#Blood Legacies COG
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𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐦 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐮́𝐝𝐞𝐳
“𝐂𝐚𝐥”
[ xx | 𝟻'𝟷𝟷" | Agender | PanDemi | 𝐇𝐚𝐲𝐝𝐞𝐧❤𝐍𝐢𝐱 ]
⟨Personality⟩
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⟨Style⟩
ꜱᴄʜᴏᴏʟ
“...”
ᴄᴀꜱᴜᴀʟ
“...”
ʜᴀɪʀ
“𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬, & 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘺.” (kept up during training/ combat/formal events/etc...)
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⟨Creatures⟩
“𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐬”
♂️ (Golden Tabby Tiger)
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⟨Notes⟩
ᴘʀᴏɴᴏᴜɴꜱ➙ They/Them
ʙᴜɪʟᴅ➙ 𝘈𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤
ꜰᴀᴋᴇ-ᴅᴀᴛᴇ ᴘᴀʀᴛɴᴇʀ➙ 𝐇𝐚𝐲𝐝𝐞𝐧
ʜᴏᴜꜱᴇ ꜱʏᴍʙᴏʟ➙ ❄️
ʀᴜɴᴇꜱ➙ ...
𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐦 prefers their friends to call them by their nickname: “𝐂𝐚𝐥”
They're touch-averse (but are comfortable PERSONALLY making contact with a select few people ... & even enjoying it if it's 𝐇𝐚𝐲𝐝𝐞𝐧), the only loving touch they experienced growing up was from their mother; after her death they began to find incoming physical contact revolting 😖
Even though their fathers DESPISE each other, 𝐂𝐚𝐥 & 𝐇𝐚𝐲𝐝𝐞𝐧 get along surprisingly well (agreeing to be fake-date partners has the added bonus of annoying their fathers >:] + they've been mutually crushing on one another since that time at the fountain, if they're honest with themselves)
They don't enjoy killing or looking at dead bodies, but their upbringing & unfortunate personal experiences, has left them desensitized to a degree (they sadly still have nightmares about everything though) 💀😮💨
𝐂𝐚𝐥 is extroverted, yet shy (mostly due to how others tend to view/treat them), they enjoy going to parties but prefer to “soak in” the atmosphere instead of “actively” taking part in whatever the partygoers are doing
While they've been able to keep their face scar-free, even after all the intensive training they've had, the same cannot be said about the rest of their body (the most noticeable of their scars are the claw marks on their shoulder/neck from the bear attack) 🩹
𝐂𝐚𝐥 struggles when dealing with people who genuinely care about their well-being (as most are either afraid of them or want something from them), they're left feeling unsure if they really even deserve it
Most people (i.e. those that don't know them personally) assume their “flat” expressions are due to them being cold & unfriendly; instead they're simply nervous about being around strangers that most likely already have negative preconceived notions about them (😐 <-screaming internally)
𝐂𝐚𝐥 always tries to be as formal/polite as possible with anyone they're unfamiliar with, but when around those they consider friends, their behaviour & speech becomes much more casual/sarcastic
They did their best to avoid completing the 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 (the very thought of killing another HUMAN made them feel sick, even hunting animals was hard for them), but watching their mother being beheaded broke something inside them ... ending in a room full of frozen corpses with only their mother's body left unscathed 🥶
In the aftermath of their icy explosion, 𝐂𝐚𝐥 spent their days in a semi-catatonic daze (they finally came back to themselves the day their father returned home; sobbing into his chest as he held them which was sadly the only time he's ever done so)
Everytime 𝐇𝐚𝐲𝐝𝐞𝐧 calls them “𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦” they melt inside (despite knowing he's just teasing them & that his choice of words don't mean anything in the end ... not that they'd want them to 😳!!! )
Despite their father's teachings, 𝐂𝐚𝐥 prefers to approach life/others with an empathetic attitude (but will NOT hesitate to “dispose of” anything that threatens them or those they care about)
...
𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐦 means “𝘥𝘰𝘷𝘦” (Latin-> Scottish) 🕊️
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𝐼𝐹: @bloodlegacies
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[Approximate Heights]
Picrew used:
𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐬 is a BIG boy 🐅
#Blood Legacies#Blood Legacies IF#Blood Legacies-if#if: Blood Legacies#Blood Legacies COG#CYOA#choice game#IF#interactive fiction game#interactive fiction#Blood Legacies MC#Blood Legacies OC#Blood Legacies PC#BloodLegacies#BloodLegacies IF#BloodLegacies-if#if: BloodLegacies#Blood Legacies: Book 1#BloodLegacies: Book 1#IF OCs#character profile#[will update as demo progresses]#𝐇𝐚𝐲𝐝𝐞𝐧 & 𝐂𝐚𝐥 look like ''😏''/''😒'' to outsiders whenever they interact
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There's a child's clammy fingers squeezing the color out of his palm—five little points, soot in the skin; a gunsmith prodigy in a fleece-wrapped girl—and it makes Silco, strangely, think of love.
(Not of the way it devours—that starved hunger reserved for other years, other lifetimes, other men, that makes heat of the rains' chill and claims walls and clothes and teeth alike; builds vessels of longing from one's bones and strips mind-logic to single-syllable beggings, no—
But of the way it aches.)
This girl is like a knife-edge picking through sinew and rot. A jagged point that's found a cavernous maw still-bleeding—one another soul had scraped clean on their way out—and slotted itself in.
(Is he still bleeding?)
Five points: little fingers, little nails, clinging to his palm like a lifeline.
A tiny, monstrous thing. Much the same as he had been.
(Burden to his mother; bastard to his sire. A dredging cog in the tunnels' machine.
A father? Hardly.)
"I didn't—I didn't mean to do it," Jinx hiccups.
(The lab smoldering in ash? Or the knife in his chest?)
He draws in a breath.
Slowly, as though those small, steel-edged bones were made of glass, he loosens the snare of her fingers; squeezes the rough lines of his own around them, instead.
"I know, child," he mutters, smelted glass on his breath.
A three-week setback, dismissed as flippantly as that.
(Does one often make such dismissals, for a daughter?)
Her head nudges into his arm. So heavy, for a body so young. And for all his attempts at tenderness, at a memory he has too long forgotten, she finds a way to bend it towards violence: another little hand, little nails, desperate carvings, shackled to his wrist—as though this girl has only known affection through anger; only known the sting of care when muddled with pain.
A cruel irony.
He knows it as well as he knows the mines' heat.
He sees Vander: hand at his collar, rage on his breath, concern skinned to contempt and fanged teeth-glint growling—
(I've made us a deal—a deal for you—don't'ya understand?—)
He sees this girl's blood-knuckled sister: same fighting spirit, same piston of a fist, same mantle of protection, same spite—
(I never asked you to be my keeper—)
His claws pinch back: devil to devil-spawn. Same damned language of hurt.
The girl winces.
"It's alright," he says, a foreign reflex off his tongue. Not the apology he means; the one he ought to give. His touch eases. "It's alright," he hushes again.
She snuffles in a breath.
Slowly, he shifts: lays his palm against her nape. Bird-thin thing; her hair a nest in need of brushing, her pulse pattering as a rabbit's.
(Had he been this small, once?)
But these bones aren't made of glass. Not the frailty her stature lends her.
No—this child burns like a beacon: a rage that singes off her like a second skin: one he too knows, has already lived, still wields, as this girl wields weaponry like an extension of her soul; as she has reclaimed a title of her own choosing, own redemption; as she stands a wealth of potential none have dared to unleash.
A glimmering pinnacle in a city led to wallow in its own gluttony.
A promise.
(His wrath embodied; his resolution rebirthed.)
A legacy.
(A knife of hope between his ribs.)
A daughter.
His thumb soothes through the thistle of her hair.
"I'll fix this," he says quietly—(this, not you, because she is not an object in need of fixing, has not asked him to piece her back together, has not admitted she sees herself as a weakness rather than a strength, one she may one day learn to embrace)—and turns down to her.
He finds a cosmic implosion in her eyes. Fire and storms. Resilience and determination.
Jinx sniffles. Her fingers uncoil from his sleeve: cling tight again.
"Promise?" she whispers.
He brushes the matted fringe from her soot-grayed cheek. Tucks it lightly behind her ear.
"I promise," he answers her, simply as he can—and means it.
silco and jinx / promises
#in my feelings again over these two#silco#jinx#crime dad daughter duo#arcane#arcane ficlet#prose#writing
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i wrote something a while back, unrelated to any fledged-out fics or ideas. i was gonna post it here like a week ago, but ig i forgor. here it is:
also some CWs (theyre not too bad tho):
- SLIGHT violence
- MINORLY REFERENCED pedophilia
- IMPLIED child abuse(?)
- mental issues, idk if that counts as a CW tho
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From the moment he was born, Kalim was held in high regard. It wasn't just that he was the heir to the Asim fortune, in all honestly that paled in comparison to his true 'calling'.
Pure porcelain locks, destined to curl every which way and envelope the world around him in light.
Smooth, soft, sand-tinted skin, a perfect blank canvas for his ‘legacy’, whatever that could’ve meant.
Dazzling blood-red eyes, shining in the night like precious jewels, a story dancing beneath their irises.
Or, that's what everybody told him, at least.
To him, his outlandish hair was a bother. Loud and noticeable, he couldn't sneak into town if he tried. Not to mention the length of it, and the fact that it'd always tangle itself into one huge prophetic hair mop.
His skin was blank, painfully blank. Only the traditional Asim tattoos were allowed to linger, all other markings were erased by magic. But that didn't erase them entirely. Kalim would remember the pain of each and every one; every inked needle pierced into his skin, every jagged ornamental knife dragged across his flesh, every spell they cast, the burning of magic as it seared into him.
And his eyes. He wanted to gouge them out. Having to look in the mirror each morning and be greeted by the very staple of death. Red, red, red. Kalim hated red. The red in his eyes, the red in his clothes, the red in his skin. Red, red, red. Always red.
The hair, he could cut. The skin, he could turn a blind eye to. But the eyes, the red.
Memories of blood, screams, cries. All swirling like a storm beneath his disgustingly red eyes. Maybe they did tell a story, after all.
. . .
Kalim couldn't tell whether he was supposed to be the ‘Savior’ or the ‘Sacrifice’. All he knew was that he was one of the two, and there wasn't any in-between.
Kalim wasn't a child, he was a cog in in some fucked-up machine. A bedtime story everyone had been told since they were as young as him. He wasn’t just a child, he was much more.
Is that what they told themselves whenever they eviscerated him in the shrines? Whenever they pet his soft silver hair and remarked on how beautiful he's grown to be? Whenever their eyes lingered on his body for far too long, either brimming with a sick satisfaction or an even sicker lust?
Disgusting.
Just another reason to hate eyes, but at least this time they wouldn't be his own.
Always watching, always judging, always trying to mold him into their perfect little thing. They never blinked, never faltered. He could feel them boring into him at every waking moment.
The 'stares' reminded him of what he truly was.
“A fragile little thing.”
“A child too beautiful for his own good.”
“A ‘tyrant-in-the-making’.”
No matter what they deemed him, he was aware of his place. He would always, and only be something for them to admire. A prized possession to be bedazzled and presented on a pedestal. A bragging right, a bargaining chip.
And strangely, the role flattered him.
. . .
Despite it all, Kalim loved everything, everyone. Even those who wronged him, even the ones who started this whole sick prophecy mess. He loved them.
He would spend his free time dancing through the estate's halls with anyone who decided to join him. He would lounge in the courtyard, basking in the sweltering heat as if it weren't scorching his skin.
(It wouldn't leave a mark, nothing ever did.)
Absurdly long, wild white locks would trail behind him, flowing like water. Occasionally, they'd snag on furniture or foliage, but Kalim didn't mind.
(He would even take advantage of such situations to vouch for a haircut.)
As for his eyes....he’d keep from looking at them. He would avoid each mirror, each puddle, each shining tile. He hated his eyes, and that wouldn't change.
(And yet everyone else seemed to love them so much.)
He made it his goal to bring joy unto others, no matter what cost. If the elders were satisfied with their grotesque rituals, so be it. If the family adored his soft, princess-like appearance, then he'd fit the bill. And if the workers and servants appreciated his easygoing nature and generosity....
Well, those were a given. Kalim could never find it in himself to be cruel, even if it's what his father expected of him as the Asim heir.
(His father was the only one he’d never be able to satisfy.)
But at least there was everybody else to love him. Enraptured by his unruly hair, his unchanging skin, his eerie red eyes.
And then the few that loved him for everything else. Those fond of his personality, his demeanor instead of....whatever else everyone saw in him.
(He wished there were more, but who was he to complain?)
. . .
Jamil didn't know how to react, really. At first, he was angry, infuriated. He'd enrolled into NRC for one sole purpose, to escape. And this fucker had followed him, right to his dorm room.
His anger never subsided, but it was largely overpowered by his next emotion. Concern.
Kalim was curled up in the blanket, sobbing his little heart out while furiously scrubbing at his face with said blanket. White hair peeked out in every which direction, from whatever gaps it found in his sad cocoon.
Jamil always tried to convince himself otherwise, but he really did care for the heir. Either that, or he was a better (and more kindhearted) person than he gave himself credit for.
Whichever it was, he was still (unfairly) tasked with dealing with the stupid fuck, so he had to resolve this someway somehow.
"Kaimsnsjdjjxjdh
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thats all. 🦧
#disney twst#kalim#kalim al asim#twisted wonderland#twst kalim#twisted wonderland kalim#jamil viper#twst jamil#slightly#a little bit#angst#uhhhh idk#i was bored#prophecy#?#kalim is sad#Kalim is a sweetheart#even if he hates his life#Kalim hates the color red#Kalim hates his skin#Kalim hates his hair#Kalim hates his life#but he loves everyone in it#saddest but happiest boy#just a guy#my little meow meow#🦧
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Season 4? I don’t know her.
I figure this should be a general PSA as well, but I have a bit to say as far as what my post!Season 3 Legacies headcanons are, since I pretend that like 90% of Season 4 didn’t happen. Even the writers have admitted since that they had to slap an ending on at the last minute and honestly, none of us or the characters deserved that rushed ending or the absolute lack of character development that we got. I’m not here to argue it, or debate it, but because of it, if there’s a specific Season 4 plot that you would like to RP, here are some headcanons I have for how I will be rolling with Season 4.
First of all, Hope absolutely tried to come up with a million different ways to kill Malivore WITHOUT KILLING LANDON. I cannot stress this enough, because my girl would not turn on a dime, in one episode. I felt absolutely stabbed in the back watching her just be like, “He’d understand, right Raf? You’d understand, right?” While absolutely not trying anywhere near enough to save Landon first. All that after having a huge speech about not abandoning him. Screw the school. Screw her friends. Hope has always put her family first and Landon was in canon, as high as her family as far as she was concerned, she even said it. It’s one of her flaws, but you can be damn sure I RP her flaws and all, and she isn’t going to be the one to kill Landon if she doesn’t have to.
Becoming the Tribrid would absolutely be because of losing more people. I agreed with that, but because of them not having Riley or Claire as much as they wanted, you think Freya would leave Hope before she woke up? NO. Do you think they wouldn’t wait for Rebekah? NO. Rebekah was there, and Freya had to be incapacitated, for Hope to be brought to Malivore. Those are her second mothers, thank you, and we’re not doing this Tribrid thing without them.
Hope was forced to kill Landon. Obviously a given, but they rushed all of the last Season and she absolutely wouldn’t have just turned on a dime and done him in. Not unless she was absolutely pushed to do it, and having to do it, she absolutely turned her Humanity off. We can absolutely do that, but this is about where the similarities with Season Four completely end and I follow exactly two diversions and that’s it.
Season Four left Landon in Limbo and killed the Phoenix for good for fan service. They knew the show was in limbo, they were trying to get views up, and it suffered for it. Hope would never abandon Landon in Limbo. She’d do everything in her power to get him out and as far as I’m concerned? SHE DID. Hope exhausted every option and eventually, Landon got himself out. This is storyline option one, and ends with Hope and Landon leaving the school, be it together or not together, and him back to being the Phoenix, or Hell, still being the new Ferryman (with his soul freaking intact thank you), and being able to leave as he pleases with his new God powers. So, if you wanna RP with a corrected Limbo plot, I am willing to do it only under the above circumstances.
Now, with other Landon’s, you guys have your own things and we can plot if we wanna throw something together, but as far as I’m concerned, the world that I default to for Hope in all things unless you specifically ask for Limbo to be part of things, is the same world that @mudbirthed and I toyed with when we were first upset about how the season was going. That is, where the Phoenix is a God (because hello show you brought in mythology so how about using what you already had), and when Hope was forced to kill him when Malivore was inside of him, the Phoenix fire that was originally dormant again thanks to the Necromancer messing with him, was ignited by her blood, burned out Malivore, and then eventually brought Landon back to life as the Phoenix, and he was then an important cog in the wheel of fighting the Gods (which are also on a case by case basis because I like it since we had Gods already like the cupid episode anyone, but I also just eh too...). That being said, he didn’t come back to life immediately, Hope still had a no humanity stint, but once Landon was back, he helped her family to get her to turn her humanity back on. No shortcuts, no rushed anything, and then together, they had to figure out the rest.
I like including the Gods because I like Phoenix God lore, but I’m also okay with the Phoenix just being the Phoenix and there not being any Gods. Whatever works for our threads, but I default to the Gods because we had two of them already, if not three, in earlier seasons, so they did not come out of nowhere. Gods were even hinted at in Originals and The Vampire Diaries, and the books had angels and demons. So, I’m cool with them, but I’m also cool omitting them.
Also, speaking of Landon tweaks, we need to talk about Lizzie. I am okay with Hope still turning Lizzie, being a dick to her, etc., and I love Lizzie fighting back because she didn’t deserve all of that, but that all should be discussed BEFOREHAND with Lizzie’s that have specific things in mind. We’re here to fix canon, not just follow it blindly, so we can always come up with something together.
#𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆 [headcanon]#this had to be somewhere#mainly because we're all post S4 mostly right?#so this has to apply
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We Are Derby
James Thrasivoulou
We Are Derby
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Rail-track city; birthplace of the industrial revolution
Where inventors span cogs to engineer solutions
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We're a city that delivers
From Royal Mail PO boxes
To Royal Crown Derby china
Craft and specialism's our definer
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We Are Derby
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Bearers of Joseph Strutt's philanthropy
Erasmus Darwin's philosophy
Where Florence Nightingale hatched plans
To revolutionise the healthcare of England
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We're engineers with dirty fingernails
Graft and sweat pump through our veins
We're Rolls-Royce engines, Belper nails
Toyota motors, Bombardier trains
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We Are Derby
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A picture painted by Wright
A building designed by Pickford
We're artistic souls and working minds
With a heritage built on cognizance
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The underdog city of Middle England
Entrepreneurship exemplified
Where independent businesses thrive:
The real-ale capital; a beer festival every night!
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We Are Derby
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Where the ram is our symbol
The city its beating heart
We've lived through hard times, persevered
Our people possess the spark
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We are Derby County:
Formed in 1884
100 years before I was born
Under Clough and Taylor came the glory days
The heritage they forged; their legacy still remains
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Where on Shaftesbury Cres, the kids now play
Where houses stand and turf once lay
On the ashes of our Baseball Ground
They laugh and have a kick around
As Stevie Bloomer watches down
The city's pride emanates the ground
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We Are Derby
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On that Monday morning
After that Wanchope weekend
Driving all those Man United fans
Completely 'round the bend
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We're resilience in the flesh
We've never settled
For second best
Just walk these streets
You’ll feel the pride
It’s in our DNA
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We Are Derby
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Where the future's bright:
Bright black & White
Whoever the opponent
We’ll take the fight
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We'll sing the songs; we'll sing them loud
Whatever gets thrown at us!
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The ambition's here, the time is now
Our loyal supporters will see us proud
With our new blood we can make the push
And forge new history to elevate this club
Back to the top where we belong
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Exploring the Allure of a 20 Carat Diamond Ring
There is a certain allure that seems to emanate from the very phrase '20 carat diamond ring.' It conjures images of opulence, whispers of wealth, and dreams of the everlasting. But beyond the physical rarity and monetary value, the appeal of such jewelry speaks to something deeper in humanity's collective psyche, something that goes beyond mere luxury. Join me in an introspective examination of the 20 carat diamond ring, where we'll explore both its exquisite charm and the responsible way to infuse luxury into our lives.
The Intriguing Allure of a 20 Carat Diamond Ring
A 20 carat diamond ring is more than just a piece of jewelry; it's an heirloom, an investment, a statement. Its allure is magnetic, drawing the gaze with the intensity of starlight and twinkling with promises of eternal love and undying commitment. The craftsmanship alone is a marvel, with centuries-old techniques shining through in every facet that captures and refracts light in a symphony of color. This intangible allure speaks to our yearning for the transcendent, for something that outlasts the transient nature of our mortal coil.
Personal Reflection on Luxury Jewelry
Luxury jewelry has always fascinated me. I've been enamored by the delicate dance between art and science that creates a masterpiece I can wear on my finger. It's not just about the aesthetics; it's about the narrative. Each piece tells a story of its own, of cultures and craft, and sometimes, of compassion. I've come to appreciate more than the glint of a stone; I see the labor, the love, and the legacy that it represents. And in the case of a 20 carat diamond ring, it symbolizes grandiosity in every sense.
Symbolism and Significance
Every culture has equated the diamond with different virtues—strength, purity, and endurance. And in the context of a ring, it becomes a visual vow, a tangible commitment. The significance of such a jewel, particularly when it's 20 carats, is not lost on the eye that beholds it or the hand that bears it. It's a declaration that transcends words, a testament to the shared life, the shared struggles, and the shared love.
Ethical Considerations in Luxury Purchases
As we admire the brilliance of a 20 carat diamond, it's imperative to cast a light on the source. Consumerism has often glossed over the ethical shadows that sometimes taint the mining and trade of these gems. We must question the origins of our luxury; we must be content to care that our beauty isn't tarnished by the blood or the toil of another. Sensibility demands that the sparkle we find so enchanting isn't marred by the silent screams of those who labored to unearth it.
Societal Perceptions and Pressures
The societal structure often equates the possession of luxury goods with worth. We are cogs in a machine that turns desire into demand and disposable income into social standing. It's crucial to deconstruct these artificial paradigms, to redefine value not solely by the price tag but by the principles we uphold and the kindness we offer. Our worth isn't in what we wear; it's in how we wear our conscience.
Balancing Desire with Mindful Consumption
The call to mindful consumption is not a dirge for desire but a hymn for intention. We can still long for the extravagant while adhering to ethical sourcing and environmental consciousness. Balancing our delight in the glitz and the glam with the awareness of its impact is the tightrope we must walk. It's a careful equation where indulgence is multiplied by responsibility.
Emotional Connection to Material Possessions
Material possessions often become emotional anchors, heavy with the weight of memories and our superimposed valuation. A 20-carat diamond ring can hold the tempests of a relationship, tethering two souls through the gales of life. But we must also be willing to cherish intangible connections, to find that emotional security within and among each other, not just within the sparkle of our accouterments.
Final Thoughts and Call for Reflection
The 20 carat diamond ring has a place not just in the jewelry box but in our cultural ethos. It's a symbol, a metaphor, a legacy, and a lesson. Its appeal is unarguable, but its allure is multilayered, deserving of a discourse that transcends the commonplace materialistic conversation. We can appreciate the artistry and the artifice, the elegance and the ethics, the desirability and the duty.
Ultimately, the allure of the 20 carat diamond ring is a story we choose to tell, a narrative woven between the luster of a stone and the lightness of our conscience. It's a tale of balance, of beauty, and of being—of finding true value in the mosaic of our choices and the richness of our experiences. In the end, the jewel may fade, but the story, the lesson, and the legacy will endure. Follow us to read more post like this.
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Forgotten
So many people will be lost to history for doing nothing while the far right escalates their hatred. No legacy left except the disregarding of life. Enablers they'll be called. Those who had every chance and every opportunity to do better. To wear a mask. To stay inside. To fight for their trans siblings and friends. To stand up against the forces at play. To look at history and say "it stops here". If they are known at all it will be as cowards. Status quotients. Voyeurs of death frothing at the mouth for a return to some comforting numbness they called normalcy. Cogs in a perpetuating grinder lubricating themselves in the blood of indifference. "As long as it's not me" happily repeated as the alarms blare. Decorated with all the acronyms and initialisms and social media profile pictures, the ground will consume them all the same. Bystanders of their own erasure gazing through the overton window. No one will remember them outside of contempt.
What's the cost of a legacy to you?
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Toys Cards N Bikes: A Review
5 Things One Should Consider Buying from Toys Cards N' Bikes Shop
Many online stores sell rare and antique pieces of different kinds. These items have limited stock, which happens to be either one or two pieces due to their rarity. Many people are interested in these products because they wish to have a collection of old and rare items. Online shops like Toys Cards N' Bikes Store are relatively popular due to the vast array of items, including rare toys, cards, books, video games, bike parts, etc. The section below will help people know the best items available in this shop.
● Bike Parts and Accessories
Whatever spare parts you are looking to buy for your bike and bicycle, you can get them from this store. A wide variety of bike parts and accessories are accessible, including helmets, derailleurs, cogs, handlebars, speedometers, cyclometers, tubes, etc. These are available in different sizes, so you can choose the model parts that are compatible with your vehicle. In addition, all of them are accessible at a reasonable price.
● Cards
If you are interested in collection card sets, then you will be thrilled by the collection of Baseball, Hockey, Golf, and Basketball card sets available in the Toys Cards N' Bikes Store. You can acquire various graded products such as MNT, KSA, PSA, etc., and there are non-graded items as well. In addition, there is a massive collection of Pokemon cards, superhero cards, sports, movies, Yu-Gi-Oh cards, etc. Whether you want one card or a set with over 150 cards, you can acquire them in this store. There are small-sized and large-sized items in almost all collections.
● Books and Novels
Buying books and novels are a must from this store. Whether you search for fictional, guide, antique, biography, autobiography or rare books, you can get them all on this site. From famous star wars books to rare poem and lyrics books, there is a wide range of choices suitable for all. The books and novels are divided into two categories, Modern (1991 to Present) and Post-Modern (1900 to 1990). The featured collections are Blood Omen-Legacy of Kain and Warhammer 40,000+Games Workshop Books.
● DVD and VHS
Are you a fan of collecting DVDs and VHS sets? If yes, you can acquire a variety of DVDs and VHS sets from a store. There are TV shows, vintage entertainment, movies, and so on. You can get high-end VHS sets, including Anne of Green Gables Collection, Loch Ness (1996), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993,1994), and many more. A wide range of options for children are also available, such as Winnie the Pooh (1996, 1997), Disney's The Lion King II, Walt Disney DUMBO Classics Black Diamond, The Rescuers + Down Under (1991, 1992), Babar: Bicycle Race, Robotech (1992-1994), etc.
● Toys
You can encounter many car collections, including Unmarked 60's Police Car, Rolls Royce Camargue-Cream, Corgi: Aston Martin DB5, Buddy L 1980, Yaritz Echo, etc. There are two custom toy cars available that are relatively rare and pricey. There are Tonka Van, Charlie's Angels Van, F4 Phantom War Plane, Par Avion Stamps Tin, and other toys. The toy figurine list is pretty extensive as it includes a 2000 Thunderbird Doll, Star Trek, Power Rangers, Toy Biz: Xena Warrior Princess, Darth Maul Action F, etc.
Bottom Line
You can acquire many things from an online store that sells rare items, and almost all of them hold a specific value of rarity. The available collection is extensive, from toys, books, and memory cards to ancient video games and bike parts.
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The Fire I Breathe Shall Burn You Too - Part II
*NOTE: YOU DON’T NEED TO KNOW ANYTHING OF SKYRIM FOR THIS WORK - Any lore will be explained within the story itself, you don’t need to know any details of Skyrim.
Inspiration from @fanficsforheartandsoul , thank you for all the support!!
*****
Geralt of Rivia x Male, Dragonborn Reader
THE COMPLETE WORK
Word Count: 3.1K
Warnings: Canon Typical Violence, Canon typical language
"Sizaan... You will lose yourself, Dovakinn... Hi los ont vod... Just as all dragons do." Parthunaax's voice was soft as it travelled along with the breeze, he spoke as if trying to calm a screaming babe.
The scene before Y/N was one of a victorious battle; The ground damp and congealed with heavy precipitation and the warriors' blood of both Skyrim and the Empire. The mud was trodden and kicked up by sturdy leather boots and iron sabatons. The weapons of fallen soldiers stand tall and challenge the sky, while others lay beside their owners - fingers reaching out and almost scraping at the hilt, their eyes wide open in fear, while no light shines within them.
The Dragonborn can smell thick, dreadful smoke; It's pungent as the fog strengthens and carries it through the field, the charred remains of vegetation and overturned carts still burn a dim amber, the fire holding onto whatever source of fuel it can, refusing to be snuffed out.
He closes his eyes and he can hear it. The harsh, ear-piercing sound of clattering metal; steel hitting iron, hitting silver, hitting corundum. The cries of men and women fighting for their lives and their land sung in the background, a voice occasionally shrinking into silence as the holder fell dead.
Y/N opened his eyes again and he saw the bodies once more, painted in dread as their gaze lay straight ahead, looking at nothing but their end.
He glanced down at his hands as he felt a sticky substance cracking and flaking, while simultaneously damp and congealing. Y/N's arms were painted in brilliant shades of deep red and muddy brown, his skin colour peaking through the creases of his palms and joints where the blood had dried and cracked in the folds of his skin.
None of it was his own.
The Great Dragon within him purred at the sight and the smells, curling around the feeling of triumph within the Drangborn's chest.
"Your legacy, Dovakinn, is coated in... sos... blood... and reeks of dinok... death." The disembodied voice of Parthunaax grew louder as it grew stronger with passion, the rumble of anger within it raising the hairs on Y/N's arms. "Vennesetiid fen du hi... destiny is your enemy."
The Dragonborn sat straight in the wooden cot of the Inn. The room still bathed in soft candlelight, highlighting the perspiration dripping down his forehead and onto the coarse cotton covers.
It took a moment or two to calm his breathing once more, his head hurting from how loud the voice had been in his dream.
Parthunaax was dead, or at least his body was lost, destroyed by the Emperor's son. He had been a great ally during the Dragonborn's battle against Alduin, yet Y/N is the reason he is now gone.
Some nights, when these dreams plague him, he wonders if the voice he hears is real. Whether Parthunaax's soul has been able to reach him across such deep and far waters. Part of Y/N dares to hope, but not enough for the dragon, his friend, to forgive him for what he had become.
*****
"So... Please enlighten me... Why are we going after a dragon?" Jaskier was pacing in front of the table where Geralt and Y/N sat, bouncing on his heels with anxious energy. Some of the other patrons turned their heads to briefly glare at the commotion the bard was seeming to create just by existing. "I mean... it's a dragon."
"It would make for an excellent song though." As it was only morning the tavern was fairly quiet, with only a few patrons save for an amused Dragonborn, an indifferent Witcher and a somewhat distraught bard.
Jaskier raised his finger as if to protest, but behind his eyes, you could watch as the cogs of his mind turned. "It rather would, wouldn't it." Y/N wiggled his eyebrows at the bard, an amused smile playing on his lips.
"So..." Geralt broke the atmosphere, "What do we know?"
"Its arrival here must have been recent, no more than a month, but no less than a week or two going by how the bogland was almost completely clear. Despite their ability to fly, dragons are slow to migrate, especially in new territory. They usually have a home base, one to fly out from and then return whenever they please. But if that home is lost then so are they. They become disorientated."
"That's a good thing, right? It's not its home turf so we have the advantage?" Jaskier leant against the table, both hands holding his weight.
Y/N grimaced, "Not necessarily. They'd become desperate, like when you tried to pet that feral cat. Everything is a threat, so they'll be on high alert and lash out at anything and everything."
"And that's why we have to kill it?"
"Imagine if they stumbled onto Cintra, a dragon of that size and of that mindset would destroy it. Even if they managed to neutralise it, hundreds of men, women and children would be killed."
"Ah... not good."
"If we follow the line of "disturbances"-"
"Like the Kikimore."
'-like the Kikimore, then it'll create a path straight to the dragon, then it's just a matter of slaying it."
"You make it sound like killing it is the easy part."
"That's because it is." Geralt smacked Jaskier on his shoulder blade, a "friendly" gesture, soft as to not hurt the bard, but brutal enough to send him stumbling forward from the force.
Y/N stood from his seat, the others following suit as he placed a small pouch of gold on the table; Enough to pay for their drinks and their night's stay, with a little bit extra for hospitality.
Roach dug his front, left hoof into the ground in front of him, the boredom of waiting for Geralt resorting him to kicking up the dirt of the stable floor. Brynjolf, a broad, dark-coated stallion stood by roach in the same stall; Considerably more behaved yet held an air of arrogance about him.
"I still think it's a dumb name for a horse," Jaskier commented, leaning against the wooden support of the stables as the other two prepared their horses - The bard was yet to find a mount of his own, for now, he would pester his two companions for a ride on either of their horses, more often than not it was Y/N that gave into his winging of sore feet and tired legs.
"He's named after a dear friend," The Dragonborn repeatedly moved his hand down the strong snout of the stallion, while his other hand tested at the straps of the saddle, "Its a better name than 'Roach' at least."
"Hey." Geralt spoke up, a false look of anger on his features that made Y/N smile.
"A dear friend? Pray tell, who is this Brynjolf that tamed the heart such a strong, cold warrior?" Jaskier waved his hand up in a flourish, before letting it fall back over his chest where they both lay crossed.
"He was a thief, commander of the Thieves Guild to be exact after I... dealt with their previous leader."
Jaskier furrowed his brows before his eyes widened along with his mouth at the realisation. "Oh, so you..." He pulled his finger across his neck in a slicing motion, while making an exaggerated cutting noise.
"In fairness, he was trying to kill us too, besides he was a bit of a cock."
"I don't think that warrants-"
"Oi! mutant! We don't want your kind 'round here, all you bring is trouble." Jaskier looked somewhat offended at being interrupted. Just to the side of him stood a man, most likely a smith or a leatherworker; his clothes were ragged, fraying at the edges with the seems barely holding the pieces of fabric together. Like his clothing, the visible skin of his arms is covered in dirt and grease, the gradient getting darker when the stains reach his hands.
"Oh, piss off," Y/N kicks him, hard, in his lower stomach. He falls to the ground, groaning in pain, before retching and coating the floor with that morning's breakfast. The three other men not dissimilar to the now downed man looked between themselves, before running off, leaving their fallen comrade, that held as much grace as a newborn deer, behind. "...What?"
Y/N looked between his two companions, eyes flickering to each of their faces as he tried to read their rather perplexed faces. Geralt shrugged, more to himself, before mounting Roach. Y/N followed, climbing on top of his own horse. Jaskier adjusted the strap of his satchel on his shoulder before clutching to the hand Y/N outstretched to him and used it to pull himself up to settle behind the other man.
"You see Geralt, this is called being nice," Jaskier threw his arms out wide, "Not once have you offered to give me a ride."
"You've been on Roach before."
"Now you see... that doesn't count, because I was dying."
The sun sat directly overhead the forest canopy, those travelling beneath it shielded from the warm rays, yet the leaves acted as a blanket, encompassing the forest with a gentle warmth. Despite the source of light being blocked, it was bright with the leaves' flourishing greens and rich yellows, even the bark of the birch trees seemed to glow as they soaked in the midday air.
It was a moment of peace that someone such as a Witcher or a Dragonborn rarely got to relish in.
Jaskier let out a loud, obnoxious sigh.
Thankfully, that peace would soon be broken.
"So... Y/N... Just Y/N, where are you from, exactly?" Jaskier broke the soothing silence. Geralt let out a sigh of his own, only his was quieter and did not disturb the local wildlife.
"Are you trying to make small talk?" Y/N turned his head slightly to glimpse at the bard from the corner of his eye.
"Maybe," Jaskier sat hunched over to one side as to avoid Y/N, his chin sat in his hand as he held it up from his elbow on his thigh. "I'm bored and my ass hurts. Geralt has never been one for good conversation so I was hoping you might be."
"We could play a game?"
"What game could we possibly play on the back of a horse? It better not be Eye Spy, I've beat sour puss over there too many times for that to be fun anymore."
"No, it's called 'Who can be quietest the longest?'"
"Hah, I'm not falling for that one... again," For a blissful moment, Jaskier was quiet, "I don't even know where we're going."
"Somewhere not even the flies and maggots could find you," Geralt spoke up for the first time since the Inn. His tone was its usual low cadence, but the hint of a smile played upon his lips, out of view of the other two.
"Har har, very funny. You're as bad as each other, a match made in heaven."
"He could be entirely serious," Y/N turned his head again to give a slightly wicked smile to Jaskier, "I don't even know where we are."
Geralt let Jaskier stew for a moment, a faint look of horror slowly ghosting over his features. "There's a rock clearing up ahead. Old dragon territory from when they still thrived on the continent."
It wasn't too much further until they reached the clearing.
They each climbed down from their respected horses, tying the mounts to a grand birch tree close to the entrance.
It was almost entirely encased in tall, basalt columns, save for a naturally formed archway acting as an entrance. Dotted around the expanse were clusters of the basalt columns, some were thin and reaching tens of feet high, while others were stubbier, just slightly taller than an average man. Several cave entrances lay empty around the circumference; the opening directly opposite the archway being the grandest.
The history within this place thrived and burned hot. The Dragonborn could feel it gently pulsing in his veins, trying to pour out, silently screaming with the history of his kin.
The dragon within him could feel it too; "Zeymah... Briinah."
Y/N took in a breath; nothing back in Skyrim could compare to this kind of sight. It was rather astonishing. He traced his fingers across the closest of the rock walls, his fingers dipping in and out of the rivets made by the hexagon shapes of the rock. When he pulled his hand away the skin was coated in black soot that spread when he massaged it with his thumb. Y/N brought the hand to his nose and sniffed at the substance.
"These scorch marks are fresh," He muttered, more to himself but loud enough for the others to hear.
"Can you smell that?" Geralt called out, crouched down and surveying the ground.
"Horse shit?" Jaskier said but was swiftly ignored.
"Sulphur." Now mentioned the smell became more pungent. Y/N repeatedly brushed his hand on the material of his trousers, removing the majority of the soot, some specks stubbornly remaining in the creases of his skin. "We'll set up camp close by tonight and follow their trail in the morning. If we end up coming across them tomorrow then we'll need to be well-rested to face them."
Despite the clear skies overhead, they took refuge in one of the smaller caves on the edge of the clearing. The night air would be cold and a small fire would lose its heat almost instantly, so the walls of the cave were a comforting change, blocking from the harsh, freezing winds.
The fire that had sat at the mouth of their temporary accommodation had now withered into nothing more but a few dull embers, glowing red against the colour of the night. The outline of the basalt columns was highlighted by the full moon; The Dragonborn traced them with his eyes, finding himself often getting lost in the structures.
He could not sleep, as he found most nights, but the quiet (save for Jaskier's snoring) was welcome. He daren't let himself think, knowing it would either be a winding path to salty tears or burning hatred over a home he had been forced from so unjustly.
Could he have called Skyrim his home? While he fought for that land and its people, in the end, he also apparently fought against it. He couldn't even be certain he was born there or was even raised there. So many uncertainties, yet the only answer that remained clear was that he could never return to Skyrim.
"Can't sleep either?" Y/N jumped, reaching for the hidden dagger in his boot, so enwrapped in his own thoughts he didn't hear the other man come up behind him.
"Can't say I find rock a comfortable bed." At the reply, Geralt sat beside Y/N, fidgeting for a second to make himself more comfortable, which failed.
"Jaskier seems to have managed," At the mention of the bard they both turned to watch him, the sleeping man none the wiser and coincidently letting out another loud snore. Y/N rolled his eyes and a small smile played on his lips as he turned back to face out against the cave mouth. "I could practically hear you thinking. What's keeping you awake?"
"The man at the inn called you a mutant?"
Geralt could sense the deflection from the question, but humoured Y/N, he pulled a face before giving his answer. "Witcher's were once human, but... now changed." He let out a sigh took a moment, thinking over what he was going to say, "We're taken in as children, and forced to undergo a series of... trials. Some of those trials include alchemic processes and mutagenic compounds... Not everyone that goes through it survives. It remakes us, takes away the parts of us that are human."
"Some would say that's a good thing... removing the human parts."
"But it takes the good, not just the bad," Geralt lent forward, resting his forearms on his knees, avoiding eye contact. "They say Witcher's are unable to feel emotion. Not joy, nor happiness, not even hatred... only animalistic desires."
Y/N let a dim smile play on his lips, "That's the truth of it all though. People only ever say, they never actually know. They tell themselves stories to make themselves sleep sounder at night... It's easier to think you're asking a beast to fight for his life than it is a man."
"And what are you, beast or man?" Geralt faced the Dragonborn head-on, not allowing the other to face away as it would be submitting to the challenge. "You speak of dragons like they are wolves easily slain. You hold your chest high in the dens of creatures that could rip an ordinary man to shreds. If you were just a man you'd be a fucking idiot."
Y/N huffed a laugh before lightly chuckling, Geralt quietly joining in. "In all honesty Geralt, I could not tell you what I am... I can only piece together fragments of what I could be from other peoples' reality... If I am a man then I am nothing, just a figment of a lie, but if I am a beast then I am no better than what you and I put down with the metal of our swords."
A beat of silence.
"Why did you leave Skyrim?"
Y/N took a moment to ponder his answer, "My departure was what was best for everyone."
Not a lie, but a veil over the truth instead.
Deciding not to push the matter, Geralt stood. "Get some rest." He slapped the shoulder of Y/N, a friendly gesture, as he walked back into the mouth of the cave, leaving the Dragonborn to the peace of the clearing in the night.
While not yet tired, he let his eyes fall shut as he sat, falling into a peaceful meditation. He brought himself back to the dream from the night before, the battlefield of fallen soldiers, drying blood and charred wood.
Those words; he could hear them again. Yet this time, they spoke on the wind that brushed through the basalt pillars, whistling in high pitched tones.
"Vennesetiid fen du hi."
He opened his eyes; Pupils misshapen into two black slits, sclera and pupil now a blazing gold the same as a roaring fire. Scrutinizing the air in front of them, picturing the owner of the voice that dare haunt him.
"Zu'u los ni sahlo... I make my own path, fate has no hold on me, wuth fahdon."
*****
Rough translations for those who are interested:
"Sizaan" - Lost, to lose
"Hi los ont vod" - You are already gone
"Sos" - Blood
"Dinok" - Death
"Vennesetiid fen du hi" - Fate will devour you
"Zeymah." - Brother
"Briinah" - Sister
"Zu'u los ni sahlo" - I am not weak
"Wuth fahdon" - Old friend
#geralt x male reader#male reader#geralt of rivia x you#geralt of rivia fic#the witcher x male reader#the witcher netflix
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the legacies of zeus pt. 1 ─── the making
i. athena; goddess of wisdom
── when you are young they assume you know nothing
ㅤㅤㅤrippling blonde hair that glows in the sunlight. eyes that hold too much to be considered young, cheeks that hold an innocence that strikes you, leaving you defenceless. they calculate your every move, every strike, every touch. wisdom brews underneath their skin. unnerving gazes and perfect lips that never smile. hands that craft perfection and minds that observe greedily. porcelain dolls crafted by the hands of a goddess, perfected by man’s knowledge. pray that your thoughts do not become to loud next to them, for those can be stolen from you, too.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤannabeth looks at arachne and steels her nerves. the cogs in her brain begin to turn, sifting through every piece of knowledge carefully. the red light glows eerily, turning her hair a sickly shade of honey. chinese handcuffs. she looks at arachne and she nearly laughs at her stupidity. this was easy, far too easy. she smirks. somewhere, her mother nods in her approval
ii. apollo; god of the sun
── i like to believe icarus didn’t lose his life- not exactly. he just lived it all at once in a single, blazing moment with the sun
ㅤㅤㅤuncaring smiles that blind you. blue eyes that are warm, far too warm, too hot to look at. egoism, because if the world revolves around you, what is the reason to be humble? hands that are strong and sure, pulling at the strings of a guitar, the string of a bow, the needle that sews your skin back together. warm skin that burn you, melting you against them, claiming you as theirs. the power of a thousand domains running through their veins. the impending sense of doom of old stories, of prophecies untold. stand close to them and you feel death. they know how to kill you, know how to make you beg to be saved.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤlee sings and everyone falls in love. even when their blood streaks out of their ears, praises so sweet leave their lips like honey, soaking him in it’s warmness. micheal pulls at his bow and the arrow hits it’s mark with an accuracy unmatched by all. he kisses the boy he loves and blood drips into his hand, a single white petal in the middle of it all. will bandages people and his eyes burn gold, gold with the knowledge of which bones are weak and which muscles to pull. control. that is what they have.
iii. ares; god of war
── you do this, you do. you take things you love and tear them apart
ㅤㅤㅤbared teeth. the first blood of war, dripping on the streets. yelling, always yelling, never really talking. love, always love, because what is war if not because of love? hands wrapped in bandages, blue, yellow, green bruises painting skin so beautifully, fingers pressing on them, relishing the pain. brown eyes that tint red in the sunlight, like the blood in your veins and the blood in theirs. they hold a thousand year old glint in their eyes, the same glint of war veterans, of battles of old. violent voices, violent hands, violent urges. lips bitten red. red nail polish bitten through and chipped. kiss them and your lips bruise, kill them and you’ll die too.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤclarisse yells as she tries to make the sea yield, yells as her brothers fight her, as blood drips down her side and out of her nose. she yells as silena falls to the ground, as her fingers dig into her hair, sticky with the blood and love she’d never shared. there’s an anger in her, a bloodlust that never seems to be satisfied, clamoring for pain, for blood, for violence. she’d followed it, once. she’d never felt more alive.
#athena#annabeth chase#cabin 6#apollo#lee fletcher#michael yew#will solace#cabin 7#ares#clarisse la rue#cabin 5#poetry#cabin aesthetic#pjo#hoo#riordanverse#riordanverse headcanon
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🌰Chestnuts and Warm Milk🍂
My List of ~Favorites~ for Interactive Fiction and Visual Novels
(This is a work in progress so please bear with me)
Interactive Fiction:
The Wayhaven Chronicles (WIP Series in Development) - @seraphinitegames (Look,,, I’m just... obsessed.. I can’t stop thinking abt it,,, and I'm..... sometimes, I read and I think I feel like I know what love is.)
Mind Blind (WIP) - @mindblindbard (I just,, UGH it’s so good. I can't even say that much because my feelings about it are so potent that everytime I see an update I try to tell myself to leave it alone to play larger portions of updates as a treat and everytime my willpower FAILS and I replay the demo like twice in a row)
Demon: Recollect ; Forsaken (WIP) - both by @bathalafiction (whew...WHEW!!! Are you kidding me?? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? Look. I was attached to Demon: Recollect. I loved it. And then I played the Forsaken WIP and now I can't get over my absolutely BOMB character design for my player persona. Also it's kind of fun being considered a jerk in the game, because it opens up a lot of different options that I usually feel bad about taking)
Shadow Society - @carawenfiction (the concept is so interesting,, I dream of more. Also Quaiel...baby...)
The Soul Stone War - @intimidatingpuffinstudios (also whew!! I really enjoyed it and the characters all picture themselves really vividly in my mind for some reason.)
Greenwarden (WIP) - @fiddles-ifs (reading this is like thick fog.. but in a good way? I don't know how to describe it without pictures but this IF smells like fog over wet grass)
Divine Intervention (WIP) - @divineinterventiongame (the concept?? UGH SO GOOD. For some reason it's always the first game I click to check for updates)
Golden (WIP) - @milaswriting (😈😈😈😈)
Blood/line (WIP) - @bloodlineoffical (simply put,,, LARRY)
Supernatural in New York ; The Bastard of Camelot (both WIPs) - @llamagirl28 (UGH Both of these are so good in their own ways but equally as exciting to see updates for. I haven't consolidated my feelings much further than "my MC for SiNY is so cute" and "Mordred is a child" but they're all generally positive.)
Ace of Spades (WIP) - @steph-writing (I keep thinking about,,, con........)
Nevermoore (WIP) - @asteristories (AHHHHH.... let me say it again for those in the back: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH)
Son of Satan: The Mortal Coil (WIP) - @sosthemortalcoil (YES.)
Shepherds of Haven (WIP) - @shepherds-of-haven (yes. I just have to sigh because it's very good and I like saying those funny little words of power. But also outside of the game I can only picture this game as a great, grey border collie)
Attollo (WIP) - @attollo (Also a very interesting concept, whoo... I almost forgot how immersive it was untill I played the demo again and was reminded of how 'into it' I was straight off the bat. Also the seperate, short little piece on the blog with Sysba was also really good and I had a dream about it the other day)
Into the Shadows (WIP) - @wynnakang (whooo.... I'm sighing again, but louder. I press restart and play the demo again)
A Comedy of Manors (WIP) - @sviyaginthegreat (I kept replaying options that I hadn't chosen before because I wanted there to be more lmao)
Fallen Hero: Rebirth - @fallen-hero (I think there's a sequel coming up? I haven't stopped thinking about this storyline since I finished it omg... the.. the details are really good and I've become ridiculously attached to my tragic villain? Character... she IS the standard for my reusable IF persona, or at least one of my most prominent ones ;-D )
Samurai of Hyuga (WIP series) - (I'm pretty sure multiplechoicestudios.com is the development blog for this game, or at least what I've been checking for updates..... this is a series with four book currently out.... and I've been playing through book 4 at slower than a snail's pace in a desperate attempt to prolong my experience. I really didn't think I was going to like it as much as I did but I got a little too into it and now I'm horribly attached to all the characters)
The Porthecrawl Witness(WIP) - @porthecrawl-witness (I'm pretty sure this is a WIP?? But ugh. SCREEEEEE- it's so good. It's SO GOOD. I really want to punch Talbot in the face. And Asher, if for a different reason. And sort of Staci just to try. Quinn is just a cutie I could never hurt him like that. Ugh but they're all so good and I forgot that I was reading a WIP untill it suddenly was over..... I'mfeeling really aggressive rn as I'm writing this, so please just note that the punch comment is meant as a statement on how interesting the concept and immersiveness of the characters and story is)
Forgotten Names (WIP) - by Alexandra_Zorila on the CoG Forum (turn the volume up. AHHHHHHHHHH!!! Look, look. It's..... delicious. It's SO interesting and I obsessively have a tab open on my computer to check for updates)
OFNA: Birds of a Feather (WIP) - @ofna (the vibes are so grey and smoky but the fog is definitely from a party smoke machine and the room is only dark because the walls are taped with those huge sheets of black construction paper that teachers use to cover their bulletin boards with... the game definitely falls in the 'dark and mysterious' genre but something just strikes me as really funny when I play it. Anyway it's good and it's in a lot if recommended lists for a reason. Also I'm very attached to my American Goldfinch)
More Things in Heaven and Earth (WIP) - @morethingsgame (in the same way that it's fun to play Guenevere in the Guenevere game or Mordred in The Bastard of Camelot, playing Ophelia in the sort-of Hamlet story is really fun. If anyone has read the Missing collection- which I absolutely love- by Margaret Peterson Haddix, this gives me similar vibes for some reason. Anyway, I really want to give Hamlet a hug and make him a flower crown or something)
A Tale of Crowns (WIP) - @ataleofcrowns (It's kind of not even funny how much I love this game... It's hard to even describe why I like it, just that it's so well rounded in terms of the story, characters, dialogue, and relationships. It's such an interesting plotline and it's pretty immersive. Also the first time I read the demo, there was an update as I was reading and the high that sent me on has very rarely been matched. Also Dara running to save my Crown in the tunnel?? 🤚😩🤭💓 ugh. UGH!! That's good food for my fool heart)
Scout: An Apocalypse Story (WIP)- @anya-dev (I'm usually not that into apocalypse themes/plots but I really enjoyed this game, and the plot was very good and intruiging... it really pulled me in and I like my character in the story a lot. I don't know why but it tastes like chikuwa, atsuage, and this specific type of carmelized onions that my mom makes sometimes)
Nothing left to burn (WIP)- @clowdee-works (......ouch. I *knew* what was going to happen and I STILL became attached to Drew)
Smoke and Velvet - @roast-ifs (It's good. And I am VEDY much into my character design. Also the story is really interesting, and I enjoy the setting a lot somehow)
Speaker (WIP)- @speakergame (very fun to play, and each update gets me more interested in the aspects of the plot. I also really like the little descriptions of what the characters think of the player)
The Nameless (WIP)- @parkerlyn (interesting plot, I like the characters a lot, and The aesthetics of this world are so interesting. Definitely had a good time visualizing what everything looked like)
Fields of Asphodel (WIP) - @asphodelgame (I think it's really cute so far!!! I like mythology in general, and the persephone/hades dynamic is *mwah!*... I like the way the story progresses in the beginning, and I think it works well in drawing the reader into the world. I also very much enjoy petting large dogs.)
...there are so much more.. and I have followed so many blogs.........
I'm not sure why I can't find it rn but there's this one WIP game that I really like where the MC buys a manor for like dollar and moves to go live there with her best friend and shenanigans ensue as they try to settle in and fix up the estate
Harbringer (WIP) - @harbringercog (....are you KIDDING me?? I was fully planning on just enjoying the demo and keeping a mental note to update the list sometime later,,, but this game... THIS GAME really made me fold. It's very immersive and regardless of how nervous the author claims to be after releasing the demo, it's of my humble opinion that those nerves can be calmed. It's very good. I was planning on procrastinating and reading a little bit and then going back to this essay I need to write, but somehow I got pulled in and ended up reading through the whole demo and it's apparent that I honestly had no chance of getting through this without becoming invested in the plot.... just... so good.. I'm very excited to see how this will progress)
Visual Novels:
Andromeda 6 (WIP) - @andromeda-six (I repeat: Obsessed, I come back every few months to see an update and I fall deeper into the hole every time...)
To the Edge of the Sky (WIP,, probably) - by Ajané (??) on Steam (I think, it’s been a while)
Next on my list to check out: Perfumare by pdrrook
Does.... does The Arcana game by Nix Hydra count as VN?? If so, then yes.
Similarly, the FictIF games are all entertaining, although Last Legacy and Heir to Love and Lies are my favorites rn (and.....unfinished....)
I also don't know if this counts, because I kind of consider Otome games to be their own genre, but on the Love 365: find your story by Voltage Inc. There are a bunch of fun stories, my favorite of which are: the Shinichi Kagari route on After School Affairs and the Saejima and Keiichiro routes on Bad Boys do it Better
..To be continued...
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BNHA Villian Creation Oc Analysis
Introduction:
All right time for my villain creation analysis guide for people who are having trouble creating Villain BNHA OCS. In light of the War arc that happened and the reveal of Dabi being Touya Todoroki, this post went through a major overhaul. I will try my best in explaining how to create my BNHA villain.
Horikoshi stated in his design process, one thing that is most important when designing a villain is the impact they make on the people’s psyche when they first see them. You don’t half make your villain OCS disgusting or terrifying but focus on how you create a type of impact upon first seeing this villain. It’s about how you wanted to create a visual impact on someone.
It’s high time to talk about how to create a villain with these characters and about these character villain designs and how it correlates to their personalities. (This post isn’t about how to create a Marvel or dc Villain from superhero shows but to design a BNHA villain by using these characters as an example.)
What is a Villain?
While you design your BNHA Villain, you need to ask yourself this question: what makes a villain?
As Stan Lee once said in the guidebook there is no such thing as a villain, they don't view themselves as villains. Villains are the heroes of their own story and they take it further in their actions by saying the ends justify the means. This rings true for characters in BNHA. You can see that villains have different ideologies and feelings that motivate their actions which lead them to clash with others. BNHA is proof that they are not evil. The villains are people who just have different views and different perspectives. There is no such thing as a villain; Horikoshi shows this by doing a villain academia arc with the villains as main characters of the arc.
Each and every villain reflects the very flaws of hero society.
Dabi and the rest of his family had been abused by his father who is a hero. Dabi faced neglect and overwhelming pain due to being ignored which eventually led to his death by Sekoto Peak driven by the very man who ignored him in favor of surpassing All Might.
Himiko was ostracized for showing interest in anything blood-related and labeled as a freak; most of her problems stem from the side effects of her blood-related quirk but instead of addressing this problem she was told to suppress it.
Spinner dealt with prejudice due to his appearance caused by his quirk.
Tomura’s abuse started due to his father’s abandonment from his grandmother, which drove him to abuse his son who showed interest in anything hero-related. His father’s abandonment causes him to lash out at Tenko and the rest of his family was hurt indirectly by the actions of a hero. After he killed his family and wandered on the streets people ignored him because of his appearance and used the excuse that a hero will save him.
As you see villains are people that are shaped by their circumstances, with every member of the LOV as an example of this. They are the shadow of hero society, the dark side that most people choose to ignore.
The reason why people ignored Tenko and did not bother to help him is that they don’t want to risk their cozy lives for a stranger in fear they would lose that comfort with the excuse that a hero is going to help to avoid taking action. They put all the responsibility on someone else and do not worry about this because someone is going to do it for them.
These thoughts feed into people’s complacency and indifference and emphasize people’s heavy reliance on heroes. It was these small acts of cruelty that created villains like Tomura. Looking at Tenko is a lot like admitting to how corrupt this system truly is. All this stems from personal neglect and responsibility. Personal neglect can end in being a disaster if left unchecked. Tomura is proof of how people avoid their responsibilities in favor of having someone else do it for them. People's avoidance can lead others to the path of villainy as seen in Tomura.
For characters like Stain and Overhaul, their extreme actions that go along with the ends justify the means show that, Unlike villains who don’t view their actions as evil, both Overhaul and Stain see their actions as evil but know it’s necessary to accomplish their goals. They both see their actions as justifiable since they believe they are fighting for a worthy cause. The only difference between the two is that what Overhaul does to accomplish is much more selfish when looked at closely. Overhaul’s actions may be driven to protect the place of belonging that gave him a purpose but in reality, he has a grudge against heroes for ending the yakuza reign and blames quirks for giving others purpose while taking his purpose away. He may think his actions were for Pops, but no, they are far from what his father wanted. Overhaul doesn’t think about what he wants and gets angered when things don’t come his way: these traits are more about himself. If him abusing Eri wasn’t a perfect example of his narcissistic attitude I don’t know what is.
Stain is more of an extremist but he has more justifiable reasons than Overhaul. We are introduced to bad heroes like Endeavor, one of the heroes he hated and hunted. Despite Stain injuring Iida’s brother and ending his hero career, that part with Endeavor is what makes him comes across as more justifiable to the audience.
As AFO puts it,
Villains are people who committed a couple of quirk-based crimes and couldn’t control their quirk. People who disrupt the balance in hero society are labeled as villains, even ones who use their quirk freely for good deeds or unintentionally cause problems with not controlling their quirks are still branded as villains.
if villains are people who have done a couple of quirk-based crimes and then the heroes are the civil servants who are allowed to use quirks, as stated by Knuckleduster: "heroes are no more than cogs in a machine that is meant to uphold societal order."
People are labeled as villains because they disrupted a machine for societal order. Heroes are only meant to apprehend villains to uphold social order just like how Knuckleduster once said heroes only exist to keep the status quo in check to prevent any disruptions towards it the same way on how heroes choose to save people, not the ones that fall through. The very same system that is never made to catch people who fall through the cracks.
Even Nagant pointed out heroes are cogs in a machine made to uphold social order and eliminate anything they deem as a threat; they sacrifice others to keep the image of peace in society running smoothly ignoring the problems growing underneath.
As AFO answers say that people who are villains are thoses that society outcasts with quirks who don’t fit in the societal standard, people who can’t fit into a tightly controlled society become excluded by others and become villains whose ranges are true if you look at the LOV.
The Villains are created in response to heroes’ societal problems who were driven to change the LOV are not just here because of some grand ideology but they’re here because of their hurt and hatred towards the hero society and desire to destroy it to make a change the LOV is driven to destroy what they hate most of their actions that they lash out where their pain got from society.
As I mentioned before, the main members of the LOV are prime examples of hero society own flaws,
For Tomura it's how the actions of heroes can indirectly hurt their loved ones and other people. People's over-idolization and overdependence on heroes causes them to neglect the growing problems that are present within.
For Dabi, it's how we don’t look at the issues regarding the heroes in favor of our security or want to see these issues within others because it would be like looking at the very same issues ourselves.
For Toga it’s in how people treat those who have issues. Instead of addressing these problems, we instead tell others to suppress them so we wouldn’t have to deal with them. Telling someone to suppress wouldn’t make it go away; instead it makes what’s suppressed stronger.
If you are going to choose a villain, think about how they become villains by using the LOV examples. How did your OC become a villain? What flaws do they reflect in society? I am going to elaborate on these there characters design and how it matches up with their characters.
Design:
Tomura Shigaraki:
Wow I mean wow. There is so much jammed-packed Tomura’s character design that I don’t know where to begin. Tomura is a pretty fascinating character that has an equally fascinating design that goes with it. There's so much that goes into it that I’m worried that I may not be able to mention it all in this post. Shape-wise Tomura has no prominent shapes to speak of but his design has a lot of visual components put into his design. Unlike Izuku’s character design Tomura’s character design changes a lot correlating to his character development in the series.
Tomura has a lot of symbols that are the main components of BNHA, one of which is hereditary. Hereditary is one of the main central components of BNHA since it’s about passing on one’s legacies to the next generation. This example of hereditary in his design is seen the most with his grandmother Nana Shimura the 7th holder of OFA and All Might's master.
Tomura resembles Nana Shimura with him inheriting most of her physical features. They have the same face shape, sharp eyes, sharp chin, even the mole beneath his lip. He’s even drawn to have many parallels to her in the series. Tomura’s relation to Nana Shimura deepens his connection with Izuku and All Might, his resemblance to her linked him closely to those who are connected with Nana through OFA. This makes him more compelling because it gives a connection with the protagonist Izuku Midoriya
Horikoshi designed him with Hero society's main flaws in mind with the first flaw being in how people can be indirectly hurt by the actions of a hero when they are not thought through.
This is highlighted by Nana’s abandonment of her son Kotaro, Nana gave him up to the foster care system to protect him from AFO’s evil clutches. Looking at this from a different angle you may think she is doing this to protect Kotaro but it could be considered selfish since she wasn’t taking Kotaro’s feelings into the equation, only her own. She never thought about what Kotaro would want; she never thought about how Kotaro felt when she did this to him. she did what she thought was best for him but not thought Kotaro would feel when she did this. It seems like she was asking something from him and not thinking how he felt.
Her choice can be considered selfish. She could have given up being a hero or not carry OFA but choosing not to Nana’s choice to have Kotaro despite the responsibility she had when given OFA only to ask something from him in return while she abandoned him is incredibly selfish on her part. Her letter sounding this is more about her than her son.
Her saying “I love you” while abandoning him than killed later was only adding more salt to his wounds
again on her not thinking about Kotaros feelings at all, only her own. She never thought any of this through when she was given OFA and the abandonment of Kotaro. Her abandonment showed that she chooses her duty of being a hero over her son’s feelings. though she only was doing this out of good attention to protect her son, good attention does not lead to good results. Nana’s abandonment and death left Kotaro deeply hurt from her actions. His pain from the abandonment makes him lash out at others and abuse tenko who showed anything interested in hero-related things. You can see how one person’s actions affected the people around that one person. Kotaro’s abuse of his son caused him to kill the rest of his family and him leading down the path of becoming a Villain the pushed further into AFO clutches. It was Nana's choice that caused all the series events to happen in the first place. Nana’s actions remind me of something like just how a hero’s actions can inspire others by doing good. They can also harm as well especially if the character harbors the same responsibility to the people around them.
There are characters from BNHA whose characters’ environments entered around their quirks. Tomura’s design is centered around his quirk decay. It is based heavily on a corpse since corpses decay after the person dies. His white hair reflects loss of pigment in the hair a corpse has when the body decays. His hair is unkempt and messy resembles in how he wasn’t taken care of and neglected to rot like a corpse as seen in his skin and his entire body is emaciated and his skin looks like it's physically rotting away his attitude in the way he was first introduced in the USJ arc looks listless like a corpse. His second appearance in the series with him donning a trench coat resembles a robe from a grim reaper again with both the corpses and grim reaper notes to how he carries the aspect of death with him emitting fear when first introduced.
Death is another factor in his design, this is seen in how he brings death and destruction to those around him seen in how he killed his family when his quirk first manifested and himself when AFO gave him a new name to say goodbye to his old self the heroes broke his pod and how he emits fear to people by just a look. People avoid talking about death, when you hear the word death most people are afraid of it and avoid mentioning it directly. In different cultures such as Japan death isn’t something that is scary but it’s dirty, the lack of care in his appearance references the dirtiness of how Japan views death. Seen in the flashback of his childhood when he was wandering the streets people noticed but looked away not looking at his appearance directly. The way people ignore Tomura in the series is just like people’s attitude towards death, something they want to avoid mentioning as a reference to death itself. Tomura's death motif is a reference to the concept that Horikoshi is trying to convey in his art.
Another way the dirtiness and emaciated-ness in Tomura’s unkempt appearance in his design note the second flaw of hero society. This second flaw is seen best in how the people around treat Tenko, who wandered the streets after he killed his family onlookers saw him but ignored him due to his scary-looking appearance by using "hero is going to help you" as an excuse to escape any responsibility.
People ignoring tenko symbolizes how they don't want to look at the ugliest side of society and go in and out of their way to avoid it with their willingness to look away from the corruption to protect the cozy lives they have. This small cruelty showed us that they don’t want to look at the ugliest side of hero society and see how corrupt the system is. People looking at Tenko would be a lot like admitting they are something wrong with the system they profit from. The real cruel reason why people didn’t help Tenko is that they cared so much about their security they don’t want to risk their cozy life for someone they just met so they use the excuse hero to escape responsibility so they don’t need to worry about it if someone else is doing it for them why would they need to? People's overreliance on heroes making them out to become overly complacent. People’s negligence and compliantly caused the rot to slowly accumulate and spill out from the injustices that others ignore.
Now for the second flaw, it’s that people's over reliance on heroes causes them to be complacent in helping others to escape responsibility for someone else to do letting their negligence create more villains.
It’s all about those hands, hands, hands it’s all about those hands that are prominent in Tomura’s character design.
According to Horikoshi, he likes drawing hands because they are the body parts most capable of showing emotion and character. This makes sense since hands are rich in symbolism in BNHA,
This is seen in how people use their quirks with their hands, as well as having agency and the ability to get things done with them. The way people use their hands symbolizes how the characters interact with the world around them. Hands are a universal symbol of reaching out to lend a helping hand to other people. Hands are symbols for heroes; hands are used in BNHA as a symbol to reach out to save people.
There are also the general meanings of hands that have been used in relationships, with sites of intimacy and connection to other people with the hands are used to touch and express affection to someone. Hands are capable of destruction and creation they can either reach out to soothe someone or strike them with violence.
The symbolism that is associated with hands are central to Tomura as a character which is in how he activates his quirk, Decay, if all five fingers touch something it disintegrates into dust.
The way Tomura’s expressionless hands are drawn reflects the emptiness and hollowness he feels constantly.
The hands that grip all over his body in his character design if you look closely it doesn’t look at all comforting. The exact opposite the hands look exactly as if they are Strangling and choking him, putting him in a suffocating death grip. The hands that grip him look like they’re controlling him like a puppet with the hands possessing him to control the person underneath this symbolizes how he is bound by the hands of AFO who is groomed to be his successor chaining Tomura down.
The image of Tomura being gripped by hands in different angles symbolize a lot of things that are,
Abuse, manipulation, exploration, control, restriction, destruction, comfort, connection
This symbolism that here is present with Tomura’s character with the “Abuse" he experienced under his father and AFO, him being exploited by AFO as a child who picked him up in the streets after he killed his family and is ignored by the civilians, control can mean he how he was only saved to be controlled by AFO, AFO’s manipulation of Tomura, Violence can mean in how he was abused by his father who hit him if he ever disobeyed the rules and how Tomura is threatened by violence from the people he comes in contact with, the destruction portion notes on how Tomura choose to utilize them because of his quirk in that wants to destroy everything since he thinks destruction is the only thing that he can do, he subconsciously holds his quirk back to the trauma of how he killed the rest of his family when his quirk first manifested, the Comfort portion is how the hands both give him comfort and disgust, his connections he has with the members of the LOV in which he accepts them in open arms. The hands also symbolize how his entire identity was molded by AFO.
Hands have a lot to do with his character arc with him in need of a helping hand since in his arc, He requires a helping hand but no one gave him helping hand Tomura was never given a genuine helping hand by others even when he was abused by his father no one in his family helped him or society ignored him when he needed help and only was saved by AFO only to manipulate him. The only hands he dealt with were people who were violent or wanted to use him.
The way Tomura uses his hands looks like he's reaching out for help. His desire to connect to seek people out for help was also what caused him to disintegrate his own family. and the only hand that reached out to him only was there to control him. The pose with Tomura reaching out symbolizes him reaching out for help.
The hands-on Tomura’s body is revealed to be his family’s hands AFO gave him his family’s hands to constantly remind him of his trauma and act as an AFO control over him. His family hands don’t give him comfort or connection to them and are there to remind him of his guilt and trauma.
As I stated before The hands around his body that both comfort him and restrict him this aspect symbolizes his complicated feelings towards the rest of his family even though Tomura loved them he hated the way they treated him. His father forced Tenko to give up his dreams of being a hero so he can keep his ideal family in line the other beat around the bush on the abuse caring about the peace of the household over Tenko’s feelings and they don’t matter and that their not important they only cared about the peace of the household over Tenko own wants and needs. He hated him for standing by and allowing the abuse to happen and completely rejected his wants and needs. He only wanted to be accepted for who he is but didn’t get it. He feels that the house only rejected him quietly. Though he felt guilty for killing his family he is glad to end the pain of the abuse.
His family’s hands make him it seem like their holding him back with his memories locking away he subconsciously keeping his quirk in check due to guilt he’s imprisoned by the death of his family in which he caused when his quirk when first manifested. The hands symbolize his past in which he is bound by from the trauma of him killing his family.
The last remaining hand that grips on Tomura’s face represents AFO’s incredible control over Tomura.
Here is another important reason: The reason why Tomura’s face is always covered with his father’s hand was to fully utilize the fear, the popular reason why most people are afraid of something means in how we don’t understand anything about it. This can mean how none of the characters can understand or relate to Tomura. Most of they see him could relate to him or understand him
The fear that Tomura is presented with is unrelatable and inhuman. Rather than being a human, he is a symbol of terror that creeps with malice and causes others to tremble in his presence. As something to be feared he wasn’t supposed to look human to others, this goes hand in hand with the dehumanization he has and how he wasn’t treated as a person by others.
The mask on Tomura’s character is a very important representation of how his identity is molded by AFO to be a villain. Tomura taking his mask off shows what he feels to Himiko and twice with him he becomes more of his person Tomura is bad at communicating his thoughts with others even if left vague this may be due to Tomura’s distorted memories he has.
The clothes Tomura wears correlates his development as a villain with his original outfit: a black shirt and slacks. His lanky posture indicate his immaturity. The long trench coat he wears while on the run and AFO arrested notes his competency as leader of the LOV.
The clothes Tomura wears correlates his development as a villain with his original outfit: a black shirt and slacks. His lanky posture indicate his immaturity. The long trench coat he wears while on the run and AFO arrested notes his competency as leader of the LOV.
Another interesting detail that correlates to his character development is been his competency as a villain is Tomura’s "NEETNESS" he was called a neet before by Ujiko,
His second outfit when he and the members run from the police and heroes AFO arrested is like a neet striking out on his own becoming more independent looking for employment.
Tomura final outfit a business suit when he defeated the MLA and created the paranormal liberation and that he’s now a powerful supervillain with everything at his disposal symbolizes how the neet finally got a job.
The last thing that I want to discuss in his design-wise and writing-wise is how Tomura is the foil to Izuku Midoriya. Both Izuku and Tomura are villains and hero foils in which their development correlates to each other.
With their design harboring the same red shoes to further collating them to be foils and their posture with Izuku having a straight positive posture that reflects his personality and Tomura being slouchy and lethargic citing his listlessness that is present in his personality. Another interesting thing to note is in their bios they are both seen standing straight. one with an anxious expression in the beginning before he acquired OFA and the other with confidence in being a villain, one another aspect to reference to them being foils.
Writing-wise they are very similar to each other, both are taken in as successors for Izuku to All Might the greatest hero of all time, and Tomura to AFO the greatest villain. Before meeting them, they both face opposition that prevents them from going to their dreams with Izuku being quirkless and Tomura being abused by his hero-hating father. They are both inexperienced in many ways when they were first introduced Izuku recently acquiring the quirk OFA and lack of control and Tomura lacking the means to be an effective terrifying villain as Izuku is growing in the mastery of OFA Tomura is growing ineffectiveness to be a villain.
Tomura’s bonds with the members of the LOV mirror Izuku who started with no friends due to his quirklessness until he’s enrolled in UA and gained friends Ochaco and Iida similar to how Tomura bonded with the LOV after AFO arrest. Even the hand injuries parallel to each other with Tomura’s hand injuries from his fight with ReDestro mirror Izuku’s hand scars that he received from his fight with Todoroki.
Himiko Toga:
Time for my 2nd favorite character design for the BNHA series and my second favorite villain, Himiko Toga. Himiko's design is easy because you can tell what sort of person she is in one look.
Her character design says what sort of person she is. Firstly, she’s a high school student: you can instantly see that she is a high school student because of the uniform she wears. In Japan, schools require students to wear school uniforms and Himiko is 17 years old. The blushes on her cheeks make her look like a lovesick girl also showing her insanity when first introduced to us. You can tell from her background in one look that Himiko is designed to look like a girl in love all the while telling that she’s ready to stab you. Her design is enough to know that she’s someone you need to look for and be a villain. Horikoshi is a genius when it comes to styled character design, Himiko has many design elements that go very well into her character.
Himiko has two prominent shapes in her design: a circle and a triangle. The circles are visibly seen in her face and hair buns; it tells her personality and entire character. For symbolism that goes with circles, it’s that they are feminine, cute, honest, expressive, love, youthful, likable, charismatic, emotional, cheerful, compassionate.
The youth aspect is, as said above, from how Himiko is the youngest member of the LOV being 17 years old.
The feminine can point to how she’s the only girl in the group. Himiko is the most cheerful and liveliest in the LOV and her honesty is Himiko’s best qualities. Himiko is honest about herself; she's one of the members of the LOV to speak her mind even if she honestly comes off as morbid. Characters designed with circles are expressive and emotional. Himiko wears her emotions on her sleeves and does whatever makes her feel good. An example of her being emotional is how she goes out on her own to do what she likes and how she reacted to Twice’s death and cried when talking to Ochaco. Himiko is an emotional person that acts on her emotions. Himiko is one of the most expressive members of the LOV as the symbolism for the circles implies she shows an abundance of emotions in her gestures and mannerisms her joining the LOV Villians was primarily to be herself to express herself in a way she wasn’t allowed to s a kid: you can see how she freely uses her quirk when at the LOV being the ultimate act of self-expression. The best example of this symbolism of expressiveness is seen in her hair buns, her hair bun is shaped like two circles and also carries along with the symbolism of self-expression.
In her childhood when she first discovered her quirk you can see that she wore her signature hair buns that were when she was expressing affection with the bloodied bird reinforcing the expressive symbolism.
The way she put her hair down resembled how she was forced to repress a side of herself by others being forced to hide her bloodlust all these years by other people. Her hair down symbolizes how she repressed a part of herself. In the present she is happy expressing herself with her quirk when she was with the LOV she wants to express herself when she wasn’t allowed to do for her using her quirk freely is a form of self-expression Himiko is considered cute by Giren and she loves cute things. This is seen in how her villian uniform was deeply upsetting to her as she says it’s not cute. Himiko is all about love: she falls in love with Izuku, and Ochaco and Stain to the point of wanting to be them the people she loves Himiko loves to fall in love with others as her shape implies she has no problem with showing affection even if it's considered dangerous to the people to she attracted to. Himiko is compassionate. This compassionate side is prominent when she is consoled Twice for his guilt for letting Overhaul into the hideout and killing big sis Magne and taking Mr Compress’s arm. Himiko has a likable design and is considered popular with the audience ranking 3rd in an American popularity poll.
Now for Himiko’s second shape: it’s a triangle. The symbolism for triangles is that there is a quick, nimble, agile, conniving, scary, dangerous shape reserved for villains.
You can see this in her eyes, which have a distinct triangle to them. Himiko is a villain like her shape suggests withdrawn with his shape. The symbolism notes her intelligence to how she picks someone she needs to imitate to go undercover and reflects in the way she fights being very quirk. Himiko is considered dangerous by the people she is attracted to and she was wanted at large by others before she joined the group.
Another detail is her sharp teeth, this can refer to Himiko being blunt by nature and how she always speaks her mind. She is forthright when she points out others' feelings, making her emotional perceptive a skill she picked up when she was on the run from police and heroes. This is seen in how she provoked Mimic in the Yakuza arc and comforted Twice.
Horikoshi sure loves cats, he loves incorporating cats in his characters as with Aizawa and his favorite thing being cats and the Wild Wild Pussy Cats with a cat theme. Cats go with Himiko in her design and character, too.
Himiko has cat-like features in her character design with slit iris in her eyes and the blushing under her eyes resemble whiskers on a cat along with her canines in her teeth coming from fangs stuff that is seen in a cat a lot of these traits related to cats and are very prevalent in her design. Another example of her cat motif is how Himiko styles her hair into two messy buns, if you look at the silhouette of her buns resembles the ears of a cat with the hair strands coming out of her buns that look like ear tuffs from a cat. I find another interesting fact as to why she has two buns in her design the reason why she has two messy buns is that in Japanese the word for two is ni, ni sounds like nya a sound a cat makes her putting her hair up in two buns reference to her cat motif in her hair. Her speed and agility in her abilities reference cats that includes how she stalks her victims and attacks them. It resembles how she hunts like a cat, by moving without a sound stalking her prey and waiting for her prey to let her guard down then take them out when the moment is right.
Her villain costume has many influences from DC and Marvel villains with the blood-sucking machines, for example resembling Bane’s from Batman, but it has feline teeth reinforcing her catlike appearance.
Himiko was inspired by two cat yokai in Japanese mythology: the Bakeneko and Nekomata. Cat demons that have shapeshifting powers that turn human and cause chaos, which references Himiko’s quirk and personality. Bakeneko is known to have a taste for human flesh and can transform into humans by licking their blood ingesting blood and becoming a human in disguise fits Toga’s quirk Transform which she uses blood to transform into other people. The Nekomata is a cat that can transform but is seen with a fork-shaped tail, the fork-shaped tail being the cat being able to shapeshift into two different things: a cat and a human. The Nekomata plays more into Himiko’s quirk with her two buns referencing the Nekomata with the forktail. In mythology cats are known as tricksters or creatures of deception this references her quirk transform and what might be what Himiko’s was heavily inspired from seen in Himiko’s quirk transform and her cat-like appearance.
Himiko’s bun might not only look like cat ears but are meant to represent a red spider lily. In her concept drafts, Himiko had a spider lily hairstyle. The red spider lily is a flower associated with death and is put on gravesites because it is believed it can guide souls into the afterlife. The flower symbolizes death and transformation that could strongly reference her quirk transform. Another aspect of the flower comes from two lovers who feel each other at first sight but are cursed to never be together. This is why it's considered a flower of separation hence the separation between the two lovers. This notes her relationship with Izuku how she fell in love at first sight when he was bloodied and beaten but could never be together due to being from two different sides. The separation aspect in the flower goes with how Himiko feels separated by others and can never be close to them due to her interest in blood.
A minor detail in Himiko’s design is that it’s heavily influenced by Yami kawaii, a subculture in japan that glorifies sickness and mental health being taboo subjects in japan the point of the movement is not to glorify death be to express themselves in the way they haven’t prior. This subculture goes with her character and is seen best in her home cut in her character design the same hair that you see Yami kawaii use. as someone pointed out her straight Hime cut bangs and bags under the eyes reference the bags comes from the makeup effects from a Kawai trend which emulates the sickly style. Himiko’s fascination with blood is deemed a mental illness because people don’t view blood as toga does even call it wrong or weird. Himiko’s desire to express herself by expressing a taboo feeling or emotion the idea of wanting to express a taboo feeling instead of repressing it comes from the Yami kawaii movement. The use of syringes and box cutter jewelry reference Himiko’s choice of weapons her villain costume has deployable syringes that gather blood and she has a knife as a weapon of choice with the box cutters reference her butterfly knife she uses often in her fights. her syringes that gather blood resembling the strings from the Yami kawaii movement.
Toga is a strong allusion to a vampire. Even her backstory starts in a chapter “interview with a vampire” denoted to her.
Her sharp teeth play into vampire fangs along with her quirks of bloodsucking nature. The Vampire allusion notes her quirk's blood-sucking nature and her ambiguous bisexuality; vamp in a vampire is slang for bisexuality this notes her ambiguous bisexuality as she displays interest in both Izuku and Ochaco.
Vampires are written as biting commentary towards the upper class in how it guzzles down the lower class. This can refer to how Himiko’s character makes a biting commentary on society in which I will discuss later in this down below.
Another aspect is how she expresses affection openly in the way she chooses to express reference to how affection is treated in Japan. showing affection in public is considered indecent. This can infer how she was called indecent by her parents when she carried the dead bird while smiling since it's her showing affection.
To Himiko when she sucks someone's blood it's akin to kissing someone with her making the chu noise the sound of kisses in japan,
kissing in public is considered indecent. It could be said that the people in BNHA view Himiko the same way as Japan views affection.
Next, Himiko is the Villainous foil to Ochaco, with them being the only girls in their group. Both are blunt, cheerful, and outgoing and are extremely expressive, as seen in their exaggerated mannerisms. They are also perceptive of others�� feelings, traits that they learned from others around them with Ochaco watching her parents and Himiko becoming sensitive of others around her when she was on the run from heroes and police.
They are different in how they deal with their personal feelings. Where Ochaco chooses to suppress her feelings, Himiko chooses to be open and act on her feelings.
They are both in love with Izuku,but the way they approach their feelings is different. With Himiko becoming excited at the thought of seeing him and becoming open in her affection for him, Ochaco chooses to keep her feelings down thinking that her feelings for Izuku would hinder her from becoming a hero. Ochaco's admiration towards izuku mirrors Himiko’s desire to be close to the people she loves it was Toga who made her realize her feelings towards izuku later on.
Even they have similar goals to each other in which that they want to make things easier, for Ochaco was making the money from being a hero so they can have easy life out of poverty
For Himiko, it wants to make the world an easy place for her to live in so that she wouldn’t be forced to repress herself again due to her blood-related quirk by others and live freely without having to repress herself again.
Another detail in the way they contrast each other in being foils in their designs with them having permanent blush stickers on their cheeks and how she balls up her hands much like Ochaco. This may be considered an unintentional part by Horikoshi.
In her design draft Himiko was considered to symbolize distortion by Horikoshi but in what way does she resemble distortion in her personality? The distortion aspect might have meant hero society.
This makes sense since she represents the hero society's main flaw being in how it distorts other’s views.
How Himiko’s perception of herself had been shifted and distorted by her environment this is largely due to how hero society looks at others with distorted lenses regarding quirks and judge what is normal and condemn something wrong and weird. Himiko was designed and written as a biting commentary of her society in the way it views quirks in general.
Dabi:
I am super stoked to talk about my favorite character of the series, Dabi a.k.a Touya Todoroki, it's not surprising since I have a blog dedicated to finding out his character. His character design is my favorite in the entire series. There's just so much to go over in his design there are so many things jampacked in his design, many elements that are prevalent in his character. Unlike with Himiko's by which you can tell what sort of person she is in one look, Dabi’s design carries a lot of questions such as where did you get those burn scars? He just has this mysterious vibe when he was first introduced. I loved Himiko’s character design for being easy to tell and I love Dabi design for having an enigmatic presence.
When it comes to shapes his design Dabi has one prominent shape that is visible in his design which is a triangle, His entire body is a reverse triangle. You can see the shape of a triangle in his hair and face having the same shape. Something is interesting about his eyes; it's that the shape within the eye resembles a reverse triangle. His eyes have a little bit of an upside triangle to them, again referring to his main shape.
Triangles in character designs are reserved for villains with them being lanky with the triangle in their design since they commiserate being edgy and evil. Triangles when seen on designs on characters are dangerous, devious, stubborn they show danger to warn others to watch out.
I find the symbolism fits very well into Dabi’s personality and communicates these aspects of his character well.
If there's one thing we underestimate is just how smart Dabi can be, he's very calculating, always planning his next move and acting when the moment is right. You get to see this side in action when he was put in charge of the vanguard action squid during the camp raid where he completed the mission despite having three casualties and put a dent in U.A’s reputation.
Dabi is good at reading other people; this is where his intelligence truly shines. He knows which buttons to push; this comes in handy to recharge his quirk:
You see this with Vlad and Eraserhead and know what to do to rile them up, predicting how they will react. Another example is in on how he didn’t trust hawks during their cooperation because he suspects that hawks are a spy sent to infiltrate the LOV. He always watches others in the background while he's planning his next move that comes in handy to know what he's going to do next.
Another example is how he reveals his identity as Endeavor’s long-dead son Touya Todoroki and exposes Endeavor's past on broadcast effectively ruining Endeavor’s reputation destroying peoples faith in heroes. This goes so well with the deviousness Dabi’s triangle represents. The stubbornness symbolism in triangles can infer to his tenacity in his character you can see this in how he set out his plans whether he was Touya in trying to surpass all might make his father proud and Dabi in exposing the abuse on television one of the main things about Touyas the tenacity to carry out plans in his character. For Danger, despite his appearance being shrouded in many mysteries, we know from a look that he's someone to look out for he gives off a sense of ominousness just from one look at appearance and we know that he's someone to look out for and the danger part refers to how his identity as Touya Todoroki which he can use the truth to his advantage. His presence would spell danger to not only heroes but all of society in general because of how he knows the truth of Endeavor’s abuse and the dirty side of heroes; the danger in how he has the potential to put a dent in peoples trust in heroes he lacks the sharp edges when it comes to triangles downplaying his dangerous aura. Another thing to note: triangles are attention-grabbing in warning signs and characters they scream look at me to use. This strongly corresponds to Dabi’s need for acknowledgment in his catchphrase look at me.
Dabi’s slim lanky build resembles how villains are drawn as being somewhat lanky in design but also it can be a direct call back to what I said before I said that his body is an upside-down triangle. Triangles symbolize imbalances that ties directly to Dabi in a nutshell. The imbalances aspect notes Dabi’s lack of control of his life due to his abuse and neglect from Endeavor.
The triangle notes his ill health in his body which can mean his constitution in which he has a powerful flame quirk but a body made for ice his quirk burns his skin because of the incompatibility. His quirk runs on his emotions burning him if he becomes too emotional which results in him almost dying like he did at Sekoto Hill. His quirk is dangerous to his unmatched body leaving him with burn scars all over his body.
Dabi was never in control of his life at all due to his situation. The triangles note Dabi’s constant contradictions in his character in which he acts cool and collected on the surface but deep down he's an emotional beneath. Dabi may claim he doesn’t care about the LOV only using it for his objectives but he is seen risking his life for them many times despite what he says. He follows Stain’s will but it serves only as a basis to him; in reality he is only doing this to get revenge on Endeavor for the abuse he put him through.
One thing about his eyes is that they are the most prominent features of Dabi. Dabi’s eyes say a lot about his personality: they’re almond-shaped with a downward slant to them and have a double folded eyelid; the eyelid makes him look indifferent, lethargic, aloof and detached to his surroundings giving him a sense that he's cool and indifferent. The eyes give off a sense of emptiness to others when you first see him. Dabi has a double fold in his eyelid it makes him come off as cool and aloof to others a call back to his surface exterior.
For his face, Dabi’s chin is long and narrow to indicate that he's an adult.
Like most characters in BNHA, his hair is designed based on his quirk. His flame quirk makes his hair shaped like a flame. Dabi’s hair resembles Bakugo’s but with one big difference, it's designed based on flames with the strands resembling the sparks of fire.
There is something to point out about the way his hair flows. Dabi's hair goes outward in different directions. Dabi may look cold and stoic on the surface but deep down he's emotional and is driven by his feelings. dabi is emotional and expressive with his hair going outward. He's chatty and vocal on his opinions to the point of being ill-mannered; this is seen in the way the direction of their hair flows.
Another good design example is seen in his childhood as Touya. Touya’s soft round face indicates that he's 13 years old since characters having around sort of face point to the age of juvenile characters that are not yet adults. His hair is unruly; this can note his bright energetic personality when first introduced when training endeavor His soft hair notes his innocence that was destroyed by endeavors abuse neglect. If Dabi’s hair looks like fire Touya has a candle flame shape for his hair much like the kanji in his name is spelled. This showcases his youthful innocence in his features before he becomes the villain Dabi.
Dabi’s staples that keep his burnt skin and unscared skin together symbolizes how his practical mind keeps him level headed not completely off the edge his burns note how his ice body that is unmatched for his fire quirk with his quirk slowly killing him showcasing his self-destructive tendencies. Dabi’s stitches in his skin is metaphorical in how he's barely holding his life together. The piercings on his skin together show how he becomes numb to his pain but at the same time makes him look in pain both metaphorically and literally. The staples give off this failed experiment connotation this notes he is called a failure by Endeavor since he discovered he cannot surpass all might. In Dabi’s coat, you see the combination of medical staples and stitches on his clothes emulate stables that go with skin. The staples point out that Dabi is a contradictory character in BNHA and this part in his design proves this with his skin drafts reference his constant contradictions in his personality. Dabi’s dyed hair and multiple pieces suggest Dabi has more of a rebel attitude, with his general outfit resembling a typical delinquent appearance: piercing, loose white shirt black coat. Dyed hair is usually considered a delinquent concept having dyed hair and multiple piercings frowned upon in some parts of conservative areas in conservative areas in Japanese society. Dabi rebels and acts opposite of his father by becoming a villain who opposes heroes like his father and follows Stain’s ideology the same one that despises heroes like Endeavor. Dabi’s rebellion is supposed to go against his upbringing of being raised by her father and the values he grew up within how he was raised in a traditional Japanese household. When he takes on Stain’s ideology he rebels against the system that creates heroes like Endeavors.His delinquency is how he reacted to the abuse from Endeavor by going into delinquency and lashing out. The thing I noticed about rebellions is how they always aimed to get attention from others I find this very sad since Dabi that despite his hatred he still yearns for acknowledgment from others.
Another way his dyed hair symbolizes other than concealing his identity represents him hiding his identity and feelings from others, removing his dye is how he's letting himself feel the pain instead of repressing it.
Dabi turns his hair back to his original color that symbolizes how his identity as endeavors son is out and him leaning it white to spite him.
An interesting detail is seen in his villain costume after he joined the LOV other than the stitched up aesthetic carried over to his coat but they added cuffs, His cuffs are inspired by Japanese stove burners:
When you turn on the stove blue flames appear which is likely a reference to Dabi’s blue flames, a design reference from Horikoshi.
Dabi’s animal is a snake. People often say dabi looked like a serpent when he was first introduced. This may be a bit of a stretch but if you see the recent art it might not be. Snakes are sneaky and cunning this is symbolic of his strategy and cunning with his approach to bringing down endeavor. The snake goes with the whole hell symbolism that the Todorokis have. It brings to mind the serpent from the bible the serpent in Adam and Eve is near the fruit of knowledge tempts them to eat the fruit. The snake plays into the fact that Dabi harbors knowledge on Endeavor and the abuse. Seeing Dabi’s snake form reminds me of the Japanese phrase “Ryuutou-dabi”, the Japanese phrase of a strong start but a disappointing end in sort of an anticlimax. Dabi embodies the phrase in his snake form in how as Touya he started as Endeavor’s successor with a powerful fire quirk only to be tossed aside by him and considered a failure for having a body made for ice someone deeming him incapable of surpassing All Might, someone who started with a strong beginning but ended a disappointing start.
Dabi has the entire death theme in his design a closer look at Dabi’s face you see what's left of the skin of his face looks like an upper half of a skull with his fire quirk resembles fire from a cremation. This notes his supposed death as Touya when he was almost burned to death at Sekoto Peak when he was younger. Dabi has a death theme similar to Tomura, but different because tomura represents the dirtiness of death in his design being his design based on decay. For Dabi it would come from cremation. Even his villain alias means cremation, noting on how dabi is designed to represent how the body looks after its cremated nothing but bones and ashes. Tomura’s design is based on a corpse decaying from negligence; Dabi’s is a charred corpse that was burned to death from neglect and lack of care.
Dabi is a heavy allusion to Frankenstein's monster with his patchwork skin and background. Dabi’s birth bears similarities to how the monster was created that being created through unethical means with Touya’s birth is through a quirk marriage between his parents. The monster was created through the sewn together of different corpse parts. how both Endeavor and Dabi have humongous allusions to the novel Frankenstein with on how Victor created the monster for the pursuit of scientific knowledge to discover life similar to how Endeavor created Touya because he wanted to create a powerful child that can surpass AllMight. Both Victor and Endeavor are characterized by their ambitions with both placing their ambitions above their famil;y Victor threw himself into his studies to neglect his family and his fiance, while Endeavor neglected his family's feelings. Victor's abandonment of the monster is when it first came to life: he fled in terror being disgusted by the monster's appearance, mirroring Endeavor’s neglect of Touya when he realized that he can’t surpass All Might. Frankenstein is motivated by his ambition to achieve something great when it comes at a great cost which led him to mess around with life in creating the monster; Endeavoris characterized by his ambition and want to be stronger no matter what means he has to do with it which results in him in getting in a quirk marriage to create Touya. Both Victor and Endeavor did a crime of messing around with life with both failing to recognize how their actions have repercussions and failing to learn from them. Both failed to take responsibility for their actions when it matters with Victor failing to act when learns the death of his brother under false accusations of Justine victor can act be choose not to fail to take responsibility allowing Justine’s execution and endeavor fail to take into account how his actions deeply hurt his family. Both Victor and Endeavor blamed their faults onto others running away from their responsibilities. The monster and Dabi have similarities too with the monster been shunned by society for his appearance and isolated by society mirrors Touya’s isolation from the rest of his family and feeling unseen by them as Dabi he feels unseen by others in society knowing his father the hero and how abusive he is people won’t believe them since they never see anything wrong with hero society and heroes. Another similarity between is their experience with fire with Dabi almost burned to death with he was young and the monsters first experience with it. Both Dabi and the monster serve as reminders of how Endeavor and Victor fail to take responsibility.
Dabi is the villainous foil of Shoto Todoroki. Like Shoto, he holds some Asian influence this best seen in his eyes in which as more of a downward slant to them they have many similarities in their designs to correlate to each other with having the same eyes, face, body type and height this isn’t the first time that BNHA uses hereditary in character design as I explained with Tomura. Dabi is similar to Shoto not just in his same features and positive in his design but also their personalities. With Dabi and Shoto both cool and collected in their respective groups and both suffered under endeavors abuse to be endeavors successor where Shoto was favored due to his quirk and Dabi was cast aside. Dabi harbors the same attitude and mindset as Shoto, in the beginning, they share they were cold to the people around them and viewed their flames as Endeavor’s are both cold and focused when it comes to their goals Shoto wants to be seen not as an extension of Endeavor, and Dabi wants acknowledgment from Endeavor and others. Dabi and Shoto are foils to each other and have known to have more similarities to them than differences in his design. Dabi was around Shoto’s age had a rounder sort of face like Shoto had indicating theirs simulates the way. Their hair flows is different Shoto hair goes inward refers to Shoto subdued and reserved and Dabis being an emotional person his hair goes outward it also symbolizes their dispositions regarding their abuses where Shoto is closed off to his abuse Dabi in the other hand shows it openly.
What is the flaw that Dabi represents in hero society? It's how heroes do scummy things than the villains of hero society. The people in hero society don’t question the heroes because it is a lot like how the civilians treated Tenko after they wandered the streets. They don’t see anything wrong with the heroes allowing them to get away with crimes without punishment. This is why Dabi said to stop and think he wants people to question pro heroes in the broadcast. Dabi knows there are bad heroes like Endeavor.
Epilogue
Each of the LOV is modeled after a monster in some way this can be considered intentional since it would represent how hero society can create its monster as seen with the LOV. Designed to look like monsters or maybe part of Horikoshi’s preferences since he loves pop culture references note them many times in the story. Horikoshi took inspiration from horror and slasher film genres when he designed his villains.
Horikoshi said when he designs his villains he when he creates villains he tries to bring out a sense of disgust and what sort of impression they make on the psyche of the audience like the concept behind Shigaraki was to install fear among his audience with Himiko being cute and being able to mix into society and continue living and Dabi comes as more mysterious to us readers to use readers.
The villains of BNHA are based around a flaw in hero society like with Stain and getting rid of fake heroes It tells us that there are bad heroes like endeavor and people who become heroes for money and glory rather than selfless hero work. and Nagant addresses how the hero commission uses heroes like hawks to protect their self-image then make everything and eliminate anything that is a threat to that self-image.
These two things to keep in mind when you create a villain in BNHA are in how they make an impression on someone and a flaw that hero society has.
Color:
In most media, black is the color reserved for villains since it’s a color that traditionally symbolizes evil. The LOV of villains is no exception,: black is the LOV image color. But beyond that, each one of the members of the LOV has an image color that correlates to their personalities.
Tomura Shigaraki:
Tomura Shigaraki’s image colors are both black and white. Black references him as a villain, but in actuality his main image color is white. White may seem a positive opposite to black colorwise in western cultures; however in Asian cultures white is considered bad luck, because it’s the color of death.
White is the color of death in Japanese culture. In many Asian funerals you see people wearing white; it is used as a symbol of the mourning. Funerals are a call back to his given name Tomura because it translates into mourning and the character for death is his surname.
But, white also symbolizes innocence or someone who has a blank slate; the color white is known to be dyed by any color, noting Tomura’s ability to learn and reflect and his character development.
Black is the color of evil, death, chaos, and destruction
Black is the perfect color for a character revolving around death to himself and those around him. For himself as death his old identity as Tenko Shimura the civilian with a hero lineage to Tomura Shigaraki AFO’s successor physically as seen when he was accidentally killed in the raid of the hospital caused his heart to stop. Chaos and destruction note his personality is what he wishes on hero society for rejecting him.
There’s also another aspect of him that is his hair that changed color. After he killed his family when his quirk awoke how he was left wandering the street with everyone ignoring him no one helps him because of his appearance and him being taken in by AFO name change him in those instances he was reborn as the greatest supervillain. His colors signify Tomura’s dark rebirth as Tenko civilian from a hero family to Tomura adopted son of an overlord: it's a transition from good to evil black to white Tenko’s hair being black to white is powerful.
This suits Tomura really since he is someone who is always in constant morning metaphoric, literally and figuratively and physically
Himiko Toga:
Himiko’s image color is red, as red is the color of blood. Himiko's quirk transforms in which she ingests blood to become someone else and her obsession with blood. The symbolism of Red goes with Himiko personally, red is the color of passion and emotional color that symbolizes desire, danger, instinct, impulsiveness, liveliness. Red also symbolizes love, but the deep passionate kind. Love has a lot to do with Himiko as a character. She falls in love with the person that is covered in blood. Feels it deeply so much that she wants to be the person of her affection. Desire could reference Himiko's distorted desires she has in wanting to be the people she loves via by draining them of all their blood. Red is the color of passion and emotion that goes well with Himiko; she is emotional and follows her desires and impulses when it comes to her warped desires diving headfirst not thinking about anything else. Himiko is the most morbidly cheerful and liveliest of the LOV; she is the most energetic of the group and gets excited when she sees her crush. She feels her desire deeply as she stated before in her conversation with Ochaco. The dangerous part can refer to how she's a dangerous criminal who is wanted by both police and heroes who were a subject in the blood-letting cases. Her affection is considered dangerous to those she's attracted to.
Her color scheme goes hand in hand with her cat-like features seen in her design with Himiko's pale hair and gold irises resembling colors that are seen on a cat and Her cat likes the ability to sneak and stalk her target.
Dabi:
Dabi wears darker colors. As I stated once before in my last creation meta character who wears darker colors shows a brooding, aloof and detached personality; this goes with Dabi who is seen as aloof and detached from his allies. But for image color Dabi’s main image color is blue. Blue is seen in both his eyes and his flames in contrast to the popular belief that his eyes are turquoise and blue. Blue flames are said to be the hottest flames of the spectrum. blue is not only the color of his flames but also his entire personality as a whole the color blue is very complex and contradictory which is Dabi’s character in a nutshell.
On the surface, Dabi is calm, serious, intelligent, cool, cold, like Blue. Dabi is the most serious-minded and focused when compared to the rest of LOV when it comes to missions. Blue is the color of order and rules, Dabi has his own sets of principles and ideals in contrast to LOV that he follows. He follows Stain’s ideology but albeit very differently since it goes hand in hand with his motives.
Dabi is intelligent, it has been proven many times in the story, in how he leads the vanguard action squad by using himself as bait to distract the pro heroes from the original objective and being successful in his mission despite three casualties. Dabi has a degree of emotional intelligence and he knows what makes them tick. He taunts opponents and reads their emotions then attacks at their blind spots. Dabi is good at people. He always watches his expressions in the background and has a good idea of their emotions.
How he gauges his opponent’s weakness to buy himself time to recharge his quirk and to find an opening in their defenses. This is how he makes plans: Dabi is calculating and waiting as seen in the way he makes plans watching endeavors every move to await the opportunity to publicly expose endeavor.
There’s another thing about blue that’s related to ice and water since blue is the color seen in both of them. The cold and cool of ice and water symbolism may refer to Dabi’s surface personality and constitution as having a body made for ice. His surface personality is in how he comes off to others cold, cool, and empty on the surface with him having empty eyes, he’s emotionally distinct with others and himself. He keeps a low profile and approaches with uncaring and cold indifference to others. Despite his aloof and cool exterior is passionate as I will elaborate.
Blue is a sensitive color; the same can be said with Dabi despite saying he cannot feel anything. He feels his pain so deeply and his own emotions too strongly he is just too numb to his pain emotionally and physically.
Blue may seem like a calm color on the surface but it’s a color that feels things deeply. Blue symbolizes deep emotions. It goes well with Dabi since he is deeply emotional.Dabi may seem cool and collected in the exterior he usually displays, but deep down he’s emotional. Blue being a color that feels things deeply notes the function of Dabi's quirk in that the power of his flames is linked to his emotional state.
Blue is also the color of sadness and depression. This references Dabi’s inner pain he suffered from the abusive neglect from endeavor in that he was used and discarded as a tool to endeavor ambitions and the pain he got from his quirk which burns his skin when he uses it. The definition also notes the lack of acknowledgment he was given of his pain and on how he distances himself from his emotions to prevent him from having any more pain. The sadness is noted in how he reacted to Twice’s death, but couldn’t cry since his tear ducts were burned and thinking about Snatch’s words on family while he cried tears of blood. Dabi’s inner motives regarding heroes to why he wants to bring down the hero society have a lot to do with him harboring deep emotions related to Endeavor's abusive neglect he suffered underneath. Though we only hear his voice, his making stains will, in reality, aren’t his own. In reality, his motives are exposing his father’s abusive past and making him suffer for the abuse he put Dabi under. Dabi never voices his desires due to how little he has an opinion of himself. blue is both an orderly color and emotional color. They are contradictions like Dabi himself: underneath his cold and aloof exterior he’s full of emotional turmoils.
Blue also stands for truth and idealism. The truth is referred to in how he knows the truth of Endeavor, abuse to his family, and corruption of heroes. Dabi is more truthful to what we give him credit for as seen when he introduces himself to Tomura and states that he will reveal his real name when it’s time and carry the hero killer’s will. When it comes to idealism though he has Stain’s ideology he views it differently: where Stain believes in true heroes Dabi believes that no true hero exists. Dabi is very open, honest, and true to the point of being ill-mannered by other people. He is truthful when he broadcasts Endeavor’s family abuse on television. Although Dabi himself is not straightforward like the color blue, he's honest about his goals.
Blue symbolizes commitment. This can go in how Dabi is steadfast and tenacious he refuses to give up when the goal is done. This dedication is seen in his devotion to how he follows stain ideals and commitment to his plan to publicly expose endeavor and bring down hero society. Dabi has a lot of emotional depth to his character and the blue shows this.
There’s also a lot of symbolism of black that goes with Dabi very well in his design and character.
Black is a color reserved for villains so he’s a villain with his own villain persona Dabi. Black is the color of what corpses look like when they’re burned to death the color black is reminiscent of charred corpses or cremation the color black.
Again, black means a lot of things: power, fear, mystery, and death. The mysteriousness in Dabi is noted when he was first introduced to us as someone mysterious and his motives that we don’t know until it was revealed. The black Dabi wears as his color symbolizes how he is rebelling against endeavor by becoming the villain Dabi who ignored him since dying one’s hair is an act of rebellion or change. Black symbolizes death. It shows up a lot in Dabi’s design and character to when he was Touya who burned to death at Sekoto and Dabi who killed 33 people and his ending Endeavor’s reputation.
The power symbolism in black can mean the power Dabi has over Endeavor and his position of power in terms of his quirk and position in the LOV. Dabi’s black resembles his strength and power he carries over his father that he knows about the truth of Endeavor’s abuse towards his family and Dabi displays this power when he gleefully taunts Endeavor and exposing his past to society.
Black is a dangerous color. You can note this in his design when he is first introduced that even one look can make anyone tell that he's dangerous and someone to look out for and in the way. He knows a truth that would shatter hero society to the core and weaken people’s trust in heroes and put the hero-reliant society to question their faith in their idols.
Black conceals where white reveals, this plays very well on how he conceals his identity by dying his hair black to avoid others from knowing his real identity and taking on the villain persona Dabi than at the dawn of the war arc he washes off his hair with dye remover revealing his white hair to Endeavor and Shoto. The saying black conceals where white reveals goes hand in hand with his reveal as seen with his hair.
The greatest thing he did he didn’t choose white or red but both! He subverts our expectations by saying his hair color is both colors. There one interesting thing to note it’s about how Touya’s hair color represents his mental state. Horikoshi shows Touya’s character and mental state by using his hair colors as a reference. His mental state is seen best in the color of his hair with his changing color symbolizes his deteriorating mental stability.
Touya’s original red hair color represents hopes, dreams, and passion. You see this in how he was feeling excited to be trained by Endeavor and his energetic personality admitting passion and radiance. The color red symbolizes others such as determination, strength, and anger. This regarding the red in his hair displays his determination to surpass all that might make his father proud.
Touya's changing hair color meant he was having the inkling that he was getting replaced and the process of him losing importance in Endeavor’s eyes, faith in his father and himself. as time passed every time a new sibling was born his hair became more and more white fully turning white until the birth of Shoto a reflection on how each child becoming closer and closer to being obsolete in endeavors eyes with his hair losing his fathers color entirely like a child who would take his place was born with the birth of his successor that would mean that the birth of Touya is meaningless. The red hair symbolizes Touya’s eagerness and liveliness and his white hair symbolizes his loss of purpose, becoming vulnerable to the abuse. Touya's red hair changing into white symbolizes his fire and potential was slowly put out with the whiteness of his hair is the decline of his radiant self.
The white hair represents the loss of his purpose and importance in his father’s eyes, his innocence, and the vulnerability that was brought out by Endeavor’s abusive neglect. His white hair symbolizes lifelessness and his loss of purpose by being treated as a tool for endeavors ambition when it was discovered he has a mismatched body. His hair color is the tragic implication of how he used to be an upbeat child until endeavors abuse sank in.
His hair is the ice genes he inherited from Rei as well the color of emptiness that plays heavily in Dabi dissociates himself with his feelings and that he is usually seen having empty eyes.
Quirks:
I already explain what quirks are in the BNHA section with my last creation analysis. The character's personalities complement their quirk but this is more complex with villains.
As I stated in my previous analysis, characters are influenced by their quirk in some way; their quirk in which forces them to interact with their environment can be changed based on how they view themselves and shape and shaped by that person's self-image and perception of the world.
This is true to how these quirks affect these main three, in particular, they impact mental health as seen with twice and Himiko and lead to discrimination towards someone’s based appearance leads to villainy as we see with Spinner,or pain such as Dabi and Tomura these problems could have been prevented but chosen not to it shows how society cared about a slice of itself and would rather ignore the part they take too much effort to change.
If you think about it most of the problems in my hero academia contributed to quirks. Look at how people with villain quirks are treated with gang orca’s appearance saying that he resembles a villain’s hero that looks like a villain Gang Orca is stated to have a villainous appearance even voted to be the hero that looked like a villain. Shinso’s mind control quirk is orchestrated for being a villain by his classmates Shinso’s mind control quirk is considered villainous. None of the quirks showed villainous qualities but facets of a character’s personality. This is how people react to quirks, heroes, and villains that cause other people to shun them due to how they feel. If you look closely villains are victims of their environment they are from society is another many creating villains.
Before I talk about these characters’ quirks let me clear something up first: quirks are neither good nor evil in fact quirks were originally had no meaning to them it only depends on the people behind these said quirks the quirks don’t have to be villainous to be villains look at Mr. Compress, Twice, Spinner, and Magne’s quirks.
Mr. Compress compresses things into marbles; they are a typical magician magic trick that makes sense since he’s a stage magician. Magne’s quirk shows her sexuality on how she’s attracted to men but repels women.
Twice’s double allows him to make doubles of other people and himself but it depends if he knows them well enough to measure them with their personalities. His quirk symbolizes his need for companionship and self-acceptance. Spinner’s quirk gecko allows him to stick to walls this can note an aspect of Spinner on that he is known for riding on the coat tail of someone for whom he’s passionate in like Stain and Shigaraki like sticking to walls and shows his strength as being supportive and on the side of people he cares about. That's something to keep in mind when you’re choosing a quirk for a villain oc they don’t need to be villainous just as long as you wrote them to keep their personality in mind.
Another non-villainous quirk but used for villainous means is Overhaul the quirk of Kai Chisaki. His quirk allows him to disassemble and reassemble things on command; it says something about his personality in how his quirk is a metaphor for how he treats people. In which he can disassemble and reassemble people like objects, rebuild them in a moment, and see no value in them other than their use. subordinates childhood friends and Eri treats them as all dispensable tools for their use. It highlights Chisaki’s main flaw is that he doesn’t understand people or their values; he only sees others as objects for their use. The main reason why Chisaki hates quirks is how quirks give people self-worth, believe that they are special, that they are worth something, how quirks give them purpose or self-worth.
Chisaki wants to protect the place he found a home in the place that gave him worth that’s going extinct because of quirks he hates because it brings the end of the yakuza the home be found in. He hates heroes and quirks because they took away his purpose.
As I stated before he doesn’t see value in others as people he views the people they see value in themselves based on their quirk are infected mice infatuated with their disease which is a quirk. Overhaul believes himself to be different from others because he found this realization but in reality, he doesn’t care at all about what others want or think and society in which he doesn’t care what happens to it. Him wanting to reinstate the yakuza may seem selfless on paper but it’s actually to protect his fragile sense of ego from the place he has found worth in. Heroes and quirks threaten his fragile sense of self-worth, reinstating the yakuza as his self-worth was being threatened. when his arms are taken away it is a blow to his ego it was the same way he mocked mirio for the same reason.
Tomura Shigaraki:
Tomura’s quirk is called Decay, his quirk allows him to disintegrate anything that comes in contact with all five fingers. Decay serves as a metaphor for hero society. This system is slowly decaying on the inside out from all the injustices and corruption and the people’s neglect of this causes it to accumulate and spill out. The decay happened because people ignored all their problems in front of them. Tomura is the metaphorical decay that society neglected.
His quirk Decay turns everything into dust with no hope of return. Tomura has no hope in a society that constantly rejects him for who he is and sees no hope in being saved and thinks that there's nothing else to do but destroy.
Tomura believes himself to be capable of nothing but destruction AFO and other people say the same thing and he internalizes this he believes of what others tell him Tomura defines himself that he is only useful for anything but destruction he doesn’t find identity other than destruction. We know that Shigaraki is capable of more than that. Shigaraki proved to us that he is more than what they say. He doesn’t take delight in destruction as we are led to believe in the recent arc no matter what Shigaraki destroys he's not fulfilled. He is capable of feeling genuine guilt and remorse for what he's done; he felt guilt and disgust within himself for killing his family. you know how Tomura is careful about what he touches. This detail may note how he surprises his quirk subconsciously he does that out of guilt for what he's done. Tomura’s impulse to destroy wasn’t his need for destruction but a reaction to his abusive environment and desire to be freed from it.
His itch wasn’t a destructive impulse but a reaction to his toxic environment. The reason why he destroys was no more the reaction to the abusive environment he's in, the reason why he is quick to lash out is a reaction to the abusive upbringing. The flashback shows how he was forbidden and punished for being the one thing he chooses to be. People in his family take a blind eye to his suffering and make excuses for the abuser not validating his pain being rejected by the household. being punished violently is a good reason to feel anxious and uneasy with his environment until he reaches the point of not taking it anymore. People are born with people around them as I stated people are villains by how the characters interact with their environment the same can be said with Shigaraki. He embraces but contradicts it as Tomura showed us he is capable of more than just destruction I think I have already gone over what hands mean in Shigaraki’s character design as I stated before in his design aspect hands a very important aspect in his design his hands are used to activate his quirk I stated in Tomura’s hand motif that hands symbolize connections to others since his quirk requires him using his hands it showed us his connection to others the great example of it is in his bonds with the LOV. His hands are capable of connecting with others.
His insecurity in his quirk acts as a metaphor for his complete inability to form connections with others without lashing out due to his trauma.
Himiko Toga:
Onto Himiko and her quirk transform, which allows transforms she digested blood from. In Himiko's design drafts Horikoshi was basing her on this concept of distortion. Himiko herself has distorted desires of love but he must be giving a commentary of hero society when he was designing Himiko's quirk as a social commentary on BNHA society. This is seen well in how her quirk forces her to interact with her surroundings.
Toga had her worldview shifted and her emotional tendencies distorted by the world around her, things we find wrong or weird. Instead of addressing this we brush it aside, ignoring the issues hoping they would go away when instead it only represses them; it was something they could have prevented by choosing not to. Himiko's concept is a distortion but this could not only mean herself but the distortion of society around her. The distortion was not only Himiko herself but society as a whole. Himiko is the symbol of distortion or better yet society distortion in the BNHA universe.
Himiko states in her monologue when she loves someone she sucks their blood and she makes a chu sound which is the sound of kissing to her blood is the same as kissing. In Japan kissing in public is frowned upon and displaying affection is considered indecent. She was called a deviant by her parents for expressing interest in blood. This is not only based on the Japanese attitude on affection but also her bisexuality. Though homosexuality isn’t taboo students in adolescence experience harsh bullying when students go to guardians or teachers the common thing that they are told is to act normally this sounded similar to Himiko’s background and similar to what Toga was taught.
The functions of the quirk note aspects of her personality how her digesting blood. Her quirk only changes her appearance and can note her surface-level admiration towards someone and her desire to be close to them. When Himiko loves someone she sucks their blood because her blood is the only way to get to know someone. She expresses affection by becoming the object of said affection. The way her quirk acted in changing appearances notes her surface-level admiration; this can mean she wants to be close to them on a deeper level. Her views on love and connection are considered wrong or weird because she knows they don’t view blood as she does.
Himiko wants to be close to other people but Himiko was forced to repress herself to a quirk that she has that digested blood no one knew the real her she wanted to be close to others and no one was close to her. Her real self was not accepted by others around her: Himiko wants connection but doesn’t know how. That may be what she envied Uraraka and Izuku's relationship because she is accepted and loved for who she is. She can use Uraraka's quirk is because she wants to have the same connection that Uraraka had with her loved ones. Her quirk notes that she wants to feel loved and accepted for who she is and her desire to connect.
Dabi:
Now for Dabi’s quirk. Dabi’s has a powerful flame that is incompatible with his body made for ice.
Dabi’s quirk is incompatible with his own body like Aoyama’s and using his quirk burns the skin of his body faster. His flames run on his emotional state even changed color when he hit puberty. If Dabi becomes emotional he might accidentally set himself on fire.
Dabi having a flame and ice body notes Dabi’s numerous contradictions in his personality and actions. These two things say a lot in Dabi in a nutshell as seen with his actions and personality. His ice makeup notes how Dabi is cool-headed on the surface due to his body made for ice and how he comes off to others being aloof, detached, cold, uncaring, and serious. His flames note the intense emotions he has underneath his cool exterior. Dabi is cool-headed on the surface but underneath he’s deeply emotional and he’s hiding his sithing emotions underneath his exterior.
His flames are blue a cool color yet burn hotter; as stated earlier, blue fire is the hottest of flames in being what burns bright and the strongest this represents Dabi’s deep ever so turbulent emotions.
He may act rational and sensible on the surface but His actions are fueled by his own emotions with the blue flames representing how intense his emotions are. His flames are blue which are considered the hottest and brightest, the hottest part of his flames symbolizes his need for acknowledgment from others.
Another thing Dabi dissociates himself by saying he can’t feel anything anymore but this is him trying not to get too emotional otherwise it could kill him like it did when he was younger and to not get close to others due to the pain he experienced from the abuse in his past.
Dabi uses his quirk very recklessly without any regard towards himself or others. This is seen in the way he uses his flames quirk to burn away his enemies while he burns himself. The way he uses his quirk and his quirk will burn himself refers to how little he thinks of himself and doesn’t value himself since Endeavor never valued Touya as a person but a tool as seen in the way he fights. Because he was neglected by Endeavor he neglects himself in a fight and his unhealthy mindset to how he pushes himself and not care because he feels he’s never going to be good enough this refers to Dabi’s self-destructive tendencies his intense emotions which come out as self-destructive with his body served as a reminder that he was never going to be good enough Dabi felt inferior and neglected due to the abuse. Dabi's self-destructive tendencies come from his quirk; it comes from his abusive environment. The abuse gave him an incredible shattered sense of self-worth as seen in how he uses his quirk: he doesn’t care about what happens to himself; he is a dead man walking.
His quirk reflects his character flaw perfectly in which the flames serve as a metaphor to how he cannot regulate his own emotions since he was never taught to know how.
So when you choose a quirk for your villain, have it represent their inner insecurities like these, such as Dabi’s needing validation of himself and his feelings, Himiko wanting to be herself, and having the ability to connect to someone. Twice the need for companionship and Tomura may be the most obvious need for freedom without restrictions.
Names:
Tomura Shigaraki:
Time for names,
Tomura Shigaraki’s name is packed with a lot of interesting things that are intrinsically linked to his character, quirk, and development he underwent in the story.
I will go over his original name Tenko Shimura (志村 転弧) first. For the kanji in his given name “Ten” means “転, shift, curve, crescent, turn, abrupt, fall, change, revolve” and “ko” means “弧, arc” when put together it is read as "changing arc”. His given name notes his transition from civilian to villain and his character arc that develops in the story.
His given name “Shimura” when broken down goes like this with “Shi” means “志, aspirations” and “mura” means “村, village” when put together means "village of aspirations”. His surname notes his grandmother's hero lineage and connection to OFA and Tenko himself as a boy who once had dreams of being a hero but was forbidden by his father.
On to his villain name Tomura Shigaraki (死柄木弔). It is rich with so much meaning that goes very well with his character, situation, and role.
For “Tomura'' means “弔, funerals'' in Japanese but it comes from the Japanese verb “Tomura'' which means "to mourn”. His name is given to AFO to symbolize the death of his old self reborn as one who inspires fear and acts as mourning around the world. Someone who constantly is reminded of his pain by AFO.
Tomura came from “Tomura-age”, Tomura-age is the final stage of the memorial in Japanese culture
Being a completion of the rites with the spirit has been one of the kami. This alludes to AFO’s plans for Tomura to how he plans to rule using Tomura’s body and to get back OFA All the while getting revenge on All Might by using his master's grandson. Tomura’s body being taken over by AFO brings his final rite to being a villain. the one of kami and refers to how AFO is called a god to his followers, to how AFO gave his real quirk to him taking control of Tomura being one with him is similar to how one with the kami sounds. AFO named him intentionally to reference the final stages of his plans.
For his surname Shigaraki, when broken down the kanji, is comprised of “Shi” means “死, death” and “gara” means “柄, grip” in Japanese. when the first two kanji of his name is put together it means “death grip"
As I explained in his character design segment death is a core aspect of his character you can see this well with his villain name, with death grip is the literal interpretation of the function of his quirk Decay if he touches you with all five fingers you dissolve into dust. Death grip can be used in the literal sense the moment when Shigasaki grips you with his quirk. The meaning came from the term death grip which in itself for something gripped too tightly which is exported by a person in panic or fear of life and that their grip causes a death that you cannot escape from. This notes Tomura carrying this image of fear that he conjures up to the other characters signifying the definition of the literal death grip. Death Grip also means something on Tomura’s entire situation to how he is always being under someone’s control by both AFO and his family, with his family in the abuse he was put under and their hands that keep him both in check and suffocate him.
The last kanji in his surname “ki” means “木, tree”, The tree aspect can reference family tree as such as his connection to his grandmother nana Shimura 7th holder of OFA with the tree can mean how he’s tried to both all might from his mentor and a being AFO successor and surrogate son. His reference to being the symbol of terror in opposition to the symbol of peace, All-Might.
Death plays into his character well as seen with him having the kanji death in his surname as the death of Tenko his old self and the rebirth of Tomura the Villain and the successor of AFO. Tomura’s name notes his morning for his original self that was lost to the abuse of AFO.
Later we found out that Shigaraki is AFO’s surname. Shigaraki is a homophone for a town in Shiga prefecture that was once an imperial capital for a few months. This notes the AFO empire which was short-lived since it was dismantled by his little brother and All Might and the presence of OFA. when Shigaraki is revealed to be AFO surname’s it not only symbolizes AFO control over Tomura but also being his successor in his evil the translation of death symbolizes AFO having complete control over him.
Tomura Shigaraki’s name is nuanced just as his character is a character coated in death both literal and metaphorical is the Perfect transition from being a civilian to a villain.
Himiko Toga:
Now time to take about the only girl in the LOV Himiko Toga (渡我 被身子) and her name.
Himiko’s entire name notes the function in which her quirk is used, with the first kanji in her name “Hi” means “被, to wear or put on” and “mi” means “身, somebody” and “ko,子 ” is a common end particle for girls in japan Her given name when put together means "to wear or put on someone else”.
For her Surname Toga when broken down into the first kanji “To” mean s “渡, cross over or migrate” and “ga” means “我, self, and ego” together with its read as "migrate one’s self”. When her entire name is spelled together you can read it as “covering up all over my body and hiding”.
Her entire name is structured to note the functions of her quirk transform which allows her to take on the physical appearance of the person she consumed blood from.
Dabi:
Last but not least, Dabi, otherwise Known as Touya Todoroki. I did several metas on his name on my blog and I explained over it again. Dabi’s name like Tomura’s carries a lot of nuance in both his character and role in the story. The meaning in his villain name is very complex and intricate, much like Dabi himself.
I am going to start with his civilian identity, Touya. His name fits the naming themes of BNHA and ties well with his personality in the story the first kanji of his name “Tou" means “燈, lamp”, The kanji both notes his flame quirk and his ice constitution that is unmatched for his fire quirk. The other definition is “the fire that illuminates the surroundings”. This definition notes how powerful the flames of his quirk are when compared to Endeavors. "燈” the old version of the common kanji. The old version in which the kanji used in his name notes how he grew up in a traditional Japanese household. The kanji "Tou" is used for saying “lanterns, torches or night lights" in Japanese. Light/torch indicates that he’s the oldest of his siblings and lanterns mean torches that can refer to how Touya has a fire in his soul lit by Endeavor. Lanterns and torches are seen at the beginning of the festivals but slowly fade out when the festival ends. The indication of a beginning like night festival notes his previously exuberant, fiery personality when he was first training with endeavor only to slowly fade in the background after he finds out that he was being replaced as Endeavor’s successor with the arrival of more children.
Lamps are used by people to help them see through their way in the darkness. This suggests Touya’s entire situation to how he needed help to see where he was going but didn’t receive help from his family. No one was that lamp to help him see through the darkness of his situation leaving him all alone in the darkness with no help. Touya needed help but the people in his family didn’t understand him. His bedtime talk with Natsuo fully incorporates the night lamp symbolism that goes with his character. The lamps used to see these ties very strongly for Touya’s need acknowledgment from others. The lamp notes his current situation has never had any help received; he is still stuck in the dark in need of a light.
The second kanji "ya" means "矢, arrow" in Japanese “ya" is a common end particle of a boy’s name.
Arrows are aimed straight to hit their target, a blatant implication on Touya's one-track mind, his arrow-like ambition to surpass all might to make his father proud. The arrow meaning in his name notes his disappearance as an object that is fired doesn’t return.
The lamps and arrows in his name are tools used by others They have no agency. This plays into the irony for Touya of how he’s seen as a tool to be used and discarded by endeavor once he realizes he cannot fulfill his ambition, another reference on how Endeavor views his children as a tool for his ambitions. Touya having no control over his situation in an abusive household with Endeavor or his body makeup notes his lack of agency seen in the tool symbolism I previously mentioned in the paragraph. His civilian name is tragic for his entire character.
Time for his villain name Dabi, Dabi is translated to “cremation” in English. His civilian name may have an obvious meaning in English but if you look closely at Dabi’s villain name in Japanese it has much more nuances to his character and design especially in how Dabi is used in Japanese culture.
If you break down the kanji in Japanese "荼, weed" in Japanese the kanji used to translate Buddhist terms borrowed from Sanskrit. The other meaning of “Da" is “suffering” The second kanji “bi" means "毘, help or save” it doesn’t mean anything in Japanese but if you put these characters together in Chinese it’s translated as “saving people's souls from their body”.
This meaning correlates to Dabi’s Buddhist religious origins where it notes the actual cremation funeral practice Dabi is the Buddhist ceremony the purpose of Buddhist cremation is to liberate the soul from the body so that the person can be reborn the ultimate purpose of cremation is rebirth since the purifying flame of cremation to separate attachment of the soul to be reincarnated again. The reason why they choose cremation in Buddhism is that Buddha was cremated so his followers would follow suit. cremation is the most common practice to bury the dead in japan.
Dabi’s villain name might reference the Japanese phrase "entrust to the flames” (Dabi ni fusu,荼毘に付す). “Entrust to the flames” is the English equivalent of "they passed away" in English. "entrust to the flames” original meaning comes from Buddhism. The Buddhists have the idea that the body is a cage and believe that cremation frees the soul from its body by freeing them from any impurities by setting its body on fire. The fire is used to burn away any worldly attachments to purify the soul for reincarnation. the part you’re putting them in better hands could come from that definition of Buddhist cremation funerals.
Now you know the entire context of what people meant by entrusting the flames and here’s the reason why. His villain notes on how his character and design are centered around death and how he uses in his flame quirk resembling fire from a cremation robbing the lives of and leaving nothing but bones and ashes seen in how he burns the thugs in the alley much like an actual cremation. and Dabi’s cremation ties back to his supposed death being burned alive at Sekoto Hill.
The Buddhist origins of Dabi of his codename represent his character and ideals. His flame quirk represents the flames of destruction but also rebirth both physical and spiritual to Touya he died from the flames of despair and reborn as Dabi the villain who revealed the truth of the corruption of hero society in the person Endeavor, who set on a mission to change society through the flames of destruction that it might be reborn anew a society without heroes.
The purifying flame of cremation symbolizes not only Touya being reborn as Dabi but in a spiritual sense symbolizing the societal change he wants to bring down hero society through his purifying flames to be born anew free from the influence of false heroes.
There are two ways to say cremation in Japanese one of which is “Kaso” 火葬" which is translated into “fire burial”. Dabi is used frequently in funerals instead of Kaso because Kaso is straightforward for the meaning of cremation and in Japan polite people avoid saying unpleasant things directly so they substitute Dabi instead to avoid bringing up death to seem less harsh.
This can refer to how no one can bring up Touya because he died in the eyes of his family. He's dead and his family avoids Talking about it directly. But the way Dabi is used in Japanese refers to Touya’s position in the abuse being the scapegoat. Where everyone in his family avoided confronting their problems and ignored them. Dabi is well aware of the circumstances in his family but no one brought it up until Dabi’s reveal as Touya Todoroki on the broadcast.
Epilogue:
In light of the war arc and the story coming to its final arc I did this all in a rush, I apologize if I forgot to add anything or left stuff out Feel free to add this post. This post is here to serve as guidelines to help others when they need help in designing their BNHA villains OC. I want to give credit to these people down below who helped me write this meta. One last thing to say is to have fun.
Here are the previous metas I did if you want to go look.
BNHA Oc Creation Analysis
BNHA Bio Creation Analysis
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/c/MetiNotTheBadGuy/videos
https://scarletrain1724.tumblr.com/
https://linkspooky.tumblr.com/
#Dabi#touya todoroki#himiko toga#shigaraki tomura#tomura shigaraki#my meta#Character Design#meta#Thank you Hamliet~#THANK YOU SO MUCH HAMLIET!#league of villains
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fic: drawn to the blood 1/?
Or, the BeauYasha Dragon Age AU
Rating: Teen
Pairing: Beauregard Lionett/Yasha Nydoorin
Word Count: 785
Summary: After losing Zuala, after losing the Sacred Ashes, after rotting in a prison cell, Yasha thinks that the Inquisition will be a good enough place to die with a sword in her hands.The Seeker changes that. Now, all of a sudden, the Inquisition might be a place to start again.
Read here on Ao3
More often than not, what Yasha hears the most from Inquisition soldiers is complaints about the cold. Oh, the Frostbacks are freezing. Oh, Haven was bad enough. Oh, why hasn’t the Herald-Sorry-Inquisitor fixed the holes in the roof yet.
(Which, Yasha gets that one. They are pretty big holes. Must be upsetting, for people who are used to roofs.)
So, that’s most of what Yasha hears; not because people say those things to her, but more that people tend to get nervous around her and speak louder, higher-pitched. She doesn’t think she’s that scary, but being with the Inquisition has been teaching her otherwise.
In her tribe, she wasn’t any scarier than anyone else. They were all there for the same reason, the same purpose. Protect the Ashes. Continue the Lady’s legacy. The Orphanmaker was just another cog in that clockwork machine, until she wasn’t any more.
She sits in the cradle of a crenellation and watches the sunset. Nobody bothers here here, the messengers dashing to-and-fro between Commander Kima and Spymaster Dairon and Lord Errenis used to her presence enough to ignore her.
Sometimes, a few other soldiers will wave at her, and she’ll wave back. Lately, she’s been getting nods of recognition. That’s pretty nice. Nobody here has tried to befriend her since Mollymauk, and he’s dead and buried under the rubble of Haven, so maybe that’s a sign from the Lady that Yasha just isn’t made for friends.
So she’s surprised, when the Seeker drops down next to her on the crenellation, having crept up so silently that Yasha nearly startled straight off the edge.
"Sup," the Seeker says, curling her legs up underneath her.
Yasha blinks, pinches her arm, and then slowly thinks about it. "The sky," she responds, a little smile threatening to bloom across her face.
The Seeker squints, and then laughs, almost despite herself. "Shit, okay, yeah. Fair enough. No but seriously, what’s up? And don’t say the clouds or some shit."
Yasha looks up to see if there are any birds that she can quote, and the Seeker reaches out to physically turn Yasha’s face back towards her.
Nobody’s touched her like that since Mollymauk. Before him, the Chantry’s torturers. Before them, Zuala.
They look at one another for a long moment, before Yasha says. "Oh, you know. Nothing much." They stare at one another a little more. "Um. How about - how are you? What’s up with you?"
"Nothing much," the Seeker answers immediately, and finally lets go of Yasha’s face. "Planning a mission into the Frostbacks, thinking about what I’ll have for dinner, no biggie."
Yasha nods in response, and then realises belatedly why the Seeker is here. "Oh. You want me to tell you how to navigate through the mountains don’t you?"
"Sure. Or you could come with us. Seems like that might be more efficient."
"I don’t usually work for the Spymaster... Are you sure it’s okay?"
"Yeah, don’t worry about it. Dairon says it’s cool. We’re a big fan of utilising our people to their best ability instead of putting people in boxes, you know?"
The Seeker stretches. "Fuck, but that’s a pretty sunset. Is that why you sit here all day? I assumed it was some kind of religious thing."
"It’s that too," Yasha says. "I like flowers, but when I’m in the gardens it makes the diplomats nervous. So instead I come here, and feel a little closer to the Lady, and sometimes I get to see cool birds."
The Seeker flushes slightly, and coughs. "Dope. Listen, so if you’re in, do you want to come get drinks with me and the rest of the team tonight? Fill you in on what we’re doing, get to know the others, that sort of thing."
"Sounds good." Yasha clambers down from her post and takes up Skingorger. "Am I supposed to just call you - do you have a name?"
Stupid. Of course she has a name. Way to go, Yasha.
"Yeah, right, shit, I’m bad at this. Name’s Beauregard, but you can call me Beau. Don’t bother with that ‘Seeker’ shit if we’re not in the field, seriously. Our order takes itself way too seriously."
A beat. "And you’re... Orphanmaker?"
"My name is Yasha," she says, quietly, but with meaning. "Yasha Nydoorin. Pleasure to, uh, work with you. Even if we haven’t worked together yet. You know what I mean. Actually, you know what, ignore me."
Beauregard - Beau - just looks at her and grins. "Man, one day I’ll learn to stop making assumptions about people. Let’s get moving, Yasha. It’s venison day, and we don’t want to get stuck eating giant spider."
Yasha wouldn’t mind that, actually, but she follows all the same.
#cr fanfic#cr fic#cr fanfiction#critical role fic#beauyasha#beauyasha fic#yasha nydoorin#beauregard lionett#beauyasha i am out here in the trenches for you#my love letter to the da3 multiplayer characters: the fic#tamar my beloved...#drawn to the blood#dragon age au#published fic#my fic#caro writes
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The Tifareth Balance
I think this goes all the way back to the gnostic tree, and how everything has to be brought into balance to achieve Final Heaven.
Introduction: Where the Characters Begin in FF7
At the beginning of the story, Aerith was treated all her life as special by certain individuals - Turks, Shinra/Hojo, Elmyra, Zack. This gave her a very young Queen Victoria levels of self-importance and obstinence, very self-centered world view if you will, and that's why in OG she's always asking Cloud what he thinks about her etc (which actually implies she's rather confused that she isn't already the center of his world somehow) during dialogue options. This is also I believe partially why she seems to sense Ifalna, Elmyra’s husband, and Zack enter the Lifestream, yet seems inured when two reactors, a plate, and the related mass loss of life occurred. Surely she should have been overwhelmed by the sheer number of souls passing back into the Lifestream, yet she seems perfectly deaf to this mass upheaveal and more concerned about her own earthly affairs as she meets Cloud? Sounds oddly cold for a steward of the planet who could hear its cries, however faintly. There’s no Obiwan-Alderaan moment for her at all. Her starting point is that she misses the forest for the trees.
Meanwhile, we have Tifa, who though in her youth was the center of a circle of friends, we learn during the Lifestream that none of them actually understood her, esp obvious during her grief over her mother's death. For an introvert, this is actually a deeply socially draining experience, and since then, given how one by one her social circle deserted her and the village for job opportunities, she is left to believe she's simply a cog in the Grand Scheme. She's always had to suppress her own self and think of others before her. It doesn't matter that she probably wants to leave the village that's been emptied of her peers - she's the chief's daughter so she must stay. It doesn't matter that she disagreed over the reactor bombings, for the Greater Good Avalanche must do something to save the Planet, so she had to acquiesant against her own wishes. It was she who worried and grieved most for the two reactor bombings and the plate fall and its associated loss of life, even though she still had Cloud with her, and realistically couldn’t actually hear the cries of the Planet. Her starting point is that she misses the trees for the forest.
In other words, at the beginning of the story, Aerith is too selfish and Tifa is too selfless. And as author Rick Riordan once wrote, "The most dangerous flaws are those which are good in moderation. Evil is easy to fight. Lack of wisdom… that is very hard indeed." (Athena, The Titan's Curse)
Aerith’s Character Arc in FF7
Over the course of the story, we see Aerith, even while leveraging her position and her blood against Shinra's encroachment, was equally afraid of her own powers. She ignored and hid herself away from the problems of Gaia, hiding under the protection of Elmyra for as long as she could. She disregards opinions and feelings of others like when she totally misjudged how to handle Barret's raw emotions over Corel at the Gold Saucer. She was not at all oblivious to Tifa's feelings yet still attempted to monopolize Cloud's attentions in front of her. This behaviour can be traced back to her need to stand firm against the Turks’/Shinra’s persuasions, though when used on regular people like the team, it is very offputting, abrasive, thoughtless and likely was what actually alienated her peers from her growing up. Ultimately, she made the fatal mistake of believing she knows what's best for the group in merrily skipping off alone into the Forbidden City (I mean, sure, we all know Cloud was unstable from the Jenova manipulation but there were 7 other sane party members who could have been consulted and split up before she skipped off unprotected?), and ultimately her fatal flaw of arrogance and selfishness caused her death. Not because she meant to die, knowing it will protect the planet, because she'd always intended to return to the team ("She talked about the future more than the rest of us"), but she died anyway because her arrogance and selfishness were her fatal flaw.
I think it is only in death, though unaddressed explicitly by the game story itself (which of course remains on the living party members, and therefore is the story of life, and how life still moves on after death), that she truly grasped the littleness of who she is. That ultimately, back in the Lifestream with all the other Cetras, she was finally able to understand that in the end, she was just another Cetra in the great battle against Jenova. Sure, she was the Cetra who summoned Holy, but it was actually doing more harm than good by itself. It was only with the collective power and force of the Lifestream, of all who were born of the Planet and all who returned to the Planet, that Meteor was able to aid Aerith (Holy) in pushing back Meteor. In accepting her ordinariness among the Cetra is when Aerith truly becomes the mother of Gaia, even if nobody other than the FF7 team will ever remember her name. Her legacy lives on in Gaia, along with the legacy every other Cetra died to preserve.
Aerith's character arc is to temper her selfishnes with selflessness, to care for the welfare of all instead of the welfare of a few individuals, and to recognise that she is but a small part in the greater plan, that it is ok to not be special. Her special blood didn't stop her from dying, nor was she alone the only saviour of the Planet. In the end, I believe that Aerith's journey in FF7 is her journey to understand that no matter how special she seems to be, in the end, the Planet will still live on without her too, with Nanaki as the probable successor to her decimated race's role as the new steward of the Planet.
Tifa’s Character Arc in FF7
As for Tifa, her character arc is the complete opposite: to temper her selflessness with selfishness. How odd a concept for a protagonist! Except it goes right back to the balance necessary to achieve Final Heaven ("The most dangerous flaws are those which are good in moderation"). Tifa is shy, she is reserved, she always puts the needs and wants of others above her own, even if she disagrees. She didn't challenge Barret when she disagrees with his methods. She didn't challenge Aerith even when her own feelings were hurt, yet still she was kind in the face of such unkindness (intentional or not). She suppressed her own feelings for Cloud and tries only to behave like a friend to him even though she feels more. And most damning in her character arc, she didn't challenge Cloud over the knowledge that "I waited... but Cloud never came." It was the only piece of the Nibelheim incident she could recall clearly, but because she was too insecure in her own memories (though the rest of the Incident could be chalked up to the trauma caused by her almost dying by Masamune, Cloud's alleged absence at Nibelheim wasn't, because she had pinned her hopes on his arrival and her disappointment was palpable) she allowed what she knew to be false to stand in between them for the sake of Cloud's mental stability.
I have posited in another post that Tifa is not only the heroine of FF7 but the co-protagonist as well, or at the very least the deuteragonist. It is very telling that 10 minutes after Aerith's death, the team went snowboarding, whereas when Cloud and Tifa were both broken emotionally by Sephiroth and had their joint Heroic BSoD moment, the game experienced a timeskip. How odd that the permanent physical death of a valued party member didn't stop the game dead but the death of Cloud and Tifa's trusts in their own memories did? Yet it is important to mention as too many times already Tifa has simply been dismissed as unimportant, as simply the crutch, the guide to Cloud's story and nothing more. This could not be further from the truth. Tifa's story does not simply inform Cloud's. Tifa's story is ENTWINED with Cloud's. Even as their stories run parallel to each other's, crossing the same events, their arcs are both independent AND interdependent on each other's. Tifa is not simply a plot device or the narrator or whatever one calls Tifa in an attempt to dismiss her role in the bigger FF7 story. (And I mention this because even some Tifa fans forget this in their desire to whitewash Tifa's culpability in the Northern Crater affair, which is actually a key turning point in Tifa's hero's journey)
Someday perhaps I will write a full breakdown of Tifa’s hero’s journey (because it’s honestly frustrating to see claims – even from Tifa fans – of Tifa needing a character arc of her own when it’s always been in FF7 all along if only players will take off their protagonist/Cloud-tinted glasses) in greater detail, but for the sake of the discussion of her arc in the context of the gnostic tree and the role of balance within oneself, I will simply say this: that it is only in the death of her trust in herself, and in seeing the emotional death of the one she holds most dear (Cloud’s mental stability shattering at the Northern Crater), that she learns she cannot simply stand passively by even in the face of what she knows to be wrong, just to protect someone else’s feelings and wants. She learns that even inaction has consequences. That she has to be brave enough, assertive enough, just selfish enough to place her own needs and desires, her own thoughts and beliefs, on an equal importance to the rest of the party, even the Planet’s. That just because the world is ending, it doesn’t make her personal struggles any less important than the world’s problems, it doesn’t mean the problem can be ignored or that it will simply go away, or even that it’s unimportant in the grand scheme of things.
She erred, she fell, she “died”. And she learned, she grasped the second chance with both hands, and at Mideel, she stood firm and said, “This is where I want to be. Being with Cloud. Caring for him.” It wasn’t revenge she pursued any longer, or high-minded abstract ideals like saving the Planet. She still would help save the Planet if she could, but for once in her life, she put her foot down and make clear her own priorities – to be by the side of the one she love above all else. And she could make this decision without jeopardizing the Planet because of her ordinariness. She wasn’t imbued with special powers or special bloodlines or special keepsakes and her absence will most likely not affect the Planet’s safety or lack thereof. Even in her absence, we are sent on story missions that still ended in failure – heck, even after Cloud and Tifa rejoined, the Huge Materia space mission still failed anyway, because the point is... just because one wants to save the Planet doesn’t mean one can (after all, summoning Holy didn’t work either, at least not at first).
This is also paralleled with Tifa’s caring of Cloud: there was literally no guarantee that Cloud will ever recover from his Mako poisoning – he could be a vegetable forever, and yet this is still Tifa’s choice. This isn’t just about Cloud, but about Tifa asserting her desire to be with Cloud even in the face of both world destruction and his permanent vegetative state. This is who Tifa wants to be, who Tifa chooses to be. This isn’t something being pushed onto her as part of some “greater good” that she should ignore her own wants and needs for. (And to all those who deride Tifa as being weak for making her choices all for one man, remember that feminism isn’t about a “strong independent woman who need no man”, it’s about having the right to choose who we wish to be without being forced by any societal expectations of us. “Life doesn't make any sense without interdependence. We need each other, and the sooner we learn that, the better for us all." — Erik Erikson. If anything, Tifa choosing to stay by Cloud’s side is the very definition of feminism – it’s not about what we do, rather, that we have a right to choose without being shamed for what we choose to do)
Yet in the Lifestream is when she truly finds herself together with Cloud. She learns that, though she believed she is too ordinary to be special to anyone (remember, though she was the center of her group of friends in her youth, none of them really looked back when the time came for them, or at least she thought none did more than mere talk anyway), she was actually the reason for Cloud’s entire journey, that he reciprocated special feelings for her, that he always intended to return for her. She learned that, just as Cloud’s impetus was her reason for taking up martial arts (one of the few acts of “rebellion”/assertiveness in her youth where she was probably pressured to stay in the village either due to her father’s position or her gender), she was the reason for Cloud’s desire to be a hero too. Tifa was special in her ordinariness. She meant enough to someone who meant enough to her.
Tifa’s arc is to recognise that though she won’t ever be important to the Planet as an individual, she was important enough to the one that mattered most. It is not wrong or “selfish” to find individual love and prioritise it equal to the needs of the Planet. And in the end, it was this revelation and resolution of both her and Cloud’s mutual feelings for each other that gave Cloud the strength he’d previously only accessed from despair five years ago, the strength to defeat Sephiroth. And it was only with Sephiroth’s defeat that Holy was unleashed, and only when the Lifestream joined its chorus that the Planet was ultimately saved. In the end, it was the importance Tifa “selfishly” placed on her own wants and needs that saved Cloud, and by saving him, the Planet as well. If she’d been told that Cloud’s predicament, a single individual, was nothing in the face of the end of the world, if she hadn’t been just that little bit selfish in the face of her extreme selflessness, it might have simply brought them nothing but destruction.
Conclusion
In this sense, I believe that Aerith and Tifa were indeed developed to be two halves of the same whole. They started off as two extremes in terms of personality – Aerith was self-centered, assertive and intransigent, while Tifa was selfless, passive and insecure. Yet these are only negative traits when taken to extreme, and by meeting each other, by learning from each other, tempering and moderating each other’s behaviour, by Aerith learning to be more considerate, more humble and more persuadable (because my god, was Aerith utterly brattish and unbearable in Remake before she met Tifa), by Tifa learning to be more assertive, more confident, to take pride in herself, the two halves of a whole bring each other to balance and become better versions of themselves for it.
"The most dangerous flaws are those which are good in moderation. Evil is easy to fight. Lack of wisdom… that is very hard indeed."
P.S. tagging @enigmaphenomenon as it was your twitter thread that inspired this post. A lot of the thoughts in this impulsive post probably definitely needs a hell lot more refining by more critical minds but I hope this is a good starting point for discussion.
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The Bird Cage
Mafia!Jimin x Reader
Chapter 21.
Warnings: Blood, Guns, Knives, Smoking (Cigarettes)
Tag-List: @imaforeigner, @q1st1na, @gensneverland, @autumnnflowers, @toddsgirl27, @yaniposts22, @babyboytae1, @dearlydreadful, @vivpurple7, @kthfeed, @probably-trying-too-hard, @si-deus-me-hanyu-senshu, @bts-chub, @ayyyocee, @taeslittletiger, @yeonkiminfr, @xcharlottemikaelsonx , @topthis808, @brilee64, @mini-coop25, @afangirllikeme-blog, @kpoppingthempills
"Rice, an omelette, kimchi and galbi-jjim!" You call out to Two with a mouthful of toothpaste. She looks wide-eyed at Jimin who looks up over his morning newspaper with a smirk.
"The baby is making her hungry." Two smiles before nodding.
"Yes, Sir!"
"Two!" You call to her as she opens the door. She tilts her head as you peak your head out from the bathroom.
"Make some stew and rice for Four, please." Jimin furrows his eyebrows as Two looks at you confused.
"Yes, Madam." Jimin puts down his newspaper as she exits the room before looking at his Rolex watch.
"Why the fuck are you feeding that bitch?" He asks loudly as you put on your dress. You walk out to him before showing him your back. He stands up, scraping the chair back loudly as he grabs your zipper. His lips pressing to the back of your neck as he zippers you up.
"Hmm? Why are you feeding her?"
"You know my saying." He hums in agreement.
"Something about flies. Honey more than bleach or whatever." You giggle as he hooks his arms around your waist before pulling you down into his lap.
"I'm going to be watching this interaction. If you even get an ounce of anger within you, you're done. You hear me? Done. You will not get angry with our child inside you." You could tell he was worried. He was up all night thinking about this morning. The dark purple bags under his small eyes were enough evidence alone.
"Do you hear me?" You nod before turning to him and kissing him sweetly.
"The baby can feel that anger and I won't have my child being in as much misery as the both of us were. Our baby deserves the best. They can hear us now y'know."
You went to the hospital a few days ago for your 11 week check up. The baby was growing fingers and toes. Their ears and brain were developing. And, if there is even a chance that this baby could hear you, Jimin wouldn't be having it. The baby is inside of you, it could probably feel your blood getting hot and angry and he would NOT have his child feeling you upset over anything.
"There has been so much death and misery in this fucking house." Jimin bawls up his hands into fists as a rage begins to grow.
"Our baby is going to bring happiness and joy to this house. I don't want it knowing anger and being upset." You kiss his temple as the veins in his neck begin to beat harder.
"I know, I know." You whisper soothingly as he rubs your stomach.
"I'm nervous enough as it is that the chamber is up here. Even the medical room. I mean what if the baby gets older, like 3 or 4 years old and Taehyung gets shot and needs Guk to sew him up. I don't want my child to see such gruesome stuff! Especially if it's a little girl." He mumbles putting his hand to his forehead, you stay quiet as he expresses his fears. You know how heavy Jimin's heart can get sometimes and it always comes out early in the morning or before you both go to sleep.
"I keep having these thoughts, these fucking thoughts, that if it's a boy. Okay, he'll grow into my legacy. He'll know my job, my fucking...fucking pain. But he shouldn't! He shouldn't ever know my pain, he shouldn't have to do this fucking shit. And if it's a girl-" Jimin grits his teeth, his jaw muscles flexing and tightening, "-fucking forget about it."
"Daddy's little princess?" Jimin chuckles before looking up at you.
"Damn right my little princess." He takes a sip of his screwdriver before sighing and rubbing his hands over his face.
"I just want them to be happy, y'know? Be a normal child. Be...Be free..." You smile down at him.
"My little bean deserves everything we couldn't have." You hum in agreement.
"They will. They'll have a great childhood." Jimin sighs before kissing your cheek and squeezing you tightly. "I hope so."
You step into the chamber with sweaty palms and a tray of food. It's been a long time since you've been in here.
"Hey." You whisper walking towards Four with the food.
"Brought you some real food." Four looks up at you, her lip bloody and her cheek swollen as you set the tray in front of her. And, for the first time you pull the chair from the corner of the room to sit closer to her.
"Why?" Her voice is hoarse and deep. You tilt your head.
"Why what?" She pulls the tray closer observing her meal.
"Why'd you bring me food?" You sigh as she begins to eat voraciously, the sight making your stomach uneasy. You could see her ribs through her chest and you know she hasn't been eating properly.
"I'm not a bad person Four, I've told you this." She hums uncertainly with a mouthful of food.
"You'll make yourself sick if you eat that quickly." She narrows her eyes at you menacingly and you hold your hands up. Out of the corner of your eye you see the camera in the corner of the room blinking steadily with a red light. Your husband is watching.
"Fuck, this is so good." She hums out before grabbing the glass of water on the tray. She looks at your stomach before tilting her head.
"So you are pregnant." You nod to her pressing your lips into a straight line as the room goes silent. Four puts her head against the wall before sighing.
"I didn't know you were pregnant. If I had known, I wouldn't have done that."
"I didn't know either so we're even, like I've said before." She snorts before rolling her head to the side to look at you.
"I did it because he told me Jimin deserved it." You lean back in the chair, now we're getting somewhere.
"The man you love?" She nods before licking at her chapped and cracked lips.
"Yes. Him." You hum to her.
"Do you think he loves you back." She laughs loudly folding her dirty arms.
"Y/N. Would I be in here if he loved me? I've been in here for months." You sigh folding your arms as well.
"I don't understand why he hated me enough to try and kill me." Four looks at you before shaking her head.
"No. He doesn't hate you, he hates Jimin and I had no intention of killing you. It was a watch your back sort of move. You know? Cutting your back open." You hum to her before feeling at the scar on your back.
"Why does he hate Jimin?" Four shrugs.
"I don't know. He just told me to do it and so I did. Because, I'm an idiot." Her face gives nothing away but you could hear the sorrow and anger in her voice and that is something to go on.
"He broke your heart." She rolls her eyes before sniffing.
"He promised me that he loved me so much. That I was his love from a past lifetime." You want to laugh but you don't, she is very naive and gullible. Incredibly so.
"Jimin told me he would give me the world. I still don't own it. Men lie, Four." You could practically hear his scoff through the metal walls and it makes you smirk.
"Of course they fucking do." She mumbles.
"You're talking a lot." You comment to her..
"Yeah, I've been stuck in here for months. Of course I'm talking. All Sir Jeongguk does is come in and hit me. Does that result in answers? No." You look up at the camera as she puts her head down before sticking out your tongue. A brat will be a brat through and through. If only Jimin would have let you come in sooner.
"He promised he would come back for me." You click your teeth before leaning forward pressing your hands together.
"Can I tell you something?" She looks up at you furrowing her eyebrows.
"Not a single Jung has come to retaliate against us since we began payback. No one has shot at us, tried to hurt us or even come to the house for their revenge."
She nods before sighing, "Yeah. I figured. I'm just an idiot who fell in love with a man because he smiled at me while I was wearing my uniform."
You can kind of understand her, it must be so lonely as a maid. You were almost one yourself a few months ago.
"You aren't an idiot. You're just...gullible." She sputters into a laugh as you smirk.
"Yeah. Thanks."
"I can get you the payback you deserve. If you tell me his name I can break his heart just like he did to you." She looks back down at the floor. You could see the cogs turning in her head as she thinks. Her eyes flickering from one floor tile to the other.
"He deserves to suffer for doing this. For fooling you, for hurting both of us." She puts her hands over her face as she sighs. You already know what you will do once you get the name. The plan is already made in your mind.
"You can do that?" You nod to her as she looks back up at you.
"I can. And, I will." She hums in agreement before putting her head back.
"What's it like to be pregnant?" She asks randomly as you sit back in your chair.
"I throw up a lot, pee a lot, hit Jimin a lot." She snorts and you smirk.
She was silent for some time. Never looking at you and always at the floor or the ceiling.
"I'll tell you his name. He deserves to suffer." She says folding her legs and sitting up properly.
"He will suffer, I promise you." She nods slowly.
"Jung Gyuhyung." You feel the relief rushing through your veins like heroin. A weight being lifted off of your shoulders as you sit back relaxed.
"Thank you, Four. I promise. He will suffer for this." She nods putting her lips into a straight line.
"There's one thing you should know." You raise an eyebrow at her voice. The comment intriguing as you clear your throat.
"He works for someone named Kim Youngju. Gyuhyung has said he's a fearsome leader. A man hell bent on Jimin's destruction." Kim Youngju?! He was supposed to be in a coma?! Jimin told you this months ago before the ball.
"Thank you for telling me." Four nods before touching her chapped lips.
"Give him hell. I'm sorry I hurt you. You're nice it was wrong of me." You give her a small smile before standing.
"I forgive you." You speak the truth and she seems to relax, there was no point in being ruthlessly angry at a naive girl who had her heart broken by a man who was manipulative. You put the chair back in the corner before leaving the room with high hopes.
You walk down the hallway to Jimin's office where he said he would be with the guys. Four was just a product of manipulation and you felt bad for her. She was too gullible to be helped and even still she would die for what she has done to you. Jimin wouldn't let her go since you were pregnant at the time of her assault on you.
You descend the stairs quickly rushing to get to Jimin. You finally got the name you had been dying for. You could proceed with events. You pass Hyejin as she leaves Taehyung's room. She gives an embarrassed giggle and you wink at her before opening up the office room.
As you open the door, the guys are all on their phones talking to someone. Jimin stares at the laptop screen before looking at you. He gives you a small smile as Namjoon hangs up his phone.
"We're finding him." Jimin breathes a sigh of relief before opening his arms.
"My Kitten. Always getting information so easily." You smile at him before sitting on his lap.
"I have a plan." You tell everyone, Jimin raises an eyebrow as you fix yourself comfortably on his lap. The others hang up their phones before giving you their undivided attention.
"We're going to rope him in."
"How?" Yoongi asks folding his arms.
"Jina is our sexiest escort. When Namjoon finds out where he is, Jina will seduce him. Bring him to a secluded spot, a hotel room or an alley." Jimin snaps his fingers before nodding.
"Good idea baby. Then we'll grab him there." You turn your head before shaking it.
"No. We're going to get him to fall in love with Jina. She's going to become a part of his life. Get us information, get us his plans and then we'll take him." Jimin stares at the desk letting your idea process through his head. He hums before nodding.
"Let's put it to a vote then." Jimin raises his hand and you do as well. The rest of the guys raise their hands before smiling at you.
"The Vixen always wins. Huh?" Jeongguk teases you, making you laugh.
"So it would seem." Jimin mumbles before kissing your cheek. His hand coming to rest on your stomach as the guys begin to talk about the new plan coming to fruition.
You sit with Hyunah in the restaurant you helped Ong Mingyu acquire back with the guns he paid 6 million for.
"Kim Youngju is Kim Shin's son." You finish explaining to her and she hums in amusement.
"Is that right? I've never even thought to ask. I've had a few dealings with him in the past. He's acquired heroin from me to back sell in China." You hum as you pick at your food. You put your fork down before putting your hands over your face.
"He's supposed to be in a coma." Hyunah grabs your hands, taking them off of your face before narrowing her eyes at you.
"Let me tell you this once and once only. Yes, the circumstances are not great but you can not dwell on that. You have to push past this, push past your nervousness. You won't make anything of yourself if you wallow in your own fear. And, if Jimin was here he would say something about it being bad for your child." She tapers off her voice at the end before lighting a cigarette. You sit back in your chair before sighing. Of course, she's right, she pretty much knows all.
"That plan that you have for Jina. That's a great plan and you have to stick to it. You get Kim Youngju, you get Kim Shin. This is what you are working towards." You nod to her before folding your arms, you have to proceed as planned. Nervousness could not enrapture your whole being. You have to be strong to get what you want.
"Just remember this, Y/N. The anger you hold should push you, not your nervousness. Cowardice is not allowed in your brain, only power." You hum to her as the doors open.
"Jina is waiting for you at home." Yoongi tells you before smirking at Hyunah. "Go get 'em lioness."
#the bird cage#mafia!jimin#mafia!bts#mafia!au#jimin x reader#jimin x you#bts story#bts series#bts imagine#bts book#park jimin#jimin#taehyung#jeongguk#jungkook#yoongi#hoseok#namjoon#seokjin#jin#v#suga#j-hope
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Little Bird: Chapter 37
Read on AO3.
Part 36 here.
Part 38 here.
Summary: There are only so many ways you can deliver news.
Words: 2700
Warnings: dystopia
Characters: Kylo Ren x Handmaid!Reader
A/N: I really didn't think I'd get a chapter out today, but I did, so yay!? Sorry it's a bit short (I remember when 2000 words was normal for me!), but I must be on my bullshit, as always.
Thank you very much to everyone who reached out. I had a shitty week this week, and I anticipate things in the next few weeks will not be super great. If there is a week where an update is missed, I hope you can understand.
I love y'all very much, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! <3
Beyond the sheet, the doctor’s shadow worked in silence, collecting instruments to soon be used to pry and expose your pomegranate flesh. Your monthly exam would never feel routine--prior to the collapse of society, they’d already been unpleasant. But now, separated from the provider by gossamer cloth, scrutinized in anonymity while metal objects cracked you wide, they crushed you in revulsion. The doctor whirled on his stool between your legs, air whispering over your bare skin. You swallowed.
A squeaking, clacking, and the cold metal of the speculum parted your labia and pierced your entrance. You held your breath, willing away the tears that pricked your sight--you’d always cried at this part, even before it became obligatory--drifting to your mind until he was finished.
Kylo Ren had been gone for 18 days, and in his absence, Gilead had drawn from your veins, a vampire of systemic proportions bleeding you not of life, but of the will to live itself. Without his presence, his power, his capability to extract you from bondage, you’d sunk into it like a tarpit, thick sticky ooze edging ever-closer to your throat. Sutures now removed, antibiotics completed, your days consisted of waking, walking, waiting, and, more than once, weeping, before wishing yourself into a witless slumber. Not that you were surprised. After all, before you’d fucked him in secrecy the first time, you’d asked yourself, what was life without living?
As it turned out: pretty fucking awful.
Pain lit up your spine when the doctor dug at your cervix for a swab--you winced, and the exam room door opened.
“Hey, we’re running behind, you do you want me to grab the next one, or--”
“No, no,” your doctor replied. “I’m almost done with this one. Did you get the urinalysis back?”
“Uh, no, sorry, I haven’t checked. I can go do it now.”
“Yeah, that’s fine. Oh, hey.” Then he swiveled away--leaving you gaping, a red tunnel open for observation. “Did you hear what the director said this morning?”
The other man hummed in thought. “Something about Commander Pryde. I didn’t really care.”
You stared into the ceiling, hands folded over your stomach, tears stinging again while your thighs began to tremble. Privacy and respect hadn’t been afforded to you in three years; you had long been designated a womb buried in a hunk of meat. But something about having your cervix on display like the Hope Diamond was particularly nauseating. Your stomach groaned in humiliation.
“Yeah. Anyone who’s even spoken with Pryde in the last month is getting rounded up.”
Breath stalled. There was no way the doctor knew who you were--the sheet separating you ensured that. Dread iced over your chest.
“Shit,” the other man replied. “Really? Damn.” A pause, clanging of instruments. “Just questioning, right?”
“For now.” The doctor grumbled. “I just had the tenaculum. What the hell?”
“Isn’t it right over there?”
“Oh, right, yeah.” Wheels squeaked across the floor. “Anyway, it’s just a new round of Ren’s bullshit.” He sighed, scooching between your legs again. Something sharp and cold pinched you--you bit your lip. “Dissenters this, threats to Gilead that. I wouldn’t worry about it. Unless--”
A snort. “I hate the both of ‘em.” The man sighed. “You’d think that fixing the birthrate should be their top priority, the way things are going.”
The doctor grumbled, and something pinched you like talons, shooting pain up your spine. “Yeah. Well. If Ren has his way, half the people in this country are gonna end up dead.”
Your heart was tumbling into a canyon. In the time without him, your belief in your Commander’s defection had dimmed. You’d believed initially that his motivation for Pryde’s capture was revenge--something undesirable, but still understandable--but the longer his campaign went on, the more you realized that there would be nothing that would convince him to release his stranglehold on his position. A gnawing despair within you whispered that whatever Kylo Ren felt for you, he felt it one hundredfold for power and control; convincing him to leave it behind would not only be improbable, but impossible. Yet, as you considered betraying what little affection he might have, sorrow shredded you. The thought of his capture, trial, possible execution--
More tears. You couldn’t stomach the thought of him not here, of being torn from him, of his existence in the past tense. And you also couldn’t sacrifice your freedom for his sins.
The release of the speculum tugged you back to the exam, and you sniffled, clearing your throat. You’d missed the rest of the conversation.
“Whatever happens, at least we won’t be out of a job. They’ll always need someone to make sure the breeding stock is healthy.” A pause, as if to acknowledge that, yes, you were still in the room. “No offense, of course.”
Bile burned your tongue. You said nothing.
“Shit, that reminds me,” said the other man. “I’ll go check the urinalysis.”
“Thanks.”
The door shut. Without warning, latex fingers pushed inside of you, another hand pressing down on your belly. The inspection went on for seconds longer than you thought it should, his fingers curling, as if he was languishing there, reveling in the sensation of feeling your uterus. For a blink, every thought surrounding your Commander’s desertion of Gilead fled your mind, consumed by a venomous desire that he might catch this doctor in the act and crack his skull on the pearly tile, spray his blood, stain the grout. And then the intrusion was over, and your fury dissipated, the ache for retribution hollowing in your heart.
It wouldn’t have mattered, really, if he had been standing in the room when it had happened--the doctor was no anomaly, but a functioning cog in Kylo Ren’s machine. As long as you both remained in clutches of his own creation, he would spend eternity defending you from its design. Even if you could be an exception, other women would suffer in forced silence. And even if he could mould it to your liking, it would still mean he preferred you to exist in subjugation instead of liberation.
Hope had been a security blanket almost three weeks ago, thick and warm around your shoulders while he’d bathed you with gentle hands. Now it clung in tatters to your ribs, the tiny scraps fluttering like tissue with every gust of reality.
The door opened again.
“Hey,” the man said. “Got the results.”
A snap of rubber as the doctor removed his gloves. “And?”
“Look for yourself.”
Shuffling paper stifled the sad knock of your pulse in your ears. Perhaps you knew, and had always known, that Kylo might never come to agree with your perspective. You just frequently forgot to acknowledge that it would mean letting him go. Forever.
“Hey! Okay!” A warm palm slapped your thigh, and you squeaked. “We got another one!”
When no one responded, you realized he had been speaking to you. About a result. A urinalysis. Another one...
You couldn’t speak. Or breathe. Oh--
“You’re pregnant!”
Like a geyser, it burst from you--your sorrow, your fear, your disgust, your absolute joy--and poured in rivers down your cheeks, your hands clapping over your face. There was no one coherent thought that could be plucked from your mind, just a constant tornado of horrific exhilaration, a celebratory mourning that within you, a tangible testament to you and your Commander’s connection beat and pulsed and flourished with life, growing veins like vines and limbs like wings.
His child--your child--a physical entity you could nourish in the wake of his reluctance, an unalterable legacy inside of your womb, one that you, if you were to be denied all else, could adore. Your child, but also his child, descendant to a despondent devil, progeny to a preserver of your own imprisonment. A child that, if born into the realm of its father’s regency, would never know normality, or maybe even you--at all. A heaving sob cracked through, and you shivered, trembling with terrified bliss.
The doctor slapped your thigh again. “Don’t stress!” he said. “According to the chart here, you’re about six weeks along. There’s still a chance for disruption. So I’d stay relaxed, all right?”
Swallowing, you creaked out a noise of assent. There wasn’t a word you could bear to say.
After the doctor left, you slipped back into your red dress and wings--despite Kylo’s words weeks earlier, you had been provided no other options after he’d left, and you suspected he’d meant for you to only be out of uniform in his presence, regardless. You were escorted by an armed nurse out of the clinic, where a Knight--still masked, no cloak, just in tactical gear--was waiting by the black SUV you’d seen a few of them in before. Averting your gaze, you climbed into the back and buckled in. The vehicle started, you coasted through the parking lot, and onto the road.
For the first time in several days, the sun was out--though it would need more than an afternoon to evaporate the muggy air that had accumulated in its absence. You gazed into the stark, cloudless sky, placing your hands on your belly, as if you could commune with the little being inside of you, know it before it knew you. A question, awful and exciting, lingered in your mind as you imagined telling Kylo the news, but no answer revealed itself. You replayed the scenario over and over again, practicing it on your tongue--I’m pregnant--digging deep for his reaction. But it was useless, as initially unknowable as anything else about him. Anxiety constricted your heart, a dam about to crumble behind your eyes.
The Knight turned a corner, and you jostled in the backseat. There couldn’t have been much intimacy between them all. But still.
“How do you think the Commander would respond…” You swallowed again--hesitation kept wadding in your throat. “How do you think he’d respond to a pregnancy?”
Long, sweltering seconds ticked by without a word. Balling your hands in your lap, your palms slipped, heartbeat thumped in your clasped thumbs. You’d never heard a Knight say a word, before--you weren’t sure why you were expecting one to answer you. Lava licked at your neck, dripping down your spine, your teeth tearing at your cheeks.
“Whatever it is,” the Knight said, shattering expectation, “anything in comparison will look like apathy.”
A rush of interminable origin raced your flesh, flushing hot in your blood. That was about as accurate as you could expect. And unsatisfying as you could predict.
When you arrived at home and stepped out of the vehicle, another realization crested over you. Johana. Though your relationship had settled into an uneasy truce since the day the Commander had left, the words she spared you had been few and far between. You knew that your pregnancy was possibly her only dream, but combined with the uncharted territory of her husband’s intentions, you worried it would become her nightmare.
At the same time, perhaps these worries were unfounded--the threats Kylo would face by disrupting his Wife’s right to your child might be too great for him to risk his power. His concessions had been minor and in relative secrecy, affecting only his relationship with you--everything else had the secondary benefit of securing his reign. He’d said plenty, but how much had he meant? After overhearing the discussion in the exam room, you were fairly certain that if made to choose between Gilead and you, you’d lose.
You followed the Knight into the house, relieved to cross into central air. Taking a few slow steps, you drew a deep breath.
“Ms. Johana!” You paused, listening for a response. You heard none. “Ms. Johana?”
She wasn’t in the house--that meant she was likely out in the yard. In the heat. Sighing, you trudged through the halls through the back door, squinting as light smacked your face. In the weeks since Kylo’s departure, the garden had been cleared and mostly restored at Johana’s behest--the grass gleamed gold, summer flowers replanted in over-saturated swirls of color. You hopped over the stones, turning the words on your tongue, hoping to make them real in your mouth.
I’m pregnant. I’m pregnant. I’m pregnant. I’m--
“Ofkylo.”
You stalled, recognizing the moniker as yours, resentful of its familiarity to your ears. Beyond one of the hedges was Johana, prying open a birdfeeder. Heat--though whether it was from the sun or your fear, you didn’t know--sizzled the nape of your neck. You steeled your jaw, grabbing your skirts and tromping through the trimmed lawn in her direction.
“What are you doing out here?” There was a bag of mixed seed at her feet, her sleeves pushed up to her elbows as she wiped the feeder clean with a rag. “I thought you just left for your exam.”
“I did. I’m back,” you said. “I was, um. Looking for you.”
“Oh.” She flipped the top in her little hands, scrubbing it clean, too. “Well, that’s fine. What’s going on? They didn’t find out about the gunshot, right?”
You shook your head. “Oh, no no. That’s fine.”
“Good,” she said. “I’m tired of lying for your benefit. The antibiotics weren’t--”
“I know, Ms. Johana,” you sighed. “So…” The words were so simple, but so difficult to say. “The exam went well.”
She nodded, digging into the seed, scooping a helping. “Uh-huh.”
There was nothing that would make this any less nerve-wracking. You inflated your chest, and let it go. “I’m pregnant.”
Johana stopped, like she’d been shot herself, staring into the ground. The seed fell from her palms and spilled over her shoes. She rose, gaze drifting from your feet, to your hands, to your face, her chin shaking. A smile was threatening to explode across her lips.
“Wait.” She exhaled. “Really?”
Wagging your arms in admission, you nodded. “Yup.”
A human springtrap, she squealed, launching into you and wrapping you in a tight, bony hug. You wheezed from her strength--she squeezed you, pinning your limbs to your sides as she wriggled you like a toy.
“Yes!” She jumped up and down, still holding you. “Yes, yes, yes!”
“Yes,” you repeated. “It’s, um, it’s true!”
Johana released you, erupting with elation. “This is amazing!” she said. “Lord, I’m going to have to go see everyone. Yes, we’ll have to have a party.” She clapped her hands and hugged you again. “Can you let the Marthas know to clean this up? I have to get going.” A playful, devious smirk twisted her mouth as she skipped into the house, congratulating herself. “Oh, they’re going to be so jealous! I’m pregnant!”
You stood, staring down at your belly. It wasn’t obvious, yet--but it wouldn’t be long. The thought of Johana preening, presiding over your stomach like it was her work paralyzed your heart. Had it been any other Commander, any other household, you might have even been relieved to incubate your ticket out of the Colonies, but now, you felt only panic. You didn’t want to give this baby up to her--a desire you never would have anticipated.
But then, none of this had been anything you had the ability to anticipate. A Handmaid was not supposed fuck her Commander outside of the Ceremony, or kiss him, or wake up in his embrace. A Handmaid was not supposed to yearn for her Commander, feel comfort from his voice, find companionship in his presence, or feel grateful for his brutality and strength. A Handmaid was not supposed to plan her Commander’s downfall, or plan his escape, and especially not plan his future with her in it.
A Handmaid was not supposed to fall in love with her Commander. But you were a Handmaid. And it was too late.
You left the empty birdfeeder and the bag of seed, slinking up the stairs, creeping back to your room. Throat, chest, face tight, you laid in bed, palms planted on your stomach, and breathed. Shutting your eyes, you hoped for the hundred-thousandth time in three years you would wake up in a different world--a world where the father of your child was not your legal owner, a world where another woman was not claiming it as hers, a world where you opened your eyes and you were not alone, and you were free, and you were truly, deservedly loved.
If you fell asleep, you didn’t know--the next thing you recalled was the familiar rumble of the Audi’s engine, dying as it rolled into the driveway.
#kylo ren smut#kylo ren x reader#kylo x reader#kylo ren imagine#kylo ren#kylo trash#little bird#handmaid au#fanfiction problems#idk I got feelings
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