#yen crisis

[yourplaceinaugust]

i feel like benny, ethan, and rory are definitely the type to go to conventions in full cosplays. they'd probably dress as iconic trios from sci-fi and fantasy shows they like. and then when they all start dating each other they're still dressing as iconic trios but this time the trios are all polyam coded

[todayisafridaynight]

did you know make up becomes one of the most popular industries during a recession

bonus:

[satoshi-mochida]

Guilty Gear: Strive DLC character Slayer launches May 30

From Gematsu

Guilty Gear: Strive downloadable content character Slayer will launch on May 30 for $6.99 / 880 yen or as part of Season Pass 3 for $24.99 / 2,750 yen, Arc System Works announced. He is the final additional character for Season 3.

Alongside the release of Slayer, the additional battle stage “Amber Fest with Kind Neighbors” will be available for $1.99 / 330 yen.

Get the details below.

Slayer (voiced by JB Blanc in English, Takaya Hashi in Japanese)

Ease of Use: ★★★☆☆

His dukes define dandyism. Laid-back and dignified vampire. A gentlemanly descendent of vampiric lineage, who enjoys genuine combat and haiku as hobbies. He abides by his own code of “dandyism” and can take nearly anything in stride. When it comes to battle, however, he wields overwhelming strength in great contrast to his calm demeanor. Due to his lifespan as a vampire, all events in human society feel trivial to him. That’s only one facet of him, however, as he finds humans and their turbulent emotions in response to such affairs both enviable and endearing. He founded the Assassin’s Guild, only to retire after meeting his immortal wife, Sharon. Currently, he enjoys an untroubled life in retirement with Sharon, occasionally venturing out for some people watching.

New Battle Stage: “Amber Fest with Kind Neighbors”

The additional battle stage “Amber Fest with Kind Neighbors” is a town set in the Season Pass 1 additional content “Another Story.” A festival is being held to celebrate the aurora’s blessings, and special illuminations are on display to give thanks to the gear who saved the town from crisis.

Guilty Gear: Strive is available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Steam, as well as via Xbox Game Pass.

Watch a new trailer below. View a new set of screenshots at the gallery.

DLC Character Slayer Trailer

English

Japanese

[queenofthequillandink]

Sexualities of the original Ocean's crew, as decided by me and my partner while watching Ocean's 13:

Danny: Straight, but has fucked Rusty. Liked it well enough, but decided that he wasn't into men. Would still do it again.

Rusty: Bisexual, but in denial. Liked fucking Danny way more than Danny liked fucking him and doesn't know what to do with that information.

Basher: Pansexual. Has never once cared what was in someone's pants, unless it was explosives. And then he was even more excited.

Livingston: Too anxious to have a sexuality. Would pass out if put in a situation where he was expected to have sex. Homoromantic.

Linus: Genuinely does not know. Is trying to have whatever the coolest sexuality is, mostly by copying Danny and Rusty, but is getting signals that he doesn't understand due to the "will fuck men platonically" and "deep repression," respectively.

Frank: Straight. I'm sorry, my guy just has very straight energy. Highly vocal ally though. Dated a lot of girls that turned out to be lesbians and loves hanging out with them.

Yen: Slut. The rest of his sexuality doesn't matter. The most important thing is that this man fucks, and he fucks often.

Turk: Straight, but has somehow only managed to ever date trans women. It's not a fetish and he's genuinely not doing it on purpose.

Virgil: Queer. If it happens, it happens. Will only date people who annoy his brother.

Saul: Straight, but only has gay friends. Lived through the hippie 60s and the AIDS crisis. Threw a Molotov cocktail on Reagan's White House lawn.

Reuben: Are you fucking kidding me? Gay.

Bonuses:

Tess: Demisexual. Will become attracted to both men and women, but she has to know them well first. Does not know this about herself.

Roman: Gay and isn't hiding it, but isn't flaunting it either. He'll tell you if you ask, but you do have to ask. Greco is his ex and the guys at boarding school made a LOT of GrecoRoman jokes.

Benedict: Considers having a sexuality a waste of time and energy. Only gets off as a bodily function like any other and doesn't understand why no one else treats sex this way. Has not considered that not everyone feels this way about sex.

[dapandapod]

Good morning panda brain!

So!

Jaskier helps Geralt through his bisexual awakening.

Geralt knew people can like both. Triss and yen are know to take lovers from any gender and he has never thought twice about it.

Until he realizes Jaskier does too.

And Geralt tries to work through it by himself, mulling it over, trying to figure out if it is *just* the bard he is attracted to, or other men too?

But he finds he get confused and frustrated because it is hard to identify feelings, even more so if they are his own? So one day/eve/ something he asks Jask for help, because he is the safest one he knows to ask.

(There might also be a hint of self sabotaging afoot but he doesn’t realize that)

“How do you know?”

“Know what?”

“If you like both?”

And then Jaskier asks a series of questions (he makes sure Geralt is alright or if he doesn’t have an awnser/want to say it, that Geralt doesn’t have to say but he should think about it) about what makes Geralt notice a person, draws him in.

In the end they say something in the lines of;

“It is fine to experiment. Just try not to do that with the subject of your affection.” And then after a while “I could help you..”

And before Geralt thinks of what the fuck he is saying, he blurts out something like;

“I was told not to experiment with the subject of my affection” something something.

And Jaskier goes all 😳😳😳 because ofc he hoped and dreamed and he too helped out in some self sacrificing thing in hope to make Geralt happy, even if it was with someone else, and now he gets this??

And then begins the circling around each other, because it would hurt if Geralt tried these feelings with someone else (and with the risk of him falling for that person) while being *told* he is the reason for this bisexual crisis/awakening.

But also it would hurt even more if they tried, if Jaskier opens that door and allows himself some room to feel all those suppressed feelings - but as an experiment, one that Geralt might find that no, he doesn’t feel that way, thanks for helping out - and closing the door again.

Buuut all goes as it usually does with Geralt - maybe they part for winter, Geralt on the way there thinks about every man he ever found hot, and maybe it is not many, but enough to feel like yeah, there is something there.

And then he spends the entire winter fantasizing about his bard, how it would feel to woo him, and finds that he likes it.

Come spring, maybe they re unite but there is something tense now between them, the fine line of pretending Geralt didn’t say he might fancy the bard, just to be able to keep going without throwing themselves at each other.

The bard never said anything back after all.

An out, if Geralt decides he doesn’t feel that way.

But then Geralt starts to try it out. Reaching for Jask’s hand, touching him more, smiling, maybe even flirting.

And eventually Jask has to ask, has to check that this is not an experiment, because Jaskier’s heart won’t be able to take it.

And Geralt sits quietly for a while, starting at the flames. Maybe they are in a room or maybe they are in the forest, but he sits quietly to think, and it is so very hard to bear.

And maybe Geralt decides that

“I may be inexperienced with this, and even if I have found I find other men attractive, it is towards you I am drawn. So if you would let me, I would try to make you think of only me, too” or something.

And he hopes Jaskier doesn’t mind inexperienced lovers, well. Geralt has been with people before, but he haven’t… loved them.

And he tells Jaskier that, he will make mistakes yes, but he is trying to learn, and he hopes, but if Jask wants nothing of it, he will stop. Clarifying stop trying to woo jask, not stopping to feel that way, about him and about men.

And maybe Jaskier needs to think about it.

Eventually Jaskier says that, he knows what it is like to have his heart broken. Expressing love is easy for him yes, but loving? *Loving* is hard. And it hurts like hell.

So he begs Geralt, begs him to take care. Because if they try this, there might be no going back. No place to return to, should this fail. He can’t guarantee he can heal should Geralt break his heart.

And they go forward with glacial speed, working to change the foundation, gently building trust and affection. They are apart for big stretches of the year, but reunifying has them growing closer.

Very little changes, but Jaskier notice how Geralt is looking at him. Keeps looking at him. Keeps reaching for him.

And eventually, when Jaskier dares believe this is not a passing thing, he reaches back.

They find themselves sleeping closer on purpose. They start wintering together, properly, and find themselves always in each other’s orbit.

They are in every sense a couple, but the physical one. And even if Geralt is the inexperienced one, he lets Jaskier set the pace.

And the bard works himself up to it. Hand holding becomes kisses on the hand. Kisses on the hand becomes kisses in the cheek. And one day, just after lunch at Corvo Bianco, Jaskier kisses him on the cheek, but remains close.

Geralt lets him, waiting and watching, until Jaskier presses a peck to his lips too. And then another one. And then before dinner, the dams are broken, and the peck turns into a kiss, a proper, lingering, earth shattering kiss.

And Geralt, the absolute ass, is murmuring against Jaskier’s lips, even as he is pressing Jaskier against the table, even as they are smiling and kisses, he says

“Have you been experimenting with the subject of your affection?”

“It seems that I am.”

“Some would deem that unwise.” Geralt says, kissing jask again. “What is your conclusion?”

It is a question in jest, he knows, but Jaskier studies Geralt’s face, holds his face with both hands as they become serious.

“That I love you.”

Which … has been a terrifying thought. Up til now, it has been the most frightening thing to carry.

But now? Now they are in each other’s arms, now they are on equal footing. Now it means the same thing for them both.

[alectoperdita]

thinking about jou grabbing one of kaiba’s shirts to hit the gym in. and finding out the shirt cost like 500,000 yen and having a crisis. kaiba: take it. i have 20 more like it.

Jou: It's a plain black t-shirt! How can it cost that much?!

Kaiba: *too busy staring at how the cotton stretches extra over Jou's chest* Oh it's worth every yen.

[mariacallous]

Among the many disruptive economic policies former U.S. President Donald Trump is promising to pursue if he returns to the White House next year—a list that includes massive tax increases on imports, a global trade war, and an exploding budget deficit—his insistence on a weaker U.S. dollar stands out as bizarre, if not downright counterproductive.

For decades, Trump has clamored for a weaker dollar, first as a heavily indebted real-estate developer, then as a presidential candidate, then as president, and now again as a candidate for reelection. Trump’s weak-dollar push has gained support from key figures such as Robert Lighthizer, his former trade czar, who may well play a pivotal role in a second Trump administration.

Their reasoning is wonderfully simple: The dollar, they argue, is overvalued compared to currencies used by trade rivals such as China, Japan, and Europe. A weaker dollar would make imports that much more expensive for Americans and make U.S. exports that much more attractive on global markets. Voilà—a simple tweak to start balancing an out-of-balance trade deficit that for some reason is their bête noire.

The problem—there are many, but more on that later—is that pursuing such a policy would run directly counter to the one thing that Trump claims to be fighting against, and which seems to still worry Americans the most: high prices.

“It makes no sense to run against high inflation, and then advocate lower interest rates, higher tariffs, and a weaker dollar, all of which will add to inflation,” said Maurice Obstfeld, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “It just makes no sense.”

Or, as researchers at the Brookings Institution put it when Trump toyed with the same idea when he was president: “If the objective of the U.S. administration is to worsen their trade deficit, only temporary devalue the U.S. real effective exchange rate, boost the trade balances of U.S. trading partners, support China’s economy and undervalue China’s real effective exchange rate, provide only a temporary sugar-hit to the U.S. economy, worsen global currency misalignments and provoke retaliation from their trading partners, then this policy will achieve those objectives.”

First, though, Trump and company do have a point. The U.S. dollar is a bit overvalued compared to other major currencies, no matter how you look at it—even if it tripped on the carpet Wednesday over some disappointing economic news. The IMF figured it was about 6 percent to 12 percent overvalued the last time it looked, in 2019, and big rivals such as the Chinese renminbi and Japanese yen are relatively cheap by comparison. (The yen is near 40-year lows to the dollar.)

The bigger question is why. U.S. interest rates are still on the high side to tame inflation, which explains why the yen is tanking. But a lot has to do with the fact that the U.S. dollar is the world’s reserve currency. This means that foreign central banks buy and hold dollars, like everyone else in the global economy, which props up their value. U.S. securities, such as government debt, remain the absolute safe haven for investors in times of trouble, even when those troubles emanate, like during the 2008-09 financial crisis, from the United States. That demand props up the dollar. Massive fiscal deficits in the United States, such as that caused by Trump’s $1.9 trillion tax cut, require foreign funding to finance. That demand props up the dollar.

But the problems with pursuing a weak-dollar policy remain legion, even if the policy were actually workable.

For starters, a weaker dollar would neither put a governor on U.S. imports nor turbocharge U.S. exports, which is the explicit goal of the entire approach. In the very short term, a cheap-money, weak-dollar policy would boost U.S. economic growth, which would put money in consumers’ pockets, which would lead to an uptick in imports. That is why the U.S. trade deficit widens when times are good at home—consumers are flush.

But more importantly for Trump and Lighthizer’s case, a weak dollar would do little to boost U.S. exports. There are all sorts of things beyond the marginal value of the dollar that stand in the way of U.S. goods elbowing their way into foreign markets, from non-tariff barriers and regulatory regimes (no chlorinated chicken in Europe, please) to consumer preferences; massive trucks with poor gas mileage are a terrible fit in a place like Europe with pricey petrol and narrow roads.

The biggest reason, though, is that in the modern world of global supply chains, the ability of the value of any country’s currency to affect the level of exports is quite small. Products are made with inputs from foreign countries, sold to other countries, often re-imported, tinkered with again, and exported again somewhere else. The upshot is that in a globalized world, supply chain intermingling makes the value of the export currency increasingly irrelevant.

Another problem is that the easiest way to force the dollar down is by lowering U.S. interest rates, one of Trump’s long-standing obsessions. The one thing that axiomatically follows lower interest rates (unless you are Japan) is higher inflation, which is exactly what Trump and his acolytes have been bashing U.S. President Joe Biden over for years.

And there is a national security component, too. The United States maintains about 800 overseas military bases in more than 70 countries, which collectively underpin a globe-spanning projection of U.S. power. That is kept running day to day by spending dollars on fuel, power, supplies, and a million other things. The weaker the dollar is, the more expensive it would be to maintain the country’s sprawling overseas commitments, which sits rather awkwardly with Trump’s advisors’ plans for “peace through strength” overseas.

But Trump’s plans for a weaker dollar would be hard to realize in any event, which makes the whole exercise befuddling.

Take the Chinese currency, which, despite years of scolding from U.S. officials before, during, and after Trump, keeps getting cheaper in relative terms. The renminbi is partially pegged to the dollar. If the dollar goes down in value, the renminbi will follow it down like George Costanza’s rock-climbing partner. Other countries can equally stand aside and let their own currencies slide a bit to offset the dollar’s move, and everything goes back to square one.

Then there is the tariff angle. Trump has already vowed tariffs on every country in the world, and especially on China. The last time he did that, China and Europe retaliated in kind. Foreign tariffs would erase absolutely any tiny advantage gained by a cheaper dollar.

And then there is the exploding deficit. One-quarter of the entire U.S. national debt was accrued during Trump’s term, in part due to his massive unfunded tax cuts. He promises to double down in a second term, with more unfunded tax cuts that can only be filled by enticing foreign investors to pay for them—which requires higher yields on U.S. government debt, which would then act to push the dollar back up again, undoing all the work he just tried to do.

So why, knowing what we know about the pitfalls and perils of a weak-dollar policy, is this such a Trump priority? It seems that the lodestars for Trump and his economic brain trust are found in years past, and none of them are particularly good for learning economic lessons.

Trump himself seems keen on replaying the 1930s, not exactly a golden time for the U.S. and global economies. His love of tariffs is well known, but it takes a special breed to make worship of the infamous 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariff the hill to die on. He couples that with a love of competitive devaluation of currency to get a trade advantage, another tactic that featured heavily in 1930s beggar-thy-neighbor economic thought (though recent research suggests competitive devaluation only slightly beggared some neighbors and tariffs were a greater evil).

Lighthizer last took his bearings in the 1980s, when the Reagan administration strong-armed Japan over trade, imposed trade restrictions that raised prices and lowered choice for U.S. consumers, and got European allies to help deflate an admittedly overheated dollar with the Plaza Accord, named after the New York hotel in which Trump once made a cameo in a Christmas movie.

But that was, Obstfeld said, a very different time. The dollar was wildly overvalued, there was no common European currency, and Europe was utterly dependent on the U.S. security umbrella during the Cold War. Trump previously threatened to pull out of NATO (and now says he’ll only stay as long as European countries pay their share), refuses to commit to collective defense, and has already started a trade war once with those allies. None of the levers that did the lifting back then are even around today.

Trump has been chasing a weaker dollar for decades and didn’t manage to get there during his chaotic term. He may not get there again, even if he gets to the White House again. But it is a reminder that beyond the crimes and the misdemeanors and the worries about everything else, there are literally dollars and sense at stake this November.

“I just don’t see how the United States can stand alone and be strong. It is all back to the 1930s and isolationism,” Obstfeld said. “It is so misguided.”

[darkmaga-retard]

The global economy is having the worst case of the Mondays that some of us have ever witnessed. Countless portfolios are rapidly becoming “unburdened by what has been.”

So what exactly is going on, and how did this happen?

We’ve honed in on several major economic and political factors for what the world is witnessing.

Ever wish you could turn back time and invest in Amazon's early days? Well, buckle up because the AI revolution is offering a second chance.

In The Motley Fool's latest report, dive into the world of AI-powered innovation. Discover why experts are calling it "the rocket fuel of AI" and predicting a market cap 41 times larger than Amazon's. Take charge of your future and capitalize on the AI wave with The Motley Fool's exclusive free report.

This one carries perhaps the most significant weight.

For quite some time, institutional investors have been leveraging Japanese markets to borrow Japanese yen at an interest-free rate, and reinvesting the loan to buy higher-yielding assets in other markets.

For Japan, this isn’t an ideal status quo, to put it mildly. The yen carry trade, a $20 trillion trading vehicle (to understand the significance, it’s about half the value of the S&P 500), has harmed the Japanese economy and it has made investing in Japan an unattractive proposal. As a free-floating currency, the yen has been used to benefit foreigners at the expense of the Japanese people. The country also faces a shrinking economy, caused by their fiscal woes and their ongoing depopulation crisis.

So Kazuo Ueda, the governor of the Bank of Japan, decided it was time to hike rates, and imposed several additional aggressive steps to bolster the yen.

[prismatoxic]

before the golden country episode, i was so worried about what was going to happen with thistle's name.

it was already pretty bad, mind--people were pissed at yen press for mistranslating it as "sissel" and then doubling down and never correcting it. i didn't know many sissel defenders; i was one, i figured it was the official translation so it had to be right, but the romanji in the jp adventurer's guide did always kind of disprove that. 😔

i figured if the jp and eng versions of the anime disagreed, things would get very frustrating. (i didn't consider anything beyond those versions since the majority of fans i know watch either the jp sub or the eng dub.) a lot of anime-onlys would suddenly be calling him sissel, and there'd be some stupid discourse about which version was "correct" that would be compounded by more people thinking it was sissel.

but that didn't happen! eng and jp both called him thistle. crisis averted, and also i switched to calling him thistle since the anime calling him such confirmed for me that the intent was, in fact, always to call him thistle. (the facts were always on that side, i'm just stubborn and sissel was the first name i knew for him.)

anyway i just found out that at least one dub (the german one) went with sissel instead. idk if there's others. what the fuck

[thoughtfulfangirling]

2024 Reads

Another human invented marker of time has passed moving us from one year to the next. It's a good reason to start over my lists right?! XD 2023's list can be found here! 2024 starts below!

You Made a Fool out of Death with Your Beauty - Awaeke Emezi

Pussypedia: A Comprehensive Guide^ - Zoe Mendelson & Maria Conejo

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek -Kim Michele Richardson

Meru - S.B. Divya

The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist: A True Story of Injustice in the American South^ by Radley Balko & Tucker Carrington

Watching the Tree: A Chinese Daughter Reflects on Happiness, Tradition, and Spiritual Wisdom^ - Adeline Yen Mah

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous - Ocean Vuong

The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg^ - Helen Rappaport]

Pride and Prejudice* - Jane Austen

Fresh Girl - Jaida Placide

Butts: A Backstory^ - Heather Radke

The Girl Who Chased the Moon - Sarah Addison Allen

The Silent Patient - Alex Michaelides

The Blue Sword - Robin McKinley

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex^ - Nathaniel Philbrick

A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico^ - Amy S. Greenberg

This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible^ - Charles E. Cobb Jr.

This Is Your Mind on Plants^ - Michael Pollan

The Silent Patient*~ - Alex Michaelides

Finding Me^ - Viola Davis

Wuthering Heights# - Emily Bronte

Exit Strategy~ - Martha Wells

The Girls Who Went Away:^ The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades before Roe V. Wade - Ann Fessler

Bowling Alone:^ The Collapse and Revival of American Community - Robert D. Putnam

Fugitive Telemetry%~ - Martha Wells

The History of Wales^*% - History Nerds

The War on Everyone^% ~- Robert Evans

Searching for Black Confederates:^ The Civil War's Most Persistent Myth - Kevin M. Levin

The Great Influenza:* The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History [2004] by John M. Barry

Network Effect~ - Martha Wells

Zelda Popkin:^ The Life and Times of an American Jewish Woman Writer - Jeremy D Popkin

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon

Medical Apartheid:^ The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present - Harriet A Washington

The Assassination of Fred Hampton:^ How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther - Jeffrey Haas

The Death of Vivek Oji - Awaeke Emezi

Mutual Aid:^% Building Solidarity in This Crisis (And the Next) - Dean Spade

Passin' Through - Luis L'Amour

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store - James McBride

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

Histories of the Transgender Child^ - Jules Gill-Peterson

Birdseye: The Adventures of a Curiosu Man^ - Mark Kurlansky

When I Fell from the Sky:^ The True Story of One Woman's Miraculous Survival - Juliane Koepcke

Dear Senthuran:^ A Black Spirit Memoir - Akwaeke Emezi

Emma* by Jane Austen

Lud-in-the-Mist - Hope Mirrlees

Woman:^ The American History of an Idea - Lillian Faderman

System Collapse - Martha Wells

A Dark and Starless Forest - Sarah Hollawell

The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love^% - Bell Hooks

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks^ - Rebecca Skloot

Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America^ -Rachel Hope Cleves

The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle^ - Lillian Faderman

The Woman in Me^ - Brittany Spears

Reclaiming Two-Spirits: Sexuality, Spiritual Renewal & Sovereignty in Native America^ - Gregory Smithers

Being Huemann: An Unrepentant Memoir of Disability Rights Activist^ - Judith Huemann

The Unthinkable: Who Survives When a Disaster Strikes and Why^ - Amanda Ripley

The Writing of the Gods: The Race to Decode the Rosetta Stone^ - Edward Dolnick

Utopia for Realists:^ How We Can Build the Ideal World - Rutger Bregman

The Echo Wife - Sarah Gailey

To Believe in Women:^ What Lesbians Have Done for America - Lillian Faderman

Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon

Tribe:^% On Homecoming and Belonging - Sebastian Junger

Freedom^% - Sebastian Junger

Our Wives Under the Sea - Julia Armfield

Nonviolence: 25 Lessons from the History of a Dangerous Idea% - Mark Kurlansky

Bridehead Revisited# - Evelyn Waugh

The Witch Elm - Tana Frencyh

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

HumanKind: A Hopeful History - Rutger Bregman^

Autumn at the Willow River Guesthouse - C.P Ward

From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World Find the Good Death^ - Caitlin Doughty

(last updated 9/19)

Currently reading: On Killing (print), Plain Bad Heroines (print), A Study in Drowning (Audio), Gideon the Ninth (with spouse), and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (audio to fall asleep to)

Key: * = Reread ^ = Nonfiction ~ = Read with Empty % = Novella #= Doc book club

My goal for 2024 is for 40% of my reads to be nonfiction. I've had two years within the recent past where I managed 20% of my reads to be nonfiction, so I'm aiming to double that. THIS WILL BE HARD FOR ME! Not because I don't enjoy nonfiction but because I enjoy fiction a lot more and have a lot more practice reading it. Haha Also for me, I am in circles where I'm just going to have more awareness of fictional books that I'm likely to enjoy more so than nonfiction. I'm kind of hoping that this years journey will change that a bit too!

Okay, below the cut I'm putting the nonfiction books on my tbr, most of which I have the lovely people of Tumblr to thank for the recommendations!

1968: The Year that Rocked the World

The Age of Wood; Our Most Useful Material...

The Assassination of Fred Hampton

Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the...

Being Human

The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shelf

Birdseye: The Adventures of a Curious Man

Bowling Alone

Brave the Wild: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped...

Butts: A Backstory / Evermore Recommended

The Cadaver Kin and the Country Dentist / Automatuck9

Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America

Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse...

Dear Senthuran

DisneyWar

Driven to Distraction: Recognizing and Coping with...

Finding Me (Viola Davis)

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed...

The Food of a Younger Land

The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women...

The Glass Universe

The Great Hunger: The Story of the Famine...

The Great Influenza

Helping Her Get Free: A Guide for Families and Friends of an Abused Woman

The History of Ireland

The History of Scotland

The History of Wales

How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Indifferent Stars Above

In the Heart of the Sea / ecouterbien

In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death...

The Last Days of the Romanovs / Automatuck9

Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer

Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical...

Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During the Crisis...

A New World Begins

Nonviolence: The History of a Dangerous...

This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get you Killed / Empty

Radium Girls

The Road to Jonestown

Paper: Paging through History

People's Temple

Pussypedia / Bookstagram Rec

Salt: A World History

Say Nothing

Sea Biscuit: An American legend

Searching for Black Confederates

This is Your Mind on Plants

Unmasking Autism

The Unthinkable: Who Survives when Disaster Strikes - And Why

Watching the Tree / found all by my little self

We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow we Will be Killed...

A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln and the.. / Rose

The Writing of the Gods: The Race to Decode the Rosetta...

I will actually add to this list as I get more recs and whatnot. And I still have some coming which I ordered from Thriftbooks. Once those are here, I'll add those. I'm a little sad there aren't more memoirs, but there's plenty of time for that yet! This is already 37 books, and given lately I've been reading about 70 (nonfiction may slow me down tho), these should give me plenty of ability to reach my 40% goal. Now it's just a matter of if I do it XD

[limerental]

limerental's themed self-rec lists

read my old fics, you cowards! these are majority witcher fics, because i have an illness.

silly goofy modern au

how long we were fool'd - jaskier/yennefer(&geralt)

married neighbors yennskier, suburban dad!geralt, modern witchers, little kid ciri, aroace geralt, relationship misunderstandings, borzoi roach, supernatural mystery, some canon-typical violence, found family nonsense, and my own clairvoyance in writing yennskier husband-wife but it was spring 2020

(don't) poke the sleeping dragon - jaskier/yennefer/geralt

a retelling of bottled appetites but it's a nerdy fantasy music festival, copious drug use, yennefer's sick wizard van, unicorn edibles, golden dragon dildos, outdoor sex, geralt getting pegged and double penetrated, a dialogue only threesome, accidental yearning old friend geraskier tenderness, and someone once told me they wouldn't read this fic because yen had her tits out in the summary and i will always remember that criticism for the rest of my life

as if you were a mythical thing - yennefer/geralt

old married couple, dom/sub dynamics, sex unicorn mention, geralt is very vanilla but loves his kinky wife, and he's too autistic about horses not to ruin ponyplay with horse facts

this one might hurt

long on the road & how light carries on - geralt/jaskier (eventual geralt/regis in the sequel, plus many platonic relationships)

the 80s trucker/hitchhiker au that got away from me, vietnam vet trucker geralt, aging hippie musician jaskier, AIDS crisis, terminal illnesses, dealing with mortality, falling in love, road tripping, copious american geography, period-typical queer community issues, and then... life after loss, aging, grief and mourning, queer and traumatized family dynamics both found and otherwise, finding love again, and watching the sun set on a life well lived

in dark and twisted braids - fringilla &/ yennefer

aretuza school days slumber parties, girlhood crushes, pining, unrequited love, i shook a sorceress and intergenerational trauma fell out, the inherent adolescent horror of making lasting decisions about your future when you are barely 18 but even worse because there's war and violence and permanent alterations to your body and forced sterilization and your little schoolgirl crush on someone you thought was a friend ends in betrayal and bloodshed and you end up on opposite sides of the war and she never even looked your way or thought about you and--

then send down the storm - aiden/lambert, lambert/geralt(/yennefer)

witcher roadtripping, just guys being dudes, horse stuff, winter at kaer morhen polyamory but different, ~trauma~, the mortifying ordeal of accepting you deserve more from life and also of being known, but it's too late (or is it?), grief and mourning and loss and love that was worth its loss, and also, the character death(s) are largely temporary.

aw that just ain't right :/

the witch in her tower - eskel/yennefer(/geralt)

dark fic, fairytale elements, hurt no comfort (mind the tags), morally dubious heartbroken yennefer, pining and years of yearning for geralt eskel, unrequited love, non-consensual mind control during sex, flashbacks to messed up witcher child abuse and violence and cruelty, the inherent horror of mutated and manipulated little boys becoming men who think they can't or shouldn't love paralleled with the inherent horror of enchanted and manipulated little girls becoming women who-- you get it.

the flesh calmly going cold - geralt/jaskier

this one's gross for real, a hunt gone wrong, hurt NO comfort, major character death and it's gross and tragic, gore, necrophilia, organs lovingly described (and jizzed on), basically it's just like that scene in twn where filavandrel exploded but if francesca humped his goo after. sorry.

blood of the covenant (water of the womb) - geralt/&renfri, geralt/stregobor

supernatural pregnancy body horror as revenge, ......pregobor, black sun princess trauma and curses, apocalyptic monster fetus imagery, it's about women and violence against women and evil men suffering for inflicting that violence mostly, and also the evils of standing by and watching evil happen. also, yes stregobor is magical yucky bella swan pregnant and then bad stuff happens to everybody.

[nanaosaki3940]

Touya [The Crimson Butterfly]

Synopsis: It wasn’t until he met her for the first time that their encounter made him believe that the world is just as beautiful as her. She was brighter than the summer sun, prettier than the spring flowers, kinder than the winter moon & warmer than his blue flames. She was his first and only love, his life, his biggest fan, his supporter, his playmate, his healer, his everything... Even after his supposed ‘death’.

|| My Hero Academia ft. Tokyo Ghoul || (Follows the canon storyline of MHA & is up-to-date with the manga.) 

Pairing: Touya Todoroki X OC/Reader X Shoto Todoroki

Genre: Romance, Fluff, Angst. 

Note: Shoto and my OC are of the same age (16 yrs old) and Dabi/Touya is 8 yrs older than them (24 yrs old) - Just like how it is in the manga.

(A snippet of my MHA fanfic "The Crimson Butterfly". I know this is an xOC fic, but you can read it as a self-insert if you like.)

Nana’s POV (The fateful day: The beginning of the 2nd War)

Around 10 AM this morning, Midoriya and I made our way towards an abandoned city outside UA to meet up with Aoyama. When we finally reached the designated spot, we found our blonde friend standing alone in the middle of a huge parking lot in front of a shopping mall. 

"Thank you for coming..." Aoyama greeted us in a quiet yet monotone voice with a dull look in his eyes as Midoriya and I flew down from the sky and landed just a few feet away from him on the ground. 

"Why are you out here, Aoyama? Weren’t you being detained?" I asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. 

"My parents’ lawyer got me released..." Aoyama replied and this brought a big smile to Midoriya's face. 

"We gotta tell everyone!" Midoriya stated in relief, turning around to leave. "We can rejoin the search effort and-"

"Wait..." Aoyama spoke up again, causing Midoriya to halt on his spot while I stared at the blonde boy with a skeptical look. "I’d like to speak to you two. It’s almost funny… That courts and the illegal system still exist despite Japan being in ruins. With society as it is now, would the old ways of living really get you anywhere?"

"What do you mean Aoyama?" I asked with furrowed eyebrows, crossing my arms over my chest. 

"Let me tell you All For One’s real goal..." Aoyama continued and this got our full attention. "With the state Japan's in... do you know what’s become of the rest of the world? The sudden crash in the value of the Yen… forced Japanese corporations into bankruptcy. That, plus the coordinated uprisings of villains caused the damage to spread worldwide. Now the world faces a crisis much like the Great Depression or the period around the advent of quirks. Record unemployment, loss of faith in currencies… an era of total chaos."

"What are you talking about, Aoyama?" Midoriya asked, getting a bit uncomfortable with this talk. 

"Lacking the strength to implement long-term policies, Japan's society devolves into one scrambling for short-term safety. While the nations who have abandoned Japan prioritize their own stability. In such a world imagine a country lacking potable water. Imagine if a quirk capable of producing that water were to suddenly appear. Or electricity or gas. Or strength. As the world is plunged into this state of chaotic decline, we suddenly have an arena ripe for a certain remarkable individual to take the initiative. he would become the world's arbiter; its very own Demon Lord. He only had to rock that balance somewhere. It didn’t matter how." Aoyama added. 

AFO's ultimate plan is... Capitalism... To become a World Bank?!

Like seriously?! You gotta be fucking kidding me!!

"I don’t think so… The world would never go along with that." I countered back in a strong tone. 

"Nana-chan's right. Besides the world still has us!" Midoriya added. 

"True. Which is why it all has to end here." Aoyama stated with a saddened face and teary eyes, his voice cracking in the end as a certain someone emerged from behind him. "I’m sorry. Alas, I had to protect Mama and Papa." 

"All For One!!" Midoriya and I gasped out in unison, shocked, our eyes widened in the process. 

"Splendidly done, Yuga Aoyama." AFO stated, clapping his hands who was in formal attire with a black skull mask covering his whole head. "How terrifying it must have been to turn on your friends like this. How heartrending, to betray someone who put their faith in you. But you overcame the fear and pain! And that speech about my ultimate goal? Wonderful! Wrong in some of the details but that's fine. Did your parents explain it all to you?" 

"Yes..." Aoyama replied in a trembling tone with tears rolling down his cheeks as he held a remorseful look on his face. "They said you promised us a blessed existence in your new world." 

"Aoyama, did you really betray us again?!" I yelled out through my gritted teeth, clenching my fists in anger and frustration. "How could you?!"

"We believed in you dammit!!" Midoriya cried out, panicking. 

"My pain cannot be measured…" Aoyama trailed off before suddenly he turned around and blasted AFO with his Navel Laser. "By that singular word 'uncle'!!" 

And right on cue, Midoriya immediately let out a large amount of his smokescreen to block AFO's view, and taking the chance, Aoyama quickly moved away from his previous spot and hid behind me for protection. AFO was caught off guard by the sudden attack before he figured out what just happened. It was just all a fake play to lure out the Demon Lord from his hideout. 

"Ungrateful little…" AFO grumbled out through his gritted teeth. 

"That was such a believable performance, Aoyama!" Midoriya praised the blonde boy. 

"Yeah, excellent job!" I added with a wide smirk on my face, coming out from my previous facade as I stood protectively in front of him. "You're gonna win an Oscar for this Aoyama!"

"I had no choice! Otherwise, we could not have lured him here!" Aoyama cried out from behind me, still trembling in fear. "And I must say, both of your actings were tour-de-force as well!"

"We couldn’t help it once your tears started flowing." Midoriya chuckled out as he and I got into our fighting stance once the smokescreen started to dissipate away. 

"The tears are real! I truly am scared! In fact, I think I may have wet myself!" Aoyama cried again. 

"You did great, Aoyama!" I reassured him once again, my eyes now locked on the floating form of AFO. 

"This is for Mama and Papa! For all of my friends and for myself! I shall fight AFO!" Aoyama declared with all his determination. 

"Disappointing." AFO sighed in annoyance before taking off his coat and just then using his Warping quirk, he began to summon the League of Villains, Paranormal Liberation Front, and Nomus all at the same time which included Touya, Tenko, and Toga. "Trap or not, Ghoul and One for all is here within reach. The Search quirk tells the user the location and weaknesses of those they see. And heroes Tomura saw in the previous conflict are deployed and dispersed across the country. They will not make it in time to assist you. They didn’t happen to notice that my people were drawing near! And now I’m afraid they are entirely too late!!" 

My heart skipped a beat when I locked my eyes with Touya who just walked out of the gooey warp gate and landed on the ground. 

He's here... Touya's here... He's finally here... 

His beautiful bluish-turquoise eyes went wide open a bit upon noticing my presence while his instant sorrowful expression didn't go overlooked by me when we gazed at each other from afar before he decided to turn his head away from me and break the eye contact. As I continued to stare at Touya with hope and yearning, I noticed the new outfit he was wearing at that moment; a tattered overcoat, boots, and pants all colored white, with bracers on the sleeves and a belt on his waist. His new outfit also lacked a shirt underneath which caused him to expose his chest. 

"What act of sluttery is he wearing?" I mumbled to myself, a small blush appearing on my cheeks as I scanned Touya from head to toe, trying hard not to facepalm. "Did he seriously decide to walk into this war like a whore?" 

Although my words didn't go unheard by Midoriya and the poor green-haired boy tried his best not to burst out into a fit of laughter. I also noticed Tenko looking the same, not to mention even worse; completely topless, in a pair of black pants, his traditional red shoes, and a long ragged-looking cape hanging on his shoulders.

What the hell is up with these villains and their fashion sense these days...?

"Mama and Papa told me something else…" Aoyama spoke up again, causing me to snap out of my trance. "They told me what it is you fear most, AFO. You fear the world learning that Japan isn’t finished yet. You feel the light and hope that will come with recovery. And you fear Japan inspiring the world to unite once more. So today is the day and this is the place where you fall!!" 

And just then AFO got alerted when he suddenly noticed a black mist appearing behind Midoriya which happened to be Kurogiri's quirk, confusing the Demon Lord to no end and soon realized who it actually was; it was none other than Monoma from Class 1-B who copied the misty warping gate quirk and now using it to bring out the heroes from our side. 

"Didn't see that coming, huh AFO?! Suck, doesn't it?!" I taunted him as Endeavor, Mirko, Fat Gum, Edgeshot, Tamaki senpai, Nejire senpai, Gang Orca and the others appeared by our side. 

And so the rumbling begins!!!

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!! The man behind the curtain!!" Monoma laughed hysterically, being all full of himself like always, as he brought out more and more heroes from the warp gate. 

"Just as expected, he's brought his army along!" Detective Tsukauchi stated out through the comms from the headquarters (The Central Hospital). "All squads, take action!" 

"If he steals Ghoul and OFA, he'll have no need to run and hide ever again! They'll attempt to bring it all to an end right now!" All Might pointed out from beside Tsukauchi. 

As we the Heroes and Villains all charged toward each other, Tenko touched the ground, only to notice something peculiar, so commanded Touya to attack.

"Dabi..." Tenko called out.

"You ain’t the boss of me, leader!" Touya shouted back before he dashed straight toward Endeavor, his hands already ignited with his blue flames. "Fancy running into you here, dear old dad!! Come to watch your pals get cremated?!"

Touya was prepared to burn everyone with his fire and as soon as he shot out a huge gush of his flames toward the heroes, a large explosion of ice appeared from the misty warp gate and canceled out his fire; emerging from another warp gate, Shoto and our whole Class 1-A just joined the battle. 

"Not on my watch, Baka Aniki!!" Shoto yelled out. 

"Shoto!!" Touya yelled back in excitement, getting all pumped up. 

"Like cockroaches…" AFO groaned out in annoyance and just then, among the sea of villains, I noticed the ones I needed to go up against; Shuu Tsukiyama and Rize Kamishiro, all decked up and ready to fight like always. 

"It's been a while, Nana-kun!!" Tsukiyama shouted out with a huge grin on his face as he and Rize dashed their way toward me. 

"How many years now?! Almost 3 years, right?!" Rize added, unleashing her Rinkaku kagune from her back. 

"Oh, how I've been itching all these many years just to finish you guys off!" I taunted back and immediately unleashed both of my Rinkaku and Ukaku kagune while bringing out my scythe. "Time for payback for what you guys did to me 3 years back!!" 

"Operation Troy-Tempt and Trap!! Activate!!" All Might commanded through the comms.  

Upon his commands, suddenly, the ground beneath us started to shake violently before cages emerged from beneath the battlefield, surrounding all the villains in individual metal containers and as soon as the villains were being trapped in those metal cages, Monoma began to summon several more warp gates around the cages while we the Heroes prepared ourselves to shove them all in, to split up the villains.

"Cages? They can’t be serious!" Touya commented before getting trapped into one of the cages. 

"I’m pulling these strings!! Everyone now! Shove them in!!" Monoma ordered us before looking over at me. "Osaki!! Use your repulsive force now!!" 

"Roger!!" I replied and started to use the Repulsive force technique of my Gravity Manipulation quirk to push the metal cages into their respective warp gates. 

"This cage is moving?! They really think this tin can is gonna hold us?!" one of the villains cried out. 

"Break it open! Quickly!" Toga screamed out from inside her cage. 

As I continued to push the cages into the warp gates, Touya suddenly used his flames to melt down the metallic container he was trapped in before trying to get out from there. 

"Your pathetic cages didn’t even last three whole seconds!" Touya mocked and just then Shoto and his gang appeared in front of him to push him into their respective warp gate. 

"3 seconds is all we needed!" Shoto countered back as the two brothers began to attack each other with their flames while submerging into the gate. 

"Lock them down for an instant! Break them into smaller groups! Seize the slightest advantage! All of this to shove you into those warp gates all at once and split you up without fail!!" All Might continued through the comms once again. 

"Deku!" Bakugo called out to Midoriya as he headed towards Tenko. 

"Yep!" Midoriya responded and began to follow the explosive blonde. 

"Ahahahahaha! I’m the mover and shaker!!" Monoma continued to laugh while still keeping Kurogiri's quirk activated.

Among us heroes, Uraraka and Tsuyu headed towards Toga's direction while Kaneki and Ayato joined by my side a few seconds later to go after Rize and Tsukiyama. Just as we all were about to enter our respective warp gates, an unusual occurrence happened. From two different warp gates, two whips came out and grabbed me and Midoriya individually by our wrists. And before we could even realize what was happening, we were being pulled away from our respective comrades. 

"What the?!" I gasped out in shock. 

"Huh?!" Midoriya gasped out as well in confusion. 

"Nana!!" Kaneki called out in worry as he tried to reach out and grab me but failed. 

"Nana-Nee!!" Ayato called out as well in concern. 

"Huh?! Oi, Deku!!" Bakugo called out to the green-haired boy but it was already too late. 

Both Midoriya and I were pulled into two separate warp gates which we weren't supposed to enter. After entering the unknown scene, I immediately landed on the ground as soon as I passed through the gate and began to look around to see where I actually was; Ground Zero in Kamino Ward. 

What?! Ground Zero?! Why am I here?! Shit!!

I was supposed to be on the other side of the Kamino City with Ken and Ayato, facing off against Rize and Tsukiyama!! 

"They are divided! Now we shift to phase two!" All Might commanded through the comms again. 

"Nana?!" familiar voices called out my name in shock, causing me to turn around and face them; it was Shoto, Iida, and Endeavor's sidekicks (Burnin, Kido, and Onima). 

"What are you doing here?" Shoto asked in surprise. "Weren't you suppose to be with Kaneki and Ayato?" 

"I was, but..." I trailed off in confusion before looking down at the wrist where the whip was still wrapped around. 

"Sorry, Babydoll." a familiar deep masculine voice spoke up from just a few feet away from us and we all looked over at the man himself; Touya, smirking down at me while firmly holding the other end of the whip. "Couldn't let you go so easily, you know... You're just too precious." 

"Touya... but how?" I asked in confusion, furrowing my eyebrows a bit. 

"That crazy woman gave it to me, said it might come in handy. Hate to admit it, but she was right." Touya replied, referring to Toga as 'the crazy woman', causing me to click my tongue in frustration as I unwrapped my wrist from his whip before the news was sent to us by Tsukauchi through the comms that Midoriya was warped to an aquarium, alongside Gang Orca, Uraraka and Tsuyu by Toga using her whip. 

"So, Izuku isn't with Katsuki and Jeanist at the UA High right now, huh? That sucks." I stated in a calming tone though I was kinda panicking from the inside before I looked back at Touya and locked gazes with him. "Looks like I'm stuck here with you, for now, Touya."  

This wasn't supposed to happen...

I wasn't supposed to fight Touya...

What should I do now?!

"Indeed, Doll-face..." Touya agreed in a mocking tone as he climbed up on the All Might victory statue before unleashing his blue flames around us, causing us to get into our fighting stance at once. "So, now... where were we?"

Fuck!! This is bad!! This is really, really bad!! 

Right now, Shoto, Iida, and I were at Ground Zero in Kamino Ward, where Touya was completely burning everyone down in a fire tornado while being accompanied by a spiky Near High-End Nomu, dwindling down our accompanying heroes.

"There are already so few heroes left and you are losing more by the minute..." Touya stated in a calming tone, glancing around with a bored look in his eyes while hanging onto the All Might victory statue as he began to reminiscence on the current event being similar to the Hosu Incident. "Let’s see, we have got a Nomu in a raging sea of fire. This is really bringing back memories even if it wasn't that long ago. Seeing that battle in Hosu spurred me to take action, you know?" 

"Nana! Shoto!" Iida yelled out in concern from outside the ring of Touya's fire tornado as he couldn't get any closer to us or else the fire would damage his engines. 

While Shoto and the others could resist the fire and the heat, I, on the other hand, was using the Repulsive Force of my Gravity Manipulation quirk to push back the flames away from me. Using this repulsive force as a defense, I could repel nearby opponents or attacks without breaking a sweat like for example I could use this force to disperse flame attacks which could also strike the user back. But in this case, I wasn't doing that because my intention was not to attack or hurt Touya. It was just to protect myself from his flames. 

"The sheer heat! It's extraordinary!" I commented in surprise yet amazement while Endeavor's sidekicks used their quirks to absorb Touya's hot flames as much as they could for now. 

"Oops, sorry. Just yapping away to myself." Touya stated, letting out a sigh as he propelled himself up into the air by shooting out flames from under his feet. "Once again, he won't pay me any attention. It really bums me out that all I get is his third son and his three merry helpers. Is that really his answer to me?"

"You keep back, Kido. Your body's got no way to withstand the heat." Onima stated, looking back at his comrade. 

"I’m good. You know I can alter the trajectory of anything so I have just gotta make all that heat air swerve around me. Nothing new for me. Keep a cool head and go about it logically. That’s how I have done it for a whole decade. Just like always. I’m here to follow our main man’s orders because I want to." Kido replied while doing his job. 

"His family drama may be a can of worms, but Endeavor shows up and gets the job done, even if he does stink like an old fart!" Burnin commented, frowning up at Touya before looking back at me and Shoto. "And that includes today! And now he has handed off us three junior stinkers to you! So you have got our full support, kid! You too, Nana-chan!"

"Thanks for that Burnin." Shoto responded back, his gaze locked onto Touya. 

"No thanks needed! Save your energy!" Burnin joked with her signature laugh. 

"Touya… Dabi…" Shoto carefully called out, furrowing his eyebrows in the process. "You have got it all wrong. I’m not here on anyone’s orders. I’m standing here now because I made the decision to stop you."

"Stellar job, being the perfect little pawn Dad always dreamed of." Touya mocked his little brother as smoke came out of his mouth. 

And this caused me to get worried even more. Months ago, back at our fight in Jaku City, Touya wasn't covered with as many burns marks as he was covered right now. As I carefully observed his new scars and burn marks in concern, I realized that his body was burning away even more as he continued to use his quirk wildly. My chest tightened and my heart hammered hard against my chest in concern. In concern for his wellbeing. 

"If I ignored you and kept trying to be a hero anyway that just might be true..." Shoto replied in a strong tone. 

"Hey, fair enough…" Touya stated casually with a shrug. "This war is all about the people involved. It’s not the mindless soldiers following orders who are the real movers and shakers. This is what happens when everyone's got feelings and urges that start firing off. Some wanna change the world they live in. Or destroy… The warped imbalances built up over time that we all just came to accept. Behold, the limitations of a superpowered society. That's me. That’s all of us." 

"Touya..." I called out in a soft tone with small tears forming in the corner of my eyes, causing him to look over at me. "Please stop this. You're burning yourself alive." 

"I don't care anymore, Babydoll. I just really don't care..." he replied in a monotone voice with no trace of emotion in his voice, aching my heart even more and this frustrated me to no end.  

"Why are you being so stubborn like this, huh? Though, to be fair, you had always been a stubborn guy. But, that raises my question... You survived back then… So, why didn’t you come back home?" I asked, frowning at him and Touya let out a chuckle in amusement. 

"You really wanna know, Doll? Fine. Happy to share. Rotten or not, I’m still your Touya." Touya replied with a grin as his already burned flesh around the right side of his face began to crumble and fall off, leaving him horribly disfigured while a portion of his jaw and teeth, as well as muscles and tendons, were now visible and his burns continued to spread around his face, leaving me shocked and concerned. "Here is the story of how I became Dabi…  and the reason I’m still alive and kicking to tell the tale… Even when I never stopped burning hotter than you, Shoto, his masterpiece!" 

~~~~~

Flashback (11 years earlier, at Sekoto peak)

'Hot! It’s so hot!!' a 13-year-old Touya thought to himself in pain and agony as he continued to burn himself to a crisp on top of Mt. Sekoto while burning everything else around him to ashes. 'No, no, no! I don’t wanna die!! I still haven’t… I still haven’t shown him anything! And Nana-chan?! Oh, Nana-chan! I can't leave her behind just like this!! I wanna live a long life with her!!' 

Desperate while on the verge of death, Touya frantically began to run around in the midst of the ocean of his own flames to find any source of water to extinguish the fire on his body before finding a lake nearby and jumping into it to quell the flames. And soon after when Touya lost consciousness and laid there in the water all burned and crisped, almost turned into charcoal, his charred body was later discovered on the very spot by the Demon Lord himself, AFO. 

After this, three whole years passed by before the white-haired Todoroki boy finally woke up from his long comatose. A 16-year-old Touya let out a gasp before snapping his eyes wide open and the first thing that came to his view was a white ceiling. Shocked and confused, he immediately sat up and looked around at his surrounding while trying to figure out what was happening right now. He found himself laying on a bed and with all these childish decorations around him, he realized that he was in a nursery school. 

'Where am I? I’m alive…?' he thought to himself as he walked down the hallway before entering a room full of kids younger than him. 

"Oh! he’s awake!" A young girl with short hair stated gleefully, causing the others to shift their attention towards him while Touya stared at them in pure confusion. 

"Sleepyhead is awake!" another little girl with long hair added with a bright smile on her face.

"Where are we?" Touya finally spoke up before halting himself from speaking any further. 

'Was that really my voice?' he thought in shock, realizing how deep and manly he sounded just now. 

"This is where we live, silly!" the short-haired girl replied with a giggle while the long-haired girl rushed towards the other room to fetch their sensei. "It’s um… three years, sleepyhead! You were asleep for three whole years! At least that’s what sensei told me… since I haven’t been here all that long!" 

Touya immediately went rigid on the spot upon hearing those words, his eyes went wide open in shock and disbelief.  

'Three years? How? What happened? What’s going on? I was on Sekoto peak and then… I burned up and… I have to get home!'

"We can’t have that now can we, sunny?" the sensei (creepy-looking dude with a sunflower head and a buffed body) stated with a bright smile as he and Touya were now in an office room, talking about the situation. 

"Why not?!" Touya asked in confusion. 

"From now on you live here with everyone!" the sensei replied, still with a smiling face. "Your very own place under the sun! They're your new family! You'll come to love it, as sure as the sun does rise!"

"Huh? That can't be!" Touya argued back in desperation, tears forming in his eyes as his voice began to tremble. "I gotta get home! I bet that Dad… was just too busy with work to come see me, right? Probably? Yeah, he must be really worried! Those were some awful things I did and said. I should apologize to Mom and everyone. And Dad still needs to see what I can do. And above all, Nana-chan is waiting for me! I need to go and see Nana-chan!" 

And just then a very deep yet eerie masculine voice spoke up from a computer on a table beside them. It was AFO. 

"Sadly your hope is in vain." AFO stated and Touya looked at the screen of the computer in confusion. "Restoring your burnt and broken body was a monumental task. Your missing pieces had to be replaced via regenerative tissue. You’re a changed man with that burnt rictus look on your face and yet you survived."

"I’m changed? I don't get… what you're saying…" Touya trailed off as he put a hand on his throat, suddenly getting worried. 

"You’ll never exhibit the power you once did. Every organ was damaged. Your senses, your ability to feel pain, all dulled. Your body is debilitated. And you will never be the same again." AFO replied, causing Touya to put a hand over his own mouth, horrified. "But alas, despite our best efforts, we wanted to welcome you in at your full strength… We failed." 

And the word 'failure' caused Touya to fall into even more despair, breaking and crumbling his soul and spirit into pieces as he began to recall what Enji used to call him back then over and over again; a failure. 

"You must be suffering, you poor thing." AFO continued, using his sympathetic voice to lure Touya. "But, I must just be able to restore your flames at their full glory! Well, what do you say? Will you join our family and allow me to raise you?" 

"Shut up…" Touya hissed out through his gritted teeth, looking down at the ground while covering his face with a hand as he viciously denied the Demon Lord. 

"Hmm?" AFO hummed out in confusion before the white-haired Todoroki boy looked up at the computer with fury and hatred in his eyes. 

"No way am I getting trained by anyone else." Touya added with finality in his voice, showcasing his unhealthy obsession with his father Enji Todoroki aka Endeavor. 

And with that Touya somehow managed to escape from the nursery school after burning the whole place down with his own blue flames. Later he did go back home, and even though his body was weaker and he didn't have anything to look forward to anymore, he wanted to see if anything changed. However, seeing his butsudan (funeral altar) in his old bedroom, and Endeavor's continued abuse toward Shoto, reminded him of his purpose as a failed creation, and his family had already left him behind.

Flashback ended 

~~~~~

3rd Person's POV (At a prison)

"I suppose, the big day has begun then?" Dr. Kyudai Garaki (aka Dr. Ujiko) spoke up in a tired tone from inside his cell causing a gorilla police officer who was standing down the hallway to frown at his words. 

"Be quiet." the cop ordered. 

"You are light on guards today. So it’s pretty obvious." Garaki pointed out. "All to prepare for today. That's why we sought out twisted raw material born into this world. Warped seeds that could serve as his vessel. That one too was born with some cracks in him. No, maybe, from the very start, it wasn’t just cracks... Maybe that boy was born with everything." 

And with that, the doctor began to tell the exact same story of Touya Todoroki to the police officer. 

"He had already been too molded by his upbringing for us to lead him astray. He was already festering away inside. Even the man who had known absolute control far and wide couldn't exploit the boy’s obsession with his father. Those kids were our spares, in case anything happened to Tomura Shigaraki. A seedbed of ferocity and hatred. One full of vessels for the demon king. Dabi as one of those spares was a failed experiment." Garaki went on.

"How despicable!" The cop grumbled in disgust. "No, never mind! What are you even trying to say?! More crap about how AFO had everything planned out from the start?"

"I’m saying they'd better watch out. ‘Cause that one boy never did buy what we were selling. Nah, we gave up on Dabi and let him run loose cause after his body came back to life and he was up and about, he wasn't supposed to live for more than a month. What a surprise, when the broker Giran brought him back to our doorstep. Why had he come back? How was he still alive? I had to know what Dabi was really thinking, so I arranged a moment when we would be alone just the two of us..." Garaki continued as he referred to their meeting where he and Touya went to meet the Near High-End Nomu, Hood in one of their hideouts; the same Nomu that was taken down by Nana, Endeavor, and Hawks back at Kyushu. 

"Ujiko-san, you're the one who kept me alive right?" Touya asked as he stared down at Hood in front of him. 

"Why I’m tickled pink that you realized!" Garaki chuckled. "Now tell me, what's been keeping you kicking?"

"Seeing this walking corpse here gives me a decent idea of what you people were planning to do with me. And I’m back now… because this seemed like the perfect place for my funeral." Touya stated before looking back at Garaki over his shoulder with a murderous glare in his eyes, sending a strong shiver down the doctor's spine. 

"That one glimpse told me everything. He had kept his dying body tethered to this world through a pure blazing grudge." Garaki stated. "Heat is energy born of living things as they move and thrive. AFO who seeks to live forever had no use for that mad heat, rushing headlong toward death. The Demon Lord himself had to abandon that frenzied flame of death." 

Nana's POV (Back at Ground Zero)

I stared at Touya with wide eyes and a dropped jaw upon hearing the story from him. 

AFO saved Touya and recovered him to almost full health?! 

Touya was in a coma for three years?! 

Touya was a replacement in case Tenko couldn't become the next successor of AFO?! 

But they saw him as a failure because of his quirk and his body, so they wanted to use him in their Nomu program instead?! 

Thank God Touya ran away from there before anything bad happened to him...

'Cause for sure that the potato-headed bastard would've used him and turned him into a Nomu...

"Nana, Shoto, I did come home actually..." Touya spoke up again as his fire started to grow even more in comparison to size, strength, and temperature. "Even though I was weaker than ever and there was no way that what I was hoping for was there. I still just wanted to be seen… but then… but I was sure something must have changed… that’s all I wanted to see. Instead, I was shown once more… after three years away, I witnessed that old familiar scene. The reason I was born. The fact is, as a failed creation, my life had been pointless. this family had left me behind in their past."

Touya started to fly higher and higher into the sky and began to emit larger flames from his whole arms, burning his skin even more. 

"When you surpass your limits… it’s like everything you have built up is flipped around upside down. I focused on honing my flames so I won’t be so weak when next we met. This body of mine kept peeling away and falling to pieces but I never felt a thing. You want battle moves? I have seen them all, over and over." Touya went on and my eyes widened in concern, seeing him burning himself up even more. 

"Kids! Listen, I think-" Onima shouted out worriedly.  

"Yeah, he has been prepared to die from the start!" Shoto added with a frowned face through his gritted teeth, getting ready to counterattack. 

"Touya!! Please just stop already!!" I cried out in desperation, but all my words fell deaf in his ears. 

"Every time that thing saved the city, every time that thing got a boost in popularity, my heart kept pounding away!! Ever since the day that Touya died and Dabi was born!!" Touya continued, getting ready to launch an attack called 'Flashfire Heatfist' as he stomped over All Might's statue, melting it down in the process. "Once I have burned away all that that thing holds near and dear, that will be the mark I have left on this world!!" 

"Like I said, Baka Aniki, not on my watch!!" Shoto responded back, putting his hands together to create an attack. 

Ultimate move, Flash Firefist; it builds up internal heat to the maximum threshold before unleashing it as an attack. It’s the peak manifestation of fire achieved by a young Endeavor. When Endeavor mastered this move in his quest for power, he came to understand his own limitations and that fire produced a shimmering heat haze that warped and distorted all that he gazed upon.

"All right! That little chat has got me pumped for this! Thanks for listening to my tale!" Touya yelled out, getting all pumped up before looking over at me for a split second. "Now Babydoll, step aside! This battle here is between me and my little brother!" 

Touya doesn't wanna fight me...? 

Also, he’s faster than Shoto at raising his temperature! There is no hint of hesitation!

A huge ocean of blue flames surrounded us while Touya standing on top of a melting All Might statue was looking like a walking, talking inferno.

"Now that I’m thinking about it with a cool head, even if Dad ain’t here, you’ll make for some prime kindling all the same, little brother!" Touya stated as he continued to shoot more and more fire around us, trapping us inside a firey tsunami. 

"I’m the one who'll stop you!" Shoto yelled back, still controlling his fire and ice sides. 

"Hey, now, don't get the wrong idea! I’ve got some legit thoughts about you too, Shoto!" Touya countered back, ready to finally launch his attack. "It began when I worked on boosting weakened flames. Turning up the firepower was all I knew. 'Your potential surpasses my own'; that's what he had said. That encouraged me. The numbing of my body stripped away my limitations which was ideal, following his lead with max output." 

"Nana, get away from here!!" Shoto and Burning shouted out, pushing me behind them. 

"Flashfire Fist: Hell Spider!!" Touya unleashed his attack, sending a wide array of fire spirals all outside the tornado. "Are you a fan of All Might, Shoto?!" 

Touya's Hell Spider attack was similar to what Endeavor once used on the Nomu called Hood back at Kyushu, but his flames were rawer and more intense. Touya's firepower and the heat were so strong, just the sheer strength of his quirk overwhelmed me to no end, leaving me completely stunned and speechless. I always knew Touya had the potential to surpass his own father, but I had never imagined that he would grow this powerful and strong, and that amazed yet scared me all at the same time. 

"Incoming!!" Burnin and the others announced, getting ready to stop Touya's attack. 

"Hot! Hot! Is that Endeavor's move?!" heroes who were fighting that big spiky Nomu yelled out. 

"So much thicker though… and so haphazard!" someone else added. 

"Ready yet, Shoto?!" Burnin asked. 

"I am!" Shoto replied, ready to launch his attack. 

But just then with the help of my Ghoul quirk sensing ability, I sensed Touya's speed blitzing and slid behind Shoto with the help of his flames in a matter of seconds, almost melting the ground with his fire in the process, before the bi-color-haired boy could even do anything as a counterattack. 

So fast! The Hell Spider was a smokescreen!!

"Shoto, behind you!! Watch out!!" I shouted out as a warning but it was already too late. 

"One thing I just gotta ask, Shoto. What was the look on your face..." Touya yelled out before launching a firey punch on Shoto and hitting him right on the face, causing Shoto to fly way back from where he originally was. "While you were holed up at UA with all those scared little civilians?!" 

Touya then immediately dashed forward and continued his assault on Shoto by throwing a series of fiery punches and kicks at his little brother with no sign or intention of stopping or whatsoever. 

"Son of Endeavor, brother of Dabi… Calamity incarnate, concentrated down into a boy-sized package!! A worthless mix of fire and ice!! Awful brazen of ya, Shoto!! Have you no shame at all?!" Touya asked as blue flames started to come out of his mouth like a dragon while he continued to mock Shoto even more. 

"Shoto!!" Burnin yelled out in concern. "That’s more firepower than even Endeavor can boast! But if he keeps the heat dialed up like that…"

"Blessed with the ideal body and ushered into a place where you could shine bright, but still, you depend on everyone else!! The boy born with everything! But you sure don't capitalize on it!! Can't even man enough to own it!! No one's willing to say it to your face, so allow me!! You're a feckless, half-baked puppet!! You’ll never make a damn thing of yourself!!" Touya continued as he unleashed a beam-looking Jet Burn attack like a strong fiery punch that blasted Shoto up in the air and launched him directly into a building; an attack so strong that the whole building shook and slightly bend back after Shoto crashed into it. 

"Oh my god, Shoto!" I cried out in concern. 

At that moment, I was amazed and scared all at once. It was a very weird feeling, something that I couldn't explain to myself. Amazed because Touya had grown really strong and I was proud of his improvement. Scared because of the fight that was going on right now in front of my eyes and how Touya was beating up Shoto while burning himself up with his own flames even more. 

If Touya doesn't stop, he's gonna burn himself to death!!

"You're not wrong about me…" Shoto finally spoke up from the building he crashed into with scratches, small burn marks, and blood all over his body but didn't look like Touya's attack damaged him that much. "I took a long way around… A half-baked dummy. That’s me. And was full of doubts all the while…"

He neutralized Touya's heat?!

"Here I thought you were only focusing on Dad! But, no, you were nice enough to take a close look at me too. Glad to know it." Shoto stated and Touya frowned at him in fury and hatred. "I stumbled onto this… while working on that old move in the hope of keeping pace with the others. I turned Flashfire into something more. Now it’s a move made to stop you. I may be your half-baked little brother, but let me say this… Dad was a madman! Our family was screwed up! But when you burned all those people to death, that was your choice! You're not taking any more innocent lives!!" 

And with that Shoto jumped off that building and headed straight towards Touya to launch his new ultimate attack. 

"You damn golden boy!!" Touya snarled out vigorously, also dashing towards Shoto to fight back.

"Just aim all your rage at us!! Flashfire fist: Phosphor!!" Shoto added before unleashing his ultimate Super Move, Flashfire Fist: Phosphor on Touya. 

Phosphor allowed Shoto to channel both halves of his quirk throughout his body via his circulatory system, using his heart as a generator to circulate the chilled and hot blood around his entire body, merging the two halves of his Quirk into a single ability. The move granted Shoto an incredible defensive and offensive advantage against most opponents, especially those wielding pyrokinetic quirks. The flames created by the technique were described as being a 'Cold Fire' of sorts, allowing him to both burn and freeze his opponents. This move was first developed during a training session between members of Class 1-A in the UA courtyard before this war started. It was described by Shoto as his body coming together 'as one', as well as creating 'a body even Touya can't burn'. The move usually took a certain amount of concentration and focus to build up, so if he lost control, he had to build it back up again, and thus because of that, it took Shoto this much of a time to launch the attack on Touya. 

"Icebound crash: Coldflame's Pale Blade!!" Shoto launched another firey-icy attack on Touya as soon as Phosphor hit his older brother, sending the white-haired older Todoroki flying back. "Maybe this is the way to cool your head!!"

So he's got himself a body that can withstand Touya's scorching heat and he found the power to chill Touya's inferno…

"Aren't you the perfect man for this job, huh?!" Touya taunted him, recovering from the attack by using his own fire as he jumped backward and landed on the ground. "What a wonderful sense of morality you have, brother! You go on and on about right and wrong choices. But I knew it! We might share the same blood, but we ended up real different!! Once you stray from the right path, there’s no turning back! A warped rail can never mingle with a straight and narrow one! The limitations of a super-powered society! That's us! You hear me?! Running in parallel but forever apart!!"

Shoto ended up losing control of his Phosphor and needed to switch it back on. But just then, right an instant, Touya touched the ground beneath him and pushed his fire into it, unleashing gigantic volcanic eruptions all over the battlefield. The whole ground of the battlefield shook violently beneath us and was now breaking apart with enormous splashes of bluish magma and lava gushing out from it, shooting high up in the air and smoldering anything and everything it touched within its vicinity. 

"Now burn to ash! Die for our sake!!" Touya shouted out as he continued to burn himself up even more than before which was ultimately leading him to lose his already burned skin and flesh as both of his arms began to burn to the bones, skin melting off his face; his whole body was now engulfed with his own blue flames, making him almost look like a character called Johnny Blaze from the Ghost Rider movie. 

"Touya, please stop!!" I cried out in concern and desperation, immediately using my Gravity Manipulation quirk on us before lifting myself and the others (excluding Touya) high up into the air to avoid Touya's volcanic eruption that was coming out from the ground before looking over at Shoto with a pleading look, my anxiety level had already crossed its limiting point. "Shoto, please do something!! Stop him from killing himself!! Please!!"  

"Shoto… you couldn't be more right!" Burnin groaned out in pain as she and the others already took the brunt of the damage to protect me and Shoto. 

"I’m sorry, you guys!" Shoto cried out, getting ready to unleash another attack. 

"Quit it. Save your energy!" Burning chuckled out.  

"Thank you!" Shoto added and looked over at me once again, getting all ready with his new attack. "Nana! Put me back down on the ground! I'm ready!" 

"Promise me you'll stop him?!" I asked him with tears forming in my eyes, causing Shoto to soften his gaze on me. 

"I promise!!" he reassured me in a gentle yet firm tone. 

Right on cue, I immediately put Shoto back on the ground who using his quirk split blitzed, and went up in front of Touya before putting a hand on Touya's chest. He was so fast that Touya couldn't even realize what just happened to respond back immediately to the situation.  

"There is always turning back, even if it is by force..." Shoto stated and Touya's eyes went wide open upon hearing those words. "We're gonna mingle, whether you like it or not. So please, just stop already, at least for Nana's sake..." 

And with that Shoto unleashed his final ultimate move on Touya, Great Glacial Aegir: Arctic Tsunami, a gigantic wave of cold fire that shot directly through his older brother's chest, and the fire all over Kamino were later immediately frozen over by his ice as he grabbed ahold of an unconscious and alive Touya in his arms. The intensity of the fiery battle between the two Todoroki brothers overwhelmed me so much that my heart stopped beating for a few seconds and I was trying to register the situation in front of me right now. 

Shoto Todoroki had won the fight and stood as the final victor on the battlefield. 

It took me a moment to finally realize that Touya was really taken down and was also unconscious before I put down myself and the others back on the now icy ground. As soon as my feet touched the ground, I immediately dashed forward at lightning-fast speed toward the Todoroki brothers and pulled both of them into a warm bear hug. Proper words wouldn't come out of my mouth in joy and relief as I held the brothers dearly into my chest with tears continued to roll down my cheeks like a waterfall and I couldn't just stop sobbing. The fight was over and both of the Todoroki brothers were alive in my arms, breathing. I was happy, I was relieved. That was enough for me. 

"I-I kept my promise, Nana..." Shoto coughed out, moving a bit away from me, all beaten and bruised up as he kneeled down on the ground beside me, his lips curled up into a small smile. "I promised you that I'll bring Touya-Nii back into your arms..." 

I couldn't help but smile back at Shoto as I slightly nodded my head in response and wrapped both of my arms around Touya's unconscious body, pulling him even closer to my chest before burying my face into his spiky yet soft snow-white hair; his body was burning, sizzling hot and he smelled like smoke, dust, and burned flesh, but I didn't care any of that. I was so happy and relieved that I didn't care about anything anymore at this very moment. I was just simply happy by the fact that I could touch Touya again, I could feel him, sense him and inhale his scent like the old times once again. Finally, Touya was back in my arms and this time I won't let him go ever again. 

"Thank you, Shoto..." I sobbed out, tightening my grip around Touya even more. "Thank you..." 

After Shoto’s overwhelming victory followed by Touya’s defeat and arrest, I carefully handed over Touya’s unconscious body to Onima (one of Endeavor’s side-kicks) before making my way back to Shoto and Iida to see how the former was doing. Iida had Shoto by his side kneeling on the ground, just a few feet away from Touya and Onima, as the bi-color-haired boy huffed and puffed from exhaustion, bruises and burn marks were evident on his body.

“Your engines stalled, right? Sorry…” Shoto apologized to Iida in a soft yet gruff tone.

“You have nothing to apologize for!” Iida immediately assured the injured boy, draping an arm around his shoulders.

This interaction caused me to smile at them before I spoke up.

“Shoto…” I called out softly, causing the said boy to look up at me. “Thank you…”

Shoto’s bi-colored eyes widened in shock in response while I continue to speak up.

“Thank you for everything, Shoto… I know I asked a lot from you and I have been selfish-“ I blabbered out before Shoto immediately cut me off.

“It was nothing, Nana, really.” He stated with a smile that warmed my heart. “Compared to whatever you have done for me and my family up until now, this was nothing… also, Touya-Nii is my brother, there’s no way I can ignore him. This is something I have to do and I’m glad it’s over now…”

Hearing that, I smiled back at Shoto in response. Shoto did everything he could do to stop his older brother and I hoped his words really did reach Touya at some level. I really hoped Touya had calmed down now. And just when I was thinking about Touya and Shoto’s earlier interactions, I heard Onima suddenly speak up to himself and his mumbling voice reached my ears.

“How is he still alive in this state…?” Onima mumbled while holding an unconscious Touya captive.

At that moment, I noticed something strange about Touya. I looked closely from where I was standing with the boys and noticed a spark igniting in Touya’s stomach. And seeing this, my eyes widened a bit in confusion.

“Shoto… what’s that?” I asked, pointing at Touya, and in response, Shoto looked over at his older brother. “That spark in Touya’s stomach…”

Both Shoto and Iida also looked at the older Todoroki in confusion and for some reason, I didn’t know why, I started to feel anxious again.

“Shoto, this isn’t good. Something’s happening to Touya.” I stated in concern, furrowing my eyebrows as I sensed Touya’s breathing was getting heavier with the passage of every second. “Touya’s regaining his consciousness again…”

Onima and Kido also might have noticed the change in Touya and they were about to do something about it when suddenly, something horrific happened right in front of our eyes. Within mere seconds, large spirals of blue flames erupted out of Touya’s charred body and the said boy immediately attacked the two side-kicks with his flames. Touya was quick with his moves and attacks which threw Onima and Kido off guard in shock and his blue flames were so hot and so destructive that it was too much for the other two to handle. 

Shoto, Iida, and I watched the whole scene in shock and horror when Touya finally regained his consciousness, watching him burn off Onima and Kido with a devilish grin on his face. At that moment, Touya looked nothing like how he did before. He looked like a walking, talking mummy in an inferno now and his facial expression was so demonic that it literally scared me. Touya wasn't looking human anymore at that point. 

“Touya, what the fuck?! Stop this already!!” I screamed out in concern and frustration but unfortunately, the said boy didn’t pay any attention to my words. 

“Given how this worked out… it’s actually great that I fought you first…” Touya stated to Shoto with a grin before he started laughing while holding a burning Onima by the neck with his left hand. “Ha, ha! Experiencing something yourself just hits differently! Intuition helps when getting the idea of how it works… Right before you put me on ice, I took a chance and mimicked your big move!!”

“Run, Nana, Shoto!!” Burnin yelled at us.

“Am I doing it right, Shoto?!” Touya asked as we noticed a crossed blue flame in the middle of his chest. 

“Touya copied Shoto’s Phosphor move?!” I gasped in shock. 

I always knew Touya was smart and intellectual…

But I never thought that he was this smart…!!

“Onima-san, no!!!” Shoto screamed out in concern as Touya tossed a burned-up Onima away from him.

“It isn’t just sheer firepower, Shoto. This whole time, Touya has studied and trained his quirk on his own! Your brother’s honed instincts are bolstered by his hard work and obsession!” I pointed out, frowning at Touya who was now creating a huge sea of blue flames around us.

“You’re right…” Shoto agreed with me through gritted teeth, frowning as well.

Touya's inferno started to endlessly increase and consume the city once again and against all odds, he was still standing in front of us. It felt as if we weren’t standing on the hard ground anymore; it was as if we were standing on an ocean of raging blue flames. The flames literally consumed the ground beneath us, causing me to levitate myself and the others a few feet up from the ground with the help of my Gravity Manipulation quirk. Touya’s flames were so hot and ferocious that it was preventing us from even going near him. I then started using my Repulsive force as a defense around me and the boys to protect ourselves from the wild wrathful flames of Touya.

“Skeptic!!” Touya suddenly yelled out at the High-End Nomu which was going up against the other heroes in Kamino.

“Ahem, I’m busy! Don’t pester me, Mr. Daddy Issues!!” Skeptic’s voice yelled back at Touya from a micro-device that was on the back of the Nomu. “You want Endeavor? He is trading blows with AFO at the Gunga Villa ruins!!”

“Talk about firepower!!” Burnin gasped at Touya who was erupting even more of his blue flames from wherever he could.

“Touya, please stop this nonsense!” I yelled out again, frustrated, as tears started to roll down my cheeks and I was about to walk towards Touya.

“Nana, wait!” Shoto called, immediately grabbing my wrist to prevent me from moving any further.

“Even you were burned by that, Todoroki-kun! You must not engage him again!” Iida stated in concern, all of our eyes were locked on Touya who was now using the flames from his feet as jets to fly high up in the sky. “You have already hit your limit with your phosphor move!”

“We have all hit our limits and then some!” Shoto snapped, his frown deepening even more. “We gave it everything! And yet he is the only one still standing! He's trying to fly over to our father!”

“This goes way beyond powering through with that sheer will he has inherited! It does not make sense! I thought his body was not made for heat?! How the hell is he not falling to pieces?!” I added in confusion but also in concern.

“Get back here, Touya-Nii!! I’m still on my feet!!” Shoto yelled out at his older brother. “You wanna kill me right?! Looks like you are the half-baked one now!!”

But just then Skeptic’s voice spoke up again through that device on the Nomu.

“Ahem, Mr. Daddy Issues! I know I said no pestering, But I have fantastic news! Apparently, you’ll get to travel free of charge!” Skeptic informed.

And right on cue, all of a sudden out of nowhere, Kurogiri’s misty portal appeared before Touya and immediately sucked him in, teleporting him to the Gunga Villa Ruins. 

“Touya!” I gasped, calling out to him in desperation but he had already left without even looking back at me once.  

Touya seriously left… he left to fight Enji-san… And he didn’t even look back at me for once… Also, I didn't do anything to stop him... Did I seriously just stand there and watch Touya leave? 

And with that, Touya left for Gunga Villa Ruins and as soon as he left, the blue flames got extinguished from the scene on its own.

“Not yet! It's not over yet!” Shoto gritted out through his teeth in pain, frustrated as well while Iida tried to help him stand up from the ground.

“You’re still feeling the blowback from your phosphor move, Todoroki-kun!” Iida pointed out, extremely worried.

“I said I’m fine! They are saying AFO will reach Midoriya! But I’m still on my feet! I must do whatever I can…” Shoto stated.

“The thoughts of your brother must weigh heavily on you…” Iida added, softening his facial expression. “I can only imagine the feelings that drove you to stand against him like that. The suffering you have borne… You’re the kind of soul who made me to never forget who I want to become. Why is this your emotional burden to bear?”

I also started to worry about how to stop Touya. Not only we needed to stop Touya from burning himself alive, potentially killing himself as well, but also I needed to go and stop AFO and Tenko. I needed to face and go up against AFO and get my own revenge for my parent’s death. But here I was, wasting my time like this. At that point in time, I was getting frustrated at myself. 

This isn’t who I am!! This isn’t someone I want to become!! Why am I wasting my time like this, standing here and doing nothing?! I need to go to AFO as quickly as possible and fight him!! I need to confront Tenko as well!!

“Ah, ah… there!! I got through!! You three!! You're still with us, right?!” a familiar masculine voice spoke up from the comms in our ears and we immediately realized who it was – All Might.

“Toshi-chan?!” I gasped out in surprise upon hearing his voice through the comms.

“Every moment counts, so I’ll make this quick!” he started, addressing me, Shoto, and Iida. “You need to run over to Gunga right now! Dabi is on the verge of exploding and a stalled evacuation block is in the blast radius! Endeavor is keeping an eye on Dabi right now. But his quirk can't do a thing to stop the explosion!”

My eyes widened in shock when I heard those words. My heart dropped and it felt like my pulse died down for a moment. The whole world around me went completely silent, deadly silent which was literally suffocating me now.  

Touya’s gonna explode…?!?! Did Toshi-chan say Touya’s gonna explode like a nuclear bomb?!?!

“Nana-chan, you know how to fly fast, right?” All Might asked me, pulling me out of my trance. “And Todoroki, kid… The body and mind are two halves of the whole. You know that better than anyone, with the inner turmoil you have carried.”

“But All Might… AFO, he is…” Shoto was about to say something but All Might cut him off. 

“Fear not!” All Might replied in a gleeful tone and I could feel him smiling on the other side of the comms. “You have still got a mighty ally waiting in your wings! Battling on won’t bring you victory if you carry doubts. But I have got the utmost respect for youngsters full of doubt who nonetheless honor whatever it is that drives them. Put a stop to Touya-kun! Make everyone feel safe again, so you can be your best self. Now if anyone can do a darn thing about the impending crisis at Gunga, it would be a dynamic duo… with Ghoul, Gravity Manipulation, and half-cold-half-hot. You’re their only hope! You’ve got this!”

And with that, All Might cut off the line, saying his farewell, and the other side of the line went silent again.

“He wants you to fly fast like a jet plane?” Shoto asked in confusion, looking over at me with furrowed eyebrows. “I know you can fly fast, Nana, but the distance… Does he realize how far it is Gunga Ruins?”

“Tch! Doesn’t matter, Shoto.” I stated, clicking my tongue in frustration before grabbing Shoto by his wrist. “We need to stop Touya from killing himself as quickly as possible. And after that, I need to go and confront AFO and Tenko. I wasted enough of my time here already!” 

And wasting no time, I immediately flew up into the sky while holding onto Shoto before we zoomed through the air like a fighter jet plane, making our way towards the Gunga Villa Ruins to stop Touya from exploding while leaving Iida, Burnin, and the others all behind at the Kamino Ward. 

3rd Person’s POV (Back at the Gunga Villa Ruins)

Right at that moment, before Endeavor, Hawks, and the other heroes who were all now injured and battered, a young healthy AFO was standing there on the ground with a gleeful smile on his face, satisfied with the outcome of what went down with Skeptic and the heroes at the Central Hospital where Kurogiri was kept locked up.

“You kept Kurogiri in the dark, so to help him take immediate action, I planted a micro-device in one of Nana Shimura’s hands. Yes, Iguchi-kun played his part!” AFO stated calmly to the tired injured heroes in front of him, referring to Skeptic’s actions. “What’s more…”

AFO then trailed off when suddenly a number of Kurogiri’s misty portals appeared and opened up behind Endeavor and Hawks. Endeavor looked back and noticed Touya coming out from one of those portals.

“Heya, Dad!!” Touya greeted him with a grin and Endeavor’s eyes widened a bit in shock upon his son’s current burned skeletal appearance.

And just beside Touya, a number of Twice clones started to appear from the other portals, indicating that Toga had used Twice’s blood, which Touya gave her a few days ago. And seeing those Twice clones left Hawks in utter shock. 

“Oh, Hawwwwks!!” the Twice clones greeted the man as they were coming out of the portal and Hawks was left stunned at the sight.

“The death of that sad, sad man gave rise to rancor in a young woman’s heart. The man who would overrun the world to make good on his grudges gave that femme fatale just the tool she needed to bring ruin to all.” AFO stated, referring to Touya giving Twice’s blood to Toga. “Now you have got a front-row seat, Takami-kun. Time to learn how it might have turned out if you had not made his death your top priority back then.”

And hearing that, Hawks immediately yelled out an order to his fellow heroes at the battleground.

“Kill them!! Right now!!” Hawks yelled, referring to the Twice clones before them.

Through those portals, Uraraka and Asui also suddenly arrived at the scene as they both followed Toga there and then started to help Jiro and Tokoyami to fight back the Twice clones. Hawks was now facing off against AFO who was trying to escape from the scene to reunite with Tomura, bickering and taunting back and forth to each other, and meanwhile, on the other hand, Endeavor was getting himself ready to confront Touya.

“Those flames on his chest… Is that the phosphor move Shoto mentioned…?” Endeavor mumbled to himself before speaking up loud at Touya. “Touya… what would you do to Shoto?”

“I was hoping to bring you his head, but he was a tough cookie…” Touya replied, flying up in the air above his father while looking down at him with raging turquoise eyes. “Now my grand dream will never come true… but at the very least I will take as much as I can. Whatever you hold dear! Whatever you try to protect!”

“Endeavor-san!” Hawks yelled out while facing off AFO, stopping the Demon Lord from leaving the scene. “The divide-and-conquer plan is a bust! Our allies can't battle in this nasty heat! And if we fall here, the villains are gonna converge on Deku, Nana-chan, and Tomura!! Please, put a stop to Touya-kun!!”

Hearing that, Endeavor looked back at his son with determination who was now dashing toward him at full speed.

Duties… This time around… I’m really seeing you, Touya…

Another big fight then suddenly broke out between AFO and the remaining heroes as more and more help from the hero’s side (Inasa, Camie, the Pussy Cats, etc.) started to appear in the scene. Gigantomachia also later arrived there after a minute or two with Mt. Lady, Shinso, Kirishima, Mina, and Mineta following his trail from the Jaku Hospital Ruins to the Gunga Villa Ruins. While this was all happening, Endeavor was running away from the said battlefield with Touya following him from behind so that he could confront and talk to his son without any hindrance or anyone disturbing them.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the Counter-Force continued to report on the evacuation blocks' movement and AFO's location. Detective Tsukauchi asked if there was anyone left to stop him, but the officers said that almost all the remaining heroes from each of the battlefields were out of commission. Another officer freaked out when he recognized Touya's heat signature in Gunga, telling them that ever since his initial defeat, he had been internally compressing thermal energy and that in about ten minutes, his body would explode and cremate everything within 5 kilometers. Tsukauchi and former criminal La Brava realized that while most were back online, some of the evacuation blocks that stopped in between UA and Shiketsu were still underneath Gunga, meaning that they would be directly within the estimated blast zone. Meanwhile said civilians, including the rest of the Todoroki Family, proceeded to quickly evacuate to the surface as the shelter continued to crumble apart. Another officer reported that AFO was speeding up and was almost in range of Tomura to use his Warping Quirk, knowing that if they reunited, they were done for.

Meanwhile, in one of the prison lockups, prisoner Geten was speaking to his neighbor, prisoner Mr. Compress, about how the Himura blood ran thick within their blood vessels. He explained how in the past, the Himuras were village leaders that maintained their wealth and pride by creating branch families, however, the rise of Meta Abilities led to their downfall, as they didn't want to dilute their bloodline. Compress then remarked on what Spinner would say hearing about a "snobbish bloodline prejudiced against heteromorphs". Geten continued that this resulted in many marriages between the branch families and their distant relatives, however by insulating themselves it led to the Himura clan dwindling over time. Once the head of the family started selling off the children into marriages, it marked the end of the line, resulting in the remaining families scattering, with Geten revealing he was one of them until Re-Destro recruited him. He stated how Meta Abilities would grow more complex with each generation, with new powers lying dormant in the user's body, while people's hearts never managed to evolve, wondering what changes they would witness. Geten then concluded his speech with a smile asking Compress if he heard anything from the police force or heroes since there was nothing left to do but kill time until the final war was over.

Back to Endeavor’s situation, he was now facing Touya, far away from AFO and the others, and through the comms, he learned from the Counter-Force about Touya’s impending explosion.

“An explosion you say?!” Endeavor exclaimed in shock and concern after hearing this.

Touya was now literally like the burning sun, cremating away the trees and almost everything within and beyond his reach.

“It’s not just the evacuation block that’s in danger… but also Pixie Bob’s group which is fighting back against Toga's doubles!!” Endeavor said to himself, huffing and puffing, as he kept luring Touya away. “Dammit! Fighting AFO did a number on my legs! I’m not sure how much longer I can keep luring Touya away…”

“D… Da… D-Dad!!” Touya yelled out in a cracked tone, charging at his father again, engaging in a combat with Endeavor. “Watch me!! Watch meee!!!”

As the combusting Touya manically screamed out for his dad to watch him, Endeavor began to see the young Touya in his eyes before the current adult Touya unleashed a devastating Vanishing Fist, even bigger and more powerful than Endeavor’s, that completely enveloped the older man while decimating the ground he was standing on. Losing his right arm after unleashing that attack, Touya then grabbed ahold of him as Endeavor desperately tried to convince his son to put out his flames, and that he didn't want to watch him die, but Touya continued to repeat the same things over and over with his mind long gone.

“Come on, Touya!! Put out those flames!!” Endeavor yelled, holding onto Touya. “I don’t want to watch you die!!”

“Watch meee!!!” Touya screamed out again with an incoherent mind. “Natsu-kun! Let's play?!?!”

And hearing that, Endeavor’s eyes went wide open in shock.

His mind is gone long! This fire is hot enough to burn even me… So how is it possible that he can still hold himself together?! Touya, what is it about you?!

Endeavor then reached out to Touya’s chest when suddenly he realized something absolutely shocking and baffling.

That visceral sense of danger, when facing death, sometimes a near-death experience can trigger a quirk to awaken. On the other hand, people can also summon absurd power in a crisis when it's do-or-die. That's different from a quirk awakening. That power only manifests as the Reaper draws near…

As Endeavor thought about how when someone had a near-death experience, it might cause their quirk to awaken or summon an absurd power in a crisis, and unlike a quirk awakening, this latter power only manifested when they were truly at death's door, he then slowly realized that within Touya's Phosphor, he recognized Rei's ice quirk which was indicating that Touya had manifested the ice power within his flame quirk, meaning he always had that ice quick within himself all along, this entire time. 

While envisioning a hellish dance with his son in hell, Endeavor’s life began to flash before his own eyes and he started to wonder what he had done in his life. He envied All Might and produced these designer children to surpass the former No.1 hero, he did everything he could to have a child like Shoto when in reality Touya had always been that prodigy child he truly wanted and craved, someone who would inherit his fire quirk stronger than him while also would inherit his wife’s ice quirk at the same time. It was like a slap on Endeavor’s face when he realized what he had done to Touya and the rest of his family.

Endeavor then began to recall back the words he said to AFO earlier.

I’ll win today and keep my eyes on Touya!!

“I take full responsibility… I swore to bear that burden and live my life atoning for it all. However, you have been watching me all this time. While I couldn’t be there to watch you… You were someone I especially needed to do right by…” Endeavor said to himself before hugging a combusting Touya in his arms and starting to fly up in the sky.

It’s always the same dream…

My whole family is there but not me…

“No, I can’t let you meet your end alone!!” Endeavor yelled out. “But I won’t let anyone else get caught up in our tragedy!!”

Endeavor grabbed ahold of his son, and was preparing to use his son’s blue firepower to propel the both of them into the sky, to explode together but however before he could get too far, as Touya’s body continued to crack, Rei suddenly appeared before the two of them out of nowhere and started using her ice to stop them.

“Rei?!?!” Endeavor exclaimed in shock and confusion.

The reason why and how Rei even got there was when after the heroes managed to take out AFO's subordinates within the evacuation center, Kendo of Class 1-B called out to the civilians that the foundations of the system were sabotaged, ordering a retreat to the surface. They made their way out, with the U.A. robots being there to let the civilians evacuate to wherever they wanted to go. However, just outside, they all had to witness the immense heat and destruction caused by Touya's Blue flames, noticing the gigantic sphere of a fireball that literally looked like the sun was about to explode like a nuclear bomb anytime soon. Seeing this, Rei rushed away from her children toward a robot, telling it to take her to the center of the storm, to which the robot responded they exist to serve humans' desires. 

And now Rei was there and was using her ice quirk to attempt to shield herself from the heat, while also trying to cool Touya off, calling out to him.

“Touya!!!” Rei screamed out at her son.

“No!! Why are you here, Rei?!” Endeavor yelled back, burning away with Touya in his arms.

Are you trying to cool him down, Rei?! You must have coated yourself with a layer of ice to get even this close…

“Get away now!! Or you will burn to death!!” Endeavor added.

“You mean the way… You and Touya are about to die?!” Rei snapped back and that’s when Touya turned his attention to his mother.

“M-M-Mom…?!” he called out and that broke Rei’s heart.

“Oh, Touya…!! I’m so sorry!!!” Rei screamed out.

“Natsu-kun…!! Fuyumi-chan…!!” Touya added and Rei looked behind her, realizing that her other children had followed her, using their ice quirks to protect themselves from the heat. 

“No, don’t!!” Rei warned, shaking her head.

“I can’t!! I can’t take any more loss!!” Fuyumi cried out before looking over at her older brother. “Touya-Nii, please!! Don't take everyone down with you!! I can’t bear to lose anyone else!!”

Natsuo then started to think about the old times from their childhood and wondered if he just had listened to his older brother’s ranting and complaints about their father like how Nana did instead of turning away and ignoring him. Unlike him, Nana was always there for Touya and listened to his words and complaints. She selflessly shared her moments and time with Touya giving him the attention he needed which Natsuo couldn’t do despite him being his younger brother.

“Cut it out already, man!!” Natsuo screamed out with a frowning face. “Quit causing trouble, Baka Aniki!!!”

As the Todorokis continued shooting their ice toward Touya, Endeavor could only beg his son to not let anyone else die and he should be enough. In response, all Touya could let out was a couple of muffled laughs, while having a vision of him and his family being happy again. 

Meanwhile, at the Counter-Force center, they reported on how the rising temperature of Touya's inferno was slowing down, thanks to the intervention of the Todoroki Family. However, despite this, the temperature was not dropping, meaning the explosion was inevitable.

Back at the center of the impending blast, Rei, Fuyumi, and Natuso, now all burned and bruised up, continued to unleash their Frost quirks to try and cool Touya down. While he cackled to himself, Touya thought about how everyone was finally watching him, and looking at Endeavor, realized this was what it was like, thinking about if it was so simple, why it didn't happen sooner.

‘Everyone is watching me…’ Touya thought to himself while on the verge of exploding any time soon. ‘So this is what it's like…? If it was so simple a thing, then why…? Why not sooner…? It’s like everything is flipped around upside down. My origin as Touya and Dabi… if it was so simple a thing… if only we had butted heads like this sooner… there are still arguments I wanna have and things I still wanna say!!’

And just then something unexpected happened. When everything seemed lost, when it felt like there was no hope, two familiar individuals zoomed in and appeared on the scene like the heroes they were meant to be – they were none other than Nana Osaki and Shoto Todoroki. 

Nana’s POV (Now at the Gunga Villa Ruins)

Zooming into the vicinity of the Todoroki family where Touya was about to explode, Shoto and I just flew there, dashing at the speed of light with the help of my combined quirks (Ghoul and Gravity Manipulation), while Shoto began to prepare his attack which he would unleash on Touya to extinguish those raging blue flames.

“You ready, Shoto?!” I called out, tightening my grip on him.

“Ready when you are, Nana!!” Shoto yelled back.

And right on cue, just within mere seconds of anything bad happening, Shoto released all of his power and unleashed Great Glacial Aegir once again on Touya, completely consuming the inferno in his ice, as the fire began to dissipate and burn out. The collision of Touya’s fire and Shoto’s ice move had a huge impact on the area which caused me and Shoto to wait for a bit before I noticed Touya and Endeavor who got hit by that ice move were now falling towards the ground from the sky. I immediately let go of Shoto and quickly dashed forward, eventually catching the injured father-son duo in my arms in mid-air. I slowly landed on the ground and safely placed Endeavor by the side while still holding Touya in my arms, close to my chest.

I looked down at a crisped, partially frozen Touya and noticed how he was looking way worse than just a few minutes ago. He had lost his right arm, similar to his father, and his whole body was now charred with no skin left. There was even a crack across his face which was an indication of his previous impending explosion. Then my eyes traveled down to his scorched chest where I finally noticed ice coming out from it, leaving me in shock and confusion.  

Wait, what…?! Ice on Touya’s chest…? It doesn’t seem like Shoto’s ice… Don’t tell me this is Touya’s ice…? Touya had ice power?! Since when?!

I then looked over at the other Todorokis and noticed that almost everyone was burned and scarred, but their situation wasn’t as bad as Touya’s. Endeavor also lost his right arm and was all burned up too, but he was somehow still alive. Rei, Fuyumi, and Natsuo were also injured and burned but nothing major or serious. Shoto had a few burns and scars from his previous fight with Touya at Kamino but other than that, there wasn’t anything much on his body as I kept him protected from the other attacks with the help of my Repulsive Force.

I then looked back at Touya once again and my eyes started to tear up at the sight of his charred body while my heart ached for his well-being. At least he was still alive and breathing and that mattered to me the most at that moment.  

“T-Touya… you fucking idiot…” I let out a muffled cry, holding him close to me so gently as if he was this delicate precious being and would shatter into millions of pieces if I didn’t handle him well and carefully.

“Our whole family… is here…?” Shoto huffed and puffed, letting out heavy sighs in exhaustion as he stood a few feet away from us, just beside his mother and his other siblings. “Well, not great… But… Maybe it's for the best… Cause my Great Glacial Aegis alone might not have been enough to stop this… Ever since round one back there, Touya-Nii’s fire just kept growing… He reached uncharted territory where I can’t tread. Maybe I was never actually the masterpiece creation…”

My face softened at Shoto’s words. While Endeavor chased after All Might his whole life, engaging in a quirk marriage with Rei and creating designed children to surpass All Might, eventually having Shoto while thinking that he could be that masterpiece Endeavor always wanted and there was Shoto, who was standing in front of his whole family now, acknowledging the power and strength of Touya that he could never have or even reach to that level, the same Touya whom Endeavor thought as a failure years ago. What a pitiful situation it was really.

“You all… die already…” Touya suddenly spoke up as I kept on holding him in my arms, his voice sounded hoarse and cracked as if he was crying at that moment, and hearing the sound of his voice broke my heart once again for him. “Dad, you scum… Just die… You all and me too… Drop dead…”

“Please, don’t say such bad things, Touya… Please…” I sobbed alongside him, noticing how he was freezing from the inside out.

“N-Nana…” Touya mumbled in a shaky tone and in response, I leaned down and pressed a soft kiss on his burned forehead.

“I’m here with you, Touya. Don’t worry.” I reassured him, sniffling a bit while tightening my grip on him in a secure way.

“Well? What now? All that awaits us is pure hell…” Natsuo spoke up with a frowning face from beside his mother and his sister.

“Touya!!” Endeavor suddenly spoke up from where I placed him on the ground and crawled up to us before placing his left hand on Touya’s frozen chest. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry I never made it to Sekoto Peak!!”

And that threw Touya completely off guard. He never expected an apology from his whole family nonetheless from his once abusive father. I noticed the shocked look on his face as Touya’s body quivered a bit in my hold. At first, I got a bit concerned for a second but then realized that Touya was trying to hold himself back from breaking down in front of his whole family.

“Hate you all…” Touya sobbed out again, his voice choked as he spoke, and seeing him like this made my eyes teary once again. “Hate you, Dad!! The whole family too!!”

“Go on… Really. Let me have it! Keep it coming!” Endeavor stated as he also started sobbing. “Rei, I’m sorry for pushing you to the breaking point. Fuyumi, I’m sorry for leaving you to pick up the pieces! Natsuo, I’m sorry for neglecting you like I did! And Shoto… I’m sorry!”

The whole situation was overwhelming for me. Despite not being a part of their family, I was still close to the Todorokis simply because of their connection with my parents. Touya, Shoto, Fuyumi, Natsuo, and Rei, all of them were dear to me and I cared about them as if they were my own family. Even Endeavor as well, though my relationship with him wasn’t as smooth after Touya’s disappearance 11 years ago.

But right now, the concerning matter for me was, had Touya finally calmed down after getting the apologies from his family which he truly deserved? Had Endeavor’s apologies and Shoto’s acknowledgment finally reached him? 

Read the entire fanfic on Quotev and Wattpad.

Links for other MHA fanfic snippets - Link 1, Link 2, Link 3

[musei-thoughts]

𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯, 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘐𝘐.

𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨: 𝘐𝘬𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘹 𝘧𝘦𝘮! 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳

𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨: 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺/𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥.

𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩: 1409𝙬.

𝙖/𝙣: 𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥! 𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬, 𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬, 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵, 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 >:(( 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺!

The sea. it was blue. It reminded you of him so much.

The gentle breeze. It's beauty. And its serenity.

It was just like Ike Eveland.

Your body just moves on its own, approaching the rails that kept people from falling off the seaside.

You stepped onto the rails and lifted yourself dangerously over it. You lean towards the sea, taking a deep breath.

You're life was pretty dull before he came.

Work was shit.

Home was full of drama.

Your financial status was driving you nuts.

And you were experiencing existential crisis on a daily basis from how lonely you were.

But when he came into your life, you were able to...

breathe again.

You were so pressured by the things that was happening around you that you stopped enjoying life.

When he came, the weight from your shoulders were lifted from his mere presence.

He was your safe place.

Your Haven.

But why?

Why is he not here?

Why is he not holding your hand as your mind continues to drive you crazy?

Why isn't he here, wrapping you in his embrace, whispering sweet nothings to you?

Why was he just…

Gone?

"IKE EVELAND WHERE ARE YOU?!" you yelled at the sea.

Despite the weird looks that were given your way, you continued yelling your heart out.

You didn't care, you had to somehow get this weight off your chest.

"I HAVEN'T TOLD YOU HOW I FEEL YET SO DON'T YOU DARE DISAPPEAR ON ME!!!"

Yeah…

"….I love it when you're here."

…the weight of falling in love with Ike Eveland. . . .

"Mr. Eveland had passed away two years ago…"

The old woman's words echoes in your head. You didn't believe it at first, you even thought that she was crazy.

But counting the weeks that you haven't seen him nor texted him, you began to worry.

What if that woman was right?

'No. No, Y/n. It can't be.'

But it could.

It that why people would stare at you when you were with him?

Is that why you felt something was off despite being so happy with him?

Is that why your coworkers started being nice to you?

….because they thought you were going crazy…?

Was all those memories of him just…hallucinations?

'Poor kid, left by her birthmother…'

'We may have the same dad but you will never. never be my sister!'

'Make sure you earn enough to pay for your tuition, I'm not gonna waste a single yen on you.'

'This will be your last warning, Y/n. If you don't pay your rent, you're better off living in the streets.'

Your life was shit.

No wonder you were going crazy…

So crazy that you created an imaginary friend that you happen to fall in love with.

"Damn, Y/n…you need to see someone."

"Yeah, a hot therapist boyfriend."

"Yeah that. Minus the boyfriend part."

"A hot therapist then?"

"No, Y/n. A normal therapist. You need a therapist."

You couldn't help but roll your eyes at your blonde friend (who is totally not a complete stranger that you began to talk to at the bar just a second ago),

"Look, Luca. My Landlord will kick me out if I don't pay my rent, I still have to pay for that student loan, and I also need to think about food. I don't think my pocket would be prepared to pay for a psychiatrist."

Luca looks around before sneaking his hands in his coat and pulls out a stack of cash, handing it to you.

Your jaw dropped at the cash. A stack of receipts and bills? Yeah, you've seen them, a lot. But a stack of cash?? Never.

"What the fuck!? Where the hell did you get this?! There's no way I'm taking this!" You whisper-yelled at Luca, pushing the money back to him.

He grabs your hand and places it back into your hands, smiling sweetly at you, "Don't worry, I have plenty to spare. Plus, you really need this. So get better for me, m'kay?"

Yeah. So that's how you started seeing a Therapist.

Aside from the fact that your therapist wasn't hot, you were feeling better.

You were back on your feet and stopped thinking about Ike.

As much as it hurts to stop, you had to.

Eventually, as your life began to improve for good, you knew you had to let go…

…of the memories with him and of him.

So, in honor of moving on, you decided to revisit the place where it all began.

The library where you met Ike Eveland.

You were hesitant at the very least, but you still went.

Clutching onto your bag, you stepped into the quiet place.

It was so nostalgic.

And painful.

To think that you had to let go of one of the fewest people that made you happy.

To move on without him.

The thought was unbearable, but you knew you had to get over it in order to get your life together.

'Okay, Y/n. Let's take one last glance before moving on with our shitty life.'

You confidently stepped into the place and you could've sworn that the world just stopped before your very eyes.

"I-Ike…?"

There he sat, at the exact same spot where you met him.

Ike Eveland.

As soon as your eyes met, He stood from his seat and approached you, "Y/n! I'm sorry I wasn't able to reply to your messages- are…you okay?"

He's in front of you.

Was your mind tricking you again?

You reached you hand out to touch his face, praying, hoping, yearning that you weren't going crazy again.

As soon as you felt his warm skin against your fingertips, a relieved cry escapes your lips.

"It really is you…"

You leaned your head into his chest, wrapping your arms around him and inhaling his scent that you missed so much.

Ike was confused. "W-what? Did something happen?"

Your grip on his jacket tightens, afraid of losing him again.

In all honesty, the therapist wasn't what you needed. It was Ike.

Everything else can go wrong and you would be fine with it, as long as you have him.

As long as you see his smile, hear his laughter, feel his warmth, that's more than enough.

You feel Ike gently pulling away to see your face. He looks at you with such concern, cupping your tear-stained cheeks in his warm hands, "What happened, älskling?" he asked.

So you told him what happened.

"An old lady? That must've been Chiyo-san. She's one of our patrons." Ike explains after you finished.

You frown, "But she told me you died."

"I think what she meant was my father. He passed away two years ago from a car accident." He replies, brushing your hair away from your face.

You let out a sigh of relief knowing that. So you didn't loose your mind.

Ike looks down at your hands that were resting on top of his waist. He took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry…" He says, looking at you softly. "I could've at least told you I would be away…" His thumb gently caressing your cheekbone.

You sigh deeply, leaning into his touch, "I know. I forgive you, Ike."

The both of you stare at each other for the longest time, letting your eyes linger on each others beautiful features.

After everything that's happened between the two of you, there wasn't anything left unsaid. The both of you just knew what the other was trying to tell each other.

Unlike last time, you two felt…closer.

It was like not being able to see each other had brought you closer.

Ike was so lost in your eyes that he unconsciously leans forward, making your eyes widen.

A soft kiss was placed on your forehead. You were surprised at first but you find yourself closing your eyes, enjoying the feeling of his lips on your skin.

You have never felt so contented before.

Yeah, you were satisfied with just this. Being in his presence, drowning yourself in his warmth. But then again, you wondered why he went away, "Ike?"

The said male hums in response. "Where did you go? For a month?" You ask, looking up at him.

The male stares down at you, giving you a small pat in the head.

He then smiles. You love it when he does that. But you noticed something about his smile. You saw…

Pain.

"I…went to a wedding." He replied.

𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺: "𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢, 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦…" 𝘠𝘦𝘢 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬, 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘦…

𝘢/𝘯: 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺'𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 :)

← 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 │𝘕𝘦𝘹𝘵 →

[always-outsider]

My Valkyrie Connect merchandise has arrived~ (´∀｀)♡

Shhh… Don't let my family know I bought these, or they'll have my head (；⌣̀_⌣́)

[Warning: Personal vent post ahead]

I bought the T-shirt on Mercari for 800 yen ($5.09). It's second-hand and in fair condition. I had my eye on it for a long time (a year) and finally decided to buy it when it was the last item on sale. I don't know if it's currently available anywhere else.

On the back of the T-shirt is the image of Hel saying 「コネクトしたいの？」 which means "Do you want to connect?".

Do I want to connect, you ask? ( 〃▽〃)

No, I don't. Just hand over those sweet, sweet diamonds 💎💎💎💎💎 and we'll be done here.

As for the keychain... (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)... I bought it on "Valkyrie Connect" Official Merchandise Shop via Buyee. It was quite costly for a self-indulgent birthday gift. The order took a month to process, and then it got stuck in customs for another month (seems like my government really questioned my purchase). Then, the national postal service got attacked by hackers, forcing them to delay all services to recover their data ┐(´ー｀)┌

Somehow, luck seemed to evade me with this purchase. The prolonged wait plunged me into an existential crisis, as if my trivial indulgence had drawn cosmic disapproval... Nevertheless, undeterred by celestial judgment, I pressed on with the same tenacity I unleashed when I wasted all my diamonds to obtain Jubilant Vili. After numerous attempts to reach out, the keychain finally arrived safely today, albeit with an additional customs clearance tax (T⌓T)

Honestly, the keychain ended up being larger than I imagined, measuring 10cm x 10cm, making it too big to use as a typical keychain. Plus, the printed colors are quite saturated in my opinion. Its back is unprotected and can easily get scratched. I had to cover it with clear paper to prevent future damage. Guess pixivFACTORY isn't exactly a master at making keychains.

I think I will put the keychain on a small phone holder and place it on my desk. Please supervise my work from now on, Odin-sama! ^v^

[pukner]

✨masterpost of my works✨

posted to my ao3

[this post is subject to editing in the future]

Since I intend on using Tumblr a bit more now, and because I like neat lists, I thought it'd be prudent do make a little list of what I have out on ao3 right now!

My name's Looth, and I am ENTIRELY at the whims of my hyperfixations. I'm on twitter and pillowfort by the same handles, but I rarely use the latter.

fandoms: Stranger Things, Our Flag Means Death, The Witcher (Netflix) and Good Omens

[list under the cut!]

fanfiction

Good Omens:

A Nanny? In MY Summoning Circle?

A twoshot wherein Warlock Dowling meets his Nanny again, via the very normal uni student past time of trying to summon a demon with a book you found in a dodgy bookshop. Very fluffy, genderqueer Warlock.

[Complete] 2/2, 10.5k

The Witcher (Netflix):

The Viscount

[geraskefer endgame]

A 5+1 that works on the premise that "I'm from Lettenhove" is a sort of codeword in the royal class for children that have fallen out of grace with their court/family? And the higher your rank in Lettenhove, the worse the thing you have done is? Lots of Jaskier shenanigans, aggressive found family and genderfluid Jaskier.

Based on a post by @artistsfuneral.

[WIP] 3/?, 1.3k

build me up, buttercup [rated M]

[geraskefer endgame]

A longfic I've been chipping away at since 2020, dear God. Features Jaskier and Yen being fake married and co-parenting Ciri, Geralt getting adopted, the found family inherent to bards and the city of Oxenfurt, ftm Jaskier and Ciri having a well-deserved identity crisis. Also, ocs galore, gratuitous academia, and also Valdo Marx is immortal and Jaskier's annoying best friend.

Geraskefer endgame. My baby, who I will return to as soon as I am able.

[WIP] 15/?, 64k

Our Flag Means Death:

the inertia series [rated E]

a three-part series following Israel Hands as he attempts to move on from the things keeping him trapped in amber, unable to grow.

[steddyhands endgame]

[Complete] 62.9k

1. love like a dog on a leash

Izzy Hands encounters an old friend in the form of Sam Bellamy, Ed starts a barfight, and Stede learns some backstory.

All of these men are haunted in some way.

1/1, 5.5k

2. open season

Izzy Hands finds himself inexplicably being courted by various pirates to be their first mate. No one has addressed that fact that he isn't looking for a new Captain; he already has two. Steddyhands endgame, features some Jackhands.

A long look at the dynamics between Ed and Izzy, and now Stede, and the older dynamics of Ed, Izzy, Calico Jack Rackham and Sam Bellamy. Actually, it's a look at Izzy himself, and his various traumas and the way he's transitioning from being in a Black Sails type dark genre to this weird muppet land everyone else on this ship seems to live in.

7/7, 44.5k

3. red sky at morning

An epilogue, wherein the boys all contend with the future on the horizon; the good and the bad of it.

1/1, 11.9k

stranger things

[my current hyperfixation send help]

Eddie Munson and the Dreamboy

[steddie]

Wherein Eddie and El traverse the inside of Steve's mind, and encounter various Steves at different points in his life trying to find where he's hidden himself to escape Vecna's final curse.

A 5+1, featuring Steve's Scoops Ahoy flirting, a little baby Steve, and El's hair.

[Complete] 1/1, 8k.

Dustin Henderson and the Lovebirds

[steddie]

Five times Dustin Henderson was subjected to Eddie Munson being gross and sappy and in love with Steve Harrington, and one time Steve didn't even have to be there.

Features Steve being serenaded, Eddie Munson's Roger Rabbit Impression, Steve's Tiny Gym Shorts, and a good old fashioned worm conversation. Also, gay dnd.

[Complete] 1/1, 9.7k

always burning, world keeps turning

a two-part series set in a soft post-apocalyptic Hawkins, where community and family keep everyone going. And Steve and Eddie kiss about it.

[steddie]

[WIP]

1. took you for a working boy

In a post-apocalypse, mildly nightvale-flavoured Hawkins, Steve and Eddie are the only ones who aren't aware they're dating. Steve does not have a gender crisis but does have a lot of difficulty finding the words for it all, Eddie is oblivious but earnest (and running a radio show, Dr. Death Defying or Cecil Palmer style), Steve and Robin are ACTUALLY soulmates, and everyone's doing their best.

I cannot stress how much everyone thinks they're already dating. Featuring genderqueer Steve, disaster gay Eddie, scheming younger teens, and lots of stobin fluff.

[complete] 6/6, 43.8k

2. hometown blues

The sequel to working boy, wherein Gareth, Vickie and Steve's mom encounter how fucking weird Hawkins has got in their absence, and take it with varying degrees of grace.

[WIP] 3/? 17k

off-script

Wherein Steve Harrington has his sexuality all figured out, Eddie's in comically heavy denial, and everything rapidly snowballs from there.

[steddie]

1. off the beaten path

Wherein Steve figures out he's bi before Eddie figures out he's gay, but Eddie STILL manages to fall first.

Features Steve talking himself though discovering his sexuality in approximately five minutes while on the phone with a baffled Jonathan, and him aggressively flirting with the local metalhead. He's also very good at being an unreliable narrator.

It ALSO features said local metalhead (who thinks himself straight) accidentally flagging, calling Steve Harrington princess in a totally straight way, and doing the ttrpg equivalent of doodling your crush's name on a notebook over and over. Also, somehow he's convinced himself he just hates Steve.

This won't end badly for anyone, I'm sure.

[Complete] 6/6, 34.2k

2. no boys allowed

Robin Buckley has her very first Girls' Day. She gets her hair braided, consoles her heartbroken best friend, and everyone muddies the water a bit on the exact definition of what a Girl is.

Steve Harrington has a good cry about Eddie Munson.

[Complete] 1/1, 7.5k

3. here be dragons

Eddie Munson has kissed a boy, and now he has to handle the fallout. He's got to grapple with the fact that he likes boys, likes a boy, and the harrowing fact that he may have inadvertently broken said boy's heart.

Or, a rapidly snowballing fic that's become a series of character studies by accident. Features Mike Wheeler kicking Eddie's ass into gear, ruminations on being a fashion-assigned dom, Steve Harrington's Various Abandonment Issues, and a surprise Tommy Hagan.

[WIP] 6/?, 38.9k

original works:

court of law

A mildly unhinged second person pov piece about a person going to college and finding that he's trapped in a bizarre dreamscape with no memories. And a new body. He accidentally steals a cute boy's name.

Lots of shenanigans, lots of gender and bad jokes.

[WIP] 6/?, 13k

[y2klostandfound]

Now on Sale (New Game Express) - Space Channel 5 Part 2 on Game Players Vol.28 (Video Game magazine)(Hong Kong, 2002)

Translation in English:

PS2

February 14, 2002

SEGA ETC

5800 yen DVD-ROM / GD-ROM

161kb

Singing and dancing to save the universe

SPACE CHANNEL 5 , the second episode of the new sensory music beat genre game developed by SEGA and UGA, is now available on PS2 and DC during the Chinese New Year. In the game, the player plays a TV reporter, using her singing and dancing skills to stop aliens from invading the universe, and the enemy of this episode is a mysterious organization leading a group of small black machines "Dancing Troupe (Rhythm Rouges)".

REPORT 1 - The crisis reignites

One day, a cruise ship called Space Symphony was passing over Pluto when a giant black unidentified flying object suddenly approached the ship, and then a group of small robots appeared and walked inside the ship, emitting some strange lights that made the passengers dance. The television station "Channel 5", which received this event, immediately asked the reporter ULALA to go there to make a live report. ...... When it comes to the gameplay, it is basically the same as the previous episode. At the beginning of "Dance Battle", the opponent's Icon will be seen at the bottom left of the screen, then the player needs to write down the opponent's movements and rhythms, and then when the Icon changes, she needs to make the same movements and rhythms as the opponent, With the same action and festival, you will hear a special sound if you succeed, and of course you will hear the sound of "blowing soda" if you fail. Just repeat this action until everyone is rescued and you will pass the game.

The mysterious enemy "Dancing Troupe" has spotted the target...

Passengers enjoying space travel still know something is going to happen...

Make the same movements and rhythms as the other party

Those who are successfully rescued will join the ULALA train to help save the remaining passengers

The First characters

JAGUAR

The reporter of Space Pirate Broadcasting, who appeared in the previous work, but this time he was found in the opening, what is the relationship between him and ULALA?

FUSE

This spaceship floating in the air is actually a satellite broadcast by the TV station "Channel 5". There is a broadcaster visible at the bottom of the ship.

SHADOW & (RHYTHM) ROBOT

Captain SHADOW leads a group of robots that emit strange light from their eyes. They are part of the dance team. Their main task is to attack and capture humans everywhere. What is their purpose...

NOISE

He looks like a rookie from the outside, but he is actually the technical development director of "Channel 5". In the development of the new broadcaster, he is responsible for the technical support. Having a super low waist is his characteristic.

PURGE

The leader of the "Dancing Troupe (Rhythm Rouges)" who appeared at the beginning of the story. Why does he want to catch humans to dance? All this will be left to the player to solve in the game.

"PART 2" full of new elements

n the new episode, how can there be some new elements missing? In this episode, the input of length and strength will be added first, and the lyrics will be added below the dancing process. In addition, ULALA will play with the band during the dance, which greatly improves the atmosphere.

Press the button to play the guitar!

Added lyrics display when dancing, more like watching TV