“This is how it’s supposed to be.” Gideon undertakes the Trial of Ambition along with other initiates, and the trial takes him on a journey of enlightenment about the world of Amonkhet.
This week’s story is “Brazen” by Michael Yichao! It’s episode 6 of 8 in the Amonkhetstoryline!
Early morning sunlight was just beginning to filter through the gap in the bedroom curtains when Shoto heard the sheets rustle and felt Izuku begin to pull away from him.
“Izu, where are you going?” he slurred, still mostly asleep.
“I’m just going for a run,” Izuku murmured gently in reply, brushing Shoto’s long hair back away from his face and pressing a kiss to his temple. “Go back to sleep.” Shoto sighed contentedly and let his eyes drift closed again, listening to Izuku’s footsteps move around the bedroom before receding out into the hallway. This had become their routine- every morning at dawn, Izuku would slip out of bed to go for a run, a habit he’d gotten into when they’d still been in school. He’d be gone for about two hours, return home, take a quick shower, and then return to bed, and then he and Shoto would sleep curled up together until their alarm went off a few hours later.
But today was a special day. It was the first day they both had off in almost three months. It hadn’t happened by accident, either. Their lives were busy and chaotic enough that nothing could be left up to chance and everything had to be planned in advance, even time off. From Izuku’s telling of it, Iida had practically ordered him to take a day off and spend time with his husband before he worked himself to death, and Shoto had been only too happy to leave things to the other people at his own agency for the day in response. He had almost expected that Izuku would skip out on his morning run, just this once, considering that this was a rare occasion where they managed to be off work on the same day, but in hindsight, he supposed he should have expected that he’d keep to that part of their routine, no matter the occasion or circumstances. With another contented sigh, he let himself drift back to sleep, knowing that in just a couple of hours Izuku would be in his arms again and they could spend the whole day in bed if they wanted, having nothing pressing that needed their attention.
Shoto was awoken a few hours later by the alarm going off and the feeling of something being not quite right. He reached over to gently prod Izuku to get him to turn it off, since the side of the bed that he slept on was closest to the bedside table where the alarm clock sat, but his fingers brushed empty sheets long since cooled from the lack of a warm body wrapped up in them. If his husband had gone on his morning run, he wasn’t back yet, which was unlike him. He always returned within two hours, like clockwork. Shoto suspected there was something else going on, and he had a feeling he knew what it was.
With another sigh, this one more than a little disappointed, he got out of bed and switched off the alarm, then padded out into the hallway, not bothering to change out of his pajamas. He rounded the corner and saw Izuku seated at the kitchen table, his back to the hallway, poring over case files.
“Izuku,” he said in only a slightly scolding tone. Izuku’s head jerked upwards and he turned around in his chair to face Shoto, smiling sheepishly.
“I can’t believe you brought your work home with you,” Shoto said, striding into the kitchen and packing up Izuku’s case files before he had a chance to protest. “This is supposed to be our day off.”
“I know, but-” Izuku began to argue.
“No buts,” Shoto interjected. “I swear to all the gods, Izuku, one of these days you’re going to learn how to take a break if I have to force the lesson on you.” With a huff, he finished gathering up the files and set them on top of the shoe cubby by the door, where they would be waiting when they returned to work. Re-entering the kitchen, he asked “Have you had breakfast yet?”
“No,” Izuku mumbled. “I kind of… got caught up in what I was doing.”
“Alright, then I’m making us breakfast,” Shoto replied. “Don’t move from that spot.” With that, he set about the process of making breakfast, setting the coffee brewing, retrieving a package of bacon and a carton of eggs from the fridge, and grabbing a frying pan from the cupboard where their pots and pans were kept. He was about halfway done with cooking their breakfast when he felt Izuku’s strong arms wrap around his middle.
“I thought I told you not to move from your seat,” he said without looking away from what he was doing.
“I know,” Izuku replied, then was silent for a few moments before he asked “Are you mad at me?” and Shoto knew he didn’t mean because he’d gotten up from his chair.
“No, Izuku, I’m not mad at you,” he said with a sigh, feeling Izuku’s head move up and down in time with it where it rested against his back. “I just… I wish you would let yourself relax and take a break every once and a while. If anyone’s earned that, it’s you.”
“I’ll try,” Izuku said softly. “Starting today.”
“Good,” Shoto replied. “I’m glad to hear it.” Taking the food off the heat, he added, “Now let’s eat breakfast, and after that we can go back to bed.”
“Sounds fantastic,” Izuku said sincerely, and let go of Shoto to follow him to the kitchen table.
Some of u guys have superiority complexes over the weirdest things but like anyways. If you don’t love Paddington (both the bear and the films) with all your heart you’re literally an inferior person than I am
So I went looking for Stede’s canon age. I thought it would be easy, given the grave scene. I’d ASSUMED the crew of OFMD would have changed the date to match Rhys’ age. However, you know what they say about assuming:
I got a message from Kouhei during the daisenshuuraku curtain call, so let me write directly about my gratitude to him. The one who supported me the most this time was Kouhei. Kouhei’s the type who’s friendly and quick-thinking and clever, but the truth is mentally he’s really calm and sensitive, and more fragile than you’d think. That’s the Kouhei who always tried for an approach that “worked”, and during this production, I was aware of a deeper connection than ever between us. This time we took our three years of history together and put it on the stage, and when our eyes met – with both the Kouhei playing Tanaka and Kouhei himself inside the role – we could just talk to each other naturally. On stage, when I couldn’t concentrate, or when I couldn’t make things work, or when I was about to break down, on stage, in his acting and his lines, with a different approach every time, he would send me a message. It honestly saved me. Of course the entire Karasuno cast saved me, but this time I kept missing the right timing to tell Kouhei how grateful I was so I wrote it up haha. Thank you.
Do I know that the Darkling is a villian who, while his goals may be good on some level, has no sympathy towards the human cost of them?? Yes.
Does that stop my very soft headcannon where he adopts the grishenka with the most potential like Ivan and Zoya who are meant to be proteges but actually become his children and will call him Papa in moments of weakness???? Nope.
what you need to understand about recommending a show to me is that no matter how much we both know I’ll like it, I can’t watch it until the Neurodivergence Department in my brain approves it. I don’t know when that will be, and I don’t have any more control over it than you do.
