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five-rivers · 3 years

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Long Night in the Valley chapter 8

A young man walked in. His hair was dark, the style conservative. The only thing that stood out about him was his high-collared jacket.

Aizawa knows who this man is, for much the same reasons that Uraraka knew Skyrunner.

Fidelity had literally written the book on underground heroism. It hadn’t been published until his death.

The lights flickered. The murmuring of the shadows rose, then cut off abruptly, the shadows disappearing along with Nana. The projector screen changed. It now read:

Greetings 9’s Friends! (And teacher.)

“This was my last mission briefing before I died,” said the young man. “At least, that’s what I’d say if I was really Fidelity.”

“You’re saying you aren’t,” said Aizawa, keeping his voice level.

The screen behind him changed to read Vestiges: what you need to know.

“I am based on Fidelity. I’m also based on Railgun.”

“The hero who took down Destro?” asked Uraraka, clenching her fists and briefly floating in excitement.

Why was she not getting a better grade in history?

“Not exactly. He wasn’t actually captured until years later.”

“But you broke his charge, his army! And all by yourself!”

“Railgun did, yes. I’ve put together a little presentation for you guys. Hope you don’t mind. We all figured you wouldn’t want to go any further without an explanation of sorts.” He said this all with an enviably flat voice, despite his friendly words. His body language was controlled and to the point.

Darn Midoriya for managing to build a fantasy that was so close to what Aizawa had always imagined the man to be like.

(He was not a fan of Fidelity. Underground heroes did not have fans. It defeated the point.)

(He pointedly ignored his memories of the bootleg Eraserhead merchandise Midoriya and Yamada had snuck to Eri.)

“You’d be right,” said Aizawa.

“Cool,” said Six. “Before we begin, I want you to understand that much of what I’m going to tell you will be a lie.”

“What?” said Iida, confused. “Then what’s the point?”

“The point is, there will be enough truth in it to get you through this safely, and enough falsehood to prevent the commission from taking advantage of Nine later, should they be watching what’s happening here with a quirk we can’t detect.”

“Nine?”

“Izuku,” clarified Six.

“Who you called Nine because…?”

“If we count in order of when we were supposedly born, he’s the ninth. Although, really, he’s the first. I’ll explain in a moment.” He pointed to the screen. “We call ourselves vestiges, and, like I said, we are all based on real people. We’re part of Nine’s quirk.” The screen switched to show Midoriya with eight shadowy figures behind him. “I want to stress that Nine wasn’t aware of us until the sports festival. Specifically…”

The screen now showed Midoriya’s fight with Hitoshi, right before he broke his fingers. Aizawa recognized the image as a still from one of the cameras. Except those eight shadows were there as well, right in front of Midoriya.

“You had something to do with him breaking his fingers and getting out of Shinsou’s quirk.”

“We don’t mix well with mental quirks, apparently. Nine minds all together at once are too many, even if eight of them are fictional. It’s an interesting side effect. Speaking of which.”

The new slide was a picture. An edited picture. Of a person giving a presentation.

“Is that a meme?” asked Todoroki.

“Yes,” said Six.

The slide read, You were never in All Might’s mind. Nine was just confused.

That meme was so old Aizawa could feel himself taking psychic damage just by looking at it.

“You’ve been passing through our, the vestiges’, mindscapes. Eight is simply based on All Might.”

That would be a relief, if not for the fact that that Six had admitted he was going to lie. Also, there was something off about the whole explanation.

Iida raised his hand. “Excuse me! You claim that you are part of Midoriya’s quirk, but you haven’t explained how!”

“I’m getting to that,” said Six. “Todoroki-san, you’re the one who is always saying how similar Nine and All Might’s quirks are. Do you have any theories?”

Todoroki’s eyes lit up, even though he kept his habitual deadpan expression. “Midoriya is All Might’s secret—”

“We wish, but sadly no. Pick a different one.”

Todoroki looked devastated. He collected himself quickly, however. “Midoriya’s strength,” he said, “he got it from All Might, didn’t he?”

“Yes. Eight is a bit of a complicated case, since he’s based on someone who is alive and Nine knows personally, but in the end, he’s the same as the rest of us.”

“He said something about receiving Skyrunner’s quirk, earlier,” said Uraraka.

“And Blackwhip…” said Iida.

“You’re getting it,” said Six. “Blackwhip originally belonged to Five, incidentally.”

“He has a copy quirk,” concluded Aizawa.

Six nodded. The screen changed. “Right now, Nine has four quirks, three of which he can use freely. Superpower, Blackwhip, and Float,” he read the quirk names off the screen.

“And he’s going to get more?” asked Aizawa.

“Eventually,” said Six. “We don’t want to overload his body—This whole process only kicked off when he met All Might.”

“And why you?” asked Aizawa. “Why All Might, Skyrunner and these… Five others?”

“I would like to tell you,” said Six. He raised a finger and waved it in a circle to indicate outside listeners.

“What are the drawbacks?” asked Aizawa.

“Hm?”

“The drawbacks. I get dry eyes when I use my quirk. Present Mic is deaf. Vlad is anemic. A quirk like this one has to have a drawback.”

“What, the broken bones aren’t enough for you? Or the fact he didn’t hit on the activation conditions until he was fourteen?”

Aizawa stared, unimpressed.

A tiny corner of Six’s mouth made itself visible over the collar of his coat. “Well. I think you can make some conclusions but, again…” He trailed off. “There are a few more things you should be aware of. First, Nine had no choice in who we are, although we all fulfil certain criteria.”

“Are you all relatives?” asked Todoroki.

“Man, you never do give up, do you?” said Six. “That’s a great quality in a hero.”

“Are you all heroes, then?” continued Todoroki.

The slide on the screen changed again.

Vestiges According to History:

8. Yagi Toshinori aka All Might – Hero

7. Shimura Nana aka Skyrunner – Hero

6. Tenma Rokuya aka Fidelity/Railgun – Hero

5. Banjo Daigoro aka Lariat – Hero

4. Vigilante

3. Terrorist

2. Terrorist

1. Unknown

“Unfortunately,” said Six, “no.”

Toshinori caught sight of the feathers first. He had more experience as a hero, and, as he was no longer the primary user of One for All, the mental strain he was experiencing was much lower, comparatively. His awareness of his surroundings was better.

Stay calm. Don’t speak. Don’t run.

Hawks could receive sensory input from his feathers, though neither Toshinori nor Izuku knew how much. Better to be safe than sorry.

We need to get out of the city.

Out of the country, too, for that matter, as much as it would hurt Izuku—

They couldn’t leave all their friends behind to face Shigaraki.

A compromise could be reached. They knew a few places—An island, near—

But first, the city. The first priority was to evade pursuit.

A bus pulled into the stop ahead of them, and they got on. If they could get outside city limits, where there were fewer people, fewer witnesses, Izuku could float them away. Also, Hawks was less likely to trap his feathers on a bus.

We might be dealing with the Hawks problem earlier than thought.

Izuku slouched back on the bus seat, covering his eyes. Toshinori looked up at the ceiling. The Hawks problem. AKA, the others’ theory that Hawks had been raised as a child soldier, and Toshinori had missed the signs.

Izuku put his hand on Toshinori’s knee.

“I can’t believe it,” said one of the other passengers, a few rows ahead of them. “I really just can’t believe it. It’s like something from a horror story.”

“What?” asked someone else.

“Look!”

“Someone kidnapped All Might?”

The bus filled with chatter.

Toshinori still couldn’t believe people thought Izuku kidnapped him. The reality was closer to the opposite, honestly. He’d have to apologize to Izuku’s mother…

There was a tiny incensed gasp from Izuku, and Toshinori saw Izuku glaring up at him. Izuku made a series of gestures that could probably have been interpreted as ‘You can’t kidnap anyone, you’re All Might!’ even without the psychic link they were currently enjoying, then went into an enthusiastic tangent about how the commission was probably playing up the ‘crazy stalker fan’ angle.

Toshinori sighed, ruffled Izuku’s hair, and studiously avoided any and all thoughts about what he’d done to Aldera Middle School after Izuku had shown up to training with a black eye and bloody nose that one time.

“What?” squeaked Izuku, his eyes gone very wide.

Drat.

Out of the corner of his eye, Toshinori saw three passengers near the front of the bus stand up and felt his heart drop. One of them had an obvious eagle mutation, the second had a bulging, almost spherical, neck, and the third had broad, flat-ended fingers.

Decades of hero experience told Toshinori exactly what was going to happen next. Even before the guns came out.

“Well,” said the eagle-headed man, “with all the heroes looking for the ‘Symbol of Peace,’ I guess this is our lucky day!”

“Nobody move!” demanded the man with the round neck. “This is a hijacking!”

Izuku let out an incredulous grunt next to him, but Toshinori could literally feel his mind whirring at a thousand miles a minute, analyzing the quirks of the hijackers and possible motives.

Really. There was no way they weren’t going to help.

“By the way, not all of Nine is awake, so, out in the real world his body is operating according to consensus.”

“Consensus of…” said Aizawa, not wanting to finish the thought as he stared at the two entries labeled ‘terrorist.’

“All nine of us together, yes.”

“That’s a pretty big drawback,” said Aizawa, his voice rasping against his throat.

“Eh. It has its benefits. Besides, Three and Two lived over a hundred years ago. We didn’t even have the hero system back then. Things change.”

“Excuse me!” said Iida, raising his hand. “Why don’t the last four—the first four? —have names?”

“They asked me not to share them with you quite yet,” said Six. “Don’t call Three a terrorist though. That’s a bit of a sore spot with her.” He looked off to the side.

“And the quirks?” said Aizawa, hanging on to the very last bit of his will to live by the tips of his fingers. “The ones I’m presumably going to have to teach Midoriya how to use?”

“Right.”

Our Splendiferous Quirks

8. Yagi Toshinori aka All Might – Hero. Quirk: Superpower.

7. Shimura Nana aka Skyrunner – Hero. Quirk: Float.

6. Tenma Rokuya aka Fidelity/Railgun – Hero. Quirk: Internet Perception.

5. Banjo Daigoro aka Lariat – Hero. Quirk: Blackwhip.

4. Vigilante. Quirk: Danger Sense.

3. Terrorist

2. Terrorist

1. Unknown

Aizawa was not surprised to see the last four entries, once again, had little information attached.

“You know,” said Uraraka, “if you ignore the terrorists, this actually makes sense.”

“If you ignore the terrorists?” asked Iida, incredulous.

“I mean, think about who we’ve seen so far.”

“It is like Midoriya to have a split personality based on All Might,” agreed Todoroki. Because split personalities were going to be his go-to theory, now that figments of Midoriya’s quirk’s imagination had shot down his ‘Dadmight’ conspiracy.

“If you want to think of us as split personalities, sure,” said Six. “We really don’t interact that much with the outside, though.”

“And Skyrunner is basically supermom,” said Uraraka. “Like, if she was All Might’s mentor, it makes sense that that’s what he’d envision her as.”

“Ah,” said Iida, “so she reminds you of Midoriya-san as well?”

Aizawa noticed Six shift uncomfortably and look away but decided he honestly did not want to know.

“Oh, and you,” said Uraraka, spreading her hands to indicate Six, “are kind of like Aizawa-sensei!

“Except with more memes,” said Todoroki.

“Yeah, except with more memes,” agreed Uraraka.

Six faked a cough into his fist. “Anyway, I think that’s everything… No, wait. Hawks.”

“Hawks,” repeated Aizawa.

“Yeah. We’re pretty sure he was raised and conditioned to be a slave for the commission from a very young age.” Another pause. Six turned to face Todoroki. “Also, Dabi is probably your dead older brother, Todoroki Touya.”

“Oh,” said Todoroki.

“What,” said Aizawa.

“We’d just like someone in a position to do things with this information to have it. Even if we were sure Nine would retain all this, he, ah. The commission is doing a very good job of trashing his reputation.”

“Is this revenge?” whispered Todoroki. “Did I push Midoriya too far?”

“Kid, you could beat Nine up on a weekly basis for ten years, and he’d still barely think of revenge. Come on, I need to take you guys to Five.”

Barely, he said. Meaning, he did think about revenge. They had to get out of here fast; Bakugo’s life was in danger.

There were lives in danger. A simple robbery wouldn’t require this kind of setup. These three needed hostages for some reason.

Or… Izuku traced the direction the three villains kept looking to the college student in the corner. The young woman’s clothing was high quality, and she looked vaguely familiar.

He couldn’t help but be exasperated. Shigaraki Tomura was running around out there somewhere, and these guys were doing… whatever this was. Causing problems. He and Toshinori would have to try and evade Hawks after this.

But exasperation wasn’t going to keep these people safe.

Eagle-head looked like the leader at first glance, but on closer inspection, he was taking cues from the man with the squared-off fingers. The man with the round neck seemed to have a body expansion quirk of some type, possibly similar to Kendo’s, considering how his joints pulsed and how his clothing was designed with extra folds.

… He’d shown Toshinori a catalogue with similar clothing, once. But Toshinori had said that the ill-fitting look added to his disguise.

In the tight confines of the bus, that would be dangerous. The best thing to do to him would be to throw him out when the bus came to a stop.

The quirk of the man with the square finger was a problem. It was probably an emitter type, rather than a transformation type. Something to do with his hands, perhaps?

Honestly, the best thing to do for all of them, at least with regards to the people on the bus, would be to toss them off and then get the driver to gun it. But then, what about people on the street? These guys didn’t have any scruple against taking hostages, obviously.

“Hey, you, hand over the briefcase,” said the man with the round neck.

Izuku glanced at Toshinori, who nodded. Coils of Blackwhip ran up and down his arms under the sleeves of his suit, much more controlled and complex than Izuku had managed to date.

Thanks for the help, Five.

He slammed the briefcase into the eagle-headed man’s beak. Toshinori hadn’t skimped on anything when stocking the hideout, and the metal made immensely satisfying contact with bone. Blackwhip shot out from near his elbow—like Sero—and wrapped around the hands of the gunmen, forcing their aim down.

The man with square fingers reacted first, raising his hand. Each fingertip emitted a flat, square pane that traveled in a straight line and got progressive larger. Izuku pulled, slamming the man into the back of his own shield, because really, that was too slow, and how similar was this quirk to Crust’s? Could the villain change the trajectory of his panels, or no?

Not the time.

The shield cracked as Izuku hit it from the other side, and Toshinori was throwing open the back door. The man with the expanding quirk—and it was an expanding quirk—seemed to finally realize what was happening, and lashed out, but Izuku was faster than he was. The spherical throat was evidently a weak point.

“Can you stop?” Izuku asked the bus driver, who, tense as he was, slammed down on the brakes, making Izuku stumble. He hauled the villains off the bus, Toshinori hopping off the back with the eagle-headed man a moment later.

Well, that had happened.

Izuku caught a flash of very distinctive red out of the corner of his eye.

Six stopped. “That isn’t good,” he said, looking slightly up. There was nothing there that Aizawa could see, except for a collection of pipes. They were travelling through a series of underground concrete passages in an effort to find ‘Five.’

“What is it?” asked Uraraka.

Six’s form abruptly flickered and vanished. Oh, that couldn’t be good.

“Sensei.”

Aizawa turned to see Midoriya standing behind them, wearing a truly godawful pinstriped suit. He held his right wrist in his left hand, an odd bracer wrapped around it.

“Is that the Full Gauntlet?” asked Uraraka. “Why-?”

Midoriya flashed a quick smile in her direction. “I’m sorry, sensei, this is really last minute, but I need you to tell me how to use your quirk.”

We absolutely can’t strike first.

They wanted to. They knew this would turn into a battle. The first strike was an advantage they couldn’t discount.

Win the battle and lose the war.

He could see the cell phones already out, held bystanders not quite broken from the habits gained in All Might’s era. Even with the Hero Commission already slandering him, this would affect the narrative. If he ever hoped to be welcomed back to hero society, or even the public’s good graces, in any way shape or form, he could not be seen starting a fight with a hero. Much less the current number two hero.

“I don’t suppose you’ll make my job easier and release All Might from your mind-control quirk,” said Hawks, tone conversational despite the fact he was standing at least two stories above them in the air.

“I don’t have a mind-control quirk,” said Izuku, reaching up to the knot of his tie.

“And I’m not being mind-controlled,” said Toshinori, loosening his mask.

Hawks actually paused. “Oh my gosh,” he said, raising one hand to his mouth like a scandalized housewife, “I didn’t realize that was you! What happened to your hair?”

“I… cut it off.”

“That’s, uh.” Hawks quickly regained control of his expression. “Terrible that this villain made you do that.”

Hawks’ heart wasn’t entirely in this apparently.

Just as apparently, that had no bearing on what Hawks was actually going to do.

“You’ve seen me use my quirk,” said Aizawa.

“I know, and that’ll be helpful, too, but how do you use it? What’s the feeling you get when you use it? How do you activate it? What’s the internal mechanism? This is important.”

“Why?” asked Iida. “What’s going on Midoriya?”

“It’s—” Midoriya’s form flickered. He took a deep breath. He was now wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants. “I’m in a fight right now, and it would be useful,” he reported, calmly.

“Please tell me it isn’t with my mind-controlled unconscious body,” begged Aizawa, “or the League of Villains.”

“It isn’t.”

Thank goodness.

“I’m fighting Hawks.”

Why.

No, ask questions later. The Problem Child needed help now. To fight the number two hero.

He didn’t know how knowledge about his quirk could be useful in a fight against Hawks, but the claim was far, far too stupid to be a lie.

“When I turn on my quirk, I—”

Blackwhip unfurled from his arms like a dark version of Shouji’s quirk, tearing his sleeves to shreds and dislodging the feathers that had been imbedded there. The ends wrapped around feather after feather, splitting into dozens and dozens of pseudo-arms. Izuku was amazed.

Someday, he would be able to do this on his own.

For now—

For now, he was fighting Hawks, who had trained since childhood to fight on behalf of the commission.

For now, he was a hero student, with only a few months of practical experience.

For now, he was a fugitive, on the run and desperate.

For now, he was host and member of One for All, and collectively they had been heroes for over a hundred years.

And Toshinori had his back.

They wrapped the silk tie around his knuckles. Any protection for the bones in his hands was valuable. In the other, they adjusted the briefcase. They had only rarely used weapons in the last hundred or so years. Usually, their quirks made weapons overkill.

But before that—Before that, things were different. For a while, One and Two had used swords, of all things.

This battle was much more even than it looked.

Their victory condition: Escape with Toshinori.

Their failure conditions: Civilian injury, serious injury to Izuku or Toshinori, or capture of either Izuku or Toshinori.

To avoid the first point of failure, it was best for them to get away from the vulnerable civilians. They didn’t want to give away float so soon in the game, so…

They grabbed the edge of a building with Blackwhip and launched Izuku upwards, flinging feathers away from him. Toshinori would follow and provide the group with a second perspective.

Hawks did not expect to be joined in the air. An incredulous smile graced his lips. Izuku smiled back and catapulted himself directly into Hawks.

“You know,” he said, “I think that’s the first time I’ve seen you smile for real!”

“What?” asked Hawks, startled. He wasn’t one to have meaningful conversations with people he was supposed to bring in, but a statement like that had to be responded to.

Even if most of his attention was on the quirk that Midoriya controlled with much more proficiency than indicated by his school records. The kid was good, had good instincts when it came to battle, but he wasn’t quite fast enough to get past Hawks’s guard, or to really close the distance between them.

“Your smile!” said Midoriya. “When I was younger, I didn’t realize it, but once I knew the truth behind All Might’s smile, I understood!”

“Did you, now?” asked Hawks.

“Underneath,” said Midoriya, “your face is a lot like Todoroki’s! It’s—”

Conversation during a battle was usually a distraction, to the person employing it as a tactic as well as the target. Somehow, though, Midoriya was subverting that rule.

“It’s actually really sad!” exclaimed Midoriya, breathless, but apparently genuine, not mocking. “Who hurt you?”

“Heh,” said Hawks. This kid knew. How? “Shouldn’t I be the one asking questions here?”

“Gotta hand it to the commission, they really did a number on you,” said Midoriya, briefly touching down on a rooftop. “Why do you keep doing their dirty work for them?”

He was using that second quirk, but not his strength. Was it a matter of ‘won’t’ or ‘can’t?’ Either way, it was something to keep an eye on.

“Why don’t you—” Hawks briefly managed to pin Midoriya by the edge of his jacket, but the boy tore free easily. “—fly free?”

“You’re one to talk,” said Hawks. “What did you trade to All for One for those quirks?” He didn’t actually believe Midoriya was in league with All for One. Even tangentially, through proxies, they’d been at odds too many times, not to mention the videos he’d been shown by the commission of Midoriya and All Might interacting. The connection there couldn’t be faked.

He’d know. He’d tried so many times.

(Was trying now, with the League of Villains.)

(Midoriya wasn’t one of them.)

But he had a job to do.

Besides. Even he had to admit the commission had a point. The quirks had to come from somewhere.

(Just because Midoriya didn’t willingly associate with All for One didn’t mean he hadn’t been forced. Didn’t mean he hadn’t gotten out.)

(All Might was protecting him. How did they know each other?)

“Wouldn’t you take any hand offered to you if the person behind it offered to make you what you always wanted to be?”

Midoriya tilted his head to one side. “Nope!” he responded, cheerfully.

On the street below, Toshinori coughed, blood splattering his sleeve. What had Izuku been doing when he was younger, to get involved with so many dangerous and disturbing people?

It wasn’t my fault!

Kid really is a trouble magnet.

Oh, heck, I think I recognized that one—

Really, with that sharp mind, and Izuku’s propensity for both curiosity, helpfulness, and, well, finding trouble, it was a miracle he’d stayed alive for so long.

Wouldn’t call it a miracle, sonny—

HAHA I can’t believe he thought that was a dream.

In his defense, a dream makes more sense than—

Guys. Focus, please?

Yes. This was not the time to discuss… that. Now… Well. Toshinori had a role he could play in this battle, even as he was, and—

Hawks and Izuku’s path over the rooftops mapped itself out in his mind.

Oh, no.

Izuku wasn’t evading Hawks.

He was being herded by him.

They tucked and rolled across the pavement, Blackwhip cocooning them and breaking their fall. This was significantly more than what Five, what Daigoro, could use back when he was alive. It took everyone’s efforts to keep everything going.

Wait for it, they reminded themselves, bouncing back to Izuku’s feet.

Izuku looked up. This… was not a good position. Hawks had forced them into the entertainment district. They couldn’t trust that the fancy facades and art instalations of the buildings would hold up to Blackwhip. Not to mention, in places like this… He glanced around.

Fourth Kind.

Kesagiriman.

Slugger.

Death Arms.

There would be more, soon. This was… less than good. Maybe they should just grab Toshinori’s body and launch themselves with Blackwhip and Float, as far as they could. They’d lose a lot of their advantage on Hawks, but at least then they wouldn’t be fighting five different heroes.

Izuku gritted his teeth in something like a smile. Five different heroes. Well. Nine on five wasn’t bad odds.

Suzuku pulled himself along the ground, trembling. He had been falling for—for ages by the time that witch woman had disappeared. Why she had disappeared, he couldn’t guess, but…

Falling.

So much falling.

And hitting the ground again, and again, and again.

You invaded our minds, said the woman, don’t complain when we counter with something psychological as well.

Something like a laugh bubbled up from his throat.

You can leave whenever you want, can’t you?

He’d show her. He’d show her and find all her secrets. Just see if he didn’t.

Fourth Kind, Kesagiriman, Slugger, and Death Arms all had very physical, straightforward quirks. Out of all of them, though, Death Arms was probably the most problematic, followed by Slugger and his long-range attacks.

None of them held a candle to Hawks, of course. Which was the reason why Death Arms in particular was so problematic.

In order to deal with Hawks’s feathers, they needed Blackwhip. But using Blackwhip and One for All’s signature superstrength at the same time wasn’t something Izuku’s body was used to. They were limiting it to small bursts. Death Arms’ own physical enhancement quirk, while miniscule compared to One for All’s current stature, was nothing to sneer at.

If Death Arms—or any of the other heroes—landed a solid blow, that could be it for Izuku.

They refused to be locked away again.

That’s when it happened.

A scene played across Izuku’s inner eye:

A frosty morning. A little boy with dark hair. A farewell. Tears.

He flubbed the landing and a sharp pain lanced through his ankle. Blackwhip wrapped it, giving it much needed support.

He started to rise, only to drop to avoid one of Slugger’s patented Home Run Pitches (tm).

The ball spun, ricocheting off the stainless steel of an art installation before drilling right through a wooden beam on a bit of scaffolding holding up part of a building that was being refurbished. Izuku let out a breath of relief (there were still people around who hadn’t learned how to run away from a dangerous fight) before they returned to the dance with Hawks’s impressively huge number of feathers.

Blackwhip could keep up with them, barely, but Izuku was tiring. He couldn’t take much more of this.

He needed an opening to get to Toshi—

Another scene:

She couldn’t be pregnant. Not now. Not right after giving away another. The next time Sorahiko suggested drowning her troubles in sake, she was going to shove it straight up his blowholes, no matter that he was probably just as drunk as she was.

This slip almost resulted in Izuku getting his face punched in by Death Arms. Considering what he’d just learned, he’d almost welcome that fate, if it made him forget. Plus, it might have been funny for the ultimate battle of ultimate destiny, the show down between One for All and All for One, to take place between not one, but two potato-headed individuals—

There was a sharp crack from above as the damage Death Arms had done to the scaffolding made itself known.

Izuku didn’t have to think before moving.

“Alright,” said Midoriya. “I think I’ve got it. Thank you, sensei.” He looked young, now. Barely primary school age.

“I’d feel a lot better,” said Aizawa, “if I knew what you needed this information for.”

“Oh! That’s simple. You see, it’s my theory that the overlap in mechanisms between my quirk and Saito-san’s might allow for interesting emergent behaviors. Specifically, her quirk bridges a gap I’d normally have no way of crossing, although there’s certainly drawbacks. It’s like what we tried earlier, when I asked you to use your quirk. Although, I am hoping for different results than what I was looking for back then. I think, with what you’ve given me, and this processing time… Yes, this should work.” He clenched a fist. “These remnants—I can use them!”

Remnants. Vestiges.

Aizawa frowned. Something… something wasn’t right, here. The explanation Six had given them…

“Just keep going this way, for now. Six will try to get back to you as soon as possible. I have to go now! I love you guys!”

He then faded out. While waving.

“Wow,” said Uraraka. “Izuku-kun sure was a cute kid.”

Aizawa couldn’t argue with that.

“Aizawa-sensei,” said Todoroki. “You’re blushing.”

He wouldn’t lower himself to argue with that. “This conversation is illogical. Let’s go.”

“Sensei is weak to little kids,” observed Todoroki.

And if they ever discovered they could remove the ‘little’ in that sentence and have it still be accurate, he’d never live it down.

Hawks saw the eyes first, shining through the dust like two perfect green coins. Then every one of his feathers went dead, and he started to fall.

Sensation returned just in time for him to avoid hitting the ground at speed and, just as quickly, vanished again.

A breeze blew cleared the dust away.

Midoriya Izuku stood under the collapsed scaffolding, holding it up with black tendrils and sparking green arms. If this scene had been all that there was, an observer might be forgiven for wondering why he was holding up the scaffolding like that.

But Hawks knew. If Midoriya hadn’t caught the scaffolding, even he wouldn’t have been able to get those civilians out from underneath it in time. He glanced to the side, where the almost victims were standing up. Normally, he’d just trust his feathers, but…

“Is that Eraserhead’s quirk?”

“Don’t worry, I asked Eraserhead-sensei for permission, first.”

“What kind of monster—” started Death Arms.

“Don’t you dare, Mister ‘my quirk isn’t suitable.’” Midoriya shifted the scaffolding to one side and shrugged himself out from underneath it. “As heroes, aren’t you supposed to consider the civilians around you?” He laughed. “I guess we’re still a little bitter about that.”

Izuku was putting on a good show, but he was reaching the end of his endurance. Plus, he could already hear the sirens of police cars and the exclamations that followed large groups of heroes on the move.

Good thing, then, that Toshinori was about to round the corner in three… two… one… There!

To an outsider, Blackwhip wrapping around Toshinori probably looked violent. In reality, everyone operating the quirk was intimately aware of everything wrong with Toshinori’s body and did not want to add to his problems. They could have probably grabbed an egg like this.

Grabbing the newly-exposed concrete and rebar of the building behind Izuku, they launched themselves up. At the top of their arc, they activated Float. Blackwhip reeled Toshinori in, and they held onto each other as Izuku prepared to use air pressure to launch themselves forward.

He hadn’t blinked yet.

His eyes really hurt.

(And so did everything else.)

He aimed and kicked against the air, sending them soaring away.

They had escaped.

Tomura ducked behind the wall at the top of the building, glad that his party had put so many points into stealth, because he was not touching what had just happened with a ten-foot pole. He’d rather be shot again. He’d rather fight Machia for a week straight with no rest breaks. He’d rather listen to Sensei try to give him the birds and the bees talk.

What was that? Huh? What kind of a broken character build allowed for that kind of combat ability? The mods had to be asleep. If he were in charge, he’d nerf it, pronto.

That was a lie. He’d take it for himself.

Still.

“Uh, Shigaraki? Boss man? You okay there?” asked Spinner.

“No,” decided Shigaraki.

Suddenly, making all of them jump, Toga squealed. “Did you see him? Did you see Izuku-kun? He was so cute with his nose bleeding like that!”

“Hey,” said Dabi, “are we going after the green kid or what?”

“No,” decided Shigaraki, for the second time in as many minutes. And then, “Gimme the phone. We need to call the doctor to get us out of here.”

They did, but that was pretty much secondary to his primary objective, which was to cuss out the doctor concerning the cursed knowledge that was currently trying to escape his skull with a pickaxe.

“Um,” said Inko. “Aren’t you going to get that?” She pointed at the phone that had been buzzing on the table for the past several minutes.

“No,” said Garaki, pretending to sip at his tea. “You were saying?”

#bnha #boku no hero academia #fic #fanfic #long night in the valley

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dsoe-masteroftheheavenlyyard · 3 years

Text

Chapter 6–Not Eve; Scene 5

master of the heavenly yard pages 156-168

Once they arrived in Beelzenia, Allen and Nemesis were stunned at the scenery before them.

“That’s—a ‘Blackbox’!?”

The wreckage of the enormous device lay tumbled over the ground.

And an even larger skeleton giant was sleeping with it as a pillow, letting out thunderous snores.

“Er, and that is—”

“The ‘Worldeater’, Allen. One of the dead soldiers that serve Banica. And…a former forest spirit.”

“I see, so that’s Worldeater. This is my first time seeing him in person. I didn’t realize he’d be this big--Oop, looks like he’s waking up.”

The Worldeater sat up and looked at Allen and Nemesis.

“…Who’re you? Yer voices are a jumbling racket in my ears.”

Allen unthinkingly took a step back at that echoing boom of a voice.

“Long time no see, Eater,” Nemesis greeted the giant calmly.

“Ah!? …Do I know you?”

“—If I said I was Levia would that ring a bell?”

“Never heard of ya.”

“…So, you haven’t remembered that far, huh. Then—what about Elluka?”

“Hmph…Ah! Yer that sorceress! Ya look really different.”

“Well, you know how it is. –What on earth happened to this black box?” she asked while pointing at the remains of the ‘Blackbox’.

“This? It came here with some soldiers, so I crushed it. Lich told me to.”

“So that means…you aren’t a soul either.”

“I’m a dead soldier. I have been since before the world got blew up. …I mean, my body did get all scattered for a bit, but Lich made me a new one with mud.”

“And where is Lich now?”

“He’s in the mansion with Lady Banica and the others.”

“Could you show us inside?”

“Sure.”

Eater sluggishly stood up and started to walk.

“Let’s go with him,” Nemesis said as she began walking too. Allen followed behind her.

“…Despite his appearance he seems pretty docile,” Allen whispered to Nemesis as he looked up at Eater from behind.

“Eater’s a good kid. He’s just clumsy, and he’s never really had many friends. –Aside from Lich. The two of them were…childhood friends, so I’ve heard. More than that I can’t say.”

“I see…”

Eventually a red-walled mansion came into view.

--Banica Conchita was in the middle of eating, but when she saw Allen and Nemesis she stopped moving her fork.

“—You over there,” she said, pointing at Nemesis with her fork. “You look pretty hungry. …If you like, you should have some.”

Banica gripped a plate with food on it and hurled it at her.

Nemesis soundly caught it, and then looked at what was on it.

…On the plate was some sort of eight-legged animal, charred black.

“—I’ll have to decline. It’s an illusion, so it wouldn’t fill my stomach anyhow.”

“Oh? Shouldn’t you ought to stop thinking with common sense? The ‘Rules’ of this world have already widely diverged from the ones that you know—Isn’t that right, twin dragon god Levia?”

“…Huh. You could tell my real identity from only a glance.”

“It’s not me. Vlad, inside me, knows about you.”

Vlad—that was the name of the demon that was “eaten” by Banica.

Thanks to that deed, she herself had become the “Demon of Gluttony”. A rare being that was a “contractor” and a "demon” both—that was Banica.

“But my current appearance is different from the one Vlad knows,” Nemesis argued, and Banica’s brows slightly drew in.

“True. That body is the spitting image of your old apprentice, Gumillia…No, this kind of thing isn’t limited to just you two. As I have lived in the glass I have seen people with similar faces born through the ages countless times over. –The people of this world. There are surprisingly few patterns to their appearances. And now this happens.”

“…”

“And what’s more—you are, of course, the one who destroyed the world. But before you did, many bizarre changes were occurring throughout it. For example, the failure of the rule regarding one’s inherited genetics. The father of the physical body you inhabit was Marlon, and your mother was Jakokuan, correct?”

“Yet I was born with green hair…a feature of the Elphe people.”

“You having that appearance is two inexplicable events in one. …We, each having memories as a crewmember of the ‘Climb One’, need to treat this quite a bit more seriously—don’t you think so?”

Nemesis tossed the plate of food off to the side, her expression severe.

“What are you trying to say?”

“This world is not the one that the ‘gods’ were once trying to create. –To my eyes it looks far more incomplete than that. It’s full of peculiarities…But the people of this world don’t think anything of it. For, having known no other world, these things are common sense to them.”

Banica gave a somewhat lonely smile.

“My servants…Arte and Pollo are the same way. The two of them are the ‘Twins of God’, and yet they are still only beings that were born in this world. So it’s quite fortunate that I was able to meet Lich and Eater. However…I would like to let Arte and Pollo know of the world outside this too, if I can—That’s how what I’ve started to think lately.”

“…I don’t much care for this. You’re talking as though you yourself are one of the ‘gods’. You may have Vlad’s memories, but you’re still little more than a resident of the ‘Third Period’, Banica.”

“If you’re going make that claim, that applies to you as well, doesn’t it? You may have originally been a ‘god’, but currently you are a mere human. Aside from being ageless you have no other redeeming features.”

Allen could sense a hostile air between the two of them.

Perhaps it was best to change the subject before this escalated to a brawl.

“We saw that the Tasan army attacked here too,” he cut in, speaking to Banica.

“Indeed. Lich and Eater came back to help me. As you can expect it was a bit much to bear for Arte and Pollo alone to take on the might of their forces.”

…Conversely, from the looks of things those two had managed to repel both the army and the “Blackbox” all on their own.

“Where is Mr. Lich now?”

“Do you have some business with him? I’ll call him over.”

Banica clapped her hands and a man immediately came out from an interior room.

“You summoned me, Lady Banica?”

“This boy wishes to speak with you,” she said, pointing at Allen.

“Oh my…Well well.” Lich gave a smile of satisfaction. “So now Allen Avadonia has made his debut. And—with Levia along. Today is quite a bustling one, hm.”

“Mr. Lich, and Lady Banica. You both once lived in the theater in the forest for a time. Do you know of where its former residents are now?”

Lich and Banica shared a look, appearing to be signaling something to each other. Eventually Lich nodded to Banica, and then replied, “The ‘Doll Director’, ‘Gardener’, and ‘Gear’ are all still residing in the theater. The ‘Master of the Graveyard’—in other words, Lady Banica—is right before you now. As for the ‘Sorceress of Time’ and the ‘Waiter’…That we don’t know.”

“They haven’t visited or--?”

“No.”

“…I see.”

Allen knew that Riliane had been called the “Waiter” in the theater.

I guess even here there’s no clues on Riliane.

His shoulders slumped.

“Is that all you needed? In that case—”

“Wait a second.” This time it was Nemesis who asked Lich a question. “Lich. What do you—intend to do now?”

“…I don’t know what you mean by that question.”

“What will you do with this world? You—experimented on Arth to make a mud human, didn’t you?”

“Ah…Ha ha, I did do that. That wound up being even more of a masterpiece than I had imagined. To think, I made him well enough to even have a child with a human—”

“You never could stand that it was Behemo who created the bodies for the humans in this world. And it’s because of your antagonism towards him, having once been your assistant, that even after becoming a spirit you continued to try to make a new race of humanity. You becoming Banica’s underling was also to research dead soldiers, wasn’t it?”

“…”

“But in the end you were never able to surpass Behemo. You were unable to make any new ‘works’ that were better than Arth.”

“…Did you just come here to mock me?”

The smile had left Lich’s face.

“That’s not my intention. Only—I just figured that our current situation might be the chance you’ve been waiting for.”

“What do you mean?”

“Everyone in the world has lost their physical bodies from ‘Punishment’. So if you were to prepare new bodies for all of them—”

“You’re saying I could become a ‘god’ of the new world. …Unfortunately I have no plan on doing that.”

“…”

“Certainly, I did once hold such aspirations…But I’ve come to enjoy serving Lady Banica far more than I had anticipated. I have lived in this world for many long years, but I have never found any other woman who holds as much appeal as she does. To just stay with Banica as I am now—I think I’d be satisfied with that outcome.”

“Huh…I see. –I’m relieved.”

“…?”

“If you were to try to become a ‘god’, I’d want to stop you with all of my might.”

“…Heheheh, sounds just like you.”

Appearing to grow bored of their conversation, Banica abruptly stood up from her chair.

“Is the talk concluded? –Then shall we head out now?”

She once more clapped her hands.

This time her twin servants came racing out from further in.

“You called us!?”

“Lady Banica!”

“What’s your report, Arte, Pollo?”

Between the twins it was the boy—Pollo—who spoke first. “Right, we have soundly finished torturing the captured Tasan soldiers! They’ve said that ‘Evils Theater’ is still floating as it was before, in the same spot.”

“I see—then let’s head over there.”

Allen walked up to the other servant…Arte, and spoke to her in a low voice. “—What’s going on, Ney?”

“…Ah!? You’re—Allen!? What are you doing here—”

“Well, let’s just leave that be for now…Do you really plan to go to ‘Evils Theater’?”

Allen had called Arte Ney; that was her other name.

Like Riliane, she was also a being that could reincarnate.

Once she was Gretel, another time she was Arte.

And…her name when she had worked in the Lucifenian palace alongside Allen had been Ney.

Arte looked a little shaken up, but she answered Allen’s question.

“…That’s right. Banica’s pretty ticked off that the ‘gardener’ that we’d thought of as being only good for doing odd jobs has been sending soldiers at us. So—”

“So you’re going to head over and get even with him yourself?”

Listening in on the both of them, Nemesis thoughtlessly let out a snicker. “My…That’s good to hear.” Then she turned to speak to Banica. “Banica Conchita! –Is it alright if I come along with you?”

“Goodness…Why?”

“I also have a bone to pick with Gammon.”

“—You’ll give us your divine assistance, huh? That doesn’t sound too bad. …Alright. Come with us.”

“Thanks for keeping the discussion brief.”

Banica lifted her hand into the air. When she did, all the surrounding walls, decorations, the table, and the meals laid out on top of it all vanished in an instant.

“I was getting tired of living in an illusory mansion anyway. …This is perfect. We’ll take over the theater and then make it our new home.”

Banica started to walk north, and Lich, Eater, Nemesis, Arte, and Pollo followed after her.

--But Arte quickly stopped and turned around.

And then, noticing Allen waving as though to see all of them off, she pulled back to his side.

“Allen…Aren’t you coming?”

“I have other business to take care of. –I have to find Riliane.”

“Riliane? Isn’t she in Lucifenia?”

“The same forces that came here also went to Lucifenia. Riliane escaped from them and went missing.”

“…I see. Do you have any leads?”

“I came here looking for some… Well, I guess I’ll try going around the whole Evillious region until I get a hint.”

On hearing that, Arte appeared to be pondering something.

“Hmm…Hey, Allen?”

“What is it?”

“I think you ought to come with us after all.”

“No, I just said that I—”

“I just remembered, with Riliane’s personality…You think she’ll just keep running away from the people targeting her forever?”

“…Ah.”

Not a chance.

--Ultimately Allen decided to join Banica’s troupe.

Believing that Riliane was also heading for their destination…

Their goal was “Evils Theater”.

At last, the time had come to settle the score.

<<prev------directory------next>>

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antihero-writings · 4 years

Text

Such Fragile Things (Ch2)

Fandom: Castlevania (Netflix)

Summary: Dracula thought love was gentle...but it is more piercing than any stake. He knows this best when his son is born (Ch1), and in his final moments (Ch2).

Character focus: Dracula and Alucard

Notes: I’ll also post this on my Castlevania blog @symphonyofthewrite if you want to check it out there!!

A huge thank you to everyone who commented and/or reblogged the first chapter!! <3 <3

Fair warning, this chapter is VERY different from chapter 1. So if you’re looking for more fuffy Tepes family adorableness...this chapter isn't that. (I absolutely do have more fluffy, cute Tepes family fics you could read though!!) This is a mirror fic, so rather than being a continuation or similar childhood story, this chapter is the mirror of ch1. I hope this chapter is still good, and worth reading, and personally I like it a lot, and find it very powerful...but it was also pretty heart wrenching.

**Major spoilers for S2 E7:"For Love"**

Chapter 2: His Father's Death

Dracula throws the golden man into wall, hard enough to break it, revealing the room on the other side.

Nails against the wood, against stone, footsteps merciless as a death toll, blood in the burning halls; Dracula is the monster from the stories after all.

He stalks into the room, his cloak furling behind him, seeking his prey. The kind of snarl only things not-quite-human-anymore make emanates from his throat.

The moment he crosses the threshold, that snarl morphs into a gasp, and, as if it were some magic barrier…everything looks different.

His cloak falls softly, quietly, like a hand on his shoulder.

This dhampir, this man, up until now has been Alucard. The reverse of him. The thing meant to destroy him and stop his war. A hunter of vampires that is himself a vampire—(or half of one at least). No, not a vampire hunter. Just Dracula’s hunter. All he has been is another thing in Dracula’s way.

But this thing sitting against the bed, failing to catch his breath, golden hair falling about his face…looks different.

A little boy is gasping, leaning on his wooden sword just to stay up.

“Father, do you think we can stop? I need a break.”

Vlad laughs, and the sound is warm. His hands fall to his sides and his smiles, stepping up to his son.

“Of course, Adrian.” He puts his hand on his shoulder/ruffles his hair. “You’ve done well today.

He is…so small.

This bed. A bookshelf. A wardrobe. A desk, with charts and maps. A basket of toys in the corner. All too small. Too dusty.

The window is letting too much light in.

On the wall, a painting of a family. Too happy.

…a boy, hurting, beneath the bed.

Not a hunter, or an annoyance, or an enemy. Not a mindless, heartless, thing. Not an other. Not a him or an it to be disposed of, but a living, breathing, thinking, hurting you.

A very specific you. A you with a name. A you with whom Dracula had shared so much of his life. A you who perhaps knew Vlad more than anymore else. Not a him or an it to be destroyed, a you that he needed so desperately to keep alive.

Not Alucard; the thing meant to destroy him.

Adrian.

“It’s your room.”

His fingers, a moment ago poised to claw at this man, curl gently into a fist, hiding his nails.

The rest of the castle was drenched in bloodshed. The rest of the castle was full of war. The rest of the castle had turned itself towards it’s master’s deeds, destroying itself in a pointless fight, just like him.

But not this room. He had protected this room from all the blood. He dare not bring it with him.

The heavens turn from hazardous red to delicate blue.

Both of them stare up into the stars. Not the real ones—though they are here to guide them too. The ones on the ceiling. The ones they played under, read under, the ones this golden man once dreamed under, the ones he used to learn their names and places in the sky when he was but a child. The rich blue like a spell, putting the warriors into a trance in the middle the battlefield.

—(But this isn’t the battlefield, and that’s why the war must stop here)—

The blood is clearing from Vlad’s view. It has been a long time since he’s seen the world without the blood.

The room has been empty for a while, but the boy it belongs to is here now.

And, in his proper place, all at once this golden man is that fragile thing again. That thing that could break if Vlad held him wrong. That thing Vlad, more than anything, wanted to keep alive, to protect, and who he would die for before he ever saw him get hurt.

Barely perceptible, Vlad is shaking.

His hands are no longer claws against the walls. He sees them for what ugly, monstrous things they are. Ugly, monstrous, because of what they’ve been doing. He crosses them over his chest, as if to cage them; as if trying to keep them from hurting anything, ever, anymore. As if to feel his own heartbeat, and remind himself there is still something living there.

This is the boy who he played cards, and chess, and swords with. This is the boy who asked about the myths in the stars, and the ones in our hearts. This is the boy who he bounced on his knee, and read to, and comforted when he cried, and on very special occasions sang to sleep.

“My boy.”

Adrian is trying to stand, and for a moment his father sees a tiny thing on wobbly legs reaching for his open arms.

“I-I’m killing my boy.”

Dracula steps to the painting—(though he can barely feel his feet)—where an echo of his wife sits on canvas, holding that infant golden thing.

He remembers her now. He wasn’t sure he did before.

“Lisa…I’m killing our boy.” His voice is soft and cracked and breakable itself. “We painted this room. We…made these toys…”

He was never one for sentiment, never grew attached to objects…but as he looks around at this room, and the things in it, those moments are flickering through his mind now—(is this what they mean when they say one’s life flashes before your eyes? Had he really forgotten so much? Had he really forgotten what life was?)—and the blood seems so obscene now.

Not in front of Adrian.

“It’s our boy, Lisa.”

With an exhale Alucard gets up, and it sounds like the world being crushed into a fine powder. The motion is not gentle…it comes with a cracking and all-too clear purpose, and now his steps are as calculated and foreboding as Dracula’s were moments ago.

Vlad’s hands are now too dangerous to let sit at his sides, so he uses them to cover his eyes…to hide his pain from the world, to hide the world from his pain. A feeble defense against the pointed intention in his son’s own dangerous hands. Playing peekaboo one last time.

“Your greatest gift to me. And I’m killing him.”

He hears Adrian’s breath very close to him, but it is not that of a beast ready to pounce, it is heavy, like the world is sitting on his chest.

He takes his claws from his eyes to look into his son’s face.

Vlad laughs, and the sound is cold.

“You mean to stake me?”

“You want me to.”

“What?”

“You didn’t kill me before. You’re not going to kill me now. You want this to end as much as I do.”

“Do I?!”

“You died when my mother died. You know you did. This entire catastrophe has been nothing but history’s longest suicide note.”

And if he could hurt this boy—Adrian—who he loved more than anything, then:

“I must already be dead.”

Adrian’s eyes are not full of malice. He is not like anyone else that would try to kill the vampire king. Anyone else’s eyes would not be soft; they would be solid and still, pointed and gleaming with with hunger and hate. Anyone else wouldn’t hesitate, wouldn’t be gentle.

Even now, Adrian’s eyes are still full of sunlight; trembling, rippling, ripping sunlight.

It is not fear, nor anger that makes his eyes shudder. It is heartbreak. Imminent heartbreak.

Because he wishes he could save him. Because he knows he cannot.

His heart has been aching for a very long time, slowly coming apart, and it is about to shatter. This golden man is about to split his own chest for the sake of saving the world.

Once upon a time all the stories they told him ended happily, and families stayed together, and no one ever died. His heart must fracture, for he knows their own cannot.

How could Dracula ever try to take that sunlight from the world, when Lisa had brought it down to him from her place in the sky? He’d traveled the world in search of the sun...but his sunlight was right here…and if he couldn’t see that then…

He closes his eyes. He opens them. A silent ask. A silent answer. They both know.

Alucard steps closer. And it is not to hold him tight—(no matter how much he they both wish he could just wrap his arms around him and cry, like long ago, and understand that after the rain everything would be better).

Now Dracula is the fragile thing. And they both know what he must do.

He is trying to be gentle. For love is the only thing that can be harsh in the kindest word, and gentle in the cruelest stroke.

That horrible cracking, crackling, squelching sound. Red drips from his chest along the golden man’s sleeve.

It isn’t death, really. It is mercy. Mercy on humanity. Mercy on Vlad himself. Death had already administered its kiss when Lisa died. And in his undead state Dracula had tried to spread that death to everything and everywhere else, in the world’s most exorbitant suicide note.

“Son.” The word is soft, rasping; the wind in a hollow house.

“Father.” The word is a broken plea; the sun on the abandoned floorboards and dolls, wishing it could illuminate the family that once lived there instead—

And this hurts, yes, but even so, it is the love behind it that is more piercing than any stake.

Love has never been breakable. Love is what does the breaking.

There is something defiant in Alucard’s eyes as he drives it in farther.

His heartbeat fills the room.

And, after much bending, the stake bores through, and the mirror breaks.

—(And for a moment Adrian could have sworn the sound came from his chest)—

Dracula does not burst into flame. Death, for him, is not an explosive show. It is soft whispers: he turns slowly to ashes, without any burn.

Vlad wants to wrap his arms around this small, precious, golden thing one last time. To say goodbye.

Adrian never looked at his father like a monster before, never backed away from his touch, but Dracula could swear the fear in his eyes now—(a little boy hiding from the thunder)—is the only reason the breath is leaving his chest.

Adrian is so, so tiny. (And after everything, he cannot bring himself to deliver the last stroke.)

Dracula’s last thought, the sonnet of a dying monster, is not a curse, or a threat, but something very gentle indeed.

Lisa, Adrian…I’m so sorry.

The only thing left of him is a wedding ring.

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laserdog10 · 4 years

Text

Personal Questionnaire

So before y’all read this, it’s a little something from Deviantart that @carlottastudios made after a friend tagged her with a set of questions, now I’m answering her set of questions after she tagged me! This is just a personal I thought’d answer hear since idk how to use DA well at all yet, but without further ado time for questions!

---

Q1: How is your day going? A1: Very chill, wanted to write today but I got too caught up playing video games since this morning.

Q2: If your eyes could look however you wanted them to, what would they look? I’m not just talking eye color, I’m also talking sclera color, pupil size, eye shape and size, and even number of your eyes. A2: Tough one...if I had to, I’d choose between either teal eyes with a slit, red pupil so I can look like some Aztec demigod, or black sclera with red eyes and slit pupil, that way when I look at people when I’m pissed off, that’s their first warning to “Run the other fucking direction or I’ll bury you six feet under...”

Q3: If you could choose to be hugged by a giant fluffy sabretooth tiger or by 50 kittens, which would you choose? A3: Why...why would you put this, this impossible to choose from, BOTH ARE AMAZING SUGGESTIONS!!! IT’S ONE GIANT FLUFFY BABY VERSUS MANY SMALL FLUFFY BABIES! Uuuuugh, fine, I’d have to go with 50 kittens, I’d give the other option to one of my OCs since her boyfriend can turn into a sabertooth tiger.

Q4: How many OCs do you have? And I mean OCs as in you’ve made for certain franchises, not completely original characters whose stories take place in an original world of your making. I mean OCs for, say, shows like Storm Hawks or Voltron or RWBY or book series like Wings of Fire or Harry Potter and so on. How many OCs like that do you have? A4: Thank for specifying else this post would’ve been so much effing longer than it should have. So, for RWBY I have 36 OCs as in RWBabies, as in completely original OCs I wanna say that’s an additional 15-30 I think? For Voltron I have 5 Palakids, 5 antagonist OCs, and 1 more OC. I actually forgot how many OCs I had for my book series I love, but we’ll say it was a lot!

Q5: Who is your favorite official Disney Princess? A5: A bit of a tie between Rapunzel from Tangled, Tiana from Princess and the Frog, and Merida from Brave. Rapunzel for her journey of discovering herself and the outside world, Tiana for her overall personality, and Merida for being an funny badass angry Scottish girl breaking the norm of all Princess’ have a “Prince Charming” to save them.

Q6: Who is your favorite unofficial Disney Princess? I mean female Disney characters like Meg or Esmerelda who aren’t official Disney princesses but should be. A6: I liked Frozen when it came out and I just learned that Anna and Elsa are NOT official Disney princesses. I like Elsa since she’s a badass queen with ice magic and Anna because she’s an entire dork with half a brain cell but a heart of gold.

Q7: Do you know any 2D animated movies that are very similar to Disney but aren’t actually Disney? A7: Prince of Egypt and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas definitely come to mind!!!

Q8: Out of the movies you named in the last question, which would you say is your favorite? A8: Sinbad, hands down. Name one badass that went through hell on the open seas with his crew of badass morons, a girl who could kick everyone’s asses, and dog underrated in media to this day, I’ll wait.

Q9: Do you have any crossover ships? A9: Not really but Jack Frost x Elsa seems very fuckin’ cute and I would ship it harder if they interacted!

Q10: Do you have any OC x Canon ships? If so, PLEASE TELL ME NOW! SHARE THE OC X CANON GOODNESS! A10: Cinder Fall x Vlad Caliban. Where do I even begin with them? That I like the idea of someone as cruel as Cinder mellowing out thanks to a man who’s been through a similar hell as her, and they’re trying to fill in the broken pieces of their soul? That I think Cinder deserves to be redeemed and I made an OC that hopelessly hopes to help her and gives her a reason to turn her life around? That I love the dynamic of this gorgeous woman being married to guy who looks like he’s edgier than a razor blade but is actually softer than any known Egyptian cotton and sweeter than a cinnamon roll? I’d go on but you get the picture!

Q11: This is a rather deep question, so I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable; have you ever gone to see a therapist or psychiatrist? A11: No, surprisingly enough! I don’t think I have any major issues that need to be sorted out, and I’ve made peace with the minor issues and demons in me, but I wouldn’t mind seeing one if that makes sense?

Q12: What did you have for breakfast this morning? A12: French Toast Sticks!!! X3

Q13: Do you have any ideas for completely original content? Like do you have any ideas for a book series or a video game franchise or a movie or a comic or whatever? A13: My dude, my gal, my buddy, my friend, my home slice, bread slice, buddy chum chum pal amigo, DAWG...you have no idea how goddamn DEEP this question goes. I’ve had several ideas since middle school, several entire WORLDS of OCs with lore, creatures, magic and superpowers, and of course pairings, the whole motherfucking sha-BANG. Since I don’t have to go into mega details for this, I’ll just name all the worlds I have and talk about them some other time:

My Cyber Life

The Underscream City

Poison City

Life of a Shinigami

Land of the Ruin

Crown of Thorns

Code of Vampyrism

These may never see the light of day or be drawn about since I can’t draw for shit lol, but I’ll be glad to talk about these whenever anyone would like to.

Aaaaaand that concludes the questionnaire! Thank you all so much for reading and thank you Carlotta for sending it to me (albeit on a different web platform)!

#personal #cool shit #funny shit

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ebaeschnbliah · 5 years

Text

SCANDINAVIAN REFERENCES

________________________________________________________________

In Sherlock BBC - and also a little bit outside of it

While writing on DISTRACTION & CONSEQUENCES and CABIN ON THE MEADOW, involving Phil with his ‘explosive’ car and the Hiker with the bashed-in head, I couldn’t fail to notice that Phil’s unmoving car is a SAAB … which is a Swedish brand.

According to the informations given during the promotion campaingn for the Escapre Room, TheGameIsNow, Sherlock lives currently in Sweden. Since these aren’t the only occasions where Scandinavian regions are mentioned in Sherlock BBC, the suspicion inevitably arose that those references could be of some importance. Reason enough to make another little list. :)

TBC below the cut ….

Short definition of Scandinavia

The term Scandinavia in local usage covers the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

In English usage, Scandinavia also sometimes refers to the Scandinavian Peninsula, or to the broader region including Finland and Iceland. x

A Scandal in Belgravia

As mentioned above, Phil’s immobile car, which ‘explodes’ and thus distracts the Hiker who, as a consequence, is killed by his own boomerang, is of the Swedish brand SAAB.

The Empty Hearse

Mr. Howard Shilcott, the ‘train guy (and mirror for Sherlock), possesses important informations about the Underground station at Sumatra Road, which once was built but then closed before it ever opened. He wears a ‘funny hat with earflaps’ made of Islandic sheep wool. That hat becomes an object of significance when Sherlock invites his brother to play deductions with him, just like in the old days.

MYCROFT: The earlier patches are extensively sun-bleached, so he’s worn it abroad – in Peru. SHERLOCK: Peru? MYCROFT: This is a chullo – the classic headgear of the Andes. It’s made of alpaca. SHERLOCK: No. MYCROFT: No? SHERLOCK: Icelandic sheep wool. Similar, but very distinctive if you know what you’re looking for. I’ve written a blog on the varying tensile strengths of different natural fibres.

His Last Vow

The main villain of this episode is designed after Doyle’s British character Charles Augustus Milverton. For some reason, in this adaptation, name and origin of the man have been changed into Charles Augustus Magnussen, who is now from Denmark. The fact that he is ‘foreign’ is driven home explicitly right at the beginning of the episode by the dialogue as well as the accent of the man, who is played by Danish actor Lars Mikkelsen.

GARVIE: Do you think it right that a newspaper proprietor, a private individual and, in fact, a foreign national should have such regular access to our Prime Minister? MAGNUSSEN: I don’t think it’s wrong that a private individual should accept an invitation. However, you have my sincere apologies for being foreign.

The Six Thatchers

Mr. Kingsley, a client, thinks that Sherlock’s deductions, once explained, are actually dead simple. Highly annoyed, Sherlock spontaneously invents a ludicrous story and tells the shocked man that his wife is actually Greta Bengtsdotter, Swedish by birth and the most dangerous spy in the world. She secretly works for none other than James Moriarty and uses her unsuspecting husband as cover to hide her true intentions which will finally precipitate in World War III.

The first location Mary visits on her hiatus is Norddal in Norway. That’s a small place (ca. 1660 inhabitants) deep inside the Storfjord. Here she picks up a fake passport hidden inside the stonewall of a coastal watchtower. Her new name, Gabrielle Ashdown, is taken from TPLOSH, where Holmes chooses the pseudonym ‘Mr. and Mrs. Ashdown’ for himself and Gabrielle Valladon, the woman who consulted him in the case of her missing husband but is actually Ilse von Hofmannsthal, a German spy who pretends to be Mrs. Valladon.

The Final Problem

One of the very last scenes of this episode shows a man dressed as Viking, including the (cliched) horned helmet. He lies motionless on the floor in the livingroom of 221b Baker Street (played by Paul Weller). John bends over him and examines his left eye.

Vikings were highly skilled Norse seafarers who raided and pillaged (like pirates) with their infamous longboats (also well known as dragonboats). They acted as mercenaries but also as merchants, who traded goods across wide areas of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, European Russia and the North Atlantic islands. Some of them even reached the North-Eastern coast of North America. (X)

That Viking is not the only character in this story who ‘wears horns’. Furthermore, cow horns are also connected to the eye-goddess Hathor, whose other, dangerous side is represented by lioness goddess Sekhmet.

The way this Viking lays there … one leg sharply angled at the knee, the foot shoved beneath the other, outstretched leg and both arms straight beside his torso … it’s a bit odd and strangely reminds me of the ‘dancing men’ drawn on the blackboard in the shot displayed immediately before this one. It almost looks like the way this man lies there could have some meaning.

And something else comes to mind: the way John bends over the Viking stunningly resembles the scene from Magnussen’s office in HLV, when Sherlock got shot by Mary. One could even say, there are three potential ‘pirates’ gathered in Magnusson’s bedroom in that scene ... Sherlock, John and ‘Viking descendent’ Magnussen. Interesting ...

The Game is Now - Escape Room Promotion

With the cliffhanger of The Final Problem in mind and still no official announcement regarding a fifth series on the horizon, one could come to the assumption that the ‘TheGameIsNow- EscapeRoom’ event serves as a sort of interlude and somehow resembles a ‘SherlockBBC-Hiatus’ (hopefully). Isn’t it interesting that here too, Scandinavia seems to play a role?

During the conversation with Mycroft, in the intercepted message Nr 1, Sherlock mentions that he currently is in Sweden.

During the intercepted message Nr 2 a map of Scandinavia is shown in the background with informations regarding its natural recources: iron ore, copper, zinc, gold, IKEA and uranium.

Additionally Mycroft confirms a second time where his brother might be found at the moment: ‘Missing, rumoured to be in Sweden’ is written below a picture of Sherlock, kept in black and white, but temporarily overlaid with pink and green (Study in Pink and Green)

Scandinavian canon reference regarding the ‘hiatus’

In Doyle’s original story The Empty House, Sherlock Holmes tells Dr. Watson after their reunion that, for some time during his hiatus, he had stayed in Norway under a fake identity.

“You may have read of the remarkable explorations of a Norwegian named Sigerson, but I am sure that it never occurred to you that you were receiving news of your friend.” (ACD, The Empty House)

Using Sherlock’s own words from The Great Game, one could say that, by now, the story told in Sherlock BBC as well as the EscapeRoom event have a … ‘distinctly Scandinavian feeling about it’. :)

Some Scandinavian side notes outside Sherlock BBC

Not Sherlock related. Should be taken with caution and humor:

Radio Times, November 2018: Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss reveale that Danish actor Claes Bang will be playing Dracula in their new series. ‘Hell has a new boss’ says the headline. Strictly speaking, the boss in Hell is generally considered to be the Devil (maybe also his grandma :) but surely not Dracula, who is after all just a human who desired immortal strength to protect and revenge the ones whom he loved. At least, that’s the story told in ….

Dracula Untold (2014) - some quotes:

"One day I will call on you to serve me in an immortal game of revenge … to unleash my wrath against the one who betrayed me."

“This is not a game!”

"Oh, what better way to endure eternity. For this, is the ultimate game. Light versus dark, hope versus despair. And all the world's fate hangs into the balance."

Vlad Dracula meets his creator Let the games begin

“You want me to shake hands with you in Hell? I shall not disappoint you.“ (Sherlock at Jim Moriarty, TRF)

How Dracula BBC came into being

“It came about several years ago,” Gatiss said. “We were filming — we’d just started the third series of Sherlock, where he comes back from the dead, and we had to break off after two days to go to the RTS Awards (March, 2013) and I had a picture on my phone of Benedict silhouetted against the door of Mrs Hudson’s room. I showed it to Ben Stephenson, who was then the Head of Drama [at the BBC], and I said, ‘Looks like Dracula’. And he said, ‘Do you want to do it?'” (RadioTimes, April 2019)

“We’re gonna go all Dane“

The same article from RadioTimes, contains an interview with Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss. When asked about their upcomming mini-series ‘Dracula’, if there will be more ‘homegrown talents’ among the cast, the producers answered the question in their most familiar way - with lots of laughter and giggling - obviously taking much pleasure in the announcement of their new ‘informations’.

“No, no ..., it’s strictly Dane from now on. We're only casting over Denmark. I don’t think Denmark’s being sufficiently represented and so we’re gonna go all Dane.”

Strictly Danes …. well, well …. I’m more curious than ever ... and extremely exited! :))))

On Scandinavian name-giving tradition

It is a well known custom in Scandinavian regions to create personal names based on the given name of one’s father, grandfather or male ancestor by adding the ending -son/-sen/-søn or -dotter/-dottir/-dattir. This is called a patronymic (while the same method based on the mother’s name is called matronymic). A good example for this in Sherlock BBC is the character Charles Augustus Magnussen …. Magnus-sen = son of Magnus.

This kind of Scandinavian name-giving tradition is based entirely on first names. Just assuming though, this method would also be applied to last names, then ... a female descendent of someone with the family name ‘Bang’ could be named ... ‘Bangsdotter’. :)))

A last funny detail: the subtitles for Sherlock BBC, Series 4 (British Edition), display the name of the famous Swedish spy, Sherlock invents in TST, as Greta Bengsdotter. The correct spelling of the first name of Greta’s father (used here as patronymic) isn’t Beng though …. but Bengt.

Bengt (female, Bengta) is the Swedish equivalent of … Benedict. :)))

As I said above ... to be taken with caution and humor. :)))))

Thanks @callie-ariane for the scripts. Related post by @tendergingergirl

Mai 2019

#scandinavian references #sherlock bbc #the game is now #escape room #scandinavia #sweden #norway #denmark #iceland #dracula untold #hell has a new boss #let the games begin #this is not a game #vlad dracula

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makeste · 5 years

Text

BnHA Chapter 126: Introduction

Previously on BnHA: We caught up with the villains for a spell and shit was wild. Twice brought in a new guy by the name of Overhaul who apparently has yakuza roots. Tomura’s group was under the impression that he wanted to join them, but Overhaul informed them he had grander intentions -- now that All for One is gone, he intends to make himself the new ruler of the underworld. In other words, he’s a challenger to Tomura’s as-yet-not-very-established throne. Tomura’s group predictably didn’t take to this very well, so Overhaul fucking blew one of them up by way of persuasion. Tomura in turn disintegrated one of Overhaul’s own men because why not, it’s been a while since we had anything really gruesome and shocking in this manga so hey! So in the end it was kind of a draw, and Overhaul left after telling Tomura to give him a call. Back at U.A., Deku and Mirio dropped by to chat with All Might, presumably to set up an internship for Deku.

Today on BnHA: Aizawa announces that the first year students will be allowed to do internships. Deku asks All Might if he can introduce him to his former sidekick, Sir Nighteye. All Might says no, partly because he thinks it’s too dangerous, but mostly because for some reason he thinks it will be awkward. But after some imploring from Deku, he gives in and asks for assistance from Nighteye’s current intern, Mirio. Mirio agrees to introduce Deku to Nighteye. A few days later the two boys travel to his office. Mirio warns Deku that although Nighteye is famous for his stoic demeanor, he actually has a hidden side that prizes humor above all else, and Deku will have to make him laugh in order to win his favor. Deku meets Nighteye and promptly contorts his face into some bizarre All Might impersonation. But Nighteye seems less than impressed.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 155 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

so we’re opening with Aizawa talking about the possibility of the first year students doing internships

he says that the majority of the faculty, including the principal, were like “nah that’s crazy”

(ETA: oh so now y’all care about the safety of your students, huh)

so all the kids are like “what?!” because they were just starting to get really into the idea

also Kaminari is playing with Ojiro’s tail. just cuz it’s there and he can

meanwhile Bakugou is like “HAHA SUCKERS” because he wouldn’t have been able to do the internships anyway lol

(ETA: Bakugou is in like three scenes in this entire arc, and one of them is a flashback. I’m just gonna enjoy this while I can. here’s his obnoxious shit-eating grin.

I MISS YOU SO MUCH YOU LITTLE SHITHEAD)

but now there’s a “however” coming from Aizawa’s direction!

oh snap

sorry Bakugou

you’ll have your license in a few months and then you can go back to Best Jeanist’s agency (PLEASE??!) or wherever else you want to go and you’ll be all caught up in no time

I’m glad the teachers gave it such careful consideration, too. this seems to be an unusual amount of deliberation from a school which until now has mostly stuck with the philosophy of “just throw ‘em right into the deep end and see if they sink or swim”

so now over in the staff room, Deku’s asking All Might if he’ll introduce him to “Sir Nighteye” for an internship

Ectoplasm is in the background thinking about how he wants to go to karaoke. just making a note of that. this man is clearly pent up and he wants to sing some damn Journey songs goddammit

(ETA: this was mentioned in his bio back in the extras for chapter 61. “favorite thing: karaoke.” I’m so curious about this. why does he love it so much. who does he con into going with him. Hounddog and Vlad, probably)

oh shit look at this man not playing any favorites

damn. harsh

he says he’s not doing it just to be mean, and of course not. All Might doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. so why, then

apparently there are three reasons!

reason one, he was one of the teachers that were against it. he thinks it’s too dangerous right now with the recent resurgence of villains

(Midnight’s in the background saying that internships have always been risky, though, and that the school should support the students who still want to go. fuckin’ love Midnight, man)

reason two, he says Deku should strengthen his shoot style first

now Ectoplasm and Cementoss are also chiming in with their two cents, in addition to Midnight (and Thirteen) from the previous panel omg. and All Might’s face loool

IT TAKES A VILLAGE, ALL MIGHT

oh my god

I love this man so much

haha. all of these reasons actually suck though. he’s just feeling overprotective at the end of the day isn’t he. and also that last one. awk

but we all know Deku has been extremely fired up recently, and this appears to be why:

(ETA: “honestly, if Bakugou told you to go jump off a bridge would you do it?” “pshh! no. that’s ridiculous. ...how high a bridge?”

heh. is that too similar to the roof thing to be funny. should I just shut up. whatever I love them)

my god I love their relationship so much

and since they’re in a room filled with other U.A. staffers, all Deku says is “my quirk is very similar to All Might’s” (HINT HINT. WINK WINK), and he thinks that if he works under Nighteye he’ll be favorably compared to All Might

and he’s bowing imploringly and says he needs to become stronger

special attack: Guilt Trip Smash omg

All Might looks to possibly be having a change of heart. but he says he still can’t be the one to give Deku the introduction

he can’t, but...

so I assume this is where Mirio comes in

Mirio is REALLY PSYCHED to have been summoned by All Might himself. such an honor oh goodness

did All Might not have classes with the senior students before? I’d think that would have taken some of the mystery away from it. but hey, maybe he’s just pumped to actually be able to do him a favor

meanwhile Deku is like “I don’t really understand this situation” and Mirio’s like “HAHA ME TOO”

obviously Mirio is Nighteye’s current intern Deku you boob

see

so apparently he’s been his intern for the past year already

Deku’s really impressed by this

All Might’s asking Mirio if he thinks Deku is up to working under Nighteye

oh my god

Mirio is such a good fucking bro

(ETA: the best bro on god’s green earth)

he’s asking why All Might doesn’t just ask him himself though. he says Nighteye would be thrilled to hear from him

...but All Might says he’s too ashamed to show his face? :(

“in the end... things turned out exactly as he forewarned they would”

I don’t like All Might feeling awkward or ashamed about having lost his powers damn it

should I be mad at Nighteye?? idk right now

(ETA: honestly I can’t really be mad at any of them. which is a bit exasperating for me as a reader having nowhere to direct my frustrations, but also that’s some damn good writing though)

anyway so he’s asking Mirio what he thinks of Deku

Mirio is asking Deku what kind of hero he wants to be. ah, this one’s easy!

oh snap what a great fucking answer

ladies and gentleman, our fucking protagonist. the GOAT

and he was unconsciously clenching his fists in determination while saying it

Mirio’s like wow that’s crazy dude

Mirio you’re definitely knocking on my top ten here. I’m not even sure who it is right now honestly. there have been a ton of great new characters recently. ugh it’s hard dammit

(ETA: if you really want to know, the top six are the same as before -- Bakugou, All Might, Izuku, Aizawa, Ochako, and Todoroki -- followed by Momo, Toga, and then yes, this bright-eyed fella. and then idk. Kaminari, Kirishima, Jirou, Best Jeanist, Iida, Mina, and Sero are all vying for that tenth spot. this series has a problem with its characters being too good.

but seriously it’s Best Jeanist)

anyway, he adds that he’d been thinking about it already since their training session earlier

All Might’s looking pensive :/

what’s on your mind dude

he’s flashing back to his meeting with the Rat Principal that we saw a little bit of back in chapter 121. when RP was telling him he had someone in mind who would be a good successor

and naturally it was Mirio

and now All Might’s watching him and Deku, and thinking about how Mirio would have been the successor if he’d never run into the latter

in hindsight we owe quite a lot to that sludge villain, huh. but those are the kind of little fateful coincidences I fucking love in stories like this. so many what-ifs. what if All Might hadn’t chosen that day to come to Deku’s hometown. what if Katsuki hadn’t delayed Deku’s walk home that day by blowing up his notebook. what if Deku hadn’t fucking grabbed onto All Might’s leg like a crazy person and caused him to drop his villain bottle. what if All Might hadn’t already been close to his limit at the time. what if the bottle hadn’t landed exactly where Kacchan was walking with his stupid middle school lackeys. all these little things that came together. I like it, because when you think about it all it feels like destiny

anyway. not only did I go on a nostalgic tangent there, but I also went back and reread the entire first chapter just now whoops. I’m so easily distracted

so now it’s the weekend!

and the other boys are hanging out lazily having breakfast, but meanwhile Deku’s like

meanwhile these two are also up early, and Todoroki is trying to be friends, but Bakugou doesn’t want to be awake yet omg

(ETA: and off they went, never to be seen again)

haha. I love them

I really really really really really love Kaminari’s bedhead

I want to ruffle his hair and never stop. power him up. static quirk. worth it

now Mirio and Deku are arriving at Nighteye’s office

it’s really nice. Deku is intimidated

Mirio’s reminding Deku that Nighteye has very strict standards. but it appears that Deku is already aware

but Mirio says there’s another side to him that he doesn’t show to the media

he says if Deku doesn’t want to get turned away, then he needs to make him laugh at least once. lol what

apparently Night respects humor above everything else. in spite of his stoicism, or maybe because of it

Mirio says all he can do is introduce Deku and then the rest is up to him

well it sure is a good thing Deku is such a naturally funny guy. always crackin’ wise, that Deku. we’re not fucked at all, no sir

now Deku’s asking Mirio why he’s doing this for him. it’s because he’s just a nice guy, Deku!!

damn, he would have been a great successor. Deku is still the best of course. but wow

there’s a page of Nighteye having a weird conversation with some girl named Bubble Girl who’s only wearing about one third of a shirt

he’s chastising her for not having enough enthusiasm or vigor

damn it’s just like Mirio said huh

holy shit he’s hooked her up to some kind of weird bdsm-y tickling machine what the actual fuck

wowwwwwwwwww okay let’s skip right on past this. just. wow

(ETA: I feel like I know way more about Horikoshi’s fetishes than I ever wanted to. this is easily the single most uncomfortable panel in the entire series and I wish it never existed)

so now Deku is being stared down. and having a dramatic moment where he’s intensely thinking about how far he’s come and that he needs to show him some damn humor!!

Deku just show him your collection of t-shirts with weird shit written on them

or. you could try this I guess

this is apparently his All Might face. this is his best shot

he says a sense of humor is the thing he lacks the most. goddamn, it’s true. EXCEPT FOR THE SHIRTS

lol this response

and now Deku is sweating and Mirio’s thinking “it bombed!” but I actually don’t think it did omg. I think he fucking nailed it

(ETA: boy was I wrong on that one)

but this is the end of the chapter. wow

bonus:

“the quintessential Japanese to All Might’s quintessential American”

I don’t even know what to think. I’m still trying to retroactively erase the tickling machine from existence by sheer willpower alone. but it’s not working dammit

(ETA: it really was not a good introduction. he makes a much better impression in the next chapter coming up.

I also just noticed that he doesn’t have a real name listed here. is it supposed to be a secret?? why

also is this fucker really going to die. fuck Overhaul so goddamn much. this arc is going to give me trust issues from here on out. any character who’s introduced with too much of an OP quirk is on borrowed time. fml)

#bnha #boku no hero academia #midoriya izuku #all might #toogata mirio #sir nighteye #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #makeste reads bnha #deku you should have just pulled out the letter #the one I know you're always carrying around in your pocket at all times #don't even pretend otherwise #he just whips it out and casually hands it to nighteye #'dear midoriya'#'I'm really sorry I punched you in the balls'#sir nighteye falls over with tears of mirth in his eyes #mirio and bubble girl both applaud #deku gives a little bow #from that moment on he has nighteye's everlasting respect and trust

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han100894 · 7 years

Text

Boko no Hero Academia and Girl Genius AU

So, once again i can’t watch something and not turn it into a AU...

Agatha, Gil, and Tarvek as the big three of Central/Eastern Europe. They run a Hero Agency, name pending (The Tri Pax?)

Their hero names are all legacies: The Heterodyne, The Baron, and The Storm King.

The former and first Baron was Klaus, who was part of the big three of the generation before with Bill and Barry, who didn’t use Heterodyne in their hero names since before them their family was that of villains, though they are sometimes as a group referred to as the Heterodyne Boys. I have no idea what their names were.

Agatha decided tor reclaim the Heterodyne name and make it heroic, it has had some mixed results.

Tarvek took the name of an ancestor who was the #1 hero in the early years of Quirks.

Agatha’s quirk is called Heterodyning Spark—aaa Heterodynes have Heterodyning as part of their quirk but the second part varies as their quirks are prone to mutate. Agatha’s basically makes her a Spark in this universe.

Tarvek’s quirk is storm powers, not sure what to call it, something over dramatic probably, like Storm Legacy or something. He was also a child (late teen) villain since redeemed.

I’m not sure about Gil. Could have him go sparky like Agatha, or maybe super strength? Undecided.

The Jägers all have the quirk: Jäger/Immortal Hunter and are basically the same in universe (mutations and all). Vlad a long time ago started what basically accounts to arranged children, experimenting with quirks and how they mutate with each other and trying to build the perfect soldiers through breeding. What he managed was a very sticky Quirk that doesn’t get overridden easily and leads to enhanced abilities, extremely long life/ immortality, random physical mutations, and minor regeneration.

Jägers are also much younger than in canon as Quirks have only been around for 7-generations or so and Vlad would have started around 5 maybe? So the oldest are likely only a little over a hundred?

Higgs quirk is called Immortal despite him being a Jager becuase spy purposes and also because for whatever reason he has no noticeable physical mutations and a significantly higher level regen ability compared to the average Jäger. He’s also not very public, basically being an underground hero (nowadays, mostly he dose what the Heterodyne says, though he isn’t upset with the change). He and Aizawa/Eraser head actually have some similarities but I digress. He, the few times he is named, is the Unstoppable Higgs. He didn’t pick the name. It makes his sigh and Zeetha smirk.

Zeetha’s Hero name is Princess Guardian which may or may not be a legacy but not from her mother. Her quirk is an old quirk of her family: Warrior, which is basically a super solider quirk. She has enhances speed, endurance, reflex, strength, most senses, a longer prime, ect. She’s not the best in any of them but she’s better than most, though her abilities are not very useful without a lot of martial training to use them. She also uses special swords to fight, they are capable of being blunt or sharp and with Agatha’s help, working as Tasers.

(If Zoe (Ziggs spawn) exists in this world than her Quirk would be Immortal Warrior, basically warrior with a lesser version of her father’s regen and no actual idea if she has gained his agelessness until she’s thirty or so and either seems to still be ageing or not)

Zeetha isn’t anywhere near as big as the big three, but is a little more public than an Underground Hero. People tend to think she’s a sidekick of the big Three’s hero agency (The Tri Pax Agency?), which is wrong as she’s a full partner, and while it bothers her sometimes mostly she takes advantages of people underestimating her, and the ability to easily handled public and underground threats.

When she’s not helping Agatha and co, or Higgs with their work, she works with Violetta, Aka Smoke Knight, whose quirk: Smoke, allows her to go invisible at will and gives her some enhancements to her dexterity, but most of her ability is through training. She works at the same level as Zeetha being something of a middle ground, though while Zeetha is more public, she’s more underground. She’s also a former child villain turned hero.

Bang was once a villain, I don’t even know what her quirk is, and the only reason she’s not still a villain is her loyalty towards Klaus and Gil who keep her on a very careful leash. She’s constantly dealing with paperwork from going unnecessary force and unnecessary collateral damage.

Othar is basically Hero Stain but happy I think, out to kill Hero’s because he thinks them fakes/ part of the problem despite feeling like a hero himself? I dunno, its close.

Bill has died years ago, Barry and Klaus are both retired (Barry being actually retired, Klaus working at the agency in a paper pusher way and constantly getting involved when he’s not supposed to, if nothing else making it difficult to communicate on the field with two Barons (Gil hates being called Baron Jr or Junior (With Klaus Baron Sr, or Senior) but it’s usually necessary).

Zanta is the only one of the old crew still active (I’ve always headcanoned her significantly younger than Klaus plus her quirk gives her a longer prime), as War Queen sharing the quirk: Warrior with Zeetha. She mostly works in the Middle East though. (It’s not unusual for Heroes to wander if the city’s around them all have a dedicated hero or two, it helps keeps Villains from targeting them/ innocent people around them.) Zeetha tends to switch between the Middle East and Eastern/Central Europe with some frequency when needed.

Some random worldbuilding ideas:

Not every country has the resources, funding, hero personal, ect to have a school as useful and experience gathering as the UA. To fill in that gap most countries use Apprenticeships at agencies and with individual heroes. They are referred to as sidekicks, which is used differently than in Japan. fieldwork can start as early as twelve*(A sidekick test is required before being given a licence), but there are pretty strict guidelines and regulations on how it works, what sidekicks can do and face at what age ect, and any injury they sustain goes against a council than can easily take the sidekick away from the hero.

They must always be with their assigned hero / hero of the agency their with (Kind of like a driver permit) and At 12 they at most clean up litter, train and shadow the hero on patrols, if a villain shows up they are to stand back with the civilians (There are always huge crowds no matter how much they push to get them to leave) and watch/ protect them/ help rescue/ escort them away. At 14 they can start helping with lower level villains and thugs, Hero’s digression throughout the fight, and again any injury is reviewed by a council, and while it is understood a hero could have misjudged, it still is required a hero must have a good ability to know what their sidekick can handle/ judge the villains they fight, and a sidekick can get taken away (and if they want usually assigned to another.)

At 16 they can fight anything, but still must have permission/ supervision of their Hero until their 18 in which they can apply for a proper hero licence.

And that’s all I have so far... Well that and the fact I was imagining them around the same age as Eraser Head/ Present Mic, ect and so 30-ish? Or at least Gil/Tarvek/Zeetha being 30-ish and Agatha and Violetta younger.

#girl genius #bnha #Au #fic idea #bnhaAU

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andrewuttaro · 5 years

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New Look Sabres: GM 1 - PIT - Lies?

Do you feel lied to? I got to say I don’t feel lied to. I know we had a coach and GM who both sold us on the idea there would be competition for roster spots and here we are looking at an opening night roster that looks awfully similar to last season. Were we lied to? This is hazardous territory for an optimist. I risk coming across like I just defend the organization at every turn. Perhaps I am less prone to join the pity aboard the latest hashtag fire this guy bandwagon. At that point, I minus well just apply for an PR position. Admittedly I was late to the Fire Housley Party and history shows the earlier you hopped on that one the smarter you appear. I was proposing ways the Sabres could make the playoffs well into February last season. You could’ve argued the season was over in December or January even with the win streak. Life is just too full of truly awful shit for me to then turn to my favorite sports team and say: “You lied to me! You Suck!” Marco Scandella is a bad player but he’s also a douchebag in real life. I would love for him not to be on my favorite hockey team, but do I feel like dragging myself along the hot, sharp rocks of pessimism after spending my day trying to figure out why Congress has decided party over country is the new norm? No. You see, no matter how bad this Sabres team gets I am going to look at them optimistically. Yeah, I’ll sprinkle in both the realism and the pessimism a lot of days, but the base ingredient will always be optimism because why would I watch sports to be more miserable? You take sports too seriously and it just becomes another source of misery which is bad for the stuff that actually matters in your life.

That was a rant, but it was also a long way of saying I think we’re underestimating this roster. They can be 100% the same players as last year and still be good. There are too many variables in this game to insist results will be the same; especially with a new coach. That’s leaving out the fact that although the win streak was a statistical anomaly on par with the first of the Meg, it doesn’t happen unless you got the horses to do it in the first place. Spoiler Alert: The Meg gets skewered by Jason Statham at the end. The same happened to the first half beast of the Buffalo Sabres last season. Even as the skewering was occurring last year we beat a Penguins team, which by the way also looks strikingly similar to last year’s club minus Phil Kessel, wait for it… twice! The Sabres beat the Pens twice last year including once when Pittsburgh was gunning for a playoff spot. Tonight was the first night of what I think will be a surprisingly good Sabres season. Here is a fact: the Buffalo Sabres had not won a season opener since the lockout shortened 2012-2013 season. Tonight they hung a 3-1 multi-goal loss on the Pittsburgh Penguins not only winning their season opener; but taking advantage of an opposing team very much not having a good night. That alone is a beautiful if it is a sign of things to come.

There is so much I could say about just being thankful for a great Sabres broadcast crew, new 50th Anniversary promos and throwback highlights but I said I don’t want to look like a Kool-aid drinker. The only big lie tonight was me casting dispersions that I’m anything other than a big old sucker for this club. They were fun from the word go in this first game! Five minutes in the Pens gave up a defensive zone turnover and Casey Mittelstadt turned the play around. He maneuvered the puck to Conor Sheary who sniped one past Matt Murray to put the visitors up 1-0! I thought I was seeing things that first period as Buffalo skated circles around the home team. There were more chances too. The yet untitled Olofsson-Eichel-Reinhart line looked dangerous. They looked dangerous and repeatedly connected on passes you can’t imagine will not lead to goals much longer. This game was also breakaway after breakaway. Apparently Kris Letang and the Pens defense has not been the same brick wall of old; it seemed like every time you turned around a fourth liner was taking a one-on-one shot with the goalie. Of course the first couple times it was Girgensons and Okposo so of course no conversion. In the third Olofsson got a similar opportunity and almost sunk it but we’ll get there.

Something happened in the second period that was very on narrative for Sabres twitter of the last several days since Training Camp ended: a Sobotka flub. Our old pal Vlad put his glove on the puck and gave Pittsburgh their first powerplay opportunity of the game. I would tell you this was evidence of the lie of the coaching staff we talked about earlier, but Jason Botterill backed up his guy in a pregame interview making it very clear the philosophy of this team is veterans first. To call the roster competition promise a lie is misleading, it was always about the veterans whether we knew it or not. I’m not pleased about it either but hopefully these incidents on the ice teach them a lesson. Evgeni Malkin did that task scoring an equalizer on the resulting powerplay. When you concede a goal to the Pens, especially an equalizer you have to be careful not to let the game get away from you. Luckily tonight the Sabres did just that and although the counterattack surely came, the defense held up. Namely Henri Jokiharju’s regular season Sabres debut showed his potential. He can get pucks out of the zone... AND he wins puck battles. This defensive depth was effective and fun tonight but geez the time on ice still reeked of a decade of futility. I would say I don’t know who will take all these defensive minutes once Ristolainen is inevitably traded but that’d be stupid: there’s at least 4 guys just on that side of the defense who can take those minutes. The Sabres survived the Pens and even started to dominate. Casey and Conor connected on the powerplay this time with a little over five minutes left in the second. I nearly dropped my Hard Cider: Sheary got a rebound and redirected it around Murray like he was doing some kind of Jeff Skinner impression. Retaking the lead was fun but what happened in the last minute of that middle frame was downright arousing.

Rasmus Dahlin scored a dangle goal that will surely be in this season’s highlight pack next Spring. Sam Reinhart and our Swedish wonder-boy skated into the zone on another surprising breakaway and passed it. Dahlin deked, dangled and put it top shelf. Samson was still going in hard thinking he’d have a rebound to tap in. No sir, this was just a grade-A certified beauty. Going into the second intermission I fought off the feelings this could be a rout. You figure the Stanley Cup caliber counterattack the Pens were known for would show up. It just never came. The breakaways just kept coming and now the big names were starting to get them. Victor Olofsson bounced one off the post! Albeit no Sabre scored on a breakaway in one of the most breakaway heavy games I’ve seen in a while. As the minutes dragged on it became more and more real. Then one soft penalty gave the Pens one last shot. Fans had booed them and were filing out of the building and… they didn’t capitalize. The Sabres took care of business and won this game 3-1 in regulation. I’m sure we’re in for several games this team loses against inferior competition this season but it’s nice to hope this could be the standard for the coming months. Let’s jut enjoy this. Conor Sheary scored his fifth goal against his former club and his second multi-goal game against them! Real Penguin killer, eh? This was the first Sabre season-opening win since the lockout shortened 2012-2013 season when Brian Flynn and Steve Ott were on this team. It was the first win in a coaching debut since 1997! That last stat is a little irrelevant, but I thought Krueger deserved some love after the hell we’ve been given him. When the Sabres lost in a shutout in the season opener last year I said I never take first games of the season too seriously. I’ll hold any declarative statements for another day but gee, this game gave me hope!

All of the 50th anniversary stuff on the broadcast got me thinking: I ought to do something special for this season. So here’s my idea: every divisional game this season, the first being next Wednesday against Montreal, I ask all you guys what was the most significant game the Sabres played against them. I think it could be fun to look back on some history. I’ll be at the home opener on Saturday and the Fan Fest starting at 5 beforehand. Shoot me a DM, drop a comment here or send a carrier pigeon to me if you want to meet up. If you are even remotely inclined to do such a thing you should also drop a like and share this blog around. This postgame stuff happens after every single Sabres game if you’re new here. Sometimes I can’t get it done same night but always before the next game. I hope you enjoyed what you got tonight. I can’t wait to see where this goes! Let’s Go Buffalo!

Thanks for Reading.

P.S. For the record, that Season Preview I did for Southtowns Tickets was submitted before the final roster and paper moves. The collective angst of Sabres twitter hadn’t blown up to DEFCON 4 at that point; it was more of a dull roar when I wrote that article.

#buffalo sabres #nhl #hockey #blog #pittsburgh penguins

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