#anyway all five of these have one particular thing in common

[stellamancer]

don't perceive me okay.

willow house halloween fic inspo media

#nikuniku fic spam #i think the least obscure one in this is probably madoka magica #since haruhi suzumiya is so old now #special shout out goes to neo: twewy tho #hehe #anyway all five of these have one particular thing in common #and when you realize #you'll see why i think the idea is bonkers #someone put me out of my misery #also higurashi sotsu is really bad like #every week i watched i was consumed with more and more horror #like there was one particular scene from gou that i was like #we're not gonna see it again right?? right??? #and WE DID AND IT WAS CENSORED AND I WAS LIKE #WHAT'S THE POINT OF CENSORING IT BECAUSE IT WASN'T CENSORED IN GOU

[theminecraftbee]

Hi! I’m like 90% sure you answered this already, but I was wondering if you had any advice on keeping all the hermits in character? There just too many for me to keep track of.

actually, unlike the answer to "do you have a list of characterization notes for each hermit, i want help writing [x hermit]", i have an answer to "there are too many hermits to keep track of"! and it's, uh, maybe not the answer you expect/want to hear? but...

my advice for keeping all the hermits in character is that you don't actually need to write all the hermits.

some stories ARE served by an ensemble cast! but many stories are not; you'll note most of my fics have a cast that is really only two or three leads deep, sometimes four or five in my larger casts but normally two or three! and that's because trying to keep a bigger cast than that perfectly in-character is REALLY HARD because you do not have the space in your story for it. read a LOT of things; MOST people do not fully flesh out a cast of 26 in their stories! because there just is not time.

there are two solutions to this. the first is, if you are committed to an ensemble cast, accept that everyone won't have as much depth to begin with. in large ensemble casts, it's pretty normal for everyone to just sort of have One Character Trait each, except for whoever the most common POV characters are, and that's okay. 

additionally, you'll note most TRUE ensemble casts are found in things that are long-running; the way something like an ace attorney game or a shonen fleshes out its ensemble cast is that it'll take turns with who's turn it is to get characterization. before it's that character's "turn" to have their backstory/characterization/motives explored, they typically stick to the point in their arc/character traits that have already been revealed, and that is okay! economy of storytelling is important, after all, and no audience is going to be able to follow twenty-six character arcs happening simultaneously. like, that's normal. that's fine. so use shortcuts to get through them!

the second solution is like... just don't write all the hermits! choose the ones you are comfortable with (or, alternately, you want to get more comfortable with by practicing). those are now your leads. focus in on characterizing THOSE GUYS and ONLY THOSE GUYS correctly for your story. use other hermits as bit side characters as needed, but they won't need to be characterized as well, because they are side characters.

and like. okay. that's the thing: it is OKAY if you have particular hermits you write less often or that you use as side characters. fandom sometimes shames people for not having everyone be a richly-characterized, perfectly in-character character, but like... there are TWENTY-SIX HERMITS. you will not be able to write them all perfectly. hell, i take shortcuts to write them all too (mostly related to my ability to write efficient dialogue but that's a thing you learn with practice and i can't really easily teach you to do), and i still get praised for writing them alright! i certainly don't even try to claim i keep track of all twenty-six hermits in every fic i write with them. that would be absurd. it is okay to have leads, to focus in on specific characters, and almost certainly better for your story, i promise.

anyway the third answer here is "also you just need to practice" but i acknowledge that's the boring non-answer. it's true, unfortunately. just... practice, and if there's a specific hermit you're trying to write that you're shaky on, practice them and watch a few of their videos to at least get the cadence for how they talk down, and you'll start to figure out what to do with them.

so,,,,,,,, yes i hope this actually helps with your question,

#answered #anyway sorry if this is not answering the question you really had #but 'how do i write all the hermits' is an interesting quetsion to me! #because like... there's really no reason to? #like OBVIOUSLY if you WANT to write all the hermits more power to you #but in most cases you do not need to and probably even shouldn't you know

[gffa]

Hey, hi, cool, so I just thought, for no reason that I can think of at this particular time, you all might want to fall back into the Kalluzeb rabbit hole with me, especially since they didn't get onscreen resolution for the desperate need I had for them to kiss, so fic is here to help solve that for us. Also feelings. So many, many feelings. And delicious mutual pining and hilarity of two idiots who clearly want to bang each other, with the knowledge that Zeb eventually will totally get his man (Steve Blum said so!!! just like that!!!) which makes it fun to watch two dumbasses circle each other around. Or finally give in because there's definitely a lot of giving in. Anyway, yes, have some STAR WARS REBELS fic, centered on Kallus and Zeb just because I thought it would be a fun side trip today. No reason! Just seemed like the thing to do, is all! STAR WARS REBELS KALLUZEB FIC RECS: ✦ A Lasat Walks into a Bar by Holderisms, zeb/kallus, the mandalorian spoilers, 1.3k    After speaking with Teva, Zeb gets a drink. Even when someone is waiting on him. ✦ Eudaemonia by Bur, zeb/kallus, 7.9k    Alexsandr never expected to find peace more terrifying than war. ✦ Hoth is (Not) for Lovers by bar2d2s, zeb/kallus, 1.2k    Hoth is cold and Kallus is miserable. Set only just before Empire Strikes Back. ✦ Falling in Love with the Right Now (Poster Boy) by akaparalian, (pre-)zeb/kallus & ghost crew, 1.6k    Somewhere out there in the galaxy, there's a rebel propaganda artist who deserves a raise. ✦ It Works on You by Kereea, zeb/kallus, 3.2k    Humans and lasats can have very different ideas about what's attractive. Zeb and Kallus still tend to line up by each other's standards. ✦ Warmth by icarus_chained, zeb/kallus, 1.6k    Zeb and Kallus, in the aftermath of Zero Hour. Someone needs to put Kallus back together, or near as can be managed. ✦ Mating Rituals by Velvedere, zeb/kallus & sabine & cast, 4.7k    Zeb has been acting weird lately. Kallus vents to Sabine about it. ✦ in your warmth I forget how cold it can be by dykeannebonny, zeb/kallus, NSFW, 3.6k    "Are you going to kiss me, Garazeb Orrelios?" Alex's lips were parted; he inhaled deeply through his mouth. "I'm thinkin' about it," Zeb said quietly. ✦ What We Want by TheTrashMan (Viraaja), Viraaja, zeb/kallus, NSFW, 12k    Kallus and Zeb realize what it is they want from each other: sex, obviously. ✦ Falling in Love with the Right Now (Poster Boy) by akaparalian, zeb/kallus & phoenix crew, 1.6k    Somewhere out there in the galaxy, there's a rebel propaganda artist who deserves a raise. ✦ The Care and Keeping of Ex-Imperials Who Need Coffee, a Nap, and a Hug in That Order by akaparalian, kallus & phoenix crew (& some zeb/kallus), 8.8k    Five Ghost crew members who helped Alexsandr Kallus, and one who he helped in return. ✦ In the Middle of the Night by bar2d2s, hera & kallus (background kanan/hera & zeb/kallus), 1.8k    When one member of your self-made family is pregnant, you’re all pregnant. ✦ Celestial Navigation by ambiguously, zeb/kallus, 1.7k    Kallus doesn't understand why Zeb's not sad. ✦ Untitled Rebels Fic by Mirror and Image, zeb/kallus & cast, 11.6k    Kallus, on Yavin IV, sees a Lasat that isn't Zeb. Things go as expected. ✦ When we have peace by apocrypha73, zeb/kallus, 2.9k    After the Battle of Endor, Kallus and Zeb enjoy the celebration. ✦ The Last Parking Spot on Lovers' Lane by ambiguously, zeb/kallus & hera & cast, 3.7k    All Zeb wants is to find a nice quiet spot to make out. This is not as easy as it should be. ✦ Speculation by Nana, zeb/kallus & ap-5, 1k    "AP-5," Kallus said, "are you under the impression that Captain Orrelios and I are involved, romantically?" "It is common knowledge at the base, sir. You don't have to deny it just because I am a droid." ✦ roisters by spookykingdomstarlight, zeb/kallus, 1.8k    For once, he is willing to put aside his thoughts and act. “Garazeb,” he says, because he is the only one who calls Zeb by his full name and because he’s noticed the way Zeb’s fur ripples in pleasure after he says it and somewhere in the back of his mind he knows that means something. “A word?” ✦ in this world by xpityx, zeb/kallus, NSFW, 2.1k    It had been eight months. Eight months since he'd last seen Alex in person. He'd still been Kallus then, had still been convinced that the Ghost crew were taking him to his executioners. ✦ The Sea Has Ten Thousand Names by ambiguously, zeb/kallus, 2.6k    Living on a new planet is hard when you don't know the language. ✦ Date Night by ambiguously, zeb/kallus & kanan/hera & jacen, 1.7k    Asking your not-boyfriend out on a date is even harder when he's stuck babysitting for his friends. ✦ Heard It in a Love Song (Can't Be Wrong) by ambiguously, zeb/kallus, 2.7k    Kallus can't quite figure out what makes Zeb tick, but he keeps trying. ✦ a more than mutually beneficial agreement by wrennette, zeb/kallus, NSFW, 3.1k    It takes a while, getting ex-Agent Kallus to open up. ✦ Another Mission, Another Mess by icarus_chained, zeb/kallus & kanan/hera & ghost crew, 6.5k    Kallus has been slowly intergrating into the crew when the Ghost is assigned to a normal supply run. The mission goes south, as it usually does, Zeb takes a hit, Kallus doesn't take it well, and the rest of the crew try to pick of the pieces. Another mission, another mess. Just another day on the Ghost. ✦ Rebel Teamwork by sempaiko, zeb/kallus, NSFW, 4.9k    How many Rebels does it take to screw in a lightbulb? ✦ Unscheduled Contact by Kala_Sathinee, zeb/kallus & cast, NSFW, 3.4    During a rescue mission, Zeb gets stranded aboard the Chimaera when it jumps to hyperspace. He and Kallus make the most of the time. ✦ just another damn of the damns you're not giving by shades, zeb/kallus & cast, NSFW, 6.8k    The thing is, Zeb’s handsy. ✦ taste of pleasure by wrennette, zeb/kallus, NSFW, 1.2k    The one where Zeb follows through on his idea of fucking Sasha full of come and then eating him out until he cries ✦ Scent Blind by Rachello344, zeb/kallus & cast, NSFW, 4.4k    Alexsandr has been avoiding Zeb since he joined the Rebellion in full, convinced that prolonged contact with the Lasat will prove his undoing. As long as Zeb smells so unfathomably good, he’ll never be able to speak with him casually, especially now that there are no other divides between them. If only Zeb had gotten the memo that Alexsandr was doing this for both their sakes. Unfortunately, it seems Zeb can’t, or won’t, take a hint. ✦ In Your Orbit by LoveCrumb, zeb/kallus, NSFW, 3.2k    After wanting to touch Zeb for so long, Alex reaches up and runs his hands down Zeb’s wide chest. The fur there, like much of his body, is short and thick; it feels velvety as Alex strokes downward, and more textured and coarse on the upstroke. ✦ We Belong Way Down Below by Mithrigil, zeb/kallus, NSFW, 1.6k    Zeb runs into Kallus on a routine mission. He doesn't know how that resulted in both of them getting off, but he's not complaining. ✦ ibac jaon by wrennette, zeb/kallus, nsfw, 3.9k    Fulcrum had given up on being found. ✦ Cogs by ambiguously, zeb/kallus, 1.1k    "You brought him home. That makes him yours." ✦ ever so patiently by Anonymous, zeb/kallus, NSFW, 21.2k    Lasat have very peculiar mating habits. No one thought to tell Kallus about that. or: Kallus is the last one to find out he’s being courted.

#alexsandr kallus #garazeb orrelios #kalluzeb #the mandalorian spoilers #fic recs #star wars fic recs

[liketwoswansinbalance]

Childhood Headcanons

These particular, sort of apocryphal headcanons (depends on who believes what after all) provide further context for the brothers' childhood under the constraints of my canon-divergent fic, "When Lightning Falls," that was proved wrong by canon after the release of Fall.

There's also an accompanying Creation Theory I made up, to provide context for the fic, which becomes especially relevant here.

And, if anyone's wondering, this post has been around for far too long—I just never posted it some while after the fic itself was done. I have a lot of stuff on backlog anyway, and figured I may as well edit and post this.

⸻

Note:

Most of these thoughts focus on Rafal, and there is a slightly dark undercurrent that runs throughout this post.

⸻

First, the brothers were originally foundlings, like in the fairy tales of yore.

Fittingly, they have been the youngest and the oldest beings ever to live at the School, at different points in time.

At first, they led a deathly existence, an insecure, unstable one, with potential death at every turn.

Rafal became used to death threats, and being called "demon spawn." He hardened in response. Ever townspeople tried to ward him off, but their feeble sigils did no good, did no true harm against him and his latent sorcery, even whilst he was still learning magic.

They were found, possibly, doddering around in the Woods, on the outskirts of the School, at somewhere from three to five years old? So, they conveniently have little to no memory of their existence beforehand, as vagrants, outcasts, rejects, waifs, who knows—they were alone in the world.

The twins crashed through the brambles, clothes torn, faces scratched, scrapes on their limbs, drenched by the rain, just... waiting to be taken in like strays, as if they simply... appeared.

Rhian trailed after Rafal who forged a path ahead, until they emerged in the light of a clearing, as if guided by the hand of fate, to the School for Good and Evil.

Shortly after their discovery, they became the youngest students to ever attend the school.

Of course, taking them in was the Good thing to do, but perhaps, if we let conspiracy run rampant, the Storian had a hand in the proceedings.

Oddly enough, the Pen just might have brainwashed all the faculty to come to the unanimous agreement of raising the brothers as their own, among the lot of them. How odd that they agreed for once, the one time in decades that Good and Evil have agreed on any matter.

It was probably done for the greater fate of the Woods, the way they were all swayed by the Storian, nearly unconsciously.

And so, they came to terms with the new status quo because there seemed to be something behind this decision of the Pen's, that was greater than they could ever know, or so they believed.

They accepted it. They didn't question it because it was so obviously the Storian's doing. Controlling their minds that had already been made for them. No chance to decide for themselves.

But, they let the Storian handle it, handed over all control to the Storian. Because, no one, not even the highest ranking sorcerer or fairy godmother of either School, or lord or lady could have taken issue with what the Storian did. No one went against it. No one could. Contradicting it would have been a death wish just waiting to happen.

And they all knew that. They knew that very well, considering the nature of the tales they taught.

Eventually, they came to the common conclusion that these children must have been their future School Masters.

Thus, they took the Storian's apparent decision to heart because it wasn't their place to step in.

No one could overrule the Pen, so they lived with it, and continued to train the mysterious, foundling brothers—while they worried for their lives and all that was to come.

That particular set of faculty became a little like the brothers' parents, until they died off, one by one, each from old age or the occupational hazards of working at such a School.

Their professional lives were demanding and they didn't pay as much attention to the brothers as they should have.

All they could do was follow through and hope the Pen had charted the right course, that it chose well in the end.

Even if they would never live to see the future, they were aware they had played a monumental role in securing safety and balance for the Woods, by acting as these children's first, human influences.

⸻

"When Lightning Falls" takes place around three years after the brothers' arrival, when they're about seven, so they've had time to have grown used to the schools.

Everything has become a bit mundane to them. There's nothing new because it's all they've ever known and grown up with, unlike the incoming students' experience of the manor every four years.

So, they've never been around peers their own age, which led to Rhian feeling special and becoming fragile with no challengers and to Rafal gaining a massive superiority complex.

During those years is when Rafal starts on his skepticism, early in life.

Rafal starts to question the Pen, and ask why of everything and everyone that can possibly answer him, or that would answer him if he persisted and probed enough, and didn't relent. And he threatens his way to the answers, to get his way, to figure out what makes everything in this world of theirs tick.

It's the only way he knows, to bribe or exchange, even unethically, or to beat and to hassle information out of others, to trap them in their own bedchambers or offices and not release them until they answered him or fulfilled his demands.

He learned the word "leverage" early on, and the Evil faculty thought he was a prodigy.

He doesn't know any other way because the Never faculty took him in first, claimed him as one of their own. They took a liking to him and his silence, over his crybaby brother.

Predictably, the Never faculty were rough around the edges and they never showed displays of pleading and begging, so Rafal never did that, even as a child.

He never learned the art of apologizing either. Everyone was remiss to let that pass by... but it was too late.

He refused to resort to such means as begging, to lower himself in that way, like Rhian would, even at such a young age, because he wasn't taught mercy. He was told kindness was a weakness and that justice was right. And so, even as a young child, he maintained an adult-like level of dignity in how he conducted himself, always.

Meanwhile, he'd look on at his brother, and wonder: why is he acting so childishly? Having Evil imposed on him forced Rafal to grow up sooner, before his time.

Evil taught him never to whine and whinge, to never cry to get his way. He could already get his way, by other, more sinister means. Cleverer, more artful, more guileful means besides, and in doing so, he could still feel superior, boosting his ego, inflating it and inflating it as a result.

So, that was what he'd grown up around. It was the natural way of things, to him.

At least, this is how children ought to be treated in his eyes, simple as that. And he turned out fine, didn't he? Of course he did. No question about it. He's him, and he's great. The best. Superior to all others, everyone else in his school.

He probably considered himself the smartest little boy alive, not necessarily the most knowledgeable, but the most clever or capable of outwitting others, of negotiating deals, and plotting schemes and doing other, crooked deeds. He thought himself smart in that artful sense, skilled to the point that he could outfox adults over twice his age, outdoing the teenage students in everything he did.

Oh, and if certain knowledge were established as forbidden? Rafal would still try all the more diligently to go after it. That's how he contended with all things.

And what of Rhian? To Rafal, Rhian was naive. Secretly, Rafal never considered Rhian his match. No way, no how. That brother of his couldn't tell Good from Evil in the simplest of challenges.

The Evil faculty were decently well-meaning, thinking Rafal would be good villain material, but again, they weren't exactly attentive or warm or caring like Good's faculty was in "parenting" Rhian.

They weren't neglectful either, but still, Rafal was left to his own devices outside of lessons, and he grew accustomed to being alone when Rhian wasn't around to play with him. Not that he really played that frequently.

Thus, time passed, and the staff believed the twins to be foundlings. That they were adopted, taken in under their wings. Children of the School.

In reality, the twins were children of the Storian.

Everyone knowingly buys into the lie because they didn't want to think beyond the present. They wanted to believe the brothers were of woman-born, abandoned, and insignificant. But, the truth could only be delayed, not buried.

The brothers are foundlings, they all said, persistently. That's what most of the faculty believed, and that's what the brothers were led to think.

Yet, a select few knew their actual purpose of existence: the brothers were not being trained up to follow the Rules of fairy tales themselves—they were being trained up to rule. (Or rather, "rule" as figureheads for the greater Pen.)

They were bound to the School grounds, and only a few people, none in living memory, knew they belonged to the Storian...

⸻

Any thoughts anyone?

#school for good and evil #rise of the school for good and evil #rafal #rafal mistral #rhian #rhian mistral #sge #sfgae #the school for good and evil #tsfgae #rotsge #rotsfgae #my post #my theories #my headcanons #the storian #storian #artificial life #man vs. pen #when lightning falls #wlf

[comicaurora]

Hey! So I have a trope question

Something I’ve noticed since I was little is a that a lot of media with a trio had the same make up of two boys and one girl, is this a trope or just some weird thing that just happens by random odds?

I think it's a little bit more broad and nebulous than a trope, although it does have a TVTropes page. It's not random odds, it's storytelling trends.

For a number of reasons, the majority of protagonist POV characters are guys. Starting from this premise, if you want to make sure your protagonist always has somebody to play off of so they aren't engaging with the story in complete isolation, you give them at least one character to hang out with. This minimum one character can have all kinds of traits (mentor, scoundrel, battle butler), but if you as a writer are taking the easy, normal approach, you will give this protagonist a friendly buddy/rival to team up and squabble with (and this buddy will also be a guy, because again, this theoretical writer is taking the easy approach to character dynamics), and as a second thought you will probably give our hero a theoretical love interest girl for him to pine after so you can (a) write/draw a Hot Lady as much as you want and (b) get Hero Boy to cover a broader range of emotional situations within the comfort of his friend group. Thus you have rederived the trope of Two Guys And A Girl, congratulations on your moderately successful mid-2000s gaming webcomic.

As the story continues you might realize Girl Who Exists So Protagonist Can Remember Girls Exist is not actually an appealing love interest for him, so you'll probably pair off Girl with Second Guy and leave Hero Boy to pursue other romantic avenues. Second Guy is liable to be rather more interesting anyway, since he's going to be a Lancer to the hero's Leader-ness and serve as his primary foil, meaning he has a little more personality and frankly a lot more romantic tension with the lead. In fact, if you want to be really lazy about it, you can take these three characters and snap them into a love triangle with absolutely no extra work on your part, and that's an infinite drama generator at no cost to you.

You might take a slightly different approach if you, the writer, are a lady writing a lady-centric romantic story, in which case Girl is liable to be the POV character while her buds Hero Boy and Rival Boy take turns having romantic subplot adventures with her. In these narrative structures you don't want to add another girl to the inner circle, because the presence of a Romantic Rival (which seems to be the only purpose Other Girls serve in these stories) would spoil the center-of-the-universe romantic fantasy, so your hands are tied and we're back to Two-Guys-And-A-Girl again. You might add a supportive girl best friend when it gets adapted for netflix though - she can pair off with whichever boy loses at no additional cost.

What we're seeing here is Easy Mode Storytelling. This is what happens when a writer takes the extremely well-traveled road and lets their wheels slide into the well-worn tracks and follow where they may. It's not good or bad, it's just easy. It's a story we can recite in our sleep. This particular character arrangement occurs with unusual frequency because there are a number of factors that make it easy, and when you take a broad approach, the easy approach will be statistically favored.

This triple arrangement can obviously be genderflipped - Hero Girl with her friends Rival Girl and Love Interest Boy - but this is less common just by the numbers, because in the space of fiction there are more Hero Boys than Hero Girls. All-boy and all-girl trios also happen, but because most people are straight, most writers will see this as depriving themselves of all the exciting romantic tension they could get from having One Token Character to be romantically viewed and pursued. Additional characters can be added to the group, leading to Four-Temperament Ensembles and Five-Man Bands, but broadly this three-person arrangement is the smallest possible Ensemble Cast unit a writer can easily construct.

#asks #writing stuff

[makeste]

do you perhap have bakugou whump fic recs?

I have many such recs! not all of them are "whump" in the purest sense of the word, but they've got angst and hurt/comfort in abundance, so yeah.

I also have an older rec post from like five years ago which has quite a few Bakugou whump fics as well, so I'll link that here.

and here are like 16 new ones lol.

some quick notes:

I'm just including links and summaries here, so please make sure to check the tags for each fic if you have certain squicks or triggers you're trying to avoid!

please be aware that I am not very nitpicky about grammar and style and spelling and the like, so long as I'm feeling the characterization and general vibes. so while I can't promise that all of these fics will read like Nobel Prize-winning lit, I can say that I personally enjoyed each one enough to go back and reread more than once.

although it tends to be one of the most common tropes in Bakugou angst fics, I do not vibe with the "abusive Mitsuki" angle, so you won't find any of that in the works below. same goes for Midnight-bashing (which is also surprisingly common).

I also did not include any fics with sad endings just because I didn't feel like depressing myself today lol.

I don't think there are manga spoilers in any of these fics except one (which I noted and marked with an asterisk), but definitely check the tags just to be safe.

lastly, though I'm by no means a prude when it comes to fanfic, all of these particular fics are SFW, just FYI.

----------------------------------------

gen Bakuwhump:

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It's Already Tomorrow on the Other Side of the World by Nicole_Silverwolf

In the absolute immediate aftermath of his rescue at Kamino, Bakugou just wants to sleep. If he sleeps then this nightmare will be over. Except he's freezing in the mid August heat. And he can't stop shaking. A glimpse of two imperfect humans trying their best told in 3.5 parts.

post-Kamino Dadzawa and Katsuki. easily one of my all-time favorite BnHA fics. it's so sad and cozy.

Coming Up for Air by achievingelysium

Katsuki has nightmares. He doesn't think he deserves the comfort, but Aizawa-sensei sits with him anyway.

more Dadzawa dealing with nighttime Kacchan angst, since that's like my #1 BnHA fic aesthetic. this is so well-written. like, there are a couple of lines in here that just... guh. just hit right to the core of me.

Bakugou's "Super Fun" Three Day Vacation by Marvelless

Bakugou and his parents arrive home after the Kamino Ward incident for some much-needed recovery time.

post-Kamino Bakufam angst. lots of paranoia and dissociation. this is one of those fics that's sort of a guilty pleasure for me, because Katsuki definitely feels a lot more... fragile?... in this than I think he would have been in canon. but he's still enough of a grump during all of his spiralling that it still feels like him. and I do love me some Bakufam wholesomeness, and this fic has got that in spades.

the art of poor judgement by emelinelou

It's a Tuesday when Bakugou admits to himself that maybe, maybe he is sorta, kinda under the weather. Things go quickly downhill from there. . Alternatively: Bakugou's too stubborn to be "sick," Midoriya and Kirishima are in over their heads, Todoroki is the Most Useful in a pinch, and Aizawa is not paid nearly enough for this.

probably my favorite sickfic. chapter two especially. Bakugou's narration in this is fucking fantastic. he's so fucking done with life. meanwhile everyone around him is freaking out, and he himself is a complete mess even though he won't acknowledge it, and it's just great. it's equal parts funny, sad, and absolutely adorable.

(incidentally, even though this fic is marked as incomplete, it really doesn't feel that way and ends at a perfectly reasonable stopping point, so don't let that put you off.)

Solar Flare by TheQueen

Three weeks after Katsuki Bakugou receives his quirk, he takes a short tumble off a bridge and watches, dumbfounded, as stupid Deku extend a hand. Don’t take it, the universe commands. Don’t tell me what to do! Katsuki snaps.

this is a really cool AU in which Baby Katsuki accidentally starts defying the universe and ignoring his predestined path, which has a profound ripple effect on his life. sort of like a time-travel fix-it, minus the time travel. also just a heads up that Bakugou is like five years old in this so I guess it's technically a kidfic. and there is plenty of angst, a little bit of whump, more Bakufam, and plenty of baby Kacchan and Deku being cute like it's their job.

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BKDK/DKBK whump:

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lose it all (with eyes wide open) by ghostwriterofthemachine

Katsuki is blinded. Izuku is muted. Both of them are kidnapped. Things get worse.

this is one of those fics that just kind of leaves you stunned at how freaking good it is. featuring: psychological mindgames, hopelessly bleak situations, and codependency so utterly raw and desperate that it broke my heart roughly 17 times.

When Ice Doesn't Float by Ma_skee

A simple rescue exercise goes south when Izuku falls through the ice and it goes from a class assinment to an actual rescue and a race against time to keep him from freezing to death.

technically this is more Dekuwhump than Kacchanwhump (though we do get a bit of the latter toward the end), but I'd argue that few things could possibly stress Katsuki out more than being in a tense survival situation in which Deku is hurt and needs help. anyway so yeah. this is classic hurt/comfort and very good.

spinning out of control by mollE

Katsuki joins the 'I've Been Mind Controlled' Club. He wishes he hadn't.

please see above re: how all Dekuwhump scenarios are secretly Kacchanwhump scenarios in disguise. anyway so basically a mind-controlled Bakugou beats the shit out of Deku while being fully aware of it the entire time, and has a complete (and understandable) emotional breakdown afterwards.

all that you ever wanted from me was sweet nothing by maxisnotokay

Izuku has had this thing about him that Katsuki has never been able to name, but he's been chasing it since he learned how to run. It takes a catastrophic building collapse during their third year and a severe concussion for him to realize what it is. Aizawa loses ten years off his life. When does he not.

gotta love a good building collapse fic. this one has a concussed Katsuki, a very worried Izuku, and the usual "thanks to this intimate life-or-death situation, I have belatedly realized some fundamental truths about the nature of our relationship" tropes. but it's good. a lot of really good banter and back-and-forth dialogue in this one too.

takes one to know one by Sour_Idealist

Deku has left UA. Ochako still looks for him in unguarded moments. Bakugo is, unsurprisingly, being a jerk.

some good emotional hurt/comfort post-Jakku. Ochako has a chat with Bakugou about Deku. specifically, Bakugou's feelings toward Deku. it's good shit.

*fear is the heart of love by nikkiRA

*please be advised this fic contains major manga spoilers!!

Bakugou gets hit by a quirk that amplifies his greatest fear for 24 hours.

losing Deku. the thing that scares him the most is losing Deku. this is a good fic. emotional hurt/comfort for days. though once again do keep in mind that there are a couple of major spoilers in this.

silence is what i do best by notreally

the one where both Izuku and Katsuki were hit with a truth serum sort of quirk, and things aren't going all too well.

not just a truth-telling quirk, but a truth-compulsion quirk, to the extent that (spoiler alert) the quirk causes them physical pain and distress if they don't speak the truth. which, as you can imagine, leads to all sorts of extremely vulnerable conversations and a lot of good h/c.

close by not quite by blossomshed

When Bakugou goes after a beacon during a class-wide rescue op, he doesn't expect to find Deku - or to find himself dealing with the fallout of a gift he doesn't want, and a side of himself he'd never bothered to examine. He deals with it nonetheless.

this fic is so dear to me. it's yet another "Deku transfers OFA to Bakugou fic", but it's just so fucking good. and it also features a (very much confused) ace Bakugou, which is such a rare find. there are lines from this fic which I still think about constantly. it's funny and profound and adorable and so wonderfully IC, please go read it.

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BONUS NON-ANGSTY FICS because I just felt like ending this list with some happy stories where Kacchan gets a lot of love:

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give me compliments (i said give me compliments) by wonhaebunny

“It’s just cute,” Ashido is telling them as she walks into the classroom. “Like, when you compliment someone and they get flustered so easily, don’t you think it’s endearing?” Kaminari blinks. “Like Bakugou?” he asks slowly. - 1-a realises that katsuki is really, really bad at receiving compliments. exposure therapy ensues.

he is bad at accepting compliments. this is a very, very cute fic.

The Friendship Ladder by nikkiRA

Bakugou and Kirishima tell their classmates they're dating, but everyone seems more interested in who gets to claim the newly vacated spot of Bakugou’s best friend.

as the summary implies this is technically KRBK, but the focus here is very much class 1-A as a whole. there's just something about seeing the entirety of the class squabbling over their Kacchan love that tickles me to no end. Deku is also fantastic in this lmao.

The Yoshida Trail by WinterSwallow

Mitsuki Bakugo returns with her gift to the mountain.

last but not least we have this gorgeous character study with a criminally low view count. Mitsuki climbs Mt. Fuji with an eight-year-old Katsuki in tow, as the fic explores his childhood and young adulthood through a series of vignettes. the insights in this really have no business being as profound as they are, given that they're voiced from the perspective of one of the most graceless characters in the series as she observes her equally graceless son through all the ups and downs and tumbles of his life. but somehow that just makes the whole thing even better. idk I just really love this a lot.

---

anyway that's it for now. hope at least a few of these are enjoyable. thanks for the ask!

#bakugou katsuki #bakudeku #bkdk #fic recs #bnha fic recs #bnha #boku no hero academia #makeste reads bnha

[goldenhypen]

❝ THE PARTNER PROJECT ❞ — JAKE SIM

PAIRING → jake sim x fem!reader || GENRE → friends to lovers!au, non-idol!au, dancer!au, fluff, angst || WORD COUNT → 8.6k

FEATURING → tomorrow x together’s yeonjun; le sserafim’s chaewon and yunjin; nmixx’s lily; ive’s wonyoung and liz; and newjeans’ danielle || WARNINGS → mentions of food, contains an argument or two between jake and reader (lmk if i’m missing any!)

SYNOPSIS → being part of the same dance team for two years and counting, jake and y/n have never found the courage to confess to each other about their feelings, until one day, they are forced to grow closer as they just so happen to get paired for the first time as the team prepares for a new performance. and luckily for the both of them, they’ll be partners for the entire season. and who knows? this particular partnership might just evolve and grow into one that will last them a lifetime.

AUTHOR’S NOTE → after putting together jake’s birthday fic extremely last minute (heh ,, procrastinator things <//3), it is finally here !! this is my first time writing such a long fic, but i honestly enjoyed it sm, and it makes me wanna write more of them in the future !! happy birthday to jakey, and i hope you all enjoy this one !! <3

“jake totally has a crush on you.”

“chaewon!” you whisper-yelled with wide eyes, “be quiet!”

you and your close friends and fellow dance members, chaewon and yunjin, had stepped into the empty dance studio where you would soon be having practice with the rest of the team who would be arriving just any minute. this team included you, chaewon and yunjin, along with four other girls, called lily, wonyoung, liz and danielle. 

in addition to all of you though, there were also seven other guys, one of them being the one and only, jake sim, whom you’ve had a secret crush on for what felt like forever, but was really only for nearly two years. however, this was more or less only a secret kept from the guys, because you seven girls tended to hang out and talk about lots of things, a common subject being crushes since you were all dreadfully single. and so, you were very open about your crush on jake to them, but never would you let that kind of confidential information reach even a mile within the boys’ ears, because who knows how that news would spread? rumours could start, information could reach so many in such a short amount of time, and you could experience heartbreak and rejection before you could even let jake know about your feelings yourself. 

now, it was no doubt that you seven were close with the boys; however, what’s said between the girls stays between the girls. it’s an unspoken rule. 

however, today seemed to be the first day of potentially failing this prioritised goal of yours because of chaewon’s slip of the tongue. you just hoped none of the guys were within hearing distance of the spilled secret. 

“he does not!” you continued in a soft yet demanding tone. 

“y/n, i’m serious,” yunjin responded. “based on my intuition, i give you a solid 90-percent chance that he actually likes you too. and you know my success rate for these things is high, such as the wonyoung-sunghoon confirmation incident last week!”

“yeah, yeah, i get it,” you playfully rolled your eyes, “but seriously, there’s no proof that tells me that he actually does like me back. plus, what is there to like about me anyway?”

you looked down, slightly sad, distracting yourself with the sweater paws of your crewneck. 

“y/n, stop,” chaewon frowned, placing a hand on your arm, “you’re talented and pretty and caring and kind and so many more beautiful things. jake definitely has good taste.”

she ended her point with a smirk, and you finally looked up at her and couldn’t help the smile rising to your lips before smacking her arm. 

“don’t get my hopes up.”

after around five minutes, everyone finally arrived in the studio, along with your senior and dance coach, choi yeonjun, and you were finally able to catch a break from your friends about all of the jake nonsense. however, whether they were temporarily finished with their attempts to convince you of their strong senses or not, it didn’t matter, because the thumping inside your chest wouldn’t slow down for even two seconds as you watched the man in question step into the room. 

he was glowing—you could’ve sworn he was—with that beaming smile of his that was always on his face whenever he hung out with the boys. 

oh, how nice it would be to be one of the guys right now. 

his wide grin that pushed his cheekbones up, crinkling his eyes into shapes that screamed joy were so contagious, it had you smiling as well, but you used everything you had inside you to shove it away so that it wasn’t obvious you were staring—oh, right, but you were forgetting the most crucial part of that whole plan: looking away. so immediately and unfortunately, you drew your eyes away from the gorgeous man that you could so easily stare at for hours and hid your smile away that so wanted to be let out. but staring at jake was not worth the risk of letting him know your true feelings for him. 

“okay, everyone, listen here, please!” yeonjun started loudly. “i have important and exciting news.” 

the sounds of chatter died down as all of you gathered around, eager to listen to what your senior had to say. 

“during today’s practice, we’re going to start on a new performance…”

everyone gasped and smiles lit up the room, followed by a few whispered exchanges. 

“…i want us to do something that we don’t do too often, and that is dancing with partners, meaning every guy and girl have to partner up with each other...”

mixed emotions filled the room, and a different expression could be seen on every face as you scanned the people around you—some shocked, some excited, some nervous.

“…this will be a different style than what we’re used to, but i think it’ll be fun. and i’ve been working on the choreography and formations for this dance all week, but i still haven’t picked the partners for it.”

“or—!” danielle raised her hand and began excitedly, “maybe we can pick the partners since you’ve done a lot already, coach. doing this, you can have a little bit of a break.”

yeonjun thought for a moment, hesitant, “i don’t usually let you pick your own partners for several reasons, but i suppose this time wouldn’t be such a bad idea to. go ahead; we’ve been dancing together long enough, i trust you guys.”

danielle, as well as many others’ eyes, lit up at the unexpected decision made. 

“okay, while i just get some stuff ready for us to start, you all go and begin picking your partners,” yeonjun said. “i’ll give you three minutes, and then we can start.” 

and after three minutes, yeonjun was ready, and so were the fourteen of you with your partners chosen. 

somehow, from some blessing or some curse—you didn’t know—jake ended up as your partner, and you couldn’t have been more shaken up. 

having been a team for a while now, it was a habit for you all to work on coming to a decision together, so that’s exactly what you did, somewhat huddling up as partners were being chosen. 

“i think me and sunoo have similar styles, so we can go together,” liz suggested, followed by several agreeing nods. 

“and we all know i don’t pick up choreo the fastest,” danielle blurted out lightheartedly, laughing as she continued, “so maybe i should go with ni-ki so we can balance each other out.”

and yunjin just had to go on and say, “and i think jake and y/n dance well together, but we don’t get to see you two dance side by side very often. it would be nice to see you as partners this time.”

you narrowed your eyes at her in a death stare that was as subtle as possible, but she only gave you a smirk with a playful look of pride in her eyes, happy with her suggestion as the rest of the group agreed. 

and that was how you ended up by jake’s side—as his dance partner for this season. 

you didn’t know if your heart was beating and unsteady hands shaking because of how nervous or how excited you were to be paired with him. but you concluded that though you had known him and danced in the same team with him for two years now, at this moment, you were so anxious to make the smallest slip-up and wanted to do your best at looking good in front of him. 

so yes, you were extraordinarily nervous, to say the least, and your body couldn’t be tenser with these uncontrollable nerves and feelings locked up inside of you.

and this really didn’t help your case as jake suddenly, yet so delicately and softly, placed his hands on your waist from behind, catching you so off guard that you jumped slightly under his touch. you two both laughed it off, but instead of feeling relieved of anything, your awkward laughs just made you feel more embarrassed. 

that was when you snapped back to reality and realised yeonjun was already teaching the choreography. 

why would you jump when he’s touching you?! it was literally instructed, right before your own eyes? you scolded yourself internally, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm yourself down, even if just slightly. 

“sorry,” you felt jake whisper beside your ear from behind. felt, because not only did you hear him, but shivers also rushed down your entire being as jake’s breath brushed against the shell of your ear, and you hoped for the life of you that he wouldn’t get too close to hear your rapid heartbeat himself. 

you shook your head, looking into his eyes through the mirror that you stood before, and smiled naturally in response to his apology, letting him know it was okay. 

and for the next few hours, practice continued just like that—learning the dance with a few awkward moments shared between you and jake every so often. 

being paired with your crush, you would have expected time to pass by more quickly, because ‘time flies when you’re having fun,’ but no. time slowed extremely, because you were so nervous. 

you had danced with jake before—of course; you were a part of the same dance team for two years and counting—and you had even been partnered with him before; however, you had never had him to yourself, and also never for an entire dance. and with your feelings only growing every day, of course, you were nervous about this project. 

being so focused on your own feelings and also trying to pick up the choreography quickly without mistakes, you didn’t fully notice that jake was also struggling because he had similar feelings as you, since he liked you too—a lot. 

his feelings for you began the moment he walked into the studio on his first day of joining the team. your smile was radiant as you talked and laughed with your friends in the middle of the practice room, and he immediately fell for you. 

ever since, he had gotten to know you better, and he absolutely fell in love with your personality: how you were so kind and how you had your own quirks. 

throughout these two years, you two found it difficult to interact, both being shy when it came to talking to each other privately, one-on-one. of course, you two were friendly with one another, but neither of you ever made much of an extensive effort to take your friendship any further. 

even though there were countless nights where he would imagine what it would be like to have you as his girlfriend and to take you on all of these dates, such as going to an amusement park or arcade or even watching the stars together, he still didn’t dare to ever ask you out. 

so, yes, you both were struggling to say the least, and yeonjun noticed this and decided to confront you two about it. 

“what’s going on?” he asked you both seriously and slightly frustrated. “if you guys can’t work together, i’m going to have to choose new partners. you all chose these pairs, and if you can’t show me that you can be responsible and work together well, i can’t let you guys choose your partners again in the future.”

“sorry, coach,” you apologised, guilt laced in your voice as you couldn’t even look into his eyes. “there’s no need to change partners. don’t worry about us; we’ll work hard and make sure we don't fall behind.”

yeonjun, sceptical, looked at you and jake, who nodded along to everything you had to say, “there are only ten minutes left of practice, but i want you two to stay behind until you’re able to dance this piece as well as everybody else.”

“yes, coach,” jake said with a nod. 

yeonjun then looked at you before you shook your head up and down quickly in understanding. 

“okay,” yeonjun started assertively to grab everyone’s attention, “let’s end practice here. a reminder that we have the retreat tomorrow, and we have to meet here at 10 am. jake and y/n, please clean up the studio when you’re done. i’ll see you all tomorrow.”

and with that, everybody began packing up, and within minutes, with a final good luck and goodbye wave from your friends, your coach and all of your dance mates were gone, leaving just you and jake, alone in the empty studio. 

“well, i guess it’s just us,” jake began, breaking the silence as he sent you the softest smile, reminding you of how much your heart ached for him. 

“yeah,” you agreed, continuing under your breath, “just us.”

“should we go over the dance?” he asked.

“yeah. actually, can we go over that one part that we were having trouble with? the one that’s like—” you demonstrated the move by lifting your arms and placing them in position.

“there were actually a lot of parts we were having trouble with,” he said with a chuckle—oh, how you loved his laugh, “but yeah, we can start with that one.”

as he finished his words, he made his way, stopping in front of you before placing his hands on your hips. and it was only then that you remembered what kind of partner work this part included; if you hadn’t forgotten earlier, you wouldn’t have asked to go over this part first, then you wouldn’t have to start with cleaning the dance flustered. 

heat rose to your cheeks, and your arms slowly made their way around his neck, preparing for the following moves. 

“ready?” he counted, “five, six, seven, eight—”

and after an hour of additional practice, you both agreed that you were ready for next practice, but also ready to eat, because your stomachs had been in need of some food a long time ago.

“how about let’s just run it through with music one more time, yeah? and then let’s get something to eat; i’m so hungry,” jake suggested, and you nodded before he went to play the song.

you got in your starting position, and jake ran to his spot beside you, holding your hand like the routine began.

you couldn’t keep track of how many times you had run this routine with jake today, but the more you did it, the more comfortable both of you noticeably felt. you were both less tense and having fun as you danced through it, and whenever you would make eye contact, large, happy grins would be exchanged. 

the song finally began to conclude, and you both made your way to your ending position, your body in his arms, faces close as you held the ending pose. and as the music came to an end, you two stayed there for a few more counts, and during that time, you could’ve sworn his eyes rushed down to your lips for a split second. 

or maybe not. 

either way, you decided to just brush it off and not think about it too much or else you’d potentially be getting your hopes up for nothing. 

you two stood back up, and joyful laughter escaped your lips before some celebratory high-fives were exchanged. 

“we did it!” you exclaimed. 

“yes! good job!”

“you too,” you smiled softly, looking into each other’s eyes for one long second before you snapped yourself back to reality. “now let’s get some food; i’m starving.”

so you two quickly cleaned the practice room and packed up before excitedly leaving the studio to go get something to eat together. 

you two ended up deciding on a place after jake had recommended it to you and encouraged you two to go, and of course, you couldn’t help but give in to his adorable proposal. 

so he took you to a nice, middle-class-type restaurant, and once you two sat down, he had a wide grin on his face as he suggested you try the steak, which is what he usually ordered and what he was planning to order again this time. 

so with a soft smile, you agreed, and he ended up ordering for the both of you.

after having practised together for almost the entire day, you two had grown closer, and conversation came easily and naturally, which both of you were grateful for. 

“you know,” jake started, eyes on his straw as he swirled it slowly in his cup in front of him, “we’ve danced together for so long, why is it only now that we’re actually partnered with each other?”

“i know, right? i was thinking the same thing.”

“yeah,” he nodded before letting his straw go and moving his eyes to look into yours. “i’m really glad we’re partners this time.”

at his genuine words, the look on your face visibly softened, and you paused for a moment, collecting yourself internally, “me too, jake. you’re actually not as bad a partner as lily says you are.”

at your playful remark, jake’s jaw lowered in a look of feigned offence, “wow, is that really the way my image is perceived among the girls?” 

“yup,” you nodded slowly, lips pressed together as you let out a joking sigh. 

and jake just looked at you and laughed, loving that he got to experience this side of you, with no others around. just you two.

eventually, after the food arrived and jake offered to cut your steak for you like the gentleman he was, and after you both finished eating, after all of the laughs shared, after he ended up sneaking his way through and somehow paying for the entire bill, and after you smacked him on the shoulder and playfully scolding him for doing so, he ended up driving you home, as though he didn’t already do enough for you the entire day.

“thanks for the ride, jake,” you said as he parked, dropping you off.

“no problem. today was a lot of fun, we should do this kind of thing more often.”

“we should,” you said, unable to contain your smile, and neither was he.

“go inside now. i need to make sure you get in safe,” he told you.

“thanks, jake. see you tomorrow.”

“see you tomorrow.”

savouring the last moment you had with him for the day, you eventually pulled yourself to get out of his car and make your way to your door. 

heading inside, you gave him one last wave and watched as he began driving away. 

and once he was out of reach, you squealed to yourself and ran giddily to your room. boy, were you going to have a good sleep tonight. 

⎯⎯⎯⎯ ❦ ⎯⎯⎯⎯

“…yunjin, check. jay, check. heeseung, check. y/n, check. and danielle, check. okay! we can all make our way to the bus now; we’re all here,” yeonjun told all of you. 

it was retreat day one of two, and you couldn’t be more excited. this was an opportunity for bonding and growing closer to the members of your team, meaning, maybe you could get some more one-on-one time with jake too. 

following yeonjun, you began making your way outside and into the bus that was ready to take everyone. 

boarding, there were multiple rows of four seats down the entire interior of the bus, but in every row, the seats were separated in the middle by an aisle, leaving two seats on either side. 

taking note of this, you noticed all of your friends sat down with each other, in pairs, in the same rows. you girls did have an odd number after all. so you ended up sitting alone, which you didn’t really mind anyways. 

as the boys began trailing in afterwards, you noticed jake was the first one to come in and you smiled to yourself. he looked so happy and handsome, as always. 

what you didn’t expect was the following question from him, and you didn’t expect him to ask you out of everyone here: “can i sit here?”

“yeah, of course!” you answered, simply smiling on the outside but absolutely beaming on the inside with ecstasy as he took the seat right beside you. 

⎯⎯⎯⎯ ❦ ⎯⎯⎯⎯

what were five hours of road-tripping felt like a duration that just wasn’t long enough. 

though you were forced to stay seated in the same spot and same position for such a great amount of time, somehow, sitting with him had the hours pass like they were nothing. 

you two were able to talk for hours without growing bored, and if the conversation ever died down, the silence was never awkward. just simply being in each other’s presence was enough for both of you. 

jake noticed as your eyelids began to grow heavy, “you tired?”

“yeah, a little,” you answered, followed by a slight chuckle. 

“here,” he said, patting his shoulder, telling you to rest your head on him. 

you smiled, grateful, and made yourself comfortable. 

as you did so, jake’s heart rate quickened, yet also grew extremely soft, seeing you resting on him. he adored you. 

once your team arrived at the retreat destination, jake woke you up gently, and eventually, you all exited the bus, jake letting you go first, making you smile at the reminder of how much of a gentleman he was. 

you thanked him and got off the bus. 

“okay, everyone, go drop your things off in your rooms, and we’ll meet in the cafeteria in fifteen minutes for dinner,” yeonjun announced after a briefing once everyone was out of the large vehicle. “what are you waiting for? go, go! i’ll see you all in fifteen.”

you all laughed before everyone made their way to their rooms. 

some time had passed, and after relaxing and unpacking for a few minutes, it was finally dinner time. 

excited, you entered the cafeteria with wonyoung and liz, only to be met with the sight of jake already sitting with others. 

you hadn’t planned with him to sit together, but after everything that happened over the past couple of days, you just naturally expected it. 

perhaps he had been sitting with you long enough already for one day that he got bored and needed a break. maybe that’s why he was sitting with jay and sunghoon—and lily. except jay and sunghoon were only talking to each other, leaving jake and lily who seemed to be having lots of fun conversing and joking with one another, just as you were beginning to get your hopes up that maybe he liked you back. but no, he was just a nice, friendly guy, not just to you, but to everyone. 

the night continued, and you ended up sitting and eating dinner with chaewon, liz and jungwon when all of a sudden, riki started going around to every table, attempting to convince everyone to place 7 minutes in heaven. 

it was a stupid idea, almost everybody thought so, but he was the youngest on your team, and a clever one at that, that somehow he convinced you all in to playing. you don’t even remember how he managed to pull you into doing it, yet here you were, sitting in a large circle in sunoo and riki’s shared room, along with everyone else, about to spin a bottle to decide which two of you would go into the closet first. 

you all were hopelessly single anyways, so why not just give it a go? 

looking around you, a minority was excited while the rest of you looked slightly uneasy about playing the game, but before you could think too much into it, riki rubbed his hands together with a smirk on his face, “ready?”

and with that, he spun the bottle. 

you all watched anxiously as the bottle circled, and circled, and circled. it almost looked like it wasn’t slowing down at all, but eventually, after a few seconds, it slowly came to a complete stop, and you all watched, anticipating who it would land on. 

sunghoon. 

shock was the most common expression painted on people’s faces, while some of the boys began cheering the boy on. eventually, though, the bottle was spun again, and you all watched closely to see who sunghoon’s match in heaven would be…

jang wonyoung. 

your jaw dropped, and you all looked at each other and at the two chosen ones before you exchanged eye contact with yunjin who gave you a smirk, remembering that she did predict correctly the fact that they both liked each other. however, neither of the two knew of the other’s feelings, which made this match all the more exciting. 

with sunghoon getting up first to lead the way, they both entered the closet, and riki locked them in from the outside. 

the rest of you looked at each other and began talking and predicting the things they were doing in there. 

“well, let’s hope sunghoon finally makes a move this time,” jay whisper yelled to the group. 

eventually, seven minutes were up, and you could imagine sunghoon and wonyoung’s shared frightened reaction when riki violently knocked on the closet door to inform the two that their time was over. 

the two could have been kissing for all you know and suddenly one could have bit the other’s lip as a reaction to the sudden noisy interruption, but you chose to hope otherwise. 

the two later came out, cheeks a dark, rosy pink that made you excited for them. you hoped everything went well during those seven minutes. 

you chose to take seeing everyone’s lips intact as a good sign. 

as the two joined the circle again, everyone began bombarding them with questions that you all forgot there were more rounds to go before the sound of riki exaggerating the clearing of his throat overtook your chatter. 

“we will now begin the next round,” riki said in a loud, deep voice, laced with some sort of fancy accent to add to the act he was trying to play which had you all chuckling softly. 

everyone’s eyes were on riki’s hand as he grabbed ahold of the bottle in the middle of the circle and quickly spun it. 

and you all watched as the bottle landed on you. 

your eyes went wide, and you felt a wave of nervousness crash to the pit of your stomach. 

you didn’t expect to be chosen, at least not near the beginning, considering the chances since there were fourteen of you—fifteen if you include yeonjun, the spectator who got to be entertained by the drama without having to participate in it. perks of being a senior to a group of drama-prone teens. 

you were shocked and more nervous than excited since, really, there was only one boy you’d want to be stuck in a closet with, and the chances of the bottle landing on him next weren’t exactly very high. however, even if it did land on him, it wouldn’t make you any less anxious. in fact, it would probably make the feeling worse, if anything. 

so you all watched as riki spun the bottle again to choose your match. 

you and chaewon grasped so tightly onto each other’s arms that you wouldn’t have been surprised if you cut each other’s circulation off in anticipation. 

it felt like an eternity watching as the bottle spun. you just needed to know immediately who you’d be going into that closet with for the next seven minutes. 

finally, the spinning of the bottle seemed to slow, and your eyes followed it anxiously, and eventually, it landed. 

your brain was trying to process the situation that you subconsciously blocked out the sound of everyone’s gasps. 

you looked into jake’s eyes, directed down towards the floor, to try and find a reaction or get a grasp of what his expression reflected about how he was possibly feeling. but it was of no use; he was unreadable. 

the bottle had landed on jungwon. 

besides chaewon and yunjin, jungwon was the member you were closest to. you two had known each other the longest of anyone on the team, having been on the team the longest. and not to mention, he was a former crush of yours from many years back. 

before you knew any of the people who were currently sitting in this circle, you liked jungwon. and even though it had been years since you did, and thinking those feelings subsided a long time ago, somehow, you felt an unexpected, subtle excitement as you realised that at this moment, those feelings from the past were beginning to resurface. 

but you took a deep breath in and reminded yourself to stay strong as you stood up and made your way with jungwon to the closet. 

he walked in first, and you followed. 

“good luck, love birds,” you heard riki blurt out before shutting the door and locking it. 

jungwon rolled his eyes at the boy playfully and you shook your head as you then turned to face him. 

“hi,” you let out softly with a small smile. 

“hey,” he returned, a slight grin painting his adorable features. 

“wow,” you started. “coming to this retreat, i definitely didn’t expect i’d be in this situation, especially with you of all people.”

“i know,” he chuckled. “riki’s such a kid. but honestly, i think everyone’s low-key enjoying playing this game.”

“just wait ‘til it’s their turn though,” you said, causing both of you to laugh as jungwon nodded in agreement. 

“are you enjoying the game?” he suddenly posed. 

your eyes subconsciously snapped to his and you felt

your cheeks begin to heat up slightly at the question. luckily, the light in the closet was barely existent. 

“i mean, yeah,” you said. “it's only the second round, and me and you only just got in here. and at the end of the last round, we didn't even get to discuss how wonyoung and sunghoon’s turn went. i’m actually dying to know what happened!”

“same,” jungwon said. “those two better have kissed or something. it's painful watching them be so oblivious to each other’s feelings.”

you laughed, “i know, right? anyways, how about you? how are you liking this game?”

“yeah, like what you said, the game only really just started, and to be honest, i’m glad you’re the one i’m in here with. we’ve known each other for so long, y’know?”

“yeah, totally.”

“y’know, i guess, y/n, i’m probably only going to get this opportunity once, and so i might as well say it now—” with jungwon’s words, your heart began increasing in speed, feeling as though with every pump, it was rising, closer and closer to your throat that with each breath, it became harder to breathe in anticipation for what he was about to say, and you were quite sure of what his next words were going to be, “—i like you, y/n.”

there they were.

a feeling overcame your body with those four words that you had never experienced before. it was as though time had slowed, and you could barely think straight, a sudden mix of nervousness and excitement that wasn’t there before becoming apparent. 

“you don't have to like me back or anything, or even say anything for that matter,” jungwon told you. “whatever you do, i won’t be mad at it. i just thought i should let you know, because it’s been a long time since i’ve felt this and wanted to tell you, and since we’re in private, i figured this was a good opportunity to do so.”

his eyes dropped from yours, and you stared at him, wondering how such a kind, respectful and brave boy could exist in this corrupt world. and he had been in front of you this entire time. 

your heart was pounding, and riding the high you currently felt from the sudden boost of confidence his confession gave you, you gathered the courage to say, “jungwon, you can kiss me if you want.”

his eyes travelled back up to your own, giving you an almost confused expression that quickly lit up into a smile of relief and happiness. 

he took a step closer to you, and with that, his hand came to gently cup the side of your face. he gave you the softest look as his eyes travelled down to your lips, and you watched as he leaned in before you closed your eyes and met him in the middle. 

the kiss was nothing short of incredible. his lips were soft and moulded against yours almost perfectly. 

after a few seconds when he pulled away, if you were being honest, you almost wanted more, but it was for the best that you just let it be, and you smiled to yourself at what had just happened between the two of you. 

“th—“

“okay, lovebirds, time’s up,” riki announced, bursting open the door, causing you and jungwon to both jump slightly at the sudden interruption. 

as riki made way for you two to exit, jungwon looked at you one more time before gesturing for you to head out first, so you did, and once you made your way to the rest of the group, still sitting in a circle around the bottle on the floor, you watched as your friends eyed you with confused expressions, as though they were unsure whether to congratulate you or scold you. but how would they know what happened in the closet? 

yunjin cleared her throat awkwardly and began speaking, “you two know that the walls are really thin here and we can hear lots of what you were saying in that closet?”

“what?!” you blurted out, eyes wide in shock. 

“yeah,” riki added, “it was hard to notice when sunghoon and wonyoung were inside because we were all talking during their turn. but you guys started talking right away, and we noticed, and we couldn’t pass down the opportunity for good tea.”

“i—“ jungwon let out, eyes furrowed in slight worry and disappointment. 

you then looked to jake beside him and noticed how his expression seemed to be even sadder than jungwon’s, which confused you. 

“anyways, it’s okay, guys. we’re like family anyways. the secrets are bound to come out at some point,” riki brushed off. 

“family?” liz questioned, a slight tone of disgust in her voice, “you can’t say we’re like family and then proceed to spin the bottle—“

“watch me,” riki challenged with a smirk as he grabbed hold of the bottle and spun it yet again. 

liz rolled her eyes before watching the bottle along with everybody else when it slowly landed on jake. 

you looked at him immediately after a soft gasp left your lips, and his expression remained the same as the last time you checked: disappointed and sad. it brought a frown to your face. 

as riki held the bottle in his hands again, preparing to let it loose, you were reminded that someone would have to go with jake, and the thought of anybody else going into that closet with him alone built up an indescribable jealousy within you. it was lame and unfair of you to feel that way, but—you. you looked down. 

the bottle had landed on you. 

you stared at it, giving you a clear confirmation that you were indeed seeing it correctly and your brain wasn’t making things up in attempts to soothe your envy. 

you blinked a few times before looking up and meeting eyes with jake—and then to everybody else. 

“y/n again?!” sunghoon exclaimed. 

“should we spin it again? y/n already went,” riki pointed out. 

“no, no, let her go again. it’s getting exciting,” you heard your senior cut in from a few metres away, causing you all to laugh—all but you and jake. 

you looked at him again, swallowing nervously before he stood up, “let’s go.”

walking into the closet with jake, the air had never felt so thick with tension. 

“you kissed him, right?” jake asked you once riki locked the door, sitting on the floor with his back against the wall to which you did the same, making sure to keep some distance between the two of you. 

“was it that obvious?” you asked sadly. 

“we basically heard the entire thing,” he explained to you. “i didn’t want to, and i tried to convince the rest of them, but they all shut me up and didn’t bother listening to me; they just wanted to listen in on you and jungwon.”

“well, thanks, i guess,” you said. 

there was a long moment of silence, more tension filling the small closet, before jake broke it, voice cracking with hurt as he asked, “why did you kiss him?”

you snapped your head to face him, confused, “what?”

“why?” jake repeated, “tell me, why did you kiss him?”

“i—“ you paused, shocked, “jake, this is 7 minutes in heaven you're talking about. that’s the purpose of the game!”

even you were taken aback by how loud your voice got towards the end of your point. 

“you didn’t have to kiss him. you know that,” he said, voice growing angrier with each word that left his lips. 

“jake—“

“and most of all, you didn’t have to be the one to initiate it,” he finished, voice breaking down painfully. 

more silence. 

“why are you so upset about me kissing jungwon?” you asked, frustrated. “it was just a kiss!”

“it wasn’t just a kiss—“

“but why does that matter?!”

jake paused for a moment, taking a deep breath in before answering. 

“i thought we—“ he said, gesturing between you and him, “—were—i don’t even know, y/n, but all i know is that i feel like i was being led on.”

you scoffed, “‘led on?’ you feel led on?”

jake eyed you, confused. 

“what about me? you have been talking to lily all day ever since we got off that bus, and you’re so friendly with literally every girl—if anything, i should be the one to feel led on!”

“really?” jake asked, upset and offended. “do you even hear yourself right now? i was talking to lily. it’s a part of my personality to be friendly with people! meanwhile, you're over here kissing other boys! how does that sound for being led on? hm?”

“why does it matter, jake?” you asked, rolling your eyes. “it was just a kiss, and it’s not like you and i are a couple! you don’t own me.”

he scoffed and rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he began standing up, “whatever, y/n.”

“okay! time’s up, love bi—“ riki didn’t end that sentence, because immediately after he opened the closet door, jake shoved his way through, leaving not only the closet but the entire room and building too. 

you slowly walked out of the closet, being met with everyone no longer sitting in a circle and making themselves occupied with anything they could find if it meant avoiding your eyes. 

“where did jake go?” you asked, voice slow and sad. 

heeseung pointed to the door of the room, letting you know that he left. 

⎯⎯⎯⎯ ❦ ⎯⎯⎯⎯

the next day was the last of the retreat, and you were mentally and emotionally ready to go home. 

and after a whole morning and half of an afternoon of training, lectures and team-building games, it was time to go home. 

you all packed your things and got ready outside to board the bus as yeonjun began taking a headcount. 

“okay, we’re ready to go.”

climbing onto the bus, you noticed jake had taken a seat beside the window, but to the spot beside him, you noticed was his backpack. 

he probably wants to sit alone. 

so jake watched as you walked past him, sitting farther down in the bus with wonyoung instead. and if he was being honest, he was disappointed. 

he wished that you two hadn’t argued and that things would return to the way they were when you were on the first bus, heading to the retreat the day earlier. 

he wished that instead of jungwon, he himself would have been the one to be inside that closet with you first. 

he wished that he could have kissed you in that closet when he had the chance. 

but instead, you two only fought, and now, whatever relationship you two had before was broken. 

⎯⎯⎯⎯ ❦ ⎯⎯⎯⎯

that evening, a couple of hours after arriving back home, your team had practice, and one by one, everybody slowly and tiredly arrived at the studio—all except jake. 

“jake told me he isn’t feeling well tonight, so he’s going to be staying home,” yeonjun informed all of you. “but it’s okay; we can make do without one member for today. i appreciate the rest of you coming after an exhausting retreat. shall we get started then?”

throughout practice, you were unable to keep up with the rest of your team because jake wasn’t there. yes, he was your partner, but the studio also lacked his important presence. 

like riki had said the day before, you all really were like family, and without one person, it was like a puzzle piece was missing from the entire picture. 

the fact that you and him also left it on bad terms had you feeling uneasy the entire practice, and even though you were still upset with him, you also hoped he was doing okay, especially knowing you were the one who caused his pain and absence. 

eventually, practice ended, and trudging yourselves out of the studio, tired, you all got to go and finally get some rest. 

arriving home, after washing up, your body felt a sense of relief as it hit the comfort of your mattress; however, your mind was still not at ease as thoughts of jake and what had happened the day before, along with the repercussions of it all, lingered in your head, making you unable to fall asleep. 

bringing yourself back to the argument, your heart began racing with frustration and restlessness—you just wished none of it had ever happened and that jake was okay right now… and speaking of the boy, you wondered what he was up to. 

somehow unable to combat your curiosity, the next thing you knew, your phone was in your hands, the screen being one of the only things lighting up the darkness of your room. 

your fingers typed faster than your brain it seemed, and suddenly, you clicked the send button for a message now delivered to jake, asking what he was doing right now and if he was doing okay.

immediately after sending it, you turned your phone off, set it down, and closed your eyes, trying to block out your thoughts so that you could get some peace and quiet to allow you to fall asleep. 

however, you were very unsuccessful, and your mind began racing, coming up with possibilities of how he would answer and what his thoughts would be when he read the message from you. and suddenly, a deep feeling of regret dropped to the bottom of your chest. 

you quickly checked your phone for any reply. 

and, nothing. 

you curled your body into the foetal position, groaning as you banged your fist onto your mattress in regret. 

you checked your phone again. 

still nothing. 

this continued for a couple more hours, before eventually, not remembering how, you fell into slumber. 

⎯⎯⎯⎯ ❦ ⎯⎯⎯⎯

arising the next morning after what was not enough hours of sleep, your mind immediately went to the messages you sent last night, and you quickly opened your phone—only to be met with no reply, yet again. 

your face grew a deep frown as you turned, face in your pillow, to let out a long, agonising groan. 

you checked your phone again with a glimpse of hope that maybe he sent a reply in the last few seconds, but of course, there was nothing. however, you did notice the time, and you realised how early it still was. he was probably still asleep. 

lost in your thoughts, you ceased to notice your eyelids fall heavy, and before you knew it, you were returned to dreamland. 

the day continued, and you ended up waking up not too long after falling back asleep, getting up to start the day. 

hours passed, and there was still no word from jake, and you were beginning to get worried. it was now deep into the afternoon, he had to have woken up at some point and seen your message. 

so instead of waiting on a reply that may never even come, you decided to take things into your own hands, and go to him yourself. 

⎯⎯⎯⎯ ❦ ⎯⎯⎯⎯

the violent knocking on jake’s door had him knowing exactly who it was who wanted to see him, because who else would be so desperate to talk to him face to face? he could only think of one person, and that was you. 

he was hesitant to answer, but he also knew better than to leave you outside in the cold, and with your persistent personality, he just had a feeling that if he didn’t open the door anytime soon, you’d still wait, even if it meant spending an hour in the cold. 

“what do you want?” jake asked you after using everything he had in him to open the door. 

“can we talk?” you asked, a soft and gentle tone in your voice. “please?”

after looking at you for a second longer, he decided to let you in. 

“how are you?” you started, genuinely concerned. 

“fine,” jake answered, flat and blatant. 

he led you to the living room where he then sat down before gesturing with only the movement of his hand for you to do the same. 

you took a seat a few feet away. 

“can we talk about what happened yesterday?” you asked, breaking the tense silence, “i don’t like the way we left things, and i think it’s taking a toll on us both.”

“fine,” there it was again with his one-word answers.  

you sighed. 

“i was only sitting with lily that day because it was sunghoon’s idea to have the 02z unit sit together for dinner,” jake took initiative to explain. “and this was planned before we even had that long practice that day—the day you and i had to stay overtime.”

you nodded to let him know you were following. 

he continued, “i didn’t expect it to hurt you, and it was never my intention to, but i recognise that i should have maybe thought of how you would feel about it before i did it.”

his explanation hit you so deeply that you felt lame about the justification of your actions that you were planning to give. 

“yeah,” you nodded, eyes on your fidgeting fingers laying on your lap, “thanks, jake.”

he sat there, briefly looking into your eyes before giving you a casual smile and a single nod. 

now, it was time for your side, “after seeing you sitting with lily—and jay and sunghoon—i ended up sitting with liz, chaewon and jungwon. and i hope you don’t find that strange or bad because you know, everyone knows, that me and jungwon are close and we’ve known each other for years longer than anyone else on the team. so that was a reason why we were sitting together. and then another reason was because he’s chaewon’s partner for this season, and they wanted to sit together.”

jake hummed in understanding. 

“but that’s no excuse for kissing him,” you went on, eyes unable to meet his. “i’m sorry for kissing jungwon. i didn’t know something was going on between me and you after seeing you seem so close with lily. and i don’t know if you know, but i used to like jungwon a long time ago.”

you let out a soft laugh as you reminisced. 

you continued, “so i guess, during 7 minutes in heaven, when jungwon confessed to me, some of those feelings just came back, and a part of me was also still upset at you—which i’m not anymore, because i understand now.”

interrupting you for a brief moment, jake said, “wait, sorry, but before you continue, it’s almost time for practice actually. want me to drive you?”

“oh,” you let out. “yeah, that would be great.”

“okay, we should get going now then,” he let you know before you both stood up and began making your way to the door. “sorry, continue.”

“but yeah,” you started again, “i guess that’s just what was going on in my mind at the time. and i didn’t think it mattered, because i didn’t know you thought you and i were almost a thing.”

“i didn’t think we were, and i still don’t,” jake clarified while he led you to the car, “but i thought we were on the path to maybe something more than just—friends.”

“is that what you want?” you asked in a soft tone as you gave a small smile. 

“do you want it?” he replied. 

you laughed, “i asked you first,” 

“fine,” he smiled, stopping in his tracks and turning to face you. “yeah, i don’t think it’d be such a bad idea.”

“yeah?”

“yeah.”

“okay,” you said. “well, me too.”

a hopeful grin grew to his lips, “so does that mean—?”

suddenly, leaning in, you left a quick kiss on jake’s cheek. and as his eyes grew wide and looked at you, you had already turned on your heel and began speed walking away. 

however, before you could barely even make it three steps away, he called your name and said, “you missed.”

you turned around and smirked before asking, “wanna show me how it’s done then?”

he sent you a cheeky grin in return before quickly grabbing your chin and placing his lips on yours. 

you felt as he smiled through the kiss, and you closed your eyes, practically melting on the spot. 

eventually, he pulled back slightly with a smirk, whispering against your lips, “this is to make up for the seven minutes we lost in the closet the other day.”

and with an almost urgency, he pressed his lips against yours again, this time more passionately, so many feelings that were built up over these two years being expressed through that one kiss. and you loved every second of it. 

⎯⎯⎯⎯ ❦ ⎯⎯⎯⎯

holding the end pose as you and your boyfriend practised the dance routine for one of the last times ever, he told you, “i think we’re ready. 

you nodded, agreeing, before replying, “i think so too.”

his shining smile graced his lips as he couldn't take his eyes off of you. 

still holding the last pose, with faces just inches apart, jake leaned it to kiss you—a lot. 

it started with just one peck, which led to another. and another. and another, until he left no area of your face untouched. 

and before he finished, he left one last long kiss on your lips. 

eventually pulling away, you asked him with a cheeky smile, “what was that for?”

“just making up for lost time.”

and with his answer, he only dived down to kiss you more, thoughts filling his dazed and drunken mind of how happy he was to have gotten you as his partner—not only for dance, but for life. 

AUTHOR’S NOTE → thank you so, so, so, so much for reading until the end !! that means so much to me, and i rlly hope this was an enjoyable read. if you liked it, it would help out a ton if you liked and reblogged and even left feedback as well! whenever i read feedback from y’all it makes my day and just motivates me write more, truly <3 also, as some of you know, this was my first time ever writing a fic so long, let alone a fic over 4k words :’> i hope i did it justice, especially considering it was for jake ,, and for his birthday ,, haha. also i’m sorry, this fic was a lil self indulgent kdndj loll ,, and tell me why i started shipping jungwon and y/n more than jake and y/n as i was writing that one scene- JSJSJDJD *heads to the corner to cRY* no but in all seriousness, this was such a fun one to write, especially for jake. thank you for reading and thank you in advance for your love and support on this one <3 and ofc, happy jake day <3 i love you all !! thanks for reading <3

#enhypen #enhypen imagines #enhypen fluff #enhypen x reader #enhypen scenarios #enhypen reactions #enhypen oneshots #enhypen fic #enhypen x you #jake #jake sim #sim jaeyun #jake fluff #jake imagines #jake x reader #jake scenarios #jake reactions #jaeyun fluff #jaeyun x reader #jaeyun imagines

[1moremilgram-enjoyer]

Fuuta and the Five Man Band Trope; BG Characters, User Icons and Graffiti Patterns Analysis

Hello members of the jury! Did you know Bring it On and Backdraft are very awesome? It’s true! Look it up!

Anyways, today I want to talk about a particular aspect of Bring it On which I consider interesting, and that is the gaggle of characters who show up all throughout the video, both in the “RPG fight scenes” and in the messages all around. In particular, these four who stand besides Fuuta after Killcheroy’s defeat, before abandoning him in the next few frames.

All of them show up in all three battles in one way or another, and the fact they’re here makes me think. See, I believe there are four of them to allude to a very common narrative trope used in a lot of fantasy stories, the Five Man Band. A trope where the story follows a group of five, of which the protagonist is the leader, and all the characters fit into certain archetypes. If you want a better explanation, I’ll recommend this fantastic video by Overly Sarcastic Productions, which is how I know about the trope in the first place.

There were already a few things making me think of this trope in Bring it On, so it’s especially interesting that it seems to carry over into Backdraft as well, with only four paint cans appearing in all three graffiti campaigns.

(Yes there’s a fifth one against Killcheroy, don’t worry I’ll get to it)

Blue, orange, yellow (also looks orange in the screenshots), pink paint/purple can. So, a recurring group of five with Fuuta. Is it possible, then, that these are related? Well, that’s what I’m trying to figure out. And in doing so, I accidentally fell into a rabbit hole which ended with me trying to assign each character an user icon and trying to figure out who killed Killcheroy- ooh boy.

Yeah as a warning this post is pretty reach-y and unhinged, but I like over-analyzing background characters so.

CW: Cyberbullying and online harassment, doxxing, death and murder, mentioned sexual harassment, mention of suicide, Killcheroy choking on paint image.

I’ll talk about each character individually, their role in the Five Man Band trope, who I believe they are in terms of user icon, and which paint can I believe represents them in Backdraft.

The Hero/Leader: Fuuta

In stories where only one member of the party is the protagonist, they are most likely to be the leader. They are the most outwardly heroic, usually passionate and driven, and of course, the leader of the group, the one who makes the tough decisions. In terms of fighting style, they’re usually well-rounded short range fighters.

Obviously this is Fuuta. Not only is he obviously the protagonist, he’s the one who puts up the ‘wanted’ posters for the second and third battle (though not the first!), and in those two battles he’s shown as the first to enter battle. He’s also the one who first sprays over the graffiti in Backdraft, obviously using the red can. In terms of combat style, he also fits pretty well, as he’s a short-ranged fighter, but still has quite a bit of versatility. Looking at his move sets:

Left and top look to be simple attacks, but bottom appears to be some kind of Area of Effect attack and right appears to be a self-healing move. What the hell that would look like in the context of online discourse, I have no idea. Additionally, it is common for the protagonist to exhibit the most growth in terms of powers, which certainly fits his shifting moveset.

In case you’re not aware, he’s also “pazuzu” in the social media seen in Bring it On. He’s the only one with a consistent username, the rest all vary throughout the MV, and the only way to recognize them is through user icon. No idea what Fuuta has to do with a god of wind, but here we are.

I don’t think I have to justify this one too much. Let’s move on to the focus of the post, the other people.

The Lancer: Spear Guy

The Lancer is the Leader’s right hand man, or alternatively their second in command. They may disagree on occasion, but they can be very close friends who always have each other’s backs. The Lancer can fit a ton of archetypes, but they’re usually a foil or an opposite to the leader, and can be either the most supportive of the leader or always butting heads with them.

Incidentally, do you know what a lancer is? Like, the actual word, not the literary term? Well, it’s a warrior who uses lances. Or as you may know them, spears.

To no one’s surprise, the Lancer is Spear Guy. He’s the closest to Fuuta, as can be inferred from them always standing close and Fuuta looking to him after his big victory in the second battle. The fact he uses a lance as a weapon is a possible indication that we really are going for the Five Man Band trope here, because it makes him literally a Lancer.

Incidentally, this also makes him pretty easy to identify in terms of user icon. He's Poison (the skull icon), Rumerie.

In case you're not aware, the name Rumerie appears intertwined with "pazuzu" in Backdraft (gonna ask you to look it up yourself because I've reached the 30 image limit), implying a particularly deep connection between the two. And although the username changes like all others, the fact the very first shot of Bring it On contains Poison being referred to as "rumerie", it's safe to say they're the same. Additionally, check out what rumerie is saying. (Translation by rochisama here, it's a bit difficult to follow but it's a really good resource! As a warning, I might get some of these messages wrong because my critical lack of Japanese knowledge hinders how well I can actually check who is saying what)

[Poison] るめりえ＠D_T @/RUMERIE_... Know any good games?

(Notes: るめりえ is just "Ru me rie")

And shortly after:

Indeed, a guy in the arcade flashes green, presumably Rumerie. Note how he's in the center, as if he is the "leader" in Fuuta's absence, in case you needed any more connections to the Lancer archetype. You'll also notice he and the blue guy next to him have faces, which in Milgram signifies importance. I believe these three are all part of the Five Man Band. Why is there one missing? I'll get there.

Additionally, note how Rumerie wears a watch on his right hand. This is important because it lets us know exactly which can of paint in Backdraft belongs to him. In the scene where Killcheroy is attacked directly, we see a hand with a watch holding the blue spray paint can.

(The bottom left image is to show that the blue looks lighter than it really is in the upfront shots. When the lighting shifts a bit, it's more clear that this is specifically Rumerie's darker blue. The rest of the graffiti is the same, so Rumerie is the splotch at the bottom right.

And in the Killcheroy attack you can clearly see the difference between the two blues. The lighter one is even lighter than what it looks like in the other shots. And yes, the pattern's different, I'll get there)

So Rumerie has blue spray paint, which unfortunately means there's no clear connection between the colors in Bring it On and Backdraft.

Still, there's something interesting to note. Everyone in the Five Man Band has a particular graffiti pattern they stick to in the first two campaigns and at the start of the Killcheroy attack. For Rumerie, this is a big splotch with two small trails leaking down.

Why is this important... for me at least? Because the same patterns can be observed in the red paint over the Guilty prisoners in the section of the video dedicated to them.

And can you guess which one got Rumerie's?

Fuuta. The way I interpret this, it means Rumerie was particularly important in the reason Fuuta ended up with a Guilty verdict.

Why? Well, I believe Rumerie is the person who originally got Fuuta into cancel culture. Notice how the last message before Fuuta joins in on the Ice Gorilla attack is Poison's, and how Spear Guy fights in the frontlines of that battle, combined with what I said before, that Fuuta didn't put up a wanted poster for that battle.

("Frontline" is admittedly debatable)

[Poison] み @/MiMiMiMi.... You can only get away with stuff like this when you’re a primary school kid~

[Fuuta] Storm Pazuzu @/pazuzu_soccer... Ahhhh, this is the end for you huh

(Note: み is "mi" and means either fruit according to Google translate, or what I think makes more sense, "hot water", as in, Ice Gorilla is in hot water).

(Also note: I find it interesting that Rumerie here seems more forgiving of middle schoolers than at the end, when we know he was one of the people who attacked Killcheroy. I think it may be trying to show that everyone in the group got worse, not just Fuuta).

So, Rumerie caused Fuuta to cause Killcheroy's death by getting him into the whole cyberbullying thing. We can also see him encouraging him later on, when Fuuta takes a photo of the sexual harasser.

[Poison] 恐縮です @/i_am_sorr... I’m amazed you were able to get a photo

(Notes: 恐縮です translates to "I'm afraid." I... don't have a single clue why the hell this is like this, I'm just gonna ignore it)

The final thing to note is that Rumerie's graffiti pattern is different in the post-spraying scene of Killcheroy I showed earlier. Instead, Green Paint takes Rumerie's pattern, which is incidentally the one on Fuuta's Guilty thingy. More on that later.

As to why Rumerie's pattern changes in the first place, it's possible that's trying to imply the final attack on Killcheroy was much, much different from the others, possibly more vicious. Which we know is likely true, so I think it works.

Anyways, other messages he sends (I'll skip the icon since you know it's Poison). To Ice Gorilla:

NETANASHI@DT @/NETANATASHI_darkT You’re gonna die a really dumb death

どくろっち @/DOKI_DOKI_52 You’re never gonna be able to live this down www it was a good life while it lasted www

(Notes: "Netana tashi" appears to mean something like "added information," fitting the idea of cyberattacks. darkT and therefore DT is likely a reference to the Dark Triad, which seems to be Fuuta's "guild" displayed right next to his level.

どくろっち might mean "mole cricket" (???), and doki doki is an onomatopoeia for the beating of the heart. Take that as you will.

Rumerie comes off as quite aggressive in these messages, as you can probably tell. "www" is the way Japanese people write laughter, equivalent to "hahaha" in English)

He also writes another message during the second "battle."

るめりえ＠D_T @/RUMERIE_ What a fucking pig, that’s just gross wwww

(Notes: The name Rumerie returns, if you were somehow still wondering who this is. It's the exact same username as before, funnily enough. Also has D_T for the Dark Triad)

The Heart - White Robe Wizard

The Heart is the conflict solver of the group. They are usually the most emotional and expressive member, and is often a healer or otherwise a magic user, or specializes in some combat niche like archery.

Also, if your Five Man Band has a token girl, this is most likely the token girl.

(Wow this collage sucks. Tumblr 30 image limit my arch-nemesis)

Listen, I don't usually like to assume character's gender merely by appearance, but we know less than zero about this people, so I'm gonna have to bend my principles a bit. This wizard is the most femenine looking of the Five Man Band, so I hope you forgive me for assuming both that she is a girl, and that she is the only girl of the group.

Regardless, there are other reasons to assume she's the Heart. Mainly, she seems to be by far the most expressive of the group, being the only one to show any emotion in the lead-up to the Killcheroy battle. The white of her robe may represent purity of heart, which doesn't fit anyone in this group, but would fit the Heart better than other archetypes. There are arguments for her being the Smart Guy, but I think Heart works a tiny bit better.

Then we get to icon, and I'm comfortable in saying she's the Galaxy. From the messages related to the second "battle."

(Quality's trash but I'm trying)

[Galaxy] ♡MANA♡ @/inoue_mna... Mr Inoue……? That’s scary……

(Notes: mna is likely just short for mana. No I don't know why she shares a last name with the asshole professor)

Even ignoring that galaxies are usually associated with mysticism and magic (mostly because I'm not even sure that is a galaxy), this user takes the name "♡MANA♡". As in, the thing wizards use surrounded by two hearts. Additionally, the message does sorta feel like it fits her more than other characters, I guess? I mean, it's perfectly fine for anyone to express discomfort and fear at seeing sexual harrassment, but this is a toxic Twitter community, I doubt the boys here want to express any """weakness""" as reasonable as it may be. Do you understand what I'm saying?

You could argue this should maybe go to the Purple Robe Wizard instead, but consider this other message from the same "battle."

[Galaxy] AAA@DT @/55552G4r6ggc... Has he got no shame!!! Go to hell!!! That’s so gross!!!

(Note: The 5s might be Ss. No I have no idea what the fuck that handle is)

Apart from shouting, the name has "DT" in it, for Dark Triad. There are only four icons which ever appear related to it, and since Fuuta's isn't one of them, it could be presumed that the four which have DT are the members of the Five Man Band.

Then, look at this exchange, from the batch at the start as Fuuta is walking down the street.

[Fuuta] Storm Pazuzu @/pazuzu_soccer... A L L M Y C L A S S E S A R E S O D U L L . W A S T E O F M Y S C H O O L F E E S

[Fuuta] Storm Pazuzu @/pazuzu_soccer... Everyone else there is an idiot so it’s boring

[Galaxy] YU-TA @/YUTA_199... Let’s go to the arcade then!!!!

[Fuuta] Storm Pazuzu @/pazuzu_soccer... The people in charge here are shit. I could do a much better job

(Notes: Yuta is primarily a boy's name, which sorta contradicts the thing I said about this being a girl. However, this can be easily solved by assuming she's transfem and in the closet.

That's mostly a joke, but it is a possibility, I just don't know why we're giving so much characterization to a side-side-side character you feel? The more likely explanation is that while in Japan Yuta is a boy's name, there's also a version for girls which derives from Hebrew, and is also just Yuta. Given we've already seen characters with odd names for their gender (Haruka), I don't think it's a stretch to say this is such a case.

Anyways this might imply we know the full name of this wizard, that being Inoue Yuta. Interesting)

The main takeaway her is that Galaxy did want to go to the arcade like the other members of the Five Man Band, but probably didn't since Fuuta appears to have turned her down.

(... Why did he do that, actually? He went to the arcade anyways...

Though I guess she does look at him very enthusiastically in that second post battle scene... and the Heart is often the love interest of the Leader...

CRACK THEORY: White Robe Wizard has a crush on Fuuta, and he doesn't reciprocate)

So, if Galaxy wanted to go to the arcade, we can maybe assume they're part of the Five Man Band. In fact, we specifically know they're the only one who wasn't at the arcade, which lets us completely narrow down which of the spray paint cans belongs to them.

Yep. In case you missed the spoiler with the color I've been using for her, she has the yellow paint can. Not only does her right hand itself look slightly different than the others, it also has a ring none of the people at the arcade had (debatable on orange guy ig but I think we would see it if he had it). Since this paint can is part of the Five Man Band, we can assume it's the missing member's, therefore Galaxy's, therefore White Robe Wizard's.

The pattern which corresponds to them is a thick, horizontal bar, which shows up over Mahiru in the Guilty prisoners section. Certainly fits with her being the Heart (and having an unrequited crush on Fuuta). The pattern changes in the Killcheroy post-spraying sequence, again possibly because that attack was expressely different.

Again remember the colors are a bit off in the front-facing shots.

(By the way; Rumerie's altered patterned after the Killcheroy thing may look extremely similar to this thick straight line pattern, but it's not quite the same. This pattern has two small trails going down, Rumerie's has four and the bar is longer)

(You could argue it's still meant to be the same thing, but I think they're different enough that I don't have to find a way to relate them)

Here are the other Galaxy messages. The only ones I haven't talked about are in the Ice Gorilla fight.

[]足 @/speed☆star Looking this I can really feel how terrifying ( ) SNS can be lmao

(Notes: We can't see the first symbol of the username, and since 足 is "feet" apparently, I don't think we can know what that is. The parenthesis are empty in the video too. SNS is Social Networking System, so social media. Fits the "That's scary" MANA message)

(…）@/NAGARERUYOURE_UfU You’ve ruined this store’s business, I hope you were charged a lot for your idiocy

(Notes: I think this is the right message? It's really hard to know which message is which in the translation I'm using. In any case, it sorta fits. Putting that handle into Google translate gives me "flow less" or "streamlined", but I'm not sure how much sense that makes)

The Smart Guy - Cloak Dude

The Smart Guy is smart. That's their thing. Usually some flavor of quirky, but the main thing is they're clever, and they have a good head on their shoulders. They're intelligent and sharp-witted, and- okay I'll stop with the synonyms. For combat, they're usually not in the frontlines. Usually they're mages in fantasy settings, but archers and other long ranged combatants aren't out of the question.

This one, frankly, is almost entirely through process of elimination.

Cloak Dude has the dubious honor of being the only one apart from Spear Guy and Fuuta to show up on all three post-battle cutscenes. He seems to be an archer.

As I said, saying he’s the Smart Guy is more process of elimination than anything else. Shield Man sorta has to be the Big Guy, so we’re left with Smart Guy for Cloak Dude.

Thankfully, I think Identifying him in the icons isn't too difficult. Remember when I said he's the only one to show up on all three post-battle scenes? As if he's slightly more important than the Heart and the Big Guy? Well, there very well may be an icon which fits both that and the Smart Guy archetype. Water Drop, and therefore the Orange Arcade Guy.

Not only do they share the first message shot with Rumerie, check out what they say.

[Water Drop] 流＠しずくと読みます @/D_TTTT... School work has really been a pain lately… I don’t want to type another word

(Notes: 流 means style. しずくと読みます apparently means something like "I read it like drop [water]" which I guess work with the icon)

Note the @/D_TTTT Dark Triad handle. So, they're tired from school work? That means they're doing their school work to some extent, and academic diligence is usually associated with the Smart Guy archetype. Other messages keep up this theme. In the Ice Gorilla battle:

[Water Drop]（…）@/drop_[...]... There’s a limit to what sort of things you should do. How are you gonna live the rest of your life after this?

And in the second battle.

[Water Drop] io @/io_dog_very... Sexual harassment is pretty much the worst thing a person can do. How are you gonna explain this???

(Notes: "io" appears to mean "say it")

Their style of speaking is quite articulate, using longer sentences than other icons and with a more serious tone. No use of www either. The one counterexample is this:

[Water Drop]（…）@/[...] You’re wasting everyone’s time, idiot

But I still think it sorta fits. There is also one message from the second battle I don't have the translation of, but it also doesn't include www so.

Why is this important? Well, it's not. But more articulate speech, while not an actual indication of intelligence in reality, is a common way to communicate a character is smart in fiction.

Their final message is particularly interesting. It's one of the only messages we have in relation to Killcheroy.

QRT [Fuuta] Storm Pazuzu @/pazuzu_soc... I think I’ve got all her details now. Based on her previous tweets I’ve worked out her school. The fact she lives so close is hilarious lol

[Water Drop] Judgement☨Onizuka @/MONSTER_BUZZ... You’re the worst offender of all

(Notes: ☨ is the Cross of Lorraine, a symbol often associated to Joan of Arc. I guess you can connect the idea of a hero being later burnt at the stake for heresy to Fuuta's story)

Water Drop, despite the fact they do attack Killcheroy themselves (more on that in a moment), are condemning Fuuta for doing exactly that. They're hypochritical, but they're trying to claim a moral high ground by distancing themselves from Killcheroy's death. Again gives me vibes of someone trying to present themselves as smarter and more level-headed than they really are, but it's hard for me to explain why that is. Do you get the vibes too? I hope so.

Anyways, graffiti. They can be either the pink or the orange paint, but I think Orange Paint fits the best. Their graffiti pattern is a thin line which vaguely looks like an arrow to my completely unhinged mind, and it's the one associated with Amane, who is not necessarily smarter than the other guiltied, but she is very diligent in her studies as implied by several Timelines conversations. Smart Guy thing again.

The other thing is that their color can't be seen in the shot right before Killcheroy's final appearance, but it can be seen in the initial "attack", and we can see his hand attacking Killcheroy later. I believe this is representing what I said before; although Water Drop attacked Killcheroy like everyone else, they later tried to distance themselves from the fact, they "erased their paint."

(The angle on the Amane thing is slightly different, but I doubt that matters)

(The latter images are to show that yes, Orange Paint did attack Killcheroy. The can may look more red because of the lighting, but as you can see on the example to the side, the orange paint can does look almost red anyways)

Now, there is one more thing to say about the missing orange at the end there. And that is the gray-ish paint to the bottom left. What's interesting is that while it follows the Heart's pattern, it doesn't correlate with any of the colors we see actually attacking Killcheroy.

So... do you wanna go insane with me for a moment?

What if that is the orange paint, but they painted over it with gray/lilac to distance themselves from the attack as stated previously? The reason it looks like the Heart's pattern is because he's trying to appear more conscientious of others' feelings than he really is. Of course, that is deranged even for my standards, but it is an explanation.

Anyways, not much more to say about this guy, since I already talked about all his messages in Bring it On.

The Big Guy - Shield Man

The Big Guy is the muscle of the group. Generally physically big, though it can also be metaphorical. Their exact personality can vary quite a bit, but the most common trait is loyalty and protectiveness over the group. Sometimes can be quite an idiot, himbo style, but not always.

And if we're talking big and protective, there is someone who perfectly fits the trope.

Protective? Man has a shield. Physically big? The biggest of the group bar maybe Spear Guy. And just look at how he stands in that post-battle two scene! My guy has zero thoughts in that head of his. I think the archetype fits him perfectly.

Anyways, if you've been paying attention, I said before the members of the Five Man Band could be identified by which icons ever appear with D_T on their username, so by this point we could narrow it down by elimination alone. The final member by this logic is Supernova, and I think it fits enough. It also has a deep blue background, therefore we're likely seeing Blue Arcade Guy here.

[Supernova] Avyxs@D_T @/Dark_Avyxs_T... Uni is so much fun! It can be a pain depending on your subjects but my friends and teachers are hilarious

Loyalty, check.

To be clear, there is absolutely an argument that he instead should be Thunderbolt, since that icon shows up right before we cut to the first sidewalk scene, pairing it with Rumerie and Water Drop; and speaks twice during the second cancelation, the same as Rumerie, Galaxy and Water Drop. Or Rock even, some of their lines and the icon itself point to the trope's personalities. However, I personally think the D_T connection is a bit more interesting, which is why I'm going with Supernova for him. It's not like this matters much anyways.

Process of elimination also assigns him the Pink Paint/Purple Paint Can, who has a zigzaggy pattern which trails off with a weird blob at the end. Mikoto gets this one... sort of. It looks like it's flipped and rotated around a bit, but it's still a zigzag pattern which trails off with a weird blob at the end. I think it's close enough, and I also think it makes sense. Mikoto is canonically the strongest physically out of the Guilty characters. I believe there was a ranking of arm wrestling strength that put him only below Kotoko and Kazui. Additionally, the alter who killed likely did it to protect the system, which works with the protectiveness of Shield Man.

(It sure was convenient four people got guiltied in the first trial huh)

The pattern also changes pre-Killcheroy appearance, you've heard why before, the attack was different.

... Yeah maybe I'm reading too much into the repeating patterns, maybe they're just like that to make things easier on the artists, but at this point I'm in too deep to back out.

The other Supernova messages are the following. In the Ice Gorilla fight:

実家傷兵 @/super_power... He’s shut in www is the fridge your new house now ww

(Notes: 実家傷兵 means either "family wounded soldier", "soldiers garrisoned at home by their parents", or... "soldiers stationed to protect a country's territory during World War II." I assume it's the first two things)

(…）@/[...] Just stay in your beloved freezer forever wwwwwwwww

(Notes: He wrote the same message twice. Really not beating the "not particularly sharp-witted" allegations with this one)

(…）@/lightning_player Definitely not buying any ice cream there

(Notes: What the fuck did Ice Gorilla do anyways? Lock themselves in a freezer full of ice cream? I'm so confused)

There is also an obscured message where Supernova has the handle @/NaGGrYjYP2Fe or something like that. I am not gonna even try to decipher what the fuck's going on there.

Finaly, on the second cancelation.

毒門第一号 @/warokeru_080... Oof lmao she looks like she’s gonna be sick

(Notes: Focusing on the victim more than the attacker does vaguely fit Shield Man. 毒門第一号 is "poison gate number 1." No comment. "Warokeru" apparently means "meltdown." Also no comment)

The Sixth Ranger - ???

The Sixth Ranger refers to a sixth character who joins the Band during the story rather than at the start. Where they come from is very variable, but sometimes it's a reformed villain of some kind.

Funnily enough, this trope is replicated in Backdraft too. Let's circle back to the big question. Who is the extra, green paint can in the Killcheroy attack?

They paint over the part Pink Paint usually takes, and later we see their paint with the Rumerie and Guilty Fuuta pattern. Additionally, they're the only one in these cases to paint over the small name graffiti, which combined with the fact they could potentially be closely linked to Fuuta's Guilty verdict, could imply they're the ones who killed Killcheroy. Because as many know, Fuuta's victim in the Undercover kill shot has both shoes on, unlike Mahiru and Kazui's victims who have a shoe missing to represent their suicide. And this could imply Killcheroy was outright murdered by someone else, though obviously not Fuuta himself.

If that's true, given how odd this Green Paint person is, I would assume that's the person who killed Killcheroy. Let's run through the other Bring it On BG characters to see if we can narrow down a suspect. I will skip over anyone we see only in the Ice Gorilla battle, because most of them are never seen again.

The Blue Haired Soldiers

These two show up quire a bit, though weirdly, the soldier with lighter hair doesn't show up in the Ice Gorilla battle itself nor the post-second battle scene. But he's still seen in the post-first fight battle scene and in the lead-up to the second fight. Still, this odd pattern could maybe mean he's the killer? He didn't participate in the strictly online battles, but possibly yes in the Killcheroy one? I'm not sure, I think there's a better candidate so.

One reason I don't think Light Blue Haired Soldier is the killer is because I would assume he's Rock, since his hair vaguely fits the color. Additionally, his armor looks very similar to Shield Man's (see: neck guard thing), which could imply they're the same "class." That would make him a Tank probably, who is usually associated more with defense even if they have good offensive capabilities. Rocks are also usually associated with strong defense, a claim I'm basing practically entirely on Pokemon typing philosophy lol.

Aside from him, Dark Blue Haired Soldier would probably be Thunderbolt based on the fact it's sorta the only one left, and again, color fits.

Here are their messages. Sidewalk scene:

[Thunderbolt] キマ注意＠ダークトラ… @/K_I_M_... Nothing’s happened lately, it’s boring

[Rock] まっすMAN（強化中）@/MusclePu... …wait, it’s Monday? Which means uni today??? I haven’t… done my homework…

(Notes: As I said, Rock shares similarities to the "Dumb Big Guy" archetype. Again, same class.

キマ注意 means "be careful" or "pay attention", and the @/ダークトラ is @/Dark Tiger. Thunderbolt is very aggressive, so the username sorta fits.

まっす can mean a few different things, I'm not sure what the best translation is. 強化中 means "currently being strengthened", so again, fits the Tank role)

Ice Gorilla battle:

[Rock] 問答 @/s... Just get out already

[Rock] 小箱の〇 @/[...] We won’t let you get off lightly for this＾＾

[Thunderbolt] サンデー～（…）@/[...]_1004 The food looks so good wwwww you should just [...] and die

[Rock] 〇石〇じ @/[...]TAKAI As far as learning experiences go this one sure cost a lot. What you did really was a huge waste. Thanks for all your hard work. Here’s hoping you do better in your next life.

(Notes: Thunderbolt is very aggressive, as you can see. His armor is similar to Fuuta's, so likely a Warrior class, which makes sense.

問答 means Q&A basically. Huh. 小箱の〇 is missing a character, but what we have appears to translate to "small box." 〇石〇じ also has characters which haven't been recognized.

サンデー～ means Sunday～)

Second battle (how long until my readers notice I don't remember the name of the second guy-):

[Thunderbolt] 自由（ちきゅうじん）@/not_jiyuun... My uni is done for now wwww

[Thunderbolt] kakikukeko@ド @/DONK... What an idiot, you should just (…) already

[Rock] まっすMAN（強化中）@/MusclePu... Super gross, thanks for exposing a lowlife sexual harasser

(Notes: Interestingly, Rock takes their original username again. Thunderbolt is once again a dick, caring more about his uni being "done" than the victim.

自由 means freedom, which I guess fits the tweet? Interestingly, though, jiyuun is also freedom, so "freedom @/not_freedom"? What is this fucking naming scheme.

ちきゅうじん means earthling (?). I couldn't find something solid for kakikukeko or ド but "DONK" is funny)

Purple Robe Wizard

If you're like me, you've seen me mention this person and immediately asked "is that Killcheroy." But no, since we see them in the lead-up to the Killcheroy battle in Bring it On, as we see every other character mentioned here. Additionally, I believe they might be the one responsible for the big attack which takes away like half of Killcheroy's life bar, but not the one who kills her, as Killcheroy still has health after that attack disappears.

If we do assume that attack is theirs (because there's no indication of who else is in the Killcheroy fight otherwise), then they have to be represented by one of the paint cans attacking Killcheroy at the end of Backdraft. Since they also attack Ice Gorilla, they are unlikely to be Green Paint, and therefore are most likely Light Blue Paint.

No recognizable pattern there.

Unfortunately, we have an issue. We've run out of user icons, which, uh...

You could maybe argue they share an icon with someone else? Or something? Or maybe they exclusively send DMs so Fuuta can't see their harrassment. I hope this isn't too big of an issue.

So, here's the thing. I don't think any of these three characters, the blue haired soldiers and the purple robe wizard, are Green Paint. Because they lack one critical feature: being the "Sixth Ranger." The Green Paint isn't notable just because it appears, it's notable because it appears alongside the Five Man Band. In particular, it has a penchant for replacing Five Man Band members. It paints over Pink Paint when the gang first attacks Killcheroy, it steals Rumerie's pattern in the aftermath shot, and it shows up when Orange Paint doesn't in said aftermath shot. It doesn't really matter who they replace, they have a pattern of replacing someone.

And wouldn't you know, there is a character that sorta fits that in Bring it On. The only character who is never seen attacking Ice Gorilla, neither in the shot of the battle itself or the aftermath.

The Black Knight

I'm calling them that because their armor is darker than everyone else's and I think they killed Killcheroy lol.

Do you see an interesting pattern here? They don't show up in the first battle at all (and I cannot stress enough, it’s the only character that doesn’t), but after the second battle, they're always seen with the Five Man Band minus the Heart. As if they replaced her, in the same way Green Paint usually replaces a member of the Five Man Band.

And you could argue it should be the other way around, that White Robe Wizard replaced the Black Knight, except White Robe Wizard shows up in the Ice Gorilla battle while Black Knight doesn't, so if someone's Green Paint of the two, it would have to be Black Knight.

But hold on, you may say. Black Knight shows up in the second battle, they can't be Green Paint!

Except for one detail. Yes, Black Knight is in the post-Rypirotes (finally looked up the name) fight scene, but there's one person in that post-battle scene who didn't fight Rypirotes. Check out the minimaps:

(I'm ignoring the distorted minimap because, well, it's distorted, and it's before the Killcheroy battle, not during)

The blue triangle is Fuuta, the red dot is the "enemy," so the green dots are the other people in the battle.

The Ice Gorilla battle minimap shows 11 green dots, which perfectly fits the amount of people on screen there. The Killcheroy battle shows 6 green dots, which perfectly fits the amount of paint cans we see attack Killcheroy in Backdraft.

And yet, there are seven people in the post-Rypirotes battle scene, but only six dots in the minimap. Which means one person in that post-battle scene didn't fight.

Obviously, it's impossible to know who didn't fight. All this does is open the possibility that the one who didn't fight there is Black Knight.

But here's the thing. Everyone else in the post-Pyrites battle scene is displayed in the Ice Gorilla minimap. The only other recurring character who Green Paint could be, then, is Light Blue Haired Soldier. But as stated before, they're never seen as part of the Five Man Band, so I find it unlikely this is the case. Also because color-scheme wise they fit Rock, and Rock does "attack" both Ice Gorilla and Rypirotes, just not at the same time as the time we see the minimaps I guess.

So there’s the thing. Because Black Knight didn’t fight either Ice Gorilla or Rypirotes, we don’t have an user icon for them, which makes it all the more suspicious that they show up in the lead up to the Killcheroy battle. I guess the blue haired soldiers didn’t attack her for some reason, since there’s only six paint cans.

And then there's the class thing. You remember how I said Light Blue Haired Soldier fits with Rock because he seems to be a Tank by armor? Well, Black Knight wears the same armor as Fuuta and Thunderbolt, they're a Warrior. What could this mean? Well, if Fuuta is the guy that doxxed Killcheroy, and Thunderbolt is one of the most aggressive "attackers" as seen by their comments, we can infer Warriors may represent particularly dangerous or vicious characters. Keep in mind these aren't actually videogame classes but they're metaphorical. Thus, it would fit Killcheroy's killer to be a Warrior.

... Ok, to be fair a lot of this is based on like a hundred different assumptions stacked on top of each other like a house of cards, I feel like I'm reading too much into too many things and I'm pulling conclusions out of my ass, but I think these interpretations are at least interesting enough to share, which is why I'm sharing my brainrot with you all. You can probably find several thousands of holes here if you think critically, but you know. Vote Black Knight Guilty (wait that’s not-)

Conclusion

I am never beating the insanity allegations.

I do think the Black Knight is probably the one who killed Killcheroy, but knowing that, and everything else I said in this post, is more for curiosity's sake than anything else. This doesn't really add much to Fuuta's character or anything, but eh. I enjoyed going crazy over these side-side-side characters, and I hope you enjoyed my ramblings as well.

If you actually managed to read all that, then you deserve a Five Man Band all for you! Which role do you think you fit best? You don't have to answer that this isn't YT. Take care!

#milgram #milgram project #milgram theory #fuuta kajiyama #milgram analysis #i need severe amounts of help #bring it on mv #backdraft mv #rumerie #tagging him cause hes the one people care about #well normal people anyways #cw doxxing #cw cyberbullying #cw death

[a-mere-dream]

Arranged marriage where Shen Yuan is send of to be married to Emperor Yue, and he has to be dragged off kicking and screaming.

And he arrives there, desperately trying to wipe off the scowl on his face when he knows, he knows why he was the one chosen to be send, how everyone knows of the king's childhood fiance who disappeared one day and was never seen again, and of how the Emperor has never stopped mourning him, not really.

The fiance who looked a startling amount like him, the servants send to doll him up whisper.

So he's dressed up in red and so is the Emperor, they bow -- once, twice thrice -- and before he knows it, Shen Yuan is a married man.

And then comes the wedding night.

The wedding night, in which he remains untouched, the Emperor having collected all their heavy robes and made a nest for himself in the far corner of the room, explaining sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean for this to happen, I was just searching for any trace, any hope, and they took that as interest in you.

And left alone in the sprawling bed, Shen Yuan thinks about his parents, who jumped on the chance to marry him off, who have incredible political power for all that they are, technically, merchants. About how to spurn them would mean them selling their wheat and rice and everything to the kingdom next doors, who always welcome more food for their hungry people. Not a lot of produce gets grown that doesn't pass through his parents' hands.

And so he becomes Empress. He makes friends with his husband, who really is startingly pathetic and a little bit of a doormat when it comes to Shen Yuan demanding things, but is kind and knows how to keep the common people happy, how to keep away hunger and disease and war.

And he makes friends with his servants, one boy -- a young man, really -- in particular, who seems like he takes on more tasks every day, cooking and cleaning and everything that Shen Yuan needs done. He worries a little for him -- doesn't he need rest? -- so he asks, Binghe, come sit, look at this, what do you think? Play a game with me.

And one day Binghe comes in while he and Yue Qingyuan are having tea, when Shen Yuan is making a joke about how lucky he is that heirs are not required, when he's got two major barriers to that task.

And he goes wide-eyed and later asks, in hushed whispers, has he really not touched you? And Shen Yuan never wanted anyone to know, not when it would reflect badly on him, on his worth, but he tells him anyways, because it's Binghe, about how Yue Qingyuan can't bring himself to pretend when he knows it's not true.

And Binghe narrows his eyes, halfway caught between offended that Shen Yuan would ever not be enough for someone, and determined. Determined enough, in fact, to ask for all those vacation days he has never taken advantage off -- months, now -- and leave.

Shen Yuan pines a little, while he's gone, of course without ever noticing he's doing it. There are many mournful sighs over slightly too cold cups of tea.

And then he returns with a man spitting expletives, covered in scars and seemingly missing an eye below that snarled mess of hair.

He looks, Shen Yuan is somehow shocked to notice, a lot like him indeed.

Apparently, the man explains once he's calmed down a little, glowering at him from the corner where he stashed himself in, his old teacher got tired off him, and threw him into a pit. It took him five years to claw himself out of it, but not without leaving some bits of himself behind.

Shen Yuan stares at his thin robes, laying flat on the floor where a leg should be.

This point is when the doors are thrown open and the Emperor hurries in, throwing himself on top of the man without hesitating. Shen Yuan is tempted to retrieve his knife to take part in what looks like a vicious fight, but after one uncertain look at a very satisfied Binghe, he thinks that might not be what is happening.

So they leave the two alone, but not without a hissed order from Shen Yuan to use your words, for fucks sake, since he knows his platonic husband can get a little bit caught up in actions over words and forget that other people might actually like to hear things. That idiot.

Shen Yuan slams the door closed behind him, and breathes out a sigh and sags into the wood. Then loud noises carry over, not all of them of a conversation, and he decides he should actually, uhm. Go. Anywhere. As long as its not here.

Binghe follows him, of course, and they're not even a hall away before the boy asks if Shen Yuan thinks he'll get a divorce now. Shen Yuan squints at him. He sounded rather eager. Either way, he answers that politics fucking suck, and that divorces are Not Done in royalty like this, but that knowing his husband's skill at diplomacy, he'll find a way to do so that makes them come out of this all smelling like roses.

Binghe seems content with that answer.

Shen Yuan sighs a little, and remarks mournfully that now he'll have to get a job, ew. Maybe he'll even, horror above horrors, have to make his own food.

Binghe seems a little less content with that.

And that is the story of how Shen Yuan got divorced and engaged in the same day.

#bingqiu #qijiu #no romance between sy and yqy #svsss #scum villain #little drabble #i think i could make this into a proper fic #about 4k or so. hm. #maybe if i get reminded of this when i have more time #long post #<- i couldn't add a read more on mobile but if you're bothered by that you probably have that tag blocked

[zuppizup]

What are your rayllum proposal head cannons?

So I’ve written, what… FIVE Rayllum proposals now (oh my, did not realise it was that many until I added them up 😅) and I guess the common theme in them is nothing goes to plan? Like, they’re just a little bit dumb.

They’re both essentially married now anyway (yeah, I know they haven’t kissed since Rayla came back, but they are married as hell. Could not be more married) so I don’t see either of them managing to take the other by particular surprise. As soon as the whole proposal thing starts, the other is going to know where it’s going. Then the options are to try and pretend to be surprised or throw the other a bone and let them know they know what’s happened and obviously yes.

I think if Callum was the one to ask, he’d definitely have a whole plan about how he’d do it and try and make it special, but he’d over extend himself, and end up going to Ez for help, and then Soren would find out and so of course Corvus knows then too. Rayla’s just watching these dumb boys being all weird and awkward and quickly realises what’s going on but elects to pretend she has no idea what’s happening. After Soren acts very smug about fooling her and she nearly breaks but keeps up the pretence for Callum’s sake. Once the whole thing is over and Callum’s finally relaxed, he realises she knew the whole time because, of course, she did.

If Rayla’s the one to propose, I just see her putting it out there. Like “we should get married” and Callum, who’s been trying to think of a way to approach the subject, immediately agrees “yes, absolutely. We definitely should.”

#the dragon prince #tdp #rayllum #rayla #callum #headcanons #thanks for the ask! #oh and I might have started a ‘Rayllum preparing for their wedding’ fic in which I assume the proposal was dumb

[tater-tot-jr]

I think I should put in my two cents considering the Hazbin hotel leaked Angel Dust clip. I’ll say that this post should be one absolutely massive trigger warning. If you’re sensitive please don’t read this, I’m pretty blunt. Also I’m only talking about a small leak but SPOILERS!!!

So before I make any points I’ll start by saying that I’m not an inherent fan of vivziepop, this isn’t meat riding, it’s a genuine attempt at open conversation and discussion. I’ll also say I’m a survivor myself and while I don’t claim to speak for anyone else I have some ground to stand on here. I completely understand that people can be triggered by this type of imagery and will at least skip this particular scene or episode, I promise I’m not talking about you guys.

You wanna know who I am talking about though? The weird ass moral police I’ve been watching mobilize. It’s crazy how people are making a big deal out of this. I’ve seen three arguments and all of them are terrible in themselves and being used to justify terrible behavior.

I’ve only seen people claim three major things, this is a bad depiction of a s/a survivor and situation, this is something that’s too graphic and immoral to put in a TV show, the fact that the singing and dancing lightens the tone in a way people find distasteful. I’m going to be trying to prove why I find these arguments mostly ridiculous and unfounded.

As for argument one, s/a survivors come in all shapes and sizes and hyper sexuality happens to be an incredibly common reaction to sexual trauma. I haven’t watched episode one and two but even if I had I’d still have too small of a sample size to determine the entire tone of an incredibly messed up complex dynamic between too incredibly interesting and layered characters. It’s ridiculous to have so many assumptions and expectations of an *11 second leaked clip.*

Secondly. Creative freedom is possible the most important thing in art. If we didn’t have the freedom to put what we wanted on paper or on screen then we wouldn’t have had so much societal change recently. Just because you might find something distasteful and immoral doesn’t mean it absolutely has to be hated on and removed. It’s okay to not like things because you find them gross, it’s okay to not enjoy graphic depictions of serious subjects, it’s not okay to start internet wars over moral bullshit. It’s okay to be mad in silence sometimes, guys.

Thirdly. I kinda get this one, I don’t agree with it but I do understand the point. The idea you don’t want a serious subject framed with a sexy pop song is not inherently bad, it’s just something that makes me think you wouldn’t have liked Hazbin Hotel anyway. I actually appreciate the fact they are using the creative medium to make bold and shocking decisions but I get some people are sensitive to new things, that’s fine. Where this argument gets ridiculous is when people act like this is very out of line for a show like this. This isn’t a Saturday morning kids cartoon it’s and adult animated show about people in hell. It’s highly likely that this won’t be the worst thing we see, you either need to heed the trigger warnings at the beginning of each episode or get over it.

You’ll notice that I didn’t bring up anything about the merchandise pins or the storyboard artist, I did this because they aren’t arguments but barely related attempts at character assassinations. When you spend five minutes thinking about them critically you come to realize that there is nothing substantial to those arguments.

I’d like to finish up talking about how I think this scene is doing more good than harm. It’s important to make people uncomfortable when you’re talking about things so horrible like s/a and rape. It shouldn’t be meek and palatable for a general audience, it should upset you. I remember hearing something in a video game once that stuck with me. There was a character who said that when you’re sick you need strong medicine and that the strongest medication is very bitter.

I think episode four will be some very bitter medicine.

#hazbin hotel #angel dust #feel free to leave a comment if you disagree #it’s important to engage in discussions and I’d love to hear some other perspectives #if you leave a comment with arguments against any points I made I’ll do my best to respond to you with a potential counter argument #and it should go without saying that if I watch the episode and realize I’m completely wrong I’ll post a public apology

[lchufflepuffcorn]

BNHA Boys Headcanon Sleepy

Author’s note: In no particular order I present you: Kirishima, Bakugo, Aizawa and Izuku are in this list. This is a 500 followers gift from me to you! Thank you all so much for your support!  Words: 482

Warning: Cute stuff. None other 

Masterlist                             OG Work Masterlist

Kirishima Eijiro: 

Ah, Kirishima would whine if you tried to move from his arms while sleepy cuddling. He'd snake his arms around your middle tighter and pull you into his chest, mumbling 'five more minutes with every intention of not respecting that time limit. 

Kirishima is one of the boys who will say what he thinks and wants. If he wants to spend time with you, he'll say so.

When Kirishima gets sleepy around you, he's more clingy and lovey in public, so if you're on the couch on the common grounds, don't get embarrassed when he wraps his arms around you in front of everybody in class 1-A. Usually, he gets bolder and says things like how much he loves you and how comfortable he is with you.

Bakugo Katsuki: 

We know that Bakugo has a tight schedule he indulges in, so it's not likely often he'll do cute things while sleepy because he'll more likely already be asleep. But as a grown-up, if you both are pro-heroes and come back from a mission or a patrol later than expected, then we can talk about it. 

He'll probably open his eyes when you open the bedroom door, looking insulted that you woke him up. He'll notice the tired look you have on your face right away. He'll grumble a little for good measure, but honestly, he will scoot over to give you the warm part of the bed. One hundred percent will cuddle you while saying, 'you better sleep soon because he has to work early in the morning.' 

But his nose is placed deep in the crook of your neck.

Izuku Midoriya: 

If he could wrap himself around you 24/7, Izuku would. 

But he's not that whiny about it. Izuku has a lot of self-control, let's be honest (probably because of all his self-depreciation tendencies, that's another debate). 

Sleeping with you is the best of the best. It means warmth, human touch, love, your perfume all around him, human touch, the perfect amount of pressure he needs to feel secure, human touch... Yes, it's just the best. 

When Izuku is sleepy, he says things that don't make much sense about how he would do everything to make you proud and will interrupt you if you try to convince him that his best is already making you proud. 

Aizawa Shouta: 

Honestly, he's always in a state of 'need-to-sleep' so he's pretty normal. He does get irritated if you delay the cuddle period he gets before shutting down completely. Would most likely ramble about his day and demand to hear about yours too. Your voice is very soothing to him. 

Shouta is the type of person to tell you he cannot stay awake anymore by gently tugging on your sleeve or hand, And if you don't get the message by the third time, you'll be in bed in minutes anyway. 

That man is a menace.

#boku no hero academia #boku no hero academia headcanon #boku no hero academia x reader #boku no hero headcanons #my hero academy imagine #my hero academy #bnha kirishima #kirishima eijiro #kirishima eijiro x reader #boku no hero academia kirishima #bakugo katsuki x reader #bnha bakugo katsuki #izuku midoriya #midoriya izuku x reader #aizawa shouta x reader #aizawa shouta imagine #x reader imagine

[five-rivers]

Fractal

This is set in the Mortified-verse

.

Patterns repeated themselves.  That is why they were called patterns.  Two things derived from the same source tended to share similarities, though the method of derivation might be totally different. So it must be with shadows and Phantoms, one group cast, the other, copied. 

Yes, technically speaking the lair, Refuge, which the shadows were part of belonged equally to all seven Phantoms, but Danny had existed the longest, had been awake the longest, had the most memories, not counting a certain someone who was ignoring the lair with an intensity that could likely make plants wilt.  

(Danny, when he thought about Dan and Refuge in the same moment, thought about the fate of Harmony in that timeline.  Had it survived, unknown to Dan, or–?)

The personalities of the other Phantoms were starting to come through, most obviously in the creation of Replica, who was more Ellie's shadow than Danny's, but, to an outside observer, those changes were small, and could easily be dismissed as Danny wanting to accommodate his siblings. Fractal was not an outside observer.  He could cite exactly who was influencing what at any given time.  

All that to say Fractal was definitely a creation of Danny’s, a facet of his needs.  He had been made, largely, to act as a non-threatening interface between the lair and any visitors.  

All this to say that, despite the above facts, Fractal felt that he and Dmitri had a lot in common.  

They were both somewhat more bookish than Danny presented himself, they were both shy, they were both in a position that required them to interact frequently with others, anyway, they both had eye issues, and they both were on the verge of developing an enmity with the current organizational system of Refuge's library.

Before the shadows were made, the lair had sorted books, and other objects, autonomously. That was not to say the sorting wasn't still autonomous.  The shadows were part of Refuge, no matter how easy it was for outsiders to forget that.  Sending a shadow to move things was, however, a different process than the one it had employed before.  

It was easier, but, with shadows also being called to do other things so frequently, it also took longer.  Thus, the library was arranged in the same way it had been since Danny first became aware of it.  By color.  

This was a terrible way to arrange anything except, perhaps, art supplies.  Fractal, who had been assigned most of Refuge's sorting problems, hadn't gotten the chance to deal with it yet.  

He had been watching Dmitri flit up and down the rows of bookshelves for about five seconds.  He’d been aware of his frustration for much longer.  

Steeling himself, Fractal stepped forward–

Right onto the hem of his pants–

Causing him to, once again, plant his face on the floor.  It was even the same place!  Was there something about this one particular aisle?  This bookshelf?  The act of stepping out into the open?  Was he cursed or something?  When would he have been cursed?  How?  Why?  Who?

“Um,” said Dmitri.  “Are you alright?”

“Yes!” said Fractal.  He sat up.  “Yes.  I am fine.  Are you fine?”

“Yes?” squeaked Dmitri, floating far above Fractal.  

“Do you need help finding anything?” pressed Fractal, tapping his fingers together.  “Perhaps a book?”

Wisps had started to come down out of the leafy trees that grew from the tops of the bookshelves…  Or, from another perspective, the trees whose trunks the bookshelves were carved from.  They liked it here, but ever since the wisps as a group had gotten scolded for making Danny incredibly high, they were a little wary of getting close.  Which was too bad, really, but in ghost form Dmitri was almost the same size as them, so it was maybe just a bit…  

Fractal wouldn’t call it funny, but he was quite sure most of the other Phantoms would.  Either that or cute.

Dmitri glared at them, making them chime sadly, and dropped lower.  

“I’m trying to find books about places,” he mumbled.  “About countries and cities and things.”

“Ah,” said Fractal.  “We do have several like that.”

“But I can’t find them.  I can’t figure out what the order of this is!”  He waved a tiny hand at the shelves. 

“There really isn’t one, I’m afraid,” said Fractal, folding his hands in front of him.  “They’re arranged by color.”

“Oh, no,” groaned Dmitri.  “By color?”

“I can help you find them, though.  May I ask what this is for?”

“Don’t you know?” asked Dmitri, tilting his head to one side.  

“I can guess,” said Fractal.  “But Refuge as a whole is still somewhat more aligned with Danny, and we’ll always be more in tune with subconscious needs than conscious desires.”

Dmitri fidgeted.  “Dad - Sojourn - said he wanted to take me on a trip once we’re done regularizing relations with the US, and that I should pick out the places to go, but I don’t know any places.”

Fractal, already cataloging the atlases and travelogs held in the library, nodded.  “You’ll mostly want places in the Realms, then,” he said.  “At least until we start reaching out to the other countries on Earth.”

“Yes,” said Dmitri.  “That would be good.

“Okay,” said Fractal.  “I think I’ve found a few books that will be useful to you.”  He started to walk away confidently, then remembered his earlier spill and changed his gait to something more cautious.  The first book wasn’t far away, and then the next one was…  and so many atlases were blue of some variety…

“Does it ever bother you?” asked Dmitri.  

“Does what bother me?” asked Fractal.  He slid another book from the shelf, and passed it off to a wisp that was trying to make itself useful.  

“That you can’t leave.  That you’re stuck here.”

“I can understand that it would bother you,” said Fractal, pausing, “but why would it bother me?”

“Because you’re not really just a shadow, are you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I picked some things up from Danny.  You’re based on us physically, too, which means you have a brain, so…  Doesn’t that make you a person, too?”

“Hm.  Maybe.  But even if I do have a brain, it’s function is to be an extension of yours.  And,” he added, “I have no intention of pursuing any individuality I might possess.  I am a portion of a pattern that is self-similar to the larger, more complete version.  That is all.”

“A fractal.”

“I did name myself.”  Fractal started walking again.  Atlases, atlases…

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Oh, I guess I didn’t.  It doesn’t bother me.”  He smiled.  “After all, I get to travel with you.  Let’s find the rest of your books.”

#danny phantom #dannymay 2023 day 4: fractals #dannymay 2023 #dannymay

[batmanschmatman]

8, 25, 51 for an OTP of your choice from the OTP ask game?

tsym for the ask! gonna do winnix bc I always have them on the brain.

eight: what happens if one of them gets sick?

I feel like Nix is usually a little bit of a baby about being sick, just like being grumpy and reluctant to do anything beyond being burrowed in blankets and trying to sleep it off. Not full on whiny, impossible to be around, but tired and grouchy about being sick and happy to be looked after. Dick keeps him well hydrated and lets him curl up on him and doze while Dick reads and pets his hair. It's very much Dick doesn't mind looking after him and does it without being asked, and Nix is happy to soak up all the tlc and take it easy until he feels better.

Dick is one of those guys who pretends he's fine until he feels like absolute shit and has a hard time submitting to people taking care of him. This is sometimes tough bc Nix likes to take care of him and Dick doesn't want to be a huge bitch to him, so there are times when he might want to be like go away >:C but then remembers he's being stupid and immature and Nix loves him so much and it's okay to let someone bring him soup and painkillers.

Nix is a patient good sport about it bc he's used to Dick being reluctant to be looked after and he knows he's really just grouchy to be feeling lousy and not mad at him.

(side note: wrote a fic about this exact situation as a pinch hit for heavy artillery's exchange last december for my wife which you can find here, although it's locked to registered users only.)

twenty five: Do they have any hobbies they share?

At first glance, not really besides basic stuff like they enjoy reading or watching a movie and both were very smart good students (or you know, Nix would've been a better student if he hadn't been capable of coasting vs. working super hard at it), but I think especially post war they definitely get some hobbies in common. Namely I think Nix gets Dick on the travel train because Dick is adventurous and curious about other places, but didn't have a lot of opportunity to explore that before the war, and then they both take care of the gardens at both their place in NJ and the house in PA. Historical!Nix apparently got very into fancy French cooking post war so Jess and I have adopted that for our post-war headcanon for BOB!Nix, so he'd start getting opinions about an herb garden and fresh vegetables and help Dick out or do stuff himself. Dick also is Nix's sous chef/prep cook/clean up crew, or will just keep him company in the kitchen and catch each other up on their days while Nix makes some fancy dinner.

But honestly in general I think they both love the other person so much that even hobbies they're not as into kind of become their hobbies anyway bc they like keeping each other company, lol.

fifty one: what’s a non verbal way they say I love you?

So obviously they excel at this. I think the biggest thing is always like, just how much they're in tune to the other's emotional state and physical/emotional needs. Nix in particular is very good at finding little gifts to offer Dick to help cheer him up or look after him, and I very much think it's a thing of like post war at home he'll bring him a cup of coffee when he gets home from work or picks up a new pair of his favorite slippers when the old ones are getting ratty but Dick would insist they don't need to replace them yet.

Also Dick's just like, steady constant presence in Nix's life, which I think is a huge deal for Sad Little Rich Boy. Dick's seen him at his worst but is still here and won't abandon him, and again especially post-war it's very we're in this together so we face it together, how can I help? And Nix is still a little shocked that Dick hasn't decided to hell with this, bye, every time it happens but obviously he's not going anywhere because he loves him. c:

#ask game #band of brothers #dick winters #lewis nixon

[cantheykillmacbeth]

Would any Warrior Cats apply? Sandstorm maybe? I know she qualifies for gender clause but birth parent as well?

Once again getting backup from my sister for this one:

[Transcript:

So the thing is that while Warriors is technically a fantasy setting (i.e. a certain subset of the population has a direct communication with heaven and others have literally been gifted multiple lives) they don’t do anything interesting with this. At least as far as Macbeth is concerned. Another issue is that the canon often contradicts with what the writers have stated, and there are multiple writers, all with varying degrees of media presence. Mention the name Su Susanne to anyone in the circle for 5+ years and you can watch them go through all five stages of grief.

Sandstorm’s deal is that, for a while, it was stated that her father was a character named Redtail, and her mother was Brindleface. There are a lot of issues with these two cats in particular being her parents, but the point here is that Redtail was a male tortoiseshell cat. IRL, male torties are super rare and are always infertile. There’s a major issue with Brindleface as well that is exceedingly messy so I won’t bore you, but it’s a common fan headcanon that Redtail is a trans man and that he had Sandstorm with another character, Runningwind (or maybe Whitestorm depending on who you ask) The point is it’s a fan theory. But between those author statements and now, we’ve had a major update, namely a semi-interactive family tree. Sandstorm is listed with no known parents, despite both Redtail and Brindleface being in fairly close proximity to her. And despite there being multiple mistakes on this tree, people have taken the exclusion to mean they were not her parents. To be fair it seems pretty deliberate and no in-book info has ever mentioned either of them being related to her. Including Redtail's stand-alone book, in which Sandstorm isn't ever really mentioned (maybe in passing) So yes she could, but only through gender clause.

The only cats I can think of who would apply for anything outside of gender would be Lionblaze (maybe?) having been (maybe??) born via ghost-magic-c-section, Alderheart and Sparkpelt, who were either summoned from the void or were the result of god lying to Squilf in order to force her into sin (which at that point I think they should get a pass anyway) and Crookedstar, whose mother is not a woman but is, in fact, a heartless bitch [slight smile discord emoji]

My strength comes from the weight of the burdens I bear. The Burdens being Warrior Cats Knowledge.

End Transcript.]

So uh. Yeah. Evidently way more complicated of a series than I had previously thought. As for Sandstorm, Gender Clause is a definite yes, though Birth Parent Clause is debatable (though if the trans man Redtail theory were true, Sandstorm would definitely apply).

Thank you for your submission!

#asks #gender clause #birth parent clause #debatable character #warrior cats #sandstorm warriors #sandstorm wc

[stargazer-sims]

You know how you have an idea and your brain just gets stuck on it until you share it or otherwise do something about it? Or are you normal?

Yes, this is about my OCs. In fact, it's probably everything you (n)ever wanted to know about Nikolai Pavlenko.

It's gonna be long. Apologies.

Seriously, you get all the 🍪 and ⭐️ if you make it through this Chaotic Info Post™

Anyway, I was just thinking about how some of my best and/or favourite OCs were only meant to be secondary characters, but somehow became so interesting to me (either on their own or in relation to other characters) that I absolutely had to develop them. Nikolai was one of those, and now, so are his potential love interests, Ginger and Mishka.

I already had skeletal backstories for both Ginger and Mishka (Ginger's was a bit more in-depth, to be fair, but still...) Now, suddenly they're both telling me all kinds of things about themselves to the point where I can't even decide which one of them Nikolai is meant to be with. I mean, let's face it; he's definitely not meant to be with Anya again, and he's too loving and sweet to be alone.

Nikolai can credit all his former coaches and his figure skating friends, and his students to some degree, for shaping who he is as a person. He loves his parents and has a good relationship with them, but his father in particular is not the sort of person to show much emotion or demonstrate affection and his mother is a bold, no-nonsense woman who can come off as brusque and rude to people who don't know her. Nikolai is not like that. He's gentle and patient and he likes to show others how he feels and loves to give and receive affection. It was his coaches, Stanislav and Beth-Anne, who brought out the best in him, and in reality they often parented him just as much or more than his parents did. As an adult, and since becoming a coach himself, he's also learned a lot about how to have good relationships with people and also a lot about himself.

As a teenager, Nikolai's closest friends were all figure skaters, like him. He started skating at the age of five, when his family lived in another town. At his old skating club, he didn't manage to make a lot of friends and would have been desperately lonely if it weren't for his sister Natascha.

He was sixteen when his family moved, and he flourished at his new rink with his new coach, Stan, who taught him just as much about life and love and the challenges of growing up as he did about figure skating. It was there that he met the people who would become his core group of friends; Anya, Ginger, Hunter, Juliet and Christian.

Vivienne "Ginger" Holmes moved to town during the same summer Nikolai did, so they already had that in common when they met. She was only 14 and had come all the way to Canada from the UK specifically to train with Stan. She was living with a host family, but was essentially on her own, according to her. She and Nikolai bonded instantly, not just over being the new kids at school and the rink, but also over their shared love of dance, bike racing, comic books and spicy food. Ginger never acted stereotypically "girly" and Nikolai appreciated that. It was easy to think of her as a buddy and a confidante, without the complication of adolescent infatuation.

Anya, on the other hand, was a totally different story. She was also 14 when Nikolai met her. Like him, she was the child of an immigrant family, but unlike him, she was well-integrated, attractive and popular. Nikolai tried to avoid her at first, thinking that she was probably mean and shallow like most of the other pretty, popular girls he'd met at his old school. It was actually Anya who approached him. She was learning photography from her grandfather, and wanted to take pictures of Nikolai on the ice. He refused at first, but after Anya kept pestering him, he finally agreed one day. After practice that day, he agreed to go with Anya to get food, and they naturally started talking. Slowly but surely, they got to know each other, and he learned to trust her. As they both approached adulthood, he realized that somewhere along the way, he'd fallen in love with her.

Nikolai and Anya married when he was 25 and she was 23. They were both actively competing and were at the peak of their skating careers. The year they got married, Nikolai won his first World Championship gold medal, and Anya came away with bronze, her second World Championship medal in three years.

Unfortunately, their marriage was not meant to last. Neither of them were ready for the responsibility of a marriage. They were juggling their training and competition schedules, their finances, managing their shared home, and dealing with growing pressure from both their families to start a family of their own. Even though they didn't realize it at the time, neither of them had been ready for a marriage. They hadn't been mature or stable enough, and Anya in particular hadn't been ready to settle down.

The final blow to their marriage that they hadn't been able to overcome was the injury that abruptly ended Nikolai's competitive skating career. He was 27, and competing in the Four Continents Cup, when he injured his knee in a spectacularly bad fall. Even before the doctors and physical therapists assessed his injury, he somehow knew that his career was over, and that he'd never be in another competition.

The eventual prognosis was that he would recover enough to be able to walk and run normally, and even to be able to skate again one day if he did everything the medical professionals told him to. But, they said, he would never be able to compete again. His damaged knee would not tolerate the amount and intensity of training required for it.

Nikolai wasn't ready to accept that reality. He couldn't decide if he was more angry or sad about it, and he became increasingly depressed. Anya couldn't handle the burden of taking care of him while he recovered, with his irritability and mood swings and seemingly random bouts of crying or angry outbursts making things even worse. She decided to leave, and packed her things to go move in with her grandfather.

As if Nikolai wasn't already broken enough, Anya's departure absolutely shattered him. He felt like he was losing everything. He actually contemplated taking his own life, and he might very well have done if not for his coach at the time, Beth-Anne.

Beth-Anne received a phone call in the middle of the night, and on the other end of the line was Nikolai, sobbing inconsolably and telling her that he was scared. Beth-Anne didn't ask questions. She told him to go and unlock the door and not to do anything else, and that she'd be there in ten minutes. She threw on some clothes, grabbed her car keys and sped all the way there. When she got there, she found Nikolai sitting on the floor in the entryway, still crying and looking absolutely exhausted. He hadn't even made it back to the sofa or his bed or wherever he'd been when he phoned her. He literally had unlocked the front door and done nothing else until she arrived.

Beth-Anne gathered him up and took him to the ER. She knew he needed help, at least to settle him down. Anything else he needed after that, she could handle herself. She lost patience with the doctors who were going on about anti-depressants and therapy, once they'd heard the full story, and she vetoed the idea of them admitting him for a psychological evaluation. She verbally exploded on the doctor with, "He doesn't need his head examined and he doesn't need fucking drugs! He needs a sense of purpose and someone who actually gives a shit!" That got the tiniest smile out of Nikolai, and Beth-Anne was silently and secretly pleased.

In the end, she and Nikolai did acquiesce to a painkiller for his leg and some medication to help him sleep, and agreed that he should stay in the hospital overnight for observation. Beth-Anne bullied the doctor into letting her stay with Nikolai all night, and she didn't leave his side for more than a few minutes. In the morning, she called Nikolai's parents and informed them that he'd be staying with her for a while, and then with the consent of the doctor, she took a still-drowsy Nikolai home to her place and tucked him into bed in the guest room.

For the first couple of days, Beth-Anne cancelled all her students' practices and stayed home with Nikolai. She made him stay in bed or on the sofa, and practically waited on him. On the third day, however, she bundled him up and took him to the rink with her, telling him that he needed to watch her and observe her students, because she'd be asking him for commentary and critique later. That was his first glimpse into the skating world from the other side of the gate.

As the weeks progressed, Nikolai began to feel better. Every day, he went to the rink with Beth-Anne to be a second set of eyes for her, spotting different things each of the skaters did exceptionally well and things they still needed work on. At home, Beth-Anne helped him work on his physical therapy exercises, taught him how to cook, introduced him to yoga, and happily expounded upon the joys and pains of being a figure skating coach. She answered all his questions about coaching, and encouraged him to join her as an assistant when he was ready.

Eventually he did join her as a coaching assistant. After a few months, he was able to skate again for short periods of time, and then it wasn't long before he'd taken over one of Beth-Anne's beginner groups, teaching his five little skaters mostly on his own, with minimal guidance from Beth-Anne. He was happy to realize she'd been right. The thing he'd needed most was someone who cared about him and something to bring a sense of purpose to his life.

Meanwhile, Anya was deeply regretting her decision to leave Nikolai. She still loved him and wanted to come back, but he wasn't ready for that. He was still hurt, and he didn't think he could put himself through another ride on the emotional roller coaster that had been life with Anya. He filed for divorce, and she didn't contest it.

They were able to repair their friendship, but Nikolai wasn't interested in renewing their romantic relationship at that point. Eventually, he would be, but he needed time. He had to admit that he still loved Anya too, but he realized things would never be good between them until they both changed.

At some point, they settled into a "friends with benefits" arrangement, where they agreed that they weren't going to commit to each other and that they'd be free to see other people.

During that period of time, Nikolai went out with his good friend Ginger several times, but they never once slept together and never liked to say their outings were dates. Nikolai dated other people as well, but nothing ever developed with anyone.

It was on the night that he, Beth-Anne, Ginger, Juliet and Hunter were out at a club, celebrating his thirtieth birthday that he met the person whom he'd have his next serious relationship with, Mikhail Vasiliev (a.k.a. Mishka). Nikolai and Hunter were up at the bar, getting drinks for themselves and the ladies when they noticed a man around their age apparently struggling to explain something to one fo the bartenders. The man was enormous, with bulging muscles clearly visible through his snug-fitting shirt, and Nikolai guessed that if they were standing side-by-side, the top of his head would only come up to the man's shoulder. Despite that, however, the man had an oddly childlike quality about him. His sweet face was crumpled with frustration and he looked like he might cry at any moment if he couldn't make himself understood.

Nikolai's second observation was that he recognized the language the man was speaking in between snatches of halting, broken English.

"He's speaking Russian," Nikolai told Hunter. "I'm going to help him."

As it turned out, Mishka was lost and had come into the club for directions. After not having succeeded in getting help at a convenience store down the street, he'd wandered into the only other establishment that was open at that hour. He explained to Nikolai that he was a professional hockey player, and that he'd been part of a mid-season trade from his old team to the one in Brindleton Bay. He'd only arrived a few days ago, and was staying at a hotel until he found a suitable place to live. This particular evening, he'd had dinner by himself at a restaurant, and then on a whim, decided to take a late evening stroll around town. But then, he'd gotten confused and couldn't find his way back to the hotel.

Nikolai and Hunter invited him to come and join Nikolai's little birthday party, and then Nikolai would take him back to the hotel afterwards. Mishka agreed, mostly because he was a little desperate, but he would later say it was the best choice he'd made in a while.

Nikolai and Mishka spent a lot of time just getting to know each other after that, and soon realized this was not going to be just a friendship. Everyone agreed that Mishka was good for Nikolai, and his family and most of his friends liked him. As for Mishka, he was very happy to find himself surrounded by so many people who cared about him, and to be falling in love with somebody who treated him gently and took care of him the way Nikolai did.

For all his strong, tough appearance, Mishka is a meek and quiet person. The thing he appreciated most about Nikolai is that he recognized Mishka's vulnerability and never judged him for it. He was always there to support him and look after him. For Nikolai, Mishka inspired the same kind of nurturing and protectiveness as his young protégé Eden Seong and all his other students, and the relationship offered him that all-important sense of purpose.

His relationship with Mishka was quiet and steady, with none of the chaos and emotional turbulence that his relationship with Anya had. There were fewer risky adventures, far less wild sex, very little personal drama, and no all-out screaming arguments. They often disagreed, but they rarely fought, and they would always try to make up before going to sleep if they did fight.

To Nikolai, their love was all the sweeter, knowing that they were able to successfully navigate through the aftermath of an argument and still want to curl up together in bed when all was said and done. That always made him feel safe, when they felt satisfied enough with the outcome to finally let themselves go to bed, and he was wrapped in Mishka’s huge, gentle arms. Sometimes Mishka would sing to him; the most unexpectedly angelic voice coming from this massive man who looked like he’d be more at home yelling commands to workers at the dockyard than chanting in a choir.

(Mishka had been in an all-boys choir as a child and young teen)

Mishka is cuddly and affectionate, just like Nikolai, and they both fulfilled each other’s need for physical touch. They also had no qualms about being affectionate in public, and it wasn’t at all a rare sight to see them holding hands while out for a walk or to catch Mishka hugging Nikolai from behind and shyly kissing his cheek while they waited in line for coffee.

Mishka shared Nikolai’s love of cycling, and the two of them liked to go on bike rides together. Their favourite thing to do together was to bike somewhere and go exploring. In the summertime, they’d take several small trips where they’d bike for a while, then hike into to the woods and find a nice spot to put up their tent, and camp in the forest for a night or two. Sometimes they’d find a place to fish, sometimes they’d sit in the sun and read, and sometimes they’d wander around and look at the flowers, mushrooms and trees and simply enjoy the quiet. Mishka often got stressed about getting lost, but Nikolai is good with a compass and so they never did.

Other things they enjoyed together were swimming, dancing, playing video games and of course skating. Sometimes the skating was more about Nikolai showing off while Mishka admired him, but mostly they’d skate laps together until Nikolai’s knee dictated a halt. Then, they’d go home, and Mishka would ice and massage his leg until he felt better.

One of the big challenges in their relationship was Mishka’s travelling. The team was constantly on the go throughout the regular season, and even longer if they made the playoffs. Nikolai didn’t like how often Mishka was away from him, and even though there was a set schedule for the team’s away games and home games, the whole thing still felt unstable and uncertain to him. Psychologically, it was difficult for him, and although he tried not to show how upset and stressed he was every time Mishka had to leave, Mishka always knew. He hated that Nikolai was upset, but there wasn’t much he could do in that situation, which naturally upset him too.

Perhaps the biggest hurdle for them was Anya. Nikolai and Anya’s on-again, off-again friends with benefits situation was in a definite “off again” phase when Nikolai and Mishka decided they were in an official relationship, but that didn’t stop Anya from coming around and trying to make herself at home. She’d show up ostensibly to cook for them, help them with their laundry or bring them something she’d knitted. The whole thing made Mishka feel extremely uncomfortable, and he said so on multiple occasions.

Regardless of the fact that Nikolai told Anya several times he wasn’t interested at all, Anya still tried to flirt with him (and with Mishka, much to Mishka’s distress). Mishka was never worried about Nikolai being unfaithful, but he neither liked nor trusted Anya.

One of the worst things for Nikolai during all this was that he didn’t even have his buddy Ginger around to talk to about it. Not long after Nikolai and Mishka had gotten together, Ginger had returned to the UK to begin her own journey as a figure skating coach and, as it happened, a wife. She and Nikolai did their best to keep in touch, but with their schedules, time zones, and Ginger’s new husband Liam not liking her to talk to other men, it was a challenge.

Inevitably, Nikolai and Mishka reached the conclusion that as much as they loved and cared for each other, this was not the right time or the right circumstances for them to stay together. They mutually decided to part ways and remain friends, and they promised that if their situations ever changed, they'd look each other up and hopefully try again. They did their best to keep in touch after that, but just like his contact with Ginger, Nikolai's contact with Mishka was semi-regular at best and sporadic at worst. He never forgot what they'd promised each other, though, and neither did Mishka.

Fast-forward a few years, and Nikolai receives a message from Ginger, telling him that she and Liam are divorcing, and she's moving to Japan to continue to train her star student, Sebastian Fujikawa, a Japanese citizen who'd previously been training in the UK while he attended school there. The teenager was ready to go home to Japan, though, and he'd practically begged Ginger to come with him. She told Nikolai she was ready for a change, and that she'd gladly agreed.

Meanwhile, Nikolai was busy with Eden, his own young champion in the making, as well as his other students. Eden and Sebastian were the same age, Nikolai discovered, and soon they'd be competing in the senior division, where they — and their coaches — would undoubtedly meet at international competitions. It was easier for Nikolai and Ginger to keep in touch, now that she didn’t have Liam breathing down her neck, and their contact became less sporadic. Nikolai always looked forward to the chances when they'd encounter each other in person at a competition or training camp. Seeing Ginger again always made him happy.

Fast-forward another handful of years, and Nikolai finds himself in the unlikely scenario of being begged to come to Japan by his own student. Eden had decided to follow his brother Charlie to Japan, where Charlie was going to pursue his career as a professional aesthetitian, hoping to become the proverbial beautician of the stars in the J-pop music industry.

Initially, Eden asked Nikolai to come with him, and Nikolai said no. For one thing, he was terrified to uproot himself from his family, students and familiar surroundings. He was never good with instability, and he didn't think he could cope with that drastic a change in his life. His other reason was that he thought Eden might need to assert his own independence a bit. He didn't want Eden to leave, but knew that it'd be wrong to hold him back.

Eden found a new coach to train with, but the whole thing went terribly wrong after only a few months. Coincidentally, he was skating out of the same rink in a small town in Japan where Ginger was coaching her student, Sebastian. Nikolai heard more of the story from Ginger than he did from Eden at first, as Eden didn't want to upset him with all the horrible details, nor did he want Nikolai to think he was trying to guilt him into coming to Japan.

Finally, Eden did confess the whole truth, and Nikolai was heartbroken to realize that he'd made a huge mistake in not going to Japan with Eden in the first place. He'd all but made up his mind to go, and it really took very little extra persuasion on the part of Ginger and Charlie to fully convince him.

He was overjoyed to be reunited with Eden. Three months had felt like forever to him. He's struggling to adapt to life in Japan, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't scared, but having Eden, Charlie and Ginger close by helps him. Anya, a professional sports and entertainment photographer, has been there to visit him, while she was travelling in Asia for work. As much as he wants to deny it, he was glad to see her too and try as he might, he can't deny that he's looking forward to her coming back again.

But, other than training with Eden again, the real highlight has been his reunion with Ginger. It's brought him much more joy than he'd expected, and he's really not certain how to explain his feelings about it. He and Ginger spend as much time together as they can, and it didn't take much for them to slip back into their old friendship. They still don't want to say they're dating, and neither one of them really sees their relationship as a romance, but they're nevertheless very happy together. Nikolai can honestly say he loves Ginger, and he sees nothing wrong with that.

It's all good until he receives a long email from Mishka. Now 35 years old, Mishka has decided that too many injuries and stamina that's fading with age have finally made him uncompetitive as a pro hockey player, and it's time to retire. Nikolai could read the excitement in Mishka's written message, and he easily could picture Mishka's sweet face glowing with a smile at the sentence, "I never forgot you. I'm coming to Japan to find you, my love."

Nikolai is excited too, until he thinks about Ginger. And Anya.

He's still figuring out his feelings for Ginger, who is already right there in town, and Anya will be back soon on another business trip. How's he supposed to handle Mishka too, in the midst of that?

He has a problem, and not the sort of problem most people have. Some people have trouble finding one love interest. Nikolai's problem is that he may have far too many...

#sapphire notes #story stuff #nikolai pavlenko #yes this is seriously way too long #you get all the cookies and gold stars if you made it through this #seriously