#Anyways they’re hiding from the rest of society<3

[cosmoshard]

stargazing

#sonic #Sonic movie 3 #ark siblings #shadow the hedgehog #maria robotnik #Sonic movie #my art #Bro this painting took FOREVER #15Hrs #Anyways they’re hiding from the rest of society<3

[lcvernat]

Smile for Me | Natasha Romanoff x Reader

Request: hello! it’s my first time requesting on your blog.. is it okay if I ask for nat with reader who hides their smile because their insecure of how it looks.

feel free to take your time writing this, I don’t mind waiting :)))

thank you, have a great day!! <3

Word Count: 1.4k

Content Warnings: fluff, talks of being insecure, like two swear words, probably bad writing cause i am a bit rusty

A/N: thank you for requesting anon! i am so, so sorry this took so long but i hope you like it <3 this might not be my best work because i am very rusty and haven't wrote anything in a bit but i hope you enjoy it either way

Smiling was natural, everyone done it, and usually no one really thought about it whilst they were doing it. You just lived in the moment, smiling at something that had brought you joy. It was whimsical, in a way. But it wasn't like that to you, though. No, it was actually the one thing you tried to avoid the most. Even in situations when you were at your most happiest, ranging from getting top grades in your exams to the day Natasha had asked you out on a date, a smile was rarely exchanged in those moments, or it was hidden behind your hand.

It was hard when something so simple was the root of your insecurities. Every time you caught yourself smiling, you covered your smile with your hand. It was an instinct at this point. Either that, or you would just avoid smiling altogether. It wasn’t as if you were trying to keep up some mysterious persona - you just really, really hated your smile. A lot.

Tiny remarks in middle school had started it. Words said by children that shouldn’t be that serious because you were all kids instead stuck with you for your entire life. Sticks and stones do break your bones, but words will still hurt. They still cause bleeding wounds, but because you can’t see them, society deems them unimportant. Which is why you’ve not told anyone about your insecurity, you just let them poke fun, because the logical part of you knows that it’s a stupid thing to be insecure about, but you can’t help it.

Natasha, of course, had noticed. But she’s never pried, thankfully. She understands having secrets that you keep under lock and key. She has them too. It’s a bit hard not to notice when someone hardly smiles, but somehow she notices that there’s something more to it. Having a spy as a girlfriend, one who is the best spy in the world no doubt, means that any of your secrets aren’t really secrets. You simultaneously love and hate it.

“Why do you never smile?”

“Why do you always pry into people’s business? And I do smile.”

Tony shrugs halfheartedly at your jab, a tiny smirk on his face as he takes a sip of his drink. You were thrown off guard by his unprompted question, not expecting it to happen when you were just sat eating dinner with the rest of the team. The rest of the team who had, unfortunately, went silent after the words left Tony’s mouth.

You took an awkward bite of your food, trying to focus on the taste instead of the eyes boring into your soul.

“Leave them alone,” Natasha snaps, but there’s no actual bite behind it yet.

“Hey now,” Tony raises a hand placatingly, “I’m not trying to be nosey, not at all. Well, actually, I kind of am, but for good reason. They rarely smile! Have you not noticed? And if they do, I always catch them covering their mouth! Have they ever fully smiled around you, Romanoff?” - The only response he gets is a glare - “No? Christ, they’re dating you! Don’t you think it’s a bit odd? I-”

You cut him off, “Just finish your food, Stark.”

Tony, seemingly unable to realize when you’re seriously not in the mood continues on undeterred, “Listen, I get if you’re trying to be all tough and that. But you can still smile! You’re still pretty intimidating anyway. To the newbies, obviously. Not me.”

“I just don’t smile that often, Stark. Got a problem with that?” You get out through gritted teeth, setting your knife and fork down on your half-eaten plate. You aren’t very hungry anymore. The ravaging appetite you felt before dinner had quickly dissipated, and it wasn’t because you were full.

Natasha sends you a concerned glance but you ignore it. You ignore everyone’s glances. For superheroes, they were horrifically bad at pretending they weren't staring at you.

“Oh, come on,” Tony leans back in his chair, clearly exasperated, “unless you look incredibly hideous, your teeth are falling out or you have a shit ton of cavities, which I doubt, I don’t get why you hardly smile! Just smile for us this once, and don't cover it!" He urged you on, and it was your final straw.

You abruptly stood up from the table, your chair making a harsh sound across the floor as it was pushed back. Once again ignoring Natasha's glance, you walk as fast as you can out of the room and making a beeline towards your shared room with Nat. You know she'll probably follow you soon after, but you'd take a minute alone if you could.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, you ran your hands across your face and let out a groan. You were being so stupid. Tony was right. It's not a big deal at all, you're the one making it a big deal. All over a couple comments a few kids carelessly threw your way years ago in middle school. Insecurities were so stupid, why couldn't you just stop being insecure? You were an Avenger, for Christ's sake, and the one thing that defeats you is your own goddamn smile.

After a couple of minutes had passed, there was a knock on the door. Unsurprisingly, Nat's voice filtered through, "Y/N? Can I come in?" Somehow, she managed to hear your barely coherent mumble of a response, and the door gently opened seconds later.

"Don't listen to Tony," the redhead spoke softly, "he doesn't know when to stop."

You let out a mirthless chuckle, "Yeah, I know."

Natasha didn't reply, instead slowly walking over to you and kneeling in front of you. You catch her eye before quickly glancing away.

"Look at me,"

You do, and she reaches out to take ahold of your hands that were previously lying limp in your lap, "Why do you always cover your beautiful smile?" It was a gentle question, the redhead treading lightly on what she knows is a sensitive topic for you.

"Because it's not beautiful," your voice is small. It's the first time you've ever actually spoken about your insecurity out loud.

"I bet it is. What makes you think it isn't?"

"People were saying shit 'bout it in middle school. Words hurt, you know." It sounded pathetic, you knew it did. You half expected Natasha to laugh at you, and anyone else probably would, because you were a grown adult, but of course Natasha didn't laugh. She never would.

"Well," she lets go of one of your hands to reach out and cup your cheek, her thumb brushing over your bottom lip, "those people can go fuck themselves."

A surprised giggle leaves you at the bluntness of her tone. She smirks before continuing, "My angel is gorgeous, and I know their smile is just as beautiful. Come on, you wanna let me see it? Smile for me."

Despite her words, a small part of you still didn't want to smile in front of her. Years of covering it and hiding it was obviously engrained into you, no matter how hard you wanted to try and stop it. So, you shake your head.

"Well," Natasha sighs, "I guess I'll just have to subject you to a month of Steve's cooking. Hopefully you won't die, but if you do, I'll make sure to make your funeral the best funeral ever."

That made you laugh then, and a smile made its way onto your face. The hand that Natasha wasn't holding instinctively raised to cover it, but the spy grabbed ahold of it before you could.

"See?" Natasha smiles then too, "beautiful."

That makes you smile more, and you don't move to cover it this time. You fight the insecurities that worm its way into your thoughts, you were done being insecure about your smile. You were fed up of hiding it. Natasha plants a soft kiss on your cheek then, before whispering into your ear, "If you gave me the names of those people..."

You let out a shocked laugh, hitting her arm playfully. "No. Murder is bad."

"I never said I would murder them!" She gasps, "Just a nice little talk. That's all."

Shaking your head in amusement, you pull Natasha into a hug, "I love you."

"I love you too."

God, what you would do for this woman. You would always smile for her from this day forward. No more hiding it, especially not from Natasha.

tags: @sheneonromanoff @olicity-boo @r4nd0mgir1 @tigerlillyruiz @dj-bynum3718 @lovelyy-moonlight

dm me, send me an ask or reply to be added to my taglist!

#natasha romanoff x reader #black widow x reader #natasha romanoff #black widow #natasha romanoff fanfiction #black widow fanfiction #natasha romanoff imagine #black widow imagine #natasha fanfic #natasha romanoff fanfic #natasha romanoff fluff #black widow fluff #black widow x you

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #297: Caster of Limbo

today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re making the challenger to Astolfo’s “enby that makes everyone feel a little funny” throne, caster of limbo! they’re mostly a Necromancy Wizard to take control of the living dead (i.e. servants), make extra bodies, and curse the bajeepers out of people, but we’ll also pop into the Rune Knight Fighter a touch to turn into a giant ghost and stick some neat tricks into those cards they like to throw.

check out their build breakdown here, or their character sheet below the cut!

next up: coconut head

Race and Background

limbo was a human, but they shoved a bunch of gods in there and now it’s all funky. that’s a Custom Lineage if ever I heard one, so you’ll get +2 Intelligence, proficiency in Arcana for those funky curses, and the Tough feat for an extra 2 HP every level. you spend most of them in wizard, you’re going to need every point you can get.

for your background, limbo left society for a good bit and came back with a new, evil perspective, so that’s a Hermit, which gives you proficiency in Medicine and Religion. but evil religion.

Ability Scores

we need Intelligence as high as possible for the most spells and to make it harder for the heroic spirit swordmasters to break your control. yeah, most high-level summons can make saves against helping you. it’s not great, but we’ll do what we can. after that comes Strength. that thing’s got abs for days, and they can rip people apart with their bare hands. admittedly every servant can do that, but I think they could do it before ascending? hardcore. third up is Constitution. it’s not particularly notable, but it’s gotta be high to make up for Being a Wizard. if you die, you’ll probably just come back anyway. so that means your Dexterity isn’t great, even though you fight shirtless. fun. we’ll also lower your Wisdom a bit since you left the monking behind in your backstory, and finally we dump Charisma. being hot and being charismatic are separate things, as limbo proves. I mean he did persuade Arjuna Alter, but… it’s Arjuna Alter. that’s not saying much.

Class Levels

1. Fighter 1: we’re starting off as a Fighter, mostly for the extra HP again and the proficiency in Constitution saves. most players won’t get far enough for a concentration-free curse, so it’s a good idea to make those saves as good as we can. you’re also proficient in Strength saves, and you can use your Insight to target a person’s weaknesses to exploit, and your Intimidation to hide out in their rafters.

you also get a Fighting Style, and if you’re going to tear people in two, you’ll need the unarmed fighting style. you can punch people for a d6 of damage or a d8 with both hands free, and you’ll deal some bonus damage while grappling people. you’ll also need your hands free for spells, so that all works out pretty dang well if I say so myself.

you can also use a Second Wind as a bonus action for a little extra healing. your boss fight didn’t give you self-healing, but there’s nothing wrong with an upgrade here or there.

2. Fighter 2: I admit we’re mostly here for levels 1 and 3, but Action Surge is nothing to sneeze at either. This gives you a no-strings-attached extra action once a short rest. You can attack twice, or even pump out two leveled spells no worries. er, you’ll be able to do that after we get spells. speaking of which…

3. Wizard 1: okay now you can cast Spells, using your Intelligence to cast and prepare them from your spellbook. you recharge spell slots each long rest, unless you’re using your Arcane Recovery once a day, letting you pick up a couple spell slots when you take a short rest instead! that’ll be verry useful later on, but for now let’s just talk spells!

wizards get a lotta spells, but instead of spending all day talking about all of them, we’re just going over the important ones here. the full list is in his character sheet, and the bold ones are important to the character. the rest are like “he is a caster”.

he is a caster though, so first we gotta get mage armor and magic missile for fighting shirtless and with paper things. you could use daggers as thrown weapons for this, but we’re not getting any extra attacks here, so you probably shouldn’t. you also get the cantrips chill touch for some ghostly spookiness from the get-go, and infestation and poison spray for quick and easy poisonings. finally, grab silvery barbs. it ends up on a lot of builds because it’s really good, especially here. we’ll get into why we need it in this build when it pops up, but making someone re-roll a save or attack is never a bad move.

4. Wizard 2: at level 2 of wizardry you become a Necromancer, which also makes you a Necromancy Savant for half the time and gold spent copying necromantic spells. I’ve said it before, but it’s weird how your very first ability dissuades you from picking spells you’d think you’d want to focus on.

why would you want to focus on them? because of your Grim Harvest. once a turn, you can turn a spell that finishes off an enemy into sweet sweet HP, up to 2x the spell’s level, or 3x if it’s a necromancy spell. this doesn’t work on constructs or undead though, so get out there and butcher some civilians!

5. Wizard 3: third level wizards get second level spells like Spider Climb to help you climb up your master’s rafters. yes that’s a vital part of the build, keep up. since we aren’t really buffing your charisma that much, you should also pick up either Gift of Gab for a verbal backspace or Enhance Ability to really help you trick a god into smiting your enemies. or your friends. really smiting is it’s own reward, when you think about it.

6. Wizard 4: now that you finally get your first Ability Score Improvement, round up your Intelligence for stronger spells, and your Constitution to hold onto them long. and for the extra HP, I guess. it’s a retroactive boost, so now you have 6 more HP, not just one.

7. Wizard 5: at fifth level this build really gets off the ground with the combination of Bestow Curse and Animate Undead. curses are limbo’s thing, and the zombies and skeletons will be your first foray into controlling servants. it’s a start, at least.

8. Wizard 6: of course a necromancer’s Undead Thralls are a little better than most people’s. you can create an extra zombie (or skeleton) with animate dead, and that creature has extra hp and deals extra damage with each hit. those bonuses work for any undead you create with a necromancy spell, so feel free to get creative! even if green isn’t a creative color…

and speaking of undead, let’s grab some ghostly goodies with Blink and Spirit Shroud. the former lets you blink out of existence when your turn is over. mostly. and the latter gives all your attacks a ghostly flair of extra damage, slows enemies, and prevents them from healing. just like the real limbo bossfight! we’re a long way away from turning into a giant ghost, but it’s important to get some practice in- you only die once, after all.

9. Wizard 7: seventh level wizards get fourth level spells, and if you want a god to listen to you there’s no better option than Charm Monster. this is like charm person, but it works for non-humanoids too! it lasts up to an hour if your target fails its wisdom save, or until you inevitably stab them in the back. maybe don’t do that?

10. Wizard 8: it’s time for another ASI, and we have to get the Poisoner feat at some point. this lets you poison a weapon as a bonus action, and you can use your new poisoner’s kit proficiency to make Proficiency Bonus poisons over the course of an hour. so now you do have a reason to use a physical card instead of magic missiles. or maybe not, since you now ignore resistance to poison damage on all your attack rolls, not just the physical ones.

you also get your first taste controlling a heroic spirit swordmaster this level when you take one of the Summon spells. Use Summon Greater Demon for an oni, Summon Elemental for Archer of Inferno, or Summon Construct for a ninja doll. Summon Aberration is more of an endgoal than a spell you should get halfway through the build, but foreigners are in rn, so maybe you’re just following trends.

11. Wizard 9: you get fifth level spells. there’s not really any we need to be a good limbo, but they are fun like, in general.

12. Wizard 10: at tenth level you become Inured to Undeath, giving you resistance to necrotic damage, and your max HP can’t be reduced. your body’s probably a spare anyway, so it won’t have the same biology as a normal human’s. that’s a good excuse, right?

13. Wizard 11: sixth level spells are good though. use Create Undead to make more powerful spirit swordmasters, and Investiture of Wind for extra-powerful ghostliness. for up to ten minutes after casting, ranged attacks will have disadvantage against you, and you get a flying speed of 60’. you can also spend your actions on an aoe attack, a 15’ cube of air that deals bludgeoning damage to creatures that fail their constitution save, also pushing them around if they fail.

14. Wizard 12: knock that Intelligence up as high as it can go, for the best damage and the hardest to beat saves. we’ll need that in just a second.

15. Wizard 13: seventh level spell time! power word pain is definitely on-brand, but we’re mostly here for Planeshift so you can run off with your tail between your legs when that lostbelt king you’ve been manipulating finally figures out what’s going on.

16. Wizard 14: we have finally reached your last goodie from being a necromancer, and it’s why we came all this way in the first place. a curse that will truly turn any heroic spirit into your own mindless killing machine, Command Undead. spend an action force a charisma save on an undead within 60’ of you. if they fail, they’re friendly to you until you use this feature again.

it does come with caveats though. any undead with an 8 or higher has advantage on the save, and any with an intelligence of 12 or higher can make the save again every hour until they break free. once an undead passes their save, you can’t use this on them a second time.

the good news though is there’s a shitload of undead with bad charisma and intelligence scores for you to use and abuse. for example, a Nightwalker is a huge undead of CR 20, but it’s intelligence is a 6 and its charisma is an 8, making it the perfect target to turn into your thrall for a heroic spirit swordmaster. and as long as you don’t try to control two at once, this control lasts forever, or as long as the undead does.

and it’s finally time to bring up Silvery Barbs again! with your maxed out intelligence and a way to kindasorta force disadvantage on a roll, you have your pick of spirits to choose from. (and in cases like that nightwalker, you’re almost guaranteed to succeed against any creature with a negative modifier.)

17. Fighter 3: now we’ve finally almost got Shimousa covered, we just need to turn you into that giant ghost I’ve been promising. and that’s why we’re finally back in Rune Knight for some Giant Might. as a bonus action you can make yourself large for 1 minute, giving you advantage on strength saves and checks, and dealing extra damage with your physical attacks once per turn. you can do this Proficiency times per long rest.

you’re also a Rune Carver, letting you stick some goodies on your cards for a passive benefit, or an invoked benefit you can use once per short rest. grab the Cloud Rune for advantage on Sleight of Hand and Deception checks, plus an invoked reaction to redirect an attack aimed at you or another creature within 30’ of you. now there’s no way Altjuna ignores you! also, grab the Stone Rune for advantage on Insight checks and 120’ of darkvision, plus the ability to stun a creature as a reaction once per short rest for up to 1 minute. it can make a wisdom save to avoid the effect entirely, as well as at the end of each of its turns.

18. Wizard 15: we’re all set for LB 4, but first we’ll grab some eighth level spells just in case. you couldn’t leave home without a Clone or two as a backup body, right? use a bit of your flesh, wait like a month or so, and then you basically have an extra life. You’ll have to pick up all your stuff again, but that’s barely an inconvenience, right?

19. Wizard 16: with our final ASI we can bump up your Strength at long last for some more accurate unarmed and weapon attacks. sorry it took so long, this build’s got a lot in it.

if you’re playing a campaign with another servant player and want them as your lead heroic spirit swordmaster, check out Dominate Monster! force a wisdom save on them, or they’re charmed for up to an hour. while charmed you can talk to them telepathically and give them commands without spending an action. you can even use your action to take them over completely! however, this spell isn’t the best for combat, seeing as they can repeat the save every time they take damage.

20. Wizard 17: ninth level spell slots! yeah, sorry to end on an anticlimax, but that’s really all we’re here for. with these bad boys, you can upcast a Bestow Curse to last indefinitely- very spicy.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

you’re surprisingly beefy for a caster, with a semi-decent amount of HP and ways to heal yourself via murder, you’re tougher to take down than most wizards we’ve seen.

it also helps that you have a lot of bodies on the field thanks to anime dead, create undead, control undead, and a summoning spell of your choice giving you a pretty sizable army of completely loyal minions. you’ll probably stab them in the back anyway, but it’ll be nice to have them in the meantime!

I will say this over and over again, a fighter dip for any caster is a godsend. you have more options when your slots run out, you have a bit of emergency healing, you get proficiency in concentration saves, and most importantly you get Action Surge, letting you cast two spells in one turn, and that’s huge. that’s a boost to your damage, or your utility, or even just your ability to run the hell away if the fight goes south.

Cons:

your AC’s really bad, and you turn into a giant ghost which really just makes you a bigger target. you’re going to have to murderize people left and right if you want to keep your HP up. huh, I wonder if that’s why you’re so backstab-happy…    yeah, probably not.

Poisoner is flavorful (literally), and it’s a nice boost to your poison spells, but if we’re being serious, it’s the weak link of your ASIs. you could’ve gotten more HP with constitution, or AC with dexterity, or even just better concentration with the War Caster feat. Plus you can’t use this feature in conjunction with your zombies or controlled minions, so it’s a lot less useful than you’d think.

the vast majority of your zombie army is at or under CR 3, so Fireballs can chew through your entire brigade pretty damn fast. another reason not to fight Altjuna, as if you needed one.

#fgo #fate grand order #D&D 5e #dnd #ashiya douman #caster of limbo #wizard #fighter

[notasapleasure]

OTP meme: Jerott/Danny bandverse?

Yay, thanks! Tried not to base my answers on yours lol, but in general I agree XD

Which one is more fond of scary movies: Danny! Popcorn crunches through the tensest/grossest scenes with a feral grin.

Which one gets the most excited about Halloween: Also Danny – costumes! Parties! Getting to make Jerott dress up as some kind of sexy ghoul!

Which one would be more likely to survive the apocalypse: I think both of them could kick the apocalypse’s arse, frankly.

Which one would literally kill for the other: Both, if need be – but I think Jerott would be surprised at how quickly Danny would commit if it came down to that. Danny knows without a doubt that if GRM escaped from jail, they would be ready and willing to take that fucker out if he came anywhere near Jerott again.

Which one likes to scare or startle the other: I think Jerott has a silly side that likes to sneak up on Danny while they’re cooking or something, because Danny’s usually so unflappable, but Jerott has opportunities to cause flapping that no one else does. And Danny’s so cute when they squeak and jump in Jerott’s arms >:3

Which one is more likely to need comforting when they get spooked: Well, per the previous question, I think Danny. Jerott claims not to get 'spooked' - the rats in the Paris metro are legitimately gross, Danny, not cute!

Which one always puts on a brave face: Both, in different ways. Both are used to hiding things about themselves/negotiating society’s assumptions, and they can both do a resting bitch face that would turn you to stone.

Which one would be more dangerous if they suddenly became violent: Depends, but unarmed, out of nowhere, probably Jerott, who’s a seasoned brawler – Danny is more a ‘hide behind my seven-foot drag queen friends and yell taunts’ kind of fighter. (shooting GRM in the face is a different matter, should it be necessary)

Which one would be more likely to commit a crime: I think both have committed a fair few in the various countries they’ve lived/travelled in. Danny would be most level-headed about it, whether it was something minor or a body needed hiding; Jerott would act in a rash way and then freak out.

Which one believes in ghosts: Both, in certain ways. Jerott’s are powered by guilt, while Danny has a fairly open approach to spiritual matters, like you described for r63 Danny, Kay.

Which one likes to watch spooky shows on television: I think they probably start watching ‘real life’ hauntings/ghost hunters with a huge amount of scepticism, expecting to make fun, but then they each get drawn in by how ‘realistic’ it is and end up clinging to each other with the jump scares. If they watch TXF together it always ends with Jerott saying how sensible Scully is and Danny doing the whole mocking thing about how can she not Believe when she’s seen so much spooky shit? In reality, they're both Mulders anyway, Jerott just feels he needs to defence Science because of his dad/alternative career option.

Which one would propose the idea of holding a seance: Danny, for the aesthetic/because a friend who’s a medium needs a venue. Like the TV shows, they might start off sceptical but end up impressed by the experience.

Which one has nightmares more often: Jerott’s are more…narrative. And memorable. Danny probably has lingering unease that surfaces in their dreams, but not like the kind of wake-up-sweating-I-thought-Gabriel-was-sitting-on-my-face kind of dreams Jerott has.

Which one would want to explore a real haunted house: Jerott, to prove Danny wrong. He ends up shrieking, Shaggy from Scooby-doo style, and jumping into Danny’s arms. Danny never ever lets him live it down.

#jerott/danny #the band au #jerott blyth #danny hislop

[blackbutler-readerinsertsandjunk]

Hmm. Idk how many you allow, but, if it’s limited, I’m okay if you delete some of mine to make room for others! If it’s okay, I’d like to request something else! You’ll start to see I have some favorites 😂 anyway! Can I get headcanons for the circus troupe characters of your choice falling for someone playful and kind, someone they considered “normal” but realize that they’re treated like an outcast because they don’t follow the current society’s expectations/social norms? It doesn’t matter how many of them you do or don’t do! It’s your time and your work! It’ll be wonderful either way! Thank you very much! And no pressure or anger if you decide not to do it!

hey, you guys are NEVER limited on how many requests you want to send! as long as the askbox is open, SEND TO YOUR LIL HEARTS’ CONTENT!!

soooo I decided to do reactions instead of headcanons! headcanon sets are usually longer than reactions and I’ve decided to implement a character limit for different types of content; 3 characters for fics/scenarios, 5 characters for headcanon sets, and 10 characters for reactions.

mainly just an effort to keep my sanity and keep things from getting waaaay too long for single requests~

HOWEVER, I hope you enjoy regardless!! I started out not writing much for each one and they got progressively longer and I feel like that happens a lot with me XD

also I somehow never made a header for poor Dagger and Wendy?? SO THAT WAS FUN TRYING TO REMEMBER HOW I’D SET IT UP............. not me crying because I had to redo Dagger’s simply because the text outline wasn’t thick enough so it didn’t match the rest of them

BEAST

Lord, but they’re just so… so perfect?? It takes her a very long time for her to even think of them in any other light. The fact that they’re so sweet and kind just leads her to put them on this ‘unattainable’ pedestal. They’re normal. They’re not too big or too small or missing pieces or have extra pieces or… anything like her or her family. It starts to click when she sees them trying to mingle after watching one of the troupe’s shows. Nobody else is paying them much mind, all either ignoring them or actively saying rude things about them. That’s when she begins interacting with them more like… two people. Just people. By the time she realizes that her feelings have turned romantic, suddenly (Name) is very, very much attainable.

DAGGER

Look at them! No, seriously, everyone look at them. And then look… at him. There’s no way in hell he could have a chance with someone like that, right? Well, luckily he’s had practice with hiding his feelings and treating people totally normally, so he can manage just fine. He’s glad to be (Name)’s friend, at any rate; they really are a great person, far as he’s concerned. When they’re hanging around the troupe, it’s too easy for him to forget that… well… they’re quite lonely. That they tell him they don’t want to leave because nobody else really likes them strikes a chord with him. That’s around the time he resolves to spend as much time with them as he can. He’s always thought of them as ‘normal’, so he… wants to make them feel normal.

DOLL/FRECKLES

(Name) is just like… they’re so… so whoa. They’ve got this smile that lights up the room, hell, it could light up the whole world and they always have a sweet word for everyone and they never seem to get tired! Freckles wishes they could be like that sometimes… er, even though one side of them is certainly like that. (Name) is really what they aspire to be like; this kind person who’s bubbly and charming and normal. What Freckles doesn’t realize is that (Name) thinks of them the same way. The biggest thing is that Freckles doesn’t really treat (Name) any differently. Sure, they’re normal, but they’re also still just a person, aren’t they? Things actually progress quite easily from there, because the two of them aren’t thinking of each other as ‘out of my league’ or anything like that.

JOKER

They’re really something else, aren’t they? Well, there’s never enough sunshine in the circus, so as far as he’s concerned, they’re always welcome if they really want to hang around here! On the surface he acts carefree as ever. Deeper, however… it’s just so damn complicated. Even though he very much enjoys their company and thinks they’re a positive influence in everyone’s lives, he feels like he himself is unworthy of their light. Every time they get close, he second guesses what to do. Then he catches a glimpse of how the rest of the world treats (Name). They seem to feel just as alone in the world as he and his family. They might be ‘normal’ by the troupe’s standards, but they don’t… fit in. After that, he quietly reminds them that no matter what, they’ll always belong here among the circus, if they want to. That’s the first step to something a little… more.

JUMBO

Strange enough that someone who doesn’t have anything ‘wrong’ with them wants to hang around the circus in the first place. Stranger still that they’re getting cozy with the rest of the troupe. Shouldn’t they be with… you know… other normal people? It’s not that he doesn’t want them here, but he simply doesn’t quite understand it. He wonders what they’re seeing in everyone that makes them want to be here. Much as they all know that the inside matters, the rest of the world seems not to agree. That said, though, he’s got a soft spot for kind people like (Name), so it’s only a matter of time before he starts to admit to himself that he’s falling for them. Despite that he treats them with a lot of care, he… struggles to say anything to them about it. In his mind, it’s one thing to be with people like the troupe as friends; something romantic? That’s so different. If he confesses, it’s going to be a very shy, self-conscious confession indeed.

PETER

Oi, why are they hanging around so much, anyway? Just having a gawk at all the sideshow acts, right?! He’s got so many walls up, it makes China jealous, so… he’s very, very bitter to the idea of (Name) trying to make friends with all of them. He thinks they have some great life to return to, so he doesn’t get why they’re out here playing at being some kind of… some kind of what, anyway? A one-person charity pitying the poor circus freaks? On some level he does realize that their kindness is genuine. It’s just not something he comes across often outside his family, so he tries to think up any other explanation. And when he realizes he’s got feelings for them? … Fuck. He doesn’t even really know what to do, so he probably ends up not doing anything until his feelings suddenly explode and he’s yelling at them about how great they are and how they’ve ruined everything by getting him and the others “used to” being treated nicely and what happens when they decide they don’t care anymore?! It’s… a bit of a mess.

SNAKE

(Hold on! Did they just… they just petted me.) It would seem so, Wilde. (… Well, are they going to get ME next??) Hold on, Goethe, wait your turn. Particularly if they’re not the least bit afraid of the snakes, this is the kind of person who Snake gets incredibly nervous around. Not because he thinks they’re going to hurt him, but because kindness has been so rare in his life before the other circus members, he’s just… not quite accustomed to it yet. Even though it’s much better than being abused, someone so bright and sweet still stuns him a little. He’s in awe of them and their gentle smile, their caring words, the way they flit from one person to another spreading joy. And he knows what romantic feelings are like, of course, but he’s so thoroughly shy that he doesn’t think he’s anywhere near good enough for (Name). Still… he’s glad to be in their company, for as long as they think they can tolerate him. He enjoys being around them and their happy attitude, even if the rest of the world doesn’t seem grateful for it. (They don’t know wot they’re missing, bunch’a bloody gits.) Rudely worded, Wilde, but not inaccurate.

WENDY

Sure, look at them, being all kind… they’re a good person, until they’re not. This sort of personality is usually some kind of act, trying to make people feel secure only to stab them in the back. Although she’s not as openly contemptuous as her brother, she’s forever waiting for the shoe to drop. She thinks that (Name)’s sweetness and cheerful disposition can’t last forever, because aside from their little family, nobody has ever accepted them like this. Still, unlike Peter, she’s a bit quieter about everything; fake kindness is better than cruelty until it stops, so she’s not giving them a reason for it to stop. Somewhere in all this, she starts to… believe it’s not an act. Their kindness is extended to her quite often, and she begins to realize how much she enjoys that. They might be normal, but they seem to still be just a lonely person, and she understands what that feels like. Her confession is rather quiet, frank, in admitting that she knows they may not want to be with her. Even so, she still had to tell them, and… well, what happens from there is… up to the two of them.

#thatswhatiamlovernotafighter #Black Butler #Kuroshitsuji #Beast #Dagger #Doll/Freckles #Joker #Jumbo #Peter #Snake #Wendy #reaction #fluff #drama #me SOBBING BECAUSE THEY ALL DESERVE THE FUCKING WORLD- #one hell of a queue

[hyperfixationtimego]

which is your favorite ship of each Danganronpa?

HAHA OH WHAT AN ASK

I yearn so much,,,,,,,too much perhaps

Because of this, my ships make no sense <3 yes I will be attempting to explain, but no they will not be coherent in the slightest <3

Trigger Happy Havoc

Favorite Ship: Makuwata (Makoto Naegi/Leon Kuwata)

OKAY SO-

When I first began playing danganronpa, Leon was INSTANTLY my favorite character. Call it the punk aesthetic, or the voice, or the bright colors, or the emotionally-driven personality; I just thought he was neat ❤️

Because the first interaction he has is with Makoto, it sort of solidified in my heart during his introduction! Introvert x extrovert ship dynamic my beloved,,,,,,

And I just think that Leon calling Makoto his “soulmate” is pretty poggers. Like the man really did have to consciously choose that word!!!!! And he did!!!!! + Makoto being patient with him and the whole “still, I think it’s impossible for me to hate him” just makes me [flappy hands] because god I kin that punk dumbass SO MUCH so I simply would like for Makoto to givb him a little kissy. just a little smooch on the cheek :)

Goodbye Despair

Favorite Ship: Komahina (Nagito Komaeda/Hajime Hinata)

I will be honest, the fact that I like this ship at all is mind-boggling to me. It is literally the ONLY protag/antag ship that I enjoy!!!

But, see, I think the main reason I like it is because Nagito never seems actively malicious during the main game (aside from chapter 4, but even then, he’s not being actively malicious towards Hinata. A lot of people misconstrue his behavior, I think, as being harsh and cruel, when in reality what’s happening is that he simply isn’t worshipping Hinata anymore. He’s being actively cruel towards the rest of the Ultimates, but we actually see him talk about how he and Hinata are pretty similar.

He’s not being a jerk during chapter 4. He’s been genuinely shaken to his core because of the horrific discovery of the fact that these people he cares about, these people he’s spent so much time with, these people he considers his friends, even if they don’t like him, are, in actuality, the personification of the only thing in this world he truly, and utterly, DESPISES.)

Nagito my beloved,,,,,,,ugh he is so Mentally ill™️ ❤️ (I SAY THIS AS A MENTALLY ILL PERSON ASKJDMSDN DON’T KILL ME) There’s also so much queercoding!!!! Of his character!!!!!! They really had him say the romantic I love you to Hajime,,,,,,,they really gave him and Mikan the solidarity during chapter 3!!!!!

And don’t even get me started on the fucking tragedy of him existing at all!!! It fucking hurts!!!! He’s so ashamed of everything about himself!!! He hides the fact that he’s sick and lonely!!! He’s afraid of dying alone!! He’s afraid of people not caring about him, but it’s essentially a self-fulfilling prophecy because of how hard he tries to push people away!

So long story short I just think Hinata would see this man and go “I could fix him. But first I’m gonna kick his teeth in.”

Ultra Despair Girls

Favorite Ship: Tokomaru/Syomaru (Toko Fukawa/Komaru Naegi/Genocide Jill)

YES I know this one is a bit of a cheat out, but I wanted to include them anyway!!!! Toko getting the love and appreciation she deserves???? Toko recovering from being continuously abused and ignored????? Her and Jill as a system being given the respect they BOTH deserve???? FUCK ME UP UGH

Blease,,,,,,Toko and Jill choosing Komaru over Togami,,,,,like canonically??? I’M OBSESSED

And Komaru’s little “Thank God I met Toko!” Voice line fucks ❤️

Also Toko 🤝 Jill

getting their girlfriend’s name wrong on purpose solidarity

Killing Harmony

Favorite Ship: I HAVE TWO FOR THIS GAME BECAUSE IT SLAPS SO HARD!!!! They’re Saimota (Shuichi Saihara/Kaito Momota) and Gontaguuji (Gonta Gokuhara/Korekiyo Shinguuji)

My explanation for saimota is literally just the canon game ❤️

ALSJSLSJD I’M JOKING BUT THEY’RE LITERALLY SO FRUITY /POS

and the love hotel scene,,,,,,,oh my god. “Nobody has ever made me want to stay in one place for so long.” said no straight man ever and “I understand, Kaito. I hold the key to your heart, but…” and also HOW SHUICHI LITERALLY FORGETS WHERE HE IS WHEN KAITO CLOSES THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THEM. HE TALKS ABOUT HOW KAITO IS SO CLOSE AND LOWKEY PANICS BECAUSE OF IT. TRY AND TELL ME THESE FUCKERS ARE STRAIGHT I DARE YOU. I DARE YOU.

personally,,,,,I believe they are underrated ❤️ another extrovert x introvert masterpiece, this time with the added benefit of best friends to lovers!!!!!!! PLEASE I love them so much oh my GOD

As for Gontaguuji,,,,,,,,heheh

traumatized bastard x traumatized sweetheart

They complement each other SO WELL and the fact that they have basically no canon interactions aside from Hair-Raising Panic is fucking CRIMINAL ❤️

Gonta having been raised by wolves is a rare anthropological opportunity for Kiyo!! Of COURSE Kiyo would go out of their way to interact with him and learn more!!!

Gonta is also a huge softie!!! Just a big ol’ affectionate lug!!! Literally everything that Korekiyo has never experienced before; straight up just a man that would put Kiyo’s well-being before anything else 😭

And Kiyo is extremely intelligent, literate, and patient! Like straight up please just imagine Gonta going up to Kiyo because he’s one of the smartest people Gonta knows and being like 🥺👉👈 “can Kiyo teach Gonta how to be smart? Gonta not want to be idiot….” And Kiyo sitting with him and explaining that he’s not stupid, it’s just that he’s a product of a society that is too impatient to appreciate the ways in which Gonta is actually able to express his intelligence.

THINK ABOUT THAT FOR TWO SECONDS AND TELL ME YOU DON’T THINK THEY’D BE GOOD FOR ONE ANOTHER

#my interpretation of danganronpa is superior actually /j #I’M KIDDING I’M KIDDING I JUST. LOVE THEM SO MUCH #danganronpa #makuwata #naeleon #leonae #leonaegi #komahina #tokomaru #syomaru #saimota #gontaguuji #gontaguji #trigger happy havoc #sdr2 #udg #ndrv3 #leon kuwata #Makoto naegi #Nagito komaeda #Hajime hinata #Toko fukawa #komaru naegi #genocide jill #shuichi saihara #Kaito momota #gonta gokuhara #korekiyo shinguuji #korekiyo shinguji #anonymous

[solarsleepless]

Hello good sir.

Please rant to me about avian hybrid/ Lion hybrid/ enderman hybrid c!Niki headcanons and au's. I NEED MORE of your c!niki banter cs I have already read your fics 3times over and over again.

SHJHJSHJSHJSHJSH GIVE ME GENDER EUPHORIA AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE

i'll give some hcs for each

Avian Niki

niki is either a crow hybrid or an angel hybrid. on one hand crow niki is funny to me on the other hand badass angel

her feathers, ironically, stay white during her 'villain' arc because yaknow symbolism

when she was going out with puffy, she'd let puffy preen them

because she was the only other winged hybrid, quackity trusted her to preen his own wings

in return he preened hers while she was in jail

she used to fly with puffy because love <3

during her isolation arc, she takes out feathers as an unhealthy coping mechanism, reasoning to herself that there's no need to preen if she doesn't have any feathers left (yes it's morbid)

eventually tho she just. doesnt even wear clothes for her wings

she just hides them underneath, which is of course VERY uncomfortable

they get worse and worse and ache more and more and she wants to fly so badly but she can't unless she preens them and she can't because she just can't!

when she joins the syndicate, the first thing phil says during their second meeting is: "hey niki didn't you have wings? what happened to them?"

his voice is tinged with sympathy; he knows what it's like to not be able to fly

she freezes, just stops moving, then starts to cry

phil is worried he's done something wrong, but then she reveals that she's kept her wings hidden under wil's coat and cloak all that time (note the symbolism)

he immediately is like "what the FUCK" when he sees them because there are feathers falling when it's not even shedding season yet?? also there are a few in places they shouldn't be at all? there are some fucking missing?????

long story short it takes multiple hours to get them back in place

niki passes out during it because it's been so long since she hasn't been in constant pain

when she wakes up, phil insists on keeping her there to preen her wings

also the syndicate has a long discussion about what happened and they promise each other and themselves to help her get better

Lion Hybrid Niki

she purrs end tweet

no but seriously this girl will purr to end and back

she purrs louder than ranboo which is SAYING something

she loves the scritchy scratches behind the ears. like REALLY loves 'em. she'll just- once you give her scritches she just. surrenders and leans into it. her purring sounds like a fucking jet plane when she gets the scritchies

she can roar, she only uses it to intimidate people tho

her self-worth is just. deeper than bedrock. she has no self-worth

she and puffy are working on it but she still... needs help

sometimes she gets phantom pain from her declawed fingers. she's found out it hurts less when she massages it, but she can't actually reach it, so she asks puffy to do it, and puffy can't help but feel guilty each time she sees the stumps

also niki hates getting her nails trimmed. like HATES it. even if she doesn't want them growing as long as they did before, the idea of something sharp near her fingers after what happened just makes her blanch

eventually tho she does have to do it

she hugs puffy while ant cuts her nails, and puffy whispers sweet, reassuring comments to her.

like

"you're doing so good. i'm so proud of you" and "we're almost there. you okay? we're gonna get through this."

sometimes tho niki just.. can't handle it. but she doesn't want to disappoint puffy either so she tries to just get through it anyways.

puffy notices her discomfort and asks her if she wants to stop. niki hesitates before nodding.

"niki, you being comfortable is so much more important than this. we can do it tomorrow, okay?"

Enderman Hybrid Niki

makes littol enderman noises. sometimes when she's stressed, sometimes just idly, sometimes when she's happy!

she has a tail because how can i not give her one

also she has pawsies and hands like magpiebur by @/nightferns (BECAUSE I LOVE THE WAY THEY DRAW WILBUR'S PAWWWS)

can withstand water a little better than ranboo, being more human than him

it still burns though

she just has higher pain tolerance lul

also can touch snow unlike ranboo because she's half human, half enderman

her ears and tail twitch whenever she's anxious

didn't really like eye contact, and the l'manbergians respected that (esp eret who didnt like people staring at their eyes either) until schlatt came along and basically forced it, so she kinda forced herself to do it from then on

unlike ranboo however, she doesnt go into enderwalk. she actually hasn't got an enderwalk because ranboo got it from nervous habit and it 'evolved' from there (my hc anyway), she instead literally gets hurt

like it hurts her to make eye contact

ranboo sees that she makes eye contact despite being an enderman hybrid and is like: "...HOW???"

she's just like "oh i force myself to do it lul. cause everyone expects me to anyways. it hurts after a while but its fine"

he just goes completely silent after that, then tells phil and techno at the syndicate meeting (while niki is admiring steve) not to hold eye contact w/niki because it hurts her

techno: "HEHH??? she seemed fine when i visited her!!" ranboo: "yeah she's been hiding it this whole time because society expects her to do it." techno, an adhd fella: "..phil where are the adoption papers-"

niki's confused by the end. why did nobody look at her? why did nobody maintain eye contact with her??? did they not like her?

but at the end phil explains that they thought that because she was an enderman hybrid she wouldn't like it (they're lying to not throw ranboo under the bus)

niki just stares, then starts to cry because holy Shit they are so nice

"nIKI NO YOU'RE BURNING-"

used to bite her tail as a way of self-harm. techno was VERY concerned when he saw the bite marks, but niki just lied and said that it was a dog attack

he knows for a fact it wasn't a dog because he's been bitten and his furniture has bites and it didnt look like that

more like that One Time when Ranboo bit him while he was in his enderwalk state

cue him connecting the dots and being like "...WAIT"

niki also really likes blocks. like we all know her city is weird in some parts because it's built with different blocks, signifying niki's jumbled up mind while planning to kill tommy. but in the enderman hybrid niki hc, its also partly because blocks feel nice and she wanted to feel different ones

her tail curls around the legs of people she likes. so far, it's gone around: wilbur, tommy n tubbo (those two specifically during pogtopia), fundy, eret, puffy and the rest of the syndicate

whenever puffy made her flustered she'd blush either green or pink. no inbetween. puffy was very confused and thought niki was disgusted by her at first and was all :(( before niki explained her wack biology

that's all i got for now im afraid!

#fei tag #ask #niki nihachu #niki nihachu headcanons #nihachu headcanons #dsmp headcanons #ranboo #philza #techno #the syndicate #captain puffy #puffychu

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

thoughts on toga?

Sorry, I was putting some good music to do this 😌 our vampire princess deserves only the best.

PERSONAL THOUGHTS ON TOGA HIMIKO :

First of all, I still maintain that she's one of the best written female characters of bnha.

I used to think she was heavily sexualized on the manga, and while I still maintain that she is hyoersexualized on the fandom and still sexualized on the manga, I came to realize some of Horikoshi's choices are not that bad. Of course, it has a lot to do with certain common motives and symbolisms.

I think my main complain about the way some people write Toga (pushing aside the way the ship her with adults), it's that people either put her a a total child or a total woman.

Oh God, Toga is so smart. She's so under-appreciated, so so much.

"She's a murdered". She's what? 16-17 years old? Let's see the facts.

Toga was born in a family with money.

The first memory we got from her is Toga bitting a bird and showing it to her parents. They reacted pretty bad, like it was terribly spooky and told her to put that away, rejecting her.

After that, she created a mask for herself. She started pretending to be normal, smiling a lot, becoming the sweet overexcited girl.

However, the feeling never went away, because it was part of her quirk. The need to bite people to become them, the joy of wanting to taste the blood of someone she loved.

This could be a side effect like a person with wings wanting to fly, or a person with fire wanting to see the flames.

After stabbing her school crush, she ran away and began a criminal career of stabbing other people, hiding from the police.

This all means she lived in a lie for at least 13 years of her life, before becoming a criminal and loving on the streets at least 3 or 4 more years.

Toga has both taste the high-middle class class and the low class. She knows what is like to have too much money and be empty inside because no one sees you or accepts you, as much as she knows what is like being hungry and with cold, but living with people that love you for who you are.

This girl learned to erase her presence from a young age, before any of the UA kids ever dreamed about having that level of skill. She knows how to fight pretty well in close combat, how to fight with knives, how to trick people, how to choose her preys and when to retire from a fight.

She's extremely smart because she has successfully infiltrated in the heroes side at least three times: during the license exam, during the overhaul arc and on the war arc.

Her great goal is to live and live well. This is fucking magnificent because many people with her experience would reject themselves, thinking they're the problem. Toga knows she's not the problem, but society. She knows she deserves to live and love and have friends and family and she fights for it. In fact, even when so many people say she's insane, she's uses her logic all the time, way more than many other members of the League.

She see humans as they are. Not villains, not heroes. She was able to love Izuku and Ochaco even when they were heroes, she was able to hate overhaul while he was a villain. This shows she's outside the hero-villain toxic narrative, clever girl.

She's not afraid to face anyone when it comes to her rights. She faces Tomura more than once (overhaul arc, mva arc), she doesn't let Dabi intimidate her, she protects Twice and sweetly answers to Mr. Compress and Spinner's worry.

And God, maybe she doesn't have a mutant quirk, but almost. See her pupils, see her fangs. The reason why she makes people uncomfortable it's because she doesn't fit their standards. And she's perfectly okay with people not knowing how to categorize her. In fact, her fight in the MVA arc was because someone was trying to frame her.

I don't know how to make this clear but she's not crazy or psycho.

Toga Himiko would have passed the UA test with honors. She's so further above from the rest. She knows the older generations are full of shit and she knows they can't follow their paths, enough to outgrow Stain's legacy and make her own ideals.

I love how she shows that one can be totally feral and go against the system without stop being oneself.

Her speech to Ochaco on the war arc was incredible. She quickly questioned the idea that heroes can decide who deserves to live and who doesn't by saving only the people they think that deserve to be saved. She criticized the heroes decision to forget and dismiss and put away real people suffering just because they were not passive about their pain. She also make Ochaco see that she was a girl, just like her, not some type of hell demon trying to consume her soul.

She refused to say Shigaraki and decided to call him Tomura instead. This is so important!!!! From a narrative point of view, she's rejecting AFO's last name and accepting Tomura, the boy mourning for a father, a family.

She's observant, analytical, good at judging people, great at adapting and changing her mind.

I love how she kept being so happy and vibrant even in the worst moments.

And she's not just a victim, please. Toga Himiko is not some lost child, not a know-it-all woman. She's a teenager that can understand the situation but still needs tsome guidance.

She's actively changing the system. She's not passive or easy to manipulate. Like Spinner said, she's a free spirit.

So I'd love to see more fanfics depicting this. She's an amazing character at the level of most male characters on bnha, just like Ochaco, for example.

I'd love to see more headcanons about her with people her age. Real headcanons.

What about Momo and Toga talking about how boring can fancy parties be? How people with money are crazy sometimes?

What about Toga talking with Jirou about beinf girls that are considered "bros" by her friends?

What about Toga talking about being a little mutant and Tsuyu talking with her about hating cold weather?

What about Toga and Kirishima being overexcited and full of positivity together? About Denki and Toga talking about celebrities and TigTog? About Toga and the people from class 1-B bonding over being considered less when they're as good as class 1-A? Toga and Shinsou? Toga and Koda loving cats? Toga and Shoji playing card games? Toga and Tokoyami loving metal music? Toga and Bakugo loving romance stories?

What about Toga admiring female pro-heroes? Mirko seems loud and determined, Toga would adore her under other circumstances. Fuyumi helping Toga with her self-care because she ran away young. Toga showing Eri that they both have "scary" quirks and it's not wrong! They're both went through really bad moments and they're not bad! Toga being a big fan of the Wild Wild Pussycats. Toga adoring Vlad King and Present Mic.

The potential is there.

Anyway I just want more creativity, maybe. People writing more about Toga and the implications of her childhood, about how insane she is a fighter and a human being.

#Shan's asks #bnha #mha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #league of villains #lov #Toga himiko #Shan's mha opinions #Shan's bnha opinions #Shan's lov opinions #Mha headcanons #Bnha headcanons #LoV headcanons #Shan's mha headcanons #Shan's bnha headcanons #Shan's lov headcanons #toga himiko headcanons #Toga headcanons #Class 1-B #Class 1-A #MVA #MVA arc #Mha spoiler #Bnha spoilers #My Villain Academia #War arc #Long post

[solomonish]

no mistakes, only happy (magical) accidents

CW: none!

hehe hello, nonnie! you are so nice and it’s always a joy to have you stop by even if we’ve only exchanged a few messages <3 this was getting kinda long so I stopped it before it got to making things official BUT. maybe when i’m feeling up to it i’ll write a part 2. I do hope you don’t mind! it wasn’t boring at all! i get burnout really easy so i had to keep it to hc but this would make a really nice fic! (i also went a biiit off script but what can i say, i got a specific inspiration <3)

Solomon

Despite being banished and the bad blood he has with the heads of the institution, Solomon still finds himself at the Sorcerer's Society. Frequently.

Sometimes he is invited, his unrivaled knowledge and experience needed in some stuffy decision making progress. Others, he just slips in, sometimes through the front door and sometimes through more deceitful ways. All he does is observe, occasionally borrowing a specific book or artifact. The people in charge know about this, but so long as he returns the items unscathed and in a timely manner, they turn a blind eye. Best not to cause a ruckus where there doesn't need to be one.

Thanks to this little system, Solomon doesn't normally interact with any of the people he comes across. On the occasions he is recognized, there's always some awkward, half-baked attempt at confrontation, so he keeps to himself and only ever gets what he needs.

He's tucked in a shadowy corner of one of the libraries, searching for a book, when he hears it. Two witches whispering about a strange increase in magic in their area.

"For that long? Have you gone to check it out?"

"No, I never have the time. I just hope it isn't something dangerous."

"Well, does it feel dangerous?"

"No, but it is...strong."

"So you're just going to leave it for someone else to take care of?"

"When you hear a wolf's howl, do you head directly towards it?" As the two head out, Solomon hides himself further behind the bookshelf. He doesn't know exactly who the witches are, but he does know about where they're from, and that's all he needs.

Fun! He’s been looking into magical anomalies in the human realm recently!

so he’s checking out the area those witches are from, not really sure he knows what he’s looking for, but looking all the same. there is definitely a magical pull, but it feels.....off. he’s expecting something natural, like a small, hidden waterfall with waters that can be used for potions that elongate the natural lifespan, or a cave with an endless supply of crystals that can be used to double enchantment strength with half the effort.

but then he finds you instead after you managed to cause a small implosion in a cavern he was standing right next to but hadn’t noticed. if he hadn’t heard your shriek, he wouldn’t have bothered helping clear the rubble.

but he did hear you, and he pulled you out of the cave, watching you gracelessly fall on the grass and pat your sides to check for your belongings.

now, sometimes there’s a certain energy between human magic wielders that is just palpable. it isn’t a fool-proof way to know who can practice magic, but especially strong sorcerers can pick up on them more easily and especially unwieldy or inexperienced ones are often easier to pick up on. Solomon seems to be the former, and you...

He doesn’t mean to sound haughty, but he can’t help but ask who taught you how to cast your spells and WHAT DO YOU MEAN you’re using WHICH flowers for your spells?

Maybe it’s your pride, but your indignant “well what would YOU do?” was not meant to turn into a regular thing.

Hey, when you’re self-taught you tend to take a lot of shortcuts. And Solomon isn’t normally the type to just pick up random apprentices off the street, but he falls into teaching so easily. So maybe that day you spend the rest of it revising your spellcasting tactics, and maybe he finally leaves with an invitation to visit. And maybe he visits sooner than you’d expect.

You’re definitely not complaining, though. It’s good to not feel so alone in your magic and have a second head to bounce ideas off of. Plus, you’ve only grown more efficient with his help!! You hope the tea and meals you provide him with is payment enough.

Sometimes, he doesn’t just visit for a day. Sometimes he’s there for a few days, teaching you a few spells and stocking up on potions you’ve made that you offer him, glad for the company. he doesn’t visit every week - sometimes, it’s months between the times you see each other, but each time you fall into an easy rhythm and it’s nice!

You tell him about the area you live in, different local specialties that really enhance the ability of your potions and spells, and he tells you about his adventures throughout his life. there’s never a moment where you don’t know what to say - and everything he has to say is so interesting!

probably the most emotional moment you two have had is when you brought up extending your life. he went stiff, and started asking twenty questions before stumbling over his words and asking none of them. you asked him what was wrong, and he didn’t answer.

instead, he gave you the typical talk you’d expect - “are you willing to watch your friends and loved ones die? to watch humanity move on without you?” - and you answer cautiously like “yeah, and also this potion should theoretically only give me a few extra decades”

he sighs, and urges you that if you must live longer, never fall for the trap of immortality. he only gives you half-sentences that don’t make sense, but you promise him you wont anyway.

“be careful. the human mind can barely take what it was naturally given.”

he leaves solid answers unspoken, but you can add it all up.

and after that, the two of you just seem. closer? there’s something about opening up about your trauma that really brings two people together

so you do end up extending your lifespan, though not by much - you still aren’t powerful enough to give yourself over 150 years AT BEST, but you and Solomon stay in touch. and you both keep getting stronger.

eventually, though, it’s time to step into the magical world and start showing up places with him. You aren’t a unit, but you travel like one, and people start to notice.

at first, you’re asked all the time if you’re his apprentice, and you laugh it off and say “no, i just ask a lot of questions.” then you get the logical next step - “oh, are you two dating?”

it took you that long to notice that you had a crush MC good job

every time someone asks about it, you get flustered without a doubt. Solomon takes it in stride, which, ouch, but you sort of withdraw and your face feels hot. So it really bothers Solomon when people ask because you’re out of commission for a while and the two of you are pals :( you do stuff together on purpose

but now that it’s on your MIND you can’t SHAKE the idea of dating him.....you already know him so well....he’s spent long periods of time at your place.....you work well together......you wouldn’t mind kissing him......oh damn

it’s one of those “everybody can see it except for him” situations, and you start overthinking it. big time. it doesn’t help that you were sort of a recluse before he came along so what experience do you have with it??

none. the answer is none. and boy does it show when you get to the point where you can barely have a full conversation without turning red because your thoughts betrayed you AGAIN.

you’re really regretting that life-elongating potion, huh, MC?

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me swd #swd obey me #obey me solomon #swd solomon #solomon #solomon x reader #obey me solomon x reader #swd solomon x reader #mine #solomon hcs

[depressing-debbie]

Could you do the fluff alphabet for Armin? My favorite :) Loved eren's by the way

Aw I'm glad you liked it! Absolutely <3 

I had a lot of fun with this, but it’s very much unedited, so... yeah, hopefully it’s alright!

POST Time Skip as always

Fluff Alphabet: Armin

A ctivities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

He plans absolutely adorable little dates, like picnics or hikes. He also loves taking his SO to museums and art galleries, especially if it’s something they’re really interested in. He already has plenty of knowledge on the subject, and he definitely did some research before they left, so he��s fully prepared to point out every little detail and explain the meaning behind everything as they go. Most of all, though, he just likes getting to be with his SO, so he also loves lazy afternoons sitting and reading together.

B eauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

Armin thinks absolutely everything about his SO is stunning. He loves the way they carry themselves when they’re confident, the way their face crinkles when they laugh, the sparkle in their eyes when they talk about their interests: they’re just perfect. 

C omfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

Look no further, everybody, because we’ve found the most comforting man on the earth. His first instinct when his SO is upset is to make sure their surroundings are comfortable, meaning he’ll make sure to take them somewhere quiet if they are in public, or he’ll find lots of blankets and pillows. Then he’ll sit with them, letting them rest their head on his chest while he traces little circles into their hair. If they want to talk about it, he’s down. If they need space, he’s already out the door, checking on them once in a while with some water. But if they just want him there, he won’t leave their side.

D reams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

He’s really happy thinking about the future, even though it’s not necessarily specific. He loves the idea of building some sort of life with his SO and getting to spend it together. There’s no specific idea in his head of what that looks like, so he’d be happy no matter what as long as they’re together.

E qual - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

It’s entirely equal. He’s an absolute gentleman, but he doesn’t believe in the way society enforces roles on a relationship. Him and his SO are a team, and they work together in their relationship.

F ight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

He really hates fighting, and he doesn’t really initiate a fight ever. And, unless it’s something really serious, he would be quick to find a compromise and make up. But, even if it is serious, even though he might be a bit hurt, he still wouldn’t want to fight. They’re a team, and that team is built on a foundation of solid communication, so he’d want to have a genuine conversation rather than just yell at each other. The last thing he wants is for either of them to get their feelings hurt accidentally.

G ratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

He is so incredibly grateful for his SO, and he makes sure they know it. He appreciates them and everything they do, so even if it makes him uncomfortable, he expresses it as often as he can.

H onesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

There are no secrets in his relationship. You can’t be a team if you’re not on the same page, and he doesn’t see any reason why he would want to hide things anyway. He would respect if there are things his SO just doesn’t want to talk about, especially if it’s something very personal, but his goal will be to make sure they know they can feel comfortable talking to him. 

I nspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

Armin is a pretty reserved person, and he has a lot of self doubt and general anxiety. But, he feels so much more confident and relaxed around his SO; they’ve helped him to become more comfortable with himself and his interactions in general. He can also forget his own worries instantly when it comes to protecting them, which shows him that he is capable of overcoming that fear. He embraces the sense of security they give him, and he allows himself to open up a bit more.

J ealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

He doesn’t get jealous often, but he does have some self doubt that gets in the way. It’s not that he would blame his SO or accuse them of anything, he just gets a bit insecure. It’s also not hard for his SO to notice, and all he really needs is a few words of assurance and comfort to relax.

K iss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

Alright, unfortunately, their first kiss was so awkward. Armin was absolutely terrified of messing up, and he probably rambled when he asked if he could kiss them. It was honestly pretty cute, though, the way that he blushed, then got all smiley afterwards. He’s able to relax with it over time, and after a while, he’s a really good kisser. He probably gives his SO a little kiss as a greeting each time he sees them, and he’s absolutely a tiny butterfly kisses kind of guy :)

L ove Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

Okay, so if we’re talking about how he asked them out, he was SO awkward. His friends had to hype him up for like two weeks, and he definitely rambles when he’s uncomfortable, so it took him forever to actually get the words out. He absolutely did it in person, though, and it was pretty sweet. But, if we’re talking about the first time he said that he loved them, it was more relaxed. He just looked over at his SO one day and though about how amazing they are and how lucky he is, so he told them, and it came out as “I love you”. He was pretty embarrassed afterwards, but he definitely didn’t regret it, especially after they said it back.

M arriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

I think it depends pretty heavily on his partner, and he’d be happy either way. He doesn’t rely on a piece of paper to show that they care about each other, so if they don’t want to, he’d be happy. But, if they do want to get married, he would be so excited. He would definitely plan the most thoughtful proposal, in a private place that holds some kind of meaning for the two of them, and it would be so cute. Their wedding would be stunning, he definitely has an eye for design. There wouldn’t be a big difference between dating and married life, just more excuse to be happy together.

N icknames - What do they call their s/o?

He has so many cute little nicknames for them. Definitely calls them “love”, or “sweetheart” when they’re upset. But mainly, his nicknames are super creative and meaningful to the two of them. If his SO speaks a second language, he did some research and came up with a nickname in that language. They probably also reference their inside jokes, so it makes no sense to anyone else, which just makes it that much more special.

O n Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

It’s sooo obvious when Armin is in love. He gets embarrassed every time someone brings up his SO, and he keeps getting caught smiling and staring off into space. He expresses his feelings to his SO in every way can, whether that’s through little acts of service, homemade gifts, extra soft kisses, or just flat out saying that he loves them. He never wants them to feel like he doesn’t appreciate them completely and utterly, so he goes out of his way to make sure they know how he feels.

P DA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

He’s really uncomfortable with PDA, at most, he would probably hold his SO’s hand or rest his hand on their back. Otherwise, he just gets super embarrassed and flustered. He doesn’t mind talking about their relationship, though, especially with people he trusts. He’s not going to brag or share specific details, but he enjoys getting to talk about the person he loves, and he’s honestly happy that people know they’re together.

Q uirk - Some random ability they have that's beneficial in a relationship.

This is very random, but he has an endless supply of cozy sweaters and sweatshirts, lots of which are oversized, and he LOVES when his SO steals them. Every time he catches them wearing his clothes, it makes him sooo happy. They’re the coziest couple on the planet.

R omance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

He’s incredibly romantic, but not in the traditional way. He just doesn’t understand the cliche romantic gestures and sayings, and he would so much rather come up with his own way of expressing his appreciation for his SO and making them happy. It’s much more personal, and he puts so much thought into all of it.

S upport - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

Armin is completely and utterly supportive; he is his SO’s number one supporter. In his eyes, there is literally nothing they cannot accomplish, and he will do whatever he can to help them get there. If they’re hesitant to pursue something they’re passionate about, he is going to encourage them to have faith in themselves and chase after it, no matter what, because he believes in them completely. And if there’s any way he can help them reach their goals, he’s all ears.

T hrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice out your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

Probably a mix of both. They probably have a routine of some kind set, and he appreciates the peace and stability of that. But, he also loves getting to add to his list of new experiences that the two of them have shared. He loves learning and seeing new things, and especially when he gets to share them with his SO, it makes him really happy.

U nderstanding - How good do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

He knows them incredibly well. He can predict their reactions in different situations, and he can almost always tell how they’re feeling. It’s entirely due to how clearly they communicate, and the way that he observes everything around him. He took note at the start of their relationship of what makes them happy and what upsets them, and he knows so much about them. He can empathize so well because of this.

V alue - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

His relationship is very important to him. His SO means a lot to him, and he’s definitely started to build his routine around them, especially if they’ve been together for a while. He doesn’t really enter relationships without being serious about it, that’s just not his style, so it really is meaningful to him. 

W ild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

When he doesn’t get to see his SO for a while, they carve out time in their next meeting to just talk. They get nice and cozy together, and they just spent an hour or two talking about everything they can think of, how their week went, what crazy book they’re reading, some new fact about something they’re interested in, whatever they want to share with each other. Armin loves getting to talk about the things he’s learned and what’s happening in his life, but more than that, he absolutely adores hearing his SO talk about things they’re passionate about. He loves the way their eyes light up and their voice becomes animated. He could just sit there, in their arms, listening to them talk for hours.

X OXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

He’s very affectionate! Nowhere else does he feel as safe as he does in his SO’s arms, and he loves getting to be close to them. They definitely take naps together after a long day, and he loves to cuddle while they read. If they’re working or sitting together, he’ll rest his head on theirs, giving them tiny kisses on top of their head, or he’ll let them curl up into his side and run his hand gently up and down their back. He loves feeling like he can protect them.

Y earning - How will they cope when they're missing their partner?

He really hates when his SO is gone for a long time just because their routines are so intertwined, so he’s constantly reminded of their absence. He probably spends more time with his friends and writes down things he wants to tell his SO when they return, which relaxes him.

Z eal - Are they willing to go to great lenghts for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

Armin is the best example of going to great lengths in a relationship. Anything he can do to make his SO happy and keep everything going well, he is more than happy to do. He absolutely communicates with his partner to see what they need, and what they think the relationship needs, and they’ll work together to make sure they are satisfied. His relationship and his SO mean the world to him, so he would definitely do whatever he can for them.

#attack on titan headcanons #attack on titan #aot headcanons #aot #shingeki no kyojin #shingeki no kyojin headcanons #snk headcanons #snk #Armin Arlet #snk armin #armin aot #aot armin #armin #armin x y/n #armin x reader #armin fluff #boyfriend armin #fluff alphabet

[tribow]

So I watched Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress

First of all I just want to say that anyone who calls this show an Attack on Titan clone is dumb as bricks and either didn't watch it or were unable to admit they were wrong because of their own sense of pride. Are there similarities and/or inspirations? Sure, but Kabaneri's story and conflict are extremely different from Attack on Titan.

With that out the way, Kabaneri is an anime original written by Ichiro Okouchi and directed by Tetsuro Araki. Okouchi is the name that caught my attention as he has done screenplay for a lot of stuff I like and has also done the writing for SK8 the Infinity which I heard a lot of people were enjoying.

I kept my expectations low since I heard a lot of people were dissapointed by Kabaneri, but now having watched it I don't understand why. This isn't a masterpiece or anything, but it's pretty enjoyable and doesn't waste any time. In fact, it could have used more time if anything.

The only issue I would say this anime runs into is time constraints. It clearly had much more story to tell, but with only 12 episodes it can only do so much. The story keeps a heavy focus on what is currently happening and does not spend much time fleshing out the details or doing much world building. There are some characters who end up experiencing developments off-screen as well. With a longer run-time this anime would be golden, but it is what it is.

Anyway, the general plot is that there is a zombie outbreak that has happened during what seems to be industrial revolution times for Japan. These zombies are called Kabane. They lack much intelligence, but they're superhuman and difficult to take down. The story starts probably several years into this apocalypse. A city* (might've been a town) has gotten infiltrated by the Kabane and the survivors barely manage to escape by train. The rest of the story follow these survivors and I found that pretty cool. You don't see many stories have a train as its main setting.

I left out a lot of details, but I believe the impact of the characters would not hit as hard if you knew what their deal was before watching. For the most part, these characters are pretty good. Their motivations make sense and the decisions they make do not betray who they are. Some characters make stupid decisions, but those decisions are believable and that's very important.

Outside the conflict of survival, there's other conflicts the characters must deal with as well. Knowledge about how the Kabane work is very minimal. Many believe them to be more cunning than they actually are and treat them like some kind of youkai hiding in society. That fear can frequently make the situation worse by exaggerating what the Kabane are actually capable of. It's a common theme explored in the show. Speaking of society, the way the government responds to this apocalyptic situation is also a conflict in its own way. Will the government abandon the people to protect itself or will it use its influence to stand and fight? Both options are explored in different ways and I found that nice.

However, as mentioned before many of these conflicts are not given the chance to be fully explored so you may end up not getting enough information to be satisfied with the answer you got, or maybe you get no answer at all. It's really a shame. Perhaps the manga adaption expands on this more, but I haven't read it so I wouldn't be able to tell you.

I have watched the movie, "The Battle of Unato" though. Without explaining much, it sucked. The conflicts were super forced and it did not come up with good excuses for the dumb shit that happened. The ending was nice but overall it sucked. It doesn't even expand on the world building. Netflix also released it as a 3-episode anime instead of a full length movie. Way to ruin its pacing. It's a full-length film not an episodic series, what the hell were they thinking?

My hatred of Netflix's practices aside, the animation of Kabaneri is amazing, and I'm not just talking about the movie. The television series is just as good. It was handled by Wit Studio (yes, the same people who did Attack on Titan). If you know anything about them then you know they're good. Everything about the animation is great. Character expression is exceptional and the aesthetic is simply perfect throughout the show. There's some great visual storytelling done as well sometimes. Action scenes are stellar cause of course they are. Wit Studio is great.

The music is really good as well. The ending theme is amazing and one of the best I've ever heard. They knew it was good too, there's some orchestral arrangements of it used during the show, or sometimes they'll just straight up play the song. It happens almost too much, but I don't blame them, that songs slaps like no other.

I would recommend this anime for sure to anyone that's interested. (maybe not the movie though). The time constraint issue does harm this show a lot and I have some minor gripes, but it's still really good despite that. I don't like the idea that Kabaneri will be remembered as some Attack on Titan clone, it deserves more respect than that. Plus, it's an anime original! Stuff like that should be supported.

#text #anime #review #kabaneri of the iron fortress #koutetsujou no kabaneri #attack on titan #shingeki no kyoujin #This should be remembered as a good show that needed more time to flesh itself out

[davids-cartoon-corkboard]

Here’s the final part of the “Raph is a system” theory compilation post! It’s the last of what I can scrape up from canon; while I still have ideas on how it might loop back into character interactions and plot and so on, they’re much more speculative in nature. (Part 1 is here) (Part 2 is here) (You’re reading Part 3)

---

"Red” is the alter with the least screen time, so it took a while for me to connect the dots on when and why he formed.

His shadowed face, the dramatic background music when he speaks, and his seriousness are reminiscent of the “brooding on rooftops in the rain while gloomily staring off into the distance” thing that Raphs throughout the franchise will do sometimes. That’s easy to poke fun at on a superficial level because most of us look back on our edgy phases with self-deprecation, but it’s a lot less funny in the context of the life he lives. Being a normal human teenager in normal human society is a fucking nightmare; being a mutant teenager who has no idea what to expect in terms of development or lifespan, only five people he can safely interact with ever, and a very limited future hiding from everyone else for as long as he lives has got to be just awful.

RR’s few lines in “Pizza Puffs” tell us a lot. “It’s the only way they’ll learn” and “this is for their own good” suggest that he formed when the turtles started exploring more of the sewers and going aboveground, and Being The Leader became more of a responsibility. A thousand new ways for them to get in trouble meant a thousand new ways Raph would have to bail them out, and that got old fast- especially since they didn’t have April’s knowledge to help them in the beginning. I doubt they met her the very first time they left the sewers. The wiki says April knew the boys for five years as of “Mystic Mayhem”, so they would have been nearly eight at the time, perhaps the mental equivalent of a ten- or eleven-year-old human.

A while back I sifted through all the eps with Raph in them in the vague hopes that “Pizza Puffs” wasn’t the only episode featuring RR... and lo and behold, I found something! The shadowed face and dramatic background music are also present in “Minotaur Maze”!

“I can’t do it. I got no mystic mojo. I’m useless.”

“Hey, that’s not true, brother. You just gotta believe in yourself, and know this: If I die in this maze, I will haunt you for the rest of your life.”

(I know that’s only two data points, but y’all canonically cannot scoff at me.) RR shows up when HR is no longer able to tolerate the bullshit at hand. “I’m not going to baby you Leo, get your shit together before your ego kills us all” was a reasonable response to nearly being shish-kebab’d.

“Pizza Puffs”, on the other hand... LDM pulled through in the end, but that RR got HR to stay behind added an unnecessary level of risk. Getting his brothers to learn a lesson should have waited until after the giant mutant cannibal had been dealt with and they were no longer poisoned.

This hands-off “figure it out on your own” approach probably came from Splinter. I swear to Pizza Supreme In The Sky I’m not trying to shit-talk him, but his lack of involvement with his sons was a major flaw. Before all that character development he was terrible at things like “emotional support” and “life lessons”, leaving Raph without the blueprints to deal with a lot of problems. HR would respond by rushing in and figuring things out as he went, but sometimes RR would have to say “No, we’re maxed out and can’t deal with this, we’ve gotta step back”. As we’ve seen in other iterations, when Raph is maxed out and doesn’t step back...

...he goes too far. Plenty of folks have commented on how rarely the Rise turtles smack each other around compared to other versions; it’s telling that RR spoke up just a moment after HR smacked Mikey in “Pizza Puffs”.

Raph is much bigger and stronger than his brothers this time around, meaning such an outburst would have a much higher risk of Genuine Grievous Injury. And while his size and strength also mean a measure of gentleness has been baked into him since day one, there would still be times HR would feel himself boiling over and RR would head off somewhere quiet for fear of the above situation; which was potentially alluded to in “Hot Soup: The Game”.

“You went out on your own when you were his age.”

The context of “Man vs. Sewer” suggests Raph isn’t going to go off on his own without very good reason- such as cooling down before he does something he regrets. That this detail shows up in Casey’s debut episode suggests it is how they will properly meet and bond, since befriending Casey and doing vigilante shit with him is what usually gives Raph a way to blow off steam while having someone nearby to keep him in check. But that probably won’t happen until partway through season 3, since I doubt we can cram the rest of Casey’s redemption arc into the movie alongside the invasion and time travel trauma shenanigans and leader drama. So in the meantime RR will continue to brood on rooftops in bad weather and listen to Ephemerality songs and monologue to himself because he knows nobody’s going to hear him over the incessant background noise that makes up the cities above and below.

I was a bit stumped about how that meeting would take place- the events of the finale (and possibly also the movie) would no doubt have both the human and yokai populations on high alert, making it dangerous for RR to slip away for some peace and quiet. But the events of the finale also gave us some insight on Raph’s powers; he has a way to leave without actually leaving!

Hardlight Clone Jutsu, baby!

So whenever HR finds himself in a particularly sour mood, a wisp of power winds its way up through the open-air portion of the lair and forms into a clone aboveground. HR doesn’t have to leave for a while to cool down before coming back and dealing with the situation calmly, because RR is already on a rooftop somewhere dissipating those bad feelings by listening to the rain and/or yeeting trash cans.

But mutants can’t freely walk the streets of New York, and the Hidden City Police probably still have it out for Raph. And someone, hero or villain, will eventually realize that Raph has a gloomy stray clone running around and ask questions that can’t be answered without cracking open the can of worms that is This Whole Situation. RR needs to get creative. That we’ve seen clones have both full color and the basic red/white palette suggests their color could be altered in other ways; and that the holo-form grew extra arms in the lair fight vs. the Shredder suggests their shape could also be changed further.

So what will he choose to look like, if not his body?

Obviously he’ll use a red and black color palette because it slaps, leaning more towards black since I compared him to Batman back in Part 1. A low-detail design makes it hard to identify him, giving onlookers the impression that they just couldn't see him well in the dark. Mentally filing down his spikes and decreasing the curve of his shell are easy enough, but it takes him a while to figure out five fingers instead of three, and there’s not much he can do about his voice other than lowering the pitch so he just opts to not talk much within earshot of others. A cape further disguises his silhouette and again, it slaps. The impression of a mask means he doesn’t need a face and it lets peoples’ assumptions work for him. Humans are more likely to think he’s human than a Very Human-Shaped Mutant, and yokai come in so many shapes as is that he could be anything from a witch to a dehydrated googlyschmootz.

(You know how it is with franchises. Old patterns repeating in new ways.)

New York City never sleeps, and I doubt the Hidden City does either. He’ll run into Casey eventually, but in the interim he stumbles across and intervenes in some attempted purse-snatchings and kidnappings and the like. Most of the would-be victims use his arrival as their chance to escape, but one of them is too frozen with fear to move until their attackers are chased off into the dark. He escorts them home, and it’s only once they’re at their doorstep that they work up the courage to ask him who he is.

It’s... a difficult question, in more ways than one. “Raph” is out of the question. “Red” isn’t quite right, and neither is “Angel”- they’re a tad too identifying still, and the R.A.P.H. thing was HR’s idea anyway. So he shrugs, and melts away into the shadows.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m Nobody.”

#rottmnt #rottmnt raph #red raph #rottmnt nobody #the 'raph is a system' theory #this will never be canon in a million years but it's canon compliant and that's what's important to me lol #ephemerality is a synonym for evanescence #i had to use a thesaurus for that one #anyway i am have always been and will always be an 03 hoe #long post #i have an inkling about how his meeting with casey would go so i might put that here sooner or later

[djmarinizelablog]

Hey!! Would you mind write a Miss Congeniality!AU with levihan?

You know, with my beloved hange being Sandra Bullock, and Levi loving her in anyway, after or before the changes, but being surprised with them hehehe

Whew, this was a long one, Anon! Read under the cut to see the rest of it, and let me know what you think! I might expand it one of these days...

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

1.

Beauty pageants are a nightmare for FBI Agent Hange Zoe.

She can do a sliding tackle, a crosspunch, a backflip-ninja-combo-roll before landing a roundabout kick on the bad guys. All of that while she's wearing a handsome suit. Those shitheads were just damn overwhelmed by her the last time the rascals went on the run from the police; Hange managed to find their hiding place after deducing that these crime lords did their operations in small underground bars where they could bribe the management.

But beauty pageants will haunt Hange in her sleep, especially now that her supervisor Erwin Smith has just assigned her to a new mission involving a serial bomber who targets the public. Said criminal had sent them a threat two days ago saying that he intends to bomb the upcoming Miss Paradis beauty pageant within a weeks' time. To add to that, Erwin has asked FBI's top agent Levi Ackerman to call the shots while they're out in the field, which unfortunately in this case... is the runway.

"I just don't fucking understand." Agent Levi grits his teeth as he pulls his suit tighter around him. "Why does this idiot of a bomber want to make a statement in a pageant, of all places?

"Maybe he's a feminist?" Hange suggests. "You know, maybe he doesn't believe that women should be ranked in terms of looks... or maybe he's got a grudge on one of the contestants? They have their own personal advocacies and all that, too."

"Why the hell do you know so much about this?" Levi eyes his colleague suspiciously, her tomboyish nature unconvincing enough to make Hange Zoe the type of person who would be interested in these events.

"Nanaba makes me watch them," Hange says. She's referring to her buddy in the Cybercrime Unit. "Not that I enjoy it, but I think it's enough for me to get an idea of how these shows actually operate---"

And apparently enough for her to infiltrate the pageant.

Hange obviously did not take it lightly when Erwin announced the plan to use her as an insider in order to track any suspicious activity and monitor the candidates' safety as well.

"Oh no, please no," Hange shakes her head. So much for her intelligence and her critical thinking skills. "I'm not gonna strut across the stage in high heels and pushup bras---"

"You don't have a choice." Levi frowns.

"You men seriously don't understand anything about pageants, do you?" She puts both hands on her hips in exasperation. "It takes weeks, months, maybe even years, to train the contestants... and have you seen me?" She gestures to her masculine appearance and her blatant lack of curves.

The two men look at each other before Erwin breaks the silence. "Keith Shadis can take care of that."

2.

Apparently, they had already asked the pageant committee to put her on the roster of candidates, in addition to hiring a beauty consultant to assist her in the preparations.

"Great heavens," Shadis mutters the moment Hange introduces herself to him in plain casual clothes, eyeglasses dirty and her ponytailed hair in complete disarray. His face cannot hide the disappointment. The older man straightens himself up and continues, "Am I staring at a clown? Not that I've seen worse."

He circles Hange slowly, scrutinizing her poor posture and her vital statistics, wondering how a disheveled person like her would even have the audacity to show up at his place for a makeover.

"I heard you're an expert at transformations," Levi comes to Hange's defense, his tone professional. "We just need her to look good enough so she can get into the final selection. Surely some makeup and beauty sleep will do the trick?"

Shadis raises an eyebrow. "At this rate, Mister Ackerman, your partner here needs to hibernate."

Hange winces at the insult. "Look, I'm not as excited in this as you are---"

"But we're already here, aren't we?" Shadis crosses his arms. "Well, let's get to work then."

He snaps his fingers, and out of nowhere, his assistants grab Hange from behind, forcing her down into a styling chair as they inspect every nook and cranny of her face and body, starting from her untidy hair down to her overgrown toenails.

"This is going to be embarrassing," Hange says, an understatement.

3.

No one has ever told Hange Zoe that prepping up for a pageant is worse than torture. Over the past twelve hours, she has been subjected to a manicure, a pedicure, a hot oil treatment, dental prophylaxis, eyebrow threading, earwax cleaning, body sculpting, and of course, a full-body Brazilian waxing.

To add to that, Shadis has discarded her formal suit and has her done several outfit changes to give her a new sense of style.

"My entire face is sore," she complains to Levi who has been on standby while she underwent all the necessary procedures. "I can't even feel my legs.”

They're separated by a huge dark curtain, Shadis wanting it to be a surprise when he finally reveals the new and improved Hange-motherfucking-Zoe.

"It'll be over soon, trust me," Levi consoles her, both of them already exhausted. He doesn't really care about this entire shebang; he just wants to continue with the operation and gather as much intel as they can on the contestants. Unfortunately, this is part of the mission.

Hange whines again. “And they won't even let me eat any of the pizza!"

“I’ll sneak you in a slice while they’re not looking.”

“I heard that.” Shadis says, his head poking through the curtain. 

There's a sigh that escapes Hange on the other side.

"Say, Levi... would you prefer a bombshell model over a badass fighter?" she asks him.

"What kind of question is that?" Levi raises an eyebrow. “You already know my answer.”

He whips his head around just in time to see Shadis smirking, holding the curtains together behind him.

"Behold..." he says, "the one and only... Hange Zoe!"

Levi manages to keep his mouth from falling open when he sees Hange in a nice halter dress, her hair now loose in soft curls, lips pink from the gloss and tint. Instead of her usual glasses, she's now wearing plain contacts.

"What do you think?" She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, her brown eyes curious while she looks at him in all earnest.

Levi swallows. The words have already left him.

--------

Bonus scene!

The girls are already in their bikinis, hands on hips and sashes hanging on their shoulder as they prance around onstage for the swimsuit segment. Earlier that evening, Levi and Erwin had deduced that pageant contestant Petra Rall may be involved in their case, having joined several protests against animal cruelty in the past. Hange Zoe immediately shut their opinions' down, claiming that Petra wouldn't even hurt a fly, even if she knew how to. The men were still skeptical, nevertheless.

"Like a Dalai Lama, like a Dalai Lama," Hange grits her teeth as she forces a smile on her face. She can feel the silicon cups moving around her chest as well as her bikini bottom sliding up her butt.

When she was up for the Q&A portion, the host had asked her what she would wish for in order to make society a better place. Hange Zoe made the mistake of saying "harsher punishments for parole violators," but she immediately rectified it by adding "world peace" to her final statement.

They're now watching Petra Rall from the sidelines, Levi and Erwin still convinced that the girl could be an accomplice to the bomber's plans.

"What's your idea of a perfect date?" The host starts with his question.

"Oh, that's a tough one." Petra giggles, her ginger hair bouncing as she speaks, "I'd have to say April 25th. Because it's not too hot, not too cold... all you need is a light jacket."

Hange lets out a snort as the two men's face wrinkle in confusion.

"So much for your alleged criminal," she says.

#miss congeniality #levihan #fanfic #fanfiction #levi ackerman #hanji zoe #levi x hange #aot #snk #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #writing #mine #djmarinizela

[sarahjtv]

BNHA Chapter 310 Spoiler Thoughts: “The First and Second Holders”

Some fan translations are out and it’s time to flex some thoughts out again!  I couldn’t do them last night because I didn’t have all the scan images with me and I didn’t want to jump the gun with only text descriptions.  Anyway, this was mainly an exposition chapter that properly introduces us to the second and third OFA Holders, especially the 2nd and what his relationship to the 1st is.  This might not be as long as others “Spoiler Thoughts” I’ve written, but let’s see:

First off, we have a colored cover page by Horikoshi-sensei himself!  It’s a solo page featuring Vigilante Deku and he looks badass!  Deku looks ready to kick ass and take names.  And, his Mid-Gauntlet is colored red like a lot of us thought and it adds to the theory that Melissa Shield did create it like she did with Deku’s Full-Gauntlet back in Two Heroes.

The chapter starts in a dark and rainy night.  A large woman (she’s like maybe 10ft tall; she’s taller than All Might who I think is 7ft) with a mutant-type quirk who’s getting attacked by some civilians because they think she’s a villain.  Deku jumps in to stop the attacks and the woman explains that she was just trying to go to one of the evacuation centers at a hero school.  Deku is kind enough to give her her umbrella back and reassure her that things will be ok.  

I gotta say that this whole situation is scarily close to real life right now.  I don’t like getting too political, but we live in a scary world where discrimination is, unfortunately, alive and well...  If you are a POC, you can be attacked from anywhere with the only reason being that “you’re a danger because of the skin you were born with”. It’s horrific, it’s disgusting, and it’s been around for a long time.  Even in the BNHA universe, there used to be cults solely dedicated to discriminating against mutant-type people (we learned this back in the My Villain Academia Arc).  So, like in the real world, this problem has risen again.  Thankfully, there are people like Deku and All Might who are more than willing to help someone in need regardless of who they are.  BNHA hits too close to home sometimes.  

Anyway, going back to the BNHA story.  Before All Might leaves to help the woman in his Batmobile, he hands Deku some Pork Katsu in a cute bento box wrapped in a bunny cloth!  Deku is visibly happy and thanks All Might for the meal.  This is so cute!  I’m so glad to see that All Might is making sure that Deku is being properly taken care of.  Boy needs to eat if he’s going to save the world.  I’m also glad that Deku can still show signs of happiness despite, well, everything.  I swear, if All Might doesn’t legally adopt Deku as his son by the time this series is over, I’m going to jump into this manga and force him to sign those documents myself. 

The next panel shows Deku standing on what looks like Tokyo’s famous Sky Tree (or Sky Egg if we’re going off what Vigilantes showed us).  He’s back to talking to the OFA Holders like they’re angels on his shoulders.  Banjo talks about how it’s like the world’s reverted back in time when things were worse and Deku responds that if he doesn’t use all of OFA’s power, he’ll never be able to defeat Shigaraki and AFO.  I know we’re in the final act, so Deku’s gotta get to 100% fast if he wants to win this war.  Last we checked, he was at 45%, but he might be at a higher percentage now since he’s unlocked En’s Smokescreen.  Also, Deku’s looking more and more like Batman each chapter and I gotta say that it really suits him.

Back to the Vestige Dream back when Deku was still in a coma after the war.  The 1st Holder begs the 2nd and 3rd to corporate with him so that they can provide their power to Deku.  The 1st calls the 2nd and 3rd “My Heroes” which causes some awkward silence lol.  Neither one is responding, so Banjo breaks the silence by suggesting that Deku learn everyone’s Quirks so that he’ll get used to them once he starts using them.  We learn why the 2nd and 3rd are the 1st’s heroes soon, but it’s actually a good idea for Deku to learn about all these different Quirks while he’s sleeping so that he’ll get a good idea on how to execute them when he wakes up.  It’s kind of a way of training for Deku just without actually using the Quirks themselves.  

The 3rd Holder (the one with the spiky ponytail and headband) starts to talk.  He says that the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd came from the “Harshest era of history”.  It was a time where AFO ruled all and peaked in power and control.  He was going to take over the whole world if the first 3 Holders didn’t step in to stop him.  My guess is that after AFO was defeated for the first time, society started to calm down and become more or less the world we knew before the War Arc.  So, things weren’t as bad during the 4th Holder’s era and so forth.  This would explain why Shinomori was able to hide in the forest for so long without being detected.  

And now the big part of the chapter: the 2nd Holder.  Who does in fact look A LOT like Bakugo.  Big difference is that he has a massive scar across his face.  I am aware of the whole “time travel” theory that people have going on with Bakugo and this dude, but I’m not on that train.  Instead, I think that the 2nd Holder is one of Bakugo’s ancestors.  Like, a really, really-great-grandfather.  Horikoshi doesn’t just design his characters for no reason.  The fact that the 2nd user looks so much like Bakugo, has a costume similar to Bakugo’s, and that future panels in this chapter straight up parallel that iconic scene with young Bakugo and Deku in the river only add fuel to this fire.  Unless Horikoshi says otherwise, this is the theory I’m sticking to: this “Ancestor” theory.

And we know of the 1st user’s real name now too, which is Yoichi!  If Horikoshi is keeping up with the “numbers in names” theme, then I’m positive that Yochi has the kanji for “One” somewhere in it.  And, if we’re going to believe AFO at all, then that means that the 1st user’s full name is Yoichi Shigaraki.  We don’t know AFO’s full name yet.  But, again, AFO could be lying with his last name, so I’m taking this one with a grain of salt.

Back to the 2nd Holder, he tells Yoichi that a lot of lives were sacrificed in order to stop AFO back then.  He believes that there is only victory or defeat in battle; that there’s no hope of saving their archenemy.  He has doubt about putting his faith in Deku because of this.  Given how the 3rd Holder still has his back turned too, I’m lead to believe that he also thinks Deku is crazy for wanting to save Shigaraki.  I don’t exactly blame them.  Really, none of us know if Deku will be successful in saving Shigaraki.  He might have to kill him in the end.  I think they should offer Deku help, but I don’t blame them for being at least a little skeptical.  

But, Yoichi reminds the 2nd and 3rd users that they saved Yoichi back when AFO locked him up to die.  They found Yoichi with the intention to kill him it seems, but the 2nd Holder showed sympathy for Yoichi and lent him a helping hand despite Yoichi being AFO’s little brother.  This is the parallel panel I was talking about.  Yoichi is kneeling down on the floor and the 2nd user is standing up extending his hand to help Yoichi.  I don’t even need to look back in the manga to know what inspired this.  Hell, I don’t even need to tell you!  We all know what Horikoshi was doing when he drew and wrote this.

Yoichi convinces him that he should believe in Deku as Yoichi does think Deku will save the day.  If the 2nd user didn’t extend his hand to help Yoichi, OFA wouldn’t have begun.  I think that the trust between these two is ultimately the reason why the 2nd user finally agreed to help Deku; the same with the 3rd user too.  And, kind of a tangent, but I really like how Horikoshi draws Yoichi and the 2nd user’s hands as they’re reaching for each other.  Horikoshi has always been really good with drawing hands like they’re facial expressions (something my ass could never do 😭) and this one shows kindness and empathy.  It’s almost like what would’ve happened if Bakugo accepted Deku’s hand for help when they were young instead of letting his pride and ego get in the way.  Oh, the parallels! 

Finally, the 2nd user speaks in present day telling Deku that they’re going full speed ahead now.  My guess is that Deku’s going to have to improve on OFA and the rest of his Quirks quickly in order to find and beat the LoV.  We are in the Final Act after all.  The chapter ends at a good place if we want to switch to the UA kids, which is honestly what I’m hoping for.  Again, I love Deku and his Vigilante adventures, but I miss the rest of the kids.  The new BNHA Exhibition in Japan apparently has a giant drawing of the main class, All Might, Aizawa, and Shinso in his new hero costume!  Which tells me that 1. Shinso probably took Deku’s place in the class for the time being, and 2. We’re definitely going to see the other kids again.  I’m hoping soon.  But, I wouldn’t be surprised if Horikoshi decided to continue focusing on Deku’s Vigilanteism and have him practice with he 2nd and 3rd Holder’s Quirks now that they’re working with him.  We’ll just have to see.

So, that’s it!  Solid chapter overall.  I’m glad we finally got to see the 3rd and 2nd Holder’s faces.  I think the “Kirishima is the 3rd Holder” theroy has been debunked at this point, but I’m still on the “2nd Holder is Bakugo’s ancestor” train.  The similarities and parallels are too strong for me to deny it.  Horikoshi-sensei, please confirm or deny soon 🙏.  We are getting break next week for Golden Week BTW!  All of Shonen Jump is actually, so no One Piece or JJK either (I’m not sure about Jump+, so we might still be getting some Spy X Family for example).  So, basically all our favorite mangakas are getting a well-deserved break as they should!  I hope they enjoy their vacation!  Waiting’s going to suck tho, I’m ngl about that...  Oh well, I’m willing to take the sacrifice if it means having healthy mangka.  Thankfully, we still have the anime and the new exhibition to tide us over until then.

Edit: OR NOT SINCE THE EXHIBITION IS TEMPORARILY CLOSED BECAUSE OF A CERTAIN PANDEMIC GOING NUTS IN JAPAN AFTER ONLY BEING OPEN FOR 2 DAYS 😭 

Edit: I went back to re-read the chapter and I completely missed the date for the next chapter (chapter 311) which is set to release on May 9th!  So, we’re actually getting a 2 week break instead.  Damn...  Sucks for us, but it’s good for mangaka to get breaks when they can especially considering their absolutely insane schedule.

Me reading this chapter:

#My Hero Academia Spoilers #Boku No Hero Academia Spoilers #MHA Spoilers #BNHA Spoilers #MHA 310 #BNHA 310 #Deku #Izuku Midoriya #All Might #Toshinori Yagi #One For All #OFA #All For One #AFO #things are getting intense #things are getting interesting #what's going to happen to our boy #where are the rest of my adopted kids #I miss them #bring them back pls #Kohei Horikoshi #my thoughts #my post #my writing #theories #spoiler thoughts #spoilers #you get a theory and you get a theory and YOU GET A THEORY

[hekatekun]

The metanarrative’s grand narrative: Osomatsu-san’s characterization throughout the franchise

The growing cynicism throughout the entire Osomatsu-san franchise shows itself in season 3 with more prominence than anything prior. I think that’s pretty common amongst any “long-running” gag comedy - replacing a plot with spiteful commentary that’s admittedly pretty hit or miss at times. However, it invariably creates a negative but pretty funny character growth, and I love the way the show (I’m including the movie too as “canon” material considering season 3 has referenced it way too many times for me to disregard) has set up this metanarrative across seasons. Long post ahead.

Obviously, Osomatsu-san is self-aware and has a casual relationship with itself. No linear plot (though S3 seems to be trying it out and I’ve enjoyed it - I love that they’re willing to experiment), rather a collection of unrelated skits; and so it points out its own metanarrative because of this “lack of consequences.” With comedy comes impermancy and Ososan AND -kun will always bounce back from that week’s insanity. From the Oxford Dictionary, a metanarrative is “a narrative account that experiments with or explores the idea of storytelling, often by drawing attention to its own artificiality.” Basically: a story about stories.

On top of this, is what I’m calling the “grand narrative,” which is often used interchangeably with metanarrative, but here I’m making a distinction to make it less confusing. Of course, Ososan is a story about stories, but with that comes a story it’s not directly telling, which is where most of the (little) character development is taking place. This is what I’m going to call the grand narrative of a show whose premise is being a meta-aware comedy. I’ll admit I’m by no means an expert on these subjects, but storytelling methods are something I enjoy trying to analyze. As a media format, Ososan really utilizes the fact that it’s a tv show.

Right off the bat S1E1 makes it clear what to expect: Nothing. Not a damn thing. But, the show had already been cleared for this first season, so it has to be produced. This same episode’s preview is done by Osomatsu, which I’m just gonna quote instead screenshot because there’s too many.

“...we plan on properly starting the anime the next episode.” “...you ended up with an extra minute, so you need me to do something to fill it?! Actually, is this anime going to be okay with episode one being like this? I’m getting worried about how the rest of this is going to be...” “There, I used up a minute! [EPISODE ENDS]”

Episode one is not only batshit referential, but downright mocking the state of anime in 2015. Which, truthfully, I don’t have much to comment on in that regard, as I’m not an avid anime fan. However, it does this under the premise of being indecisive about what kind of anime they wanted the Osokun reboot to be. 

They’ll do just about anything to stay popular and relevant considering that is, quite literally, all they have going for them as characters in the series and just being characters in general. They may be pieces of shit, but they’re likeable pieces of shit. The dynamics they’ve built upon to be entertaining is encouraged, and they’re basically just roleplaying different skits and fucking around.

All the AUs! All the skits! They’re just playing! They’re just fuckin’ around!! They couldn’t come up with any interesting plot nor could they “graduate” from being anime protagonists and join the real world, so they just fuck around and make a gag anime!

Even if we follow both as the audience, the show makes a difference between the what’s them in their “normal life” (crazy begets crazy, no?) and what’s their “show.” But, really, that’s just one way to look at it, as they don’t really follow any rules as a show. I could say the Joshimatsus are separate characters from the sextuplets, and it’d be a “correct” interpretation. It doesn’t really matter - I’m choosing to examine it all as being the six of them just running around and playing, because being entertaining and having fun is all they know as characters. Besides, having it blended together beyond recognition reinforces how it prioritizes entertaining us, the audience, above logic. Storytelling doesn’t need to make absolute spatial-temporal sense for it to be enjoyable to fans.

In any case, that mentality really seems to be what pushes their character development negative, as they look to reinforce habits and rituals despite them being really detrimental for them in the long run. They know they’re popular characters as is, and with really everyone from staff to fans encouraging this behavior further, so they see no point in fixing what isn’t really broken.

I found this 4 year old article from Manga.Tokyo discussing the Ososan phenomenon in Japan because while the craze died off pretty quickly in American anime circles (which deserves a whole other post), Japanese fans went fuckin’ nuts.

This portion caught my attention, as it makes sense that entitled and enabled asshole children would grow up to be entitled and enabled asshole adults. The article also goes on to compare them to idols (even beyond the F6 spoof) and that they are rooted in being comfort characters above all else. 

It’s worth a read, especially because Japanese fan response is what drives majority of the content post-S1, and, inevitably, ties into their character development. 

They know that they’re Characters, particularly Protagonists. You know what happens to protagonists? Everything works out. Just about every single story created has stuff working out for protagonists. In fact, we have a whole genre made that separates stories with bad tragic endings from our Normal Stories. Ososan is a comedy, not a tragedy, so surely there’s gonna be some payoff somewhere along the road, especially as the seasons and other content are still being pumped out. To a self-aware, entitled, enabled protagonist, assuming everything is just gonna work out for you isn’t that far off from your narrative truth.

However, Ososan is a gag anime, and a lot of gag content (like 4koma mangas) is dropped for other projects before any emotional cathartic ending is provided for characters and fans alike. So, three seasons and a movie later, nothing has happened. It’s a great idol cash cow with a Family Guy filter, and the characters (and writers) don’t even bother to hide it anymore. And I know I’m being hypocritical concerning my definition of “canon material” but I think this portion from one of the drama cds “Choroplex” basically summarizes my point:

CHOROMATSU: Wait, don’t make this into a gag! You don’t even care about becoming employed, right? KARAMATSU: There’s no way that could happen... CHOROMATSU: What kind of future are you imagining? Is it nothing but this? [HUGE PAUSE BEFORE THEY MOVE ONTO SOMETHING ELSE]

They’re parodies of themselves and are running out of ideas. Stagnation and decay is normal, if not unavoidable, at this point in time for them. They’re just 20 somethings who’ve hit a wall but they’re too scared and insecure to bring about permanent positive change. It’s easier for them to fall back into normal patterns and joke off the rest.

They have an antagonistic relationship with expectations. They can’t handle a single iota of expectations, or responsibilities. They’ve never needed to worry before, so why bother now? Once the biggest hits on the block, now they’re just guppies in the ocean, and there’s nothing they believe themselves to be able to accomplish to keep up with this big brave new world. This is epitomized in S3E15, where old man Osomatsu tells a bastardized version of the Tortoise and the Hare, blatantly projecting his feelings onto it. Again, too many screenshots so let me pull more quotes (bolding for my own reference):

“The place that the tortoise thought was the goal was not actually the goal. His journey down the road of life still continued on. The tortoise was quite tired, but he continued running anyway.” “No one actually knew who was in front anymore. There are too many people above you.” “After the tortoise found out how society worked, he thought, ‘So this is the difference in talent? No amount of hard work is going to fix this. All right. I’m done competing with others.’”

S3 has left more questionable endings than its counterparts. The last 2 skits I referenced don’t even a gag to them, and the marriage skit doesn’t play music for the entire second half of S3E5. There’s more involved too. I haven’t even brought up the rice ball twins becoming actual entertainers in their universe, or how they introduced this whole AI subplot only to reject it because All Six Of Them aren’t interested in expanding their little corner of the world. Here’s a transcript of the ending preview from S3E1:

“Hey, hey, Osomatsu here. I thought we were saved from being replaced, but I guess we get new characters next week. Man, we’re busy. New encounters, changing surroundings... We’re NEETs to begin with because all that is a pain. I guess a lot can happen after three seasons. [EPISODE ENDS]”

The sextuplets’ mindsets are extremely self-centered, which is also an environmental thing (the parents don’t even really care that they’re NEETs, for one) and an understanding of what they ought to be (epic successful protagonists). They also have a very black and white mentality, all or nothing. They’re extremely sheltered, and once they realized where they stood in society at large, they just gave up. To them the world is divided between winners and losers, and somehow, “inexplicably,” they found themselves to have fallen from grace. But they’re protagonists, that has to count for something! Everything’s gonna end up okay, right? Well... what this show has told them: No, not at all. They are consistently compared and warned of Iyami, and are perfectly aware of this fact, and have come to internalize it as a truth rather than a reversible self-fulfilling prophecy.

Too many screencaps, taken from the S3S5 marriage discussion:

JYUSHIMATSU: I wonder if we’re gonna get married someday, too. CHOROMATSU: Well, I mean... probably? I’m not exactly sure, but... TODOMATSU: What? You’re gonna get married, Choromatsu-niisan? CHOROMATSU: Huh? Well, yeah... someday.

Surprise! They have commitment issues! The same group that couldn’t commit to a fucking plot! Though their personality issues have several factors involved, I can’t overlook the theater motifs abound. Life’s a stage, and they’re performing entirely unscripted and it shows.

Do I think all of this is 100% intentional on the writers’ part? No, probably not. There’s also an extra layer here regarding contemporary Japanese commentary that I’m not familiar with, so I just ended up focusing on the characters. I can’t be in the writers’ heads, but whatever decisions are being made by executives regarding censorship and “compliance” are reflected in these character changes that result in being significantly more bitter and defeatist.

In the all or nothing, winner-take-all mentality, the only way to save face at this point, in their minds, is to own up to it - act like it’s what they wanted all along. And, hey, it’s funny to watch, right?

“Why is Osomatsu all my examples”, you might be asking. Well, he’s the damn blueprint for it all. The leader of the bunch, the first personality to grab your attention, has had all his issues projected and ricocheted in their echo chamber.

Ultimately, my point here is that you could think their “canon characterizations” (though canon means nothing in a show like this) as being intertwined with the nature of their self-aware existence. They’ve shown you all their tricks, the smoke and mirrors are getting boring, and they’re stalling long enough the story seems to be moving on without them - in spite of them. And when something genuinely threatens their way of life, they don’t know how to respond.

You can play it all straight, of course. Remove the meta jokes and all the same plot points can be hit, but, as a slapstick comedy, it’s able to easily add this additional layer in that I appreciate. I’ve said it in my last post and I’ll probably say it in more, but with comedy comes sincerity - the caveat of all the cartoon violence is that, on some level somewhere, this is how they really feel.

#osomatsu san #osomatsu #karamatsu #choromatsu #ichimatsu #jyushimatsu #todomatsu #osomatsu matsuno #karamatsu matsuno #choromatsu matsuno #ichimatsu matsuno #jyushimatsu matsuno #todomatsu matsuno #analysis #confession this was sparked by a convo i had w friends about s3e18 #this is a bit truncated but i couldnt bring myself to make this longer #maybe ill make a pt2 or whatever idk

[bansheeoftheforest]

Look!! Another dead bird for you!!

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Okay, have you seen Wolf Children? Because that's my thought process here. One of Jekyll's parents was a cat-shifter and Jekyll inherited that ability. When he gets emotional he can start transforming, so at times he might have to hastily smooth his hair back in an attempt to hide a sudden cat ear or something. Nobody knows what he is because his human parent was kinda sorta ashamed about him, so he's hidden it all his life.

Just.. Cat Jekyll napping in Maijabi's lap. He feels so guilty because no one knows it's him but Maijabi pets so gently and coos at him in a language he isn't quite fluent in and he feels so safe. Cat Jekyll going to injured Lodgers to purr and nuzzle them. Cat Jekyll pointedly knocking things off of tables that could very well end in Lodger stupidity if left intact. Cat Jekyll climbing Adam/Creature and he is so enamoured with this little animal that doesn't fear him in the slightest.

Okay but also Jekyll slipping up in human form. He slow blinks at Jasper and Maijabi and Zosi and everyone else he likes. He starts to purr whenever he's happy and scrambles to cover it with a cough. He plays with string and gets tangled in it. He hears someone mention that Jekyll Jr. looks a bit funny with his curled ears and bob tail and just grumbles 'that's a standard appearance for Highlander cats, you arseholes-'

Does he bring people dead animals? Does Hyde? Hyde definitely would, just 'oh there's Rachel! I'm gonna put a dead mouse in her pocket :3' and she gets a feelimg of deja vu because it feels like Hyde's pranks but cats don't prank do they?? Cat Hyde showing off his new injuries proudly to the others then trying to run away when they try to patch him up because NO, he wants them to SCAR so he can look TOUGH.

If you go the Jekffin route, maybe Griffin's cat is normally skittish of others but just.. adores Jekyll. They're always rushing to greet him and rub on his legs and Jekyll just understands their body language and needs so well and is so patient with them and ah FUCK, he's crushing on Jekyll, god this is the worst-

Y'all at this point I get so many dead critters from you guys I could make a tiny graveyard sdfsdf

I have not seen wolf children but in all fair honesty, it looks like something my weeb-friend-trying-to-force-me-to-watch-anime would force me to watch <3 ANYWAYS. Still love that idea. Ooohohoho I don't know what's better, his father being the catshifter and his mother being deeply ashamed of the relationship combined with the premarital stuff bc of societal rules (hence why she was immediately scolding Henry for that dead bird) or his mother being the catshifter in a classic fairytale-esque way but being ashamed of it herself or knowing the father is ashamed about it, trying to hide all cat-ness with both her and Henry... Mmm, angst and parental trauma my beloved <3

...My brain immediately started thinking Henry's father getting seduced by a catshifter, accidentally fathering Henry, only for the catshifter to leave bby Henry on his doorstep and then just... Fuck off into the woods again. Does not make sense bc Henry has a mo- NO WAIT. OOHOH I GOT A BRANCH IDEA. His father already being married when Henry was born or his father marrying when he already had Henry, but telling Henry that his wife is his mom and that Henry was cursed from birth and that's why he can transform into a cat? Idk if Highlanders can be black but especially if he is a black cat??? ohoohohhoho ...Maybe that's why Morcant took such a liking to him immediately when they met, because he was supernatural? oohohoOHOO

I also just want to imagine that, despite his catness, his parents still loved him, even if they were a bit ashamed of who he was. Bby Jekyll having nightmares and it made him so upset he is stuck in cat form for a bit, creeping down the stairs to find his parents in the living room in front of the fireplace, him slowly creeping up on them and his parents immediately cuddling and doting on him when they see him... <3 (also this is just a bit of a branch, any other idea /idea for how Henry's relationship w his parents are welcome! <3)

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I'm half if Maijabi should know about Jekyll being the cat bc of his spirit eye or not, bc that is used so much in my aus that it's kinda becoming cliche so I'm going to use the route that he doesn't. Just finding this lil cat with funny ears and a bobtail and immediately taking a liking to it. Debating adopting him because he knows that Jekyll would not have had the heart to kick Jr out if he has already adopted him. Scratching him under his chin and being the only one allowed to rub his belly. Henry getting so used to Maijabi's cuddles that the moment he is near him (in cat form) he stands on his hind legs and reaches his front legs up like a child wanting to get picked up and Maijabi always chuckles and picks him up, resting him against his shoulder. Henry sometimes getting a bit possessive bc Maijabi is his favorite lodger and tries to groom his beard and hair because it's always so wild. Maijabi just getting used to carrying a basket around or an extra shirt where JR can hang in bc he is so clingy and always wants attention. The Lodgers joking that Jekyll JR can sense sadness like a shark can smell blood and immediately rushes towards them to cuddle the everloving fuck out of them. The Lodgers cooing over him and telling him that he is so smart when he accidentally saves them from disaster, making sure to give him extra treats. Henry prowling the Society where he suddenly meets Adam. Adam stops dead in his tracks, having never seen this tiny cat before and being thoroughly confused as to why he isn't running away from him. Henry immediately walking up to him and rubbing his face against his leg, Adam hesitantly crouching down and reaching out his hand and Henry continues to happily sniff them and rub his face against them in that "I'm going to rub my teeth against your hand so you are mine now and you can't do anything about it" kinda way, Adam being close to tears bc this is the first time a living thing hasn't immediately run in fear away from him, Henry immediately using him as a stepping stool and climbing his arm until he can lounge over his broad shoulders, which quickly becomes his favorite nap spot.

(Adam secretly being very very amused when this tiny lil cat loves him immediately but hisses at Frankenstein)

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Catboy Henry my beloved <3 Henry often not noticing how long he lets his nails grow until he accidentally scratches a Lodger (or the Lodgers clip his claws in cat form and it suddenly feels like his nails are going down to his bone. He never forgives them for that, even if he reluctantly accepts the treats). Loving to run his hand through his own hair with the perfect excuse that he is just making sure it doesn't get in his eyes. Him being so caught up in an experiment he doesn't notice that happy little butt wiggle he makes when he is focused. Him just being very loud and very yelly whenever someone isn't listening or giving him attention (although it's much more whiney and "PaaaaYyYYY aaaAAaAattention to meeEEeEEeEEE" kinda way). Just... Oh my god. Such an adorable lil bastards sjdfhsjdfh jshd <3<3<3

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I have a feeling his instincts would get the best of him and he would start hunting the rodents around the Society when he is bored or hungry. Sometimes he sees a Lodger staying up late and the cat in him decides that they are not taking care of themselves and if they aren't taking care of themselves, they need food. Or that they have done such a good job and they deserve a reward. Maybe the longer he stays in cat form the more he gets into that "cat mindset" and doesn't realize what he just did until he is human again. Just... Drags a dead mouse over to a Lodger, jumps onto their table, proudly sets it down, and yells for them to get a snack. Maybe he would do a good job at hunting the invisible mice around the Society? Hyde definitely would hunt and bring in dead animals just because, although mostly bc he wants to show off his hunting skills. Him parading injuries and running away when people try to help him is so on brand sdfsdfsdfs

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Griffin's cat loving Henry more than Griffin my beloved <3 Griffin realizing quite quickly that if he can't find his cat, they're with Henry. Griffin being so confused as to why his cat was never scared of Henry when they were even scared of Maijabi and Lavender. Griffin wondering if his cat genuinely fell in love with Jekyll JR bc he always finds them cuddled up together. Would Henry be able to understand Griffin's cat and be able to speak with them? Would he understand other animals as well? Jekyll and Cat having a deep conversation about the best lodger to cuddle or who gives them the best treats <3

#Ask #thejeksburyguy #banshees au #catshifter au