#to the point where like. in the past moe was just someone who was a friend but ultimately slipped through the cracks

[moe-broey]

Ohhhhhhh. Okay.

(thoughts/revelations about bride alt Sharena jumpscare)

[olderthannetfic]

I think the discussion about if loli guys are into actual children misses the point tbh. Even when they’re well aware that it’s not actual children and they don’t WANT it to be and they’re specifically into the non-realism of it…. A lot of loli (and moe, which is not unrelated since it’s rooted in the aesthetics of it but applied outside the specific genre) in anime is still about this fantasy of women as helpless and innocent and needing to rely on you and, above all, not having real world problems. Granted, a lot of romantic fantasy is like that, arguably especially stuff about women aimed at men…. But I think that is what personally makes me not really want to deal with guys who are super into it that in my own personal life. Like, let’s not pretend that a certain kind of guy getting used to expecting women to be like that in anime and video games hasn’t had some real consequences for women in nerd culture who insist on being full human beings over like, the past decade and a half lol. Like it’s just hard to imagine that being the fantasy of a guy who specifically wants a take-charge, dominant, independent kind of woman over like…. Idk, lady villains stepping on his face or something, lol

I’m hardcore anti-censorship and don’t believe that preferences in romantic or sexual fantasy in fiction has an exact relationship to what we want in real life…. But it seems strange and anti-intellectual to argue that media *never* has that influence. Like, just divorce this from arguments about porn and “problematic shipping” for a second. There are a ton of people, of multiple genders but especially over age 20 or so they’re more likely to be men, who seem to think that if they’re friendly enough to someone of their preferred gender (or really, opposite gender, since this is based on an “everyone of my preferred gender is a potential partner” norm that people into the same gender just can’t assume) they’ll eventually reciprocate their feelings, or they *should*. The Nice Guy thing. Do you really think that the numerous romantic comedies that have that as a dynamic, or the video games whose “romance” mechanic is “give them gifts and talk to them enough and they’ll eventually be a love interest possibility,” doesn’t play into that at least somewhat? Like, we’re all smart enough to know that Stardew Valley and Harvest Moon aren’t like real life romance, I think…. But did you know that yet when you were 13? Do you think *everybody* who plays those knows that?

Take it out of the context of romance at all. If you’re a lawyer, how many times have you heard people who have misconceptions about what you do based on legal dramas? Or for doctors, about medical dramas?

And that doesn’t put any responsibility on the creators to change stuff (I mean, the “reward = romance” thing is just a very easy video game mechanic for instance, and programming in something that more closely resembles actual romance would be impossible, and it’s not like it’s any less realistic than like, how you fish or mine or farm in those games), it’s still on consumers to think critically (again, that the video game that has you fighting slime monsters in mines or where you grow broccoli in just a few days and harvesting crops is just one click isn’t going for realism perhaps. People wring their hands about the general popularity of farming games like it’s yearning for some political/cultural thing, and forget that the specific fantasy is it without all the toil. Just like plenty of people love playing restaurant games who work(ed) in restaurants irl and hate(d) it). But like, we talk about “society” influencing people in terms of stuff like racism and sexism. Mass media is part of society. This is why a lot of feminist criticism over the years has focused on critiquing broad patterns that recur in media, to the point that they become societal trends — and a lot of people take this in *unconsciously*.

I think what that one earlier anon meant with “especially with porn” is that porn shouldn’t be like, an exception to this. It’s kind of weird how people who are all for media analysis of problematic patterns in other kinds of media think it suddenly doesn’t apply if it’s media designed for the purpose of getting off. And sure plenty of us are into things in porn we have no desire for IRL (I love mpreg and I love kidfic, I have less than zero desire to have kids and especially be pregnant irl, to the point that it’s actually a squick for me in *het* fic), plenty of people are into specifically the fantasy version minus the Issues they have with that stuff in the IRL version. But… that’s not everyone. Some people’s porn preferences do match up with what they’re into irl. Even when they don’t, as with the loli example there’s often some other particular reason they like that

I don’t think it’s right to go around asking strangers to go around explaining their porn preferences to you, but I think it’s fair to think about it yourself (in the interest of introspection if nothing else), and to critique broad patterns in fandom, same as we would for any other kind of media. Why is porn the special exception for which all the other rules about 101 media analysis don’t apply?

--

[kurim-chis]

Just read a Yingxing/Blade x Reader fic in the CN platform 晋江 where the main plot centers around the comedy and a ambiguously happy ending for Ying Xing, who in the main plot manages to have a family and is very, very content with his lot in life despite the war against Abundance.

Author rn is writing a “what-if” branch of where Ying Xing became Blade, its an AU and some things are different from HSR because “you” existed, and Author makes it clear that we can see it as an AU and consider the Ying Xing main plot as a HE or as a story that snowballed into a tragedy for Ying Xing’s life. It’s, of course, an AU since there’s not much known yet about the past of the High Cloud Quintet.

And I’m wkdkksnJDKFKKDKDJE BECAUSE the first half with Ying Xing is so fluffy, so light, it’s very comedic too because Ying Xing is such a ROCK and so rude and obsessed with smithing, there’s a lot of people who had chased after him even tho he’s a short lived species but he’s so obsessed with weapons and so RUDE that they eventually back off lmao. It’s so bad that the “reader” gets over their initial miffed feelings pretty quickly and feels a bit sorry for their “rival”.

AND THEN AND THEN!!! Blade in the branch/AU/second part of the story is written so nicely, he’s passive and cold and ruthless, but in a more numb way and the tragedy of his family with “you” (which is still unknown since Author just began to write the Blade branch) seems to have shattered his mental state even further than canon. He gave me the feeling he was like a machine or an animal.

The Author describes Blade in a way that just hits all my Moe Points! The guy who will violently murder someone with an emotionless expression (no hard feelings, literally) but in the story, even with a muddled consciousness and a shattered sense of self and half amnesia - it’s very clear his personality was warped and shattered when compared to the Ying Xing in the first half - he still recognizes “you”, and has a vague recognition that you are an existence precious to him.

You are like a fragile dream of a past long gone. If he blinks even once, you will disappear like the foams in the ocean, and he feels like he will go even more mad if that happens.

He is clearly very obsessed but in a muddled, not quite there way. In the latest chapter instead of being overtaken by Mara and needing to get his memories erased by Kafka, he pinpoints you and basically kidnaps you while the Nameless fight against Phantilya and you wake up as they watch the fight. Phantilya’s petals fly all over the place and some of them shoot towards you and Blade, and though Blade grabs you and retreats, he wordlessly picks up an abandoned lance on the ground and throws it towards Phantilya. Very petty and vengeful, even tho Kafka mentions Elio never said they’d join the fight. ETC ETC ETC.

He speaks even less than canon, and ever since he saw “you”, he’s been wordlessly sticking to you like sticky rice, with the only time having been at the beginning where you arrived with Dan Heng and Blade went on to beat the living shit out of Dan Heng. He abandons his vendetta with Dan Heng and shoots towards you when he noticed one of those resuscitating mobs trying to grab your leg.

It’s just. My heart. One of the latest scene he’s written as just raising his arm and hovering it over the small of your back, staring at you with an unblinking, blank and hazy gaze, his actions treating you like glass, as if you were a very precious, very fragile dream that will disappear if he so much as touches you.

I LOVE THIS KIND OF CHARACTERIZATION FOR BLADE!!! Cold and tragic and ruthless, but has this very special soft spot for certain people.

[yanxidarlings]

YANDERE HP GOLDEN ERA; SLYTHERIN & RAVENCLAW

i have so many ideas mostly revolving around past oc concepts, but in general i think the slytherin's have the most yandere potential? aside from traits (cunning, determined, yada) that go hand in hand with yandere, i also find it easier to pin point the root of their tendencies. there's slytherins like draco who are straight up entitled, and some like theo who have been raised harshly, it's not difficult to imagine a scenario where draco, theo, blaise, .. develop into the yanderes we all know and love.

there's no plan for structuring my harry potter writings, but i think it'll mostly be brainstorming headcanons. i'm focusing on the golden era, so i'll write for characters alive during this time. I'll come up with a full character list and cast eventually but for now i'm most interested in getting ideas/requests for slytherin boys (blaise, draco, goyle, lorenzo, mattheo, theodore, adrian, terrence, marcus) and ravenclaw boys (anthony goldstein, michael corner, roger davies, terry boot) but gred and forge are always welcome as well.

okay so general rules for requests: only send in requests for golden era characters (there is a loop hole "if james survived" here if you're desperate but im mostly inspired to write the characters i've listed out. reader/darling is always gender neutral, no loopholes here. also i tend to cover both platonic and romantic paths (if applicable) either way in my writings so no need to specify. that all being said hound me with asks and any thoughts.

anyways here are some headcanons that have been clogged up in my brain recently;

ANTHONY GOLDSTEIN (fancast: tarjei sandvik moe): my latest fixation, chat gpt molded most of my headcanons for yandere him. okay so not much is known about him but i'm going the route of jewish = polish = kowalski + queenie grandson / great grandson. all we have for a personality is 'friendly and good-natured' so i'm going to be making mountains out of molehills here.

i can imagine his intentions were pure first, he saw his darling didn't have the best upbringing, perhaps was a fractured individual, and 'desperately needed someone'. so he befriends them. for a long time, he's fully convinced himself his actions are done out of concern for his darling, other people really were just going to hurt them, and weren't trustworthy. and making good decisions has always been a strong suit of his, he isn't a ravenclaw for nothing, so his darling should just sit back, relax, and enjoy his company whilst he takes care of the hard stuff, alright?.

what started as a protective instinct turned into possessive jealousy, why does his darling want to pair up with malfoy for a potions assignment when he's far much more intelligent and easier to work with. actually, why do they have to speak to anyone else but him anyway? if they want a supportive friend, he's always been there. they want to banter with someone? anthony can do that!. they have a crush? they want romance? they want to overthrow the ministry of magic? no matter, he's a fast learner, and better for them than anyone else would be.

for the most part, anthony appears innocent, it's probably his darling who looks like the clingy, overattached one, because no matter what anyone else tells them, anthony will vilify them in the eyes of his darling, bringing his darling closer to him, gradually becoming more and more dependent on his constant presence. which is what he has subconsciously been working towards since he met them.

anthony is wholly devoted to his darling, and is among the more selfless yanderes (lookin at you draco). he has no future planned out, and allows his darling to take charge of the relationship so long as they don't look at anyone else. he's one of the more moldable yanderes; he adapts to his darlings personality, instead of having them adapt to his (camera pans to draco).

he's only really a danger to his darlings social life (and the lives of anyone who tries to tempt his darling away). his obsession is quiet for the most part, unlike others (draco) he doesn't need to resort to extreme measures (kidnapping) as he's able to read his darling like an open book (anthony inherited queenies legillimency and no one can convince me otherwise), and is thus able to ancitipate their needs, thoughts and desires. he'll become the only person their comfortable around;

anthony portrays himself as the one person who truly understands and supports his darling. he'll go to great lengths to prove his loyalty, even if it means crossing boundaries or engaging in morally ✨questionable✨ acts. once they finally realise just how tight of a hold he has on them, they'll be too dependent on him to do anything about it.

[wereshrew-admirer]

have you read a lady for a duke by alexis hall? the premise reminds me a lot of your chine/duvall regency au (which i absolutely have not stopped thinking about, it’s so good)

i hate to say it but i haven't read a book book in at least 8 years :'( It looks good though! it's fantastic that there are books with trans characters that aren't completely exploitative out there now (<- making it obvious that i don't read anymore, i'm sure there's been plenty of good books for a long time now)

But! i HAVE been writing a lot!! the tenses are all over the place and it's got no editing, but here's something:

It had been a long time, years, since he’d tussled with a local lord or lady who decided to use his lingering accent or association with the devils of his homeland as a cheap barb against him, but Duvall still felt the tension waiting between his shoulder-blades whenever surrounded by a group likely to be bored by another drab party and desperate to wring some entertainment from him. 

Always, it began with someone asking for clarification on a point he’d made in a recent paper. He should know better by now, but they usually do an alright imitation of the genuine curiosity that he craves, and his self control still isn’t where it should be for a man his age, in his position. And so more times then not he engages with them despite knowing that with each new listener that gathers around the questions will become more and more obviously designed to amuse one another with his answers, rather than to engage with his research as peers.

And so when a hush fell over the ballroom one evening and his tormentors turned their attention elsewhere, his first reaction had been relief and gratitude. His second reaction was to raid the buffet of sugary tarts and biscuits that were usually gone by the time he made his way through the crowd of party-goers to collect any food for himself. 

feeling a little guilty at just how little of what he’d collected was actual food, duvall pauses and chooses a few small hors d'oeuvres in addition to the fancy desserts he’d been coveting, and takes his plate out to the balcony to eat alone. It takes him a long time to realize that the relative silence has gone on longer than he’d expect even from the most unusual distraction, and he’s almost tempted to go back inside and see for himself when lye lychen joins him in the cooling night air. 

Lyke comes to stand beside him and lights a cigarette, taking a long drag before wordlessly offering it to duvall, who refuses. Lye has known him long enough to have expected no different, so duvall isn't surprised when he instead uses the reach of his hand into duvall’s space to snatch a pastry from duvall’s plate. Duvall doesn’t even bother complaining, only does his best to fix Lyke with an unamused stare as his friend blows a smoke ring and, always a showoff, tosses the pastry through it and into his mouth. 

He chews briefly before grinning at duvall, his teeth crooked, unevenly eroded gums making them appear larger than they should be in some places - he’s an infuriatingly charming man and duvall’s air of annoyance is hard to maintain.

“So!” lyke says, cheerful, “You not interested in meeting the newest member of our most exclusive-est high society?”

Duvall rolls his eyes, “i doubt it. Why - should i be?”

“Dunno!” Lyke eyes duvall’s plate and for a moment duvall considers pulling it away from him, but sighs and offers it out instead, “Some mystery military type, fresh back from San Fiel and looking exactly as you’d expect someone to look after spending time in a place that our lovely working folk call the blood fields.” his hand hovers over the plate, index finger waving in circles as if playing an eenie-meenie-minie-moe game in his head before picking his next treat - a strip of salami rolled around smoked cheese.

“Sounds enchanting” duvall deadpans, looking in through the tall glass doors as if he could see anything past the wall of bodies crowded round the dance floor, “where’s Es? Shouldn’t you be hanging off her arm at this time of night?”

“She’s getting the scoop, wouldn’t want to miss out on the freshest gossip, would she?” He punctuates the word scoop with a dipping motion of his hand, taking another savory snack that duvall is secretly grateful not to have to eat. 

‘Oh, no. definitely couldn’t have that” Duvall doesn’t have to try hard to put on a flat tone now, his disinterest genuine, “would hate to not hear all about the latest duke’s son returning from his glory campaign. I would never wish her a fate so cruel as that”

Lyke laughs and punches duvall lightly on the shoulder. Duvall laughs along with him, appreciative of his lack of decorum. Lye grins down at him and they both notice the conspicuous piece of something stuck between his teeth at the same time. before duvall has the chance to point it out lyke sucks at it loudly and duvall reconsiders his take on lyke’s manners as the tall man finishes picking it free and flicks whatever it was out over the railing and into the garden below. he continues as if nothing happened, “nah, this guy looks pretty gnarly. They’re covered in an annoying amount of medals but it looks like there’s a decent chance at least a few of them were earned” 

Lyke leans down and into duvall’s space, opening one eye wide and squeezing the other shut, “got some wicked face injury, i can’t tell if his eye is glass or what but it looks pretty sick.”

“Sick” duvall echoes, unimpressed.

“Hell yeah, i actually am pretty excited to talk to them, you can just tell there are some good stories rattling around up in there” Lyke stands back up and tapps his head. His smile softens around the edges and duvall hears the doors behind him open. 

the lady Es comes to stand between them, Lyke taking a few quick steps backwards to give her space to rest her arms neatly on the railing. She smiles primly at lyke before grinning at duvall, speaking low and conspiratorial in their native tongue, “i’ve got some information that might actually interest you: the man has no family, he doesn’t even pretend to have a claim to any local house and will only give a first name” 

Lyke leans his chin on her head and she tips her face up, switching to common as if they didn’t all know that Lyke understood Aldominian perfectly well. Her voice is rich and smooth, but her smile is small and sharp, “they claim only to be a child of Eastern Folly - of Blackwick - and says their ties to the land grant him as much a right to be here as any of us.”

Lyke laughs, “as if anyone would ever try to throw a guy like that out”

“His sword does hang openly at his side - true. But i think the reason it’s unlikely that that anyone would challenge them is because to succeed would be to rid us all of the most interesting thing to happen in years, and we wouldn’t want that”

Duvall releases a long breath, trying to mentally prepare himself for a season of exhausting conversations, “no, we wouldn’t want that”

chapter one 

It might have been petty of him, but duvall was privately satisfied that he’d thus far managed to avoid any contact with the general that had caught the attention of every person of class in town. He hadn’t even seen them let alone been introduced, and making a game of it was about the only thing keeping him sane at the weekly parties he was obligated to attend, for the talk was inescapable:

The issue of their name remained. If anything the general had doubled down on his insistence that their ties to the land were enough to add value to their name - their singular name. “Chine” was the most that was given and the most that any had ever heard, but he was well-recognized among returning soldiers who were bursting with pride to discover that they were grown from the same stock as their admired leader.

Indeed, whenever asked, these soldiers all but fell over each other in their excitement to brag of the impossible feats of strength and fortitude that they’d witnessed from Chine on the battlefield. They didn’t seem at all interested in the obvious question of why no-one remembered him from their civilian lives prior to joining the army. Chine wasn’t so much older than the majority of those returning from war that none should possess stories of their youth - and yet eager as they were to associate themselves with the general, not one of those who knew him out on the bloodfields could tie themselves to him in blackwick county. 

The story that each end every one of them did tell was thus: it was said that in their first assignment as a head officer Chine had by either luck or improbable reflexes dodged a bullet that should have blown his brains out. It had torn through their face instead, but instead of seeking medical treatment as would any reasonable man, the general had actually run ahead to join the lowest of their rank to lead them all to victory. 

In the wildest versions chine breaches enemy lines to find the specific individual who had fired the bullet that hit them. So-called witnesses take great joy in describing the terror in the enemy soldier’s eyes as chine snarled in their face, spraying them with his own blood before killing them bare handed. One person, a drunk, swore that chine had bitten the enemy soldier’s face clean off in retaliation, chewing and spitting the flesh back at them as they bled out on the muddy ground - That account was generally dismissed as gross exaggeration, but chine themself had yet to deny it.

publicly, chine allowed fact and fiction to mix freely, it seemed. every month one or two young people would come home on leave and bring with them new stories of the general’s success. many were believable if exaggerated, but at least a quarter of them were so ridiculous that duvall only knew their endings if lyke or es recounted them to him later, for if he didn’t walk away when people spread such falsities he’d make enemies of those enjoying themselves and he did at least have enough restraint to avoid that.

The only part of it duvall put any faith on was that the general, at some point, had been shot in the face, and that his refusal of swift medical intervention had caused an infection that had nearly killed them. It had cost them the sight in their eye and had almost certainly left them with quite a bit of nerve damage, too. That the ordeal had also won them the hearts of all under his command also appeared true, though duvall struggled to understand why anyone would idealize a fool too stubborn to accept help. 

The thought of it scared him a little, if he’s honest. Duvall is far from squeamish, but a man so reckless and willing to die - how many under them had suffered for it, too? Those who had commissions that kept them from the front lines and who survived to praise Chine did so with what sounded like genuine admiration, but Duvall’s stomach churned thinking of the common folk that were conscripted into the war, held to the same expectations of sacrifice as those who had joined willingly. 

And so, when forced to listen to the third story in a row of some miraculous victory chine had won, the thing that most reliably kept his mouth shut (there’s simply no way that an entire battalion surrendered at the sight of chine, no matter how frightening he might be) was the satisfaction that at the very least there was one person here who would give this terrible man neither respect nor common courtesy, and that it should be him. 

Eventually, Lyke caught on to his game. The good lady Es was explaining to them both how clever the general was, really, to stick to the story of having no name of his own - the temptation was that if he would bring no name to a match, any marriage would result in the spouse’s family absorbing all of their status and apparent wealth without diluting the strength of their line. They were a gift with no strings attached - except for the general themself, who was intimidating, to say the least. Even this, though, gained him suitors - for few young nobles could resist a challenge

“Or it would be clever, if they appeared interested in courting” Es closes her fan and taps it against her lip, considering, “he accepts dances readily enough, but rarely keeps the same partner twice. I suppose they could be fanning the flames on purpose, but they’re exceptionally hard to read, I-”

“Our dear friend duvall doesn’t want to hear about it, Es. can’t you see you’re just making him insufferably smug about being immune to the captain’s… well, charm might not be the word here..”

“gravity?” Es suggests, “that would certainly describe the pull we all feel to his story, if not to the general himself.” she smiles at duvall, almost pitying, “and it would describe something worth being proud of resisting”

“sure, sure. the word isn’t really important anyway,” lyke says, “ it’s that mr duvall thinks he’s above us because he claims to be unimpressed.”

“i never said that”

“but you think it!” lyke laughs, “it’s all a ruse though, i think you’re just afraid of him.” he looks at es, grinning, “i think he’s just afraid of him, don’t you?”

es takes a moment to consider duvall, who struggles to figure out the appropriate expression to make that would communicate that fear has nothing to do with it, but aware that es would be looking for signs of bluster, and faltering because of it.

“i think lord duvall is within his rights to focus his attention elsewhere.” she says, slowly, “how is your research coming along?”

lyke groans loudly, but duvall instantly relaxes, grateful to have a friend in her.

—————-

“ok but did you see the look on Dayward’s face when he realized chine had left the floor as soon as they passed him off? he came back ‘round and just stood there! if he wasn’t already red, he’d-

“no”

“no?”

“no, i didn’t see.” duvall doesn’t turn from the buffet, looking his best as if he cared which olive he was going to pretend to enjoy eating later, “i haven’t cared much for dancing lately.”

“huh”

lyke is making the face he does when he’s trying not to laugh; lips stretched wide but pressed together, wobbling at the edges like his smile is about to burst out. duvall puts down his olive, sighing, “what?”

“i just thought you’d find that funny”

“oh, sure.” duvall takes his plate and walks to his favorite hiding place, lyke following close behind, “it is funny. and i’m grateful that he’s managed to keep everyone’s attention this long”

the door opens out onto a balcony that’s been used for storage. it’s got the same large glass doors and is no smaller than the rest, but the piles of empty pots and gardening supplies block one door completely and fill about half of the space. 

duvall reaches into one of the larger pots and pulls out a book. he grins and waives it at lyke, “the peace and quiet has been wonderful for my nerves”

lyke huffs a laugh, “you’re going to regret it if you hole yourself up like this. remember how long it took you to get the steps to <dance name> right after you got back from your last excursion?”

“excursion” duvall glares at lyke, hands flexing on his book, “it was an expedition, and one you saw profit from! your last paper would have been nothing without the artifacts i -!”

“-woa now, i never said i wasn’t grateful. thank you, duvall.” lyke leans on the balcony, looking back into the party, “i only mean to remind you that your eccentricities, while endearing to me, are in danger of eclipsing your good reputation.”

“Thanks. I really needed that reminder.”

“I’m just looking out for you! Showing you i care!”

“I-”

The unblocked door creeks open and es leans out. She’s smiling and her hair is partially falling about her shoulders, “would one of you escort me to the dance floor? I’m afraid my dear mr Ode has had enough of the floor tonight but the music is fantastic and i should like to be out in it.”

Duvall feels the dreadful certainty that he’s been trapped, but Lyke speaks up before he can, yawning dramatically, “Oh i’m afraid i’m much too tired tonight Es, but Duvall was just talking about feeling left out this season.”

Es glances between them

[mizunetzu]

iwaizumi finding out hes gay and having an extreme gay panic when they get their new manager in aoba johsai and the team teases him to hell and back for it (iwaizumi x male manager!)

Nice to see you again, boke saiikai~~ also look at iwa freak out in this gif AHAHAHA

——————

Iwaizumi x reader - Iwa-chan, Panic!

⚠️warnings - none

Pronouns - male, he/him

——————

Iwaizumi lazily scratched the itch on his stomach, not caring that his shirt was slightly lifted up and people could see his stomach if they looked. Eh, it’s not like people were around anyways.

He was already running late to practice, so he might as well reserve his energy and take a detour to the gym. It’s not like anything important was happening anyways.

“Yo.” Iwaizumi yawned, pushing the door to the gymnasium open. He slipped through, only now realizing that no one answered his greeting. He also noticed everyone was gathered into a loose semi-circle, apparently looking at something Iwaizumi couldn’t quite make out.

“What's...goin’ on guys?” Iwaizumi neared the huddle of Seijoh volleyball players. Matsukawa turned around, seemingly the only one who heard Iwaizumi in the first place. Mattsun nudged his head towards the middle of the circle, the clearing, where someone was standing.

“New manager.”

Iwaizumi’s ears perked up. Oikawa was complaining about ‘having at least one manager before he graduates’ but also ‘one that’s not one of my fangirls, because they wouldn’t take good care of the team.’ As insensitive as it sounded, having a manager drool and follow Oikawa for the majority of practice instead of doing their job does sound pretty frustrating. Iwaizumi scratched his head.

“Don’t tell me Shittykawa finally found a girl who doesn’t fawn over him.”

Matsukawa shook his head.

“Not girl.” He pointed to the boy standing there awkwardly, moving out of the way slightly so Iwaizumi could see. “It’s a boy.”

Iwaizumi’s eyes trailed from his feet, up to his firm-looking torso, and trailing around his nice-looking arms and hands. He couldn’t help himself from checking this dude out. Maybe he was just curious as to why this boy joined as a manager and not a player-

Iwaizumi’s eyes finally met the boy's glass-like (e/c) ones. He realized now that as he stared at this boy's mesmerizing eyes, his own (e/c) eyes began to stare back at him. Stare with his eyes growing wide, a cute doe-like expression on his face. But all he could see was his breathtaking, iridescent eyes.

“Uh, earth-to-(L/n)-chan?” Oikawa, who was standing next to ‘(L/n)’, waved his hand in front of his deer-in-the-headlights-face. He visibly jumped, blinking a bit, and turned his head quickly, pretending he was staring at Oikawa the whole time.

However, it wasn’t the same for Iwaizumi. He continued to stare with his mouth parted slightly, absolutely mesmerized by this guy’s handsome face. It seemed so...holdable. Like he wanted to walk up to him and hold his face in his callused hands and just...stand there. Forever. Squishing his cute face in his hands.

Cute? Cute? No. No. No. Not cute. Iwaizumi Hajime was not finding a man cute. No, not in a million years.

So why was his heart pounding in his ears so much?

His heart wouldn’t calm down. His everything wouldn’t calm down. He couldn’t tear his eyes off the new manager boy in front of him, immersing himself in conversation with a blush to shake off the fact he was totally staring back. He couldn’t help but feel confused. For once, he felt jealous of Oikawa. Not because he wanted to be popular or stalked by fangirls or anything, but because this boy’s full attention would be on him, and not Shitty-Crappy-Stupidkawa.

Matsukawa snapped his fingers in front of Iwaizumi’s face, smirking when he threw his head back in surprise with the reddest face he’s ever seen him with. Iwaizumi blinked, blankly, trying to process what just happened, before somehow exploding into a deeper shade of red.

“Are you sick or something?” Matsukawa placed the back of his hand on Iwaizumi’s forehead jokingly. “Oh. Nevermind.”

“Wh...I-I...huh..?”

“You’re just gay.” Matsukawa wiped his hand on his practice shirt. “Super gay. Super highschool level gay. You were totally checking out Manager-kun there.”

Iwaizumi grabbed Matsukawa by the collar, shaking him around in hopes of shaking the truth out of him.

“I-I’m not!”

“First symptom: denial.”

“Shut up-!”

“E-excuse me…?” Iwaizumi stopped dead in his tracks. Matsukawa was one second away from bursting out into cackles at Iwaizumi’s impossibly pale face. They both slowly craned their necks towards the foreign voice. Iwaizumi suddenly forgot how to breathe.

He, ‘Manager-kun’, seemed more utterly breathtaking up close. He was standing right infront of Iwaizumi, looking directly at him with his attractive (e/c) eyes. He didn’t even realize when Matsukawa wormed out of his grasp.

“(L/n)-san, good afternoon.” Matsukawa bowed slightly. “My name’s Matsukawa Issei, by the way. Thank you again for being our manager. We look forward to working with you.”

“Ah...thank you.”

When Matsukawa looked back at Iwaizumi, expecting him to introduce himself, he caught Iwaizumi staring at him with goo-goo eyes and an equally confused, frozen-stiff expression from Manager-kun himself. They stared at each other, one from awkward silence and the other from pure, unadulterated gayness. Matsukawa rolled his eyes.

“Dude!” Matsukawa jabbed Iwaizumi in the side, making him snap out of his trance with a grunt. “Don’t be rude, introduce yourself to Manager-kun!”

Iwaizumi broke into a cold sweat. He turned back to ‘Manager-kun’, attempting to look as cool as possible.

“Y-yo...the name’s Iwaizumi HaJIMe-” Iwaizumi’s voice did not want to be on his side today. The betrayers that were his vocal cords cracked mid sentence, making Iwaizumi cough horrendously in hopes of covering it up. Mattsun looked like he was going to die holding in his laughter.

“Nice to meet you, Iwaizumi-kun,” Manager-kun grasped his hand in his own, and held it for a moment. “My name’s (L/n) (Y/n).”

He, (Y/n), flashed a small, friendly smile, and Iwaizumi was taken. With the way (Y/n) held his hand so tenderly, he could probably faint. He’d rather die than let go. It was so warm, his hands were so warm. God, he felt so soft inside.

“...Y’know, if you aren't feeling well, I can take you to the nurse’s office-”

“No-! It’s-it’s fine! I’m fine!” Iwaizumi sputtered, and he silently whined when (Y/n) pulled his hand back. He stepped back, and gave a small wave.

“That’s good, Iwaizumi-kun. Well, I just wanted to introduce myself to everyone. See you later, Matsukawa-kun. Iwaizumi-kun.” (Y/n) smiled again, and left to introduce himself to another teammate. Once (Y/n) was out of earshot, Matsukawa erupted into a fit of cackles.

“Pfft-ahahahahaha! Dude! Y-you-! Ahahahaha! You need to chill man! At this point everyone’s gonna know you went all-“ Mattsun mimicked Iwaizumi’s wide-eyed expression, bringing his hands together and pretending he was a moe schoolgirl. “Kyaaah! (L/n)-senpai is soooo handsome!”

“SHUUUUUT UPPPPPP!” Iwaizumi started kicking at Matsukawa’s shins and hitting his back, trying to silence his cackles and hope (Y/n) didn’t hear that. Or see the huge red blush on his cheeks.

Oikawa side-eyed Iwaizumi and Matsukawa from the net pole. His hands were still moving on setting up the net for practice, but his eyes were examining the two fellow third years roughhousing with each other. More specifically, the red that engulfed Iwaizumi’s face. Oikawa turned his attention back to the pole.

——

‘Just do it!’

Those three words played on repeat in Iwaizumi’s mind for the past 2 weeks. And they seemed to get louder when Iwaizumi arrived to practice.

‘Just do it, Hajime!’

‘No!’ Iwaizumi thought back to himself, watching as (Y/n) greeted everyone who came through the club room door. He was standing outside, holding a box with supplies stuffed in it. Iwaizumi dreadfully neared the club room.

‘Do it! Now!’

‘No! Fuck no!’

“Ah! Hello again, Iwaizumi-kun-“

“No!” Iwaizumi blurted out. He was quick to cover his mouth, but the look of confusion that knitted (Y/n’s) face was enough to tell he had heard Iwaizumi loud and clear.

“Uh. I mean. Good mor-uh good afternoon, (L/n). Sorry bout’ that.” Iwaizumi trudged into the club room as nonchalantly as he could. But once the door closed, he slumped down to his knees.

“Something wrong, Iwa-chan?” Oikawa mused, slipping on his blue practice shirt over his head. “You look like shit.”

“Y-you’re one to talk, Shittykawa! Go die!”

“Uuu! How mean! Mean Iwa-chan!”

“Yeah yeah.” Iwaizumi hastily slipped into his practice clothes. Oikawa watched his face closely. It was redder than usual.

“Hey, Iwa-chan?”

Iwaizumi looked up from his knee pads, halting temporarily as he threaded them through his leg. “Mm?”

Oikawa opened his mouth, then glanced to the door where (Y/n) was standing outside of. Not yet. He didn’t have enough evidence yet.

“Never mind.” Oikawa rubbed the back of his head cutely.

——

Iwaizumi slumped down on the steps of the gym, heaving like he ran 13 miles. Well, he did. He watched as everyone came trickling back, Oikawa yelling praise as they all collapsed in front of the gym. Training runs across the block were tough. Especially after an exhausting practice match against each other.

“Good job, everyone!” Oikawa clasped his hands together. “Get some water, go rest, do whatever! We’re gonna do some serving and receiving practices, then we can take a break!”

The tuckered-out team choursed out a “Yessir!” before scattering about and doing their own things. Iwaizumi let his head loll back onto the concrete steps he was sitting on, closing his eyes and catching his unsteady breath.

“Iwaizumi-kun!”

Iwaizumi jolted up harshly, a blush adorning his features as his eyes snapped open. (Y/n) looked down at him with a small white towel in his hand and a water bottle in the other.

“I figured you needed some water or something so-I got you some stuff-!” (Y/n) promptly set the things down on Iwaizumi’s lap, though he’s not sure he noticed with the way he was staring at him so...strangely. Huh, that’s been happening for a while now.

Iwaizumi’s dazed look suddenly dissipated, his consciousness coming back to his eyes as he fumbled for the items slipping from his lap.

“Oh! Thank you...dude…! You’re…you’re...cool...f-for that…!”

Iwaizumi shot finger guns at his (Y/n). His crush. Fucking finger guns. He wouldn’t mind if he took his finger guns and shoved it so far up his a-

“It’s no problem!” (Y/n) shot finger guns back, before flexing an arm and patting his bicep. “It’s what a manager is for! Makin’ sure you boys are alright.”

“I’m gonna go fill up some more water bottles...l stopped and filled one up for you first because you looked thirsty…”

(Y/n) ran off. “See you!” He called from a distance, before disappearing from sight. Iwaizumi waved back with a blank expression on his face.

His legs felt like jelly. Not only because he ran 13 miles non-stop, but because of how whipped he became for manager-kun (Y/n) in the span of only a week or two.

Oikawa hummed to himself knowingly, watching Iwaizumi slump back onto the concrete steps with a hand in his heart.

——

“Iwa-chan, Iwa-chan, Iwa-chan!”

“No! No! No!”

“But why?!” Oikawa exasperatedly yelled, dramatically blocking the door leading outside the club room. It was just him, Iwa-chan, Mattsun, and Makki. Makki and Mattsun sat on the floor of the club room like they were expecting Iwaizumi to come in, and from the way they didn’t try to stop Oikawa from blocking the door, they knew the same things he did.

“Let me out shithead!” Iwaizumi clawed at Oikawa’s arms. Oikawa, as twinkish and childish as he seems, was actually stronger than he looked.

Eventually, Iwaizumi stepped back to take a breather. Matsukawa and Hanamaki took that as their chance to secure him, as Hanamaki grabbed Iwaizumi by the torso and wrapped his whole body around him.

He held him as secure as he could while he thrashed around, waiting till Matsukawa hurriedly set up a foldable chair and brought out some rope. Hanamaki dragged Iwaizumi to the chair, ignoring his pleads of “Let me go!” or “Y’all will pay for this-I swear!” As he forcefully sat him down.

He held his hands to the back of the chair as Matsukawa tied him up as quick as he could.

“Oi! What the fuck!” Iwaizumi kicked at Matsukawa as he circled him with the rope.

“It’s for your own good, Iwa-chan.” Oikawa piped up from his spot blocking the door. He didn’t want to move from the door until Iwaizumi was fully immobilized, just in case he tried to run for it.

“Like hell it is-ack!” Matsukawa tightened the rope. “Ease up, will you! God damn!”

“Sorry, sorry.” Matsukawa, in fact, did not ease up. He tied the rope into multiple tight knots, making it virtually impossible to somehow slip out of them. Iwaizumi squirmed around in his restraints as the chair was rotated facing away from the door, and towards Hanamaki and Matsukawa.

Oikawa sighed triumphantly, and backed away from the door. He clasped his hands together.

“So nice of you to finally join our discussion, Iwa-chan.”

“Literally suck my dick then go practice receives on a nearby building and fall to your death.”

Oikawa feigned offense to Iwaizumi’s words. Hanamaki chuckled, while Matsukawa shut Iwaizumi up by tugging at the rope’s end he was holding in his hands.

“Isn’t this illegal? Like-somewhere in the world?”

“It isn’t right now~” Oikawa sung, before becoming laughably serious. “Now! We need some answers!”

“More like you couldn’t contain your curiosity or ask Iwaizumi like a normal person.”

“Makki! You’re supposed to be on my side!” Oikawa blurbed, before coughing and regaining his cool integrator vibe. “Anyways!” Oikawa snapped harshly at Iwaizumi.

“You! Have a! Crush! On Manager-chan!”

Iwaizumi choked on his own spit. He turned away dumbly, with a coy look on his face.

“Dunno what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t play dumb! We all see the looks you give him! ‘Fess up, Iwa-chan! You’re absolutely totally whipped for (Y/n)-chan!”

Iwaizumi stiffened. “Since when were you two on a first name basis-!”

“See?! You got mad when I called (L/n)-kun by his first name!”

“That doesn’t mean anything!” Iwaizumi barked. He was starting to sweat now. Were these restraints always so stuffy? “I was just wondering why you called him that!”

Oikawa stuck his tongue out. “Just say you like him we’ll let you go~!”

“Never! No way in hell!”

Oikawa gasped. He pointed dramatically at Iwaizumi. “So you do admit it! You’re totally in love with Manager-kun but you don’t wanna say it!”

“Wh-?!” Iwaizumi sputtered. He kicked around in his restraints, making Matsukawa tug at the rope again. He was thrashing around so much he didn’t hear the door open. “When did I-“

“When did I ever say I had a big ass fuckin’ crush on (L/n) that it made me question my whole sexuality?! But that I couldn’t care less since he’s so...so nice and cute and-fuck!”

Matsukawa and Hanamaki paled. They seemed to be looking at something behind Iwaizumi. Oikawa was still listening intently to Iwaizumi’s confession, not noticing whatever it was those two were staring at.

“Fuck! Fuck! I wanna grab his stupid face and kiss him all over! Fuck! Why is (Y/n) so cute! I wanna call him by his first name too! I wanna hug him and do things boyfriends do too! Fuck! I’m so-“

Oikawa’s eye eventually trailed up from Iwaizumi. He locked eyes with whatever was there, then immediately copied the same panicked ‘we’re dead’ look Hanamaki and Matsukawa had. He looked back at Iwaizumi with a sweaty, pale face.

“H-hey, Iwa-chan, that’s enough-you proved your point-“

“-I’M SO FUCKING GAY FOR (Y/N) IT HURTS!”

The three boys flinched, looking behind Iwaizumi with the same look you’d give when you got caught doing something bad. Iwaizumi was breathing heavily, slouched on his chair after his whole explosion of a confession. He looked at the three third years, who weren’t even looking back at him.

“...what? This is what you guys wanted right? To admit that I like (L/n-“

“I-Iwaizumi, you might wanna shut up…” Hanamaki said, his voice trembly. Matsukawa and Oikawa nodded.

“No! Why are y’all acting so weird! You guys were all up my ass about it, and now you’re telling me to shut up?!”

Matsukawa silently spun his chair around slowly, towards the door so he could see what they were all staring at.

“Honestly, if y’all weren’t expecting me to actually…confess…t-to…yooouuu…”

Iwaizumi’s voice progressively died down as he locked eyes with (Y/n), standing by the door with the reddest shocked face he’d ever seen. It was Iwaizumi’s turn to go pale.

“Uh...I-I heard...screaming...f-from the club room and...and I wanted to see if you guys were ok...um.” (Y/n) awkwardly swung his hands around, before letting them rest behind his back. “So…”

“Do you...really wanna ‘kiss me all over’ and do boyfriend-y stuff together…? With me…?”

Iwaizumi said nothing. He started squirming madly in his binds, trying to look anywhere else but (Y/n).

“Let me out let me out let me out let me out-!“

Iwaizumi only wriggled and kicked harder when (Y/n) started approaching him.

“LETMEOUTLETMEOUTLETME-uu-?”

(Y/n) balled up his fists, resting them rigidly on Iwaizumi’s lap as he clumsily pressed a kiss to his lips. His eyes were clamped shut, unlike Iwaizumi’s, who were wide open. He felt (Y/n) push closer, to which he let his body give in and relax, closing his eyes and tilting his head to deepen the kiss.

Matsukawa wolf-whistled, while Hanamaki yelled things like ‘Get it, Iwaizumi!’. Oikawa smiled triumphantly once more, clapping quietly. “Bravo! Yay Iwa-chan!”

Iwaizumi’s eyes were half-lidded as began to pull away. He let out a shaky sigh, watching Iwaizumi take breathless breaths in. Oikawa was still clapping in the background.

“Yay! Yaaaay Iwa-chan! Iwa-chan is happy and I fulfilled my promise! (L/n) will be Manager-kun for forever!”

Iwaizumi snapped out of his dazed trance to glare at Oikawa in confusion. “Huh?”

“Ara?” Oikawa tilted his head. (Y/n) caught on, and started violently shaking his head ‘no’, as well as flailing his arms around trying to shut him up.

“You don’t know why (L/n)-kun decided to join the club?”

Iwaizumi shook his head. (Y/n) whimpered slightly and covered his face in his hands.

“I told (L/n)-kun that if he became our manager, I’d find a way to get you to fall in looove with him. But it looks like I didn’t need to do anything~”

Oikawa chuckled. “He really only joined for you, y’know. When I went up to talk to him about being a manager, his eyes lit up and he said, and I quote: ‘I’ll do it if you set me up with your friend Iwaizumi-kun and get him to fall for me-! Kyaaa! Iwaizumi-kun is so tall dark and handsom-ow!”

Oikawa was abruptly cut off when Iwaizumi kicked him in the leg, as it was the only thing he could reach while he was still tied up. Iwaizumi turned to the side with a blushy pout.

“Y-you’re embarrassing him, idiot.”

“Aww look. He’s enjoying this.” Matsukawa snickered. Hanamaki chuckled as quietly as he could, both trying not to get kicked in the leg like Oikawa did. (Y/n) sank to the floor, defeated.

“Why did you tell Iwaizumi-kun...that’s so embarrassing…” (Y/n) groaned from the ground. He was still covering his face, so he didn’t notice when Matsukawa started untying Iwaizumi, or when Iwaizumi squatted down and placed his hand on top of (Y/n’s) head.

(Y/n) made a noise of surprise as Iwaizumi patted his head with a blushy scowl.

“S’ only fair that I know… I was pretty embarrassed too when you heard all those things I said about you... Eye for an eye and shit…”

(Y/n) said nothing as Iwaizumi continued to pat his head. They said nothing for a while, before Matsukawa silently whispered to Oikawa.

“Wait, if you knew that (L/n)-kun liked Iwaizumi, why did you look so scared when he walked in? You knew they liked each other.”

“Ah.” Oikawa rubbed the back of his head, watching as Iwaizumi and (Y/n) shyly exchanged phone numbers.

“I was scared that Iwa-chan was going to murder me.”

——————

Wanna know what makes my day? When people comment on my fics 💖 especially when they reblog and go crazy in the tags or even say something IN the reblog itself 💖💖💖 makes me feel all warm inside ✨

-Mr. Mizunetzu

[takerfoxx]

What Your Favorite Puella Magi Madoka Magica Ship Says About You

Inspired by DoubleCa5t's series, and since we're probably going to get an official video sooner or later, I'm putting my version out while I can.

Also, this is all in good fun, so don't take any teasing seriously.

...

MadoHomu (Madoka X Homura)

You are a firm believe in the inherent eroticism of this image.

You have episode ten memorized.

You have a very specific emotional reaction to “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper.

You have severe problems with The Rebellion Story, particularly in how it upended the optimistic note that the original series ended on and recontextualized Homura’s devotion to Madoka as something unhealthy and even toxic, but you still can’t bring yourself to reject the movie entirely, because at the end of the day, even you have to admit that damn, that dress.

The phrase, “X character did nothing wrong” pops up a lot in your internet discourse.

You ship CatraDora.

KyouSaya (Kyouko X Sayaka)

You’re always a sucker for how the dynamic of Enemies to Lovers shifts from antagonism to devotion without losing its obsessive intensity.

Your ideal date can best be summed up as Be Gay, Do Crimes…after which you have to call your responsible friend to come bail both of you out.

You know that important stuff happens after episode nine, but to be quite frank, at that point you were too emotionally traumatized to get invested and were only watching out of a feeling of obligation.

You were uncharacteristically smug after watching The Rebellion Story despite what disproportionately little screentime your ship received.

You also ship CatraDora.

MadoSaya (Madoka X Sayaka)

You don’t understand what all the fuss is about when it comes to Enemies to Lovers when there’s a perfectly good Friends to Lovers right there.

This is the same joke as the first part of MadoHomu, but with the Hot Topic switched out for a Footlocker.

You lost your mind on 4chan over Persephone’s Waltz on more than one occasion and for more than one reason (hey, ErinPtah!).

KyouMami (Kyouko X Mami)

You read A Different Story, and probably listened to that one audio drama.

You’re a firm believer in the inherent eroticism of exes that still long for one another.

You feel that a lot of the issues that both these characters struggle with stem from how messy their falling out was, and had Mami been more supportive and Kyouko not abandoned her after the death of Kyouko’s family, a whole lot of grief could have been avoided.

MamiSaya (Mami X Sayaka)

Your ideal date is getting sempai to notice you.

You have gotten into at least one altercation with Anticrack-Kun.

MadoMami (Madoka X Mami)

Your ideal date is getting kouhai to notice you.

You’re just here for some girls being friends, gals being pals.

MamiNagi (Mami X Nagisa)

You were already shipping Mami with the human form of Charlotte before The Rebellion Story came out, and even afterward you’re still unwilling to let go despite how uncomfortable it makes you now, to the point where “Aged Up Characters” is a regular tag in your ao3 searches.

Either that, or…

HomuMami (Homura X Mami)

You’re a firm believer in the inherent eroticism of passive-aggressiveness.

You were tilting your head in a particular manner during that scene where Mami ties up Homura, and feel that how it ended was a real missed opportunity.

You had to pause The Rebellion Story for about five minutes after the gunfight, and after you continued you shouted, “Goddamn it, Sayaka!” out loud.

HomuSaya (Homura X Sayaka)

This is the same joke as the first part of MadoHomu, but with the Sanrio switched out for a Footlocker.

Your favorite ao3 tag is “Hatesex.”

KyouHomu (Kyouko X Homura)

You know what's better than one edgy badass girl with a tragic past? Two edgy badass girls with a tragic past.

You felt that both these characters spent too much energy pursuing someone that just weren't into them as they were, and would better off settling with someone on more equal footing.

You are a firm believer in the inherent eroticism of game recognizing game.

You really wish that they reached that ramen shop in the movie.

KyouMado (Kyouko X Madoka)

Your favorite highschool relationship dynamic is edgy delinquent/ray of sunshine.

You are a firm believer in the inherent eroticism of “gap moe.”

HitoSuke (Hitomi X Kyousuke)

You feel that these two characters get way too much hate, and everything that happened wasn’t their fault. Like, come on, guys. How could they have known that their teenaged relationship drama would be exploited by a race of emotionless alien groomers?

Your main priority is keeping things canon…and you don’t have a whole lot else to work with.

HitoSaya (Hitomi X Sayaka)

You feel that the most effective way of resolving a love triangle is eliminating the heterosexual options.

You feel that when Hitomi declared, “Girls can’t love girls!”, Sayaka’s reaction ought to have been, “Challenged accepted.”

SayaSuke (Sayaka X Kyousuke)

You just want good things for Sayaka, but only in a first four episodes kind of way.

You are heterosexual.

SayaHitoSuke (Sayaka X Hitomi X Kyousuke)

You feel that the best way of resolving a love triangle is by connecting the bottom two axis.

You are heterosexual. Or possibly bisexual. Well, regardless, you are really horny.

HomuHito (Homura X Hitomi)

You’ve played the portable game.

MadoHito (Madoka X Hitomi)

You are constantly frustrated at how little attention this ship receives. After all, weren’t they friends too? But instead people seem to be more focused on shipping characters that don’t even like each other or never even interact in the show, and at this point you’re just glad that I acknowledged it in this silly meme post.

MamiHito (Mami X Hitomi)

You want to be a wealthy, unmarried Victorian duchess who is noted by history for your incredibly close relationship with your lovely companion who lives with you, does everything with you, up to and including sharing a bed, and after both of your deaths scholars will make note of what great friends you must have been.

KyouHito (Kyouko X Hitomi)

You were going out of your way to piss off Anticrack-kun. And really, who wouldn’t?

KyouSuke (Kyouko X Kyousuke)

You were going out of your way to piss off everybody, and I salute your courage.

HomuJun (Homura X Junko)

You are really into Pixar moms.

Also, obligatory…

KazuJun (Kazuko X Junko)

This is the same joke as the second part of MadoMami, but you’re also really into Pixar moms.

MadoKyu (Madoka X Kyubey)

I can’t say for certain whether or not you’re a monsterfucker, but you certainly enjoy the chaos that the very implication of this ship creates.

PolyMegucas (Madoka X Sayaka X Homura X Kyouko X Mami)

You don’t understand why there has to be so much drama between all these different pairings. All the girls are wonderful in their own ways, and they would be so much happier if they just stopped fighting, formed a loving and mutually supportive team dynamic as was seen in the first part of the movie, and possibly smooched one another.

Also, you are extremely horny.

[phoenixtakaramono]

So I'm here to say that I really love your Bingyuan fic! The research you do for it and share with us is just amazing! I also have a q regarding LBG. From SV we know that he felt admiration for his Shizun so do you think that if SJ wasn't cruel to him LBG's admiration would've grown into love and attraction like it did in LBH's case for SY? Which then also raises a question: would LBH/LBG fall in love with any Shizun who was kind to him? Or was he just drawn to SJ's type of personality. WDYT?

Hi there, Anon! I’m glad you’re liking the Untold Tale! Thanks for reading! I think it lowkey helps when the story I’m writing (in general) is from a culture I’m familiar with and that I know some of its language nuances (just general Mainland dialect; I’m unfamiliar with Shanghainese, the Beijing dialect, etc etc). So fortunately for me, as someone who is Chinese but was born in the Western side of the world speaking Mandarin to family and friends, emulating the Chinese aesthetic and atmosphere in TUT comes a little bit easier to me than someone who did not grow up with this culture. I bet if I had been raised in China, I would be able to write something even more multilayered and deep but, alas, the youthful rebellious me of the past hadn’t taken my pinyin and Chinese character writing lessons seriously so I can only communicate verbally and understand audibly 😫. It’s very special for us writers in fandoms to be able to write a story of a culture that we actually know and can identify with. But high key it’s been immensely fun injecting some references of things I’ve come to notice from watching period C-dramas and the C-novels I’ve read, and I’ve come to learn interesting things about Chinese history and mythology even I didn’t know! So the story really writes itself.

Shen Jiu (OG!Shen Qingqiu)

To answer your question 🤔, to be honest this is why the SVSSS fandom is great—because there’s so many interpretations of the original source material. That’s why we have our headcanons and fanfictions to explore these many different possibilities. So for me personally, I can see it happening both ways: *1) LBG does develop a crush/falls in love with SJ, or 2) no matter how SJ treats him LBG regards him respectfully or coldly. I think Possibility 1 is more likely, since SY transmigrated into SQQ and we saw what happened with “Bunhe.”

Now, mind, for Possibility 1 to be more likely to happen, the SJ in PIDW will have to undergo a massive personality change/ a change of heart/ develop a good conscience and will need to clean up his image aka clear up the massive misunderstandings from PIDW canon (like him being mistaken as a pervert for Ning Yingying, visiting whorehouses, killing LQG, etc). It’ll be difficult though considering who Airplane has changed SJ into for his stallion harem novel (reading through SVSSS, my impression of PIDW besides it being the harem stallion novel is that it sounds similar to a “dog blood plot,” where audiences tune in to see how the villains are brought to justice). I literally have a line from TUT in a future chapter where SY says this about SJ since I will resurrect SJ and bring him into the story for closure:

People like Shen Qingqiu naturally had a set of deeply-rooted values. If one wanted to change them, it’d be easier to just have them reincarnate. (—TUT, ch???)

At his core, he’s a flawed man (which makes sense with the underlying cycle of abuse theory, considering his upbringing and backstory). He’s jealous and petty and prickly. His image is that of a proud and cold immortal. In Chinese terms, he’s the type of character archtype who I can see being àojiāo (definitely not canon characterization; this is just a stray thought that amuses me) in a romantic relationship.

LBH will have to recognize that^, or be in a position where he finds SJ’s caustic side endearing instead. He will also have to be extremely patient with him (although, since the joke in SVSSS is that LBH is an incurable M, it shouldn’t be that hard).

A fun thing about OG!SQQ is that he’s the cannon fodder scumbag villain of PIDW. He’s the reason LBG blackened from a white lotus. And, as you know, villains aka antagonists aka bad boys resonate strongly with people for a reason. That’s why we see a lot of Enemies to Lovers tropes, etc. It squicks me to use this phrase but “the allure of dating a ‘bad boy’ is strong.” SJ is that type of bad boy we could identify as a “fixer-upper project” (ugh, that phrase)—even with the red flags and warning signs—especially for those said to have a troubled past with rejecting neglectful parental figures/ family members/ friends and have have not outgrown their wish to convert that sort of person into a loving, accepting person. When we want something we can’t or shouldn’t have, our desire for it grows exponentially. In fanfiction this is a concept writers and readers can explore safely in a world of the imaginary.

From a Meta Perspective

Although, if we look at it meta-ly, the cold and proud and/or knowledgeable Shizun (teacher/ master) character who comes to know love and “is redeemed” by whomever is the love interest (typically a cute and quirky girl who may or may not have started off as naive to the innerworkings of the Cultivation World and therefore needs an established and mature mentor to guide them) is a very well-known archetype for a reason in Chinese fan culture.

Seeing a terrible person change their ways and try to become a better person because of the influence of the one they love is also a popular depiction for a reason.

It’s almost like gap moe. The crueler and aloof one starts out as (arrogance is a staple), the more impactful the shift is when we see such characters soften their edges.

The draw of the sacred master/disciple relationship is that it’s taboo, so I think it’s fair to say that such a relationship in fiction is a popular trope precisely because of this aspect. From a writer’s perspective, the main appeal is to show that there is someone out there who can cause this respectful figure to lose control (undergo emotional change) and go to great lengths to protect his/her precious person. That precious person also has to fall into the “not like other girls” trope (so they can show the ML a different world he would not have seen the beauty of before). On the other side, we look forward to the point of the story where the love interest has their “Oh” moment and realizes their admiration has somehow shifted into love and attraction over the course of events.

Other Romantic Possibilities

It’s very likely. I personally like the fanon headcanon where anyone with Heavenly Demon blood running through their veins feels a compulsion to “obsessively fixate on one person” (TLJ —> SXY, LBH —> SQQ). Personally I don’t recall if this was canon or fanon, but someone had written something about LBH imprinting on one person in his lifetime on the account of his demon nature. And I like that theory (I think it’s likely more fanon than anything but it’s an intriguing idea full of possibilities!).

For him to fixate romantically on one person, I personally don’t think the prerequisite is just by being kind to LBH (but it probably adds to the person’s appeal). There’s probably other factors that go into this to capture the male protagonist’s eye, such as him finding someone attractive (or passes his own personal standards) and/or having good chemistry with that person. So I could see him being into other Shizuns and whomever else. Personally I also think there is appeal in the unobtainable. It’s one thing to have someone’s affection (see LBG and his harem of 600 wives who definitely aren’t shy about giving him affection), but it’s another to know you’ve earned the affections of someone you really like and respect (especially if it’s someone thought to be unobtainable).

As long as the writer can provide a plausible justification for me to suspend disbelief and they set up events to justify it, I can swallow just about any ship possibility. It doesn’t necessarily have to be SJ’s type of personality. (For example, I read a very good fanfiction before where the writer paired Luo Binghe with Ming Fan. Ming Fan, people!!! And they actually pulled it off! What a madlad! Mind, it’s Shen Yuan who had transmigrated into MF in that premise, but the writer set up events that showed how these two characters came to bond and develop a deep friendship which inevitably had LBH developing a crush on his shixiong. I use this as an example because this is the type of unexpected (crack)ship, but because the writer did their work trying to make it seem plausible, we can only admire their hard work and effort at pulling it off.)

As the saying goes, there are plenty of fishes in the sea! As the protagonist, LBH/LBG can have many OTP possibilities with just about anyone as long as the writer can make it plausible. It’s all about the character development and the story/ central themes they wish to tell with the ship!

(Note, these really aren’t hot takes, lol. I’m just having fun answering to this casually from the perspective of a writer. Thank you for your Ask, anon!)

[ayuuria]

Yashahime Translation: Animage Magazine May 2021 Issue

Please do not repost this translation without my consent! This includes screenshots of any type and amount. If you wish to share this translation, simply link to this post.

For more information regarding the use of my translations, click here.

The Yashahimes’ Future

The three Yashahimes who carry both demon and human blood: Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha. The three of them have varying personalities, environments in which they were raised in, and goals for their actions. However, through the shared task of demon slaying, they slowly begin to accept one another. Though they are not a perfect “Close, in sync team”, trust has certainly budded between the girls who, together, have overcome any difficult situation. Even Kirinmaru’s attack that killed Setsuna in one stroke could not sever the bond that connects the three. Towa especially, who received a broken Tenseiga from Sesshōmaru, appears to have not yet given up on Setsuna’s life. Although it looks like the girls will still continue to face hardships in the future, we want them to clear the way to a happy future with their own hands.

“Hanyō no Yashahime” entered a short break, leaving behind many points of interest such as Setsuna’s shocking death, the broken Tenseiga entrusted to Towa, and the continued separation of Moroha and her parents. Let’s consolidate the existing mysteries and wait for the second chapter (season)!

Higurashi Towa

Faced with the death of her beloved little sister, Setsuna, her demonic blood awakens for the first time. Until now, she had been using the demon sword, Kikujūmonji, as her weapon but what is this blade… …? (referring to the promo picture for season 2)

Series Composition: Katsuyuki Sumisawa Q&A

The Yashahimes’ story with continuous ups and downs. In addition to reviewing everything up until now, please tell us about the backstory and hints to the second chapter (season)!

Q. Where do Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha normally spend the night?

A. Towa freeloads at Kaede’s house. Setsuna stays at the demon slayer’s headquarters. It’s just that she can’t sleep so she probably keeps watch outside at night. Moroha lives at the corpse shop.

Q. How far apart is Kaede’s village and the corpse shop?

A. Kaede’s village is in the land of Musashi so in terms of modern geography, imagine around Tokyo’s Nakano and Suginami ward. Compared to that, the corpse shop is in the harbor so around Shinagawa ward or maybe even Yokohama. It seems the three of them frequently met up but there’s actually quite a distance. Each of them had different goals behind their actions too.

Q. When Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha first met, how was Moroha able to figure out that the two of them were Sesshōmaru’s daughters?

A. Probably through “smell”. Sesshōmaru is well known among demons and Moroha knows that Sesshōmaru is her father’s older brother. However, Moroha still doesn’t know that Sesshōmaru is the one who trapped her parents within the black pearl.

Q. Does Moroha know her parents’ names?

A. She does. When Inuyasha and Kagome were approached by Kirinmaru and Sesshōmaru, Awa no Hachiemon (aka Hachi), the racoon dog, took Moroha to the wolf demon tribe where she was raised. That being said, Kōga probably told her.

Q. Doesn’t Moroha want to meet her parents?

A. She thinks her parents are dead. That’s why her thoughts are “There’s no point obsessing over someone who’s dead”. Hachiemon the racoon dog, didn’t watch the details of the incident to the end and assumed that “If Sesshōmaru and Kirinmaru were their opponents, they’re probably not alive now.” That’s what Moroha was told through Kōga.

Q. Why is the instrument that Setsuna plays the violin?

A. When creating the scenario, I wanted some sort of “gift” from the modern era as “something to connect the modern and feudal eras”. Therefore, I decided to give Moroha the giant backpack as Kagome’s daughter and Setsuna an instrument. In addition, an instrument that absolutely didn’t exist in the feudal era was better, so I chose the violin. There of course won’t be violins in Japan and even in the West, it had a different shape than it does now. Plus, before the current story was solidified, I had thought of a plot where the modern era was the setting so it’s a remnant of that.

Q. Did Mama Moe teach Setsuna the song she always plays on her violin?

A. While she learned how to play the violin from Mama Moe, the song was not something she learned (from her). Rather Setsuna is playing a song she once heard based off her memory. Where she heard it… please wait for the second chapter (season)!

Q. With Kanemitsu no Tomoe as a medium for Setsuna and the rouge being suggested for Moroha, each of them has had their demonic blood sealed. What about the seal for Towa’s demonic blood?

A. Towa’s is not sealed. Moreover, her demonic blood had not yet awakened. That’s where in episode 24, her demonic blood awakened for the first time with Setsuna’s death being the trigger. However, that was in an out-of-control state. Going forward, how “Sesshōmaru’s blood” flowing within her will manifest itself will be something worth noting.

Q. Why does everyone call Towa and the others “Yashahime”?

A. Ever since the spirit of the Tree of Ages called them as such in episode 4, everyone started calling them that, no matter who they spoke to. At first, even Towa and the others were like “We’re not Yashahime” or “Are you referring to us?” but as they got addressed that repeatedly, they gradually accepted the name.

Q. Kohaku’s* older sister, Kin’u, is a nun but what does his other older sister, Gyokuto, do?

*Translator’s Note: I think the publisher made a mistake and meant to say Hisui

A. She shoulders the responsibility of helping Sango create the weapons for demon slaying, delivering those weapons to the other slayers, accepting demon slaying requests around the area, and collecting information on demon sightings.

Q. Is Kirinmaru a demon of Japan?

A. No. I think talking like this will be easier to understand. Kirinmaru is one of the few greater demons who is aware that the earth is round. In that era, the only ones who have a sense of this are probably just Kagome, Towa, and Kirinmaru. Having circled the globe many times, Kirinmaru, who had traveled around the world, met the Dog General at the very end in the land at the farthest end (of the earth), Japan. Ever since then, he has remained in Japan so it could be said that he’s a demon of Japan, but his existence is on a bigger scale than that. Kirinmaru frequently reads Western books and he orders those from various places around the world. The one who buys them is Riku. Naturally, I’m sure that not only does Riku secretly read the Western books in the library, but Kirinmaru wouldn’t reproach him for such a small thing either. In episode 7, Riku called the apple a “Forbidden Fruit” but of course, I’m sure Kirinmaru has read the bible before. That’s most likely because he’s been alive since the era of myth so he may have seen Buddha or Jesus Christ in the flesh. There’s probably no way he saw Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit though… … (laughs).

Q. Point blank, what is the relationship between Kirinmaru and Riku? In a reflection of the past (200 years ago), it seemed Riku didn’t have any emotions. What exactly was that?

A. This will be revealed in the second chapter (season) as well but to give you a little hint, Riku started taking care of Zero after the Dog General died and as he healed her, he gradually began to have emotions. That’s why Riku’s way of thinking was influenced by Zero, such as “You have to destroy those that you love”.

Q. Zero lost her demonic powers when she created the Rainbow Pearls. Then what was the power she was using when she fought?

A. Zero was using the power of hexes. In this world, there is not only demonic power but all sorts of powers such as spiritual power and Buddhist power and each of them is separate. What she used was a power similar to charms and Inyougogyō**.

** Translator’s Note: Yin and Yang and the five Chinese elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

Q. Why did someone like Kirinmaru, who values reason, have the Four Perils, who had sleazy personalities, as subordinates?

A. Kirinmaru’s mind is preoccupied with a “certain matter” that’s important so he doesn’t really care about anything else. Hence, he doesn’t remember every single demon that has challenged or served under him and he doesn’t care what kind of person they were.

Q. In episode 21, it was surprising when Towa said “I like you (Riku)!”. To put it frankly, what do Towa and Riku think of each other?

A. Towa thinks Riku is “Riku”. She doesn’t perceive him as being part of Kirinmaru’s group. On the other hand, Riku thinks Towa is “The lady Yashahime that will slay Kirinmaru”. That’s why he addresses her as “Lady Towa”. Currently, there are no romantic feelings between the two of them. Just that, there’s probably “affection” from Riku to Towa.

Q. Why does Riku think “I only kill those I love”?

A. Because “Those who are loved vanish beautifully”. That is what Zero said in episode 23. To Zero, death is sad but to Riku, there’s no difference between dying and living and that they’re the same. Based on that, Riku came to think “You have to destroy those that you love” and he chooses to “kill” as an expression of love. That might be quite difficult to understand.

Q. Why is Sesshōmaru so cold to his daughters?

A. Just as a lion drops its cubs into a bottomless ravine, a demon’s feeling is that they only raise the child that gains strength from hardship. That is the “Rite of Courage and Cowardice”. It’s a little different from the feeling we humans have. That’s why hating his daughters or purposely tormenting them is certainly not the case.

Q. Although, isn’t separating the babies from their mother immediately after birth or having them fight the strongest beast king of the eastern land, Kirinmaru, a little too much?

A. If you watch the kabuki play “Renjishi” I think you will get it immediately. Anime is fine, but I would like to recommend the traditional arts that have ceaselessly been passed down since ancient Japanese times. Even if going to see them is difficult, researching on the internet is easy. Even the phrase “Rite of Courage and Cowardice” will show up in there. It seems that in this world, there’s no people who love their children more than Japanese people. Perhaps that’s why it can’t be helped that the way Sesshōmaru is raising his children feels very cold. However, those who watched the “Inuyasha” series I think will know but Sesshōmaru’s hearing and smell are exceedingly exceptional. He has the ability to immediately rush in, no matter how far the distance.

Q. Lastly, please tell us how production for the second chapter (season) is going?

A. Currently, we’re writing the second half of the script for the second chapter (season). The whole staff are eagerly working under this difficult Corona crisis. In the second chapter (season), we would like to create a script that is particular on the details as much as possible. In the previous series, there were many self-contained demon slaying stories but for the second chapter (season), we’ve changed the structure of the story so that it progresses with the feelings of the various characters intertwining together, just like in “Inuyasha The Final Act”. Hence, I think the impression of the story will change quite a bit. Please wait until the broadcast to see what kind of story it will be!

[arsonisticscholar]

so I found my first lu fan comic that I tooooaaatally didnt project onto-

so uh

I was going through this old sketchbook from 2020 (so at that point I had been into lu for a while) and I found this really poorly drawn comic

(for context at the time I was an 11 yr old whos name starts with L and ww and hw were the only loz games I played)

so basically it starts out with a silhouette walking along a path on Outset Island.

And then a portal (that for whatever reason looks like a hard boiled egg) appears, and so the silhouette goes and investigates. It zooms in on the back of the person, who is wearing basic link attire, with the pointy hat, the tunic, and the boots, as well as a messenger bag and long hair. This person walks through the portal. 

This next part is very difficult to decipher so bear with me

It cuts to Four (I think he was just the only one I actually knew how to draw-) asking if anyone was there.

The person was hiding behind a tree and when they drop something (???) Four reaches to pick it up, wondering if it belonged to Dink (???) but her hand gets to it first. She trips (??? it says *trip* so I’m assuming thats what happened???) and bonks heads with Four. 

Now she’s apologizing and talking about how clumsy she is (???) Four reassures her and asks for her to introduce herself.

and I quote

“Lianna”

“I’ve been trapped in a world where time dosent moe. fisycally, Im 11.”

“mentally?”

“wnatyear is it?”

“not quite sue myself”

“who are you?”

end quote

then Four completely ignores her question and instead invites her to sit by the campfire with him. She asked to herself “Suve whynot?” (whatever that means) 

Four comments on how ‘the others’ arent back yet, and Lianna was curious about who he meant.

Off to the side someone asks in disbelief “Is it really you?”

Lianna recognizes one of the links, and while crying, is happy (???) he survived (???) and introduces herself to him as his older sister. Then it panels over to a shirt with a lobster on it and a crying face.

Now both crying, Lianna and Wind talk to each other about whats happened over the past 10 years. Lianna worries about Aryll, Wind talks about how he hasn’t seen Lianna since he was 4 and that she hasnt changed at all, again ignoring her question. Lianna tells Wind that she was stuck in the Twilight realm, which currently time doesn't move (???) and that she turned into a cat (they were my faorite animal) 

Wind ignores her yet again and changes the subject to how he stowed away with pirates to save Aryll (Which he never elaborates on girl are you not concerned?) Prompting Lianna to talk about how she stowed away with “a little imp, a lady who is obsessed with bugs, and, well, my self?” (???) Then instead of elaborating on Aryll he tells her that their grandma is alive and well :/

Someone (???) introduces Lianna, and thats where it ends.

no im not kidding.

[emeraldnavypotato]

1/3 Remember that fanart from an animator (Hisako Sato) that showed Rin as a warrior fighting back to back with Sesshomaru? Well now we have "canon" Rin: During times so dangerous that her newborns had to be taken away from her for her safety, she decides to go out at night, alone and unarmed, just to make a wish to either the grim comet (I guess no one bothered explaining to her what that is) or an empty sky (humans aren't supposed to see the it).

I think you're missing a key point here - what sex is Satō Hisako? What sex is the director of Yashahime and the head writer and presumably, most, if not all, of the Sunrise execs?

I'm gonna try not to write an essay here, but you've stumbled onto a deep topic that goes way beyond Yashahime.

Basically, in the past, women had no choice but to get married, right? However, with the rise of feminism and women's participation in the workplace, women now have more opportunity to choose when and if they get married. As a result, especially in Japan, men are seeing their traditional role as the person who works outside the home being filled by women, and, at the same time, the marriage and birth rates decreasing. They feel threatened by women who no longer need them because they can now provide for themselves. It's more difficult for them to find a wife because they need more qualifications than just "has a job."

So, instead of trying to make themselves appealing and enjoying the fact that they can now enter equal partnerships with women, a lot of men are fetishising ever younger, weaker, and more vulnerable women and girls. The rise in popularity of moe/loli/little sister-type characters in anime and manga who rely on the hero (or antihero in this case) and need his care and protection is directly tied to the phenomenon of men feeling threatened by women's rights.

https://www.themarysue.com/moe-misogyny-and-masculinity/

When asked why so many moé characters are young, Moé Manifesto interviewees replied:

“[Being young] makes them vulnerable, which inspires us to protect and nurture them. The character needs support, love, or care, even if she is strong and independent. If she is not at all vulnerable, then she can live on her own. It would be hard to approach such a perfect being.”

-Honda Toru, author and cultural critic

“People into moé are losers in the love market. In order for them to feel secure and happy, their partner has to be younger and appear to be within their control.”

-Morinaga Takuro, economic analyst and university lecturer

“Because that is when girls are the cutest. They are innocent, pure, and sincere. They don’t strategize and play games with people.”

-Ito Noizo, illustrator and adult game character designer

Female SessRin fans like the ship because they want to have sex with Sesshōmaru and Rin is the perfect blank vessel for them to self-insert into. (Case in point, Satō imagining her as a warrior? Where is the basis for that in canon?)

Male SessRin fans like the ship because Rin is an obedient little girl who needs someone to watch over her and take care of her, and that makes them feel like big, strong men.

[the-nysh]

Do you think that Kacchan and Garou have some similarities? Besides the most obvious external ones, I mean. They're both very nuanced characters and I love them so much, I was wondering if you could make some meta about this (I love your metas just as much as I love those two 🥺)

Oh anon. 🥺 If you're able to see & appreciate the nuanced merits of both characters separately, then I already like ya~ In general it feels a little awkward for me to compare or pit favs against each other (so I usually don't like to do it heh), but I have written up a hypothetical 'how would they react if they ever met each other' scenario on a previous ask before, if you're also interested!

That said, they do have several similarities (I'll just go ahead and list even the obvious ones anyway~) Mainly they're both intelligent assholes (as actual nerds, who're sharp but also ironically quite dense/oblivious about other things that matter too :P - very gap moe) with headstrong, petty 'feral gremlin' temperaments, and are adaptive fighting prodigies with the same stubborn tenacious streak & determination to do whatever it takes to win without giving up. They're extremely self-reliant yet set almost impossible (detrimental) expectations upon themselves to achieve. To the point they can become self-destructive (enduring/tanking a lot of punishment under pressure as they refuse to concede) or boldly sacrificial once their protective instincts flare. (Their bodies do move on their own in those desperate, character-defining moments - which I love to see.) Both are emotionally constipated as well, with poor social tact and difficulty navigating/articulating their feelings beyond their common irritation, frustration, and anger. Including their shared struggles at being taken seriously (underestimated) without premature judgment, dehumanization, and unjust labeling - yes such experiences piss them off too. (And in a meta sense, both ironically receive that from their fandoms who often misread them, to the point their fan reception is far more divisive/controversial than what canon actually intends, ahem.) But amazingly, even when both have had villain organizations, literally even the 'big bad,' try to tempt/sway them over to their side in a similar manner (by assuming their dreams for them), they've boldly refused with the same defiant 'you can't tell me what to do' message right in their faces (yaaay~)

However the biggest difference between them is that Kacchan carries himself with the type of genuine, self-assured pride and confidence to follow through and be exactly who he claims/says he wants to be, regardless of what anyone else thinks or approves of him. (ie Kacchan fully ~embraces the cringe~ to be 100% unabashedly himself, despite, and even literally with spite, what any 'extras' have to say about it......which is actually a mindset Saitama shares, both to live by and do whatever he wants regardless of others.) While Garou has yet to fully accept & realize that, having resigned himself to a role that's incongruent to his true self (wrongly believing he doesn't have the choice open to him to be his own ideal hero), where he tries so hard -and fails- to become someone he's not. :'D In this way, Kacchan (especially in the current manga) has far more self-awareness than him, even down to apologizing & owning up to his past mistakes on his own (without anyone telling him to do it) and proactively choosing to atone to become the best version of himself. After facing many humbling realizations and reality checks along the way. How Garou matures post-arc (esp in the wc) and what becomes of him approaching his goal in a newly constructive & enlightened way after his reality check still remains to be seen.

Additionally, people often joke about Kacchan being tsundere (which can work to an extent in gags), but I don't quite see it that way, because Garou is far more traditionally tsundere than him (chronic denial, performatism, deflecting & avoidance of the truth thru Blatant Lie excuses - which is funny). Whereas Kacchan's far more blunt yet sincere about voicing his opinions about things - ie if he doesn't like something, he will make his displeasure known, and conversely if he sees something to honor or compliment, he will calmly express the truth in his own firm yet reliable (and controlled) way. Because Kacchan doesn't like to lie (even when he begrudgingly admits things in half-truths, he's still technically correct.) However his short fuse temper and annoyance/irritation at others easily flares and often gets misconstrued as him 'hiding his softer core' or something...when actually Kacchan is just that easily ticked off at things, and is rarely ever 'nice' or bothers to coddle or hold back on even his friends either. Meanwhile....look at Garou expressing his 'whimsical kindness' (ONE's words) around Tareo, or when he displays softer empathy and his compassionate side to the point he gets upset on behalf of the injustice suffered by others. :') The poor guy gets pissed at himself for caring and having such softer feelings(tm)!!!! Ahem, so Garou behaves 'soft' (and denies/holds back his true self) in a way Kacchan does not. Their vibes are quite distinct here - while Kacchan is observant (and calmly composed when serious; appearing much 'softer' than usual), imo Garou has more emotional empathy than him (although he'll refuse to admit it), spanning back to when he was originally just a nice kid, so I hope more fans come to understand the difference.

[blee-bloop-im-a-bee]

a scuffed scuffed podcast summary/liveblogging?

(mostly focused on dream, quotes might be off but its the general gist, timestamps not exact to second lol)

- Praise and congratulations all around for Sapnap and Punz’s valorant skills 

- Dream: “well I woke up this morning and I found out I was a racist soo..” (context: Someone asked Jack how he felt about the Queen being racist and he replied that doesn’t really know anything about that and that he didn’t really care)

- They didn’t get into it though, Train said he was never going to get into Dream’s drama on this podcast (which he remarks is because it gives him anxiety, but I appreciate him for doing it nonetheless)

- on Tubbo joining in: Train confirming he would need a different cast because he’s concerned about Tubbo’s audience (& parents) and wants to set up another podcast properly where it would be more appropriate for them, to which Dream comments is respectable.  

- Dream mentioned geoguessr

- after Train’s weird (/lh) intro for dream 1:22:00---

     Dream: “You didn’t mention--oh nevermind it’s fine” 

     (Me, wondering if he was talking about his drama still)

     Train: “OH YEAH, AND ONE OF THE FATTEST C**** IN  HISTORY”

     Dream laughing and going “you didn’t mention it, you mentioned it for everyone else..” 

- Ludwig on having to limit his subs: yeah I’ve had to limit them but I found that some people have still managed to get around that

     “I don’t think anybody would try to get around that”- Dream

- They talked about the david dobrik drama, I didn’t care so much for the topic so I spaced out but Dream put in some thoughts about someone’s apology it seemed like he wasn’t on board with it (sorry I wasn’t paying attention)

- Dream, was that you that mentioned jenna marbles? (1:41:35) crumbs of my favorite ccs colliding??

- Dream: acknowledging the difficulty of females coming forward to speak out against creators for fear of being lashed out at by the fanbase (1:42:00)

- Abdou: Do you think big creators actually don’t realize the power they have?          Will: I think it’s more that they start forgetting that their fanbase are still real people... (neat food for thought, they were still talking in the context of david dobrik but because they were also mentioning how he achieved fame at a young age, i couldn’t help but think about dream)---- dream said nothing during this part

- topic on among us, Dream chiming in at 1:51:00 (spaced out didn’t listen)

- spaced out more, dream’s face reveal went trending on twitter apparently just cause of an earlier mixup when punz’s face showed up in the box where dream’s name was 

- in the background, dream was also on his private twt to reassure a fan commenting on how moe brought up dream’s fans negatively (i remember moe bringing us up but i didn’t catch the context)

- ~2:10:00 ish?? Youtube talk, dream didn’t say much :(

- Dream once again declaring that Ludwig will definitely keep streaming until the end of the month and that he’ll make sure of it

- Ludwig saying Dweam

- Ludwig not leaving until he heard Dream say goodbye which dream claims he did, and that Ludwig couldn’t pick and choose his goodbyes. Ludwig threatened to ban Dream’s alt to which Dream was like “NO no no don’t i want to be able to read your chat”

- Dream, loudly: “I have never had sushi” (not unprompted, they were talking about sushi, but I just liked how he said it-- he used the voice)

- Dream lore: He had walmart sushi. He got roasted for it (deserved)

- Talking about cancel culture:: ~~2:53:00        2:57:30 Dream brings up his drama and summarizes it but does agree that if he those videos about him been true, he should be cancelled (I think that was his gist?)

      Train’s point is that there is too many people who are quick to cancel, but when they are wrong, do nothing to make things right ie. Johnny Depp situation

      Moe acknowledging that theres a culture of bandwagoning on hating on popular creators

       3:01:00 Will bringing together all the points & mentioning Kacey and kpop stans bringing up the time they bought out trumps speech tickets- and hopes that all of the stans (kpop, minecraft) continue to have this passion when they turn 18 to affect the ballots

- Train talking about weebs and about to go a buck fifty, dream and karl were warning him to “be careful” lmao (i think train said something about how its always the ones with anime pfps saying the weirdest shit)

- I wonder what dream is doing while they’re all talking about manga/comics- I’m waiting for him to come in and say: I have never watched anime in that voice he didn’t end up saying this

Dream: “Gorillas are really strong..” King kong vs. Godzilla convo

Dream saying something about spiderman, then Train calling spiderman a pussy and like wtf man I was starting to think you were alright, and then talking over dream?? unforgiveable. /j

-oop they’re going back into cancel culture when Train reads out a tweet: ~3:34:00     I can’t summarize this, this is a little too deep for my sleepy brain, but I feel like train is talking about how quick to judge people are almost being ready to jump the gun just to cancel someone thinking that that person wanted to cancel him, but Dream is pointing out that both sides don’t really understand each other and that person probably wasn’t trying to cancel Train. Jack also spoke up to help clarify to which you could hear Dream agreeing.

     Dream acknowledges that there is a need for creators to make an effort to understand discussion that goes around and to be respectful at the same time, admitting that he’s reacted in anger in the past and disregarded discussions. 

     ^ There were a lot of points made, and I didn’t get all of dream’s responses. It was interesting conversation because we have Train being honest and venting his frustrations about cancel culture which I can sympathize with.  Dream (and Jack) spoke up a lot during the whole thing to try to shift Train’s point of view and the things he said were really admirable 

     Dream brings up the thing that happened with charlie a while back and said he dm’d charlie about that misunderstanding as dream puts it- and says that they are good now and saying something along the lines of open communication being so important

- Someone: “the only thing that matters is that my wife doesn’t cancel me.”      Dream: “that’s really sweet”  <- no u

-  “Would you let your kids watch on Twitch” Dream: As long as you’re aware and know about Twitch and Youtube, and as long as you teach your kids internet safety it should be fine

- Dream, on Train saying he hopes everyone will still be friends with him after this: “I actually hate you now” (in a joking tone). Dream wants to play among us with Train.     Dream, prompted to say one nice thing about Train and also the last words he said on the podcast: “An attractive motherfucker.”

[gallickingunsteals]

Gallickingun/Lilhemmo is tracing art, reposting art and gifs, stealing ideas, and more

We’re going to start by introducing ourselves: we are a group of anonymous artists, writers, and editors that are either in @bnhabookclub​​​​ or have left it for various reasons related to the admin and creator, @gallickingun​​​​ / @lilhemmo​​​​ and the mod staff as a whole. This doesn’t mean all of her staff is bad, but they’ve strongly enabled, overlooked, and allowed Morgan to steal for too long. We’re not associated with @gallickingunexposed​​​​, but we would like to work with them if they have more they want to share. The reason we’re remaining anonymous for now is because some of us are still in Bookclub. As you’ll see below the cut, and if you go through gallickingunexposed, you’ll find that Morgan has ruthlessly degraded and talked shit about people within Bookclub as well as kicked people without saying why or telling her mod team. 

Next, we’ll explain why we’re doing this. Many people will respond with “Why not message Morgan? This isn’t right. You’re creating drama.” We’re not sorry to say this, but theft is not drama. It’s disrespectful and rude as well as illegal depending on the circumstances. Alongside this, Morgan has been contacted about these actions in the past multiple times by multiple people but continues to do it and/or insist she’s in the right. At that point, what else would you propose when handling it privately doesn’t work? 

Additionally, all creators deserve to know that someone is blatantly and consistently disrespecting their mutuals or people they follow by stealing their stuff. They all deserve to know that there is someone (Morgan) out there who might steal their work or break their posting rules as she’s done to others, as well as know if she’s already done it to them. Had this happened once or twice then we wouldn’t be posting this, but Morgan has a record of reposting art, gifs, stealing fics, ideas, and tracing art and she continues to insist that she doesn't do that.

This post is meant to give Morgan a wakeup call and inform everyone of things they are ignoring or unaware of. If you decide she is still in the right after reading this, then we hope you and her are blocked from other creators’ accounts so that you don’t get the chance to steal their work. This is not a discussion. This is a compilation of just some of the things she did.

Please keep in mind that this isn’t just about creative laws, this is also about creative decency and integrity, and the respectful treatment of creators. All of those have been continuously ignored by Morgan and other Bookclub staff after it is brought up multiple times, which proves that they are unfit to be in any position that allows them access to others’ pieces or a position that lets them dictate what people post. It also shows how little they care about creators as a whole. 

A solution: remake the Bookclub, remove Morgan from Bookclub staff at least, and possibly get new support staff (unless the current staff truly does disagree with her ways). If the other support team and members excuse her for stealing, reposting, etc., then they are just as bad, and those in support staff team shouldn’t be in there any longer. Shame on them for promoting and enabling creative theft. That is not an environment anyone should be promoting or enabling. Fair warning to anyone interested in BNHA Bookclub right now — they currently do not care about your work being stolen and the head admin herself has and still does steal from and ridicule and disrespect others even in Bookclub. The Bookclub was completely stolen (details below) and shouldn’t get the benefits and praise that come with zero credit and claiming originality.

And for Morgan, when you see this, we know you’re going to delete your theft posts so that the original artists and editors won’t see it. You’ll say you deleted it because you “know it’s wrong” and you “shouldn’t have posted it” but if that were the case, you would’ve done so the first time people have brought up you stealing, not the 2nd or 3rd or 4th — this is a trend. Delete them after you own up to it with the original posters. Let them see that you’ve done this. You can’t cover up what you’ve done by saying you didn’t do it or garner pity with a long apology. We also know that’s something you tend to do right before you repeat the same “mistakes,” feed into hate messages, and throw a pity party with your followers to feel better about your wrongdoings. An apology is the bare minimum. You should actually stop posting things that aren’t yours, stop copying ideas that aren’t yours, and stop covering up your theft. You are not the victim here!

ART (reposting and tracing)

Recently, Morgan got an ask and said she doesn't repost fanart without permission. Right before that, she had done just that with screenshots of a bunch of Bakugou art in a Google search. We felt this was still a form of reposting, but we wanted to ask the artists themselves too since Morgan didn’t. They all agreed that it’s still reposting because it shares their content where they don't allow even if it's not the HD image. She didn’t have to post the art. She could have gotten her notes without reposting art (yes, she cares about that and you can see in the link shared in the stealing ideas section of this post).

She edited this post to crop out the art, so someone must have told her to do so. We would like to give her more credit, but the BNHA Bookclub rules are a strong indication of her beliefs: that no matter what the artists and others think, she doesn’t believe she reposted -- she doesn’t want to admit she’s wrong or facilitating reposts.

“9. Do not repost content without credit... But we realize sometimes you’re just doing a google search and can’t find the original poster.”

The rules of the Bookclub themselves, as pictured in @rivendell101​​​′s post about Morgan stealing the Bookclub entire set up, rules, theme and concept of Bookclub from her, do not mention anything about reposting content or plagiarism or anything else that would promote protecting creators. So what?

This means you’re safe (by Bookclub standards) to repost and steal on your blog! And with that, you’re safe to do it in the server too because Bookclub staff has deemed this okay. So all of support staff are guilty of enabling and practically promoting theft.

It unfortunately gets worse from here. 

Morgan has not only reposted art, but traced art too.

The original artist, @lem0uro​​​, doesn’t allow reposts or tracing of their work (read - one, two, three, four) (here’s the original art). They have also said that this counts as reposting because again, their work is being shared in a manner that is not on their blog or being reblogged. But Morgan wouldn’t count this as reposting. 

There is no permission like she says she would get if she reposts (but she doesn’t, remember?), neither is credit given. You have to zoom in to find the blurry watermark and hope that you got it right so you can find the original artist. 

Who, again, doesn’t allow tracing. Most, if not all, artists don’t. You can easily overlay those two images and see that it was traced, not referenced. 

GIFS (reposting)

Fandom editors typically don’t allow reposting of their work. If they do, you follow their rules for reposting (common rules are either get permission, credit them, or both). In Morgan’s case, she has reposted multiple gifs over the years, and also posted a submission of someone else’s gif — yes, that’s still reposting because she still chose to post it when she knew it wasn’t hers.

(x)

We couldn’t find the creator of the submitted gif but if someone does, please send them this or tell them about this happening so that they can know. It’s not the person who submitted it as there are multiple reposts dating back to before Morgan’s post.

The second gif is by @slaughterofinnocence​​​ found here and it’s unclear if they allow reposts (but that doesn’t make it free real estate, Moe).

(x)

This gif is by @sstarphase​​​ found here and they don’t allow reposts.

(x)

Again, not Morgan’s original gif because it’s been reposted multiple times before. If you know the creator, please let them know this is happening.

(x)

This gif is by @bellblake​​​​ found here and they don’t allow reposts.

(x)

This gif is by @billrskarsgard​​​​ found here and it’s unclear if they allow reposts.

(x)

We couldn’t find the original creator but if you know then please make them aware.

(x)

We couldn’t find the original creator but if you know then please make them aware.

(x)

We couldn’t find the original creator even with the watermark, but if you know then please make them aware.

We’re aware that some of these posts are old, but that doesn’t excuse her actions, especially since she insists that she doesn’t repost. That only shows that this isn’t a one time issue.

IDEAS (exact copy and pasting and mimicking without inspo credit)

We won’t be addressing Morgan stealing fic ideas because that has been brought up by multiple other people already including @gallickingunexposed​​​​ and @lady-bakuhoe​​​​. Keep in mind that this is a compilation of observations no matter how small.

You can read this post about Morgan stealing the entire idea of Bookclub. Are network and archive blogs and servers exclusive and original ideas? NO! But Morgan didn’t just copy the idea, she:

took credit for it

copy and pasted the rules from @southsidearchive​​​​

copied the same exact theme as ^

copied the set up of the server from ^

bonus: shit talked the admin of ^ and said she’d use them for notes and only add them to Bookclub at the very last minute

Again, you can’t take credit for a common concept like Morgan did, but you can easily give credit to where you got the idea or what you’re basing your actions off of, which Morgan didn’t do. That’s called saying who inspired you. Since Morgan and staff legitimately plagiarized the entire Bookclub setup, they didn’t just get inspiration in that case. 

Moving on, all of the people contributing this post except a few have been here since the beginning of Bookclub and have either left Bookclub or remain in it. We remember what it was like when it started up and we’ve seen the changes it has gone through. Interestingly enough, these changes were not original. 

NOTE: Because Morgan and Bookclub staff have stolen and taken credit for the entirety of southsidearchive’s set up, this is being brought up because it is no mere coincidence that they’re doing the same things again. The only difference is that they were caught sooner.

A couple of us noticed the current changes reflecting @haikyuucreations​​​‘ server only after Morgan had joined. This is a smaller instance compared to the previous, but that should mean there’s no issue with mentioning “I got this idea from them” just like @southsidearchive​​​ did with their rules and haikyuucreations did with their set up. 

There was no mention inspiration when Morgan took all of these from haikyuucreations:

QOTD (role and channel)

the same bots

a split administrative staff between the blog mods and server mods

As you can see here, Morgan didn’t join the haikyuucreations server until July 25th, and she only waited a couple days until she started copying the way they did QOTD. Previously there was no role or a separate channel, but Morgan shamelessly used that idea and didn’t say she got inspiration or anything. Instead, she passes it off as her wanting it to be more active. The nice thing to do would be at least promote or mention the people you got your ideas from even if they aren’t original ideas. We’re sure Morgan wouldn’t want someone writing a whole fic inspired by hers without saying, or creating an entire blog and server like hers without saying.

Below we’ll talk about the dates that Morgan and Bookclub staff copied the same bots as haikyuucreations. Public bots are not exclusive, but the idea of Bookclub is completely unoriginal since it is a carbon copy of southsidearchive and now it’s imitating haikyuucreations.

Once again, no one owns common concepts, but we believe the timing is all too convenient for Morgan to be adding in the same bots after joining the haikyuucreations server. When we first joined Bookclub, Writer-Bot and Carl Bot weren’t there, but Morgan went ahead and added both of them in like she “just came up with it,” to quote her directly in the post linked earlier from southsidearchive.

You can see the earliest messages from those two bots in the haikyuu server and compare it to when Writer-Bot joined Bookclub. There isn’t anything about when Carl Bot joined, but we and anyone else in the server can confirm that it wasn’t there until after Morgan joined the other server. 

Besides this, she got her character bot ideas with prompts and flirty lines from the southsidearchive server, but there was no inspo credit for that.

We will, though, reach out to the staff of haikyuucreations to see if Morgan at least asked about getting inspiration for how they run their server. If that is the case, we’ll delete everything regarding Morgan copying from them. But that’s really unlikely since she didn’t do that for southsidearchive.

Another instance of copying without inspiration credit is Morgan copying haikyuucreations split staff setup. Since at least June, their blog and server have been split between two different teams. This third screenshot is from August 22nd after a Bookclub member spoke with Candy from the Bookclub staff. This change of Bookclub being split is a recent one, once again only coming up after Morgan has seen it work in the haikyuu server. This information was sent via DM, and Bookclub staff is continuing to avoid acknowledging that they’ve stolen ideas from other archival blogs and servers.

MISC

This is unrelated to creative theft. We want to point out another inconsistency where staff has failed to uphold their rules and protect their members, specifically about incest.

They make it very clear that incest is not a topic allowed in the server or in fics submitted to the blog, yet they allowed this conversation about Todoroki family incest to occur. If it’s allowed in specific channels, then that should be clear in the rules but it isn’t. But that’s just what happens when you copy and paste someone else’s rules and don’t have any familiarity with them:

According to gallickingunexposed, there was also the instance of minors getting into NSFW channels by lying to staff and by staff opening the channel up temporarily for everyone to participate in. This isn’t legal. It’s unfair. It’s disgusting. Being lied to is out of your control, but Bookclub support staff willingly opened up a NSFW channel for minors to get in. Temporary or not, that’s unacceptable.

And to discuss rule 11: Lyssa/@burnedbyshoto​​ was kicked without notice to anyone, members and mods alike, just because Morgan didn’t like her (referencing gallickingunexposed). This doesn’t mean Lyssa was innocent, but since only Morgan knew about kicking her, no one could personally take it up with her. That’s an abuse of power and a fine way for Morgan to go around her own rules. With all of that, Bookclub members are literally forced by the rules to respect staff and their decisions, breeding an unhealthy environment where no one can speak up without facing backlash in the server or in DMs -- like Morgan shit talking her own members and other bloggers. 

CONCL.

We compiled as much as we could, but there is definitely more that Morgan has stolen and more that her staff has enabled. We believe the best solutions include

1. Bookclub to be remade since it was completely stolen and continues to steal from others.

If someone steals a gif, art, or writing, the proper response is to delete it. It’s unlikely Bookclub staff will do that with Bookclub, so the least they could do is stop benefitting from others’ ideas. Had the Bookclub been marginally influenced by the Riverdale and Haikyuu servers and blogs then it would be different, but this is too far. There is no telling how far they’re going to go and Morgan has no limits of what else she’ll steal and defend. This also needs to happen because the rules themselves are not followed by staff. If you don’t know your own rules or you’re not going to follow them then change them. They were never your rules in the first place and the power is being abused anyway.

2. Morgan needs to leave Bookclub staff. 

She may have started it, but it was never her idea or setup in the first place. Considering she doesn’t follow the rules she copy and pasted, abuses her power, and consistently disrespects other creators either personally or by stealing from them, she doesn’t deserve to get by with another fake apology. Multiple apologies over the same thing followed by the same “mistakes” are worthless. They’re emotionally manipulative and only serve to let her get by with doing it again and get pity when she’s caught. We considered suggesting a suspension, but since Morgan has already left the server once and came back with the issues persisting and more arising, we don’t feel like this is a proper solution. She will only come back and continue to be a risk to the members of Bookclub for talking poorly about them behind their backs and for stealing from them and others. We sincerely hope that Bookclub mods are capable enough to run Bookclub without her, especially if they remake it to fit them. It’s understood that Morgan did most of the admin duties on her own and wouldn’t let mods participate despite being told or asked of, so we hope that that’s even more reason she shouldn’t be in staff.

3. Apologize to the original posters and follow their instructions.

Don’t delete the posts before they see, that’s just running away. If they tell you to credit them, do it. If they tell you to delete it, do it. But don’t delete it and brush it under the rug. And once you do apologize, don’t go back to posting and pretending everything is normal. This is a serious topic and deserves serious reflection. Every time this comes up, Morgan goes in circles victimizing herself, giving an apology, and repeating. That doesn’t work 10 times in a row.

This post will remain up until all three of these suggestions are taken. We’ll continue to help find more content that Morgan and staff have stolen, even if it means getting no sleep because this matters. As writers, artists, and editors, Bookclub staff should understand that. Morgan may not and has proven that she doesn’t care enough to change her ways, but we won’t stop until we see what we want.

[preciouslittletoonette]

“Your Daddy”

A self-indulgent Mickey Mouse fic that I just wrote on a whim. Based on a headcanon I made several months ago

//

1928

“ LES CLARK! GET IN HERE, NOW”

It has been a.... bizarre three years working for Walt Disney.

Back in 1925, when Les first joined Walt, he was truly expecting a temporary job, possibly washing cels and doing a couple drawings here and there. But what once was thought to be a temporary job turned into three years honing his craft under the careful mentorship and friendship of the great Ub Iwerks, someone Les heavily admired.

But that was not the bizarre part.

The bizarre part came in the form... of Julius the Cat.

When Les entered the studio on his very first day, the toon barreled straight into his gut in excitement at the prospect of meeting someone new. Les, not expecting the greeting, barely caught the doorframe in time to stop himself from falling from the sheer force that was Julius.

Rather than amusement from his new coworkers, he was met with sympathy. Making him realise that this was, indeed, a normal occurrence.

The only one who had looked mildly amused was Walt, who sent Les a sheepish smile as he (rather gently) pried Julius off of him and settled the toon against his hip.

“ Heh, sorry about that Les. Julius here gets rather excited at the prospect of newcomers”, he said motioning to the cat, who was cuddling up to Walt’s side.

Les had accepted the apology and was soon introduced to Ub, who after the introduction immediately moved to scold Julius, who looked sheepish and nervous under Ub’s gaze. The entire interaction between Julius and the two men confused Les until two words came out of the cat toon’s mouth.

“ Sorry Papa”

While he looked nonchalant on the outside, the words had hit Les like a freight train on the inside. 

And thus began Les’ journey into the bizarre absurdity that was the Animation Industry.

Working under Disney led to Les learning a plethora of things, and some of them had less to do with actual animation and more to do with the toons. Sometimes while Ub was teaching him, the man would throw in advice on caring for toons. Any question Les had, Ub would answer and the man was incredibly blunt with his explanations.

“ So you’re Julius’ father?”

“ Yes”

“....But he calls Walt ‘Dad’”

“ It’s co-parenting”

And some answers were... weirder than others.

“ What do toons eat?”

“ Everything we eat and a little more”

“ What?”

“ Julius once ate an entire an entire paint can, filled with paint. Nearly sent me and Walt to an early grave, the little bugger. He didn’t get sick or anything, oddly enough he looked a lil’ healthier after that...”

“... So you let him eat paint now or-”

“ God lord no! We’re not taking chances in case he actually gets poisoned someday”

“ Oh”

“ Another tip, don’t ever let your toon eat erasers. That stuff will make them sick”

“....Noted”

Though it suffices to say, the years leading up to 1928 was an experience Les would never forget.

It was currently well past 11PM when Les entered Walt’s home, Lillian letting him in and calling for Walt, who was in his office, who then called Les to get to his office.

Les peeked inside to see Walt pacing from one side of the room to another. Sitting on a chair in the corner was Ub, holding something close to his chest as he tried to not doze off.

Both Ub and Walt looked like they haven’t slept in days.

Les lightly knocked on the door, announcing his presence.

Walt ceased his pacing,” Ah there you are, Les. Thanks for coming over”.

“ Well it sounded urgent. Couldn’t leave you two hangin’. What happened?”, Les asked concerned

“ We did it”, Walt sighed as he ran a hand down his tired face before looking to what Ub was holding.

Les’ eyes widened when the realisation of what had happened, finally noticing that what Ub was holding was definitely moving and shifting in the sleep-deprived man’s arms. Ub, noticing the attention from the standing men, shifted the being in his arms until Les could properly see him. In his mentor’s arms...

... was a sleepy small toon mouse.

“ When did you-?”

“ An hour ago”, Walt answered,” We made him an hour ago- but that’s not the point of you being here. Wait right here, I’ll be back”, with that said, Walt left the room to go further into the darkness of the house.

Les made his way over to his mentor’s side, dragging another chair closer to him and sat close by.

“ You okay, Ub?”, Les asked concerned.

“ I’m good”, Ub replied looking down on the toon in his arms,” Walt called me out of work to do this”, he moaned tiredly.

“ You were working?”, Les questioned.

“ I had extra work to do for Mintz because of planning with Walt”, Ub explained.

Les was well aware his mentor was working on things for Walt even while he continued to work for Universal. Ub was providing the money they needed to get the studio running while Walt and Roy went out, looking for new distributers after Winkler Pictures and Universal betrayed them.... and took Oswald away from them.

It was tragic watching everything unfold after Walt and Roy returned from their meeting with Mintz. After everyone just upped and left, leaving the four of them behind. Ub was in a fit of rage when he found out and what happened after that was the loudest, most rage-filled argument Les had ever heard between Walt and Ub. It had gone on for nearly a hour before things quieted down. But they didn’t leave the room they were in immediately, they were in there for a few minutes before finally coming out, eyes bloodshot and puffy despite vehement denies that they were crying. But it was clear as day that they were deeply hurt.

Les hoped to never ever have to go through what they went through.

“ What’s his name?”, Les inquired.

“ Michael Theodore Mouse. Mickey Mouse”, Ub stated with a nod,” It was Lillian’s suggestion after hearing Walt’s original name for him”.

“ And that was...?”

“ Mortimer”, Ub gagged.

Les snorted when he heard the name,” Bless Miss Lillian for stepping up where Walt failed in the naming department”, he joked humorously.

“ Amen to that”, Ub said with a short laugh as he looked down on the toon,” Hear that, Mickey. Your dad was going to name you Mortimer. What an unusual unneeded punishment, eh buddy”, he continued as Mickey smiled at Ub with sleepy eyes.

“ He’s very cute”, Les commented with a smile.

“ Of course he’s cute. I designed him after all”, Ub quipped with a smirk.

Les chuckled,” Of course”.

Ub smiled before looking down to Mickey again, this time his eyes filled with sadness. Les noticed this.

“ Thinking about Oswald again?”, Les asked.

“ Yeah. It’s just..... it’s been weeks since Mintz took him away and I haven’t seen him around the studio even while I was working. I’m worried about him and Julius”, Ub admitted,”.... I initially really didn’t want to do this”.

Les raised a brow,” What changed your mind?”.

“ Walt”, Ub said plainly,” We’ve been runnin’ around this for weeks now- well I was. You probably overheard me and Walt talking about this one night at the studio”.

Les nodded. He had overheard the conversation between Walt and Ub one evening when they were doing checks on the Hyperion studio. A mere two weeks before the current moment, Les recalled. It was far from an argument but there was definitely a disagreement. Ub wanted to wait a bit longer before creating another toon but Walt wanted it done sooner rather than later. The man even had a rough idea sketched out after seeing a mouse on the train  heading back to Burbank, Ub just had to create a proper design and then bring it to life. But to Ub it was moe complicated than that.

The man was exhausted, not just from overworking but from the very fact he had not JUST lost Oswald, but also Julius as well. And the guilt and sadness was eating him up from the inside. He was still wounded by the loss and Walt was not letting it heal like it was supposed to.

Not to say Walt wasn’t also facing his own major problems. He was also NOT coping well with losing Julius and Oswald (the latter especially) and his temper was much more explosive than usual from Les’ perspective. He threw himself into his work, dragging Roy everywhere to every film distribution company in the Los Angeles county. Heck, Les wagered Walt’s desperation might even have him go look for distributors in New York. And the man was constantly stressed out and judging by what Walt looked like earlier, even sleep deprived from working this much to avoid his own thoughts to grieve. You could say his desperation and grief was blinding him to his friend’s own grief.

 Les winced at the thought, silently pitying his seniors.

Ub continued on speaking,” Distributors want to see the stars nowadays and not just concept art. They want to see and meet the toon and as charismatic as Walt is, he can’t convince them to wait any longer. So I bit the bullet tonight”, he explained, shifting Mickey as the toon squirmed a little in his arms,” But I’m don’t regret this. I feel a lil’ better after making lil Michael here. He’s just too darn active for me to ignore, isn’t that right buddy”, he said addressing Mickey, who was about ready to fall asleep again.

Les smiled at the sight of the toon,” Well I’m sure this one right here’s gonna be the one to boost us to success”, he said.

“ You think so?”, Ub inquired with a grin.

“ O ‘Course! After all, who could resist this cute little face?”, Les cooed at Mickey before turning to Ub,” AND you and Walt have already raised some pretty big stars. No doubt this little one will follow suit with his brothers”, he proclaimed confidently,” You two are gonna great dads.... again”, he joked lightly.

Ub chuckled,” And I’m sure you’ll be a fantastic dad too, Les”, he stated light-heartedly.

Les frowned, about to ask Ub what he meant before Walt peeked in, having returned from where he went off to.

“ Hey, sorry for the delay, she crawled out of the basket and I had to find her”, Walt explained nervously with a chuckle.

Les raised a brow at the mention of a her but Ub spoke up before he could ask

“ It’s fine. We were distracted with talking anyway. Bring her in already so Les can meet her”

Les was highly confused for a second before registering another toon mouse in Walt’s arms that was quickly transferred to his lap in seconds.

“ Les, meet Minnie, Minnie, this is Les Clark-”, and the next words will forever imprint itself in Les’ mind-

“ -Your Daddy”

“ Wait what?!”

[amazinglyegg]

I don't know if you're into it or know anything about it, but I'd love to know the Fallout 4 companions reactions to Hamilton (the musical)

This was surprisingly difficult because I’ve only listened to, like, seven songs out of the entire musical, but to be fair I have the entirety of Aaron Burr, Sir memorized. Here it is (a bit delayed)!

Fallout 4 companions (+ faction leaders) react: Hamilton Musical

Cait: I can’t imagine Cait listening to it in her free time, but she’d listen if it were on. It’s a nice change to the songs on the radio. As for Hamilton itself, she’d probably feel extremely awkward about the first song, given her not so good past, and she wouldn’t want to listen to it in front of others, but she’s silently rooting for Alex the entire time

Codsworth: He likes whatever the sole survivor likes, if Sole puts the song on he’d listen to it happily, perhaps commenting on some of the more vulgar lines (”Lock up your daughters AND horses? Oh dear...”). Finds the alteration of history... interesting... and hopes that people don’t actually start to believe the 1700s were a big musical, but he generally likes it

Curie: I don’t think she’d like the music or the historical inaccuracies, but she’s so fascinated by everything she would still politely listen to it, and ask questions about every part, which parts are accurate and why the writer decided to do things the way they did... She’d be talking over most of the lines.

Danse: Oh man he’s so into pre-war things and history. Quickly learns to listen to it with headphones on while he’s on the Pryden, probably talks about showing it to someone like Maxson until he really listens to some of the lyrics. Let’s be honest, he probably thinks it’s accurate to a T for a while, to the point where he genuinely questions if history was one big musical

Deacon: Sings it constantly. Annoys everyone in HQ. Poor Carrington. He’s secretly into pre-war stuff, maybe not history as big as some other people, but he’s also into the music and culture, so he’s down for Hamilton. Listens to the entire thing and then finds someone who’s listening for the first time and acts as if he was actually there, mentions things that happens several songs up and goes like, “Can’t believe they forgot to mention that Hamilton eloped with Laurens, damn...” to throw them off

Hancock: Likes it, it’s pretty good. He’s more of a jazz person and really likes Magnolias music more than anything, but he’ll listen to it. Doesn’t care too much for the second act and all the sad shit. I... actually can’t find anything about John Hancock in the musical. Did they really just skip him!? Poor Hancock :(

Maccready: He’d listen to it, it’s a nice change from the radio. Probably cries when Phillip dies. Totally cries when Phillip dies. Probably stops listening for a while. Reminds him too much of his own son, and how either of them could die at any moment. I don’t think Maccready’s too into history in general, but I feel like he’d probably just enjoy the music itself

Nick: Nick doesn’t seem like the type of guy to be into hip-hop/rap/etc, and he probably doesn’t appreciate the inaccuracies that much. That being said, he’d still give it a listen to appreciate some of the pre-war musical art, and because it does actually tell the story of Hamilton quite well. He’s also happy people will understand history better, especially after having to deal with Moe (The baseball guy in Diamond City) for so long

Piper: Write a paper on it? obviously. She finds the idea of telling such an intricate story fascinating, and how they use repeated lines and tunes to tie parts together and make it emotional. Type of person to start hyperventilating when she hears someone counting (One, two, three, for, five, six, seven, eight, nine...)

Preston: Oh man this boy is so into history! He’d listen to it and ask Sole so many questions as if they were actually there, and generally be super into it. I feel like you may have to explain how the founding fathers were slave owners before he starts getting too into it, just so he doesn’t start glorifying them too much.

X6-88: He finds it strange and a “waste of time”, just like he finds basically anything that isn’t about the institute. Secretly, though, he finds it fascinating. Not to the point of Preston or Danse, but he would listen to it and get mildly annoyed when others didn’t catch onto the deeper meanings and connections behind the lyrics

Maxson: Okay, hear me out. He’s twenty. He likes pretending he’s all cool and mature, but he’ll secretly love it. Agrees with Danse that this probably shouldn’t be used as a way to tell the past, but unlike Danse he finds the vulgar humor funny. As Elder he’ll be all like “The squires shouldn’t listen to this it’s inappropriate” “You have more important things to be doing, soldier”, blah blah, but when he’s by himself he’ll listen to it every night.

Father: It’s... interesting. He wants to learn more about the pre-war life he was born in but only listens for a few songs before deciding he’s too old for this shit. Unlike Maxson he lets the scientists listen to it to learn more about pre-war music and history. That being said, I think X6 says something about scientists finding television a waste of time (?), so it’s probably not listened to too much outside of a professional reading.

Desdemona: She never really has the time to listen to the entire thing; It’s not the type of music you can listen to while working since it tells a story, and I have literally never seen that girl sleep, or do anything other than stand at the table and chain-smoke. Despite only hearing a few songs, she has several memorized because of Deacon and his need to quote it constantly. Poor Des :(