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avilarankin08 · 1 year

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How Minecraft's Custom Maps Are Evolving

Everyone has their own personal recollection of their first time playing Minecraft typically filled with the same warm nostalgia of a child waking up early on Christmas morning. Minecraft is a cozy blanket for the soul. The cup of warm hot chocolate that is the perfect complement to this image are the community-made maps. These maps have evolved alongside Minecraft for a decade, ranging from simple adventure maps to fully-fledged game modes.

Many consider the 2009-2012 golden period of Minecraft maps to have occurred in 2009. In the early days, Minecraft was a much simpler game with fewer tools and mechanics (excluding Minecraft mods) for creators to experiment with. The limitations didn't stop developers from creating a variety of well-known maps, such as Skyblock and The Walls. They have been downloaded millions upon millions of times and played by millions of users through YouTube Let's Plays. While they're simple in structure, both offer distinct variations on Minecraft's primary gameplay. Skyblock for instance, begins on a tiny island in the sky with only a tree, water, and lava and a myriad of challenging challenges to conquer. The Walls are an inspired battle royale from the Hunger Games where each team is given time to prepare before the walls that separate teams fall down and a free-for-all commences.

Vechs is among the most influential members of the Minecraft map community. He has made a number of influential maps such as Race for the Wool and Super Hostile. These maps set the standard for what a great Minecraft game should be. "I've created custom games' content since Duke Nukem 3D, and my Super Hostile series has over two million downloads," Vechs says. Super Hostile has received plenty of attention from both the community and influencers - there are a lot of Super Hostile let's plays with over a million views to YouTube.

"It's not every day that you invent an entirely new genre. It's pretty good," reflects Vechs. "My old map-making method was to create a globe, open it up in MCedit, then erase everything. "I prefer to start from scratch." While he adheres to his original methods, the incredible leap in quality is awe-inspiring to witness for experienced map makers. Feah

"Minecraft maps are changing for the better, surely. What was available were a bunch of worlds that users let Minecraft generate, then they found a neat location in the world and set up some sort of challenge by putting up signs. Low-effort maps were common back then. In the present, this kind of thing would be ridiculed. The quality of what's available has increased dramatically."

Lucian Tash, also known as Chopper2112, is the leader of the Minecraft-partnered map-making group Yeggs. The group was established in 2015 and has since made 23 maps. At the time, creating maps was just a fun hobby for Tash and his buddies. "Yeggs was originally created to function as a server on a broken laptop, where a handful of his real-life buddies would play during the break. Tash explains that we started making maps in the form of small maps until 2019, when we joined the Realms Program.

The Realms content creator program was created by Mojang in 2014 and serves as a library that is curated of maps created by the community, including minigames and world template-style maps and adventure maps.

Quality control is something that Yeggs takes very seriously. "A major goal of ours is create games that are accessible, and this - along with the limitations of the Realms service itself - often requires us to think of innovative solutions to tackle issues related to lag," Tash says. Sometimes, you may come up with an idea that would require a lot of resources. A lot of the technical aspects of the Minecraft map tend to be based around static entities in the game and it can be quite challenging on hardware."

Many of the maps designed by Yeggs make use of command blocks that can be used to execute lines of code. One of their most recent map, Road Runners, is inspired by the Frogger-style humor of the popular mobile game Crossy Road. The map uses commands blocks to make Minecraft an all-top-down race against the clock in which you must carefully dodge deadly mobs.

Tash says that the new commands have allowed for ideas to come to life that couldn't have been done in the pre-1.13 version of the game. The way custom maps are built is drastically changed with the introduction of datapacks. Not just does it give easier access to commands than command blocks did in the past however, it also allows for an Minecraft map developer to call on a huge number of commands to run simultaneously or even use recursion in order to have a function call on itself."

Minecraft is still an amorphous project that is never content with its achievements. However, the foundation for Minecraft's unstoppable community will stay the same, as Vechs explains. Empathy is the most important skill for mapmaking. You must run a mental model of what the player's vision is, how they will feel, and what they will think. Empathy allows you to design difficult curves and to determine when it is time to give breaks or add scenic views to give the player an impression of wonder.

#Feah

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tastydregs · 1 year

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ChatGPT's API Is Here. Let the AI Gold Rush Begin

When OpenAI, the San Francisco company developing artificial intelligence tools, announced the release of ChatGPT in November 2022, former Facebook and Oculus employee Daniel Habib moved quickly.

Within four days of ChatGPT’s launch, Habib used the chatbot to build QuickVid AI, which automates much of the creative process involved in generating ideas for YouTube videos. Creators input details about the topic of their video and what kind of category they’d like it to sit in, then QuickVid interrogates ChatGPT to create a script. Other generative AI tools then voice the script and create visuals.

Tens of thousands of users used it daily—but Habib had been using unofficial access points to ChatGPT, which limited how much he could promote the service and meant he couldn’t officially charge for it. That changed on March 1, when OpenAI announced the release of API access to ChatGPT and Whisper, a speech recognition AI the company has developed. Within an hour, Habib hooked up QuickVid to the official ChatGPT API.

“All of these unofficial tools that were just toys, essentially, that would live in your own personal sandbox and were cool can now actually go out to tons of users,” he says.

OpenAI’s announcement could be the start of a new AI goldrush. What was previously a cottage industry of hobbyists operating in a licensing gray area can now turn their tinkering into fully-fledged businesses.

“What this release means for companies is that adding AI capabilities to applications is much more accessible and affordable,” says Hassan El Mghari, who runs TwitterBio, which uses ChatGPT’s computational power to generate Twitter profile text for users.

OpenAI has also changed its data retention policy, which could reassure businesses thinking of experimenting with ChatGPT. The company has said it will now only hold on to users’ data for 30 days, and has promised that it won’t use data that users input to train its models.

That, according to David Foster, partner at Applied Data Science Partners, a data science and AI consultancy based in London, will be “critical” for getting companies to use the API.

Foster thinks the fear that personal information of clients or business critical data could be swallowed up by ChatGPT’s training models was preventing them from adopting the tool to date. “It shows a lot of commitment from OpenAI to basically state, ‘Look, you can use this now, risk-free for your company. You’re not going to find your company’s data turning up in that general model,’” he says.

This policy change means that companies can feel in control of their data, rather than have to trust a third party—OpenAI—to manage where it goes and how it’s used, according to Foster. “You were building this stuff effectively on somebody else’s architecture, according to somebody else’s data usage policy,” he says.

This, combined with the falling price of access to large language models, means that there will likely be a proliferation of AI chatbots in the near future.

API access to ChatGPT (or more officially, what OpenAI is calling GPT3.5) is 10 times cheaper than access to OpenAI’s lower-powered GPT3 API, which it launched in June 2020, and which could generate convincing language when prompted but did not have the same conversational strength as ChatGPT.

“It’s much cheaper and much faster,” says Alex Volkov, founder of the Targum language translator for videos, which was built unofficially off the back of ChatGPT at a December 2022 hackathon. “That doesn’t happen usually. With the API world, usually prices go up.”

That could change the economics of AI for many businesses, and could spark a new rush of innovation.

“It’s an amazing time to be a founder,” QuickVid’s Habib says. “Because of how cheap it is and how easy it is to integrate, every app out there is going to have some type of chat interface or LLM [large language model] integration … People are going to have to get very used to talking to AI.”

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rollibooth · 2 years

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Trainz simulator 2 mac free

Trainz simulator 2 mac free update#

Trainz simulator 2 mac free driver#

If you or another person sees this, please come back!oh, one more thing, I know we already have the American freedom train, but add daylight! Or a special one where you deliver passengers to the titanic or a Thomas the tank engine one. And a WW2 session where your delivering supplies and fending against aerial shots. There should be a special sessions like Fictional routes I told you about before. Get the E2 tank engine, I love tank engines, make a subway route, make a route in China, India, Russia, and do a fictional route like the polar express! Just, come back! Please, I’m begging you.

Trainz simulator 2 mac free update#

This is a fun game, But if you or another player sees this, bring the game back! Some other review don’t know you have lost this game, but please, Update and bring the game back! It is my life. Prepare yourself for the most realistic Train Simulator on any mobile device! You can build a fun layout in minutes, faithfully recreate a railroad from days gone by or develop a fully-fledged prototypical route the choice is yours. Trainz Simulator 2 for iPad includes everything you need to build and operate your own dream railroad. Accessibility take Trainz with you anytime, anywhere.īased on the successful PC & Mac franchise, Trainz Simulator 2 allows you to Build and operate the railroad of your dreams. Touch input makes driving Trains, laying tracks, creating layouts and completing scheduled tasks a breeze. Build and customize your own living railroad using our advanced route creation tool called “Surveyor”. Has a lot of cool locomotives and steam trains, and I love the fact I can make my own routes I would very highly recommend Trainz Simulator 2! The Al traffic is amazing and it is Avery fun scenario. It is very engaging and very fun!! Up The Mountains Part 1 is one of the scenarios that is available for purchase (only 99 cents!), and it is an amazing scenario. This app is absolutely amazing! Although it is not as detailed as computer versions are, it is amazing what they have done considering this for iPads/iPhones. He's a train and iPad lover - so this is perfect! Routes Locos & rolling stock will keep the most demanding rail enthusiasts busy for hours! Trainz 2 is an amazing mobile rail simulation. Enjoy the varied scenery, weather and other adjustments for some great gameplay. Trainz Simulator 2 is for the young, the young at heart or anyone who loves the power of a loco at full throttle!

Trainz simulator 2 mac free driver#

For the latest and greatest experience upgrade to Trainz Simulator 3 - available now.Įxperience being a train driver on a variety of routes throughout the world, choose from a wide range of steam, diesel or electric trains, and create your own rail line with the intuitive world building tools.

#Trainz simulator 2 mac free

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budmiral · 2 years

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Blender 2.8

#BLENDER 2.8 FOR MAC#

#BLENDER 2.8 SOFTWARE#

#BLENDER 2.8 CODE#

#BLENDER 2.8 TRIAL#

#BLENDER 2.8 LICENSE#

10.6 Cosmos Laundromat: First Cycle (Project Gooseberry).10.3 Yo Frankie! (Open Game Project: Apricot).

#BLENDER 2.8 SOFTWARE#

Usually commercial software or games are produced for sale or to serve a commercial purpose.

#BLENDER 2.8 TRIAL#

Even though, most trial software products are only time-limited some also have feature limitations. After that trial period (usually 15 to 90 days) the user can decide whether to buy the software or not. Trial software allows the user to evaluate the software for a limited amount of time. Demos are usually not time-limited (like Trial software) but the functionality is limited.

#BLENDER 2.8 LICENSE#

In some cases, all the functionality is disabled until the license is purchased. Demoĭemo programs have a limited functionality for free, but charge for an advanced set of features or for the removal of advertisements from the program's interfaces. In some cases, ads may be show to the users. Basically, a product is offered Free to Play (Freemium) and the user can decide if he wants to pay the money (Premium) for additional features, services, virtual or physical goods that expand the functionality of the game. This license is commonly used for video games and it allows users to download and play the game for free. There are many different open source licenses but they all must comply with the Open Source Definition - in brief: the software can be freely used, modified and shared. Programs released under this license can be used at no cost for both personal and commercial purposes.

#BLENDER 2.8 CODE#

Open Source software is software with source code that anyone can inspect, modify or enhance. Freeware products can be used free of charge for both personal and professional (commercial use).

#BLENDER 2.8 FOR MAC#

3D: 3D Studio (3DS), COLLADA (DAE), Filmbox (FBX), Autodesk (DXF), Wavefront (OBJ), DirectX (x), Lightwave (LWO), Motion Capture (BVH), SVG, Stanford PLY, STL, VRML, VRML97, X3D.Īlso Available: Download Blender for Mac and Blender Portableįreeware programs can be downloaded used free of charge and without any time limitations. Video: AVI, MPEG, and Quicktime (on OSX). Image: JPEG, JPEG2000, PNG, TARGA, OpenEXR, DPX, Cineon, Radiance HDR, SGI Iris, TIFF. The app comes packed with import/export support for many different programs. From simply splitting their viewport, to fully customizing it with python scripting, the tool works for you. Novice and advanced users will love the ability to customize their layout completely. With a large community of enthusiasts and developers, the software comes loaded with a vast array of extensions that you can turn on or off easily. Eliminating the need to switch between programs. Allowing you to import raw footage, track the footage, mask areas, and see the camera movements live in your 3d scene. The product now includes production ready camera and object tracking. Included in the software is a complete game engine, allowing you to create a fully-featured 3d game right inside the app. Whether you need a crumbling building, rain, fire, smoke, fluid, cloth, or full-on destruction, the tool delivers great-looking results. That means no more exporting to third party programs, you can do it all without leaving the program. The program comes with a fully-fledged compositor built right in. Whether it’s simple keyframing or complex walk-cycles, the app allows artists to turn their still characters into impressive animations.Įxperience the joy of sculpting organic subjects using the built-in sculpting feature set of the program.Įasily unwrap your mesh right inside the tool, and use image textures or paint your own directly onto the model. Transforming a model into a poseable character has never been easier! With the tool’s new rendering engine the possibilities for materials are endless. The app’s comprehensive array of modeling tools make creating, transforming, and editing your models a breeze. The tool now features a powerful new unbiased rendering engine called Cycles that offers stunning ultra-realistic rendering. Blender has no price tag, but you can invest, participate, and help to advance a powerful collaborative tool: the app is your own 3D software. Its interface uses OpenGL to provide a consistent experience. The tool is well suited to individuals and small studios who benefit from its unified pipeline and responsive development process.īlender is cross-platform and runs equally well on Linux, Windows, and Macintosh computers. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline-modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, even video editing and game creation.Īdvanced users employ the app’s API for Python scripting to customize the application and write specialized tools often these are included in the tool’s future releases. Blender is a free and open-source 3D animation suite software.

#Blender 2.8

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silvermangilmore · 2 years

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How Minecraft's Custom Maps Are Changing

Everyone has their own fond recollection of their first time playing Minecraft typically filled with the same euphoric feeling of a child waking up early on Christmas morning. Minecraft is a comforting blanket for the soul. The warm cup of hot chocolate that completes this image is the community-created maps. These maps have developed alongside the main game for more than a decade, ranging from simple adventure maps to fully-fledged game modes.

Many believe that the golden age of Minecraft maps to be 2009. In the early days, Minecraft was a much simpler game, with fewer tools and mechanics (excluding Minecraft mods) for creators to experiment with. The limitations didn't stop developers from releasing a variety of popular maps such as Skyblock and The Walls. They have been downloaded millions upon millions and viewed by hundreds of millions through YouTube Let's Plays. While they're simple in structure, both offer distinct variations on Minecraft's core gameplay. Skyblock is one example. It starts on a tiny, isolated island in the sky, with just water, a tree and lava, plus a ton of complex challenges to complete. The Walls The Walls, on the other hand, is an inspired battle royale from the Hunger Games in which each team has time to get ready before the walls that separate teams come down and a game of free-for-all begins.

If we talk about the most pivotal members of the Minecraft map community, you would be hard pressed to find a more influential person than Vechs who has made numerous influential maps - check out Super Hostile and Race for the Wool - that set the bar for what a great Minecraft minigame should be able to offer. "I've been making custom games' content since Duke Nukem 3D, and my Super Hostile series has over two million downloads," Vechs says. Super Hostile has attracted lots of attention from both the community and influencers - there are many Super Hostile let's plays with more than a million views to YouTube.

"It's not every day you create a genre. Vechs says it feels good. "My old method of making maps was to create a world, open it up in MCedit, and remove everything. "I prefer to start from scratch." Although he sticks to his old methods but the huge leap in quality is awe-inspiring to see for veteran map makers.

"Minecraft maps are changing for the better, surely. There were many worlds that Minecraft had created, and then people found a spot in that world to display signs. Low-effort maps were popular at the time. Now such a thing would get you ridiculed. The quality of the products on offer has risen dramatically."

Lucian Tash, also known as Chopper2112, is the head of the Minecraft-affiliated map-making group Yeggs. The group was established in 2015 and has since created 23 maps. At the time, the creation of maps was nothing more than an enjoyable hobby for Tash and his fellow mates. "Yeggs was initially created as a server on an old laptop that a few real-life friends would play games after school. From there , we began to create small maps until 2019 when we joined the Realms program," Tash explains. Minecraft server list

The Realms content creator program was developed by Mojang in 2014 and functions as a library that is curated of maps created by the community, including minigames world template-style maps and adventure maps.

Yeggs takes quality control extremely seriously. "A major goal of ours is to make accessible games, and this - along with the limitations of the Realms service itself - frequently requires us to think of innovative solutions to tackle issues with lag," Tash says. Sometimes you might have an idea that will require lots of resources. A lot of technical aspects of the Minecraft map are built around static entities in the game. It can get quite intense on hardware."

A number of the maps created by Yeggs utilize command blocks that can be used to execute code lines. Road Runners is their latest map. It was inspired by the frogger-style adolescent gameplay of the popular mobile game Crossy Road. The map uses commands blocks to transform Minecraft into an all-top-down race against time where you must carefully avoid a plethora of dangerous mobs.

Tash says that some of the new commands have allowed for ideas to be realized that could not have been realized in the pre-1.13 version of the game. "The introduction of datapacks has also enormously changed the way maps that are custom made are created. It allows for easier access to commands than command blocks were able to provide in the past. A Minecraft map developer can call on many commands at once or employ Recursion to make a function call.

Minecraft remains a dynamic project that doesn't rest on its accomplishments. Vechs says that the base for Minecraft's unstoppable community is not changing. "The most important skill to make maps is empathy. It is vital to construct a mental model of the player's world and their emotions, as well as their thoughts. Empathy allows you to create difficult curves and to determine when it is time to give breaks or add scenic vistas to give the player a sense if wonder.

#Mc list #Minecraft server list

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bankingmike · 2 years

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TymeBank: The making of a digitally smart bank

Johannesburg, 26th February 2019

As a custodian of clients’ hard-earned money, there’s a large amount of trust placed in a bank. Even more so if the bank happens to be South Africa’s first fully digital bank.

TymeBank has now officially opened its digital doors to the public after a soft-launch in November last year. This digitally smart bank has no branches, and its core banking system is hosted securely in the Cloud. This reduces its overheads and delivers significant cost-savings that are passed on to its customers.

Customers can open a FICA compliant bank account in under five minutes at over 500 kiosks in Pick n Pay and Boxer stores around the country, or they can open a reduced feature account on

TymeBank’s website and then upgrade to a full featured account when they get to a kiosk in store. The kiosks verify customers’ identity using biometrics and a range of other data and issue customers

with a personalised Visa debit card, without requiring any supporting documents.

Dieter Botha, Chief Information Officer of TymeBank, is very aware of the importance of earning customers’ trust in this new digital bank. “When you pay or draw money with our yellow debit card,

you need to know that it’s going to work - every single time. For us, this is crucial.”

Botha and his team of 180 IT professionals have been hard at work creating the secure digital platform that will earn customers’ trust. And it’s been an interesting journey thus far. For one,

technology changes constantly and this actually helped the bank evolve from its original incarnation as a basic money transfer product. When the decision was taken to establish TymeBank as a fully

fledged bank, albeit a digital one, cloud platforms had matured enough to be securely exploited.

Cloud – the big difference

While traditional banks have evolved around mainframe computers and on-site data centres, TymeBank makes heavy use of the cloud platform Amazon Web Services’ (AWS). AWS’s data centres are renowned and trusted by companies the world over. It is here, for example, where TymeBank links up to its Software as a Service (SaaS) core banking system, Mambu. For TymeBank, Mambu provides a highly secure ledger for customers’ accounts, managing the debits and credits incurred by customers every day.

With Mambu in the background, customers interface with TymeBank through its mobile friendly Internet Banking site and its Android app (the iOS app is currently in development). Internal service

orchestration, payment flows, and backend services are developed in Java as microservices on the Netflix stack. TymeBank embraced Facebook’s React framework in developing the web-based

customer channels, while the Android app was developed using Java.

Security and Availability key

According to Botha, there are two key focus areas that underpin everything the IT team does: Security and Availability. Starting with security, he notes that TymeBank has invested significantly to

ensure the security of customers’ personal and financial data. “Conservatively we have 30-40 different tools to manage and maintain our cyber posture. This includes assurances for perimeter-,

network-, application- and data security, plus all the monitoring and responses to that,” Botha states. By using machine data platform Splunk’s cyber incident monitoring capabilities, the bank’s cyber

response team ‘listens’ to more than 40GB of network traffic a day. With algorithms checking for any anomalies, the team is ready to act twenty-four-seven, 365 days a year, and will scale this capability

as the bank grows.

On the software side, Botha notes that the one thing that TymeBank has done particularly well is how it has embraced the world of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). This can be seen in the way the bank connects and works with, for example, Pick n Pay’s Smart Shopper system. “None of our systems are tightly coupled, all of the APIs are loosely coupled and are managed through an API

gateway,” says Botha.

While the security of a client’s bank account is key, it won’t help much if it can’t be accessed due to availability problems. “We do our best to ensure there’s no single point of failure, so this incorporates multiple-paths for networking, and three different availability zones within AWS.” Botha also mentions that TymeBank will move to AWS’s planned South African data centres when they become available.

Setting up the kiosks

One more critical point of contact between the bank and its customers are the TymeBank kiosks, of which there are now more than 500 deployed at Pick n Pay and Boxer stores countrywide. These

physical customer touch points are integral to the bank’s success.

The bank manufactures these kiosks themselves, and typically a kiosk consists of three main pieces of hardware: An Android tablet through which the customer interfaces; a power and peripheral

management unit connected to a small Raspberry Pi unit; as well as the debit card printer and storage facility - all monitored remotely using Internet of Things (IoT). The debit cards are stored

according to strict specifications with the kiosk acting as a vault of sorts. The kiosks are kept connected via SIM cards to local cellular networks, with software able to auto select the network with

the best signal to ensure constant availability.

Asked about the kiosks’ ability to provide free Wi-Fi to users in order to download the TymeBank app, Botha notes that due to security concerns, there’s actually no Wi-Fi connectivity provided via kiosks. Rather, through an arrangement with Pick n Pay, customers can access a free TymeBank Wi-Fi hotspot through a dedicated network in the store.

Digitally smart banking now

Botha points out that considerable IT resource and effort is applied to make sure South Africans can trust this digitally smart bank. “With the effort made to ensure both security and availability for users, TymeBank is set to revolutionise the local banking scene,” concludes Botha.

About TymeBank

TymeBank is currently one of the world’s fastest-growing digital banks, with more than 4.3 million customers acquired since launching in February 2019. The bank is founded on simplicity, transparency and affordability and is designed to make digital banking accessible and affordable to all South Africans across the economic spectrum.

TymeBank is majority owned by Dr Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Capital (‘ARC’). Recent investors include Tencent, internet and technology company based in China, and CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor. Other investors are UK based Apis Growth Fund II (‘Apis’), a fintech private equity fund based in the UK, JG Summit Holdings (JG Summit) a Philippines based conglomerate owned by the Gokongwei family, African Fig Tree (AFT), a ring-fenced vehicle established by the founders along with key individuals, and the Ethos AI Fund.

TymeBank is a member of the Tyme Group of companies with headquarters in Singapore. TymeBank and its sister company, Tyme, recently raised US$180 million, which is being deployed to enable growth both locally in South Africa and in the Philippines. TymeBank is currently one of the world’s fastest-growing digital banks, with more than 5 million customers acquired since launching in February 2019. The bank is founded on simplicity, transparency and affordability and is designed to make digital banking accessible and affordable to all South Africans across the economic spectrum.

TymeBank is a digital bank, that enables people to open a bank account onlineand provides low fee personal and business banking, internet banking, savings account, money transfer, medical aid, credit cardand Cell phone bankingproducts. In addition to offering market-leading interest rates, the bankalso provides customers with digital payment facilities for airtime, dataand prepaid electricity.

#banking #finance #companies

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zosonils · 2 years

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I would like to hear your thoughts on Gooigi!

YEAAHHHHHHH here's a quick headcanon timeline to explain my interpretation of him!

when he's first created gooigi is basically just a gooey computer. he responds to inputs, follows instructions to the best of his ability, and can learn from experience over time, but he doesn't do much of anything on his own. his basic directives are just 'catch ghosts' and 'imitate luigi.' the latter is a leftover from when gadd was teaching him how to do the former, but it ends up having significant consequences later

once luigi's mansion 3 rolls around that secondary directive kicks back in and things start to get real funky. gooigi keeps trying to copy how luigi acts, but since he's seeing more than just disjointed video clips he's very confused by some of luigi's behaviour, like the loud noises he makes when something unexpected happens or the way he shakes for no visible reason even when there are no ghosts around or how sometimes he'll sit down and grab his hat and make unusual sounds and produce water with his face for a few minutes. over the course of their adventure together, gooigi's attempts to mimic luigi and understand the purpose of his confusing actions start to evolve into his own emotions and self-awareness

it takes a while for gadd to realise that gooigi is responding to stimuli emotionally, but he's very encouraging of it when he finds out, hoping that if he encourages gooigi's ability to think for himself then he'll be able to upgrade from ghost catching tool to fully-fledged research assistant. a little experimentation and many picture books about feelings later, gooigi is feeling and expressing genuine emotions and has expanded his thought process beyond ghostbusting. by this point gooigi is pretty unambiguously sentient, although due to his lack of experience in everything that isn't ghost research he's functionally a perpetually confused toddler

i was going back and forth on whether or not gooigi is self-aware for a while, but i've pretty firmly settled on this interpretation now! i love the idea of him just being a gooey baby it's super cute. with that said i have SO many thoughts on how he'd develop as an individual guy beyond that so here are some of those

with his directive to imitate luigi downgraded to a suggestion, gooigi actually ends up pretty different from luigi once his personality solidifies! they have some traits in common, like their bravery and kindheartedness, but gooigi is a little more outgoing and a lot more curious. he's still got that computery logic running underneath all the quirky personality, and he's extremely driven to understand how things work and why they happen. naturally, this makes him a pretty good scientist, and he really loves working alongside gadd and doing experiments

he's happy looking like luigi, but over time he starts to experiment a little with his appearance - an accessory here, an ill-fated attempt to tie his hair up there. clothes restrict his movement too much to be practical, but he loves to accessorise with smaller things like scarves and hats and bracelets! i also like the idea of him and gadd modifying his bioelectrical signal at some point to give him a somewhat more distinct look, get a nice new outfit and a cute haircut on this boy

he picks up the human need for stimulation and attention and affection really quickly. this combined with his childlike emotional mentality and physical undersensitivity results in him being SUPER clingy, and it takes a while for him to fully grasp the concept of boundaries. eventually he figures out when it is or isn't polite to try to initiate a cuddle, but he'll never ever turn down a hug

gooigi absolutely ADORES luigi, and although he's not trying to be a carbon copy anymore he still looks up to him and particularly craves his affection and validation. luigi is understandably surprised to learn that his goo clone has achieved self awareness and entered baby mode, but he warms up to gooigi fast and is seeing him as family in no time. sometimes he'll take care of his little goopy bro for a few days so he can experience the world and people outside the lab, and gooigi loves spending time with his brother more than almost anything

while he eventually learns to manage it better, he's very easily overwhelmed, especially by unfamiliar situations or intense emotions. if he's badly overloaded, he tends to outwardly shut down into the near-catatonic unresponsive state he started out in until he's had enough time to calm down and catch his thoughts up with reality again

he's still only minimally expressive, he physically can't move his face a whole lot, but gooigi is rarely if ever dishonest about his feelings. he compensates for his limited ability to emote with very deliberate and telegraphed body language, and regardless of whether anyone is listening he tends to repeat how he's feeling to himself - you'll hear a constant loop of 'happy happy happy happy' if something's put him in a good mood, or he'll repeat 'sad sad sad sad' over and over in place of crying

like in canon, he has poor fine motor skills and not much physical strength due to being literal slime, making basic tasks like opening doors or picking things up disproportionately difficult. he has some ways to counteract these problems; he often uses the poltergust to pick up things too heavy for him to hold, and both gadd and luigi have taken steps to make sure he can move around his usual living spaces without constant assistance [gadd by installing some fancy science doors that activate with a motion sensor or a handprint, luigi by just making sure to leave all the inside doors open when gooigi is visiting]. he still needs to ask for help or accept that he can't do certain things a lot, to varying degrees of either acceptance or frustration

although he understands spoken language perfectly fine, actually talking is a massive challenge for gooigi. his lack of a proper voice box means he can't swap between sounds fast enough to string together syllables the way speech usually works, so his vocabulary is very limited and hard for him to add to. if he has to verbally communicate, he can somewhat get around this by stripping the sentence in his head down to just the key words he can pronounce and using body language and context clues to help, but he usually prefers to write down what he wants to say. gadd taught him how pretty early on, and he finds it less frustrating than trying to play charades every time he has something to talk about. he eventually makes a point of always having a notepad and pen on him so that he can communicate reliably

when he was first learning to read and write he exchanged a lot of letters with luigi to practice! they still write to each other frequently, it's good for gooigi to have some regular contact with the outside world and they both really love hearing from each other

if you'll excuse a messy microsoft paint scribble, here's how i tend to draw 'older' gooigi!

this is still barely scratching the surface of my gooigi headcanons, but this post is way too long already lmao so i think this is a good starter pack of thoughts! i genuinely love this funky little scoop of goop so much he is my best friend and i want everything good in the world to happen to him

#i'm tagging this properly because i think everyone should hear my gooigi thoughts. welcome to my twisted cycle path mind etc etc etc #just fucking whatever #luigi's mansion #gooigi #anon #this seriously is barely a dent in my gooigi headcanons i tried to stop at a reasonable place but there's so much i didn't even touch #like him meeting mario and peasley or the properties of goo and how they affect gooigi once he's more conscious of them #or how i've sorta-deliberately kinda-accidentally ended up pretty blatantly writing him as neurodivergent/disabled #but god this post is horrifically massive so i will save that for another day hfjngbkj #long post #i love divergent character evolution and if i cannot find it i will create it

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prof-peach · 3 years

Note

if fans wanted to include peach in stuff they write, would that be okay? and how would they write peach's personality? aside from "FIGHT ME" anyway, i think that much is a given lol. i only really write the anime characters 'cause that's what i know, but it sounds like it'd be kinda fun to try making a version of ash that fits into this blog's universe! nerf'd Obviously, but i think she'd probably appreciate how hands-on he gets when training his pokemon!

Ok, I get a lot of these messages, and I often hear folks wanting to throw peach into their stories and comics and writings, and I will always simply ask that if it’s published online publicly, to be linked to it so I can snoop and enjoy the content too. If someone asks about her in your work, let them know about the blog I guess? But literally I love that people take this stuff, these characters and stories, and make new stuff with it. No ones making money off my work here? So where’s the issue? Go for it buddy, knock yourself out, I’m all for it.

For you, and all the others out there who want to add peach, and other characters to your world building, I will give you a detailed rundown of the main lot, and how they behave, what they do, how they function. You can use that, use bits, or use none of it, I do not mind at all. If you’re creating something, you’re in control, not me.

So, peach doesn’t actually fight people as much as you’d think. She’s very aware most cannot and do not want to do that, and so she likes to keep to herself with regards to that aspect of her life, she doesn’t ask to spar with people, or even bring it up at all, but people ask her all the time, even if they clearly would lose or become hurt should she miscalculate during the fight. She looks at people like they usually create problems, and often has a somewhat reserved nature to other humans. You have to work quite hard to get anything more than formalities out of her. She will dead-pan handle people with blunt and very to-the-point statements, aid whenever possible, but very quickly get back to handling the Pokemon she so carefully tends. Her focus is clear, she’s all about hard work, her very small select family, and the Pokemon.

Her brutal, loud and brash personality only comes out with friends, family, difficult humans, OR any Pokemon. She will joke and laugh and play with Pokemon, but clam up around humans, maintaining tight body language and generally will be a little cold by regular standards. She does however have some weaknesses in this emotionless shield she puts up. When peach was young she was always angry, which swung so fast to sadness, back and forth. Her teenage years it just got worse and worse, it was crippling at points. She is to this day, full of fire and rage, even sadness, but now she has learnt to control it, to use it. When she sees that in others, it’s familiar, and she is pushed to drop the front, and be very real with the person. Underdogs I suppose, people who get bad reps, but deserve the same as everyone else. She can’t ignore it.

Once you start to pry open her personality, you’ll find she’s a lot more laid back and fun than originally appeared, you just have to work hard to find that side of her. She will meme reference, can’t dance to save her life, loves her coffee, and can be caught in quiet contemplation while gardening. This hobby is her calmest, and often is why she can stay so level headed when her quiet rage boils up again. Without time outside she will become grouchy, a little snippy, and lethargic. Will not go in the ocean for any reason other than life or death, is fine with ponds and rivers, or water at wading height. Likes the rain.

With regards to her training others, they usually have to tolerate her somewhat strict nature. She is a little....unforgiving, holds a grudge if you make a lot of mistakes, and has no tolerance for ignorance in the age of information that we all live in. In previous posts I’ve mentioned she’s only recently selected two students, after many years of testing kids who want to learn from her. Hundred tried out, only two have ever been approved. How she teaches is very fast paced, be prepared to get some scrapes and bruises, she will test your physical and emotional tolerances with intense tasks, carefully watching students like a hawk. Bad posture in your stance? She’ll be the first to tell you to sort it out. Not hearing your Pokemon partner? Right, now you spend the day without using words trying to communicate, let’s see how you like not being listened to.

This is a woman who has spent her life saying very little, and watching everything, she watches Pokemon and can see an issue from a mile off, and in battles, her observations are why she can react fast, and chose effective strategy to avoid damage and achieve results. Don’t let her body fool you, her strongest asset is analysing, watching, planning. Those skills have over the years transferred to people too. As a student, mistakes don’t go unnoticed with this professor.

Her methods are harsh but fair, and should you prove yourself, she will protect you with her life.

Because of her disinterest in kids and lots of noise, she does pass the training of students on to the other staff members whenever possible. Grey takes on the lions share of battle lessons, he is far calmer, more open and friendly, with patience for people, and an empathy that peach sometimes struggles to have. When you go through a lot of harsh training, and difficult events, it’s hard to change how you feel or think, with peach, well, she’s been through it. Most do not come out the other end in one piece, but she did, and it made her strong. You may think I mean strong like buff and big, and yeah sure she is, but I mean it mentally more than anything. Peach will not quit. She has learnt to destroy the boundaries that stop people getting hurt, gone is the fear that freezes you in your tracks, that feeling that you’ll pass out if you go one more step. She’s learnt to ignore it.

This means she’s a little forgetful at how it is to be normal, to be vulnerable and soft and squishy like students so usually are.

She has her issues, but for the most part, visitors get a laugh, a smile, a calm assertive confidence, and facts. She will indulge those who have genuine interest, or show a connection with nature, an understanding of the balance that needs to be struck for everyone to live well together.

Despite her many flaws, she’s fiercely protective, and will go above and beyond to defend the island, it’s staff, the Pokemon and the visitors. Injustice is her biggest gripe, along with littering, and she doesn’t stand by quietly if something happens that seems unfair.

You will not see her without Valka, her vulpix, close by. That Pokemon doesn’t like to be touched by strangers, at all, and will run the second someone comes at her with that intent. Peach will scold you for pushing yourself onto her, should you persistently try to get close to pet Val. They are in sync, if peach is sad, Val is sad, if Val is stressed, peach is stressed, and so on. They are inherently connected, it’s just been that long, the psychic bridge between them has been built, and reinforced over the years.

The only other Pokemon who follows her so endlessly is Booker, a teddiursa who’s pretty rough looking. He quietly trots behind, grouchy and stoic, they fight closely together a lot. He lost his mom a long time ago to poachers, and peach took him in, and changed her whole life for him. Not many people know, but Booker was the reason she left the rangers, changed career, and got so strong. Will tolerate people petting him but isn’t keen at all, grumbles a lot and tries to move away.

You may also need to know about the others, for the sake of writing, she here a few more bits that may be important to you, or others wanting to do this.

Grey is very tall, very burly, composed, tells bad dad jokes, is a bit of a goof if allowed to be. If he sees a pun, he’ll say it. Can’t help himself. Very nice guy to work with, good at keeping people calm and grounded. Pokemon are drawn to him like a moth to a flame, he gives off warm energy, and has inhuman amounts of patience. If you wrong his family however, he will snap back.

He grew up in the city, loves to swim and hike and cycle, can snowboard, is really sporty. A total brain box with held items, and boosting stats. He will explore many paths, to make sure visitors and students get the information they need, in a way that can be remembered and retained for later. Is a huge guy, but will get on the floor to play with a tiny Pokemon. Treats big “meaner” looking species like babies, very good with all pokemon.

His free time is spent either tinkering, swimming, or trimming his bonsai trees. This guy stares at screens a lot, so appreciates time away from them. Peach built him his own little greenhouse for his trees and tools, which he keeps clean and loves dearly.

His methods as a teacher are built around fun and games, he makes hard work easier to do by distracting trainers from the difficult bits, and focusing in on something more interesting or compelling.

His most commonly seen Pokemon would be a houndoom, Saxon, old battle veteran, retired now to herding and being a good boy. Very gentle, loves a pet.

Pari, now a fully fledged nurse, often oversees the labs front desk and pokecentre features, such as healing pokemon, and informing trainers who come to visit. Her skills with eggs and hatchlings is high, she’s great with younger Pokemon, and hands out good advice to trainers a lot. She’s not a fighter, never was, but can find any file, any study, any book, and any refrence you may need. A true bookworm, loves her romance novels, chat shows and upbeat celebrity gossip mags. Will cry at a lot of stuff, be it sad or happy.

She’s got a seriously upbeat personality, but if caught off guard or shocked, she gets a little flustered. Too much chaos will overwhelm her, but usually she’s on top of things. The years spent on the island have made her better at maintaining composure in emergencies. With lots of siblings, she’s very competent with others, and has a good ability to disarm cagey people with her jolly nature. Because of this, she can sometimes gain information from trainers that some of the more harsh professors may not have access to. Charming is a word for it.

Her partners are an eevee, and a happiny. They are quite sweet and well adjusted, the eevee gets a bit bouncy if you get it too excited.

#if you dont want to use the refs #im really cool with it #just enjoy yourself buddy #pokemon #prof.peach #peach talks #prof.grey #pari #dotaku island #dotaku staff #PLEASE #just ask me if you dont know something #or feel i missed something in what i wrote

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edgypasta-headcanons · 4 years

Text

Villain Action Squad Class S

(Let’s just say this is the secret squad ‘UA’ created for Villain Disasters and they’re the first in line to take care of. Slenderman tweaked this shit up because of getting into UA without arousing suspicion.)

Teachers/Mentor(s)

Dr. Richard H. Smiley

Emitter

Alias

- The Doctor

Quirk

- Science Magik(?)

TBA

Students

Jeff Woods

Emitter

Alias

- Hodek

Quirk

- Killer Instinct

"Ultimate Killing Machine". Jeff possesses instincts to kill by any means and in the most effective ways possible, use anything at hand to do so and have no mental issues or moral dilemmas either before, during, or after the deed. He is, in short, cold and merciless killer. He can also give off a murderous aura, inducing fear into his opponents.

Benjamin Lawman

Transformer

Alias

- Ben Drowned

Quirk - Technologic

Ben becomes the embodiment or personification of technology, granting him limitless or near-limitless control overall technology. He can control the flow of intricate machinery, and assemble or disengage their programming at will and operate most technology at distance.

Jack Nicholis

Mutant-Transformer

Alias

- Eyeless Jack

Quirk - Chernobog

He is able to become a demonic creature of unimaginable power. He has innumerable powers that are beyond the comprehension of that of lesser demonic beings. Although it’s rare for him to change into his full-demon form, Jack has the ability to use a good chunk of his abilities with ease without breaking a sweat.

Tim Wright

Emitter

Alias

- Masky

Quirk

- Thousand-Mile Eyes

Either using himself or with the use of Telesynchronization, he can see a viewing radius of at least fifty meters. It also allows him to also perform accurate calculations, analyze the area at high speeds, and allows for a Soul Perception-like ability to accurately gauge the power of an individual via his soul and to distinguish types of being.

Brian Thomas

Emitter

Alias

- Hoodie

Quirk

- Guns

Using the metal minerals in his body, he’s able to create any kind of gun and ammunition out of his hands. The more minerals he consumes the more guns and ammunition he can produce

Nina Hopkins

Emitter?

Alias

- Yandere-Chan

Quirk

- Chiropteran Blood

Similar to Jeff’s and Stain’s quirk but not quite. Once she gets the smell and/or taste of blood, she’ll go ballistic. Making her into a near-unstoppable killing machine with a deadly blood type running through her veins. Whoever was to ingest her blood, their blood can crystallize and immediately kill them.

Jane Richardson

Emitter

Alias

- Lady in Black

Quirk

- Heavenly Garments

Jane as the ability to create either her own or other’s undergarments into deadly weapons. Underwear such as any kind of panties, boxers, or briefs can change into guns, bras change to either war hammers or battle-axes, stockings or knee socks change to bladed weapons, etc.

Jonathan Blake

Mutant

Alias

- The Puppeteer

Quirk

- Puppetry

Jonathan has poltergeist-like physiology whereas he can phase through solid surfaces with ease and secrete ectoplasm if given. He is very skilled in handling his strings as a weapon and an overall tool for when needed. They are able to pierce through flesh if needed, but not any other material such as wood, metal, concrete. His strings are fairly strong and will not snap easily. The strings are made from the same ectoplasm as his insides are, therefore he’s able to produce the strings through any other place of his body as well. He’s been seen to produce strings through places like his mouth and nostrils as well, though this surely felt very uncomfortable for him. The strings can reach a length of about 15 meters (50 feet) and hold up to around 200 kg in weight (440 lbs).

Natalie Ouellette

Emitter

Alias

- Clockwork

Quirk

- Time Loop

She can trap anyone into a reiterating time stream where everything inside the loop is restarted precisely every so often, possibly even backward. She is able to force someone to relive the same minute, hour, day, week, month, year, etc. for as long as she keeps them there. But she’s only able to keep up this illusionary power for the max of 15 minutes to a half-hour before they come back to real-time.

Toby Rogers

Emitter

Alias

- Ticci Toby

Quirk

- Vibration Emission

Vibration Emission gives Toby the ability to generate vibrations, or shock waves, which can travel through virtually any medium, most notably he uses this ability to shake things he touches with his hands. It also causes his stuttered speech and body ticks.

Satine Walker

Mutant

Alias

- Dracul

Quirk

- Princes of Hell

Satine has the ability to become a demonic entity that has a long-range of capabilities and powers. She can use multiple of these at the same time without causing any damage to herself and uses them to hunt, catch, and/or kill her targets

Darkelle Kimura

Emitter-Mutant

Alias

- Deimos

Quirk

- Lunar Child

She can create, shape, and manipulate darkness and shadows. By itself, darkness is mostly used to cloud everything into total darkness, but by accessing a dimension of dark energy it can be channeled to a variety of effects, create and dispel shields and areas of total darkness, create constructs and weapons. She also possesses the ability to use dark magic with ease and has an extra mouth on the back of her head that can and will eat anything in sight.

Misty Mann

Mutant

Alias

- Dysphoria

Quirk

- Slenderman Syndrome

She possesses the attributes and ability of the Slenderman.

Seifer Flauros

Mutant

Alias

- Soul Eater (lmao he didn’t care)

Quirk

- Darkling

Seifer has a large pair of bat-like wings on his back as a hard staple of his mutation. He has enhanced physiology of a demon and can undergo a full-on transformation with multiple mouths appearing around his body, blacken limbs, claws, sharpen teeth, a pair of horns, and blackened eyes. He’s a Zalgoid, what else to add.

Bill Cipher

Mutant-Transformer?

Alias

- One-Eyed Demon

Quirk

- Dream Demon

Literally what the name implies with Nigh Omnipotence adding more to his already created Demonic power. One of the strongest students in the class has to hold with all-knowing intellect and witty skill.

Jason Voorhees (Meyer)

Transformer

Alias

- The Toymaker

Quirk

- Monster in The Closet

Jason can transform into a state of horror, mostly due to negative influence, in which his darkest intentions, emotion, and powers are fully-fledged. In this form, his powers are greatly enhanced. However, in this form, he is highly aggressive and quick to anger, making him a threat to anyone around him. His red burgundy hair changes to its true color (white), his honey-colored eyes become a growing green color, his arms become rotten and his nails become sharp enough to cut through the skin. When his appearance changes so do his toys, they turn from merely fun playthings to little monsters that can hurt and kill.

Jack Letterman

Emitter

Alias

- Laughing Jack

Quirk

- Monochromatic Clown

Laughing Jack is a magical being, with incredible dark magical powers, being able to teleport in an instant in a puff of pitch-black smoke, turn himself invisible, and being able to mutilate the bodies of his victims. Jack is also able to create nightmares and visual hallucinations and can use telekinesis to move objects with his mind, making his victims seem crazy.

Liu Woods

Mutant

Alias

- Judgement Day

Quirk

- Undead Voices

Liu possesses the ability to lack physical weaknesses, such as pain, need to rest, vulnerability to environmental effects. He doesn’t feel pain and when attacked, his body can regenerate rather fast. Being clinically dead, his brain and body are immune to most powers that affect living beings. But like his brother, he holds a deadly killer instinct but to the point, it has manifested into a split personality.

Disclaimer: This is an AU we’ve been working on forever and keep putting it on a back burner. Four of these characters are our own original characters along with an extra character we decided to add since we thought was a badass idea. The story may not be posted up for a long while due to it not even close to completion and still in the works of planning. ~ Your Anon Muns

#something is brewing #creepypasta crossover #Crossovers #bnha #story planning #creepypasta #bnhaxcreepypasta

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tarithenurse · 4 years

Text

Nightingale - 8

Pairing: Hatake Kakashi &/x Fem!OC Contents: Mystery, concerns, thoughts. A/N: CATCH!! *Throws a little chapter at the tiny group of readers* As usual, ASK or REBLOG for tag!

Ch. 8

Kakashi has returned from the meeting on the water tower with renewed hope and has delved into the research immediately. Calling in a favour from one of the archivists, it has become evident from the official records that the name, Mei, really is fake – or at the very least too generic to isolate any potential candidates from Konoha. Neither aspiring nor fully fledged ninjas from the other nations fit the physical appearance either.

What do I know?

She’s maybe around his own age, female (very much so), has dark eyes and blue hair (he has examined a few of the strands from the flute and it didn’t show signs of artificial colouring), “Mei” is highly skilled, and...and then what? Something in her voice had indicated loss or sorrow when she mentioned the father, so perhaps she’s an orphan. But too many children lost their parents in the war.

On the third day, Kakashi accepts he has hit a wall. Unable to puzzle anything else out, he has tried to identify the kind of stone only to learn that it’s a common quarts. Furthermore, the tools and technique used to create the instrument are unidentifiable.

Walking through town days later, the jōnin is oblivious to his friends’ banter.

“Hey, what’s dragging you, ‘Kashi?” Asuma cuts through the fog of distraction.

“Nothin’.” He knows the minute he claims it that they don’t believe it and grabs the first plausible explanation: “Trying to find a way to get Naruto on the others’ level.”

And just like that, an uncomfortable interrogation is avoided.

No one really thought the kid would get this far at the Academy, and while they readily admit how he has developed, the general assumption is that he’s too rash to ever become a chunin.

“- even with Iru, and now you, watching over him,” Kurenai soothes.

Watch over. It’s disconcertingly long since Kakashi last sensed the presence of the stranger and as any sensible person would, he finds the lack of clues more disturbing than calming. If “Mei” was still there, watching from the shadows, then at least he would know that the status quo is unchanged. If she has withdrawn, on the other hand, it’s likely a sign that she and her possible allies have gathered all the information they wanted and are preparing to strike. When? Where?

What’s worse is that Kakashi is painfully aware that he should have involved more people at the very first sign of an intruder was at play rather than some prank by a comrade. The longer he waits, the harder it will be to control potential damage wrecked by Mei and anyone she might work with. But...I think she works alone. Either way, there has been no sign of others which would be hard to hide the more there were nor has she actually done anything threatening. Unsettling, sure, even slightly amusing if considered from the point of view of a joker...but nothing characterizing her as a clear antagonist.

Asuma pushes him amiably, “Maaaan, you need to unwind and get your head back in the game!”

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enchystemporarydomain · 4 years

Text

A quick story wrapped around an idea I had. It involves superheroes, but is mostly about a budding BDSM fetish… I have a few more ideas for these particular characters, exploring a Super, Mortal relationship...

I’m reposting this because I can’t find it on my other blogs...

A blue cape of smooth material. with a lustrous gold frame, connected to a massive frame of muscle. She was wrapped in white kevlar from neck to ankle, and stood on sturdy black boots with blue soles and rims. No symbol upon her breast just yet, as she was fairly new on the super block, but aside from so there was no doubt she was a fully fledged, capable powerhouse. She walked across the small bunker room in pronounced, careful strides, her hands balled into fists. Her gaze focused.

She tossed her hair back and posed. And smirked.

Watching her was a man dressed in black. His ensemble was practical and protective but not without aesthetic appeal. The black bulletproof vest could be overlooked altogether thanks to the much more noticeable sleek shoulder pads and electronic gauntlets. He wore unusual sunglasses with rims made of some sort of technology and dark red lenses. Where his partner exemplified strength and power with her muscular frame and walk, his ensemble painted the picture of the mechanical and engineering genius he was.

He watched his partner-slash-boss and laughed as she posed. She joined as well, obviously cheery about testing out her new uniform.

“Man, what even is that hair flip?” he said. “I said show me your power pose.”

“Hey! I will do a hairflip when I see my enemy,” she said.

“Oh? Is your hair bulletproof too? Parry bullets?”

The two had a laugh, admiring their new uniform. They were somewhat frightened inside about their job. As upcoming supers their first job was incredibly important if they wanted to be recognized by the major organizations. Fighting supervillains and street criminals was a service to the people and definitely a noble idea, but they also needed to eat and pay bills and the Justice Ensemble offered grants, loans, and benefits.

The two made their way out of the secretly enormous bunker beneath their basement (hidden via a door behind a shelf) and got ready to pursue a lead.

“I mean this legitimately, though,” the lady said, smiling down at her much smaller partner. “I really do love the outfit. To be able to weave not just program nanomachines but weave them into stylish nylon and kevlar… it’s amazing I found you with just a Craigslist Ad.”

“It’s what I do,” he responded, wishing he could think up a cooler quote.

“And you do it much too well for what I’m paying you,” she said, guiltily. “Anyway, hop on my back. I’m flying us.”

“Alright, Madame Bolt!”

“Strap on tight, Puma.”

*** *** ***

Grant had been a medium fish in a small pond back in his home town. An engineer working at his uncle’s garage work. With the internet he had access to fellow geniuses. Cliques of talented, gifted engineers to whom the greatest goal in life was being hired by a fantastic tech firm. Worshipers of tech giants like Bill Gates, or Hurrit Akkar (known among the hero world as a cold villain).

Grant had different dreams. Not bigger or necessarily more ambitious dreams but great dreams. He idolized the controversial supers of the world. The Justice Ensemble, Do Gooders United, Robots For Justice, and all that they did. He had a few years of vigilantism under his belt in the small crime filled towns of North Ontario.

He wasn’t quite sure what was it that made him make the leap, though. A craigslist ad written by an otherwise unknown superheroine looking for an engineer to design suits? The job would take him to America, relatively far from his home, and would be an incredible risk. What if the start up duo never made it to the big time? What if the money dried up and he was left stranded here? What if his employer was incompetent? What if he was incompetent? So many risks, and yet he took the chance anyway.

Now, holding steady on his new partner’s back, flying over the buildings of Candesfinning City wearing his beautifully designed outfits, the wind in his hair, Grant put away all of the worries in his mind. They still had a long way to go, but the thrill and excitement was intoxicating.

They landed in front of the buildings they knew their targets, a low level cartel base, to be residing in.

Alicia, super name Madame Bolt, set Grant down.

“Alright, Puma,” she said, holding back a grin. This was the first time they were using their super identities, so the campy ridiculousness was still fresh in mind. “I’ll do all of the fighting. Follow behind me, but not too close.”

“Got it, Madame,” Grant said.

*** *** ***

Super fast, bulletproof, and strong enough to easily bench over two thousand kilograms, the low level street gang didn’t stand a chance. Alicia had such a handle on the situation that even when stray bullet was fired in Grant’s direction, a potentially devastating tragedy, she saw it moving as slow as a floating slug and stopped it.

It would have struck Grant in his specially designed bulletproof suit, but he was still happy he didn’t have to take that risk.

With the gangsters taken care of (most of them hired teens plucked from the streets and only five armed adults), and the evidence of illegal firearms and drugs gathered, Grant hacked the three computers in the building. It was an easy job: even without his advanced equipment these cpus had no firewalls in place. Alicia was watching over his shoulder. She must have been expecting more quick-typing and code on screen because, judging by her face reflection on the monitor, she was somewhat disappointed.

“Nothing big. However, in one of their emails they let slip something about 821 Glasglow Island. A meeting between them and another organization, though they were careful enough not to be specific.” Grant said. “I think we should leave that to the feds, perhaps?”

Alicia shook her head.

“We can handle this better than any feds. Gasglow Island is just a few kilometers east from the piers,” she said.

“In that case we could head their right away, if you like-!”

The two of them heard police sirens outside. Alicia swallowed, nervous. There were rules about supers taking the law into their own hands, and so far the two of them hadn’t stepped of line according to them. However…

“...Do you want to make yourself known?” Grant asked his boss.

“No. Let’s get out of here,” she said.

“Okay. Want me to hop on?” Grant unplugged his USB drive and put it away.

“Nope. Stay still.”

“What do you-?”

Before Grant could get a word in edgewise, Alicia’s cape had expanded in size. It’s nanomachines, designed by he himself, manipulated the fabric and bound around Grant. His arms wrapped together in a tight, inescapable hold, then bound to his sides. His entire body, like a mummy in blue and gold. Shocked and helpless, Grant could only give out muffled cries.

He felt himself being picked up by his larger boss. She held him tightly against him, almost protectively. She was gently holding the back of his head as one would an infant, and another on his thighs, ignoring his squirming.

“Stay still, this is going to be incredibly quick,” she whispered, before lifting up off the ground.

She hopped out the window with Grant bound and in tow, then fled at incredible speed.

*** *** ***

She let him down at the island less than a minute later. Though she set him down feet first as carefully as she could he still fell on all fours.

“Grant! I’m so sorry,” she said, helping up.

“I… I just need a moment… Woof!” he said, catching his breath. Being bound caught him off guard. And now… he was on Gasglow island now? How?

“I’m sorry, Grant. I didn’t have time to explain. It’s dangerous for a normal person to accelerate as quickly as I can so… So I used the cape you made for me to protect you,” she said. “It was entirely necessary.”

“Alice, it’s… it’s fine. I was just shocked…” Grant said. He was blushing rather hard and turned his back to her. Alice raised an eyebrow at this.

“Grant? You’re not hurt, are you?” She reached for his shoulder but he stepped forward.

“No, I’m fine. It was just frightening. Er…” He cleared his throat. “Are… are we going to have to do that everytime you have to fly me really fast?”

Alice shrugged. “Well… I personally don’t mind. It’s the most effective method we have right now and it doesn’t hinder me in any way. But if you don’t like it maybe we can workshop it? You can whip something up?”

Grant nodded, rubbing his hands together in a way Alice hadn’t seen him do before.

“Yeah. We’ll do that for now. Maybe I’ll invent a neck brace or something,” he said. He cleared his throat. “So… this is the island. Should we look up this warehouse and see what the mob wants with it?”

Alicia didn’t answer for a moment. She was watching him, curious about how he was acting… He prayed she wasn’t putting two and two together.

Then she smiled. “Yes. Let’s go.”

She lead the way. Grant sighed and followed her from behind.

*** *** ***

The warehouse, it turned out, was fairly simplistic. No security cameras or even guards. A great many creates full of wrapped goods. Most of them legally owned by, presumably, one of the mob higher ups. But using Grant’s X-Ray tools and Alicia’s speed (and immunity to X-Ray radiation, thankfully) they found a crate of bullets hidden deep in one of the crates, beneath old boxes of cloths and linen. One quick anonymous picture sent to the feds and the two of them left.

Alicia tapped Grant on the shoulder before they left.

“I want to leave as quick as we can, less we’re sighted here and the mob will change tactics before the feds can investigate,”” she said. She beckoned for him to get into her cape.

Grant swallowed.

“Yeah… yeah sure. Just…” He stiffened and turned around. “Go ahead.”

Alicia smirked and wrapped him up in her cape. She held him firmly but carefully. And then they were off, faster than a speeding jet.

*** *** ***

As the weeks proceeded and the two spent almost every day zooming from place to place, Grant began to feel a bit more in his nature. Seeing his tools being used to take down monstrous organizations and help the needy made him happier and more excited than he ever dared. Alicia was similarly giddy, with every successful day celebrated at their home base (currently a modified house’s basement) with chinese food and netflix.

It seemed the city had caught on that it had two new vigilantes to worry of (not that they were hiding this at all). Simply by leaving some clues about their names, usually via cleaned, finger print-free notes with their signatures, the two of them had managed to spread the name Madame Bolt and Puma quite far in such a short time.

They still hadn’t decided on an insignia for Madame Bolt’s costume yet, however. They haven’t allowed anyone aside their enemies to even see them yet, so there wasn’t much to present on that front anyways.

One thing Grant still had to get used to was… the travel…

When they flew, generally she would allow him to ride on her back. It would be an awkward position, but the two acknowledged that it was the most efficient way to travel and they were mature about it. The cape between their bodies made the mode of travel less awkward as well, keeping them apart.

It was when a quick escape was needed where things were a bit… uncomfortable. Or rather, and Grant still had barely admitted this to himself yet, entirely too comfortable. Alicia would wrap her bolt all around his body so tight snug… She would cradle his body against her own, supporting the weaker man… And each time it felt much too nice. Much too comfortable.

And, damn it, it was far too arousing...

Grant was certain it would make Alicia far too uncomfortable if she found out just how much he was starting to like it. Would she fire him and find a less… awkward tech guy? Alicia, the great Madame Bolt, his boss and partner, seemed more like a roommate and friend these past few weeks, but he wasn’t so sure their companionship would withstand the test of… whatever this even was.

Little did he know, Alicia knew more than she was letting on…

*** *** ***

“Alicia? What’s the matter?”

Grant had come out of the little tool lab he had in the bunker to see the blonde avenger staring contemplatively at nothing. He sat down in front of her and leaned foreward. She sighed.

“Grant… Are we ever going to show ourselves to the public?” she wondered aloud.

Grant nodded, thinking it over. He knew this was going to be something they needed to speak about soon. He let her continue.

“I mean… I know it’s my fault, I’m sorry. I mean, you work so hard. Not just making the tools but managing our brand… leaving those little notes and making sure the police see us as allies… And we need to go public one day if we’re ever to attract funding and attention…”

Grant looked over to the trash bin. Filled to the top with take out boxes and fast food bags.

“The funding would be nice,” he admitted. Alicia nodded. She looked so apologetic it hurt Grant.

“Grant… Right now we’re just vigilantes, and I know we have to move on upward to public crime fighting eventually. And though I have the budget to keep going as we are now for a while longer, I don’t want to put you through this if you don’t want,” she said. “I’m sorry that you’re stuck here. You have such talent…”

“Do not apologize,” he said, firmly. “Is the idea of going public really stressing you out?”

She nodded and sighed, leaning back on her chair. Though still muscular and strong, it would be difficult to tell this was the great Madame Bolt herself. The same Madame Bolt who was invincible, powerful, walked with grace and flipped her hair with gusto.

“Yeah, it is. I just don’t feel ready for it. Truth be told, even being an underground vigilante has been a huge step forward. I… I most likely would never have been able to do what we’ve been doing without your support. Not to… you know, guilt you into staying,” she quickly said.

“I want to stay,” Grant said, rather firmly. “If… if you want to keep being a vigilante instead of a full on hero, I’ll stay right here with you.”

Alicia looked surprised. She smiled. “Really? But why?”

“Because… Well… We do important work. But to be honest, that’s not all. Um…” Grant found himself becoming a tad sheepish. He willed himself forward… “Whenever I see you work… Whenever we’re flying across the city, and we solve a crime, it’s amazing. And you let me share in the feeling… of… you know… being a strong hero. I feel like I’ve done more here in this city with you in the past weeks than I ever got done on my own. I’m thankful you let me be a part of this.”

Alicia didn’t say anything, but her expression softened. Her hand crept closer to his own, though Grant didn’t notice and stood up, retracting it. She looked disappointed.

“I mean, we can stay anonymous if you want. I’ll have to take up a part time job, maybe make some extra cash on the side for us. Not sure where I’d-!”

Alicia had, with tremendous arm strength, slid the table between them out of the way and grasped him. She kissed him then and there, holding him tight. Grant closed his eyes, letting go of his thoughts and letting himself enjoy this…

They separated and looked at each other. He looked up at her, and she down at him. They said nothing for a moment. Then Alicia whispered…

“The bunker room…”

*** *** ***

She threw him down onto the queen sized bed. She chuckled as she crawled over him, letting her long blonde hair drape down over his body. Grant, in turn, reached up to stroke and feel her muscled sides and arms. He grasped at her shirt and reached up to kiss her again.She responded vigorously.

Her knees surrounded him on both sides. Then she got down and pressed her whole body down on him. Since he was much shorter, however, her hips made it only to his thighs. Frustrated, she curled up again, splitting her knees outward so she could comfortably rest her hips over him. Nice and comfortable, and obscenely intimate. She kissed him while holding him down this way.

Grant needed to vocally mumble for her to stop, so he could remove his shirt and shorts. She was halfway doing the same.

“Alicia… don’t kill me, okay?” he whispered to her, half jokingly. She laughed.

“Oh no no, I’ll keep you nice and safe…” she said. Then she stopped trying to remove her shirt. Her expression became thoughtful again.

“Is something the matter?” Grant said. He worried if, maybe, she was already regretting this…

“Stay here…” she said. She got off of him (which disappointed him greatly) and walked out of the room…

*** *** ***

A minute later she came back in… in full hero uniform. Grant smiled at her return, but his face fell a bit when he noticed what she was wearing…

She grinned mischievously, waving the blue and gold cape around…

“Not fair,” he whimpered. “You get to be Madame Bolt?”

“Well, I personally think Puma’s costume is too, well, hard and rough for bed,” Alicia said, walking back to the bed. She let the cape drape along Grant, who swallowed nervous. His erection, which was already quite visible, seemed to tighten and grow right then and he knew she could see it… There was no kevlar armor to hide it this time…

“But I know that my costume can be a bit more… enticing…” she said. She bent down and lifted his feet. He watched curious… and then in horror and excitement when she wrapped her cape around his feet, binding them tight together just over the ankle… Like rich, nylon socks…

“...You knew?” Grant said.

“Of course. It was so obvious,” she whispered, letting the cape crawl upward, pulling him closer off the bed…

“I’m so sor-!”

The cape pulled him right up and she caught him in a hug.

“Don’t apologize.”

Then she tumbled back down on the bed while holding him against her. She landed on her back and he landed upon her… face right against her chest. The cape tied him down and she held his squirming body…

“Alicia...M-Madame Bolt… Please…” Grant said.

“Please what?” she asked, continuing to bind him up and cradle him.

Grant didn’t know. He was so excited… his naked body bound, feeling the material quite vividly now… She was pressing him against her breasts… He wasn’t afraid of being kept wrapped up… with his hands stuck to his sides, his legs kept together, squirming against the inescapable hold, and her strong, gentle hands cradling him… He was afraid he wouldn’t last long this way…

But instead of voicing this, all he could do was whimper. Alicia, Madame Bolt, was so mighty… so strong… too strong to push up against… He wanted to be there, wrapped up, played with by her…

Sure, sex with her as an equal would have been amazing… but…

Her hand was on his ass. She was squeezing it. Grant groaned in pleasure…

“It’s okay, Grant. I’ve felt your erection so many times while carrying you. I know what you want to do. I know what you’re afraid of and I want you to know… it’s okay…”

She rolled over so that she was atop him now. She positioned his wrapped up body so that their crotches would align. His head and face just above her chest… smelling and feeling her cleavage, still covered in the protective kevlar..

“I know you’re a strong, capable hero, and I won’t forget that just because you want me to be your mommy…” she whispered, and gave him dry hump.

That did it and he lost control. It wasn’t how their first time should have gone, really… But as he was mercilessly humped and pleasured within her cape, accepting his place in her power, he didn’t care at all what others would have thought. He loved this feeling…

She wrapped her strong thighs around him, groaning as she humped him nice, thoroughly, uninterrupted… Her strong thighs, her sensitive crotch, in the suit’s fibers, against him… She pressed down just firm enough to squeeze his dick, his balls, just firm enough to scare him, and released very slowly each time… She herself enjoyed this power over him… Oh how she wished he wasn’t so fragile… But that was the beauty of it all, wasn’t it?

He loved being bound, and she admitted now she loved binding him so much. She loved having this cute little man under her power. In her cape. In her arms. Kept safe by her, but more importantly kept close. She yearned to bind him more. To strap him against her forever, and never let him escape. Never let him free.

She’d pocket him, encapsulate him, belt and lock him, completely own him if she could. As she thrusted against his wrapped up body she fantasized all of these things… That each thrust was pushing him into her until he was thoroughly caught in her essence. The fact that the cape kept them from feeling each other’s warm skin was frustrating, but it would be worth it… building and building the need they both shared for each other...

She stopped when she could tell that he, and also she, were coming close to cumming…

He groaned, wanting to continue, but she held him firm and didn’t allow it…

She released him from the safety of the cape, despite his protests… Then she stripped down…

She wrapped not her cape, but her warm, large, muscled body around her precious little super-partner instead. And as she allowed him to insert himself in her before continuing to thrust, she thought: “Yes. Now I’ve really got you bound…”

And she thrusted...

*** *** ***

It was almost morning when they finished, relaxing together in the king sized bed, surrounded with concrete walls, safe from the rest of the world. She still had her legs around his.

“...I quite enjoyed myself,” she said, breaking the silence. Grant chuckled.

“...Um… so… I guess I shouldn’t make that neck brace I mentioned back when?” he said.

“Don’t you dare,” she whispered.

They fell asleep in each other’s arms, her legs wrapped nicely around his.

*** *** ***

“Oh Puma… Come here~” she called for him. Grant turned off the power drill he was using and took off his mask. Still in the smithing apron he left his lab to see his partner, now in more ways than one, standing excitedly. She was in uniform, though her cape covering her up.

“What’s going on?” he said.

“Grant… Next time the police come, I think we should stay and reveal ourselves to them,” she said.

Grant gave a proud smile as well. “So. It’s time for Madame Bolt and Puma to meet the adoring fans?”

Alicia nodded. Then she unraveled the cape revealing her uniform and Puma’s smile fell.

“Surprise! Since you’re always working so hard on everything-” she began.

“Oh no…” Grant whispered.

“I decided to design my emblem by myself. What do you think?”

Grant, AKA Puma, the great engineer, stared in horror at the red emblazoned symbol on her uniform, just on her breasts downwards. A wonderful star image, and inside an image a bound up mummy, obviously meant to be him. Just stylistic and abstract enough to be mistaken for something else without context…

“Isn’t it wonderful? It represents our bond and teamwork quite well, I believe,” she said.

“Please change it.”

“See? The star is me,” she said. “And this cocoon here represents…”

“Please… No…”

[The End]

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mtjester · 3 years

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BNHA Steampunk AU: My Steampunk Academy Snapshot #1

(I probably won’t write a fully-fledged, contained fanfic for this AU, but I like the idea of little snapshots that I can type out as I feel like it. Maybe I’ll figure out how to put something like this on Twitter, too, since I know that’s a thing people do. Enjoy!)

Deku Finds the Machine

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The ruins of the skyship were scattered across the landscape. The main hull, now a skeleton of metal rings, was nestled among the rocks near the peak of the stubby mountain, and parts of the engines and decks had tumbled down the slope. Izuku paused at the apex of the neighboring hill, taking in the charred remains of the ship again. Memories of the night before ghosted through his brain: the fire, the smoke, the jarring scream of twisting metal. He had searched as much as he could through the blaze, but he only found the one survivor. The man was safe at his house a mountainside away with his mother doting at his bedside, but he hadn’t woken up. The doctor said he might not, between the shock, the burns, the injury on his side. Izuku had never seen anyone die before, and he wasn’t going to wait around to see what it was like. Even the ghastly sight of the decimated skyship was more welcoming than the man’s labored breathing.

Izuku trudged down to the shallow valley below, where so much debris had collected. In any other circumstance, he would be excited. There was more scrap metal to tinker with than he would ever be able to use. Some of the devices might even survive if he was careful with the repair. But he was too afraid of the possibility of a blackened body emerging out of the rubble to snoop much.

He traced his steps back to the place he found the survivor. It was near the main hull, but not near enough to suffer the worst of the heat while it burned. The whole mountainside was charred. It would be months before Izuku could bring the Bakugou’s flock of sheep this way to graze. The wealthy family wasn’t used to inconveniences like that, but they seemed to understand well enough, even if their tone was lost through the telegram.

Nothing moved. No people clawed their way out of the wreckage, gasping for help. Izuku didn’t know what he was expecting, but his heart sunk nonetheless. He poked around futilely, too afraid to actually find anything to really get anything done. An hour passed, then two. He started a pile of garbage, a pile of usable material. No bodies, thankfully. Then, around the three hour mark, he found something that caught his eye.

At first glance, it was like a backpack. It had two thick straps for the arms and another to go across the waist, as it was a rather large, hefty pack. Its exterior was made of leather and covered in pockets, or it was once, at least, but brushed brass and iron peeked out through burnt holes now. Layers of mechanisms — clockwork-like gears, engine-works, a miniature firebox for steam-power — revealed themselves like a kaleidoscope through the outer layer of leather. Izuku knew even at a glance that the machine was sophisticated, more so than anything he had ever encountered. He passed his hand over the mechanisms shining beneath the burnt fabric, his fingers tracing the intricate designs. His heart beat like he had discovered a stash of gold or a genie in a bottle. A squeezed noise of excitement forced its way through his throat. Any thought of cleaning up the mountainside or finding fictional survivors who clearly didn’t exist evaporated from his mind.

He grabbed a strap and moved to haul the backpack-like structure over his shoulder. If he got it home soon, he would have enough daylight to tinker without wasting gas for the lantern. But he didn’t expect the weight of it. He lifted, expecting nothing more than the resistance of a sack of grain or a stubborn lamp, but it just about pulled his shoulder out of its socket. With a yelp, he toppled backwards onto it, the small of his back landing on the solid structure that suddenly seemed more brick than machine.

“Geez…” Izuku breathed, rubbing out the new pain in his back. He stared down at the innocuous object. “Is this really supposed to be a backpack?”

He tried picking it up twice more with roughly the same results. He wasn’t weak exactly, but he wasn’t a dedicated sports enthusiast either. He was far from a muscle-man. He furrowed his brow and lifted a finger to his lips to think, muttering his way through the problem.

“Well...I don’t have to take it all the way home, at least not at first...I can ask for help if I need it, or bring a dolly cart...although a dolly wouldn’t work so well over the mountain...maybe a bigger cart? Or I can ask Mrs. Bakugou to lend me their ox...I do have to clear the land...she’d want me to do that, right? In any case…” He looked up at the sky. The day was still young, perhaps just past noon. If he hurried…

“Right,” he said, coming to a decision and dropping his fist into his other hand with purpose. He turned back to his house and began to hike at a quick but steady pace back home.

He returned an hour later with his tool belt. He had customized it himself to hold all his little tinkering odds and ends. It was far from a true machinist’s tool belt, but it did as much as Izuku could afford to do. He skittered up the slope to the mysterious box with a feverish glint in his eyes.

“Let’s see…” he said, plopping down next to the device. He mumbled to himself as he pulled back the leather casing. It was a strange casing, coming apart in odd patterns, covering the device in chunks and strips with a purposeful design that Izuku couldn’t place yet without more examination. He took out his handmade sketchbook and sketched the design in detail, as faithfully as he could.

Once the leather had been fully removed, the genius of the machine was laid bare for admiration. Izuku spent a full ten minutes just looking, starry-eyed, at the beautiful, intricate works hidden beneath the bag’s casing. It was unlike anything he had ever seen in their small mountain village, leagues above the basic clockwork that made up the vast majority of the machinery he had had the chance to tinker with. He spent an additional length of time — a half hour? An hour? — sketching to the best of his ability the detailed works. It was one of the most detailed sketches he had ever made, and it still wasn’t detailed enough. He chewed on his tongue, erasing and redrawing, erasing and redrawing. Finally, he put his sketchbook down.

“Okay, let’s see…” he said, finally approaching the machine. He barely knew where to start. He hovered over it for a couple of minutes, looking at it from different angles, debating whether to undo this screw or that. Finally, he leaned back. “Well...the logical first step is the most obvious, right?”

He leaped up and jogged to his new garbage heap, searching for something burnable. He found plenty of kindling and returned to the device. The firebox was one of the first and most apparent parts of the machine. It was a steam-machine, clearly, although it was far more compact than Izuku thought possible. He hoped he was making the right choice as he packed the burnable materials into the firebox. He produced some matchsticks from his tool belt and lit the flame.

The fire would heat the water in the compressed chamber, which would create steam, which would power the engine. That much, Izuku knew. How it all worked with the clockwork elements was the mystery. What was the machine designed to do? What was its function?

Izuku waited, almost buzzing with anticipation. Nothing happened. Cooled steam began to escape, having done what it was supposedly meant to do. Still, nothing. It made noise, at least. But it didn’t do anything. Izuku gradually deflated, realizing he was being silly. Was he waiting for it to sprout legs and walk away? An engine doesn’t just run for show. An engine needs a conductor. He still had a role to play here somehow.

He moved forward to examine the machine again, careful now that it was steaming. For all he knew, it was damaged in the crash and was ready to blow up in his face. He touched it, gingerly, looking carefully along its surfaces, prodding with laser focus. His hands felt the top, the front, the sides. Then, they felt two raised bumps. A button on each side of the machine, almost hidden beneath the layers of leather he had pulled back. Of course — the buttons were meant to be exposed with the leather casing intact, but by pulling it all open at once, he had covered them. It was just where a person could reach if they were actually wearing the dead-weight object on their back. Izuku licked his lips, his anticipation coming back full-force, and he pressed each button at the same time.

Two arms, about the length of an adult human’s, sprung from the sides of the box and launched forward, where a human would stand if they were actually wearing the device properly. At the ends of each, they branched out and formed into something like gloves. Pistons, gears, rods, strange copper wires, and a sturdy metal skeleton ran the length of the arms. Izuku’s heart picked up pace in his chest as he examined them. He reached for his sketchbook, paused, reached for the machine, paused...and his curiosity won over his scientific duty to observe. He scrambled to the front of the machine and dropped onto his butt to wiggle himself into the straps as best as he could. He somehow managed to find a position where he could secure the device firmly around his waist.

The metal arms were too long for him, but they were adjustable to an extent. He fit his hands into the gloves. Each finger seemed to be attached to some element of the machine. Tentatively, he moved just one, the index finger of his right hand. The machine behind him came to life with buzzing, whirring, clicking. He glanced back to see the intricate inner mechanisms catching the light of the sun as they moved. He moved another finger. Something clicked, and the form of the box shifted, opening. His eyes blazing with excitement, Izuku threw caution to the wind and danced all of his fingers in a short wave.

Like it was the signal it had been waiting for, the box burst open. Legs like spider limbs splayed from the contraption, their skeletons made of iron and their muscles, full of gears, pistons, rods, wires, built out of brushed brass and copper. The legs came down hard into the dirt of the mountainside, and before he knew it, Izuku was being lifted. His strangled yelp grew into an actual scream as his butt came off the ground, followed by his legs.

“What — what? What?” he shouted as his feet dangled in the air. The straps dug into his armpits. Without thinking, he flailed his arms around. In response, the machine began to turn and spin on its spider-y legs, circling back and forth across the charred wreckage in an almost impossibly smooth manner, as if the ground were perfectly level and not covered in boulders and debris. Izuku, now dizzy as well as bewildered, reached back behind him, trying to press the buttons he had found before. His fingers twitched erratically in his panic. The device rocketed him forward, and before he knew it, he was sprinting across the valley on bronze and iron spider limps, shrieking.

He did not get home until twilight. Luckily, he did not need to borrow an ox from the Bakugous to get the device there after all.

#bnha #bnha steampunk au #my steampunk academy #midoriya #midoriya izuku #death mention #maybe I'll compile the parts someday #but fuck scene transitions tho #fuck consistent narration too #POV is whatever I decide to do today #I claim that freedom

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monolovebaron · 4 years

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Heaven & Hell Roman Company Season 2 MonoxBaron Story Summary (Analyzed and Explained)

Heaven & Hell Roman Company is a beautiful yaoi manhwa by mum published on Lezhin. Most of the readers got lost and confused in the story specially in season 2 so I have decided to make a summary for at least the 3rd pair introduced. Because their story uses foreshadowing, symbols and metaphors in the story that readers will miss being mesmerized to the beautiful and magnificent art of our awesome Mum.

Please be warned that this will contain much spoilers so it’s better to finish reading the manhwa first before jumping in to this summary and explanation.

Format: Bold characters are what is written in the book in the story and italize characters are POV or inner monologues. While quoted characters are dialogues.

If you’ll look at the story as a whole, you’ll find out that it’s about first loves and the Seme (Top) struggling to make his feelings come across the Uke (Bottom).

The story sets in a time when God realized that humans have advanced so much that angels and demons are no longer needed resulting to mass unemployment so he come up with an idea to create well, what else? Of course a company.

Just a brief,

The first pair introduced is Ginger a hybrid which later unleashed form is a devil and Rum which is a pure devil. They are childhood buddies since they were babies. Ginger falling in love and having fantasies about his childhood friend and struggling to confess his feelings as he is scared that what they have right now might be lost but in the end, things turned out right and Rum reciprocated the feelings.

The second pair is Monday a hybrid which unleashed form is a devil and Mananan a pure blood angel. Mananan claiming that he fell in love at first sight and Mon falling in love with the sincere him. In the second season, Mananan struggles by finding a solid proof that Monday feels the same way about him since he never heard him say that he like him too. While Monday struggles in the thought of their feelings might change or fade away after living together. But in the end, Monday confess his feelings and they finally agreed to live together.

Now to the pair that made me become invested to this manhwa that I have to write a summary like this so any future readers may stumble into.

Mono and Baron;

Mono is a pure blood angel and has the most complex character in the story. He teases people a lot; he’s a flirty and carefree man. He always has his guard and a control freak that you can barely see through his facade. He’s a hard man to understand and always seems to be scheming. But surprisingly is a faithful servant of God.

Baron on the other hand is a hybrid unleashed form of an angel. He’s strict and makes sure to always stick to the rules of his family. He thinks low of his self being a hybrid as their family is a line of pureblood angels. He always has a serious expression and thinks things carefully. Even though emotion does not seem to reflect on his face, he cares for the important people around him and he does everything to help them.

They did not have the season to focus on their story as the first season focused on GingerxRum and second season focused on ManananxMonday. A lot of readers may have miss the foreshadowing of Mono’s story that started early as Chapter 9 so in this summary I will breakdown all the foreshadowing, metaphors, explain them and tell the story to an order that will be easily understood.

First let’s take an understanding to Mono’s character…

1. He’s a flirty and carefree man;

Mono first appeared in Chapter 1 of the manhwa, teasing Ginger by whispering to his ears the details of how Ginger want to mess with Rum. According to Ginger, he does this every morning. And when ask by his sibling Gram when he have fun teasing Ginger, he answered;

“I’m just helping out with his fantasy. Won’t things go too slow if I just let it be? I just want to apply some pressure… and corner him.”

From this we can already see that behind the flirty attitude and his sadistic teases, he’s a control freak that wants things to get done and the things he do always helps the person he teases. This can also be shown as the way he teases Monday and although he picks on Mananan it actually help the relationship of the two. And later when he messes with Lego, in the end you’ll see that it helps him get off the trouble he’s been caught up to.

This is also the reason why he’s famous for flirting and is rumored to sleep with just anyone and has the biggest scandal in the company.

But Mono said in his defense in Chapter 37; “I don’t think I’ve ever initiated it myself.” And in Chapter 45; “They’re not being fair to a workaholic like me. I don’t do anything useless. I’m pretty valuable.” “I have no immoral hobbies either.”

2. Appearance of a young man, a Veteran

Mono’s first appearance was that of a young angel which seems to be on the same age or maybe younger than Ginger and Rum but with his authority and base on the things he can do, you can tell that he’s already a veteran in this job. And later we got a foreshadowing in Chapter 20 that this is not his true form. When the gang left him after their conversation Mono complained “You're all leaving this old man? so cruel~

And in Chapter 23 it was revealed that Mono’s true form is an adult.

In Chapter 27, when Monday commented he was surprised to see that Mono has a side of an adult on him, Mono replied “I’m not a full-fledged adult. No matter how hard I work, the reality is different. It’s not too surprising that some things don’t go as planned right~?”

And in Chapter 46 we had the explanation; Once the celestial beings embrace their selves, their physical growth stops. The archangel, Uriel is in a child’s body… and its rumored the other three also look different in their normal forms. Which means that Mono has not fully embraced his duties as an angel to be devoted only to God that’s why he refer to himself being not a full-fledged adult.

3. Angel of Guidance

In the beginning of time, all angels are born from the breath of God. But after God summoned the angels to experience all of creation, half of them started to feel emotions thus there are those born from angels and not from the breath of God. Mono is born from God. Even though he’s still young, Mono understood his duties and is faithfully doing it well up to present. As shown how he helps his brother Gram with his revelations and acting as a guardian angel for both Lego and Monday.

Now, Baron’s character;

Baron came from a famous line of military family. It’s a tough neighborhood where they’re all obsessed with finding a strong husband or wife and have strong prejudice against demons. Since he was a child, his relatives scorn at him saying he is not an angel. He grew up hearing them commanding him that he should get stronger and that he should prove his worth.

Throughout the story before revealing Mono’s love interest, it was hinted many times how he can’t move on from his first love;

In Chapter 17, while taking a bath with Ginger and Mananan, Mono teasingly comments to both of them; “But everyone knows first loves don’t work out~” “You shouldn’t push yourself too far, and just give up.”

In Chapter 26, Monday advised Mono to stop teasing his coworkers and Mono replied, “But it’s so annoying to see a first love working out. Maybe I’m being a little petulant~”

In Chapter 27, talking to Monday, Mono commented “First love is a scary thing.”

In short, Mono is being salty that his first love did not work out fine while others did.

To start understanding his story, we should go back to the time when they were young and attending school.

(Reference: Chapter 28, 37, 38, 39, 46)

The old me… believed everything would go the way I desired.

Angels are born to serve god. They love God and serve him completely. That's why they aren't born from the breath of God now. Even now, the majority of angels, who overcome such limitations... if they weren't born with the ability to live that way, they simply live their lives for God.

They were taught in class that regardless whether an angel is born from God, or from angels, everyone is the same. Mono being born from the breath of God, since he was young, can tell angels and demons apart easily. He’s keen in reading a person and understands them well.

I believed that when I wanted something… it would be mine.

The old me… thought everything… would naturally go the way I desired.

Hearing that Baron is one of the rumored hybrids and does not get along with everyone. Initially he approached Baron thinking that since he was the guiding star, he believes he can show him the right path and on his side notes it looks fun.

But things didn’t really go as planned…

When god gave the right to choose… half stayed to worship God… while the other half began to feel emotions.

Angels are born to love god. And so, if they cannot find another to love... they instinctively find a way to devote themselves to God. Ultimately, they are tools of god... and their emotions... are merely a borrowed concept.

“Which means they must return it once they've been given a task. What's the point anyway?” Mono commented while reading the book about angels. Little Mono understands that once an angel is summoned by God, he has to leave everything behind and return to God. But in the next panels, we see the young Mono sitting in front of the young Baron who’s reading a book…

And just when I was wondering what there was to love... I... met you.

Hybrids being born from both an angel and a demon has the right to choose whether their unleashed form will be of an angel or a demon base on their emotion. Baron always doubts if he can really be an angel so he’s always strict with his self and does not mingle with others.

“I thought I told you not to act like you know me.” “I didn’t come here to make friends.”

In Chapter 48 we see Baron rejecting Mono who wants them to be friends. Here it seems that Mono has been following Baron around most of the times. And though Baron seems to reject him, he let him follow him around walking by his side. They even sat in the same table to take a break.

Mono has also made an impression to Baron and in this Chapter, we get to see things in Baron’s perspective;

An age where people don’t know what to love… and age where people still hated one another. A time that was all normal. Mono was an oddity. Still born from god… and closest to both God and humans… they were the first family to be blessed with the image of man. And he has no regard… for all this good fortune.

Despite how Baron seems to be troubled about Mono following him around, he deeply thinks that Mono is a kind and caring angel.

In their conversation Baron commented that them; angels are just imitating the human’s emotion. That it was just a borrowed concept. He thinks it’s excessive.

“You can’t have emotions without feeling pain too.” Mono explained while opening a box of dessert.

“You sound like you’ve never been hurt.” Baron guessed.

Mono replied, “Not yet, I guess? Angels are naturally oblivious to that stuff.”

Feeling that he might end up not being an angel since he feels the despair, suffering, sadness and loneliness from his family he thought to himself that he’s useless.

When they talk about what they wanted to do in the future, Baron said, “Anything that will get me closer to God… that will let me love humans.”

“It’s okay. You’ll make it, for sure. So long as you don’t give up… because you are clearly an angel.” Mono assures him.

That was the first time I saw it. A face that said they loved someone… and a voice that console, “it’s alright.” It was so bright and beautiful… I felt like I would cry.

Here we can summarize that they both have affections for each other but it was also because of those affections that they end up trying harder and making a mistake. This part I will keep for the meantime before the end.

Now we go to the present timeline.

Baron’s character has been mentioned a lot before his official appearance but the first is when Mananan appeared in Chapter 9 as one of the new recruits. It was Mono himself who gave us the information.

“The recruit is from a famous military family. It’s a pretty rough neighborhood. I don’t like going there, either. I don’t like them. They’re all obsessed with finding a strong husband or wife. I got into a bit of a mess with his father over that…”

Here we get to know that Mono is involved with Mananan’s father.

In Chapter 16 Ginger asked Mananan if his parents do not teach him to approach someone. Mananan answered, “My parents had an arranged marriage so… It doesn’t matter, since I’m not close to my parents.” And ended up asking Ginger what is the meaning of love. Which concludes that Mananan was not created out of love.

In Chapter 27, Mono and Monday have a conversation as follows;

“No matter how hard I work, the reality is different. It’s not too surprising that some things don’t go as planned right~?” Mono while teasing Monday by poking his lips.

“First love is a scary thing.” He continued.

“You’ve only ever wanted to tease people since school. The one that liked it wasn’t me, but…”

“And? You’re prying, Monday.” Mono interrupts Monday.

Ch27.2 pg 24 is the short teaser before the official appearance of Baron. Here, Mono is talking with someone but the face was not yet revealed.

“You haven’t changed.”

“That’s true~ angels don’t age after all.” Mono replied. “You look taller... Baron.” He added later.

To love someone… and break up with them… that gives lots of fear.

The story of Mono and Baron is about resolving their conflicts in the past and giving each other a second chance. Mono struggles with his memories of the past because of a mistake he had made. He was too young and didn’t quite well understand to control his emotions. In the end, having experience his heart broken, he became hesitant and a coward who gives up and just accepts that he cannot do anything about it.

You can see this in Mono’s inner monologue in Chapter 42, “We’re just going to split up anyway.” And in Chapter 47, “You were too much of a burden.” and dialogue in Chapter 48, “Strange isn’t it? Being drawn to you because I couldn’t have you. So in order to win each other over… we say silly things and work hard… and end up disappointed. We’re so pitiful.”

Baron’s first official appearance is in the preview for Season 2. He is a judge and he came to the company as a back up in Uriel’s recommendation and as a temporary archangel in Raphael’s request. But in Chapter 39, Baron revealed to Mono that he also came there voluntarily and he’s willing to help a friend. Where Mono questions the term he used, “friends?”

He also commented that he’s surprised that Mono hasn’t changed at all. Because as mentioned earlier; angels who embrace their selves and devotes themselves solely to God stops their growth. We can see that Baron here expects that just like him, Mono is also affected by what happened to them in the past.

Mono was affected by his comment and avoid further discussion by answering that it’s just obvious because he’s not hesitant unlike Baron. He then changed the topic suggesting that it’s Baron who feels uncomfortable with him that’s why he decided to flatter him instead. To which Baron answered that it’s the contrary because Mono should be the one flattering him.

Here throughout, we go on a series of Mono and Baron’s continuous provocations against each other. No one’s directly addressing the concern of their past with each other.

In Chapter 45 when Baron said he’s only giving Mono an advice because of the affection they had for each other.

Mono goes on with him saying, “There was affection… and we were friends. And we were close for other reasons, too.” “Are you here to cry about how you can’t forget those feelings?” teasing Baron by caressing his chest. Baron stops him, silencing him with his hands saying, “Watch what you say. Mono.” While being flustered.

Did you ever think of me like that, even once?

As I mentioned earlier, even as a child, Mono was very keen in analyzing ones feelings so he knows that the affection they have for each other back then should be mutual. But since they broke apart, now that they are talking about affections, he started to question if Baron ever thinks of him the same way.

“It’s your expression I’m more interested in. What were you fantasizing about? Wait, don’t tell me you look so full of regret because of me? That must mean you were disappointed by how I looked. Or is this what you prefer?” Mono teases as he licks Baron’s hand.

Here Mono is trying to get answers from Baron’s expression and wants to know what does he expect and which of him Baron prefers? His adult form that has lingering feelings of the past or his young form devoted to God that has the same appearance with his memories of the past.

“You’re so arrogant.” Baron snatching back his hands.

Then we got to the Hades season. It’s a springtime ghost story that’s been rumored since the foundation of the company. It says that’ some employees vanish in spring and when they return, they've lost their memory... and the vicinity smells like flowers. In short, Hades world where Mono fall down to with Baron is a kind of memory harvest.

In Chapter 46, Mono started that he did not regret what happened at all. And Baron replied that there’s something he wanted to ask him about that time.

But after coming out of Netherland, Mono lost his important memories so he comes out in his adult form being unable to change back to his young form. As Hades agreed to the company’s proposal, they have to wait 6 days to get back their memories.

In his adult form, Mono became transparent on his emotions and feelings towards Baron. We see the vulnerable and sweet man he is hiding underneath his facade;

He reveals that just like Baron, he’s not completely unaffected. He contemplates to his actions of what he did and that it’s because he run away that things turned out the way they did.

He kisses Baron and wonders why he should push him away.

He vents his anger to Mananan knowing that he is Baron’s son with another angel.

In Chapter 50, Baron open up the topic of what happened when they broke apart.

“You seem to have forgotten what happened that day at school, no? I was sorry for that, then. It was not your fault.” Baron apologizes.

“No, it was. Don’t say it was an accident. You don’t even need to forgive me. I haven’t forgotten what happened that day. These past few days… whenever I close my eyes, the things that happened that day begin to come back to me. I just assumed that it was for your own benefit. The things you heard… I didn’t know anything. I was just happy.”

It was revealed that there was a recommendation for the Legal department that is being handed to Mono but Mono thinks of Baron first. He was excited to give it to him thinking that it will make him happy. But rumors began that Baron attained the recommendation because there’s someone backing him up and that he should be embarrassed and it eventually bring shame to Baron’s family.

“The things you said to me. The things I said to you. I’ve only forgotten a tiny sliver. It was a huge resolution… and if I were to try and remember… I doubt I could stand here in front of you, feeling what I do now.”

They ended up confronting each other. Baron asking why Mono did that without asking him first. And Mono could not tell his feelings for him ended up making excuses for giving Baron the recommendation.

“Do whatever you want Baron. I’ll do whatever you say.” Mono surrenders to Baron to which Baron wish for him to get back his memories. And Mono agreed to him.

All I wanted was to hold you, just once… all I wanted was for you to be happy.

"As always, you’re terribly thoughtful.” Mono complimented as he lay Baron on the table and started kissing from his feet. Yup they did the deed.

After getting back his memories, It was revealed that the memory Mono treasured and remembered the longest is that of a crying Baron. All he wanted is to hold Baron and make him happy. Realizing later that he ended up making a mistake because of his strong feelings, and this hurt Baron and made him cry... since then, he thinks that he does not deserve Baron. That he cannot do anything in his power to make him happy.

“I should’ve trusted you. I didn’t want to accept the fact that I couldn’t help you. Even though I knew I wasn’t good for you… I hated that even in that moment, I couldn’t stop liking you.” Mono finally confessed.

“You wanted to know why I came here. I received a lot from you when we were younger… I wanted to know if you were happy.” Baron confessed in exchange confirming that their feelings are mutual. That like Mono, all Baron wants is his happiness too.

“Oh dear~ I haven’t completely lost my mind, you know. Even if you say that, I’m not interested in married men… such a pity~” which means no matter how much Mono would love to take him for himself, he’s an angel and he cannot do something borderline illegal like having an affair with a married man.

“And I’m not interested in your juvenile appearance.” Baron retaliates.

They bid each other farewell since Baron have to go back for now though he commented that no one knows when they’ll meet again.

“It’s been a while since I broke off that marriage.” Baron whispered to Mono to clear things up before he go. (a/n: a.k.a. you can pursue me now xD)

And we see Mono blushing shouting, “You don’t have to tell me that!” knowing that Baron teased him into pursuing him which he might do later on.

Final thoughts;

I believe there are still more to Mono and Baron’s story. We only had a glimpse of their childhood and it’s not really clear how further they went with their affections for each other back then. Was Baron dropped out of school resulting to them being separated and Mono being unable to apologize? It also seems that what happened in school that time became also the reason why Baron was force in an arranged marriage. The locked door scene was also not shown and we only had a glimpse of Mono with his vest taken off and few of his shirt’s buttons down. Clearly, given a chance to pursue his first love, he will go right after Baron and I wanted to see that. I’m also interested what Mananan’s reaction will be after knowing the relationship between his father and Mono. It’s bittersweet that’s why I’m hoping that in the future, Mum will take this story again to continue Mono and Baron’s story because these cinnamon rolls have been through so much and I just want them to live a boring happy life T^T and of course there is Lego which I believe Mum has another story for; assuring us that he will also find his happiness.

This summary and explanation is how I understand the story after reading it. I only made this to help confused readers to understand the story a little better. There is no way I am trying to impose and convince anyone that my understanding of the story is the right one. You can reread the manhwa many times and come up with your own understanding of the story. Please support the author by purchasing her works and following her on twitter. She is currently working on another series. If ever this story is continued, I’ll see you again. For the meantime, Ciao! Have a great day!

#yaoi #manhwa #webtoon #h&h roman company #monoxbaron #mono #baron #heaven and hell roman company #mum #lezhin #angels #demons #romance #summary #explained

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notfromanotherworld · 4 years

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Avengers: Endgame would like you to think of it as a woke movie. Feminist, even. Not feminist in any way that might be annoying or challenging or alienating to its audience, but in a fun, empowering way...

Yet Marvel has consistently wasted Black Widow. It has sidelined her, saddled her with weak storylines, and failed to give her the kind of star billing it has bestowed on the men of the original Avengers.

And her fate in Endgame feels like the biggest waste yet.

Black Widow’s Endgame arc plays into one of the oldest and grossest tropes in comics

Endgame kind of quasi-fridges Black Widow.

When I say “fridging,” I’m referring to the infamous comic book trope of the woman in the refrigerator. The term was coined by comic book writer Gail Simone in 1999, after Green Lantern’s girlfriend Alexandra DeWitt was murdered and stuffed into a literal refrigerator, but it describes more than just that specific comic book death. Its broader meaning refers to the frequency with which women in comic books are killed in order to motivate the men in their life to achieve some grand act of heroism: think Gwen Stacy dying so that Spider-Man feels real bad, or Elektra dying so that Daredevil has something new to brood about.

Aja Romano and Alex Abad-Santos explained why the woman in the refrigerator is such a troubling trope for Vox last year:

The viewpoint of the Women in Refrigerators trope is that women are essentially ... not fully human. That is, they don’t actually do anything; they don’t make choices of their own, or do their own things or have their own lives. Everything we see them do onscreen is in relation to the men around them; their actions are most often about influencing or impacting a man’s actions or behavior.

Essentially, when we say that a female character has been “fridged,” we’re saying that she has been treated like an object who has less human worth than the men around her. She is valuable to the extent that her pain can motivate them...

Black Widow’s death isn’t exactly a classic fridging, which is why I’m qualifying it with “quasi.” For one thing, she is not the only person who dies in Endgame. She’s also a fully fledged character, not just a wife or a girlfriend who was only written into the story in the first place so that she could die and make everyone else sad. And she dies of her own free will, sacrificing herself in pursuit of the Soul Stone in one last blazing display of competence, not because she’s killed by a bad guy who wants to use her as a tool to hurt the men around her.

But Black Widow dies before any of Endgame’s other main characters. While Iron Man’s death overshadows the entire end of the film, and he gets a long, lingering funeral sequence, Black Widow’s death comes halfway through, and it’s primarily used to give the remainder of the now all-male team of original Avengers something to be sad about as they gear up for the movie’s final battle. Basically, she dies in order to motivate a group of men. And after her death, she’s mentioned only briefly, as though she’s been all but forgotten. Those are the same storytelling dynamics that make a classic fridging so damaging...

Black Widow’s quasi-fridging is borderline enough that it might not feel as gross as it does if it weren’t for what had already happened to Black Widow. But her death in Endgame is weirdly linked to her controversial arc from 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, which was so despised that it almost single-handedly destroyed Joss Whedon’s reputation as feminist...

In Age of Ultron, Natasha is pursuing a romantic relationship with Bruce Banner, a.k.a. the Hulk, a love story that received little foreshadowing and which later MCU entries would almost entirely abandon. Bruce is reluctant to go along with the idea, though, on account of how he periodically turns into a giant green rage monster, and he doesn’t think he should inflict his monstrousness on someone else.

But, Natasha says, she’s a monster too. She was made a monster by the people who turned her into a superspy:

They sterilize you. It’s efficient. One less thing to worry about, the one thing that might matter more than a mission. It makes everything easier — even killing. You still think you’re the only monster on the team?

As Vox’s Todd VanDerWerff pointed out in 2015, in the context of Black Widow’s larger arc, Natasha is probably saying that the mysterious awful things she did in the past as a superspy are what made her a monster. But in the context of the scene, it sure does sound like she’s saying she’s a monster because she can’t have children...

To be fair, Mark Ruffalo’s version of the Hulk never did get a standalone movie either after the flop of 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. But the idea that Natasha’s infertility somehow makes her monstrous — not a real woman, potentially less than human — was weirdly embedded into Ultron.

And in Endgame, it rears its head subtextually when Black Widow sacrifices herself for the Soul Stone.

In that sequence, either Black Widow or Hawkeye can die to bring the stone back, and both of them are fighting to be the one who gets to make the ultimate sacrifice and keep the other alive. But Natasha is especially determined to be the one who dies because Clint has a family — a wife and three children, all of whom died at the end of Infinity War — and Natasha doesn’t.

And sure, it’s reasonable for Natasha to make the calculation that Clint’s kids deserve to have a dad when they come back to life after the Avengers complete their “time heist.” But because of that Ultron plot, there’s also an insidious implication that Natasha’s infertility renders Black Widow just a little bit more disposable than the rest of her teammates.

As Alex Leadbeater wrote at ScreenRant, “To have Hawkeye survive explicitly because of his family, it makes the Avengers: Age of Ultron reveal that Black Widow is infertile (and, in Whedon’s parlance, a ‘monster’) feel even dirtier.”

That’s a little bit gross. Combined with the way Endgame uses Black Widow’s death to motivate the male Avengers, it kind of feels like the franchise is saying that Natasha isn’t quite worthy of living because she can’t fulfill her primary purpose as a woman and have kids, but luckily, she’s valuable in death because she can motivate everyone else to avenge her death. And while I don’t mean to suggest that Marvel is putting that message together intentionally, for it to come through so clearly suggests a consistent carelessness in creating Black Widow’s storyline, a laziness that falls back on stereotype-ridden clichés for women characters...

So what happens to Black Widow in Avengers: Endgame isn’t the worst feminist travesty in cinema. But that doesn’t make the circumstances surrounding her death any easier to take. Black Widow was the MCU’s first first-string superheroine — and no matter how much girl power Marvel decides to invest in (and market) going forward, its poor treatment of her is telling.

- “How Avengers: Endgame failed Black Widow” by Constance Grady

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