#fucking duh some versions are gonna differ

[lavenderpanic]

"wah wah this retelling/new translation changed the meaning of the myth" yup babygirl you just discovered the point of mythology and oral tradition congratulations

#“but emily wilson's translation of the iliad isn't gory enough” shut upppp #“but this god didn't-” “but this character wasn't-” shut up. #greek mythology spans multiple distinct greek/macedonian/mediterranean cultures #over thousands of years #fucking duh some versions are gonna differ #that's the fucking point #emily wilson #the iliad #the odyssey #greek mythology #greek myth retellings #achilles #patroclus

[vandalyssm]

Theory: Merlin's Recent Publicity and its Correlation to a Possible Sequel/Revival/Reboot (+Eoin Macken's Pseudo Merlin Project)

'Ello. Fancied sharing my thoughts on recent developments regarding BBC's Merlin.

Fair, firm warning: I'm only sharing speculations and my personal opinions on the matter, and I do not advertise them as fact whatsoever. Consider them musings (or delusions, your choice). You can use this to further fuel your hope of the slim chance that this beloved show will see the light of day once again or maybe make theories of your own. Dispelling it is also an option, as I cannot assure my arguments would be free from flaws.

Right. Without further ado...

Revival of the Official Merlin Twitter Account

Let's put this into scenario.

Imagine a dated piece of media, previously well-known worldwide and had its own golden age for a time. This media launched the last of its contents over a decade ago, yet it gained a loyal, devoted following that persisted to grow and continued the legacy of the franchise over the years. Though there were highs and lows, the community remained alive for an impressive amount of time, steadily producing art, fiction, and creations dedicated to the media, despite not having anything new to work with. This devotion is acknowledged by those from an outsider's perspective, including the creators of this media (cast, staff, and distributors alike).

To put into context, the community was left unsatisfied with how the media ended, and many wished for the media to return. Articles were written, petitions were signed, comments left on the cast' social media accounts, and even questions were asked directly to them. Although different in wording, the inquired notion remained the same: Will there be a possibility of a sequel/revival/return/reboot? The answers range from a neutral, vague reply to a more resounding no.

This cycle persisted, but the people were immovable; they were visionaries and their dream lived on in their hearts. And this did not go unnoticed.

So it continued... until one of the media's social accounts made a sudden return. Out of nowhere, without a warning. They're back for good, the account announced. It sent the community into a frenzy. But if you took a step back from the excitement, you'd notice that it's strange. Why would a media ended over a decade ago suddenly be promoted again?

Now, I'm going to explore two possibilities; pragmatic and idealistic. The previous hypothetical scenario lays the general principal of Merlin's relevance (duh).

I'll make the pragmatic perspective brief. FremantleMedia saw the opportunity to make some bucks from Merlin because of the loyal fanbase, using a no-cost yet effective method to keep us tuned in; hoping. OMG, what does this mean? Does this mean they're going make a sequel?! Holy shit, they're teasing us, aren't they? I can't believe this is happening, it's a dream come true! And so on and so forth. Evidently, it works and numbers are growing. The official Merlin twitter account is racking up more followers and likes with each post. In this possibility, there's no such thing as a sequel/whatever it is the fanbase hopes for; just a reanimated corpse doing the same silly tap dance while we holler at it, dumbly hoping that they bust out new moves.

Now, the fun part. The idealistic version!

I'm going to use a real life example for my theory: the upcoming release of Dragon's Dogma 2. With a quick Google search, you can learn that Dragon's Dogma 2 is the highly awaited sequel for its well-liked predecessor, Dragon's Dogma.

For some time, Dragon's Dogma was on sale on Steam (with a decent cut too). This was done to gain the attention of...

1. those who haven't previously dived into the franchise. It's to make them think 'Wow! This game's so good. Oh, there's a sequel of it that's gonna be released soon? With even better graphics and gameplay? Sign me the fuck up!'. You liked Blueberry Cheesecake, so it'd make sense that you'd be more open to buying Double Blueberry Cheesecake, Premium Ingredients Addition, with 2 additional paid toppings.

2. Veterans and nostalgic fans. 'They're promoting the game I liked years ago... Oh, well, it won't hurt to play it again, just for the nostalgia. It never really left my mind anyway."

In other words: hype! hype! hype!

If using this principle, then the possibility of a sequel/revival/reboot/new content exists. It's either being processed (wishful thinking, not as likely) or being considered (more likely). If it's the latter, then they're testing the waters to see how much people still care/how much money they'll make. The more attention and hype it gets, the higher the likelihood.

Simplified:

P (old media pushed for publicity) -> Q (hype built)

Q (hype built) -> R (new content)

Eoin Macken's Pseudo Merlin Project

If I recall correctly, Eoin Macken first announced a pseudo Merlin project in late 2020. It's first teased to be released in 2021, but nothing came out of it so far (at the time of writing this) except if you count the small handful of times Macken hinted it over the ongoing four year period.

Now, I understand his position. First and foremost, he needs the legal rights to actually produce anything and it's no easy feat when you're dealing with a massive company. Then there's the issue of costumes, props, sets, and equipment. A lot to consider. To put it simply, he must offer the company something worth more than the show itself or contribute in their favor in some way. Macken seems like a charming and capable guy, so he can make it work. Probably.

I lean towards the spin-off theory because a cast reunion would not take four years. As far as I know, Macken is close with the knights and they could get together at any convenient time. If the project was a zoom call or a recorded get-together, it would've been released already. To compare, by using the average of 385,000 babies born each day during the last three years, we have 421,575,000 newborns before the Pseudo Merlin Project.

I want to tie this in with the previous theory, but eh. It can connect, but not really. I don't have any further explanation or evidence since Macken hasn't given any news.

---

Anyways. That's enough of this. I hope it made sense, at least it did to me. I'm entering my third year in the fandom, so I'm relatively new and still hopeful. (Though I try hard to keep my feet on the ground while I stare up at the clouds.)

To end this post, I'd like to say: keep hoping. Hope is such a stupidly beautiful thing, and it should be nurtured. Turn that feeling into art, into efforts.

There are franchises revived 2-3 decades after, and Merlin is no exception.

#bbc merlin #merlin #merlin meta #merlin emrys #eoin macken #bradley james #tom hopper #rupert young #tomiwa edun #merlin bbc #theories

[natsmagi]

sorry, i really don’t get you because you say you draw tsumugi with the body you do because she ‘seems like the type of girl who would have a good body (weird that you call that kind of ‘no fat but on the boobs sex doll body’ good but okay?) but covers it up’ and then don’t draw her covered up.

like you draw her in tiny skirts with her ass hanging out and shit constantly, in every one of your drawings is her body emphasised and on show and i just want to know what your fucking deal is? not only does it feel really mischaracterising for tsumugi, but it’s just really weird and gross. also you’ve literally never drawn a single fat character, all your characters are stick thin with different boob and hip sizes.

are we seriously doing this again. its ok to not like my art. its ok to not have it be to your tastes. its ok to disagree with my portrayals. it doesnt need to be much deeper than that

your rephrasing of my quotes is misleading though. ive re-emphasized the point more clearly before, but my points are based on societal standards and expectations, not my own personal preferences. big boobs small waist is the body type that gets ogled at the most, stereotypically speaking, so it makes it fun for her to have that body as her personality and the way she carries herself isnt whats commonly associated with it. with my depictions i try to take context into question. i dont just give the character a body or appearance that i like, i try to think how i can translate their character along with changing their figure (if at all). of course, i am not perfect, my stuff will not appeal to everyone and my takes might be disagreeable, and thats ok.

as for my tsumugi depiction; i dont know what you want me to say. tsumugi wears a button-up shirt with pants and a belt in canon. in my femstars version i simply change the pants into a pencil skirt. the belt is synched around the waist. its gonna make her waist look smaller than it is, as the belt is highlighting that area and creating contrast. this is a common way to dress and i honestly dont think i draw her in revealing clothes too often? like yea it happens. duh. and ive drawn some horny and suggestive art with her to add. but i do not think i go out of my way to flaunt her body or have her wear as little as humanly possible (which i dont even think would be an issue. an artist having fun is not the end of the world). i mainly do it when its, again, a suggestive drawing, or when its been for a joke. its not really meant to be anything deep sure, maybe she has her cleavage out every once in a while, but thats just. Her having boobs. i give natsume revealing clothes just as, if not more often than i do tsumugi, but people dont seem to care/notice as shes rather curveless. and idol clothes are separate from personal clothes that theyd casually wear because its what they enjoy, and its the idol clothes that tend to have that more "attractive" tinge to them her body isnt the focal point of my art very often either?? like if ur just staring at her boobs in every single one of my drawings atp thats on u

#if you dont like me and/or what i draw you honest to god do not need to be here #i wont be mad its ok #arguing further is just a waste of both of our times #i hope i made myself clear at least #as id like to put a rest to it #but again. youre free to block and ignore me if you dont like my stuff #focus on what you do like and send those artists some appreciation instead #ask

[bunnygirl678]

Back at it again with another Reguri AU that I don't have time to write. So steal it please! Seriously feel free to write, draw, or use it to distract your mind enough to fall asleep (is that a thing other people do or am I just freaking weird)

-Red and Green are on their honeymoon in alola (duh) and they are doing a fun little couples battle with some of the alolan pokemon they've caught

-one of the tapu's sees them and wants to fuck with them cause they're unhinged (my 5 year old has rewatched the sun/moon anime like 15 times and i still can't remember which one does what)

-sends green back into time (note this is gonna be like dragon ball z time travel where it just created a new timeline or whatever)

-he gets transported midbattle with little red, but like not the championship and most of his pokemon haven't evolved yet

-Big!green is just like awwww you guys were so cute, little!red immediately realizes that somehow Green aged like 12 years in a flash and is obv confused, green explains that he was on vacay with his Red and got sent here somehow, let's go to the lab and see if gramps can help

-they travel to the lab or whatever, and the prof is immediately like "My dead son!" cause my hc is that green looks identical to his dad, and big!green is like nah sorry gramps it's just me from the future

-and they all talk and little!red is like, you aren't an asshole, anymore? and big!green like apologizes for little!green, and is like it may not seem like it but i know he cares about you, because big!green knows that during their journey he realized he had feelings for red, but like didn't want them so he just started being an asshole

-at some point daisy sees the ring and is like "oh you got married?! Whos the lucky lady anyone we know yet?" and big!green kinda like does an awkward quick glance at little!red, and is trying to figure out how to not out his past self because this isn't his secret to tell

-the prof is like 'oh holy shit you and red figured things out' cause he observes and figured it out when green was like 7 or something, and little!red is like wtf and big!green is like yeah but not for a while and then he gives little!red some training just cause what else are they going to do, plus little!red is having a crisis, cause he thinks his version of green hates him

-then it like flips to big!red's perspective and little!green shows up freaking out shouting for his red cause they were just together, and he see's big!red who is swole af and doesn't look that much like his red so he thinks his red has been kidnapped or something, and little!green goes absolutely feral, cause remember he has feelings for his red

-he's like i'll kill you, did you hurt him, where's red, and big!red is like this is the most adorable thing I've ever seen, and like big!green at one point had told him that he had feelings for Red when they were small but Red didn't really believe it until that moment, and also he's like hmmm green and i should adopt cause he's like high on honeymoon and little!green is such a cutie

-Big!Red is like i'm red, it's fine, little!green doesn't believe it until big!red brings up something that like only he would remember like they caught a caterpie together or something idk

-big!red goes and buys little!green some food and they kinda talk and little!green can't stop staring cause wow big!red looks so different, then he sees the wedding ring and is like devastated, and is trying not to cry or whatever and big!red is like able to read him like a book cause it's green even though it's little!green it's still green, and he like pulls out his phone and it's a photo from their wedding and little!green like short circuts cause he didn't even realize that was an option

-somehow they get to switch back and the other timeline red/green work out their issues quickly both with knowledge of the future and they start dating at like 14, cause 11 year olds don't date, and red never goes up the mountain except for the occasional week of training and green always goes with him and it's never angsty like the other timeline

-the alolan honeymooners are just glad to be together again and they finish their time in alola and red's like let's adopt and green's like whatever makes you happy

#namelessshipping #originalshipping #reguri #red x green #i really like the idea of this i just don't have the time and too many open fics i'm working on #maybe it'll get added but whatevs #sorry if it isn't concise #it feels a little all over the place

[turnstechgodhead]

i mentioned on stream tht i would make a shimeji-ee tutorial + how to revive old shimejis this way

so here

FIRST off red text is for things that im just showing you for clarity

it's not complicated, this is just long so i can get all the explaining out of my brain- feel free to ignore red text

anyway; go here and download this

got that? extracted it? great

it should look like this

[folder] conf [folder] img [folder] lib [text doc] licence [sic] [text doc] readme [jar file] shimeji-ee

what you're going to do depends on the kind of shimeji you downloaded

if its designed specifically for this version (ie: mine, which, hello to the future bc they arent out yet as of writing this)

then you SHOULD just have a file tht looks like this

[folder] a!dave

and on the inside looks like this

[folder] conf [14 pngs of post-scratch dave; though there will/should be more than this in the folder (i have blacked out some unused anims)]

if the folder called conf isn't inside this folder [a!dave], then read the next section about other shimeji

[xml] actions [xml] behaviors

the inside of the conf folder should look like this

what you're gonna do is get the character folder [a!dave]

and drag/move it into the IMG folder of shimeji-ee

[folder] conf [folder] img [folder] lib [text doc] licence [sic] [text doc] readme [jar file] shimeji-ee

it should look kind of like this inside the [img] folder

[folder] a!dave [folder] shimeji [folder] unused [png] icon

it should just work as is, but if it isn't, undo this back to the first step/the way things were when you downloaded it, and follow the steps below (if the shimeji you want isn't showing up and only the white oval guy is, just hang tight/scroll to the bottom.)

if the shimeji is old/different/for the browser version/whatever

now, for older shimeji/other shimeji, i'll use davechick as an example. the shimeji is 11-ish years old, and only is in japanese. this shimeji is from askdavechick (an old hs blog thas not active anymore)

so he is downloaded as a RAR file

this isn't a problem, go get 7zip if you dont already have a way of extracting .rar files.

right click on it duh

just do that [dropdown menu] [open] [7-zip] > [open archive] [open archive] [extract files...] [extract here] [extract to "rar-file name\"]

any of the extract options will do

extract

go into that new folder

[folder] Shimeji_davechick

this looks a little different

[folder] conf [folder] img [folder] lib [application] shimeji [jar file] shimeji [text doc] ライセンス

its fine. just ignore literally everything except for the first two folders, [conf] and [img]

inside the img folder it should look like this

[png] icon [35 pngs of davechick from askdavechick. though there will/should be more than this in the folder]

(the conf is missing, which is not what we want. if theres a conf in there, then cool. just install it like the previous section.)

go back here

[folder] conf [folder] img [folder] lib [application] shimeji [jar file] shimeji [text doc] ライセンス

youre gonna take the conf folder as is- no fucking with it or taking anything out, and drag it into the [img] folder right below it

now the img folder inside looks like this

[folder] conf [png] icon [16 pngs of davechick]

great, awesome. back out

now you have to rename the img folder

you can name it whatever i guess but its probably easier if you name it the character

[folder] img [RE-NAME] -> [folder] davesprite [folder] lib [app] shimeji [jar file] shimeji [text doc] ライセンス

when you have that, take the newly named [davesprite] folder, copy it or cut it or drag it

then you go back to shimeji-ee like the first section

and paste it into [img]

then it should work

if the shimeji you want isnt showing up and only the lil oval guy is

no problem, go down to your taskbar.

right click on [shimeji-ee]

cool dropdown menu- this is all pretty useful and i recommend checking out the settings and allowed behaviours if your computer sucks/ you dont want them to yeet your windows

but we want

[choose shimeji]

it'll open up this

select your guys

congrats they should be working

feel free to message me if you have questions about installing- i found these out through trial + error so i can trial and error porting over some browser shims i guess

#mumbling #brogatory au #shimeji #shimeji-ee #shimejiee #bro shims

[sweetestofheartz]

TW: MENTIONS OF SA, CSA, etc

So I have to rant about this to anyone because it's extremely concerning with how much I see it in this fandom and I'm extremely worried about some people's perception of different creepypasta characters. So be warned there is mentions of SA and Rape under the cut.

Me when I see someone headcanon Jeff as a rapist and they say "this is the ACCURATE version of Jeff" SHUT THE FUCK UPPPPP‼️‼️‼️

I can guarantee you that Jeff would not be a child rapist and I'm not gonna get into how weird Tumblr is and how a lot of y'all are WAAYY too comfortable writing rape fiction but I hate how out of character ppl make him just because he's a killer.

Are killers bad people? DUH‼️ Are all killers rapists? NO‼️

And before I get any ppl saying "Jeff isn't a good person!!! Stop acting like he's a lil softie!!" I'M NOT‼️ I just don't see how it is okay for someone to sit there and say with full confidence that Jeff would be a rapist.

Jeff is canonically a 13 year old murderer with mental illness from being bullied and mutilated by his bullies. Stop acting like he's literally the devil on earth.

#i hate this fandom sm some times I've honestly wanted to leave it for a while but so many people are amazing creators and it's always had a #grip on me since i was super little so i phycology cannot leave this fandom forever but i hate people soemtimes #creepypasta #hot take #jeffery woods #jeff the killer

[panthera-tigris-venenata]

A casual dinner at the Hooks

This is the version in which their mother is a siren. And, yeah, no. She doesn't get a name.

They adopted Claudine Frollo. That's just a thing that happens.

And so, the dinner features:

One siren. Why, yes, also few murder attempts of hers.

Captain James Hook, completely oblivious to his wife's murderous intentions.

Three disastrous Hook siblings. But hey, they are having fun.

Claudine Frollo. She is not having fun.

Uma. She is there for the drama – and absolutely not because she loves Harry, duh, – and was tasked with retelling the whole affair to her mother later.

Oh, and Sammy Smee. They are gonna start stabbing soon.

The dinner notably does not include:

Anthony Tremaine. He waved away the invite, citing that „I'd like to live, but thank you for inviting me.“ This causes Harriet's mood to drop noticeably and she looks like she'd like to kill her dinner a second time. Claudine refuses to sit next to her.

Freddie Facilier. She, too, has a mostly functional survival instinct. CJ pouts right up until the first murder attempt distracts her.

The dinner starts about forty minutes late, when Sammy finally tracks down CJ, who was hiding at the roof of the Dragon Hall and carving her (and Freddie's) initials into it.

They are having fish.

The only fish that could be plausibly described as „cooked“ are James's and Claudine's.

Yes, Mr Smee still takes it as a personal insult.

Yes, James's fish contains few strategically placed bones, wires and fish hooks. The siren is getting desperate.

In reaction to this, James offers to cook the next meal himself, as Mr Smee clearly isn't up to it and she could use the time off anyway.

Claudine almost refuses to eat the meal when she learns it has pepper in it. Her father apparently though that seasonings is devil's invention meant to tempt people to the sin and gluttony. She promptly reminded that „Your father is a fucking cultist,“ by five people in perfect unison.

James says that while this is true, there is no reason to be so crude. This starts a chain of curses that cause Claudine to cover her ears and blush dark red.

„Claudine, no, don't drink that, please. That's for James.“ „... Okay?“

(The drink is poisoned.)

(The poison is negated by another poison in a desert CJ nicked for him from the Evil Queen so he wouldn't pay too much attention to the letter that scolds her for blowing up the lab at her school again. She should have been more concerned about Harriet finding out. Which she does in the middle of the meal. It's not pretty.)

Harry pretends to be a gentleman and pours drinks for Uma and serves her the food. James nods approvingly, CJ fakes retching, and everyone else finds it funny.

Uma tries to persuade Claudine to make crepes after dinner. This doesn't work only because Claudine's social battery is running low.

Harry offers to a) make it himself or b) make someone else do it.

This leads to another Hook siblings shouting match.

At this point, Claudine has pretty much lost it and attempts to stab CJ in the neck. The sirens smiles, says „Good job, sweetie!“ and promptly attempts to stab James. The fork catches on his coat and he doesn't even notice.

Poor Sammy Smee might or might not be doing shots at this point.

CJ wants to improve her fencing skills, and none of her siblings is amused. Harry because he wants to talk to Uma and Harriet, well, Harriet because fencing and fighting with knives are two different things. (They do end up fighting. If their meal ever was hot, it would grow cold before they got back to it.)

James attempts to entertain his family by reading some of Shakespeare's dramas out loud. It doesn't really work.

Claudine thinks that Shakespeare is in a pact with the devil.

CJ thinks it's funny, but she is also done listening to Shakespeare. She starts singing some pirate ditty or another and everyone but Claudine joins in.

#disney descendants #cj hook #harriet hook #harry hook #uma descendants #hook siblings #claudine frollo #siren hooks au

[raylangivins]

still working through my backlog of tags. thank you @acorrespondence for tagging me in things :)

1. comfort character tag game

not to show my age but i don’t know wtf the kids mean by comfort character. i just listed some all time faves because it brings me comfort to think of how fucked up they are :)

raylan givens (justified), duh

brian o’conner (fast and furious movies)

addy hanlon (dare me--book version moreso than tv version)

betty cooper (riverdale)

pacey witter (dawson’s creek--the only one here who i think could be described as a comfort character for the reasons i assume people made up the term)

2. ao3 first lines tagline

Rules: Share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written fewer than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway (spoiler alert: rules are made to be broken…)

look. i’ve been exclusively writing beatles rpf for the last year, so we’re all gonna have to either acknowledge it or Pretend You Do Not See, alright.

1. “What’s got you all quiet?” Robert asks him in the bathroom.

Paul realises he’d zoned out, staring blankly at Robert, bent over the sink, snorting a line.

2. John takes a long inhale of smoke as he watches Paul talking to one of the camera guys outside. His breath fogs up the bus window a bit, the evening air causing a cloud of condensation to spread, blurring Paul and the camera guy to nothing. When it shrinks back to dribbles of moisture, Paul’s hands are moving—explaining a shot, or a scene, or a fucking dream he had that he’d like this poor sod to turn into reality.

3. Paul can't pinpoint exactly where his night deteriorated, but it was probably somewhere after Brian left The Cavern for the evening, and Neil had driven away with all their gear, and John—realising that they'd lost the closest thing they had to adult supervision—loftily announced that he was getting married tomorrow and so everyone should buy him pints about it.

4. John doesn't notice him at first, engaged in answering a question for the crowd of journalists in front of him. Paul's half-hidden among the shelves anyway, peeking over to get a good look at John in his element.

5. John's not sure how they get onto the topic. They're in the canteen—just the two of them for the moment—talking in circles around each other, under the guise of talking about George, edging towards an argument but never really landing there. Just half-chastising, and half-imploring each other to be different people entirely without really saying it. And then, suddenly, they're talking about it.

6. "Here," John hisses at Paul and yanks him unceremoniously into a utility closet, letting Paul slam the door shut behind them.

7. Paul shows up late to their show. He makes it to the Jacaranda by the skin of his teeth, just as some fragile, spiteful thing in John is gearing up to lash out at anyone who'll listen that they don't need the bastard anyway. It's unlike Paul to be late, which makes it annoying enough, considering how much he'd whine about it if it were any of the rest of them, but then he has the gall to say it's because he was doing something for his dad.

8. After the Bob Wooler incident—the first but not last time Jane questions Paul’s association with the likes of John Lennon—Paul tells her: “He can be quite lovely when you get to know him.”

9. Paul feels lazy and warm as he sucks in another drag of the spliff John rolled them. He closes his eyes as he exhales. It only serves to heighten his sluggish senses. He could fall asleep like this, lost in the sensations of his lovely geodesic dome. He can feel every thread of the rug they're lying on; can hear Martha's soft snores from where she sleeps, her head pillowed on John's ankle. The sprinkling of sunlight leaking in through the leaves of the trees, outside, creates some sort of greenhouse effect—the air around them muggy and mellow. Paul could float away, if not for the grounding warmth of John's arm, pressed next to his. The true north, reminding him where his body is.

10. "You're like Julian with a new bloody toy," John says to him from somewhere on the couch.

Paul doesn't know why he's complaining. He's the one who asked about it, after Paul mentioned the new camera.

tagging for either one: @wurmzirkus, @tulakhord, @tallahasseemp3, @softbrah, @itookyoudown, @magog83, @jeanharlowseyebrows, @indiekidsupremacist

#i almost listed clarke griffin for characters but i have not yet fully healed from the crimes the 100 inflicted upon me #it's okay i found another crazy little blonde :) #also i may have puffed up my lines a bit. i realised doing this i'm kinda meh at openers lol #second paragraphs are where i really shine #tagged tag

[muttfangs]

vent 👍

being autistic is really like. double edged for me in so many different facets and ways. primarily in social circles. I'm an incredibly outspoken, confident, and passionate person in partial thanks to my autism. but like. in western culture this is BAD. rocking the boat is BAD. being loud is BAD. having actual opinions is BAD. being anything other than complacent and nice is BAD. something I've been discussing with my therapist recently is how like.............. i feel as though when I speak to people I'm speaking an entirely different language altogether. I feel like when I attempt to convey something it's almost always interpreted as the worst faith version of what I could have conveyed to the person hearing me speak. and I *don't* want to make myself more digestible or smaller or defang myself because ppl willfully assume the worst of my passions when I speak about them. which is primarily like, leftist politics. last night I got in a fight with a """"moderator"""" on my wow guild's discord because I aired frustrations in the disc's vent channel about how dehumanizing it feels when cis people scoff and act disgusted with me at work when I ask them the "gender identity and pronouns" sections that I ask... literally every patient. and her & her husands response was "well not all cis people are like that" "blanket statements are bad" and people agreed with them, saying shit like "some people make it really hard to be their ally" (AS IF ALLYSHIP IS SOMETHING CISHET PPL WANT TO REVOKE FROM US FOR BEING "BAD" TRANNYFAGS LMFAOOOO I HOPE YOU GET HIT BY A CAR) ??????? it makes me want to fucking go feral and SCREAM. y'all are disgusting and incredibly insensitive. you're CHOOSING to prioritize your fucking hurt feelings over someone expressing grief over systemic oppression every day FROM CIS PEOPLE :) obviously DUH NO FUCKING SHIT I don't mean every cis person on earth. stupid fucking selfish cunts. you do realize you're making the argument in favor of cis people far worse, right? you realize you're making yourselves look like selfish, callous pricks, yes? because you are! it makes me feel fucking legitimately gaslit like this is actually *me* being an unlikable person when I know it isn't. because when I've had a spine about how I feel about my lived experiences as a trans person before (or my politics in general), I've been met with similar animosity from MMO communities that I was a part of claiming i'm "being disruptive" or "causing drama". it's always centralized around cis people's hurt fucking feelings rather than expressing solidarity with someone who feels FUCKING DEHUMANIZED every day. it makes me feel fucking insane. and this is NOT a matter of compromise. I'm not gonna fucking pat a cis person's tears dry after I say "cis people treat my communities like shit" and they scream back "BUH BUH NOT ALL CIS PEOPLE :(" you ARE one of those cis people if your reaction is to respond that way. and you're actively making the world a worse place to exist in. this type of shit makes me NEVER want to engage in online spaces from MMORPGs ever again. it makes me feel incredibly unwelcome. fuck y'all. grow a spine.

#barking into the void #I want to smash my head against a brick wall until I die. thanks!

[hannibalismos-jaaneman]

rec three books you want everyone to read

okay so this has changed so much since last year i realised i was reading the worst books ever written like wtf-

so the first one would be- no longer human by osamu dazai which i read in the original japanese- hear me out i don't know japanese AT ALL.

when i read the book in english, i found it a lot like- i don't know the words didn't seem to have a voice but i was absolutely obsessed with the story, so i did the most sensible thing there was to do- i picked up a japanese dictionary and went through it seven times and found that i had picked up a lot of words (i personally think that was all of the dictionary it was the best one there was online) and then i sat with it to read the book again and my mind- WAS BLOWN. there is just some fucking thing about japanese writers i always knew that but i never did know that their works in japanese are the ones that truly matter. it was beautiful istg i would've slit my own throat to have read the japanese version first.

second i'd say would be the bell jar by sylvia plath

there's so much- so many words- like- cannot explain- just read. okay i might say a few things tho i'm not gonna recommend anything without a story. so i love this woman? like more than anything? as much as i love my mom? i want to ressurect her and keep her in my closet? like- wtf- this book killed my mind after i finished reading it. and i have only been reading books for their brilliant writing and nothing else and this book is a fucking triumph yes just the way i like to say about oscar wilde- if this was the only damn book she ever wrote it was worth it. like- i'm obviously obsessed with sylvia y'all know that but this book builds you up till it ends and tears you apart to birth this new person with a different perspective towards life like istg the only way to describe this book is that after reading it you'll start loving your mother, whatever that fucks up in your relationship with her is purely on you.

the third one- hmm- lmao ofc it's another japanese author like duh- remains of the day by kazuo ishiguro

and believe me ismail, jim and ruth (she's the only person EVER to have won both the booker and the oscar what a fucking queen) did this book justice just the way they always did. like- istg i have never hated anything they've adapted like wtf the consistency is off the fucking charts- room with a view, howard's end, the householder just nothing short of fucking brilliant.

anyways the book is so- japanese ofc it is but it was ishiguro was brought up in britain so you'd expect something different yeah the characters are of the stick-in-the-mud-british variety but they also have this uncanny japanese mannerism (not exactly as in the way they sit or greet ofc not but like- idk i've been told i have japanese mannerism but like- i'm nowhere close to being a japanese person myself so yeah) and it's really just- a kiss to the soul it's so calming and it makes you lowkey hate the british a little which ideally- um well, i am from a colonized country so *ehm* excuse me (if you've watched the crown that is, otherwise this will be you hitching your wagon to the wtf britain club). but like it's so- nice. i can't really- describe it. it's more about the story itself and less about how it's written but both are equally *chef's kiss*.

#raya <3 #mutuals asks #my asks #asks #book recs #books #literati #film

[simptasia]

I know you ship them (I think), and I've filled your inbox with them but I'd love to hear your thoughts on Desmond x Charlie. I know that's kind of vague, but anything really any hcs and you know porn hcs, your perfect dynamic for them

i love charlie/desmond but my brain trips over it a bit, because as much as possible in The Version Of LOST In My Head, i do try to have it work with canon. like not contradict anything

as such, charlie/des is a lovely thought aesthetically, emotionally, sexually... however i know it could've never happened on island because des would never ever ever cheat on penny

same applies to charlie/des/claire

i think these dynamics absolutely would work and would be lovely but des has utter loyalty to penny. yes, i'm all about that poly shipping but penny isn't There to tell des "yes, fuck the little manc and that aussie girl too, i'm cool with it"

so for charlie/des to work, and i mean Work, it's gotta be a post-island charlie lives au thing. which is great! (one even adds penny in that situation) but i do also like the idea of charlie/des on the island. it's appealing to look at. that and it's enjoyable to add in desmond's season 3 Haunted By Tragic Visions thing

another possibility is for charlie to manage charming des into it... but that seems disrespectful. charlie is pro des/penny. but charlie also is far from perfect. i'm overthinking all of this, as is my way

i do try to keep everything as in character as possible

there is a line of thought i toy with where des could be convinced to think, ya know, penny wouldn't mind if you moved on, des. she's probably moved on. like, des is insecure and severely touch starved, that could work

i'm not one of those "grrr girl is getting in the way of my slash ship!" kinda people, i promise. i'm just rolling thoughts in my fingers here

following this line of thought, des/charlie would have to start off at least a little angsty. two sad people reaching out for each other and pushing bad thoughts away with carnal pleasure

whatever happens, des did Not start this jfskjhfs. no matter what i do with this ship, either taking it Canon Compliant Seriously or just flippant Fucky Sexy Fun Times, charlie is the instigator

anyways putting all that aside, here are some charlie/des thoughts

an idea i love and i wanna see in fanfic is des finding out he's gonna be with charlie, because of a vision. it's kinda funny (that the universe would care) and it could be a way, a weird fucked up way, to get them together despite the issues i mentioned earlier. i think it'd be a good jumping off point for like angst and pining

that thing i've said, "the only way to shut charlie up in bed is to keep his mouth occupied", that started because of charlie/des. i imagined them making out, hands all over each other, and charlie Will Not Shut Up, i imagine he's super talkative in bed. people who care little about charlie have been pissed off by it. and like, des is into charlie but its actually getting annoying. des doesn't tell charlie to shut up but he does lead the situation to charlie blowing him, and my brain narrator supplies the quote, pretty much

catholic4catholic. this is honestly one of my favourite aspects about this dynamic, the fact that they're both Very catholic. not enough to be losers about it, duh, but enough to have some hang ups. especially charlie

height difference. despite it only being a 3 inch difference, the different in face shapes, body types, body languages and attitudes makes it feel like des is like a clear foot bigger than charlie. des could also overpower charlie very easily if he wanted to. in a sexy way, not a violence way. (tho, sexy violence?) charlie would fold like lawn furniture under des. (honestly the size difference thing is also a major reason i started shipping jack/charlie and sawyer/charlie too. sometimes something just fucking looks good)

"des: i've never been with a man before" "charlie, has a pussy: it's alright, i have a feeling you'll know what to do". jokes aside, normally charlie is way more afraid of guys finding out (because of. violence) but he doesn't get that vibe off des, so he's strangely giddy at having a surprise for him?? like, ta-da, Extra Hole. this is a thing i've decided for charlie, where he almost never tells people he's trans before intimacy. pretty much because he's impulsive and thinks with his blood well before his brain. so, obviously, des is surprised. who wouldn't be at least surprised

i was thinking about what their dynamic would be like. basically take what's presented in the show, add sex of course. but also i suppose they'd just be closer, like be affectionate. in little ways, like des putting his hand on the small of charlie's back, charlie fiddling with one of des' shirt buttons, either one of them pushing a stray bit of hair out of the other's faces. liberal use of the pet name "love". and that thing in des/charlie fanfic where charlie calls des "dessie" a lot? love that, absolutely for that. they're not doing full on PDA on the beach because 2004 was a nightmare but there's a noticeable closeness and warmth ("jack, a month late: are they gay...?" "kate: jack, you're gay")

as for social dynamics? let's lookit the characters here and see what'd factor into a relationship. they're both very protective people with an aching desire to Take Care of a loved one. they'd both have varying levels of catholic guilt (yummy). and they're both deeply insecure in a "i'm not good enough for anybody ever". so we got a couple of very loyal boys full of powder kegs of angst waiting to blow up at any moment. on a lighter note, these two would have arguments over who pays for dinner at restaurants. they both grew up poor and this manifests in them not liking to rely on other people. I'll Take Care Of You. No, I'll Take Care Of You (boys, boys please... you have a sugar mama who is rolling her eyes). but yeah they have a decent amount in common while still being very different people, so it's interesting to think about that

des doesn't like charlie's music. he will never like charlie's music. it's best not to discuss it as criticism feels like a stab wound to charlie

charlie: [wearing a plaid miniskirt] how do i look?

des: gorgeous, brutha, but that still isn't a kilt

charlie: [big faux-innocent eyes] it isn't? but im wearing it in the... traditional way

des: wh- [realises what charlie means] [404 error, Desmond Hume.exe is not responding]

charlie: you can check me for authenticity if you like, brutha

yes, boys, make your ancestors scream out in horror

#forgive the severe lateness of my reply #charlie being a sexy little thing in a plaid miniskirt (punk rock!) has haunted me for years <3 #i feel like i have more to say in my head about these two but i can never access it all at once #besides that i have errands to run today so i gotta wrap this up #its fine - i wrote a lot! #lost headcanons

[oliviaischillin1204]

church business

Pairing: Romantic Kelvin/Keefe

Word Count: 850 words

i never say this on fics of mine but since this has a chance of winding up in the main tags for such a big fandom: please read the tags, don't like, don't read. thank you!

~

It was official church business. Honest.

Or, at least, that's how it had started.

It had started with Kelvin working on a new lesson plan for youth group, with Keefe behind his shoulder chiming in with ideas as he followed his mid-morning yoga routine (which Kelvin respected the fuck out of him for, because most people underestimate the importance of keeping your body limber as you grow older, but not Keefe; and seeing as Keefe was back by Kelvin's side as assistant youth leader, he'd definitely need to be in shape for all of the gymnastics field trips and fire sword displays he'd be doing for the kids).

It had started with Kelvin suggesting a lesson on self-defense, both to help the children feel in control of their own bodies while also tying in a perfect metaphor about how learning to fight a kidnapper is the same as protecting your soul for Jesus. Or something. He'd figure out the exact wording later.

It had started with Keefe suggesting that he and Kelvin practice some moves together that they could teach the kids.

It had started with tussling on the mat. With gripping each other's arms, then shoulders, then waists. With grunts of exertion barely hiding mischievous giggles as they wrestled together like little kids. With Kelvin pinning Keefe to the ground, both of them pretending that it wasn't because Keefe would always let Kelvin win.

That's how it had started.

None of that mattered now, though, because now Kelvin was tickling Keefe so hard that all the other man could do was squeal and writhe underneath Kelvin's weight on his lap.

"Can't hear you, dude!" Kelvin cooed. His hands were locked onto Keefe's upper ribs, his thumbs pressed right in that sweet little spot just beneath each of Keefe's pecs. Oh, he'd always poked and prodded at that spot, knowing it would make Keefe smile and snicker and bat his hands away every time; but now was different, and now he knew he could get away with buzzing his fingers into that tickle spot over and over and over again. "Whatcha wanna say? Huh? You wanna say something?"

"B- brohohother Kel-!" Keefe couldn't get the words out. His legs kicked uselessly behind Kelvin's back, and though he'd gained quite a bit of muscle since joining Kelvin's ranks, he couldn't muster the strength to push Kelvin away from tickling him.

"Man, if only you'd just call me Kelvin, like I've freaking asked you a million times," Kelvin continued, "maybe it'd be easier to beg for mercy, huh? Yeah? You gonna say mercy, Keefe?"

Keefe shook his head. His blonde hair flew everywhere, sweat making some strands stick to his flushed cheeks. "I'm- ticklihish there, brother-!"

"Yeah, no duh, that's why I'm tickling you!" Jeez, Keefe was stupidly bad at fighting back. His hands were pressed against his face, like some joyful version of The Scream, and all his twitching and squirming and kicking his legs wasn't even enough to throw Kelvin off.

A particularly devious pinch had him throwing his back, nearly knocking his skull on the floor as he squealed and shrieked.

"Feels- good," he gasped.

Kelvin wasn't expecting the laugh that bubbled out of him in response. "Feels good? This feels good? Getting tickled feels good?"

Keefe nodded, eyes closed in rapturous joy as he let himself laugh and laugh. Kelvin had never heard him be this loud before- this free before. In the back of his mind, he wondered if this was anything at all like the sado-mashocistic underworld Keefe had lived in before Kelvin had saved him, but then Keefe snorted, and all thoughts promptly left Kelvin's head as he resolved to make him make that noise again immediately.

He didn't know when exactly he finally let up the tickle torture. All he knew was he eventually found himself trailing his hands up and down Keefe's chest as he partner took in deep, grateful breaths. The frantic beating of Keefe's heart thrummed through Kelvin's hands, electric and alive.

"You good?" he asked softly. Keefe smiled up at the ceiling, every line in his body relaxed and soft.

"I am beguiled," he said in his normal whisper-speak. "You are a wonder, Kelvin Gemstone."

"Pssh, come on," Kelvin said with false modesty. He waved his hand in the air. "Wasn't nothing special. I'm just happy I could make you feel good."

Keefe nodded. "Yes." A beat.

Then Keefe was thrusting his body to the side, sending Kelvin tumbling onto the mat with a shocked shriek. In an instant the positions were reversed, with Keefe atop of Kelvin's waist, and Kelvin was very suddenly reminded of how much Keefe had been training in Kelvin's home gym since he'd come to live with the Gemstones.

"Perhaps I can return the favor," he murmured, eyes glinting in a very un-Keefe-like manner. It made Kelvin panicked and nervous and sent so many butterflies to his tummy that it made him stupid.

Stupid enough to open his mouth and say, "Yes, please."

And honestly? Everything that followed after that wasn't very church-like at all.

#trg tickling #the righteous gemstones tickling #my posts #my writing #tickling #tickle fic #tickle community #minific #listen kelvin's poked keefe there so many times in the show. ofc im gonna make a tfic out of it #drafted on august 27 2023 #lee!keefe #ler!kelvin

[corvinearcher]

So, I feel like since my art is already inconsistent, the way i draw and type about my headcannons is madddd confusing. Like, I know I don't draw ANY of them correctly. Or draw good in general lmao. But I just wanna share some of my headcannons or whatever idk I can't draw I'm on a road trip this is as good of a post you're gonna get.

So the Makaras, they're tall. Like okay I think all of the fuscias are tall as shit. I mean look at mommy- I mean Condescension, she's tall as FUCK. So I think that's just a grand blood thing. Like grandhighblood. He's obviously fucking HUGE. Tall, buff, all that horrifying shit that can murdle someone EASILY. So I mean, Kurloz imo is tall and lanky. But obviously we all see wtf he becomes so I mean, yeah. But gamzee, tall and scrawny as shit. He's got mental issues man, he probably forgets to eat for days on end. Dude eats slime for breakfast lunch and dinner, that ain't gonna do much. But yeah all the makaras and fuscias are tall as shit imo.

Colors. The whole nails and eyes being some derivative of yellow seems weird to me. Like I know they're aliens and shit but it just seems out of place. I think they all have tint of their blood color for their skin. Their nails are like either lighter or darker version of their blood color too, and their eyes are tinted the same way because ours do the same thing. I'm thinking about logical anatomy here you guys. And also the base of their horns, I put their blood color caus it's legit coming outta their head. THEY CAN FEEL THEIR HORNS THERE'S BLOOD IN THERE RIGHT? OR SOMETHING? IDK. But also, for those thinking "Karkat wouldn't survive if his skin was tinted" I don't understand that first part, but since his color is so close to rush bloods, one glance and you can't tell the difference. I headcannons it as Slsome trolls are darker shades, some lighter, some less tinted some more. That's why gamzees so dark compared to like, idk sollux. Lighter colors darker colors, y'all get it.

Also I'm gonna use this post to say, I don't portray the characters very well, and I'm sorry about that. I have specific and strong headcannons, and I don't know them all very well. I don't know how everyone sees and accepts people's versions of each character. I read this shit once. I'm going to read homestuck again (duh) but this is all off of information from one read. I also have ADHD I did NOT pay attention. Apologies for that, thanks for understanding.

Okay next one, I draw all of them veryyyy differently than the original. Like, I draw equius older than the original. Actually that's everybody. Nobody is 13 when i draw them unless it's specific. Take like, my sketches of Aradia and Sollux. They're look an assignment older because they are. So like with equius, i draw him with long hair, a lot taller, buffer, and overall change the personality if he got more comfortable with th people around him and how the world changes. That's why he talks so slack usually. I like to think he grows from his whole hemospectrum "I gotta live up to this" shit and learns to just live. Oh also I chang th outfits because I like to add more personality. The originals don't have much detail and it's fun to add them. Like nepetas outfit, crop tops an sweatpants cause that kitty be WORKIN. But yeah none of my interpretations of them are good nor correct. It's just how I see them, sorry if ya don't like em.

I forget the horns 99% of the time. I have no excuse I genuinely have no object permanence. I forget gloves, horns, nails, teeth, colors, clothing LITERALLY EVERYTHING. I'M JUST STUPID OKAY I FORGET A LOTTA SHIT. I usually run all my shit by my friend first before posting because I keep forgetting shit. It's a genuine problem. Hopefully it'll be fixed after drawing all of them for a while but, I just don't know.

(Before this paragraph, when I say "kin" I mean like I relate to and feel a lot alike a character. Okay kool)

The funniest thing is, I kin dave more than I do equius, but I drew him ONCE and never posted it. I was reading as dave the entire few weeks of the first read and I was like "damn these cats are kookin that's literally me I'm fucking dave." and like, love him, simp for him, he's fucking amazing. But I just find it so funny that I only post troll shit and never any human shit. I love Janey and Dave and John and shit but I never say anything about them lmao. I mean my blog name is CorvineArcher. Color of crows (Dave) Archer, we already know XD.

Gamzee is a hardcore stoner and nepeta joins him.

D -- > Nepeta, please, this is getting out of hand.

:33 < Stop being a fucking LOSER EQUIHISS JOIN US.

D -- > You're turning into foul creatures.

dAmN rIgHt MoThErFuCkEr :o)

Anyway another headcannon is like, all this shit took place in early 2000s,so that's how I make the style. Vriska has emo fringe hair I don't make the rules. There's an asston of jeans and converse and overall AMAZING fashion. Anyone who disagrees is a fucking loser who probably thinks shein is the only place to shop.

Alright I think that's it. If not I'll just make another post lol. In conclusion, my art is shit and I love fictional men. Thanks for hearing me out. Haha.

Thnks, mngmnt.

#homestuck #homestuck headcanons

[retphienix]

Well ho buddy was this a fantastic turn of events, and I ain't exaggerating- this was tense, interesting, surprising, played into some foreshadowing (both that I picked up on, and didn't), and depending on your read on humanity as a whole it's either extremely depressing or hope filled (I'm an optimist).

First off, we fought the Holy Grail. This accomplished nothing as every turn it was healed by the wishes of the masses.

Cool cool.

Losing caused Mementos and the real world to merge which was a sick sight and even gave us some views of our confidants seeing this horror while the masses don't- Very cool.

Not so cool (who am I kidding, EXCEEDINGLY cool) was the intense as hell death scene for our party.

Uh. Yeah.

The sheer horror in many of these line reads and just, the whole truth of this event. I could rant on it's impact for ages but I'd just be going in circles with how bone chilling some of the cries were. The tl;dr is simply that with Mementos and the real world merged, our existence is based on the cognition of the masses- and since they have been conditioned to stop believing we ever existed, we simply cease.

I definitely was gonna make a joke only I laugh at of seeing the worst shit ever happen and saying "Yay! Good end achieved!" but this was honestly just chillin' and good stuff.

To follow were some reveals that cover the spectrum of "Well DUH" to "Huh, I was close" to "Oh! Didn't see it being that!" all while being foreshadowed in some way from top to bottom which is always a good reveal in my book.

The twins weren't always 2, which I guessed far in advance, and had spoiled far after I guessed it by some guide saying the outings you can do will allow you to meet the fused version (or something).

Cool!

Fused em back together.

Cool!

Igor.... WASN'T Igor.

That's a surprise for me since I haven't touched the series before- maybe it wasn't for others- I'm of the impression he exists in some prior game and that would hint at this, not sure.

The Igor who has guided us all game was actually the Grail itself. Apparently the god that it is made a bet with Igor over humanity's fate and cheated the bet to boot; Instead of allowing Igor to guide us to open humanity's eyes- to promote individuality and dissuade humanity's downward spiral of abusing content-ment in ways to harm the majority to benefit the few etc etc- the Grail instead used this position to take the best hope for humanity (us) and doom us to despair by raising us high and dropping us low.

He offers us a bad end option, I have no idea if that's real or not, I chose the fight on option because I might not know if I can even really attain that but I sure as hell ain't giving up at any point.

Also real Igor doesn't sound like fake Igor- THAT blew my mind and fucked me up.

Fake Igor and the Grail had the same voice (with different effects) so I guessed it was Igor, obviously, but then the rest of the reveal was a surprise and real Igor sounding so different was just wild lol.

#Persona #Persona 5 #P5 #P5R #Persona 5 Royal #RetPlays

[thegamingcatmom]

Lady D is gonna be in the Rose DLC and here is why - WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Okay so, I can´t be the only one to have noticed this. Or maybe yall already been there and done that and are like “duh”.

Either way, as I was watching the gameplay trailer for the Shadows of Rose dlc (which looks absolutely DOPE btw, October can´t come fast enough) there was one detail I immediately picked up on and was like “is this...can it be...HAVE MY (and yours I´m sure) PRAYERS BEEN ANSWERED?!?”.

What do I mean? Why take a look at this:

Take a look at the lower right corner. Something´s about to come up from god knows where (somewhere in the megamycete´s consciousness I´m sure) to make a grab for Rose, it seems. While that is slighty concerning it didn´t seem like a huge deal to me at first (cause we all know it´s gonna end well...I hope). Just your usual mold monster, we´ve all been there, done that. No biggies.

But then things got clearer...

And clearer...

And clearer...

AND CLEARER:

DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE???

Excuse my poor art job but that is CLEARLY a woman´s hand and not only that: said hand has got looong fingernails (again, my art job doesn´t do this justice) and holy, doesn´t that hand seem pretty fucking big to ya? I mean, look at how huge it is compared to Rose´s shoe. Some of you might say it´s the angle that´s making proportions look like this and it might be true to some extend. But watch the video again because it´s gonna become so much clearer seeing it in motion (and without my ugly doodle).

My theory on this is that our Lady is wanting some revenge for what Ethan did to her and her daughters. Because this is happening in the megamycete´s consciousness for sure and we all know by now that our dear Lords (and probably Ethan) are spending the rest of their (undead?) days there. Not sure how it all works yet.

Another thing I can imagine (and hope for) is the Lords might actually be looking for help? They knew from the very beginning how insanely powerful Rose is, always has been. Heisenberg even stated she was strong enough to take on Miranda - AS A BABY. And Miranda stated once that where Eveline was able to communicate with the mold and control it, Rose would basically be the mold...ruler? Able to control everyone connected to the megamycete and control the mold itself or something. As I´ve said, still not completely sure how it works.

So what if the Duke is truly the bad guy in this (cause he do seem like it) because we saw the way he´s been seemingly in control of these 3 mold monsters, which, it can't be a coincidence. It seems the daughters are gonna be back, albeit a bit...differently. But I digress...my point is that the Duke seems in control of things now and maybe that´s been the plan from the very beginning? Someone else on tumblr pointed out already that Duke pretty much had all the info he needed to decimate the Lords and MM. He just needed an idiot to carry out the plan (sorry Ethan).

So, what if Rose was somehow able to bring back anyone who died and ended up joining the megamycete´s records? We saw her holding a flask with what looked suspiciously like “New Vessel” written on it. She and the flask started to glow and that´s where the scene ends pretty much. Is it possible we´re gonna get an awesome showdown between Rose and the Duke - the true evil? The Lords, revived by Rose, joining in to save the day and get their freedom at last? (I want it so badly, PLS FREE MY BABIES)

Also, who is writing to Rose in the castle? Is it her father? One of the Lords? Hell, even Miranda?? (My bet is on Ethan because that someone clearly cares about Rose and wants her outta there ASAP...unless it´s a trap.)

And what about Mother Miranda? Are rumors true of her potentially being Rose´s biological mother? Because the similarities are...there. Could that (evil?) doubleganger of Rose maybe be an alternate version who actually ended up being Miranda´s daughter? Because we know the megamycete´s consciousness is a world where reality is twisted and warped beyond recognition. A “what if” scenario so to speak. But also, what about Mia? What happened to her? Did Rose lose control and kill her by accident? Is that why she wants her powers gone so badly?

Speaking of powers, is ANYONE gonna encourage Rose to NOT follow through with it? Because she IS the mold basically, so what happens without the power to control it? Is she even a real person without it (cause it´s gotta be like 90% mold, 10% water with her)? SO MANY QUESTIONS.

Oh and another thing I found noteworthy and also pretty dope is the name of the dlc. Considering the whole “Village of Shadows” thing, (the book and all that). There´s gotta be a connection, I KNOW there is, but my brain´s too tired to dwell on it any further after this analysis....for now.

And wow I´ve digressed hardcore considering all I wanted was to show a (the) lady´s hand. Whoopsie. Oh well, when inspiration hits you gotta roll with it.

What do you think we´re gonna see? What do you want to see?

(I know what I wanna see...)

#resident evil 8 #resident evil village #re8 dlc #re8 dlc spoilers #Lady Dimitrescu #Alcina Dimitrescu #pls give us this comeback Capcom

[plumoh]

from our young days, part one

Rating: G

Wordcount: 5838

Summary: Kacchan isn’t nice, of course. But he doesn’t speak to Izuku the way he used to. ∟ Izuku thinks about the shift in his relationship with Katsuki—and it is scary. / post-chapter 322.

Note: AO3 link. Written as friendship but it can be pre-relationship if you want it to be. My feelings about Bakugou & Midoriya intensified greatly after ch322 and I’m still not over it :’)

Part two

Kacchan is different.

Their classmates say that he hasn’t changed a bit, that he’s still as brash and loud and mean as ever, and this is true. It’s Kacchan, after all—this is who he is, who he has been since they were little and since he’s developed his quirk.

Kacchan is gathering stray papers, water bottles and other containers to sort out their garbage, muttering all the while and shooting daggers at anyone looking his way. He does shout at Kaminari at some point, then threatens Tokoyami to rip off his feathers if he leaves around obscure objects in the common room again, and it seems his yelling is enough to make the two boys believe that things are back to normal.

“Damn, don’t get mad like that!” Kaminari groans.

“I’ll show you mad, Pikachu,” Kacchan snaps back, but his voice is slightly off.

Izuku knows Kacchan is different because he can actually tell what he’s thinking, now. He hasn’t been able to for a long time.

Kacchan isn’t mad—not as mad as he used to be, in any case—and he doesn’t seem to mind cleaning up, contrary to what his impatient words and aggressive gestures might suggest. He carefully separates the garbage, scans the room one last time, then nods to himself, satisfied. Izuku can tell all this in one glance and it has been so, so long that he fully got a grasp on what Kacchan is feeling that it’s leaving him dizzy.

Kacchan catches him staring and narrows his eyes.

“You’ve got something to say?”

Izuku startles and frantically waves his hands, looking somewhere above Kacchan’s head, anywhere that isn’t his fierce red eyes.

“N-No, nothing!” he replies. “Thanks for cleaning up.”

Kacchan rolls his eyes. “If you’re gonna run your mouth to say dumb shit then you’d better go to fucking bed and pass out.”

Everything feels weird. Izuku has learned to listen to words dripping with venom, disdain or anger, and he doesn’t quite know what to do with himself when he senses none of it.

Kacchan isn’t nice, of course. But he doesn’t speak to Izuku the way he used to.

And because of that, Izuku simply smiles, then laughs when Kacchan scoffs and turns around to hide whatever expression he’s making. Izuku isn’t sure he’s completely honest with himself, though, when his laugh sounds too shaky to his own ears.

***

It’s not that Izuku misses the screaming and the insults, because Kacchan definitely still yells at him, but it’s disturbing to watch him revert to a distorted version of his childhood friend, the one who claimed he’d become the best hero and help Izuku along the way (because duh, Deku is weaker), the one who shared with him his snacks and poorly drawn designs of hero costumes.

It’s not the attitude that changed. It’s the intention.

“You already ate your breakfast, dipshit! You think I cooked for an entire army or what?”

“But it’s so good! Why are gyoza so good first thing in the morning?”

“That’s because I made them, obviously! Now fuck off!”

“Oh wait, Midoriya hasn’t eaten yet, right? You’re keeping those gyoza for him!”

“Shut the fuck up, Soy Face!”

Izuku remains frozen at the entrance of the kitchen, suddenly very aware of his growling stomach and the imminent teasing of his classmates. Ashido is the first to notice him, a grin splitting her face in two even before she fully faces him. She waves with unnecessary enthusiasm, drawing Kacchan’s and Sero’s attention, and calls him over.

“Midoriya, just in time! A few minutes later and there would be no breakfast left for you.”

“Who said I’d have let you eat everything?” Kacchan growls.

“So you did put a plate aside for Midoriya!” Sero crows.

Explosions resound in the kitchen and both Ashido and Sero laugh, exchanging amused smiles before darting away and escaping the kitchen, fleeing Kacchan’s murderous aura. Ashido winks at Izuku while Sero briefly squeezes his shoulder, like they’re giving him some kind of encouragement or greeting a friend marching to his death, and it leaves Izuku puzzled and mildly worried. Their antics have always been a source of anxiety for anyone involved, due to the fact nobody is able to anticipate the disasters they cause.

Izuku files their strange behaviors away in his mind, and shifts on his feet as he looks at Kacchan. There are still sparks in Kacchan’s palms when he directs his glare at Izuku, who meets his gaze nervously.

“Hey, Kacchan.”

“Shut up and eat.”

Kacchan gestures towards a plate on the counter, filled with some gyoza and a side of vegetables. He doesn’t wait for Izuku’s reply, turning his back on him, occupying his now explosion-free hands with something that looks like a recipe book. Izuku is pretty sure he’s turning the pages for the sole purpose of avoiding looking at him, or engaging in any form of conversation.

That’s fine. Izuku doesn’t know what to say either.

Their days are filled with training, patrolling and planning; eating quickly has become part of their routine. He doesn’t bother taking the plate to sit in the common room, and simply stands at the counter to pick up a gyoza with the chopsticks that were already placed next to the plate. He barely remembers the last time he ate anything Kacchan cooked or baked—what he remembers is the two of them watching his mother push a tray full of cookies into the oven, excited at the idea of bringing their treats to class and boast about the fact Midoriya Inko’s cookies were the softest and the tastiest and the best. Kacchan once claimed he’d bake something even more delicious than mom’s cookies.

Izuku wonders if Kacchan managed to do it. He hasn’t caught him in the kitchen enough times to tell whether the appetizing smells wafting from it match the taste of what he prepared. Knowing Kacchan, though, he most likely mastered every dish he set his eyes on a long time ago.

The gyoza is no exception, and so are the vegetables. Izuku swallows a bite then two, then three with no pause, and doesn’t know if the choked off noises tumbling out of his mouth are the result of his eating too fast or of the uncomfortable churning in his stomach. The stuffing isn’t pork but chicken, there are mushrooms and cabbage and garlic, and it sends Izuku a handful of years back.

“It’s really good,” he says quietly.

“Of course it is, how many times do I have to tell you fuckers that I’m the best?”

“Yeah, you’re amazing.”

Kacchan swivels his head at him, his eyes a blazing red caught between disbelief and fury, like he’s using all his willpower not to set off a series of explosions in Izuku’s face. Maybe Izuku should say more often how cool Kacchan is, if he’s going to react so poorly every time he’s expressing his honest opinion.

Izuku frowns. He’s pretty sure Kacchan knows he thinks he’s amazing. He glances back at him.

“I’m being sincere,” he says.

“I know you are, that’s why it’s unsettling as hell.”

“I mentioned it before, though.”

“Yes, I remember, holy shit.”

Kacchan grits his teeth, the shadow of words forming on his lips but they’re never uttered. He opens and closes his fists several times in a motion reminiscent of his explosions, the muscles of his arms tight, then looks away. He chucks the recipe book somewhere on a shelf with alarming precision, managing not to knock anything over.

Suddenly, Izuku is struck with a disconcerting idea. Is… Is Kacchan not mad, but embarrassed? Kacchan doesn’t get embarrassed, ever. The slight tint of red on his cheeks proves otherwise though, because Izuku knows what rage looks like on Kacchan’s face, all sharp and raw—and this is not it.

Taking a deep breath, Izuku asks, “Kacchan, you’re being weird. I told you you didn’t have to force yourself.”

The reaction is immediate.

“I’m not forcing myself, shitty nerd!” Kacchan yells, twisting around to face him again. “Fuck, I’m not the one acting like someone’s been replaced by some cheap clone! Get your shit together.”

Izuku’s chest constricts at those words, and something rears its ugly head, to be let loose and free to show how unfair all of this is. Kacchan isn’t the one who is having his world turned upside down overnight. He’s not the one who has to witness strange acts of kindness towards him disguised as annoyance, or the one who has to pretend that this is the natural evolution of a relationship that has taken years to take the tiniest steps towards something barely called friendship.

Nothing changed, except it did, somehow, and Izuku is left gathering the pieces of a puzzle he has to rearrange again for it to make sense.

“You have to understand that I need to wrap my head around the fact you’re just being… you,” Izuku says around the thick lump in his throat. “That you’re a lot more friendly even if the others don’t really see it—”

“Stop fucking talking—”

“I mean! I know you’ll deny being nice because of course you’re not really nice, not by regular standards, even if you are in some way—it’s just that I didn’t expect things to change so drastically between us after you… after an apology that I haven’t even responded to.”

Horror settles on Izuku’s face as thousands of thoughts fill his mind. He has no idea what he should do. It’s terrifying.

Kacchan snaps his mouth shut. He looks even more incensed than before and maybe this was a bad idea to bring up this particular topic, even if it was shadowing every single one of their actions and words. His glare does nothing to abate Izuku’s uneasiness and his belief that this is one big hallucination.

“I don’t even know what I’m supposed to say,” Izuku barrels on, dropping his gaze to the floor. “I never imagined that we’d one day have this kind of conversation, because everything sort of felt like we were back to being friends—to being as close as we could be, without making things worse. I’m really happy that you told me how you’ve felt all these years… but…”

Kacchan and him, at night, standing on Ground Beta, Kacchan desperately trying to hold back his tears, both of them overwhelmed with different kinds of guilt—they’ve had their conversation. They’ve had a heart-to-heart, once, a release of pent-up anger and frustration marking the start of their repairing friendship. It feels so long ago.

Izuku knows it’s not the same as last time. Last time was a battle placing them on each side of a scale, maintaining an equilibrium that was beneficial to both of them; it was a necessary step for them to go further and to become stronger. It was an understanding.

This time, Izuku feels like every word uttered in this conversation holds the world’s entire weight. His own reality might crash and burn if he says the wrong thing.

“...But it’s so sudden that I still feel like I dreamed all of this up,” Izuku finishes lamely, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes.

A voice suspiciously sounding like Kacchan himself is telling him he’s being stupid. The answer to his problem, to the apology, is simple and doesn’t warrant overthinking it to such an extent. People find his mumbling strange or annoying, but it’s even worse in his head where his thoughts keep buzzing and bouncing against each other, like a bad game of guessing.

“De—Izuku.”

Kacchan’s voice is quiet. As quiet as he was when he apologized. Unlike how he acts usually, but somehow still himself all the same.

“I’m fucking bad at this, and you’re bad at this,” he continues, though it sounds like it pains him to say this. “I already said everything I wanted back there. I’m not gonna repeat myself. I wasn’t even expecting you to say shit because I knew you’d be thinking about it like it’s a goddamn problem you have to solve.”

Izuku, for the first time since he woke up today, manages to put a name on the feeling that’s been pulling him down into that spiraling mess of anxiety.

He’s scared of finding out what it will all mean to him, and to Kacchan.

“I’m not asking for your forgiveness,” Kacchan sighs, slightly bitter and angry. “I said what I wanted to because I’m fucking selfish like that, and if you have anything to say back to me then I’ll listen. But I’m not asking for it, so chill the fuck out. Shitty nerd,” he tacks on at the end.

Kacchan called him a ‘shitty nerd’ twice in the same conversation, not even trying to get creative with his usual variations of this insult. Like a token taking root in the past, insisting on its existence that is forever, and it makes Izuku want to cry when he realizes why.

The insults will never be dropped, that much is certain. Kacchan’s ways of calling out to him simply expanded. A derisive laughter bubbles in Izuku’s throat—who the hell gets so happy to still be called names?

Kacchan growls. “If you’re making fun of me—”

“No, never,” Izuku cuts him off, directing his gaze towards Kacchan. Kacchan remains as stiff and uncomfortable as he was earlier. “I’d never make fun of you. It’s just… I guess I really will have to get used to being called by my name, now.”

His lips wobble only a little when they quirk up. He’s gripping the edge of the counter so hard that his knuckles are hurting and he’s probably not fooling Kacchan with his pathetic attempt at a smile. He needs to learn how to smile even when he feels he can’t anymore; even Todoroki mentioned it, when the whole class came looking for him.

And Kacchan told him it was alright to share burdens.

“Your hero name is still the fucking same, last I checked,” Kacchan retorts.

“Yeah, of course. I’ll always be Deku, in one way or another.”

“And it’s still a boring ass hero name.”

“Okay, Kacchan.”

Kacchan’s eye twitches, the beginning of a snarl marring his face, but he huffs and settles on crossing his arms over his chest. He’s thinking deeply about something. Izuku has always been able to tell when Kacchan retreated into his mind to weigh all the available options presented to him to give the best answer. There isn’t a single thing that Izuku hasn’t admired about his childhood friend, despite his terrible personality and tendency to resort to violence to solve his problems. Despite everything he made him go through, to Izuku’s eyes, Kacchan shines.

“Do you really want to keep talking about this dumb shit?”

“I don’t know,” Izuku admits.

He finds that it’s surprisingly easy to say it. He doesn’t know what he wants. He has a broad idea of what he thinks he wants—upcoming days of relative peace, filled with casual chatter and the feeling of being supported through and through, laughter in people’s eyes. He’s wishing for the best future, of course, and wants everyone to come out of this battle alive and well. But this is what most people want, to survive as a society and not as a crumbling castle whose foundations are unsalvageable.

The years that are awaiting them look grim. Painful and difficult. They will always stick together, Izuku hopes.

“I don’t think we will ever stop having this conversation,” Izuku says under his breath. “Not—not after everything that happened between us.”

Izuku relaxes his grip on the counter to curl his hands into loose fists, slowly rubbing his phalanges with his thumbs. Kacchan’s gaze is burning a hole in his neck.

“I need to think.”

“You’re always thinking,” Kacchan accuses.

“Well, I need to think more.”

Kacchan remains silent, once again, leveling Izuku with a stare that might have made him shrink on himself once upon a time. Then, as if sapped of his energy, exhausted, he lets out a long sigh and shoulders past Izuku to leave the kitchen.

“Get your shit together,” he repeats.

Izuku keeps his eyes rooted on the gyoza, filled with his favorite stuffing.

***

He spends the day in a daze. His classmates all express how glad and grateful they are that he’s back with them, even though they’re being a little bit too overbearing. Izuku can’t blame them for that, but his head is still full of cotton and the thoughts about Kacchan keep playing on repeat, like a curse or a prayer or whatever it is that makes someone lose their mind.

He still hasn’t thanked Uraraka for what she did, and he still hasn’t checked up on Todoroki after what happened with Dabi. He has yet to see how Aizawa is doing. Everything is going both too fast and too slow to his liking, pulling him in one direction and then curving in another without letting him process what he has been doing for the past hour.

“Head out of the clouds, dipshit!”

Izuku snaps back to attention just in time to avoid a frankly alarming fast strip of tape rushing past him, centimeters away from his face. His heartbeat climbs up in his throat and he blinks, stunned.

"Crap, sorry Midoriya!" Sero calls out, waving his hands above his head. "I didn't think it would go that far and that fast!"

Sero has been training to control the speed and the precision of his tape. Next to him, Kirishima is lifting a hand in apology, even though he isn't the one who almost poked Izuku’s eye out, and Kaminari is grinning. Kacchan, for his part, is scowling and glaring at Izuku.

That, at least, feels familiar.

"Ah, I was the one who was distracted, don't worry about it Sero-kun!" Izuku shouts back.

"If you're not feeling well, you should go rest more," comes a monotone voice behind Izuku.

Izuku whirls around and looks up at Todoroki's blank face. Though it isn't as blank as it usually is, pinched with a slight frown conveying his worry. Izuku is well acquainted with this expression, after being on the receiving end of it for the past twenty-four hours. He smiles and shakes his head.

"It's okay, I just have a lot of thinking to do."

Todoroki cants his head to the side, eyes searching. Izuku knows that despite how unaffected Todoroki seems to be, his mind is racing with a million thoughts—and in this case, it might be best to put an end to whatever he’s thinking about Izuku before it delves into something too far-fetched.

“Are you okay?” Izuku asks quickly. “How are you holding up?”

Todoroki simply blinks at his question and shrugs.

“Fine. I’ve also had time to think things over. Still not sure if what I’m thinking is sane or not considering the situation we are in, but this is what feels right to me.”

“Huh.”

Izuku honestly didn’t expect to receive such a sincere and spontaneous answer. It feels kind of strange to hear Todoroki pour out his heart so freely when Izuku himself is struggling to get his own into order. How the tables have turned.

“That’s great,” Izuku says, reaching out and patting Todoroki’s arm. “But things are still difficult, so if I can help, don’t hesitate to come to me. Even if you just want to… vent or watch something or drink tea.”

Todoroki’s lips quirk upwards, an amused light dancing in his eyes. “Thanks, Midoriya. I just have a lot of free time on my hands to think about the events of the past few weeks.” His gaze then shifts, looking at a point behind Izuku, and asks, “Is everything alright between you and Bakugou? He keeps looking this way.”

So much for trying to direct the conversation into safe territory.

“...Yes, it’s complicated but it’s alright,” Izuku replies, glancing back at Kacchan too. “Don’t worry about it.”

“You’ve been saying that a lot. Just now, and to Sero, and to the whole class yesterday.”

“Because you really don’t need to worry, I’ll figure things out.”

Todoroki looks like he doesn’t believe him. Izuku wouldn’t believe himself either.

“You know I’m not good with words,” Todoroki starts, voice low and almost hesitant. “But I’m glad you and Bakugou are talking. It sounded like you both were in pain, before. When we confronted you.”

Todoroki marks a pause, probably searching for his words, while Izuku stares at him, speechless. Izuku almost forgot that Kacchan’s apology was public, and that everyone witnessed it. He suddenly feels the need to lie down.

“Is… Is that so?”

“Bakugou really wanted to tell you all of these things, I think. I’m not the best at judging how anyone is feeling, but I can tell that’s something you needed. Both of you. So I hope you will feel better soon.”

Then, as if catching on that this is not a topic that Izuku is equipped to deal with right now, Todoroki’s face twists into a small grimace and he inclines his head, before making a hasty exit and heading towards Iida.

(Izuku is almost tempted to hysterically laugh at the fact Todoroki recognized an awkward situation and removed himself from the scene before it gets worse. God, what happened in those few weeks he was gone?)

***

Throughout the day, Izuku is given snacks and listens to kind words passing as a pep talk.

His classmates spar with him and tell him how cool his quirks are, even if they casually mention they’re terrified at the idea of going up against him during their next quirk training lesson.

He’s ushered into a room with Iida and Yaoyorozu to discuss plans about maintaining a healthy routine for everyone.

Uraraka smiles at him and offers more training to help him master his float quirk.

“Oh Midoriya, good to have you train with us! The black thing was so sick!”

“Hey, you alright in here Midoriya? Looked like you were lost in thought.”

“Midoriya-kun, let us know if you need anything! It’s a shame you can’t walk around campus freely for now.”

“How do you feel today?”

“Here is a snack for you, Midoriya-san.”

Izuku squeezes his eyes shut, and lets out a long exhale.

***

“That’s what fucking Dek—Izuku did last time and he tripped to his death, but be my guest to try that again.”

“That’s useful training for when we are restrained and can’t move freely.”

“So that excuses the stupid idea of tying your feet with a fucking rope and jump around like a dumb rabbit?”

"Like I said, it's good training."

"Go the fuck away, Icyhot."

Todoroki shrugs and proceeds to ignore Kacchan, sitting down on the hard ground of the gym and tying, with meticulous care, a short rope around his ankles. They’ve all spent hours doing various tasks and training all afternoon, and are most likely tired by this point. Izuku has a bad feeling about this.

"Uh…"

Both gazes zero in on him, while he’s standing at the entrance of the gym, and if Todoroki simply nods in acknowledgment, Kacchan narrows his eyes and looks kind of… intense. Izuku doesn't have a better word for it. Kacchan always looks intense but this is definitely on the far end of the intensity spectrum.

"What?" Kacchan barks.

"I think that Kacchan is right, Todoroki-kun," Izuku says.

"Of course I'm right."

"It's good training," Todoroki repeats on the same toneless inflection.

"Maybe, but I don't want you to get unnecessarily hurt."

Todoroki frowns. Izuku sometimes forgets he's as stubborn as Kacchan or himself.

“Why are you here, nerd? Thought you’d be stuck outside with the other extras,” Kacchan asks, shoving his hands into his pants pockets and looking detached from what is happening around him.

Perhaps Izuku is truly the one who is making things weird, if Kacchan is able to keep talking to him like yesterday and the day before didn’t shift Izuku’s world two inches to the left. Having someone else present during their conversations makes it easier to pretend that nothing changed, and somehow the easy banter between Kacchan and Todoroki soothes Izuku’s nerves.

“I… appreciate their concern, but it got a bit overwhelming,” Izuku admits, biting the inside of his cheek.

Kacchan snorts. “Figures. So your solution was to go hang out with dumbass over there who will likely need medical assistance in five seconds?”

“Your lack of faith wounds me, Bakugou,” Todoroki interrupts.

“Good. I don’t care.”

“I didn’t know you two were in the gym,” Izuku mutters.

Todoroki glances at him, frown still in place and eyes assessing.

“Do you want to try walking around with your feet bound?” Todoroki calmly asks.

“He just told you it was a bad idea, fucking idiot—”

“You’ll never know unless you try—”

“You’re so fucking stupid, why am I wasting my time talking sense into your brain that’s clearly empty—”

Kacchan makes a move towards the rope while Todoroki backs away as fast as his bound feet allow him to, and it quickly devolves into arms slapping at each other and kicks that look half-hearted, given how weak they are. Insults are muttered and at least one bad word leaving Todoroki’s mouth makes Kacchan want to wring his neck.

It reminds Izuku of petty fights breaking out in the classroom over a stupid topic, or a food war starting in the cafeteria because someone stole the last tempura in the plate. It’s harmless and sort of normal, and Todoroki and Kacchan have started to get into weird spats seemingly for the sake of it, since their remedial classes. Well, to be more accurate, Kacchan blows up and Todoroki defends himself with varying degrees of energy.

Izuku watches all of this unfold before his eyes, and he can’t help it. He bursts out laughing, unbridled joy bubbling in his throat and coming out in a full-blown laugh that makes him bend over like he’s not in control of his body anymore. His voice carries over the entire gym, and he’s dimly aware of the fact Kacchan and Todoroki stopped their scuffle in favor of staring at him with wide eyes.

“S-Sorry! It’s just… You guys never change,” Izuku explains through peals of laughter. “It’s nice to see.”

“Did you seriously think we’d become new people?” Kacchan grunts. “You were gone for a couple of weeks, not for years, Izuku.”

The syllables of Izuku’s name sound so clear and confident, when pronounced by Kacchan. It sounds completely different from the other times Izuku has heard him say it in the past few days, almost like there is now a triumphant ring to it. Like something was conquered and uttering the name was the prize.

If in the morning he only felt confusion and dread, scared of what is going to happen in the immediate future, Izuku feels much more relieved and warm now. He did make things more complicated for himself than they really were.

“No,” Izuku answers, wiping at his eyes. “Yeah, I wasn’t thinking. Well, I was thinking, but my logic went a bit astray.”

Kacchan scoffs, but doesn’t add anything else. He keeps his eyes locked on Izuku, and if Izuku looks carefully, if he pays attention to the details that matter, he notices that Kacchan is less hunched over himself and doesn’t display his usual sneer meant to scare away the weaklings (his words, not Izuku’s). And if Izuku wants to feel even bolder, he’d consider the slight twitch of Kacchan’s lips a smile.

Izuku doesn’t comment on it. He watches, analyzes and catalogs all these small adjustments that seem inconsequential but also grander than they are, all these glaring changes that should have turned his world upside down but in the end didn’t make any ripples.

Todoroki’s eyes go from Izuku to Kacchan, and back again. The corner of his lips quirk upwards.

***

At dinner, everyone chatters about the day’s events and how impatient they are to hear from the pro heroes. Waiting for news while being kept in the dark is probably the most infuriating thing in existence; Izuku understands how his classmates felt and how desperate they were to do something, to occupy their mind and not to stay idle.

Everyone is keeping a strict schedule to stay healthy and to plan group activities better. Going to bed early is a challenge for some of them, but for the most part, Izuku sees that exhaustion is what prompts them to turn in for the night. They’re all working hard—nobody wants to be left behind.

When Kacchan gets up to go back to his room, Izuku jumps on his feet and crosses the common room in three leaps and grabs his wrist. Kacchan casts him a nasty glare.

“Let’s go outside,” Izuku says before Kacchan gets the chance to shout. “We didn’t finish this morning’s conversation, so…”

Kacchan’s face loses its sharpness the slightest bit, then he raises an eyebrow. “You said we’ll never finish that conversation.”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t mean we can’t resume it once in a while.”

“I dunno how much progress we can make when all you’ve done is think for a single fucking day.”

Izuku smiles sheepishly. “Sometimes that’s all I need to do.”

“Ain’t that a fucking first.”

“Come on, Kacchan. You’re being difficult on purpose.”

Izuku tugs at the wrist, and he expects Kacchan to wrench it away or to yell at him for treating him like a child. Instead, Kacchan curls his own fingers around Izuku’s wrist, and gently pushes it away. His fingers are warm and solid and strong against Izuku’s skin.

“When have I ever made life easy for you?” Kacchan smirks. “Let’s fucking go, then, shitty Izuku.”

There he is, Izuku thinks, feeling his eyes fill with stars and wonder. There his Kacchan is, the one that’s not from the past but also not the one that he has been going to UA with all this time. It’s the Kacchan of the present, all rough edges and no soft apparent openings, put together from different points in time of their relationship that shape who he is, without pretenses and weak reasonings. Izuku understands and he’s immensely glad that he finally does.

They bypass some of their classmates who shoot them curious or worried glances, but Izuku simply waves at them with a smile, and follows Kacchan outside the dorms. They can’t go too far from the building, so Izuku elects a patch of grass as a good place to stand and to talk. It seems they’re not really good at sitting down and remaining still.

“This morning was weird and I don’t think my brain was fully awake,” Izuku says softly. “But it’s all good now. I got a clearer idea on everything.”

Kacchan is fixing him with a stare that is not quite a glare, but he looks mildly out of his comfort zone. He probably has nothing else to add to the conversation, but he’s still willing to listen, like he promised, and for that Izuku is extremely grateful.

“I was… afraid of things changing,” he continues. “Which is a bit silly since we’ve known each other our whole lives but… I didn’t know what to expect, I guess. Like you said, I was overthinking it.”

Kacchan snorts. “Of course you were.”

Izuku smiles. “Things did change before, when you found out about One for All. And it turned out alright, so this time isn’t any different.” Izuku pauses, searching for his words. He should be honest too. “I won’t lie to you, though. It was kind of a shock when you apologized.”

Something on Kacchan’s face twitches violently and Izuku doesn’t know if it’s anger or guilt, so he keeps talking to wipe that expression off Kacchan. He shakes his head.

“My own reaction scared me, and this was what took me so long to just… accept whatever development happened. Sorry, Kacchan.”

“I knew you were going to give me a goddamn apology when that’s completely unnecessary,” Kacchan mutters, scrunching up his nose. “Don’t fucking apologize, I’ll explode your face, you bastard.”

“You said you were selfish for saying all these things, so I’m selfish too for apologizing!”

“That’s not even remotely close to what I meant!”

“Yes, it is! Hey, you said you’d listen if I wanted to answer you, right?”

“You’re such an annoying piece of shit, De—Izu—D—Fuck you!”

Kacchan is glowering and setting off small explosions in his hands, teeth bared, but his aggressivity is rendered null by his reddening cheeks and ears. Izuku’s lips are stretching into a grin so wide his face is going to stay stuck like this for the rest of his life.

“It’s okay, Kacchan. Take your time.”

“Do you want me to kick your ass so bad or what? Shut up!”

Izuku laughs, unrestrained, ducking his head when Kacchan tries to grab his head and waltzing away.

“My hero name is still ‘Deku’, I don’t mind if you keep calling me that.”

“You don’t listen to people when they talk, huh?! Don’t tell me what to call you! Fucking Deku! Shitty Izuku!”

“See? That’s totally fine!”

“You’re really fucking with me—”

Kacchan makes a noise that hasn’t been recorded as human yet, and throws his arms up in the air, clearly exasperated. Exasperated, but not angry. The sharpness of his eyes always burns but at this moment, Izuku recognizes as well the gentle glint in them—Kacchan isn’t only jagged edges and unpolished gemstone meant to be refined. And the both of them are alright, for now, despite their unfinished conversation and the unspoken expectations of the path their friendship is going to take. It will be a topic for another day.

“Don’t think I’ll start going easy on you,” Kacchan remarks.

“I’d never entertain that idea. You always give your best.”

“Damn right I do.”

A lull. They stand together, staring at each other, like they’re cataloging every detail on a face displaying new resolve and understanding previously incomplete.

“I’m really glad we talked and cleared things up,” Izuku says.

Kacchan pulls a face, like he doesn’t want to answer. Then, “Yeah, whatever. That was long overdue. I’m going to bed.”

And Izuku doesn’t stop him, doesn’t point out the awkwardness, just waits for him to start heading back before falling into step beside him. They remain silent, but it’s not suffocating; it’s quiet, the tranquility enveloping them in a sense of safety they haven’t had the chance to bask in in a while.

Izuku is content. His mind isn’t racing with thousands of thoughts anymore, and his body still tingles with pleasant warmth that is synonymous to plain, simple happiness.

Kacchan is here, walking with him, and they have a long way to go still, but for now Izuku feels at peace, in the new chapter of his life.

#bakudeku #bkdk #midoriya izuku #bakugou katsuki #bnha #mha #i love these kids and i love their repairing friendship #i hope we see more of them interacting in the final battle ;;