves better than anyone else. Also they always know exactly what they are feeling at any given time. Even if they are depressed at some point they won't give up easily.

🪩 Neptune negatively aspecting Saturn, dreaming big is easy, isn't it? But when you start implanting those dreams in real life your dreams remain dreams only. Don't worry though. It's a lesson. Don't give up, try harder. Dream as big as you want but at the end of the day remember to open your eyes and start afresh with new motivation. And please don't listen to those who tell you to quit it down. Your dreams are not weird or impossible or too much. Those people are just jealous because of how big your ambitions are and how far you are willing to go for it. Don't restrict your imagination for someone else. Believe yourself, you can do it!

🫧 Pluto in 10th house solar return chart can indicate a huge change in academic life or anywhere you are working at. For better or worse you better take precautions before hand. I am having it this year with mars in 3rd house and trust me from an above average student my grades are becoming poor. If I were to describe my graph I can see it coming downhill like a water slide which is creating quite an impression on my parents as well as my teachers. Note the sarcasm.

🪩 Saturn in 7th house could indicate having no interest in relationships at first or people being afraid to ask you out but when you grow up, settle well, you find yourself looking for your better half, resulting in either meeting them late or doing an arrange marriage.

🫧 Saturn opposite ascendant are the people who often get told that they look unapproachable on first glance. Kind of the 'out of league' vibe surrounds them. Which is not always true but I have noticed people do think twice before approaching them. These sweeties are also damn soft on the inside but for only those who do dare to talk to them. They rarely take the initiative themselves. But come ask help from them and they will risk their lives for you.

🪩 Mercury aspecting chiron could indicate healing your wounds by diving into the world of books. You might like to read or write journals when you are feeling down. There might be a small diary or pages that you have written when you were at your lowest. Its also possible that you start writing a novel or something to help you voice out your pain through written words.

🫧 Sun conjuct asteroid Medusa. Damn! You could have curly hair or hairs that are a lot wavy, thick and voluminated. Highly blessed in hair department. Many people might have praised you or complimented on your hair from a very young age. This could also indiacte a lot of body hair. From top to bottom you have body hair and trust me its not a bad thing. Its a blessing of being powerful, embrace it. It's just a hunch but some may have complimented you on that too.

🪩 Mars in 3rd house can't watch porn without audio or no communication during the deed. They always want to hear the sounds, no, they NeeD to hear the sounds raw! Only visuals is boring for them just as adding some weird music to the video. No, its not creating the mood, its ruining my experience, pls stop it.

🫧 You don't wanna hear someone moan who has their personal planets conjucting asteroid Sirene. Trust me you will get addicted. Its insane and I am not bluffing. Their voice may or may not be as addictive in general but in bed? Or when they want to take something from you? You will be trapped even before you blink. It's dangerous.

🪩 What's with Taurus Mars and Laziness? So much potential and still they study few hours before exam, complete assignments few minutes before submission and still have the audacity to say they will easily pass. Like bro if that's how you pass then I can't imagine how you will top....

🫧 Moon in 4th house people are highly invested in family matters. Family comes first to them and then the rest. The kind of people to tolerate an unhappy married life for the sake of their kids because they can't see their family being split apart.

🪩 Mars aspecting Pluto. It doesn't matter if it is positively aspected or negatively aspected, there is a lot of pent up frustration and anger issues underneath this placement. If provoked or underdeveloped could result in a very sudden and violent rage from this person. Better to leave them alone in such situations.

[magicalgirlpictureencyclopedia]

Idk why I'm back here, but I do want to say that I think we should talk more about gems in the magical girl genre such as Petite Princess Yucie, Jewelpet Twinkle, and Fairy Musketeers rather than niche 2010's titles we've (the fans, idc about them much) all agreed on aren't good. Besides beloved 90's-2000's titles (Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, Ojamajo Doremi, Tokyo Mew Mew, Shugo Chara to name a few) and the rare retro fan who is into Minky Momo or Creamy Mami... I see a lot of, "Well, [×] was a bad show and the genre is ruined!", but it always comes off as someone who doesn't really watch the genre. There's a lot of good shows out there if you check them out, but if you aren't actively looking for recommendations or looking for titles then you can't really expect to find much.

As harsh as it may come off, in my experience the average American magical girl fan isn't going to watch or even know of obscure titles much to look for mhch more. Most people's introduction to the genre here was through Sailor Moon, and that expectation of those action oriented media sticked. Therefore, the majokko (魔女っ子, witch girl) and magical girl idol titles are pushed into the background. Some would point the finger at licensing, but it also misses how a lot of these titles aren't commonly talked about as is. It was worse before Retrocrush on Discotek, but at the least you can find people who are into stuff like Magical Emi or Pastel Yumi. Still, it's hard for me to grasp how a lot of the genre is ignored in bigger magical girl spaces, especially on sites such as Twitter. I get highly confused when I only see people talking about Precure or Sailor Moon, yet make a lot of assumptions pushed to places that aren't really responsible for that.

Sure, licensing could be better, but that's a complex issue I've seen people go into. A friend of mines posts about how deals were set up for shows like Shugo Chara, but companies weren't interested. There's a massive problem overall with getting girls media off the ground as well. However, it is also on fans to check out more than what many would call the "cream of the crop" if they want other experiences. The optimizing of "dark themes" from newer fans also does not help, as it relegates the genre into a very odd competition between which is more mature or serious, yet forgetting at the end of the day many of these titles are for kids and cam stand on their own without vague comparisons. If you're not even going to look into say, titles beyond Princess Tutu, then I can't really take demands of wanting the genre to explore other themes seriously when several already have done that...

Yes, I'm saying this because most people in the online spaces I frequent at most will just watch Precure, Madoka Magica, and Sailor Moon, yet refuse to look at anything else and commonly put themselves into discussions to make generalizations about media they know they will never watch. It's especially weird to see as a fan of adv games/visual novels and mecha anime, where I see people do the exact opposite - dig up old titles and openly talk about them. I'm not expecting fans to automatically know what stuff like Galaxy Fraulein Yuna is, or games like Silky Lip and Valis, but I do think with media critique and common complaints your scope of criticism should be beyond a popular 90's titles and a few from the 2000's. I also find so many conversations dull cause I've been in the fandom for a hot minute and recommendations I rarely see, but moreso complaints about the same 6-8 shows instead of uh, idk, watching something else entirely.

Again, enjoy your shows, just don't jump into convos "educating people" (telling me or others stuff like majokko don't count, too many other examples to list here), or claiming all of the genre was boring/good/bad/kiddy before [×]. I also promise you it's actually rare to find a magical girl title that doesn't address "serious themes", cause even the ones about fairy tales and cutesy magical schools have child abandonment and trauma rampant through them. :/

[robotlesbianjavert]

someone has to be brave enough to argue that revealing all for one’s Tragic Past (™)  is probably one of the best things that could happen for the story right now. and that someone is ME

(Personal Reminder: The discussion around topics like abuse and societal dysfunction are largely about their function in this specific story, rather than as a 1:1 claim about how these function in real life and in personal experiences. Fiction is a playground of exploring concepts whether or not it explores them well, and can’t be expected to encompass every nuance and facet of what it explores. If you want more incisive discussions on the interplay between societal failures & dysfunction and how it contributes to abuse, idk maybe there’s a study.)

The All for One of the third act of Boku no Hero Academia is a far cry from the dignity of the All for One the audience met in the first act. Dude was classy, mysterious, contrasted with All Might in novel ways when looking at themes of legacy, played the sacrificial mentor role, and despite what the recent story developments are trying to claim, did in fact think in detail about letting Shigaraki mature as an individual and villain in his own right while maintaining a delicate touch in offering Shigaraki ‘guidance’ to grow from.

In the third act, All for One has lost any respect the fandom held for him since he took center stage as the antagonist, between the possession revelation, and the resting on his laurels, and the monologuing, and various tomfoolery. 

I miss First Act for One. He was a good antagonist. Intrigue without overstaying his welcome. Now we’re stuck with Third Act for One, who mostly just does whatever seems most devilish. But he’s also now the funniest character in the manga and also just a little guy and I think he should cry about it.

The Third Act, Between Two Themes

→ Two of the driving themes and hot commentary tracks that the story deals with—to varying degrees of success and care depending on who you ask:

(1) The impact of abuse, neglect, discrimination, and grooming on vulnerable individuals, and how it puts them at risk of ostracization and criminality (or ‘villainy’).

(2) The failures of society to care for the vulnerable & at-risk, resorting instead to dehumanizing the ‘criminal’/‘villain’ over understanding how the ‘villain element’ came to be.

Vitally, these tracks are intertwined—more accurately, (2) is the road that leads into (1). Maybe I should switch the numbers. Whatever. In any case, the themes about abuse & co in (1) are distilled from the themes about societal failure & dysfunction in (2).

Characters like Toga, Spinner, and Twice are obvious examples of this at work. Toga and Spinner are both maligned and ostracized by their family and community respectively for traits outside of their control, because those traits were deemed unacceptable by the societal standards they live in, eventually pushing them to choose villainy. Twice experiences constant loss (of family, of his job), lacks any safety nets, ends up overusing his quirk and turning to villainy just for something resembling companionship. As Shigaraki says in 281, the system (society, community) rejected them, so they reject it back.

But those examples are easy and direct. If we want to get spicy with it, there’s Shimura Kotarou, Tenko’s abusive father. As an abandoned child of a hero who had to make a choice between protecting society and staying with her kid, dude grows up pissed. He then takes his anger against his mother and the hero society she was a part of out on his family, by overcorrecting Nana’s failure and instigating strict rules against heroism, creating an environment where everyone is hesitant to push back against this norm. He targets his young son specifically until Tenko’s own answering hurt brings the whole family down.

To a lesser extent, you can argue something similar with Todoroki Enji/Endeavour, also an abuser. Whether Endeavour’s tragic dead parent was a hero like Nana or just an unlucky do-gooder is unknown, which sucks because that does factor into the Society Of It All. Regardless, the loss did result in Enji developing and internalizing toxic ideas about ‘strength’ and ‘weakness’, exacerbated by the presence of All Might as the social ideal of ‘strength’. And his pursuit for strength as influenced by his loss and the hero culture around him resulted in him using and abusing his family, blinders pointed only on his goal and off of their pain, and left him without the means and traits necessary to be the father that Touya and the others needed.

It’s difficult to talk about things like cycles of hurt and abuse, because some people prefer it when abusers are presented as Evil, no ifs ands or buts, while others try to take the complexity of cycles in order to downplay the abuse that very much did occur. But as a story function, Kotarou and Enji are much like other victim-perpetrator characters throughout the story. They were hurt, a hurt resulting from an estranged and complicated relationship with society, and when they had the power and position to do so, they took that hurt out on others.

All for One’s Pompous Lil Abuse & Society Throne

→ All for One is a perpetrator of (1), having groomed Shigaraki into being his ‘successor’, on top of using and manipulating countless others; this, the throughline on abuse and grooming, is inextricable from the story. He’s also a proponent of (2) in his teachings to Shigaraki. As established, (2) as a theme impacts our understanding of numerous characters and the environment they exist in, while serving as the background for (1). However, the third act is at risk of losing that society-level commentary as it whittles everything down to individual circumstances and the strength needed to overcome those circumstances, or to being the fault of individual bad actors. The latter of that is what All for One is at particular risk of becoming; the Big Bad who Did All The Bad Things and Represents All The Bad Things. For most people that isn’t a big deal, he is the Big Bad, but I think that does a disservice to the story.

→ To expand more on All for One as a proponent of (2), it’s something that he’s brought up a few times; that society is reactionary and hostile against people and concepts it cannot understand, and it’s those who are “outside understanding” by hero society that become villains. It’s this ostracization that often leads people into All for One’s grasp; it’s also something that he seems to have thought about a lot, just straight up familiar with it. Yes he is being kind of an edgelord, but still.

→ The current Possession Plotline is often understood as the natural conclusion of, and a potent allegory for, the abuse and grooming Shigaraki experienced under All for One. This isn’t inaccurate—this kind of possession plot and All for One’s desire for control (elaborated on later) does demonstrate the toxic impact All for One has over Shigaraki’s life, but I’ve found that these interpretations end up taking a reductive tack on both characters, their relationship, and how they fit into the story’s themes. The more All for One is portrayed as a one note stock villain, the further you push the idea that All for One’s influence on Shigaraki is all-encompassing, you end up with Tenko, the Individual Victim of an Individual Abuser, rather than Tomura, Product Of a Dysfunctional Society That Creates Abusive Circumstances. It’s still a viable and meaningful story, but much simpler and weaker without the societal context built into it.

(But this is a shonen manga: Big Bads that you can punch out of the way and declare the day saved are standard. Yeah no fucking duh, I can still think that sacrificing all the commentary sucks though.)

Let’s Get Hypothetical. Thetical.

→ Hypothetically, say it was revealed that All for One is responsible for Tenko’s ‘Decay’ quirk and immediate annihilation of his family, for the specific purpose of leaving him alone and vulnerable. Or that he interfered with Tenko’s long walk to ensure he wouldn’t receive help, just to drive in that vulnerability. Doing so starts to shave away reasons for Tenko to be angry with anyone or anything but All for One.

If Shigaraki’s frustration and hurt about his position in his family (a trickle-down of Kotarou’s own pain with hero society after being abandoned, wielded against his family, of the rest of the family being hesitant fight Kotarou’s rules), his pain and anger after being ignored in the streets (where citizens are unwilling to take responsibility and help others, leaving basic decency to heroes), was all a part of All for One’s meddling in order to isolate Tenko, what is the point? What would this have to say about abuse and grooming that isn’t already well-established in the manga? (All for One has groomed Shigaraki, but it was the abuse and neglect on familial and societal levels that put Shigaraki in that position, and as 379 shows he is well fuckin aware of it.)

This hypothetical reveal, and similar hypotheticals where the focus is on All for One solely as a perpetrator and the main cause of the evils Shigaraki and others have suffered, takes out the societal context and loses the thrust of what makes the commentary about abuse so effective. Imagine if All for One had been responsible for something more dire than saving Touya’s life, and that Dabi’s current shenanigans weren’t the result of him both acting out in response to neglect, to the seeming apathy to his ‘death’, and mimicking Enji’s horrifying drive and blinders for anything but his goal. I think that would suck! Why get a third party in there killing Dabi’s autonomy! Boo. Thank god we didn’t get that. The villains are villains because they are rejected and reject in turn, not because someone forced them to be.

→ Let’s try a different hypothetical branch: Take the established lore about All for One—that the era he grew up in was especially tumultuous and chaotic, an era when those who had ‘super powers’ were at risk of becoming victims and/or criminals (see the two people All for One had ‘helped’ in chapter 193), that his younger brother was somehow his only remaining family, and that brother supposedly very frail and sickly (pending any Munchausen’s-by-proxy reveal). No effort is required to put those pieces together into something tragic.

It’s easy, but what’s the point of taking the story’s ultimate villain, abuser, manipulator, generally egotistic asshole and shoving in an “ummmm but what if he was sad one time :( :(” development, over doubling down on “evil for the sake of evil”? Well this is an intellectual exercise and I’m putting my brain through its paces. Isn’t that worthy enough.

By doing so, we can reinforce the idea of ‘villainy’ as arising not strictly from any individual being inherently evil, but of the community’s failures to deal with drastic changes in society both as they appeared, and how those failures impact the following generations. All for One becomes not a singular symbol and cause of societal dysfunction, exploitation, and harm (an interpretation that’s pretty 101 as is), but is instead another victim of societal dysfunction turned victimiser, through which harm reverberates into future generations when left improperly rehabilitated. External societal factors create individual vulnerabilities, those vulnerabilities get exploited by people who can gain off of it, and/or those vulnerable victims turn against the society that left them in that position.

I’m Still an #AdoptBabyFO Advocate Tho

→ No apologism is necessary in a story deciding to say, “maybe modes of harm aren’t spontaneously generated, but are constantly perpetuated across a complex chain of factors”. The harm that All for One commits against Shigaraki and also literally everyone in the world hasn’t suddenly vanished with this hypothetical Tragic Past(™), it doesn’t push for people to pity All for One or Kumbaya with him, it doesn’t say that his actions are any less purposeful and evil and abusive because of it. It just brings him into the thematic circle of society & abuse, similar to the other villains of the story, rather than being the starting point.

→ To state everything above more concisely: “Evil for the sake of evil”/”Inherent Evil” characters have a time and place, and that time and place is not when you’re overly invested in stringing together a coherent commentary on the role that societal dysfunction plays into abusive circumstances and impacts vulnerable people, and how that results in criminality. And on a structural level, if All for One is doing a poor, annoying job as the Big Bad character construct, why not reconfigure his purpose to be more in line with the other villains and how they fulfill their roles?

Can We Make All for One a Real Boy?!?!?!?!?!

It’s one thing to argue that giving All for One a Tragic Past(™) is a net good for Hero Academia’s narrative and the curious situation it’s been in throughout the third act. But what you REALLY wanna know, what you’re begging to know, oh Kota, how would YOU give All for One a Tragic Past(™)? well it’d be soppy and insane i can tell ya that much.

But the specifics of a Tragic Past(™) aren’t really important—what matters is if you can take the character traits that Third Act for One exhibits, and loop them back into a nice, tight, full-bodied script of a character without the Tragic Past(™) seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

Aw Lil Kleptomaniac <3

→ Part of Toga’s narrative is that her quirk gives her a compulsion considered unacceptable by society—an admiration of blood that draws her to ingest it. As part of the themes about society and abuse, instead of having this compulsion properly approached and considered, Toga is dehumanized by her parents and forced to maintain an arbitrary mask of ‘normal’ until the repression causes her to snap. Had her parents calmed down to work through this compulsion instead of immediately calling her a demon, things may have turned out differently.

Toga’s quirk compulsion is an extreme case—it seems like most people have harmless, unobtrusive compulsions, or they manifest as personality (like Bakugou’s ‘explosive’ personality), or just aren’t really there. Quirks are all over the place. But there is one other person who has implied a disruptive, quirk-related compulsion, as snide as he's being about it.

There’s a greediness to All for One, the way he talks about quirks, both in and out of his possession. We know that he’s capable of restraint (quite infamously sparing Best Jeanist’s quirk), but he’s also very experienced with his quirk nowadays. But what about as a kid, when so little about quirks were known? 

And in contrast to Toga who’s parents’ demands exacerbated her problems, who over-managed her with one unforgiving solution, it’s likely that All for One didn’t have parents or reliable guardians around. If he starts experiencing a compulsion to take quirks for himself, who’s around to tell him that he shouldn’t be stealing this shit? His baby brother? Shut the fuck up.

All for One utilizing his quirk may have started as a compulsion, or even as a means of protection if someone was trying to use their quirk against him, or if he needed some extra boost in this scary chaotic world. If so, there’s few means for young All for One to really understand or manage his quirk, until everything has snowballed and he’s just luxuriating in it.

→ To expound on another interesting comparison between Toga and All for One is how they’ve both been Assigned Demon At Villain Origin. As mentioned before, dehumanization is a major factor in the ‘creation’ of villainy in Hero Academia’s hero society. In the case of Toga, she gets called a ‘demon’ by her parents, by the graffiti littering her former home. We don’t get explicit thoughts from Toga on that assignation, but we do All for One flaunt that demon title proudly.

All for One and the Demon Lord character gets elaborated on later, but it is striking how in a world determined to strip humanity from its victim-villains, All for One is all too happy to parade the title ‘Demon Lord’. The few times we see the comic book character, he is straight up a (cartoonish) demon, all skeletal and shit. Unlike the heteromorphs of Hero Academia’s in-universe world, the Demon King is supposed to be recognized as fully inhuman, fully wicked, fully a monster. 

In chapter 59, All for One muses about Shigaraki: “All to prepare him to be the next me. I know that boy will rise to the occasion. He was born twisted.” This scene is now understood as an early hint about All for One’s plans to possess Shigaraki, as well as his own way of dehumanizing Shigaraki.

In the climax of My Villain Academia, Shigaraki recovers his lost memories as Tenko, and decides that what happened to his family wasn’t a tragedy. He finds freedom is choosing to take ownership of what happened to his family, in claiming his autonomy in a chaotic world that tried to take that away from him. Wouldn’t it be a nice touch of circular narration if All for One’s claiming of the Demon Lord title came from a similar sentiment, another way of claiming autonomy? Wouldn’t it be easier to own your inhumanity, to decide that everything happened the way it did because you were born twisted?

Who Didn’t Grow Up with Control Issues & Megalomaniac Tendencies?

→ Desire for control, more-or-less present prior but now front and center in the third act, is one of All for One’s prominent character traits. Control over Shigaraki and his various minions, control over society and the world, control over the current battle. Honestly, it’s fairly typical antagonist fare as a Control Character archetype (see this video for a nice breakdown on the Control Character). But it’s still a character trait that one can dig into and build off of.

One thing of note is a subtle-ish difference between the real All for One and the Vestige for One is how much control they not only maintain, but demonstrate and portray. Both incarnations are smug pricks sneering at the heroes, but Vestige for One is the one we usually see losing his goddamn mind over every inconvenience—facing off against the One for All vestiges at Jaku, fighting against Star & Strip, and at the Sky Coffin battlefield. Typically, the ‘vestige’ is drawn with a lot of exaggerated reactions, more screaming and the like. In contrast, the real!All for One has been largely calm and collected even with the heroes beating his ass. He’s still kinda pissed when the heroes break his mask, and recently he got pretty snappish when the brainwashed Gigantomachia threw a mountain at him. But that’s reasonable. 

There could be a few reasons for this difference. Vestige for One is still merging with Shigaraki and may be inheriting Shigaraki’s early temper and impatience, or he’s just fighting in more dire circumstances. One possibility we could explore is the Vestige as a “raw”, stripped down incarnation of All for One as a quirk, not as a man with learned behaviours. Outside of the ShigAFO vestige, we do see real All for One internally represented by another vestige, similarly exaggerated and furious over all these inconveniences, but that doesn’t 1:1 translate to how real All for One acts. One can argue that this controlled veneer, the image that he has everything in hand, that All for One has maintained despite everything going wrong. is an affectation that he has to consciously cultivate.

Does this desire for, and constant portrayal of possessing, control stem from the fact that he grew up in such a chaotic period, in a past where control might have been constantly out of his hands? Wouldn’t that kind of desperation, to resort to crime and villainy because the rest of the world can’t and won’t support you, be in line with why many of the other villains we get insight on have resorted to villainy?

→ We actually see a lot of All for One’s ‘thing’ for control established in chapter 193. We learn a lot about the brother’s relationship as it stood during those revisited memories—Yoichi already sees and accuses All for One of using his power selfishly, and exploiting people made vulnerable by ongoing chaos. And so smugly, All for One suggests that he’s helped make people less vulnerable (and why not get favours out of it!) and restored order amongst the chaos. Buddy is absolutely giddy about having a cohort of followers who act in his name! His persona is now realized! This is adult All for One at his peak, blossoming with the control he exercises, bragging about how awesome his life is now. If he's relishing in all this power now, what did All for One have before? Who was the brother who read comics with Yoichi?

The creator I linked earlier, Savage Books, has a different video with a small tangent about the Dark Lord archetype existing as an allegory of Evil for the hero to defeat (ie, what I’m arguing against specifically in BNHA). When I think of All for One as the Dark Lord archetype—or Demon Lord, as he would insist on—it’s striking that he’s aware of the allegory. He sees the Demon Lord in his comics, the archetype through and through, and models his desires and persona after it. He wants that on purpose.

Why do that? Well, it looked cool. If you want to get complicated, you could argue that a Demon Lord, a seemingly untouchable symbol of control of himself and of the world, is the figure dealing out harm instead suffering it, could be appealing to a kid growing up in a chaotic world where he and his remaining family are at risk of being harmed. Easier to find ways to protect yourself, tempting to be on the other side of harm, why not get swept up in it. The Demon Lord becomes a comfort character for little All for One, and then bam. Toxic fandom strikes. Whoops.

All for One’s veneration for the Demon Lord is such that he didn’t bother reading past volume three of the comic, something Yoichi calls out—cmon big bro, don’t you know your tropes? All for One/ShigAFO confirms this in the fight with Star & Stripes, and that he did it on purpose. Relatable, actually. But we get the question of why again. Why is it significant that All for One stopped reading a comic that influenced him so deeply?

Easy explanations are that it demonstrates All for One’s naivety and short-sightedness, a refusal to accept loss or defeat, an inability to understand heroism or goodness, he thought “well being defeated by a hero will NEVER happen to me!! :) :)” Which can all be true, but if we also accept the premise of the Demon Lord as All for One’s ‘comfort character’, a symbol of the untouchable control and safety that he lacked and needed as a child, why would he want to see him defeated? What would that say about the persona he’s created, the control that he pursues?

The Dark Lord is a specific archetype with a simple story function. And for a character who is knowingly trying to live up to that archetype, it’s more interesting to consider how he fails to do so.

→ Something of interest to think about is the way that All for One denies feelings of guilt for the things that he’s done. A Dark Lord character has no need to feel bad for the crimes committed in the pursuit of power, because they are just a symbol of uncomplicated evil. Yet when he’s haunted by the vestiges of quirks that he’s stolen, he does feel guilt. Not for very long, and he certainly doesn’t appreciate it, but it’s a glimmer more of humanity than a straightforward Dark Lord character would admit to.

You Know He Would Have Been Prolific

→ There’s a lot to say about how hard the “Demon Lord” thing has been pushed for Third Act for One. Strictly from a meta, audience perspective: It’s silly. Dude is fighting for his life to seem cool in this battle, and the whole “he WANTS to be a comic book villain??” is more slander against him. Fandom far and wide has made fun of this. Because it’s so silly.

Almost as silly as some manchild claiming that he’s out to destroy society.

In-universe, Shigaraki’s maturity is called into question constantly. Because he clumsily tries to bring ideology into the attack on USJ, is quick to give up or throw a tantrum when things aren’t going his way, doesn’t really have a plan or a reason for the whole Destroy Society schtick, and no one brings up the video game metaphors but they probably don’t help. These accusations ease up throughout the Kamino and Overhaul arcs, up until My Villain Academia when Shigaraki finally has an ideology, an action plan, resources, and is able to understand and articulate why he wants to destroy society.

Out of universe, Shigaraki is either one of the best constructed and developed characters in the whole manga, or he’s still just a whiny manchild who either didn’t have it that bad or isn’t justified for all the terrorism. It is what it is. But at least it gives me, personally, something to ruminate about as Third Act for One’s childish Demon Lord prancing becomes more prominent and off putting. At the very least, one can argue that their respective flights of fancy make Shigaraki and All for One parallels. And if Shigaraki gets to have a batshit goal rooted deeply in childhood trauma, then ANYONE can have a batshit goal rooted deeply in childhood trauma. 

As it is, it’s not as if All for One is the only character who’s overly attached to some relic of his youth or a childish ideal. In fact, this is often a humanizing aspect for a lot of characters. Deku wants to be a cool hero like All Might in part because of how he was bullied; Bakugou’s ‘dying’ thoughts are about how he wanted All Might to autograph his collectible card, but he was too caught up in his own inferiority complex to ask for it; Hawks (nevermind all his own third act problems) had his bargain bin Endeavour plushie as an abused child; Toga wants to be excited about having a crush and bonding with people over it even as her love is considered grotesque; Spinner latches onto a memory of talking to Shigaraki about videogames to push through quirk overload because it meant something to him after a lifetime of ostracization. And had it not been for his ‘manchild’ idiosyncrasies to make him stand out, Shigaraki probably just would have been a minor early arc villain, and there’d be no point in learning more about him.

And All for One has his childhood comics.

Of course, there’s a drastic difference between All for One with his comics vs a bunch of nerdy teens/young adults + Toga. Being that All for One is eternally middle-aged or something, so maybe he’s just creepy. But it can suggest there’s something about his childhood that still has a hold on him, and whoa look how convenient now that his age is physically rewinding backwards!

Maybe if All for One had been able to grow up reading and writing fanfiction about the Demon Lord Wins Canon Divergence AU and also about the Demon Lord getting absolutely railed by his favourite Homoerotic Evil Henchman, he would just be normal. Alas, he grew up in a dystopia. Sad!

Conclusion

Muscular is NOT a counterpoint to my argument against “evil for the sake of evil” characters in this particular story. He was BORN in a baby fighting ring.

(special thanks to @codenamesazanka and @stillness-in-green for not stopping me when i should have been stopped and helping me dig up nuggets from the story to use/expand on the ideas. hugs and bows.)

[somewhereinthepines]

a/n: i’m cleaning up my writing files atm, and i found this lil thing. it was supposed to be a full-blown oneshot pwp, but idk if i will return to it like ever. to this set-up in particular, i mean. i might, but also not sure. so here as far as i’ve got with it. technically speaking, this can be considered an AU. ryan is around 23-24 in this fic. chris is 48. the rest of the counsellors are also older. and basically, ryan and chris both have tattoos in this fic, and pretty much look like their concept art versions. that’s the only time, when ryan is allowed to look cool. ever. 

and as to why jacob happens to be here…well, idk. he just is. 

either way, the pair is chris/ryan, there are hints of slight mature themes, but it never got past it lol. also i didn't re-read it, so if there are mistakes, so sorry.

————–

Emma was a freaking tease. Jacob knew it already. Knew it from the get-go, but he couldn’t help himself. He truly couldn’t. He was always getting frustrated with the way she taunted him. Giving him an inch, only for him to make it into a mile. 

Sure, it was part of the deal and they weren’t even dating, but deep down, he dared to hope for something more intimate, than a quickie and promise of maybe, maybe not doing it again. 

It was fun, of course. The things, that they did. Em had a fantastic body and she was more experienced, than most girls he was with before. Yet, it’s where she seemingly drew the line. She wouldn’t allow him to kiss her in public or even throw an arm around her shoulder. 

She resisted anything, that had something to do with them getting committed to one another, and despite how he should have been ‘respectful’ toward her wishes, it still managed to upset him. 

He naively thought, that they kinda had, you know, something special, maybe? A summer flick can grow past just a little crush, no one forbidden it to. 

But she was having none of that. 

She refused to give him any chance to actually show her, that he was pretty serious about making her his girlfriend. It seemed like she didn’t believe him. But Jacob was a stubborn guy, and he kept on telling himself, that he just needs to work harder to win her over. After all, Em was the girl of his dreams. Pretty, witty, and hot as hell. What is there not to want? He just had to try harder to make her see things his way!  

The only problem was, though, that he had no idea how to go about it. He only had one girlfriend before, and even then, she dumped him, because he wasn’t ‘sensitive enough’ for her or whatever. 

Jacob was pretty helpless, when it came to deciphering women's psychology. 

He could always ask Kaitlyn’s opinion on the matter, but she would make fun of him, abusing the boundaries of their friendship for her own amusement. And even if she would have been willing to actually help him, she wasn’t the most girly girl on the block. How would she know what Em might like? And Abi, well, yeah no. He doubts, that she will be of any help, either. She didn’t strike him as someone, who was on the same level as Emma. 

So with all those names crossed out, unfortunately, it left him only with one option. Not the best one. But who else was he going to ask for dating advice? Mister H? 

No, it was out of the question. He won’t ask some old dude, who clearly wasn’t doing anything sexual for years. Jacob needed a more ref-reshed opinion. Such as Nick or Dylan. They’d be able to help. 

For that, he smartly picked the time, when he had two of them in one place. During the breakfast, when everyone was way too sleepy to be smarasses and when, Emma was sitting out of ear-shot. 

It was perfect timing for sure. 

As soon as he was mentally ready, he blurted out, loud enough only for his buds to hear, “What should I do?” 

Dylan and Nick paused their heated discussion about some music band to throw weirded out looks at him. Ryan, on other hand, barely glanced at Jacob, pretty soon returning to poking at his food, like nothing had happened. He looked like he was still half-asleep. But Jacob couldn’t care less about that dude at the moment. 

“What?” Nick blinked, seemingly not following. 

“Yeah, what do you mean?” Dylan asked, leaning on the table, vaguely intrigued. “Did I miss something?” 

“It’s about –” Jacob couldn’t hold back an embarrassed, sheepish smile, that crawled on his lips. “Em.” 

“Oh…right, of course it is.” Dylan immediately looked bored, as if someone had flipped a switch inside his head. “It’s always about her with you, huh?” 

“Wh – no, it’s not!” 

“Yes, it is.” Dylan drawled out, eyes hooded and flat. “Oh Romeo, where is my Romeo?” 

“Did she dump you or something?” Nick chimed in, pushing a piece of broccoli inside his mouth. He was faintly smirking at angried look on Jacob’s face. “About the damn time. The summer is getting close to an end. It’s time to lose some extra weight.”

“Sick burn, man.” 

“I’m serious!” Jacob whispered-shouted, which only resulted in more recondited mockery. “I’ve – I’m asking you to help me!” 

“So she did dump you, then?”

Dylan snorted. Nick was openly smiling now. And Ryan just continued looking like he was pretty much out of it. 

“What? No. No!” Jacob shot back, glaring at them. “Don’t say that, man!”

“Why not? It’s not like she’s gonna date you outside of – umm – y’know, work and all.” Dylan supplied, getting an approving leer from Nick. “Summer affairs tend to be short-lived.” 

“Yeah, what he said.” Nick supported, mouthing another piece of his breakfast. “You win some, you lose some.” 

Jacob frowned, slowly getting frustrated with them. Those two fuckers were always ganging up on him, when it came to Em. But it wasn’t like he had much choice. He couldn’t figure it out on his own. He needed their help. Whether he wanted it or not. 

“I’m serious, dudesss.” Jacob said in a quieter, whiner voice. “I need some – uh, advice? Like pretty please?” 

“Like as in dating advice?” Dylan made a confused face. “From…us?” 

“How desperate are you?” Nick injected, also looking surprised. 

“I don’t know…very desperate?” Jacob offered, seeing a small shift in their behavior. “If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have been asking.” 

“So you want us to help you to make Em like you again?” Dylan asked, rubbing his jaw, like he wasn’t too sure about his own wording. “Like make her get swayed by you?” 

Jacob nodded his head. “Ah, yeah. Yeeeah. I mean. Kind of?” 

“For real?” 

“Yes. Fucking damn it.” he was getting pretty angry here. “How many times do I need to repeat it?” 

Nick sighed, putting his cheek in the hollow of his palm, eyes skipping to the other end of the hall, where Emma chatted with Abi. She was fully oblivious about what they were discussing just a few feet away. Dylan looked into that direction too, humming. To their credit, they both actually seemed somewhat thoughtful now. 

“Well?” 

“I dunno, dude. Didn’t you try to like — aw fuck, I don’t know.” Dylan turned back to him. “Nick, what you’ve got? You’ve gotta have something, right?” 

Nick responded with an indifferent shrug. “Not really. I mean, did you try to do something romantic for her? Like take her to some pretty place?” 

Jacob did nothing of the kind, but this got his attention. “A pretty place? In here?” 

“Where else?” Nick said, playfully raising both of his brows up. “The town doesn’t actually have anything cool in it. And in nature…” 

“You can fuck in nature.” Dylan injected, seemingly proud of his sudden resolution “Do it the forest people style.” 

“Get it going in the bushes?” Jacob honestly thought, that they must be joking. Em would never agree to this kind of stuff. “That’s not serious, guys.” 

“Why not? You can go skinny dipping.” 

“Or you can stage it like you will.” 

“Oh.” 

Now, this was an idea. 

Jacob nodded, considering it. “Okay, okaaay. Continue.” 

“You, her aaand –” 

Dylan and Nick exchanged looks, and smiled at one another, as if knowing something, that he didn’t. 

“And?” Jacob urged, leaning over the table. “And what?” 

“And a private, secluded place. This is what you need.” Nick finished, while Dylan nodded, getting a sip of his coffee. “This will get the ball rolling.” 

“Yeah, you can surprise her and then, get some or whatever.” 

Jacob glanced at Em’s direction. Maybe, this indeed was what he needed. They don’t even had to have sex, maybe just talk about things, where no one can budge in. In the end, he just wanted to make her give him a chance. A real one. And if they’d be alone and she’ll see that he was honestly trying…this should sway her judgment, right? 

But it brings him back to another issue. 

“And where such a place might be?” 

“Uhhhh…well. I don’t know.” Nick answered, unbothered by Jacob’s fallen expression. “Somewhere?” 

“Oh come on, dude!” Jacob whined. “Don’t do this to me!” 

Nick’s state remained neutral, and Jacob started getting real worried here, but then – 

“Maybe, you should ask Ryan.” Dylan offered, pointing his fork at Mister Gloom-Doom, who barely flinched at the notion. “He knows the area better, than any of us.” 

“Yeah, that’s a good idea, actually. Ask him.” Nick murmured, getting back to his food. “Mister H probably showed him around a lot.” 

This was a good point, but it was Ryan, they were talking about. And if there was something, that everybody around here knew, it was that he and Jacob weren’t really getting along well. 

“I don’t think, that he can be –” 

“He sits right here, just ask him, geez.” Nick urged, before starting chewing on his bacon. 

Jacob looked at Ryan, and the other guy looked back at him. “So, Ryan…do you know such a place? For me and Em, I mean.”

The other teen didn’t respond. He didn’t even blink. Expression so-ever blank, the dark eyes slightly lidded. Always unimpressed and uninterested by anything or anyone. Jacob already wanted to punch him in the face. It was almost like an itch under his skin. 

“You’ve been here a lot, so –” 

“I’m not going to help you, dude.” 

He didn’t even hesitate or stammer when he said it. The asshole didn’t so much as bait an eyelid even. And while, Jacob expected it, this did nothing to prevent his temper from rising. Ryan really did pissed him off sometimes.  

“Wow, who would have thought.” Jacob bit back, childishly offended. “I mean, daaaamn. You can’t really contribute to anything, unless it’s a – let’s see, a discussion about how to deepthroat Mister H’s dick. Now, this would have been your field of knowledge, I’d imagine.” 

Dylan made a weird noise, that could have been a poorly stifled giggle, while Nick openly sniggered into his fist, masking it into a low cough. They both did a piss poor job of hiding their amusement. But Ryan himself barely raised a brow at him. 

“Nice one, Jacob.” Ryan deadpanned, taking a bite of his omelet. “I’m never going to recover from it.” 

“I’ll bet, that Mister H is into some kinky shit.” Dylan suggested. “Like some real dirty stuff.” 

“You, mean like an old pervert kind of shit?” Nick joined in, all too happy to spread rumors about their boss. “Roleplay? Or wait, the better yet. Underground BDSM club?” 

“Can you picture it?” Dylan laughed under his breath. “Mister H in leather?” 

“With some kind of torture thing.” 

“Like a paddle.” 

“Or a whip.” 

They could only hold themselves back so much, before they started laughing. Nick nearly choked on the last piece of his bacon. 

“Hey guys, can we please focus on me?” Jacob asked over their laughter, but was ignored. 

“He’s not into weird shit.” Ryan put his own two cents in, for once, looking somewhat annoyed. He always got all bristly and pissy, when they shit-talked his precious camp leader. It was almost like he cared about what they said about Mister Hackett way more, than what they said about Ryan himself. 

So typical for that guy. 

“Oh come on, Ryan. We’re just joking.” 

“Yeah, man. Chill.” 

“He can’t chill, though.” 

Everyone at the table looked up at him. The dramatic pause worked as a charm. 

If you can’t fight them, join them. 

“It gives him flashbacks.” Jacob said with a toothy smile, enjoying how Ryan’s hold on the fork tightened up as if on reflex. “Does he put you over his knee, when you’re being a bad boy, Ryan?” 

“Har-har.” Ryan narrowed his eyes. “Very funny, Jacob.” 

“What, I am just asking, man.” Jacob replied back, a smile still present on his face. “I mean, do you call him daddy? Or pappi? You look like you’d be into that!” 

Ryan’s eyes narrowed. “Are you done yet?” 

Jacob pretended to think. “Yeeeah, no wait. Wait. One last thing. Daddy Hackett.” 

This managed to send both Nick and Dylan into an absolute frenzy, they were openly laughing now, creating all kinds of rackets around the table. The other counselors and kids were glancing their way. But Jacob’s own attention was focused on Mister-Bitch-Resting-Face. He wouldn’t miss it for the world. The rare chance to see, Ryan actually losing even an inch of his cool. 

“So which one is it? You can tell us, we won’t judge!” 

“You really hang up on it, aren’t you?” 

“I don’t know.” Jacob shrugged. “What’s your favorite pose, by the way? Doggy style?” 

This finally hit the nail. Ryan’s breath hitched. His posture went rigid. And while one might mistake it for a sign of repressed anger, Jacob noticed how jerked his throat, and how quickly he went from tense to huddled, and oddly pissy, but in a very passive-aggressive way. 

Jacob had irked him for real this time. And he wasn’t about to stop. Fuck no. Why should he? Mister H’s personal Golden Boy deserved to be knocked down a peg. 

“Nothing to say for yourself, Erzahler?” 

He was anticipating his response. He waited for some sort of comeback or maybe, even something being thrown into his face. But in a second, all the pent-up energy seemingly left Ryan’s body, and his expression went back to being placid and bored. 

“Fuck off.” Ryan muttered, looking away. Defeated. 

“Awww…” Jacob coed. “Poor Ryan had –” 

“Hey, what’s going on over there?” 

Ahhh, fuck. 

He cringed, and turned over his shoulder to reassure Mister H, who was now glaring at them like a hawk. Sometimes, Jacob forgot that he was there during the morning hours too. “Nothing! It’s nothing!” 

“Nothing?” the older man’s face told him, that he wasn’t buying into Jacob’s bullshit. “It doesn’t look like nothing to me. What’s so funny, anyways?” 

“Ahh, it’s – no, really! That’s ahhh – that’s nothing, really!” Jacob waved his hand, hoping that it would pacify the other, and make the crowd stop eyeing him. Even Em was staring at him, slightly raising her brow. “This is just –” 

“Yeah, it’s nothing, Mister H.” 

Jacob paused, side-glancing at Ryan, genuinely taken aback. Not expecting him to come to Jacob’s aid, out of all people. But then, he noticed how there was a hint of light smirk on Ryan’s lips, and he immediately knew that it wasn’t anything good. Ryan might have told his jokes with a straight face, making people wonder if it was a joke at all. But he could deliver the punchline, if he really wanted to. 

“He just can’t count past forty five.” 

Some people started to laugh. Nick and Dylan laughed at this as well, not caring who was the target of their shared finger-poking. They seemed to love taking piss at everyone, really. 

“That’s –” Jacob felt his face flush with embarrassment. “That’s not true!” 

“Yeah, he slowly gets over forty six, though.” Ryan added, looking straight at him. “It’s very challenging.” 

“Fuck you!” Jacob quietly hissed, kicking Ryan into the shin under the table. Something had flashed through the other teen’s face then, and he kicked him right back. Jacob barely managed to bite back a painted groan. Ryan’s boots had a pretty heavy sole. “Ow, why you…” 

“Hope, that you like it.” 

“What?” Jacob raised his eyes and met that unbanished expression directly, and damn, he wanted to fucking throttle that prick. 

“Hey! HEY!” Mister H called out, getting up from his own seat. “Don’t make me go there, Custos!”

“What!?” he blinked, taken aback by such plain side-picking. “What did I do? Ryan is –” 

“I told you to knock it off, pal.” the older man warned him, tone serious and expression even more hardened. “I’m not jokin’ with ya. Don’t start something, that ya can't finish.” 

“But I –” 

“Calm yourself down. Now.” Mister H told him, like one would a disobedient dog and it was pretty much over, after that. At this point, it was pretty useless to try and defend himself, so he just sank back into his seat, throwing Ryan a dirty look. The other kid just scoffed at him, drawing his legs closer to the bench, and going back to straight up ignoring him. 

Fucking asshole. 

Mister H never got angry at Ryan. As if he was automatically blameless, and never guilty of anything. It got under Jacob’s skin at times. Just how easy it was for Ryan to mislead people with his quiet and usually non-conflicting persona. It’s like they literally believed, that he was any better, than an average man of their age. When he wasn’t. 

At least, Jacob wasn’t buying into that shit. There was just something very off about Ryan. Something, that made it hard to like him, but very easy to want to mess with him. He could never understand why Kaitlyn kind of liked the creep, when he didn’t even looked her way. 

But eventually, it all was sort of forgotten and Jacob went back to focusing on more important tasks such as getting Em see a real dating material in him. It was more urgent, than focusing on Ryan and how he got it all so ever easy. Besides, this plan might just work. 

Jacob felt good about this one. Real good. 

It should work out just fiiine. 

=====

It didn’t work out fine. Half-way through, he had already started suspecting that something was off. Nick and Dylan told him, that they had told Em, that Jacob told them to ask her if she would like to accompany him tonight. And then, as a final piece of their strange story, they told him, that she said yes. 

Dumbly and blindly, he had trusted their word. He went to the spot, where he was supposed to meet Emma. But it was becoming less and less likely, that she’d come. They said, that Em wanted to meet him on the Island, in the evening, when most of the counselors and campers will be getting ready for the night. But Jacob was yet to find any sign of her. Was she running later or…? 

Annoyed, he looked around, finding nothing, but well, the old boathouse. Nothing out of the ordinary. And Em was nowhere to be seen. 

Part of him suspected, that it might be a ruse. It won’t be the first time, when Nick and Dylan would use his affection for Emma to make a fool out of him. And it most likely won’t be the last. They still had a few weeks of summer left. 

Jacob re-adjusted his cap, looking up at the darkening sky. 

“Ahh, damn it…” 

The time was really running out for him, wasn’t it? 

But – 

But maybe, she was simply being fashionably late. Girls love to do this kind of thing. 

Not knowing if this all was for real or not, if Emma was still coming or not, he decided to wait it out in the boathouse. He might as well, see if she would be heading here from the higher point of the Island, rather than sulking on the bridge. 

“Okay, Jacob. Gotta wait for her a bit longer, I guess.” he told himself, filling the silence with his own voice, just to not let the anxiety take over. Perhaps, he still can get it going for him. 

Or maybe, not. 

Maybe, not today. 

He wasn’t sure how long he waited. One hour for sure, maybe more, but he nearly jumped off the second floor, when he saw a boat coming closer to an Island. Finally, she was –

But it wasn’t Emily. 

It was Mister H and…what the hell? Was it Ryan? 

They seem to not notice him too busy talking with one another. Jacob had no idea what they were discussing, he could only hear their muted voices, and see Mister Hackett nearly scrambling to get on the sandy surface, like he wanted nothing more, than to put a distance between himself and the water. 

Meanwhile, Ryan was tying the boat to the bridge pole, eyes downcast and mouth still running about whatever. As soon as he was done, he joined Chris and they walked towards –

Oh fuck. They were walking here. 

Jacob leapt away from the wooden border, heart beating loudly inside his ears. What should he do? None of the counselors were allowed to come here, after the camping activities were done with. And it was getting closer and closer toward nighttime. He would get in trouble for this! 

He couldn’t let them see him! 

The voices were getting louder and he could hear their footsteps making the old wood creak. They were fucking going up here! Damn! Damn it! 

Frantically, Jacob swiped his head around, attempting to pick a place to hide. 

Come on! Come on! 

“T-there!” he muttered to himself, feeling like he still could avoid getting caught. 

Quickly, he rushed toward one of the tables, crawling underneath it, right to the point, where there were too many chairs for them to hopefully notice him. He could hide behind them for the time being. And it wasn’t like it was actually all that bright anymore either. 

The sun was about to set in an hour or two, so maybe –

“I can’t believe, that he said it.” 

This was unmistakably Mister H’s voice. 

“He did.” 

And this low drawl was clearly Ryan. But what the fuck Ryan was even going here, and with their boss? So late too? How come that rules didn’t apply to him as well? 

Jacob could barely process what this situation even was, but he didn’t have all that much time to dwell on it. His breath came short, when both men walked through the doorway. Mister Hackett was holding a pack of…beer? And Ryan was dragging after him, seemingly familiar with this ‘routine’, like they did it before. 

And what the hell was this all about? Did Chris allow Ryan to drink at work? 

While Jacob was still somewhat shocked with this development, Ryan settled on one of the tables, putting his boot on the nearest chair, rocking it. The older man placed the beer pack right next to his hip, pausing like he had noticed something out of order. 

“And then, it’s –”

“Wait a second, bud.” 

Jacob watched in horror how Mister H took a step back from the table, and slowly rounded the room with his stare. The look inside his irises was oddly intense, not the kind that he ever saw the man having. Then, weirdly enough, Mister H’s nose twitched, like he was sniffing air. 

“What’s the matter?” 

“Ah, no…” Chris narrowed his eyes, looking from one side to another. “No, it’s just — oh, here it is.” 

He slowly stalked closer to the place, where Jacob was hiding and for a second, he thought that he was found out. But Chris reached for something, that was on the table, instead of looking underneath it. 

“Ah-ha.” judging by the sound, the olderman shook the object in his hand, before throwing it to Ryan, who caught it with ease. A bottle opener.  “I knew, that it was around here somewhere.” 

“You always forget stuff.” Ryan told him in an even voice, opening one of the bottles and hissing, when some of the foam dripped past the glass, and all over his fingers. 

“Not always.” Mister H responded, returning to his previous spot. 

“You forgot the password to your own safe the other week.” 

“It’s because I’ve changed it.” Chris chuckled at his own statement, rubbing the back of his neck as if embarrassed. “And yeah, you’ve right, I pretty much forgot, that I’ve changed it afterwards.” 

“It’s all because of the beer.” Ryan tilted his head a bit to the side, allowing Chris to take the bottle away from him. 

“Oh yeah?” the older man took a large sip, while Ryan stared at him. “Think so, mm?” 

“Yeah. It’s like – uhh –” he bit down on his lip, thinking about the word. “The Devil’s brew.” 

“The Devil’s brew?” Chris licked his lips, giving Ryan a crinky, cheery look. “I heard it somewhere before.” 

Ryan shrugs. “My grandma calls it that. And she’s like a hundred years old.” 

“Are you calling me old again?” Chris quirked a brow up. “Think, that only the old people know what it is?” 

“Not what I’ve said.” 

Ryan suddenly reached his hand, wrapping his fingers around Chris’s and tilting the bottle toward himself, taking a large gulp, that resulted in him starting coughing. It must have hit the wrong place inside his throat. Chris sighed and lightly patted him on the back, not even scolding him for such sort of behavior. 

Jacob frowned. Still confused. 

So, was Ryan allowed to drink for real, then? 

“Sh-shit…” 

“Ah, Ryan.” Mister H mumbled. “Don’t hurry. Drink in small gulps, yeah?” 

“Yeah, y-yeah, I – I know, it’s just –” Ryan wiped his mouth, right afterwards grabbing Chris’s uniform and tugging him a bit closer. “I kind of…uhh. I kind of tired of waiting.” 

“Ohhh…I see.” Chris drew out, understanding something, that Jacob didn’t. “How cruel of me to deny you this, mm? Want to get it on now already, champ?” 

Slowly, Ryan nodded, still gripping the lapel of Chris’s shirt. Still staring him dead in the eyes. And if Jacob didn’t know any better, he’d thought, that they were about to make out with one another. But –

No. 

Now, that would have been fucking weird, if they did. Like as if every lewd joke, that he and the boys made about Ryan and Mister H had suddenly turned out to be true. 

“I’m better start, before ya'll get all impatient, then.” Chris said, voice getting lower, deeper. “You’re ready for it, right?” 

Another nod. 

“Y-yeah.” 

Chris’s hands brushed the back of Ryan’s neck. “Good.” 

Behind the bunch of chairs, crumpled in tiny space, Jacob took it all in. There was a lot of familiarity between them. And it’s not like no one had ever noticed it before. It was enough to just look at them interacting, really. But it felt so much more casual now, somehow. Like Ryan and Chris were hanging out like this all the time. 

It felt so weird to see it happening without them knowing, that he was there. But his brain had only truly zeroed out, went completely blank, when Mister H took a hold of Ryan’s chin, in a gesture so sure and confident, like it was done time after time, and pressed their mouths together. 

Jacob’s own mouth involuntarily hung open, as he stared and stared, as if it would disappear or he would wake up. But it did not. And he didn’t wake up with a gasp. Instead, it was Ryan, who gasped into the older man’s lips, slightly aching into Chris’s other hand, when it crawled up his leg, right under his undershirt. 

And holy moly, it got intense pretty fast from there. Jacob wasn’t expecting them to just go for it, like that. Not that he expected them to go for it at all. But the kiss turned from somewhat slow into a dirty one, and he couldn’t foresee Ryan even knowing how to kiss, but he clearly knew what he was doing. Moving his jaw and grabbing Chris’s arm, trembling fingers pressing into his tattoo, sliding against heated skin while the older man sucked all the air out of his lungs. 

It was as if he attempted to choke him with the kiss alone. 

And Ryan was clearly into it too. Into not able to breath, aside from panicked, fastered inhales and exhales through his nose. It wasn’t the first time, when they did it, clearly. So how many times…? No, wait. Why does he even think about that!? 

It was so odd and wrong, but also, he probably shouldn’t be all that shocked, considering that Ryan never hid his apparent boner for Mister H. And speaking of boners, Jesus…

It didn’t take Mister H long to just slam his hips between Ryan’s spread legs, and lightly rub against him, while they were making out. Ryan seemed pleased, eager even. 

And this was weird too. Jacob could never imagine Chris as someone, who was this straightforward and latently aggressive. Sure, the guy had a bit of a temper at times, but usually, Mister H was pretty tame and somewhat polite. For him to just eat face with one of his counsellors like that? 

What was going on?

“Mhh!” 

Ryan made another noise, twitching against Chris and sort of attempting to reach for his belt, but his hand was stopped half-way. Mister H just kept it there against his hip, not allowing it to go any further, sort of jamming it against his growing erection. And yeah, Jacob could see it from his place, thank you very much. 

“C-come on…” Ryan rasped, when they separated after what seemed like an hour. “I need t-to –” 

He took a deep breath, still unable to recover, while Chris only smiled at him. It wasn't an unkind smile either. It was pretty warm and found, but also knowing and vexed. 

“You’re really inpatient today, buster.” Chris noted. “Can’t hold it back?” 

“Y-yeah…” Ryan sucked in another shaky breath, and nodded, watching Chris through half-lidded eyes. “I just really want you to…uh…y’know to uh…” 

“To fuck ya silly?” Chris asked, and it was so bizzare hearing him saying something like that. For a moment Jacob honestly thought, that he was asleep and it wasn’t for real. But then it got worse, “Raw you up for good, eh?” 

Ryan’s face flushed, and he slightly turned his head away, but Chris wrenched it back, using a grip on his jaw. His other hand relaxed his hold around Ryan’s wrist, and snaked back under the younger man’s shirt. He was in less hurry now, as if merely wishing to prolong this torture for everyone inside the room. 

“Wanna get all handsy with me, Ryan?” 

“Chris –!” 

Ryan couldn’t quite double-over, pretty much stuck with Mister H keeping him in place by his body and hands, and table not letting him go anywhere else. For a moment, Jacob wondered how Ryan could stand this much body contact and heat, but at the same time still long for more. 

Jacob got dirty with at least four girls in his lifetime, and neither of them looked so willing and eager to push even further, to be even closer, than this. 

But Ryan did. His whole body shivered, either from whatever Chris did under his shirt or maybe, because he wasn’t allowed to go any further than this just yet. It must have driven a guy nuts. It would have driven Jacob nuts for sure. 

“I, I –” 

“Ryan.” it wasn’t even addressed to him, but Jacob felt his guts twisting with uncomfortable heat. “Ryan…” 

Jacob has no idea how Chris could sex up that prick’s name like this, but there was a lot of emotion behind it. Warm and lingering, earning like a need, that could find no release. 

“C-can I –” Ryan swallowed. “Can I…now?” 

“No.” Chris shook his head, watching Ryan’s expression crumble a bit. “You have to wait a bit longer.” 

It seemed like Ryan was about to disagree, but instead his face went back to being unreadable, as he peered back at Chris. His fingers curled around the bulge in the older man’s pants, forcing him to let out a sigh as if in praise. 

“Ryan –”

“Y-you started it first.” 

Chris snorted, caressing Ryan’s jaw, pressing one finger near the corner of his mouth. “Cheeky, are ya?” 

Ryan gave him a faint half-smile, hooking one of his legs around Mister H’s hip. “I’m twenty.” 

“I know, bud.” Chris muttered, mouth hoovering near Ryan’s, as if in a promise of a kiss. “I know.” 

Helpless to do much, but continue watching them, Jacob couldn’t prevent himself from getting a bit reflective. They really stared at one another a lot, while they were at it, he noticed. And it was pretty much the opposite of how it went down between Jacob and Emma. She would rather keep her eyes closed and then, just shrug off his advances, like it meant nothing. 

It’s just summer fun, she told him with that cute smile and light pitch of her brows, and – 

It was kind of humiliating, that the guy, who he kind of hated, certainly got a better game, than he did. Mister H took Ryan to the woods at times, where they were supposedly hiking together, but now, Jacob wondered if this, - this right here - was what they were really doing in the forest. 

Was Mister H raw doggying Ryan in the open? Right in the woods? Just a couple of miles away from the camp? 

He seemingly had no problem banging him here. So yeah, probably. 

It still barely made any sense inside his head, it was buzzing and buzzing to no end. Was he really seeing it? Them together? There must be something with his brain or…?

Ryan let out a keen. 

And this was the loudest and the most emotional noise, that he ever heard him making. 

Involuntary, Jacob backed away further into the wall, blinking rapidly. Chris’s hand was twisting Ryan’s nipple under his shirt, if he had to guess. Ryan was openly panting, as Chris pushed his big finger into his mouth, watching him grow even redder in the face. 

And yeah, okay maybe there was an appeal to it. Even Jacob had to admit, that the creepy asshole did look kind of nice like this. When he wasn’t all arrogant and gloomy, carrying that large stick up his ass. Instead, remaining pinned and manhandled. And quite, save from needy voices. 

[st-agatha-city]

I’m obsessively interested in this game, but I don’t have a PC or MacBook (u don’t even want to know how hard I tried to get it to work with shady Windows-emulator apps and sheer dumb hope 💀 ) SOO I was wondering if anyone has posted a play-through or anything? Or if there’s a wiki or smth where I can at least read the lore? Idk help I’m going insane 😭

Oh my gosh - I am so flattered!! There are no play-throughs YET (barring my own crummy demos of like... 2 different routes?), and there are infrequent streams from small creators, but I will absolutely be posting here if I or anyone else releases a Let's Play!

My YouTube can be found here! Animatics and voice actor previews are put here, as well as some AMV oddities and the like :) I haven't updated in quite some time because YouTube scares me now I've been busy with IRL stuff and programming, but I intend to update the channel in the future :)

My St. Agatha Play Through footage can be found here!

As for keeping up to date with fan content, projects, and lore -

My Toyhouse acts as an informal wiki. Many pages are under construction or contain outdated info, but will be updated overtime, especially if prompted to make any pages or characters a priority :) You can do that in my DMs, inbox, on Toyhouse, or via Discord (more on that in a second.)

If you want a Toyhouse code to join the site (as anyone can view, but only invited members can utilize it's services) for the purpose of leaving comments, saving things to your favorites, or for storing your own characters and lore - DM me here! I can get you one no problem :) I also make tutorials and answer questions on how to use the site, as it has a fairly steep learning curve, but is WELL worth the time if you have it to spend. I love it so so much now that I know how to use it.

People who are sixteen or older can join the Discord! It's invite only, but you are encouraged to message me for access! You can meet other fans, see WIPs, and ask questions to me or others in-the-know more directly :) I also do dev tests and we host live play throughs there!

⚠️ Heads up - the themes and subject matter of this game are discussed openly. This is a mature, but not adult game. There is no nudity or pornographic content, but there might be references to this as well as to gore, death, drug use, assault, and animal violence. As for other potential triggers - suggestive humor, references and cartoon depictions of violence and mild gore can be seen in art and fan art. Any art involving blood will be censored :) We do not tag self harm scars, but do tag open self harm wounds in art. That's another thing to keep in mind.

These are matters of importance or passing importance in the game, mostly in character backstory, they can be expected to be brought up in the server, and I don't advise joining if this might be a deal breaker for you

This server is also plural friendly, and hosts both pluralkit and tupperbox. The server is also pro-endo, and I will not be entertaining discourse on the matter.

I'll do some asking around to see if anyone has seen or has been considering doing a Let's Play! I've had some people bring that up to me before.

Thanks for sending in the ask!! And thank you for your interest 💌

[hvwks]

like i understand that a lot of people really think that mha is going to end with izuku having his quirks taken away completely and that by the completion of the story, he's going to be quirkless again, but i just don't... agree. or at the very least, i'll be really disappointed if that's the case. now hear me out! [cut for spoilers]

i understand that with danger sense taken, it's being speculated that each of izuku's quirks will be stripped away one by one. it makes sense from a predictive perspective--as in, it makes sense if you're solely looking at the deku vs shigaraki fight from a purely action-based standpoint. but narrative-wise? i just don't understand what having izuku becoming quirkless again would achieve for the story.

mha, as a narrative, is focused around themes of what it means to 'save' others, whether certain people who commit acts of evil are worth redeeming or not, and a slightly on-the-nose discussion about the commodification of good deeds (IE: pro-heroes who pursue the career for the fame and the glory of it, saturating the market with people who lack the 'true' spirit of what it means to be a hero.)

we see a lot of this in bakugou's characterization, for example.

we see him go from selfish and destructive to becoming cooperative and a strong team-player. he goes from being the kind of kid who wants to be a hero for the title of being 'the best' to being an aspiring hero who understands that working for the greater good requires sacrifices.

i also think with bakugou in mind, if we even look at the dynamic between him and izuku (whether you want to take it as romantic or platonic idk i'm not the boss of u) we see that he feels guilty for treating him poorly. while he did bully izuku for being quirkless, it was the fact that izuku was always trying to help him that pissed bakugo off even more. their relationship developed for the positive not because bakugou magically decided that quirkless individuals are on the same level as him (NOT to say he still holds discriminatory feelings towards quirkless people still) but because he sees that izuku is powerful now, almost more powerful than him, and the fact that he's being driven to become better and better to help people now that he has one for all show's bakugou that he still has a lot to learn about what it means to be a hero.

it's hard to articulate the exact nuance i am trying to clarify, but... basically, it's not that izuku's quirklessness is a major thematic element for the character arcs that occur throughout the show. the story isn't about how a quirkless teenager can become a hero. it's a story about how a quirkless teenager inherited the strongest quirk in the world and how he takes it and uses it to save the world.

the relevance of izuku's quirklessness mainly comes up when discussing whether he's suitable for OFA or not. the only other times it comes up is when he's reflecting on how he managed to stumble his way into being an OFA holder.

however, we don't really get any dialogue on how even the quirkless can become heroes without having a quirk or acquiring one by other means. even if izuku was to lose all his quirks, what is that intended to symbolize? izuku leaving the war a winner is one thing, but him being quirkless while holding that win doesn't add depth to the victory. all it does is reduce izuku's entire character development throughout the entirety of the series to him being nothing but a vessel for OFA and the key to victory, nothing more and nothing less.

that feels like shoddy storytelling to me and would be a huge L for izuku who, for the most part, has shown so much growth and maturity over time through the series. giving him a quirk when he wsa at his most hopeless, allowing him to win, then taking it away feels both cruel and counterintuitive.

while some people may argue that it's just another take on the "doomed from the start" type of narrative, i just think that this kind of move is... almost a cop-out. i feel like the story would be so much more impactful if izuku came out of this fight victorious with at least the core of OFA still intact (do we remember how the vestiges refused to be taken? both canonically during the paranormal liberation war arc AND in the movie where he attempted to transfer OFA to bakugou? i like to think that at the very least, the core power of OFA without the ability to pass itself on via Yoichi) would be a great way to show how the obsession with quirks and strengths is detrimental to hero society.

if he also completes his objective of saving shigaraki over killing him (which i really hope for!!!) then we now have the perfect way to tie up the narrative of MHA, where we see the question of "can everyone be saved?" get answered while also exposing the cracks in hero society. it would be the perfect jumping point for hero society as a whole to break down and rebuild into something better than what it was before.

i think those are important themes that would just lose its impact if izuku was made permanently quirkless all over again. after all, izuku midoriya shouldn't have to just be the vessel, he should get to come out of this war as the very EMBODIMENT of what OFA stands for.

[raytorosaurus]

Oh Gerard doesn't like the show?? I don't watch it so idk anything

he hasn't outright said he doesn't like it because he's not a dick and i'm sure he respects the team who work on it but like...okay i'm not gonna go and source all of this because it's stuff he's just kind of hinted at over a couple of years in various places but basically there was meant to be an umbrella academy movie in, like, 2012 or something that was going to be a pretty direct adaptation of the comics but it got canned. there definitely used to be a script floating around somewhere because i remember reading it a few years ago but i'm not sure how official/final it was. anyway it got canned because of the usual legal difficulties but also apparently gerard got a bit controlling about his artistic vision and wasn't happy with where it was going and shit.

anyway fast-forward to...2017 or 18 or whenever it was when they were first making the show and gerard was still relatively on board (he didn't have any input into the scripts themselves, but he had a hand in casting and discussed each of the character's arcs with steve blackman the showrunner, visited set a few times, that kind of thing. he made some comments in interviews that he'd matured a lot over the years and was now better at giving up creative control of things and listening to advice from the other people - he specifically mentioned being glad there was more racial diversity in the show because that's something he (very rightfully) regrets about the original comics. anyway he was involved a bit in the press for that first season before it aired and was pretty positive about it, and the first season is definitely the one that's most faithful to the comics (though tonally and thematically speaking it's a pretty loose adaptation). this got....looser as the show went.

like i said, gerard hasn't said anything actively negative about the show, but more recently he has kind of edged around praising it, stopped advertising it on social media even before he left instagram etc etc. He got asked what he thought about the music in the netflix show in an interview relatively recently and he gave a very roundabout careful answer (that's pretty representative of how he's recently spoken about the show in generally) that was basically "it's not.....what i would have chosen.........but i've gotten better at letting that kind of thing go." and then went on a spiel about how he considers the comics and the netflix show two entirely separate entities that have no bearing on each other. he's said multiple things like this clearly distancing himself from the show, and been quick to correct people when they assume he has a hand in writing it.

i'm sure he doesn't hate it! and i could well be projecting some of my own issues with the show onto gerard, but i will say the show like...at best extremely waters down, and at worst actively misinterprets the themes and aesthetics of the comics. and what does gerard care about if not themes and aesthetics you know? i'm not saying the show's terrible, i can see why people like it! and on the other hand i can see why some people wouldn't vibe with the comics! each of them have their own issues. but i personally did really love the comics before going into the show (they're actually how i got into mcr LOL), so i was disappointed by how a lot of things were handled - for example how much of its emotional resonance was kind of overlooked in favour of quirky jokes etc etc. a lot of that is to be expected just by virtue of netflix hosting it - the comics are way too dark to effectively translate to that platform, for starters. but anyway one of my biggest pet peeves is people calling gerard a "writer of netflix's umbrella academy" because i can guarantee you one thing, that show is not a gerard way creation, for better or worse.

[dr-lizortecho]

thanks to @rnmbingo for throwing together such a fun event every year <3 I had wanted to fill out the entire board but alas life happens, but I did however find a lot of wonderful fic to enjoy for the last month

F/F ship: Rivalry Series by @haloud (General Audiences, 1.6k, Isobel Evans/Anatsa Mufaro)

A Hockey AU, where Isobel and Anatsa are on rival teams. It captures the characters competitive nature’s perfectly while showing Isobel’s more awkward side.

Include a gif/image/emoji: in a little while by @jule1122 (Teen, 1.2k, Michael Guerin/Alex Manes)

An AU in which Michael and Alex are happily together, and Michael gets to reflect on what their relationship means to him (there’s a bit of angst but also a dog!!!)

A work you’ve commented on before: With These Hands by @impalachick (Explicit, 1.6k, Max Evans/Liz Ortecho/Kyle Valenti)

Au, post 3x05, what’s more to say then the three way handprint connection is still intact and Max starts a train of orgasms??? It’s a really amazing concept that’s executed perfectly, all three characters allowing themselves to indulge in fantasies of each other

PODFIC: [podfic] Stay With Me by shmaylor (Teen, 0-10 minutes, Maria DeLuca/Liz Ortecho)

an AU where Maria chases after Liz when she leaves for her road trip post graduation (post Rosa), and she asks her not to leave (warnings: slight Max slander but like- *whispers* he deserves it)

Mature or Explicit work: a gentleman’s guide to getting pegged by your girl by georgiehensley (Explicit, 1.1k, Max Evans/Liz Ortecho)

really well structured smut, where Max agrees to try pegging (WARNING: a real trigger this time, so there’s a line in here that assumes a point of view on the act of pegging that’s derogatory towards the concept of penetration, and has undercurrents of misandry)

A WIP: Surreal Estate by @beautifulcheat (Teen, 13.3k, Rosa Ortecho/Isobel Evans/Anatsa Mufaro)

AU, haunted houses (sorry stigmatized properties)! The vibes are spectacular, and the characters are beautifully conveyed in this setting. Not to mention there’s mystery and intrigue.

AU (Alternate Universe) Work: Love The Very Blood of You by soldierwitch (Teen, 13.3k, Max Evans/Liz Ortecho)

an AU where Max was adopted separate of his siblings, and instead of becoming a Deputy to help him sleep at night he becomes a priest, in walks Liz Ortecho an agnostic scientist who changes his world (warning: it’s a wee bit blasphemous, but as a person who subscribes to the religion in discussion it’s not actually upsetting, like I’m very personally picky about religious themes, idk if that makes sense)

“This Work Made Me___”: Charity Case With Benefits by @maeglinthebold (Mature, 1.5k, Maria DeLuca/Michael Guerin/Alex Manes)

delightfully fun, there’s only one bed and they’re all just so perfect, every single beat is timed to perfection creating a fun and heart warming scene

Author’s First RNM Work: The Powers of Flowers by incandescentchampagneproblems (Teen, 2.3k, Max Evans/Liz Ortecho)

a cute little au with a flower shop, and Liz being dead certain the last thing she’ll be doing is getting caught in a rom com (but the jokes on her cause she’s in a rom com)

A Poly Work (3+ People): The Consequences of Being a Tease by tv_obsessions (Explicit, 1.7k, Maria DeLuca/Max Evans/Liz Ortecho)

pure smut, in which Max and Maria enter a friendly competition to see who can make their girl feel good (in other words Liz Ortecho deserves all the orgasms) and like Max calls Maria ma’am

“I Loved ‘Quote from Work’”: I Z Z Y by @ajna-eye-cogitations (General Audiences, 0.3k, no pairings)

this fic was amazing as always (this is an author rec too guys <3) literally every single word was beautifully constructed, and like the fire and snake symbolism, truly captured Iz’s spirit in this fic

Free Space (Any Time of Comment): [fanvid] The Way - Max/Liz by @impalachick (roughly a minute each, Max Evans/Liz Ortecho)

Beautiful! Their 3x09 road trip to the music Max canonically selected for their highschool trip

Rare Pair of New To You Ship: I like my girls just like I like my honey by milzilla (Teen, 1k, Jenna Cameron/Maria DeLuca)

Fake dating! One bed! Must I go on? They’re also going to a fancy event, and the emotions are captured so wonderfully

Fanart: Every Night I Save You by @viaomens (Max Evans/Liz Ortecho)

A stunning Echo edit, that makes me wanna cry, it’s beautiful in the way visuals are but also conceptually and emotionally

“I Loved the Scene Where__”: Vision of Love by anonymous (General Audiences, 2.8k, Maria DeLuca/Liz Ortecho)

AU, Maria and Liz have a chance meeting after Liz gets an amazing job offer, their connection is flawless and the imagery is gorgeous

>50K FIC: The Truth is Right Here by @ladynox @beautifulcheat (Mature, 377.8k, Maria DeLuca/Michael Guerin/Alex Manes)

flawless, perfection, the reason I ship malexa, the world is so great, the characters so well translated (and fleshed out in beautiful ways canon could only have dreamed of). A must read IMO, joining a short list of fic I’d rec to someone unaware of the source material

Be The First to Comment on a Work: This Smile is a Loaded Gun by Limestone_and_Hemlock (Teen, 0.6k, Liz Ortecho/Isobel Evans)

AU, they’re assassins in a Charlie’s Angels esque scenario, and the tension is gorgeous (there’s also an edit)

Gen or Teen Work: what an imbecile! what an ultramoron! by @maeglinthebold (Teen, 0.3k, Max Evans/Liz Ortecho/Kyle Valenti)

hilarious! Also, just so many good little pieces of who the three of them are and how they naturally come together

Comment on a Work with <10 kudos: it’s the best thing that I’ll ever do by @thesquidkid (General Audiences, 1.1k, Isobel Evans/Anatsa Mufaro)

the seamlessness of it! It’s an anatsobel wedding full of so many feelings and history, completely incapsulating why I adore them as a ship

<1000 Word FIC: Kiss of Hope by creatureofhobbit (General Audiences, 0.4K, no pairings)

a simultaneously heartbreaking as heartwarming look at Max and Bonnie’s views of their abilities

A Comment That is 1000+ Characters: State of Love and Trust by @wunderlass (Mature, 18.1k, Max Evans/Liz Ortecho)

Canon Divergent 2x05, in which Max’s Darkness is a little more difficult to shake, it’s sexy and heartbreaking, and there’s Jones parallels galore

3+ Chapters of a Multichapter Work: Heart of Lightning: A Roswellian Tale by @suzteel (Teen, 20k, Max Evans/Liz Ortecho)

Knight Liz! King Max! Sorcerers and Seers, it’s all perfection, and the way it weaves canon flawlessly into the setting is stunning

[light-lanterne]

the tl is talking about au's and separating them from our perspective of the canon material and i felt compelled to mention that part of the reason i can't bring myself to write much these days is because people have been remarkably icky about most of my au's :\

for the darkest eyes, i am insensitive for making mike struggle with (mild) addiction and self-destructive tendencies. in the trees are growing restless i am stealing will's storyline and giving it to mike,,, in my 4'33" au i am "an ignorant prick" (legitimately the words that were used) for having will accidentally say something that could be considered mean,,, for my angel and devil au i'm wrong for making mike the actual "main character" of the story even though it's all from will's pov,,, and i've gotten supremely nasty, sometimes gory dm's (particularly on twitter; had to deactivate dm's there) over my serial killer au,,,

i never give these asks and messages any attention, but i've gotten over two dozen of them between this and the fic recs account (even in the fic submission form,,,) and it does get a little overwhelming and discourages me from opening up any of my docs,,,

three of these stories i haven't even started posting, so no one knows how anything plays out >.<

all in all, it's clear that, for some reason, this fandom really doesn't like au's and has a very strong opinion on which themes and tropes can be explored (and how) and i don't understand how this happened :\ i've never seen this in any of the other fandoms i've ever been a part of and i know i'm not the only one who's had problems like this, all because i wanted to a) explore how mike and will navigate a completely different environment and b) tackle slightly more mature themes.

and that's not even addressing the way people react to any discussion of intimacy in fics, even (specially) if it's non-sexual in nature :\

idk,,, i guess it's just disheartening to have a cool idea and then getting it shot down just because people have a set viewpoint of how things are supposed to play out :\

[intrulogical]

I’m curious to know, when you say Remus’s function serves like an alarm clock, do you think Remus is aware of/intentionally fulfilling that role? Because I have always interpreted it as, from his perspective, his role is simply to be c!Thomas’s creativity the same way Roman is. His version of creativity is just rejected by c!Thomas and the other sides (often for good reason, but sometimes not). Even though his ideas are sometimes dangerous or unrealistic, the role of creativity isn’t always to do everything that pops into your head. Roman has unrealistic ideas as well but because they’re not as upsetting to c!Thomas, they’re seen as fanciful rather than totally forbidden. A lot of what Remus wants is just for c!Thomas to censor himself less and explore darker, more mature themes in his art. Idk about him representing ‘repressed truths’ since intrusive thoughts are by definition not rooted in realistic conclusions or in what the individual actually wants. I def see what you mean about Remus serving as an alarm for Thomas’s mental state, especially in WTIT, but idk if I see Remus’s intentions in WTIT as being that complex and altruistic. Especially since he’s genuinely upset whenever c!Thomas and Logan ignore or defeat his creative inventions. (Also sorry if any of this comes off as confrontational, I genuinely love reading your analyses and I’m just curious to hear your perspective more!)

hello! no worries btw, idt this is confrontational at all! i find it to be an interesting point of discussion :3

the reason i entertain the idea of remus being repressed truths (or thoughts in general) is because i acknowledge remus is a faulty representation of intrusive thoughts, in a meta level. this episode was created before major discussions of what intrusive thoughts really means blew up on tiktok. even by how remus is executed as a character, it is clear to a lot of us that what he suggests isn't Just intrusive thoughts. rather he's a mix of that and impulsivity!

but for me, remus Has to be aware of and Cares for his role as a side of thomas. i expounded it more in my extensive orange side theory, but to reiterate: the baseline need of the dark sides is to get listened to, but because thomas has very bad black-and-white thinking, it's almost required that they be meticulous with their plan execution. in this case, remus kinda Has to get along to get what he ultimately wants: to be listened to.

i generally think all sides do things in the interests of thomas and themselves. i don't think it can be divorced from each other actually— their entire foundation of existence begins with their roles in connection to thomas.

it is still. a very open question to ask though about how does remus actually want to give back to thomas. when i say he's an alarm clock, i say that he's hyperaware of thomas and the sides' struggles and his presence means you should probably do sometjing about it. but then we don't actually know if the end goal is if he wants thomas to get better by acknowledging the intrusive thoughts and winding down, OR if thomas should truly follow through with these thoughts.

there's a lot of mystery when it comes to remus and his true intent. all i can say is that he does want the best for thomas in a way only remus sees fit. you asked if he was aware of his role outside of creativity and for me, yeah! i think there's too much scenes for insecurity callouts to the other sides for remus to be unaware of his role :3 man knows all your secrets! all kept hidden!

[kaiisers]

BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA ꒰ heroes ꒱

contains mature content, aimed for +18 audiences. reader discretion is advised. most of these works are f! or afab! reader. ALSO! minors + blank + ageless blogs will be blocked.

⿻ last updated: jan. 13, '23

⌕ LEGEND

personal favorites : ♡

reader discretion advised, read content warnings : ✧ 

personal adds/assumption : italicized words

action between characters: &

𖨂 ⸱ ꕤ ⸱ TAKAMI KEIGO ⸱ 鷹見啓悟

exhale. ──── 1.3k

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ with such a pretty neck, you must simply allow keigo's hands to wander.

cw. fem! reader, 18+, reader is in heat, mating, marking, hickeys, choking, asphyxiation, breath play, nipple play, cowgirl, riding, creampie, knotting, petnames, dubcon

flying through your ranks. ──── complete

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ you’re an up and coming pro hero; fresh faced, roaring through your twenties with your highly successful U.A years far behind you. but when one little drunk slip up has you falling through the hero ranks, will a single pretty bird of prey help you soar back up? or will you end up falling for him?

cw. angst, fluff, smut. pro hero! au, social media au, fake dating!au. swearing ( mostly bakugou ), suggestive, rated 17+, slight!age gap, everyone is aged-up into their twenties since they’re pros now

✧ hades. ──── 5.4k

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ as a naive little girl in love you make a deal that gets you stuck with the unrelenting god of the underworld, and no matter how sweet he may fuck you…you’ll spend all of eternity hating him if you have to.

cw. hate sex. please read for your own safety! mdni, smut 18+, heavy smut, mentions of death, restraints, marking, branding, creampies, thigh riding, impact play, nipple play, multiple orgasms, possesive sex, hate sex, unprotected sex, fem!reader, hades!hawks.

oh captain, my captain. ──── 2.2k

cw. smut. pirate au, gn!reader, captain!hawks, first mate!reader. sub!hawks, pegging, handjob (m!receiving), cumplay, whiny hawks needs his first mate to ease his stress &lt;3

refuge. ──── 3.6k

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ you maybe underestimated what exactly a ‘rut’ was like.

cw. smut. rut au. breeding, praise kink, oral, piv sex, ‘ruts’/’heat’ trope. discussion of pregnancy and birth control, bird themed pet names i think they are cute idk. afab reader with fem pronouns

𖨂 ⸱ ꕤ ⸱ AIZAWA SHŌTA ⸱ 相澤消太

♡ as it was. ──── completed

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ Where do you go now? When a love you thought to be unshakeable starts to fall apart before you could even try to piece it together? When Nemuri urges you to take a trip to the beach house in Okinawa with Aizawa in an effort to save whatever is left of your marriage, you’re hesitant. Not sure where to go or how to navigate this situation. But you take the opportunity anyway, maybe a month away will force whatever the both of you have been burying deep inside to the surface. Unsure if it will lead to devastating heartbreak or lost love to be found again.

cw. Shouta Aizawa x Fem!Reader. Established Relationship, Marital Problems, Beach House Setting, Flashbacks, Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Explicit Sexual Content(18+ only)

♡ fill my little world (right up). ──── 20k+

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ you are employed by aizawa shouta to nanny for his vulnerable adoptive daughter eri while he’s at work. as time passes you find yourself equally smitten with them both, longing for a more permanent place in their family.

cw. AFAB reader, no quirk au, single dad aizawa (+ adopted daughter eri, + prev. foster son hitoshi), professional nanny reader, falling in love, fluff and angst, slice of life, child ptsd + past child abuse (eri), aged-up characters, best friends touya + rumi, brief talk of a parent with addiction (hitoshi), domesticity, handling of child trauma, finding your place in a family, eventual smut, vaginal oral sex (reader receiving), a lot of kissing, no power dynamic

i know i cannot heal you but i will hold you here forever. ──── 2.5k

cw. 18+ minors dni + gn reader + bottom reader + hurt/comfort (? kinda i think) + both of them being touched starved + sleep deprivation + pre-established relationship + oral (reader receiving).

♡ lap cat. ──── 7.8k

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ you never thought you’d be the type of person to own a hybrid, but after learning his odds of adoption are low due to his age, you can’t just leave Shouta behind.

cw. NSFT, AFAB reader, hybrid au (half animal half human), cat hybrid aizawa, NOT A/B/O, transformations (shifting between cat and human), brief look into the politics of hybrids (we like autonomy in this house folks, but I'll say dubcon just in case), animal characteristics (behavioural and physical), fluff and smut, voyeurism, male masturbation, unprotected vaginal sex, creampie, roommates(?) to lovers, brief mentions of child abuse (reader is a child therapist)

take yours, I’ll take mine. ──── 3.3k

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ Shouta carried a multitude of skills under his belt, and one of them happened to be knowing how to ration his energy. The exhaustion that came with being both an underground hero and a teacher at UA was unavoidable, and he had learned over the years what does and does not require his full effort. Mornings in bed with you requires very little of him.

cw. AFAB GN reader, established relationship, bottom aizawa (called love and baby), morning sex, reader is a giver, light somno, no power dynamics, anal fingering (aizawa receiving), handjobs, pegging (reader wears the strap; referred to as ‘your cock’ a few times), missionary position

true heat.

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ Quirks may be one step in human evolution, but the secondary genders are another. Alpha, Beta, or Omega: everyone presents one way or the other by their 21st birthday. You're a college student at UA University with a little problem; you have yet to present. With your 21st birthday approaching rapidly, something has to happen, and soon. Aizawa is a teacher at UA University, and an Alpha. So when his favorite student is suddenly ill, he does what any concerned teacher would do. Right?

cw. Aizawa x AFAB! Reader. Reader has female parts, all the typical A/B/O tropes, professor/student relationship.

who do you belong to? ──── 4.2k

cw. fem reader. smut, cursing

𖨂 ⸱ ꕤ ⸱ TODOROKI ENJI ⸱ 轟炎司

cola. ──── 2.4k

cw. smut. pro hero!enji x pro hero!reader sex Pollen, Cheating, Breeding, Public Sex

daddy’s favourite issue.

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ loving the great endeavor was a euphoria you never wanted to quit. he was an inferno, a blazing glory of an old man who doesn’t talk to his kids because they all hate him. he’s a bad man wrapped in the packaging of a good guy, a hero.

cw. smut, rough sex, riding, sugar daddy au, filth.

give and take. ──── 5.0k

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ enji has always thought pain was good, that it meant he was well on his way to the top. but you seem to make him have doubts when your touch is gentle like that.

cw. smut. established relationship au. afab! reader, dom! reader, hand jobs, edging, humping, cock slapping, slight degradation, ruined orgasms, unprotected sex, cowgirl, creampie, praise, multiple orgasms, overstimulation, slight breeding kink, mentions of toxic families (it’s the todoroki’s hello), enji and rei are implied to be divorced (no cheating or home-wrecking)

moth to a flame. ──── 6.6k+

cw. explicit, smut. authority/power-play, boss/employee relationship, age-gap, size difference/size kink, public heavy petting/fingering, rough sex, desk sex, praise kink, use of “good girl,” light choking/breath play, hand pressed over reader’s mouth, hair pulling, creampie (Enji is implied to be divorced, no cheating) trapped in an elevator for a while, so warnings for claustrophobia and elevators in general.

oni’s heart. ──── completed

cw. Yakuza AU series: Alpha Enji Todoroki x Omega Reader. Illegal activities (crime family), mentions of drugs, alcohol, and human trafficing, heavy mentions of blood and (very light) mentions of murder but TW, mating, biting, knotting, bonding, creampie, primal kink, scent kink, mentions of past domestic abuse, mentions of past childhood trauma (Shoto’s scar), kidnapping, comfort after hurt. (Happy ending I promise, I don't like to leave things sour)

when is a monster not a monster? oh, when you love it. ──── 12.4k

cw. fire demon! enji todoroki x fem! reader. exophilia/teratophilia, size difference, virginity loss + inexperienced reader, mentions of human sacrifices, mentions of demonic transformation, mentions of death/dying, kidnapping, strangers to lovers

♡ when the smoke clears. ──── 17.4k

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ After his battle with Hawks against Hood, Endeavor wakes up in the hospital to find that a young doctor saved his life, their quirk being able to counteract the negative effects of his own. His first thought is that he has to talk to you–you might be able to fix the drawbacks of his quirk. His second thought is oh no, not again.

cw. slow burn, smut. 18+, spanking, quirk play, age difference (Endeavor is 46, reader is 29) Soulmate AU.

soft.

cw. Enji Todoroki x Chubby F!Reader - SMUT. breeding kink, chubby reader, Enji carries reader, unprotected sex, mentions of pregnancy

[tailsrevane]

hi! i’m robin, a 30something white enby elf (sometimes fox, sometimes both). my pronouns are fae/faer.

some cool things about me, probably!

i have four really amazing partners! i live with two of them and our adorable kitties.

i'm ace, but hella kinky & hella subby. please bully me. (consensually.)

i’m an extremely novice polytheistic witch.

i’m a furry kinda? i'm not really plugged into the fandom much anymore, but if you were to ask me if i am or am not a furry, the answer would be yes.

i work at a local comic/game shop, mostly as a magic judge :)

if it ever seems like i’m autistic or i have adhd, that would be because i’m autistic and i have adhd.

dnis/content warning/etc after the cut.

just for funsies, here’s a brief list of fandoms i gravitate strongly towards! some of these things might not be actually fandoms or might not have very active fandoms idk? i might write about these more often or have stronger opinions about them. or not? adhd! these can alternatively be read as additional reasons to bully me. please feel free to read them that way.

magic the gathering

star trek

dungeons & dragons (and, relatedly, the legend of drizzt books; and, relatedly, dimension 20, and, relatedly, basically everything on dropout)

avatar: the last airbender (i've only seen the shows though, need to check out the comics & rpg & etc)

pokémon

sonic the hedgehog

kaiju movies

anime and manga kinda?

cartoons kinda if that counts? (current favorites: the owl house, she-ra reboot, futurama, star trek: lower decks wait that should go in star trek not cartoons or should it go in both oh no)

comic books/superheroes kinda? (the archie sonic the hedgehog and dark horse star wars comics were a huge part of my childhood, i also got hella into batman, spider-man, and x-men at times.)

undertale

knives out? is that a fandom? whatever. i love those movies.

the matrix

the wachowski sisters’ oeuvre in general (speed racer is one of my favorite movies of all time.)

lord of the rings (the movies, not the books)

halloween. the holiday, not the movie. the color orange. pumpkins. etc. yeah, i’m weirded out that it took me until comparatively recently to realize i needed to be a witch, but here we are. (oh yeah i’ll also probably write about witchy stuff at times? maybe.)

but like, i like other stuff that’s not media too! like… organizing media on shelves? (why have i not been shoved in a locker yet what the heck.) okay, that’s another thing about me. i’m kind of an amateur librarian? i might also talk about theme parks i go to when that happens (a few of my partners are super into those so yeah!). and museums!

on a less fun note, please do not interact with me if you're transphobic/homophobic/racist/etc etc. just don't. i'm just gonna block you, it's really not worth either of our time. also please do not interact with me if you're a minor, and please do not flirt with me if you're technically not a minor but are significantly younger than me. i'm just not comfortable with it.

if you're an anti-shipper you'd probably consider me a pro-shipper? i don't super care about those kinds of labels but i know that's like... A Thing here, and want to be very clear. so if you don't want to interact with people who don't think fanfiction should be policed & criticized as though it were real life or general audience mass media, you probably don't want to interact with me. if i do write any fanfic i will tag it appropriately, but i really think everyone needs to calm down about this shit.

and last but not least, i will tag liberally, but a blanket content warning:

i frequently explicitly discuss themes of kink, sexuality, violence, mental health, and other mature themes in a manner intended for an adult audience.

also, i am a survivor of both childhood and intimate partner emotional abuse, as well as sexual assault, and these come up frequently in my writing. reader discretion is advised.

on a less serious note, i am unapologetically kinky, subby, and thirsty af and i’m going to include a lot of personal asides from that perspective. i’m also a furry and a monsterfucker. don’t say i didn’t warn you.

see you around, hopefully!

[darkdoverpseeker]

hello everyone! 🕊️✨ idk if anyone would be interested in this but I'm currently obsessed with the crowded room and I'm craving a fix-it plot where I can play a slightly canon-divergent annabelle against your danny (and the whole system, honestly? I'd be interested in seeing her interacting a bit more with all of them and getting to know every alter). I really loved their interactions in the show and I was kinda pissed at how they left things between them, so I'd love to write something where they rekindle (could be either before or after trial) and work through things together, while also growing a closer relationship. I'm 25+ (she/they), I usually write multi-para/novella style and my favourite genres are angst, hurt/comfort and I love including deep and mature themes. I don't double, so keep that in mind. anything else and more we can definitely discuss on discord! just like this post if interested and I'll contact you ~

like if interested!

[longsightmyth]

Hey I’ve really enjoyed reading what you post about rings of power. I went into it expecting to hate it, but I ended up enjoying it a lot! There were still some choices I didn’t like, but overall I thought it was done well. I think the Sauron reveal scene was crazy good and well written. My biggest issue, is how unmagical the elves are. I started rewatching the hobbit, and in it Galadriel appears with her hair glowing from the trees and her presence just screams power. I get that in rings of power, Galadriel is supposed to be younger, more brash, and not the mature and powerful leader we see in lotr. And I like that choice. But what I don’t get, where is her magic? I like her fighting and being a warrior, but shouldn’t there be some magic? Even if she just fights with glowing hair? Idk. That bothers me, the Silmaril is so full of elven magic, and I feel like we don’t get any of that here. Did that bother you at all?

Yeah! I loved the Galadriel and Sauron raft scene honestly. "What will they think when they know you have saved me" "it doesn't matter because I am also going to end you" (paraphrased, of course) was honestly amazing.

Regarding Galadriel's hair? It didn't bother me, no. I think given the constraints on what they were allowed to discuss/portray and what they weren't (and the themes they are exploring) they did an excellent job with Galadriel especially. Given that elves literally lose fea when they kill, and Galadriel has demonstrably been doing a lot of killing/ violence lately, it makes sense to me that she might not currently be shining with the light of heaven etc etc. I'm not sure they were doing that on purpose or not, but given the themes of Galadriel touching the darkness and perhaps even being rather dark herself at the moment, I think it makes sense even without that bit of elf lore.

Re: general elf magic? I thought the silm was the least ethereally magic elves we ever got, personally? People are going to disagree with me obviously and that's chill. Within the lore of TROP though, I don't think a people in constant trudging war for millennia are necessarily going to be ethereal and magic right now. They're also, per the lore of the show, all fading a little faster than they are in canon, probably due to the condensed timeline. I think it was a deliberate choice and one that I think works with what they're trying to say. Whether watchers like what they're trying to say is a different matter lol.

[embossross]

I wanted to comment on the chapter 2 oh TDOTGITM but i can’t and idk why so I’m gonna leave my mark here.. lessgo.

FIRST OF ALL YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MANY TIMES I CHECKED YOUR ACCOUNT LIKE A CREEPY STALKER FOR AN UPDATE !

*coughs*

Well, I have to do a review. You have to know that I literally shook all the way through my reading, I would have been so nervous in Yasuko's place.

« When you brush your hair after a shower or laugh at a meme, you imagine his violet eyes are watching. » this. My very definition of having a huge crush on someone, to the point where that person becomes an obsession (and how can you not be obsessed with Haitani Rindou ?) We littaraly saw them everywhere with us, watching us, talking with us.

Poor Yasuko, certain that he can't possibly be a yakuza... I can't wait to find out what her reaction will be when she learns it (if she learns it, but I guess so).

The discussion that starts almost timidly, when both parties are sizing each other up and discovering each other, then being more confiant, I live for that.

The way Rin talks about Ran, and the memories he shares with her, I've said it before, but I would die for their interactions in the first chapter.

« Sometimes, I think every good thing I have is bound to collapse, and that I should just submit to it, so maybe I find that resistance inspiring » I MEAN, CAN I STEAL THAT TOO ???

« We aren't going to be friends. » oh the way I giggled like a schoolgirl, I think I even BLUSHED.

WHY DOESN'T THIS MAN ACTUALLY EXIST ?

I won't even talk about the part where he asks her to follow him into the storeroom and for what was next, that was just 🤌🏻 I'm wordless.

Now I'm going to calm down, stop stalking your Tumblr for at least a week (but I'll still follow your Hanma's story closely hihi)

Anyway, funny, i have Kitchen in my book-to-read list !

Thank you, thank you, for imagining this universe, this Rin, Yasuko. I hope i’m not too annoying and I'll see you at the next review !

wow so much to say, i think i need bullets lol

this is the first time i'm seeing an acronym for this story & i am horrified. why are my titles so long?!?! 😑 i chose the title as a couple literary references but god

i can't believe tumblr is being this difficult. it must be because of the mature tagging? because someone else mentioned issues with reblogging? idk but i am SOOOOOOO grateful that you're sharing your thoughts here instead because i love them 💖

when do i find the time / energy / inspiration to write the rin/ran tag team that i frankly deserve? bc you are so right, their interactions are everything!

SQUEALING at the call out to the resistance line! because that's like the theme work i'm doing. i'm a sucker for theme & the tension between rindou & reader on this subject is the inspiration behind this whole story!! you CAN use it however you like!

honestly just every one of your call outs - so grateful!!

do you want me to tag you in things so you don't have to stalk the blog? i'd be happy to. probably no update next week. my parents are in town lol

and kitchen is great! a wonderful rumination on grief and love. i have a quotes doc for this story and like half were pulled from kitchen & snow country. i'm gonna have to control myself!