#we have lots and lots of crows and i don't understand why other people hate them they're so funny and cute

[sapphicautistic]

some ducks just came to visit us and eat some bugs right outside our window after the rain!!!!!

[save-the-villainous-cat]

Please more adorable villain

Without saying anything, the villain picked up the hero. Despite the overwhelming pain and overall grogginess, the hero welcomed the action. They welcomed the arms that held them up and the warm chest they were being pressed against.

"You don't..." the hero began but their throat was so dry, so sore that they sounded more like a crow than a human being. They were close to tears.

"I didn't want to interfere," the villain explained. "It seemed to be very personal."

"Yeah..." the hero said. Hell, fighting their own sidekick was personal. They were going easy on them and they feared with the villain together, it would have ended a bit bloodier than it actually had.

Both of them stayed silent for a very long time until the villain reached a cleaner part in the maze of this warehouse. It must have been some kind of abandoned office. There was a chair left, a couch and a desk with an old computer. A few filing cabinets.

The villain put the hero down on the couch and opened one of the cabinets. To the hero's surprise there was a first aid kit in there.

They frowned.

"How did you...?"

"I figured out a while ago where your usual fighting spots are. So, I hid a lot of kits in these areas," the villain said. They sat down next to the hero. "You let them break your leg."

"I..."

"You can't do that."

"I couldn't break theirs. I just couldn't," the hero said. The villain's eyes were as always something the hero couldn't quite read.

"Your kindness is breaking your heart," the villain said.

"I don't need to be lectured right now," the hero said. They could feel their bottom lip tremble. The villain looked at them, bandages in their hand.

"Oh, I apologise. I didn't mean to-"

"Life really sucks right now, you know? I know you turn off your emotions or whatever and go through life like you don't care about anything but other people can't do that," the hero said. They let the tears fall now without thinking too much about what the villain might think.

Their own sidekick hated them. Their own sidekick wanted them dead. But the hero couldn't hate them like their sidekick hated them. They couldn't fight them, torture them.

"I just meant...I was trying to say..."

"That I should kill them." The villain was quiet. They avoided the hero's gaze now and put a bandage around a nasty wound on the hero's arm. Sometimes, the hero didn't understand them.

"I understand that you're upset," the villain said. "But your wounds are getting worse. They are getting more aggressive."

They put a hand on the hero's thigh.

"Please, I am worried about you," the villain said. They looked at them and the hero wasn't sure if it was the comfort or the villain in general but they were feeling something.

"We are enemies."

"We don't have to be," the villain said. "I...don't want to be."

"Why not?"

"...I don't know. I think about you a lot. I know this hurts you. And I hate that."

The hero knew the villain was slow but it was strangely sweet how long it really took them to realise that they had feelings for the other.

[666writingcafe]

House Call

A Text Conversation Between Diavolo and Solomon

Diavolo: Are you awake?

Solomon: Yes.

Diavolo: Where are you?

Solomon: At MC's place...why?

Diavolo: Perfect. We'll be there shortly.

Solomon: Diavolo.

Solomon: What happened?

Diavolo: I'll start from the beginning: I got kidnapped by some sorcerers.

Solomon: WHAT?????

Diavolo: Specifically, Avarius and his group of cronies.

Solomon: FUCK

Solomon: I fucking hate that guy

Solomon: Like he was part of the reason I got kicked out of the Society even though I founded it

Diavolo: Well, he's not too happy about our presence in the human world. He seems to be under the impression that I'm using MC as a weapon.

Solomon: WHAT the actual FUCK

Diavolo: He called them a half-breed.

Solomon: *gif of someone narrowing their eyes angrily*

Solomon: How DARE he insult MY apprentice????

Diavolo: What have you been teaching MC, exactly?

Solomon: ?????

Diavolo: I have my reasons for asking.

Solomon: Well...

Solomon: I've taught them some basic spells and combat moves.

Diavolo: Define basic.

Solomon: You know...the fundamentals. Nothing too complex yet. Not until they have their license.

Diavolo: That's going to be a LOT more difficult now.

Solomon: Why????

Diavolo: Your DARLING apprentice has killed a man.

Solomon: ??????????????????????????????

Diavolo: They along with Belphie helped rescue me, but obviously we had to fight our way out. One of Avarius's people managed to cut Belphie's arm, and MC must have saw it, because the next thing I know they pulled out a knife and threw it with deadly precision into this guy's chest.

Solomon: Well shit

Solomon: That is certainly beyond anything we've done together.

Diavolo: Part of their power comes from their emotions. The rage they felt upon seeing Belphie hurt drew that out. They became a beacon of light by the time we got out of there, and they were ready to head back in there and continue fighting. I was struggling to restrain them, Solomon. I'm one of the strongest demons in the Devildom, and yet it took a lot for me to keep MC from running.

Solomon: Are they okay, at least?

Diavolo: They're currently passed out in the backseat, but they're not hurt. I figured some time in their home would help recharge them. Plus, I do NOT want them around the others right now.

Solomon: Understandable.

Diavolo: I don't think you do, Solomon. The MINUTE we got in the car and started driving, Lucifer called MC's phone, and I had to deal with him yelling at me for fifteen minutes.

Solomon: *laughing crow sticker*

Diavolo: It's not funny.

Diavolo: Like, I know he was worried about MC and Belphie leaving without a trace, but that was because I instructed Belphie to not tell him because I KNEW he would blow up like this if he discovered I was kidnapped.

Diavolo: It's bad enough that the Society is down one sorcerer. If he was there, they would have been down six members, and that might as well be a declaration of war against the human world. As it is, I have to figure out how to explain this to the Society, because in Avarius's eyes, MC's actions have proven his point.

Solomon: But you didn't make MC kill that guy.

Diavolo: Doesn't matter. As one of the head sorcerers of the Society, he has the ability to influence his colleagues into believing whatever he wants them to. If he says that I possessed MC and made them lash out against one of their kind, then that becomes the truth.

Solomon: Is it wrong for me to be lowkey impressed by what MC did?

Diavolo: In this particular moment of time, yes. Just wait until I get this straightened out with some of the more reasonable people in the Society before you start gloating. Please.

Solomon: *thumbs up emoji*

Diavolo: We're almost there. Belphie's going to drop MC and me off at the front door before heading back to the manor. I'll need your help getting MC settled in.

Solomon: *thumbs up emoji*

Taglist: @lost-in-time-wanderer, @fuzztacular, @dianedancer18, @sweetbrier2908, @flare-love, @completelyshatteredbrokenmschf, @thunderlightning351, @l3v1chan, @anxious-chick

[aurorawest]

Summer Reading Update (part 1)

Teach the Torches to Burn by Caleb Roehrig - 4.75/5 stars

This was a really well done retelling of Romeo and Juliet. I read another book from the Remixed Classics series, Dear Henry, and while that one was also good, it felt like it adhered too slavishly to The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, so sometimes things seemed to be happening only because they happened in the original. And I haven't actually read the original book, it was just...easy to tell. Teach the Torches to Burn never felt like that, and I loved how it fleshed out so many of the characters from the play.

You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian - 5/5 stars

I feel like tumblr sings this one's praises enough that I don't really have to, but—everyone should read this. Everyone should read all of Cat Sebastian's books. I think I liked this one better than We Could Be So Good, but that could just be because I've found myself becoming more and more of a sucker for sports romances.

Unhallowed by Jordan L Hawk - 4.75/5 stars

Sad to say goodbye to the Whyborne and Griffin series, but I already love this spinoff!

Soul of Ash by HL Moore - 3.75/5 stars

Crow's Fate by Kim Fielding - 3.75/5 stars

The Sleeping Soldier by Aster Glenn Gray - 5/5 stars

I sound like a broken record re: Aster Glenn Gray, but please read her books. If you like Cat Sebastian's mid-century romances (like You Should Be So Lucky!) you like Aster Glenn Gray. This one is ostensibly a Sleeping Beauty retelling, but one where the sleeper actually sleeps for 100 years. In this case, it's a Union soldier who is put in an enchanted sleep in 1865 and wakes up in 1965 and oh my god, it's so good. It examines racism, it examines toxic masculinity, it examines homophobia, and how same-sex platonic affection became taboo. I'm pretty sure this woman has never written a bad book, but this may be her best.

Alec by Kaje Harper - 3.75/5 stars

Artemis by Andy Weir - 3.75/5 stars

Oak King Holly King by Sebastian Nothwell - 4.75/5 stars

I loved this one! There are so many books about Faerie and they can be pretty hit or miss for me, but this one struck just the right balance of otherworldly, inhuman creatures and characters I could root for. Shrike and Wren were lovely.

Imperfect Illusions by Vanora Lawless - DNF at pg 56

Orchestrated Love by AJ Buchanan - DNF at pg 1

Razorblade Tears by SA Cosby - 4.25/5 stars

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern - 5/5 stars (reread)

The Only Light Left Burning by Erik J Brown - 5/5 stars

Excellent sequel about what happens after you make it to the last bastion of civilization after the apocalypse.

Unwieldy Creatures by Addie Tsai - DNF at pg 12

A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles - 5/5 stars

Oh man. This may have displaced the Will Darling Adventures as my favorite KJ Charles book. Wonderful MCs, A+ side character arcs, and villains you really loved to hate. I rambled on a lot about this book to my wife after I finished it.

Stars in Your Eyes by Kacen Callender - DNF at pg 156

His Lordship's Secret by Samantha SoRelle - 3.75/5 stars

Us, Et Cetera by Kit Vincent - 5/5 stars

Cinderella retelling with androids but Christ on a bike was this a painful read. Really, really well done. Highly recommended.

Charming Young Man by Eliot Schrefer - 5/5 stars

My 5 star rating diverges pretty sharply from the average Storygraph rating for this book, and I'm not sure why, other than maybe people thinks it's PrObLeMaTic. It was definitely not a super happy book, though it ends on a good note (that's a pun btw!). I thought it was a great book about a period that isn't often written about (1890s Paris) with a fascinating protagonist (who was a real person).

Dark Heir by CS Pacat - 5/5 stars

It's a CS Pacat book; it's the sequel to Dark Rise; obvs I loved it. I don't understand why this series is shelved under YA except that Pacat's publisher thinks more people will buy them. This series is the gay Lord of the Rings you always wanted and somehow is an even slower burn than Captive Prince.

Of Knights and Books and Falling in Love by Rita A Rubin - DNF at pg 50

Cover Story by Valerie Gomez - DNF at pg 176

Letters to Half Moon Street by Sarah Wallace - 4/5 stars

[kedreeva]

How would you rate peafowl in terms of intelligence, in general or socially? Any of your animals outstanding in that regard and where does Bug fall on the scale?

Honestly they have a huge range of intelligence and personality. They're GENERALLY smarter than chickens, not as smart as crows. They do have complex social hierarchies and rules, though, and violating the rules has consequences for social standing. Rude boys, for example, do not get the girls.

They also have long memories for some things- for example if you frighten or anger or hurt them, they remember that and they will likely not trust you again, if they don't outright try to chase you off. My dad once made a swipe at a nosy hen and she never forgot. She threatened to fight him every time she saw him after that. LOTS of people report that their birds can be caught 1 time by a bird net pole, and forever after they will bolt if they see it (and we have the same experience here, and I don't even have to have caught them personally if they even SEE me catch 1 bird with it, that's it. This is why I move them into a coop and turn off the lights to pick them up). I know people who have tried to solve berserker males problems by hitting their birds with brooms or sticks or spraying them with a hose, and what they find is that this makes it a thousand times worse because the male's understanding of the situation is only confirmed- you ARE a rival and you DO want to fight him. And since you (the intelligent human being who understands birds and money and probably a) like this bird and/or b) spent a lot of money on this bird) are unwilling to purposely cause severe injury or death to him, he will always hold a grudge and always think he has a chance to beat you.

They do have some amount of social learning, at least from my observations. When I taught Eris to use word buttons to ask for specific treats, Artemis learned without actually ever being taught. With 12 buttons on the board at the time, she removed the "treat" button and guarded it so she could tap it instead of Eris. More commonly, if one bird thinks a treat or other potential food item is yucky, they will start shaking their head no and clacking their beak the way they do when they taste something they hate, as if they took a bite and it tasted bad- but WITHOUT having actually touched the item. This triggers all the nearby birds to have a look, and they all start shaking their heads and clacking their beaks. Once one of them figures out how to do something - like get up onto the pigeon perch in the rafters they're not supposed to be on - the others will watch and learn how to do it, and start doing it, too. I just recently had to put an extra lock on the barn pen door, because I caught Wendy pulling our emergency latch release for dumbasses that lock themselves into the pen on accident, and the others were Watching to learn. Eris had to be moved out of that pen because she also learned how to let herself out of the pen that way.

Then you have birds like Callisto. Who will come over when you call for treats, and despite that the treat gets held right in front of her or dropped close by her, panics and can't find it to save her life, and you find yourself standing between her and the others to give Callisto enough time to look at the ground for the treat.

Or stan who, every morning, gets let out of the coop and walks calmly over to the fenced door between pens to be let out into the pen. Except the door is open.

So. It's a scale. it's a scale that slides between "mocking me with word buttons I taught her" and "repeatedly waits at an open door to be let out"

[itisbop]

Can you tell me some of your head cannons for the retropolis trio?

Ask, and you shall receive!

Bull

- He was the founder of the Gang!

- He and Pam were married, but a little after Jessie was born, they divorced. This is a key reason why he's not as rowdy as he used to be.

- He went to culinary school and got a degree.

- In order to get his life back together, he decided to open a diner.

- Everybody knows he still can't get over his and Pam's break up and jokes about it with him.

- In this AU (my take on the lore more shall be explained soon), his exposure to the gem's radioactive materials still causes him to go bananas like we see in CCTV, but it's more gradually and slowly. Pam, being part of Spude, soon noticed this and realized that their relationship was as good as over due to his deteriorating behavior. Thankfully, it seems that his mental state didn't fully deteriorate as he still has some sense in him.

Crow

- In this AU, Crow used to be human! However, prolonged exposure caused him to start turning into a crow. It was a long and painful process.

- He and Lola used to be part of a gang. They got lost in the park as it seemed to have kept expanding and changing as the traveled. Somewhere along the way, they found an alive Poco.

- He and Lola were taken away shortly after Poco's death to be experimented and observed. The park wanted to see if they could catch key symptoms that were causing all these werid changes within' park employees and visitors. Safe to say, he doesn't like the park.

- He eventually got out and was found by Bull. Bull was nice enough to give him a place to stay (same for Bibi, you'll see soon.)

- He, Bo, and Mr.P are all step-brothers. They had the same mother but different fathers. He is the youngest while Bo is the oldest.

- He is the sole reason why Mortis survived out in the west.

- Speaking of Mortis. They're good friends (No Time To Explain Trios, my beloved), but GOD do they fight a lot. Spike is tired of it.

- He and Bibi are roughly the same size. They share a motorbike

- He's insecure as hell. And understandably. You'll definitely think of yourself differently with such drastic changes to your body.

- Bull, Bibi, Janet, and Bonnie are at least 110% sure he has a crush on Stu. Stu is clueless.

- Somehow, he and Mortis can't stop ending up in the same places together. Retropolis? Mortis is for some reason there. Mecha Squad? Oh, hi Mortis, I guess you're part of this now.

- It wasn't as obvious in Brawlywood, but Mortis did persuade Crow into trying to act. He enjoys it.

- He and Piper are friends!

- Amber and him are friends that the others are afraid by the fact they hang out. Their trios think something might burn to the ground due to the both of them (or freeze).

- Leon looks up to Crow. He wants to be a ninja and believes Crow is one (although he's not). He wants to be "as cool as Crow" as he puts it.

- Crow and Shelly hate each other's guts. Shelly's pissed that he can commit crime while she can't cause she's stuck with the sheriff. There are other reasons, but that's just ONE.

Bibi

- I don't really have a clear idea of how the park changes her, but as for backstory, this is what I have. She was bullied for a long time for being deemed "nerdy" and liking "nerdy things.". However, one day, the bullying was taken too far. On a trip to Starr Park, her bullies managed to strand her somewhere in the park, and she got lost. Distraught and completely broken, she went to Bull's Diner (the closest place for her), begging for any type of help. At that point, she didn't want to return home to where the bullies were. So, just like Crow, he took her in under his wing.

- She's a huge fan of Melodie! (I thought the Melodie and Bibi ship was cool, but it personally wouldn't work with the hcs I have for Melodie, sorry).

- She's one of the only people not to be completely creeped out by Colette. To a degree, Bibi sees a little of her geeky self in her.

- This goes the same for Brock!

- She'd play Ninjala. No questions needed. Look the game up, and you'll see why.

Overall

- The Retropolis Gang are the Rivals of Ranger Ranchers for obvious reasons. (Spike barely helps Colt and Shelly though anyways and he could not care less for the beef).

- Barley is their therapist. They don't why or how, but he's good at advice.

- They do have a reputation for bullying some of the other brawlers. Especially if their name is Carl.

- I like to think that a lot of the more criminal stuff happens behind closed doors when the diner's empty. When it's open, they disguise to seem just like any ol' regular diner.

- The Arcade Trio regular comes to visit even Rico fucking hates all of them.

- The Undead Trio is visit lots too.

And that's it! If I have more, I'll share it with ya'll!

[jessequinnfirstofhername]

I'm the replies and tags of other people on your poll there's a lot of hate shown towards ObiKin, which honestly kinda baffles me.

I've always enjoyed ObiKin and as a multishipper I don't understand hating on a ship and telling other people who ship it that it's trash or disgusting.

Even if I did hate a ship that was on your poll I wouldn't be rude about it like I see so often.

Honestly just a new part of Fandom for me, I've been in the Fandom and Fandom spaces for years but only recently have I gotten Tumblr. Just wild that on one of the most Fandom based spaces there are people like that.

Just a mini confused rant of mine,

Long live ObiKin lmao

-●▪︎●

I'm not interested in policing my notes unless someone really crosses a line. So I'm not going to comment on anything in the replies and tags of the poll.

I'm a ship-and-let-ship kinda person. But I always try and respect why some people dislike or are made uncomfortable by a ship that I either like or have no beef with myself.

So, here’s why the anti-Obikin crows hates it so much:

Obi-Wan met Anakin when Anakin was just nine years old. He then essentially adopted Anakin and raised him to adulthood. Not only that, but even as an adult, Obi-Wan is still in a position of authority over Anakin.

I'm an Obikin fan myself. I think they had great chemistry in The Clone Wars and ROTS and I enjoy seeing Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor snog each other. But I completely understand why this is such a NOTP for some people.

If I can make one request: can we all try and be kinder to each other? Especially over Star Wars fandom disagreements. This isn't just directed at the anti-Obikin crowd, either.

You're all still free to be as salty and shady as you like, though, most of that stuff is completely hilarious.

[viperwhispered]

I was in the shower and I was struck by the blessed lightning of creativity! Behold the results:

Can we agree that determination is very sexy and that confident Scarabia is the best? Like both are stuck in seemingly inescapable situations and are understandably feeling pretty hopeless despite their character development and healing so far. But what if they had just the right amount of character development and be in just the right circumstances to go from "the best I can do is make things easier" to "i will overhaul this entire dumpster fire and nobody will stop me"

Lets set the scene: its been months since ch4. There has been leagues made in progress. Kalim and Jamil are genuine friends now and both have expanded their social circles so they're not codependant on each other and have learned to figure out who to trust. Both have had the fortune to find love. But graduation is looming. Though they still have another two years, it doesn't shake the feeling that the safe haven they've found would be coming to an end far too soon.

Jamil: He's noticed his beloved is not recieving the treatment they deserve and he hates it. They're still stuck in that rickety old dorm at the mercy of that incompetant inconsiderate headmaster and barely anyone outside of their immediate (yet large) social circle acknowledges all they've done for them. Damn ungrateful brats!

Jamil wants nothing more than to take them away and give them the happy life they deserve. He knows his family can do it, they're not poor by any means. But he also knows he cannot take them back to his homeland. He's made his own share of enemies, ranging from assassins who think dealing with him will make dealing with Kalim easier to grudge holders wanting him dead for interfering with their plans.

He's conflicted. He knows it won't be easy even with Kalim's support. Frankly he wonders if it would even be worth it? But then Jamil turns to gaze at his beloved, who lovingly smiles back and asks about his day. They stopped by Sam's, using some leftovers from their meager funds to get some of Jamil's favorite snacks that happened to be on sale. Yet Jamil also notices the fatigue and the light bruises. Apparently that stupid crow is overworking them again and there is a faction of students who don't appreciate all the attention his beloved is recieving.

Fuck it! Kalim better keep his damn promise cause Jamil's leaving whether he likes it or not! Jamil is going to find success and take his dearest across the world and find a nice calm place to settle. There he's going to build a nice beautiful home where all will be calm and quiet and they'll never have to worry about anything ever again. Not money, not poisoning, NOTHING! And anyone who DARES disturb them, Jamil will make them rue the day they were born!

Kalim: Ever since he started finding other coping mechanisms, Kalim had been noticing a lot of things. It hurt having to face reality, but he knew it was necessary. But recently, he's been noticing some curious things. Despite being amongst the many nobles who attend the school, Kalim is the only one who is constantly paranoid about poison. Leona and Malleus never bothered, nor have any other royal classmates. While this could be because Leona was Leona and Malleus was too powerful for normal poison, Kalim still asked Professor Trein about it. A few hours a of research later and Kalim came across a curious situation: poisonings of royalty and nobility rarely happened outside the Scalding Sands.

Which brought Kalim to another question: why? What about his homeland made it so dangerous for people to have a modicum of power?

Kalim relays this to his lover later that day. They agree its curious and that its worth investigating. Kalim interjects saying they shouldn't waste their time with this silly question when they're already so busy with the stupid crow's endless requests and the dorms' drama. They simply smile and ask what sort of lover would they be if they left Kalim to stew all by himself. And then an ugly realization rears its head again: if they were to marry him, they would live the rest of their lives in fear for themselves and any children they have.

Unacceptable! If Leona and Malleus can build happy families of their own when they're more powerful, then Kalim should also be able to. Kalim is going to find out exactly what is wrong with his homeland and fix it so that nobody has to worry about poison ever again. He'll do it even if it takes the rest of his life. In the meantime, Kalim will become strong. Strong enough to protect his dearest, Jamil, his siblings, and everyone else under him. Kalim will do BETTER than his ancestors, so help him God!

Oh yes, determination and confidence is absolutely sexy. (And considering how much I feel this post about ruthlessness whenever it crosses my dash...)

Awww that Jamil bit tho 🥺 I’ve said this before, but I do believe the people close to him are really important to Jamil. Like, in book 4, the thing holding him back was his concern for the consequences to his family (at least in the jp version), when elsewhere (like glomas) we’ve seen he’s not bothered at all using other people for his own benefit. So for his s/o to be (an extra) motivation for him to change things, not just for himself but for both of them… Oh, yes please, and it’s got my heart all warm and fuzzy.

Basically yes absolutely give me determined, confident, even ruthless Jamil fueled not just by his own wants but by his love, too.

That’s an interesting (and very valid) angle for Kalim, though. Like, iirc, his family is not even rulers per se (tho there might’ve been some line of some relation to whoever rules the Scalding Sands? Can’t remember but Yuurei’s character summaries probably would have info on that), just so ridiculously rich that they have such vast influence that it’s tempting - as if the Asims don’t have enough wealth to go around to all the kids.

I do love the idea of Kalim wanting to do this to basically “save” everyone, though. It’s so him. Like it’s not just about him or his partner, but the rest of his family and everyone else, too. Very ambitious of him to set out to effect such huge change like that, but so precious, too.

[ccrisntok]

TW// Blood, Implied Death, Suicidal thoughts/actions, Violence, Homophobia, Mentions of SA (Basically all the stuff that happens it Heathers: The Musical.)

this is really long and you kind of have to know the plot of Heathers to understand it. Major spoilers for DRDT and Heathers btw

Ayoo, I'm here with some doodles and basic story outlines based off of @another-danganronpa-fan's DRDT + Heathers au! I took some like, creative liberties I guess. Didn't really change things at all, but added a lot of things! Sorry if I messed with your au a bit too much haha. (Also this is probably not the only doodles I'll make about this au it has snatched my brain.)

I'll explain some stuff along the way.

Xander as Veronica! (He still has his eye, its just sensitive to light and a different color). I feel like you could switch Xander and Teruko and the au would still work, but as the creator of the au explained, Xander just *barely* makes more sense as Veronica. He's more optimistic than Teruko is, and more willing to trust others. Also, David is a Heather in this au, so it makes sense that Xander would idolize them. Also also, we see canonically that Xander hates murder, but will do it if he really thinks it's necessary. I don't think he would kill people in this au on purpose though, and still feel as bad, if not worse about it than Veronica does.

Teruko as JD: Pretty obvious. Troubled family past, prone to violence if necessary, extremely distrustful of others? i don't really know if her luck would be a factor in this au, but if it was, it would probably explain why her life is so messed up. She'd kill some bitches.

Arturo as Heather Chandler. I feel like he's the only person in the cast who would be a big enough dick to be Heather C, and his obsession with beauty could be a factor of why he treats everyone like minions instead of people. He would probably die the same way, and for the same reasons as Heather C. Poisoned after making Xander and Teruko mad. His red ribbon... tie, thing would be the "red scrunchy" of this au.

David as Heather Duke: Yeah. Like, I feel like he fits her to a tee. After Art dies, he takes place as the leading Heather, and becomes a total asshole (probably similar to his breakdown in cannon). Also, since Arei is Heather Mac, it would make sense for him to try and force her into suicide, since that's what he insists he does in cannon. He may give Xander some hair-clips as a show of friendship.

Arei as Heather Mac: This one seems weird at first, but this Arei is in the middle of her redemption arch (for reasons that will be explained later). She's more snarky than cannon Mac, but also is going through a lot of mental turmoil. I'd say her sisters are still around. and her home life is pretty terrible, so she relishes in the power being a Heather gave her. Until she meets Eden, and realizes how little being powerful in high school matters.

Eden as: Martha! I made quite a few changes to her character, because her being in love with the Ram of this au wouldn't have worked. So I made her in love with Arei. Obviously, in cannon Heathers, Veronica helps forge a love confession to make a fool out of Martha, and I feel like Xander would be pressured to do the same thing. In doing this, he could also end up outing her publicly, admittedly probably not thinking about that as a factor (can you tell this part of the au is where I'm most passionate hflkas).

I feel like Xander wouldn't have bad intentions with outing Eden, but he still does it accidently, probably being like "THERES MORE GIRLS IN THE SEA BESTIE, FIND A BETTER ONE" in a crowed room while wasted.

I also feel like these feelings would be ACTUALLY mutual, unlike Martha's feelings for Ram. I added this in because I just don't think Arei and Arturo would be very close, or "Ram and Kurt", but seeing Eden's recent public humiliation added to her "friends" deaths might push her over the edge. It also would give her a reason to soften up, and fit the Heather Mac role.

Also, hearing about Arei's suicide attempt could also influence to Eden's suicide attempt later, since she doesn't really care about the other people's deaths in this au.

now to my least favorites...

...Ace as Ram, and Levi as Kurt. Hu as Mrs. Fleming makes total sense and I support that wholeheartedly, but Levi and Ace.... are kinda the only ppl who could fit the roles so 💀

I made quite a few changes to these two, the huge, major one being they don't try and SA Xander. There was no way in hell I was making them rapists, in any way shape or form. They're still pieces of shit, just not in that way (fuck Ram and Kurt in actual Heathers frfr I HATE those men oh my god JD was so based.)

Now, Ace and Levi are most definitely still jocks, and bullies. Ace would probably more of a harasser, while Levi is the one beating people up. As mentioned in my little doodle, Ace is only popular bc he "plays sports", rides horses I guess, and is rich, and Levi hangs out with him for only those reasons. Also probably a little gay idk

Instead of trying to SA Xander and lie about him sleeping with them, in this au Ace and Levi lie about Xander beating up Ace for no reason.

Levi is actually the one who beat up Ace, and idk, either Ace lies about it out of spite to Xander, or just doesn't remember and assumes its Xander. I'd say the remaining Heathers, Ace, Levi and Xander get super drunk in the woods or something (idk why Xander would be invited or show up but why not) and Ace said some dumb shit and got beaten up.

This gives both Teruko (for beating their asses before) AND Xander a violent rep, and Xander hates that, so he's pretty pissed. I'd say Xander would challenge them to a real fight, Teruko would bring the fake (very, very real) gun, and hilarity ensues (Ace and Levi get shot.)

Since Xander thought this was a harmless prank, he's pretty traumatized ofc

Then ofc, Teruko and Xander forge a suicide note. It would probably be like "oh yeah we were gay or whatever but levi beat me up so i killed him then myself."

ofc Xander is haunted by the ghosties he murdered <3

uhhh I haven't drawn the saddest parts of the au yet so get ready for a part 2 😈😈😈 which will also prob include better refs.

this was so long omg I'm sorry. this is gonna take tons of tags djssfklafhdls

[odinsblog]

Even though Ruby Bridges lived a few blocks from the school, her parents initially had reservations about sending their daughter to an all-White school. After all, no one had ever successfully crossed that line before. Ruby and her mother were escorted by four federal marshals to school every day that year. We can see photos of Ruby walking past crowds of White people "screaming vicious slurs at her." Despite the cruelty, Ruby mentioned that the only thing that really frightened her was "when she saw a woman holding a black baby doll in a coffin." Even though Ruby was only a child, she experienced the full brunt of America's racism. Perhaps, the cruelty shown towards Ruby Bridges is why some White parents would rather hide her story than let students discuss her role in history.

One parent petitioned for the removal of a Ruby Bridges film produced by Disney from Florida classrooms, suggesting it would "teach White children to hate Black children." Even though the film had long been part of the Pinellas Country Black History Month lesson plan, efforts to censor historical events that shed light on the experiences of Black Americans have become common in the state. The irony isn't lost on me that the North Shore Elementary parent suggested the story inappropriate for second graders even though Ruby Bridges, who the story centers around, was only six years old when she enrolled in first grade and experienced racial discrimination.

Courage is not a race-neutral concept in America.

The unwillingness of some to view Ruby Bridges as heroic has a lot to do with two competing worldviews. On the one hand, those who believe racial segregation was appropriate or that exhibiting racial bias should be socially acceptable will view Bridges as a troublesome presence, a reminder of how formal systems of racial discrimination impacted Black children. On the other hand, those who view racial discrimination as abhorrent and are interested in seeing racist systems dismantled may view Bridges as a symbol of courage, a reminder of America's potential to become a multiracial democracy that treats citizens equally. Unfortunately, this disparity in belief systems has contributed to a vast censorship movement and the active suppression of stories that show Black Americans' tenacity and courage.

It took the courage of Ruby Bridges and her family to challenge the Jim Crow system, but sadly, this is the type of courage states like Florida don't want us to speak about. Because telling the Ruby Bridges story would require discussing the formalized system of racial discrimination that persisted throughout much of America's history. Black children endure racism, but somehow, White children are too fragile to hear about their experiences is not a neutral perspective; it's creating a type of plausible deniability so that White Americans, once out of school, can insist, "I didn't know about racism because I wasn't taught," all while perpetuating racism. Furthermore, to say the Ruby Bridges story would encourage White students to be racist assumes the worst by implying they would side with parents and students yelling racial slurs rather than Ruby, a six-year-old child experiencing discrimination. You don’t have to be Black to understand how painful it is to be bullied.

...others know precisely what they're doing by boycotting Black history and literature. It's as if they are ashamed that they don't see Ruby Bridges as courageous, that racism prevents them from rooting for a six-year-old little Black girl, so they rather bury her story.

(continue reading)

[shadowsobscurity]

Kaz's Poison

Summary: a confession slips from Kaz while he talks with an old friend, Belladona.

Pairing: Kaz brekker x reader

Warnings: Fluff

Request: no

Belladonna, queen of deception, goddess of mischief, walked around the dark streets of Ketterdam. People closed the windows and locked the doors as she strutted elegantly. She smiled,content by the idea of scaring decent people,or as she liked to call them, the prudish.

Kaz Brekker had called her, which wasn't an unusual occurrence because apart from the wraith, dirtyhands only trusted his lovely poison. Saying Kaz and her were in love would be an exaggeration, they were work colleagues that shared a bond based in spite and grudge.

She arrived at the barrel, the town of bastards. It didn't feel like home, but she didn't deserve one.

As she walked inside the crow club, she could smell the stink of alcohol and stupid men throwing their money down the drain. Jesper waved and approached her.

- Belladona,what a pleasure seeing you -

With a smile she answered

-its good seeing you again Jes. How is everything going?-

-Everyone is recovering from the heist,we are almost fine.-

-Im glad to hear that. Where is Kaz?-

Jesper looked surprised

-Kaz? Why?-

-He sent me an invite- she lifted her hand, confused - hasn't he told you?-

-No,and I'm confused because he hasn't left his room since inej left-

-okey, I will talk to him and see what is happening-

Without waiting for an answer she went upstairs and knocked on the door, with the letter in her hand.

-im not taking visits,you can leave-

-Kaz, it's me, Belladonna. Allow me to enter please -

- Bell, you can pass -

She opened the door and a half dead Kaz greeted her. His eyes were drained in blood and he was extremely pale. There was sweat running down his back and his face was stained with tears. She immediately dropped her evil facade,as he had already dropped his.

She rushed near him and sat next to the bed, waiting for him to talk.

-The nightmares don't let me sleep -

He didn't bother explaining the nightmares,as she was one of the only people who knew about his past

-He is constantly there, waiting for me to fall just so he can push me deeper into the tides-

-Kaz, I know that it's difficult for you, but you need to understand that Jordie loved you and wouldn't like you to blame yourself for something you didn't do-

- I hate the feeling of losing my life to a fear I can't control. I've lost a ton of opportunities I now regret.-

-What do you mean? Are you talking about your touch aversion?-

-Yes. I am in love with money and vengeance, the idea of making Rollins pay for everything he did makes me want to wake up in the morning, but I also love other people and I'm not able to show them-

Something inside her broke. She hated being selfish in a situation like this, but she loved him. Thinking of Kaz with another woman made her stomach hurt.

She smiled a little, trying to hide the pain in her soul.

-You should try talking to them, maybe they understand-

- I am doing it, but she isn't helping a lot-

She stopped thinking, her eyes widening at the confession.

-You love me?-

-Yes. I don't expect you to love me back, I know that loving me is difficult and maybe you don't want to.-

The pain in his voice made her heart swell. He seemed so vulnerable,a sight that wasn't normal on Kaz Brekker. But maybe that was the reason, she wasn't talking to the bastard of the barrel, she was talking to the boy he was before.

Seeing her silence he added quickly

-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. If you want to leave and act like this never happened, do it now -

-No! I love you too Kaz, and I don't care if I have to wait a thousand years to touch you, I will wait patiently for you to be ready -

Kaz's eyes were full of tears. said nothing, but we tapped the bed. You sat next to him as he said:

-I will bring another bed so we can sleep together without touching -

- I'm dying for it to happen -

[fission-mailure]

Trying to figure out why I actually enjoy Trails of Cold steel (and don't hate Rean -- he'll never be my favourite character, but like. He's fine. I don't chafe at the idea of spending four entire JPRGs in his shoes) despite it being at times extremely Light Novel Nonsense-y.

Like, Rean's a dark haired, kind of generic looking, kind of generic personality'd average dude, who's super strong and skilled, and has a pretty huge proportion of the games' female cast falling over themselves for him, and that makes me roll my eyes a significant amount. He's very in the mold of weird wish-fulfilment light novel protagonists like Kirito and Naofumi, and I kind of can't stand those stories.

And thinking about it, I think it comes down to a few things:

-- Unlike those characters, Rean's actually allowed to fail, and to have other people pull his ass out of the fire. In fact, he does fail, a lot: The first game ends with him losing the final boss battle, badly, and having to run away and abandon his friends, having failed in basically every one of his goals. I'm two chapters in to Trails of Cold Steel III after having played 1 and 2 ages ago, and so far there's been three instances of Rean either getting in over his head or being either outsmarted or outgunned by the villains and needing someone else -- Laura, Kurt/Juna/Altina/Ash, and Alisa/Sharon -- to save him.

-- While he's always presented as being both academically gifted and a strong fighter, he's never the best in either. Emma and Machias are the top students in Class VII, and Laura, Crow, and Fie are stronger fighters in Class VII. Even when he catches up to Crow, Laura (and maybe Fie?) is still a better fighter than him. That's not even accounting for characters outside of Class VII, where it's always made pretty obvious that Sara, Laura's Dad, Rufus, and Aurelia are a ways above him. Which, again, you couldn't imagine from, say, a Kirito, where the only people allowed to be better are people who are somehow 'cheating.'

-- Women in Trails of Cold Steel are actually allowed to have their own goals and character arcs which aren't in any way related to him (in fact, every female character in Class VII has their own thing going on). Laura wants to hone her sword skills and be a worthy successor to her house, Emma has her conflict of ideals with Vita, Fie has her ongoing attempts to find a new role for herself after being a child soldier for most of her life, Alisa is struggling against a legacy that she sees as inextricably tied to a controlling mother she doesn't really understand. These are arcs which are wholly independent of Rean, and he doesn't do much in them apart from provide encouragement. When there are breakthroughs in these arcs, it's never because of him, he's usually just present and being supportive. The only female character whose arc really ties into Rean's at all is Juna's, and even then it's more about her complex feelings about going to study with the military that annexed and occupied her home.

-- I feel like most Light Novel Heroes come with ... pretty emaciated supporting male casts so that the audience doesn't have to cope with the earth-shattering idea that their surrogate might have to compete with other guys for the affections of Insert-X-Number-of-Women. Think about your Kirito, whose only real male supporting cast member is Klein, who's significantly older than the rest of the cast; or your Naofumi, whose male supporting cast is entirely composed of -- well, we're meant to think of them as the most awful people around, but considering that a lot of the time that manifests as them going "We think it's bad that you're a literally slaveowner who bought a child slave, Naofumi," I'm not sure how well that works. But the supporting male cast of Cold Steel is pretty good!

-- Unlike the Light Novel protags he's clearly cribbing from, Rean does have some stuff going on beneath the surface. Not ... much, but there's some inner conflict there about how he's meant to reconcile looking after the people he cares about with the fact that he and all the people he cares about are a part of Imperialist Nightmare State Erebonia, which can and will use him as a tool of imperialism whenever it can. It's a conflict that often puts him on the wrong side. When Cold Steel III starts, he's fresh off being coerced into assisting with Erebonia's annexations of Crossbell and North Ambria, both unambiguously awful things that he's now an accessory to, one of which has put him in direct conflict with another Trails series protagonist.

-- Other characters make fun of him. Like, whenever he makes some dramatic and sentimental speech, you can bet there's a solid 30% chance another character will go "Oh fuck, oh god, he's speechifying again, someone stop him, someone stop him."

All of which combines to make him and his role in the story as LN-style Audience Surrogate ... basically fine. Like, it's fine. He's not my favourite character, in fact I think he's probably my least favourite member of Class VII because in general the character writing for the other Class VII members is pretty strong, but I'm not grinding my teeth while playing him, even if I do roll my eyes at times.

[dream-meister-translations]

NAVI - VOICE COLLECTION

━

"Hm~? Why ya looking at me like that? You want to be friends me? Hmm… That's impossible, so no I don't think you can!"

"Isn't it funny how crazy humans are? But out of all them, Master is by far the craziest~! Hahaha★!"

"What's the matter? If you have something to say, just give the order. Maybe then I won't be able to disobey you~?"

"A dream, huh? Hmmm… Pffahahahhaha! That's so stupid! Even if you had one, it's not like you could do anything about it."

"Ugh, what a pain…"

"I hate those guys!"

"Buh-Bai, Master! I'm off to play with everyone~! Sorry if I don't come back~♪!"

"Treasure hunting? Why would we do that? Ugh, you're just like Master… Yes, yes, fine, I'll do it."

"Ha! Look, it's Itsuki! I knew I smelled something stupid★!"

"I'm getting kind of tired…. I should play a prank on master! I'll think of something!"

"This area is kind of… Sparkling? It's shining so bright… Could it be… Itsuki?"

"I'm back~★ And I found the treasure! Here ya go!"

"Hey, Master! I did my best! Any compliments? Praise? Feel free to thank me a lot!"

"Hmm? What's with me? I feel like playing a huge prank. But I only wanna play a big prank on you~"

"Wow! We did it!"

"You can do whatever you want to me~ I can't go against you anyway★!"

"Does my Master like it when I get strong? Why? I don't understand you people…"

"I think the Master's happier about this than I am… Look, you're smiling! What a funny face!"

"I'm stronger than ever~★! Are you happy? Are you having fun? Haha, you look just how I thought you would!

"You humans really are useless creatures~★! …I'm sure that will never change."

"Boo! …Huh, aren't you surprised? What a stupid face~★!

"Master isn't like other human beings… Something's different about you… I can feel it… Maybe it's cuz you hold the key…"

"Don't look at me like that! Makes me feel all weird! Kinda… Nostalgic…"

━

EVAN : I will make it happen. I refuse to be less than that human. NAVI : Evan, usually you're all pouty, but right now you're working so hard. Hahaha~ So serious.

━

EVAN : Haha! How's that!? I knew that if Crow could do it I could do it just as good! NAVI : Yes, yes, amazing~★ Evan is such a serious guy. And he hates to lose~

━

ITSUKI : …Uhm!? Na-Navi! W-Why are you pulling so hard on my clothes. H-Hey! Stop that! NAVI : Oh my God, I'm in trouble, so much trouble! Anyway, you didn't have to make a big deal out of it! You could've just fallen over like you were supposed to!

━

NAVI : I'm going to play a prank~ ITSUKI : Even at a time like this?

━

ITSUKI : Navi! NAVI : What is it~

━

ITSUKI : Brilliant, Navi! NAVI : Can you praise me some more~?

━

NAVI : Tsun-tsun★ Evan is such a tsun. EVAN : Don't say "tsun-tsun" one more time!

━

NAVI : Hey, Himmel. The Master is sleeping, we should scare her. It'll be fun, right? HIMMEL : Navi you shouldn't play a trick on the master…

━

HIMMEL : …..Ngh….Navi…..Prank…Tsun-Tsun…. NAVI : Himmel, you're sleeping comfortably. I'll leave you behind if you don't wake up~

━

NAVI : Hey, I think we're lost! What should we do!? HIMMEL : It's our fate to be lost…There's nothing we can do about it.

━

NAVI : Himmel, are you sleeping? I was slacking off and you didn't even seem to care. HIMMEL : I'm awake…I was just a little out of it…

━

NAVI : You really are a mopey joe! When I see you so down like that… I wanna pull a funny face like this! EMPPU : Do what you want. I don't care. It won't make a single ripple in my heart.

━

EMPPU : I'm… teaming up with Navi? Okay… I guess I can follow orders. NAVI : Watch your mouth, Mopey Joe! I could already tell you weren't gonna like it but, God, you didn't have to be so rude!

━

NAVI : You should be more selfish I think~! Like me? I'm only loyal to Master! EMPPU : Selfishness is born from feelings, no? Therefore, I cannot. I'm just not like you.

━

NAVI : Hey, you're smiling~★! Oh? Didn't you smile just now? See! I'm so happy~! EMPPU : …I don't feel anything… It's just your imagination…

━

TILIA : Hmm… If you look closely at Navi… He's actually really soft and fluffy… Like a stuffed animal… NAVI : H-Hey! Can you stop staring at me with that weird look on your face!? It's giving me the creeps!

━

NAVI : Ugh, it's so gloomy and my hair's getting all sticky. Can we go home nowww? TILIA : I guess so. We've worked hard enough, right? Let's quit it for today.

━

TILIA : If we don't come back with results, we might just get thrown away. NAVI : Oh, that's fine. It's not like we matter anyway, right? We're just helpless fairies★

━

NAVI : Searching for the truth~★! I think there could be no greater cause for Tilia and me~, wouldn't you agree~? TILIA : That's true. Though I think you not just giving up the search is commendable enough on its own.

[opinated-user]

I mean. I knew Lily was ignorant and dumb but this hay’s code thing is another level. Alright gonna out myself, I’m a film major mostly in production and theory. Now the code was implemented in 1934 (though some say 1933). And it didn’t end (well there are debates as to whether we count the actual enforcement or the fact while the code existed but wasn’t enforced) until 1968. A 34-35 year not ten… 34-35 years of enforcement.

During that time there were directors who did sneaky things to fight back against the code. Have multiple kisses shorter than 3 seconds. Have suggestive imagery but blame the dirty thinking on the agent who saw the film to ensure the code was followed. And countless other examples. Not to mention the red scare also Played a BIG part of enforcement. The MPAA has done some things (like granting films with LGBT themes R ratings a rating with that excludes a lot of people) but it’s not as bad as the Hays Code who thought interracial love stories were a big no no, and in 1968 Star Trek had an interracial kiss that said F U to Jim Crow and Hays Code era thinking

my point was more going through the notion that even if it was "only 10" years that it was enforced, that's still a lot of movies, directors and creative people who saw all their hard work go to waste because it didn't meet some ridiculous criteria. for as many success stories you can count of people creatively managing to get around the hays code, there's as much if not way more stories of people and movies that never got made and no one saw. that's a tragedy, whether we're speaking 10 years, 5 years or the actual 30+ years that it was. a human being could have been born and die without ever seeing nothing else but hay's approved movies. it's a tragedy that something so simple and basic like a kiss between two people had to be revolutionary at all, it's disgusting that anyone ever said that two people shouldn't kiss because of racism. especially when we know that before that code existed, movies with queer people being queer already existed and they disappeared for 30+ years. some of them have been erased entirely. i don't understand how anyone can say that blaming the code hays or being mad about it is not only fair, but completely logical. it's not only deeply ignorant from her part to minimize the impact this had on cinema, but it's repugnant considering this is the same thing that LO always does: blame the individuals, never the institutions. the code hays was never implemented, but if it was then it wasn't a big deal and if it did it doesn't matter because these other movies came out, meaning that if your movie didn't it can only be your fault and not the people who enforced those absurd rules in the first place. it's not the fault of Disney that people are done with their "a person close to the production" always goes to the media to try to hype up movies around "our first ever gay character". it's the media, and the people who read that media, on the wrong because they just like to hate disney. it wasn't the fault of Disney's homophobia that TOH was cancelled, everyone just wants to hate Disney for no reason. it wasn't the fault of Netflix's tendencies of cutting queer shows short, the cancellation of First Kill was entirely because it was a "enemy to lovers" sapphic story. it wasn't the fault of Nickelodeon that the production of LOK was a mess, it was the writers and the people involved the only responsible because they should have known better, somehow. it wasn't the fault of Cartoon Network that SU went into hiatus more frequently than any other show at the time, no matter what the people who actually work for the company could say. it was the fault of Sugar for not magically knowing that a hiatus was coming and writing around it somehow. it's always the creative individual people who have the fault, not the companies who used them and disposes them whenever they please for whatever purpose. why do you think she doesn't speak about the big cut of HBO more? why do you think she isn't angry about how CN treated any other show that wasn't Teen Titans Go like utter trash? why is that when she wants to talk about WOW, she still talks far more about her white fantasy favourite female character being mistreated by a mere novelist writer than about the actual victims of harassment from the company?

because LO, for all her talk of being the only good leftist left, it's a capitalist anti-intellectual convenient tool whose true feelings will always have more in common with conservatives that she'd like to admit it.

[lmanburg-letter-service]

Dear, well, the rest of SBI I guess?

It's been a looong time since I've seen you three, and I guess I sorta miss you. Not a lot though, obviously, I'm a big man and I don't miss anybody

To Phil, I hope you're okay and doing well, that you've found the person, or people? that you were looking for. It'd be so funny if the crows found them first and sent you on a wild goose chase, but guess I won't ever find out

I do hope that you managed to get yourself out of the one sticky situation that you found yourself in. I hope you're okay and haven't forgotten me because the last letter I can remember from you is one from source. I miss your stories and adventures. Maybe you'll find yourself back here again sometime soon, but I dunno, I hardly believe that honestly

To Technobladee, don't tell Wil, but you're still my favorite brother no matter how much stuff happened between us. I think I finally understand where you were coming from, with the government stuff and what-not.

I get the whole corruption and control stuff now and I guess there's other stuff with it but I don't have the energy to cover this stuff the way you did with your "Gov. Bad. Anar. Good." lectures. Did you ever get better at those? I sure hope so cus those were borin as shit to sit through

But I do still love you, even if we ended stuff on a bad note before you left the smp. I sometimes hope you got my letters, but even then, it doesn't feel like you did. I think you would've been proud of my writing improvement, too. It stopped looking like "chicken scratch" (even though it was fine and completely legible to me) after a few letters, and I'm still good at writing now aside from a few imperfections that I like

To Wilbur? I don't really know what to say. You're not Philza Minecraft. Therefore, you're automatically one of the worst people alive- or unalived-alive? At this point, you're just redeadvibed and passed Dreams stupid revival vibe check with even gayer colors than the last. (Seriously, what was it between you and Quackity?)

But really, you needed help, and I really hope you had gotten it because I think I miss you. I miss just hanging out with you and having fun in our crappy van. I miss the late night campfires where you'd play a random song on the guitar for everybody far and near.

I hated the person you became for a bit, and then I hated Phil for a bit because I thought it was his fault. Then I realized it was Philza, and I can't hate Phil. So, I blamed everyone else around me for the longest time because I didn't understand why nobody had helped you.

I don't really know where else to go with this part of the letter, I had more to say, and then I got distracted, and now I can't remember. I just,, hope you're finally okay, or at least on the road to getting there. I know it was my fault, I know I cut you off, but I genuinely miss you, I just don't know the first thing about finding you.

To the admin, sorry this is so long, boss man, I'm just realizing I could have sent in separate much shorter letters rather than one big one. I don't really want to flood your inbox, though

Anyways,

This is from Tommy, AKA The Biggest Man around (also also if this does get posted, can it be tagged with fictive tags? not forced)

[Letter Sent!]

[helenarasmussen87]

I think I’m of the stance that Horikoshi didn’t plan on Endeavor’s redemption from the beginning judging by what he’s said about Bakugou and how cartoonishly evil Endeavor was during the tournament. For some reason this is a theory that gets shot down amongst Endeavor stans. But if you read what Endeavor said in the original Japanese text, it’s striking just how much he dehumanized his family. To the point where I understand why people have a hard time believing in his change.

So you definitely made me think about this before I wrote a reply and I think that you're right. Endeavor was the proud asshole patriarch that felt like he owned his family and it showed. The way he was ridiculously crowing over Shoto's achievements was disturbing since he felt like his family were to do as he pleased.

And I was honestly in no doubt that he'd be the same through out the entire series. And things would only change if his children died. That was my guess. I didn't see him being anything more than that.

And thinking back to the Forest Training Arc and Kamino Ward arc, Horikoshi did say that he had to change a LOT of things. People hated the villains and the arc was cut short and he was worried he'd get cancelled. Kamino Ward was pushed forward and it took off. SO Endeavor's being pushed forward here and needing real characterization, this is probably when Hoshikori changed arcs.

And seeing some of the theories of that time which are WAY out there, I'm surprised this one didn't gain traction at all.

And honestly, it IS whiplash, which I get would get a lot of other MHA fans doubting how permanent the change and his story arc are. But now, seeing that it has held is like "You have your proof, yet you don't believe it?"

He's pretty much a late change, but for the better. His arc has been so complex, so painful, and so so relatable. I know Hoshikori is a good planner and yes, we would have maybe gotten a shade less cartoonish Endeavor, but this doesn't feel like it was long ago plan. Everyone is more complex after Kamino Arc. Bakugo, Shoto, Kirishima, Tamaki...All of them got upgrades so it's not a surprise Endeavor did too.

Sorry for the long text. But yes, thank you for such a great theory.