#ALL THE TEACHERS AND LEAGUE MEMBERS AND THE FACT THAT WE ACTUALLY GET TO HEAR RYME RAP????????????FIREEEEEEEEEEE

[fluffs-n-stuffs]

I LOVE THEM SO MUCH ACTUALLY I'LL MISS THEM 😭😭😭💖💖💖💕💕💕

[sunset-a-story]

I'm sending out Storyteller Saturday asks a day early this week, so answer at your leisure 💜

What's an interesting fact or piece of backstory about one of your characters that doesn't get discussed in detail in the story, but is essential lore in your head?

PS. I'm three parts into volume one of Sunset and I LOVE IT so far!!

😭😭😭😭 Ohmygoodness! Thank you so much! T_T I'm so glad you're enjoying it! Thank you for absolutely making my week!!!

And wow, what a great question

Penn Harris' backstory gets touched on in a "just the bullet points" sort of way, but we never really dive into his past and it's hugely influential on him as a person so now I'm gonna.

Penn Harris grew up an average kid of a struggling single mom in suburban Albany, NY. He was a chatty kid who liked ice skating and played in little league. Then his knack of telepathy showed up at around 11 years old. Telepathy works via synesthesia in the SunsetVerse, so it took him until 12 to actually figure out how to translate this sudden wash of smells into something he could understand.

Things started to fall apart once he could understand what his telepathy was telling him. Penn "heard" what his peers thought about him, how his teachers got annoyed at all his questions, and that his exhausted, overworked mom sometimes thought about what her life was like before having Penn and what it could have been like if she hadn't had him at all. All normal human thoughts people are allowed to have, but kids aren’t meant to hear those thoughts and he assumed she didn't want him around anymore.

Penn was figuring out how to run away so his mom could be happy again (in his mind) when one night his telepathy touched on someone else with telepathy. Penn snuck out and tracked this person down. The telepath he found was a member of the Church. He approached her and this is how he found out that it's possible to turn your telepathy off. Penn, desperate to be with people who understood him, begged the woman to take him with her and teach him how to quiet his telepathy.

He did not understand what he was in for.

The Church is a loose organization of nomadic knacked people of many faiths who roam the world, safehouse to safehouse, hunting Anthropophagi. It is a hard life and a dangerous one, let alone for a child.

Penn was expected to hunt like the rest of them so, machete in hand, little Penn would go out at night with his Church siblings and fight creatures who are a hundred times stronger than him, can heal nearly any wound, and, given the chance, would eat Penn alive.

Penn saw a lot of carnage, whether the bodies of Phagi victims the Church couldn't save in time, or watching his fellow members of the Church killed in front of him.

By the time he was 14, Penn had a scattering of scars (some from bites), a boat-load of trauma, two tattoos given to him by the Church, and a desire for his life to be anything but this. He believed that the Church's holy mission to rid the world of Anthropophagi was honorable and justified--still does--but Penn wanted out.

During his time in the Church, Penn learned snippets about the other two organizations: Entropy Games (run by a phage so even worse) and a little about SolCorp (who was cast in a negative light but not as bad as Entropy). Most importantly, he learned that SolCorp avoided the Phagi as a matter of policy.

So when Penn found himself in the Los Angeles area at 14, he left a Sanctuary, walked to SolCorp's headquarters, and asked them to take him in.

As he put it, Penn decided to give the devil he didn't know a try and now he is so much happier and at home in Sol.

Thank you so much for the question!

[pleathewrites]

bellow the fire into my deadened lungs

chapter 3 excerpt — all might & eraserhead interrogate dabi read full story here

Meanwhile, on the other side of the interrogation window.

“Oh, wow.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I can see why you wanted me down here so fast.”

“Yeah,” Aizawa lamely says again.

The underground hero had told Toshinori that Pro-Hero Hawks is also present at the station but insisted on needing a ‘bathroom break’ — but Toshinori is fairly certain there are hidden feathers all over this room, no doubt eavesdropping on what he might hope is a more honest conversation than what Toshinori and Aizawa might have later with Dabi’s ‘accomplice’ — or, as Aizawa had dubbed him, ‘Dabi’s lover’.

That one was a doozy to hear. 

Toshinori coughs wetly into his worn and stained handkerchief, “So, what are you thinking? Should we give him a deal?”

“Can we even give him a deal, without the involvement of the Commission?”

“Hero-Law 73 states that licensed heroes ranked within the top fifty are allowed to conduct their own investigations, by any means necessary. It’s a horrendously long law, but in short — yes, I believe you should be able to give Dabi — err, Todoroki Touya — a deal without needing permission from anyone.”

“And keeping it secret?”

“Allowed. Seriously, Aizawa-sensei, you’re a teacher! You need to brush up, hit the books a little,” Toshinori tries to joke, a weak smile stretching across his tired face. 

Aizawa humors him a bit, “Your favorite students are quite the handful, I think they drain a gallon of life out of me with every single class.”

“Nonsense,” Toshinori chuckles, “I have no favorites.”

Aizawa gives him a knowing side-eye before turning back to the reunion scene on the other side of the interrogation window. 

They look like a family. Every member is somehow holding Todoroki Fuyumi’s hands — Dabi holds onto her right one with both of his own. They’re talking — seems mostly like they’re catching up. They haven’t said anything of importance, but the conversations they have are all the proof Toshinori needs to affirm that the League of Villains Dabi is, in fact, the eldest son of the Todoroki family. 

“Isn’t it strange how Hero-Law basically gives free rein to any hero solely based on their rank?”

From the corner of his eye, Toshinori sees Aizawa’s eyebrows furrowed together in assessment, he just isn’t sure what exactly Aizawa is trying to mull over. 

Toshinori shrugs, “It’s the way it’s always been.”

“I suppose it is,” Aizawa hums before he tips his head to the door, “Think it's time we get to business?” 

Toshinori winces, “Is it odd that I don’t want to disturb them?”

Through the window, Dabi talks animatedly, each sibling cutting in with their own commentary.

“I’m serious, some asshole really stole my clothes! I literally had to walk out of that rec center, ass out ‘n everythin’ — ”

“ — How, literally how, did you not get caught?!” 

“I mean, it was three in the morning, Nats, but still — absolutely mortifyin’!”

“Touya-nii, does that even count? If no one saw you, what are you so embarrassed over?”

“Shut up, Shou — you try walkin’ through a women’s public washroom with yer dick swingin — ”

“ — Why the women’s washroom?!” 

“It smelt better! Fuck off, Yumi, all of ya, geez.”

Todoroki Fuyumi laughs hard, hand on her belly and everything, and from the tears in her eyes, Toshinori has a feeling she hasn’t laughed like that in a very long time. 

He feels Aizawa’s hand grip his shoulder, “Believe me, I understand how you feel. It’s one thing for a top-rank villain to claim he’s a part of a hero-family, and it’s — ”

“ — A totally different thing to actually see it.”

“Yeah.”

Toshinori swallows, “But you’re right. Best thing we can do for this family is to try and sort this mess out, I suppose.”

When Toshinori and Aizawa walk through the door into the investigation rooms, the siblings quiet down and the tension in the air increases tenfold. The look on each Todoroki’s face makes Toshinori feel like he’s doing something very, very wrong. 

Especially the way Dabi’s expression steels from the relaxed one he had a minute ago into the infamous stare Toshinori has only seen on Wanted-posters. 

“I’m very sorry to interrupt,” Toshinori begins, trying to smile and mentally calm the siblings’ no-doubt racing and anxious hearts, “We would like to talk to Dabi — err, Todoroki-san — for a bit. Would you all mind waiting outside?”

The siblings slowly nod, making their way up from the table and out the door, but not before giving their eldest brother a hug across the shoulders. 

When the door bangs shut, the villain in question speaks up, “It’s still ‘Dabi’, to you guys. For printed, legal stuff, my given name is fine, but otherwise…”

Toshinori puts up his hands in apology, “Got it, Young Dabi-san.” 

He sees Dabi’s face screw up and mouths, ‘Young Dabi?’ — but the villain doesn’t comment any further. 

Aizawa rolls his eyes. 

“Anyways, Dabi,” Aizawa says, notepad out and pen in his hand, “You came here with the intention of a deal. It seems like, to me, that you want to essentially blackmail society into reform — sorry, change.”

Dabi nods with a laidback expression, “Yeah, basically.”

“Dabi, why should we offer you any kind of deal? You’ve killed people.” 

Toshinori winces at Aizawa's brashness. Maybe they should have waited, and let Aizawa take an hour to nap.

Dabi’s eyebrows furrow, “Okay?” His scarred hands flail to accentuate his words, “So, when a villain kills another villain, it’s all, ‘yeah, lock the fucker up,’ but when a hero kills a villain, kills his own fuckin’ son, everyone wants to throw a damn party!”

Toshinori tries to calm everyone from the heat that’s escalated in this room, stifling even with Dabi in quirk-restraints. 

“Let’s just take a deep breath, okay — ”

“You think you guys are better than me?” Dabi demands, “Your students aren’t even old enough to drink but, sure, give ‘em a license to kill and put their own lives on the line!” 

Aizawa breathes harshly. 

‘Oh no,’ Toshinori bemoans, he knows how Aizawa gets whenever people try to insinuate he doesn’t care about his students, that he wouldn’t give everything he has to save their very lives. 

He decides to get to the point — change tactics and avoid the blame-game. 

“What does Shigaraki Tomura want? What is the goal of the Paranormal Liberation Army?”

Dabi raises an eyebrow and leans back into his chair, “Is it really not obvious?”

“To cause mayhem, wreak havoc? Bring even more pain to even more innocents?” Aizawa questions. 

Dabi sighs, “Let me tell you a story — it’s Shiggy’s favorite, and maybe then, you’ll start to understand.”

“I am not interested in your stories — ”

“It’s about the ultimate moral dilemma.”

Silence. 

Dabi leans forward to rest his elbows on the table, “A guy asks a crowd of a hundred people this: If there was a city so close to utopia, perfect in every single sense, in the way that every single person in that city can do and have whatever they want, and not have to worry about food or money, ever, but,” He pauses, making sure the two are listening, “that city’s fortune is dependant on a child being locked away in a dungeon and tortured on a daily basis. On your eighteenth birthday, you are brought in to see the child. You are then given the option to stay in the city or leave. Which do you choose?”

“Leave,” Aizawa and Toshinori say in unison. 

Dabi smirks a little, “Calm down, wasn’t askin’ you. Let me finish.”

Toshinori feels a bit sheepish, “Go on.”

“The guy asks this question to a hundred people. Forty-nine of them choose to leave because they wouldn’t be able to handle the guilt. Fifty-one of them choose to stay. These people proclaim that leaving the city wouldn’t save the child anyways, so why should they give up their own happiness — the good of the many over the one, ends justify the means, all that crap.”

Toshinori looks at Aizawa and sees that he’s equally slightly mortified, but it looks different from how he feels. Toshinori feels sick to his stomach, whereas Aizawa looks resigned and frustrated. 

Aizawa always had guts of steel. 

“Neither choice helps the child, the question inspects individual guilt and capacity for empathy, if anything,” Aizawa says.

Dabi sighs bitterly, “Still not finished,” before a sneered smile stretches across his face, “Don’t you wanna hear the end?”

Aizawa rolls his eyes and waves his hand, ‘continue’.

“The guy says to the crowd, ‘There is a way to save this child. Does anyone know how?’ and not a single person has the answer. The man finally tells them, ‘To save this child — ’”

It hits him.

“Every single person must leave the city,” He whispers. 

Dabi smiles cadaverously, “No people, no city for a child to suffer for,” and the scarred man looks somewhat proud of Toshinori’s response.    

Aizawa nods, “But there is too much of a divide between people, for such a thing to be accomplished.” 

“What would you choose, Young Dabi-san?” Toshinori asks.

“Me?” Dabi smirks, “I’d free the kid and help ‘em burn the whole fuckin’ city to the ground.” 

Toshinori looks at Aizawa with a severe weight pulling down at his sickened skin. 

They finally understand.

Toshinori gives Aizawa a firm nod.

“We’ll give you the deal.”

read full story here

my other works

[pan-fangirl-345]

He Would Tear the World Apart

Summary: During a raid, you're taken hostage. Shouto doesn't take the news well, and will do anything to get you back.

TW: kidnapping, abuse, alcoholism mentioned, Enji Todoroki's bad parenting, mental torture, dissociating, injuries, blood, angst, mentioned character death (no one actually dies), a lot of swearing, chains, starvation, dehydration, that sort of thing. If there's anything I missed, please let me know! Also, there is a happy ending, so it's angst to fluff!

A/N: First and foremost, I have no medical degree, I have no idea what it's like to dissociate, so anything medically incorrect is because I am not a doctor, though I am currently working on getting my psychology degree. I'm sorry if this offends anyone, that was not the intention. I have no idea what went through my head to make me write all of this in an hour, but here you go. Also, please read the trigger warnings, and if you don't like it, don't read it. Anyway, I might make a part two to this if anyone is interested. Feel free to spam my ask box, or slide into my DM's if you want. Please interact with me, I adore you all.

Aizawa sighed as he stepped into the conference room. He sat down heavily in his usual seat, and Nezu climbed onto his shoulder, as was custom after so many years, despite the situation they were in.

Again.

"As you have all heard, one of the second year students, (Y/N), has been taken. She was last seen on a raid with the hero she was studying under, and we haven't heard anything from her since this transmission."

Nezu pressed play on a recording and her voice floated through the air.

She was panting, and she was whispering, but Aizawa knew that it was her.

"To anyone receiving this transmission, this is hero-in-training Tempest, I'm pursuing the criminals associated with the gang 'The Numerals'. I've been separated from the others and my comms have been compromised by one of the members. Please, send back-up."

There was a pause where all they could hear was her breathing, and suddenly she yelled, "Hey! You, stop!"

There was static, and then there was nothing.

"We have received information from one of our recon teams that they have taken her to their base of operations, though we don't know exactly where that is yet. We have also, as a school, received a ransom demand. Her parents have yet to be contacted about this."

Copies of the notes were handed out to the teachers, and they all frowned, clearly thinking the same thing Aizawa had thought.

They were a school, what kind of school had this kind of money sitting around?

"What is the girl's quirk?"

"She can create different types of storms in her hands," Aizawa supplied. "As of the end of last year, she could make a hurricane for a few minutes at a time, sometimes a dust storm, and I know for a fact that she was undergoing training over the summer, so it might be more than that now. Under extreme duress, she can make a full scale electrical storm in a building or outside, but only if her life is threatened."

"So, not helpful for getting out of this kind of situation?" one of the other teachers chirped and Aizawa nodded.

"No," he agreed. "Though we should be checking for any strange storms and freak electrical spikes."

"Do any of the other students know about this?" Hizashi asked.

"No, and we need to keep it that way," Aizawa told his husband.

"Why?" Vlad King asked.

"(Y/N) is Todoroki Shouto's girlfriend," Aizawa replied, then waited for that to sink in before he continued. "If he finds out that she's gone, or that's she's been kidnapped and harmed . . . ." He shook his head a few times before he added, "He would tear the world apart to get her back."

"Fuck," someone mumbled, and Aizawa nodded.

Pretty much everyone that was at U.A. knew what that girl meant to Shouto, not to mention the people at Endeavor's agency, and the one that (Y/L/N) was working with.

"Alright, so what's the plan?" Midnight asked.

"We plan a rescue mission," Nezu said. "We're working with nearly every police force in the country to try and figure out where they're keeping her. We have a rough area," he clicked onto a photo of a map, one area to the far north highlighted in bright red. "But there's nothing we can do until then, we need a warrant and evidence."

"The life of a child isn't enough?" Midnight asked. "Especially such a beautiful girl?"

Everyone went quiet, the mood somber and heavy.

"Aizawa, you spent more time with this girl than anybody," one of the third year teachers said, "how likely is it that she'll find a way out on her own?"

"It's a possibility," Aizawa admitted. "She's a very capable student, on par with Midoriya, Todoroki, and Bakugou, but they know what she can do. Not to mention that sources tell us she was injured, though we aren't sure to what extent. And the longer she spends with them is more time Shouto has to figure out what's happening. Not to mention the other students. We need to get her out as soon as possible."

"Agreed," Hizashi added.

It was no secret that Present Mic and Eraserhead had both taken a liking to you when you were in Class 1-A, all of the teachers liked you, and you were a solid foundation for your classmates.

You were a calm presence, and everyone, Bakugou included, had gone to you for advice at some point, though it was all for different reasons.

You tend to be a level-headed person, but when you felt strongly about something, nothing was going to stop you.

People, Shouto mainly, would start to sense the lack of your presence, and Aizawa wasn't ashamed to admit that he wanted you back where you belonged.

"We can't keep him, Shouto I mean, in the dark about this," Hizashi murmured. "He's one of the best up and coming heroes."

"Not to mention," Aizawa added, "that we plan on flooding the streets with her photo. We've already sent it to all of the major hero agencies involved with the search, Endeavor's being one of them. If we don't tell him, his father will, and we all know how volatile that relationship is."

Everyone in the room shuddered at the mention of the father and son duo and nodded.

"Aizawa, All Might, it might be better if you both told him," Nezu said. "You both have the best relationship with him in this room, and you might be the only two that could hold him back if he reacts violently."

"And he will," Aizawa mumbled, already standing from his chair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shouto knew something was wrong.

He hadn't seen or heard from you in two days, almost three, and the teachers were acting suspicious. There were fewer of them in the halls, and Aizawa was even more tired than usual, with dark worry bags under his eyes that the students hadn't seen since the Bakugou Debacle in their first year.

The last he had heard, you were going on a raid for some gang members that were selling some sort of hallucinogenic drug based off of a mirage quirk.

You hadn't contacted him or come back since.

"Young Shouto, can we speak to you for a moment?" All Might asked, making everyone look up from what they were doing.

Despite the dorms no longer being completely necessary, (the League had backed off a little bit in recent days, and there hadn't been very many Nomu attacks lately), most of Class 1-A, now 2-A, had moved into the dorms for their second year, you and Shouto included.

"Does this have to do with (Y/F/N)?" he asked, standing quickly.

"Unfortunately, yes," Aizawa said, voice somber.

"Todoroki, do you want us to come with you?" Midoriya asked, getting that look on his face.

"If it's about (Y/F/N) then they all deserve to know too," Shouto said. "And I would feel better knowing they were here."

"Of-Of course," All Might replied, glancing at Aizawa nervously.

"(Y/L/N) has been kidnapped and is being held hostage as we speak," he told them, as blunt as ever.

Aizawa ripped his goggles off right before Shouto blew.

One half of his body erupted into blue tinted flames, and the other exploded in a rain of ice, but they evaporated quickly under Aizawa's gaze, and before any damage could be done to the dorms.

Everything went dark in his head, and his feet were moving before he even had a chance to fully process what his former teachers had been saying to him.

"And where do you think you're going?" Aizawa asked, raising an eyebrow as he moved to intercept him.

"To find her," Shouto snarled, and he didn't even recognize his own voice. It was several octaves lower than normal, and there was a rasp to it that had never been there before. "To get my girlfriend back."

"You don't even know where she is," Aizawa said. "We don't even know where she is. Besides, you're too emotionally involved."

"Too emotionally involved?" Shouto said, his voice too calm, his eyes too dead.

Everyone in the room took a step away from him. Everyone except Midoriya and Bakugou.

"Too emotionally involved?" he repeated.

"Oh shit," someone whispered, though Shouto didn't know who it was.

"That is my girlfriend. That is the love of my life and you're telling me that I can't get her back because . . . I'm too emotionally involved? What about when Midoriya went to get Eri? Was he too 'emotionally involved'?"

No one dared to point out that it was nowhere near the same thing, but there was a collective thought about it in the room.

"That is my fucking girlfriend out there," he snapped. "I will work harder than anyone to get her back. I will be the one person wholly invested in making sure that she stays safe."

"And that is why you can't be one of the people in on this," Aizawa told him. "The others are her friends, but you? You are way more than that, and that means that when it comes down to it, you can't make a clear-headed decision on whether it's worth it to try and grab her or not. Because she'll always be worth it to you."

"Damn right she will," Shouto said, staring Aizawa down.

No one had heard Shouto swear this much at once, if ever, depending on the person. He was starting to sound like Bakugou, and the others knew immediately that if you weren't back soon, he was going to blow.

"Look kid, I understand," Aizawa muttered. "I really do. I understand how you feel, I would do that same thing for Hizashi, but I also know what I would do, and we can't have that in the investigation. What would (Y/F/N) want?"

"She would want to be here!" Shouto shouted. "She would want to be teasing Bakugou in the kitchen, making sure that everyone had a blanket for movie night. She would want to be curled up with me on the couch watching bad romance movies that the girls cheated their way into picking out and making sure that I-!"

Shouto stopped as the emotions got lodged in his throat. Tears threatened to spill over as his vision got blurry, and the others were there to catch him as his knees gave out on him.

"We'll get her back kid," Aizawa assured him, crouching down, touching the top of his head softly. "We will get her back."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your head was buzzing as you came back to consciousness and you suppressed a groan of pain.

Consciousness hurt.

You did a short mental tally of your injuries.

Your ribs were definitely a little bruised, if not cracked or broken. Your lips were split in at least four different places each. One shoulder was definitely dislocated, and the other was hurt in some way. Your left ankle was bruised and swollen, broken probably. Your head probably had a huge gash if the blood running down the side of your face was anything to go by, and you were definitely concussed on some level.

Apparently getting your head slammed into solid concrete by someone who had launched themselves off a ledge would do that to you.

You were in what looked like a basement of some sort. The walls were solid concrete, there were pipes running overhead and dripping on you randomly, which wasn't appreciated, and there was insulation and plaster showing through here and there.

"Finally awake sleeping beauty?"

Your head whipped around to see your kidnapper, but your head protested and so did your stomach, despite the fact that there was nothing in it.

You suppressed a groan, trying to keep your stomach where it belonged.

"Ready to tell us who the informant is?"

"Go straight to hell," you muttered, when you were certain you wouldn't throw up on yourself, glaring at them.

"I still can't believe you were fucking stupid enough to kidnap a child! She doesn't know shit," the other man snapped at the first.

"She has to know something!" the first guy snapped. "She was in on the raid!"

His quirk allowed him to change his voice, so he wasn't using the real one, he sounded like a guy that smoked twenty packs of cigarettes a day.

The other guy you had started calling Sandy in your head. His quirk was similar to yours, he was able to turn anything he touched into sand, and then use it. He mostly made sand storms, and that's how they had gotten the jump on you in the tunnels.

One had blinded you while the other had carried you away, much to chagrin of the Sandy.

"I'm in training," you rasped. "I'm hero-in-training Tempest, from Class 2-A at the school U.A."

They hadn't given you anything to drink in the last two days, from what you could even remember of it, and you knew that you weren't going to last much longer, having been dehydrated when they had taken you.

They had kidnapped you from the raid site, and then spent six hours driving around like morons trying to cover their tracks, before driving for an unknown amount of time before they had dumped you in here. You had been unconscious for the secondary part of the drive, and you knew that with everything going on, there was the possibility you were experiencing retrograde amnesia.

"They don't tell me the important stuff like that. I get told when we're going on raids, and what my part in them is, and that's on the very rare occasion that they happen during my shifts. Most of the time, I'm on patrols around the city," you told them, taking a break in your little speech to spit blood onto the floor by your leg. "You need directions, I'm your girl, but you need to know who's a rat, sorry, I can't help."

You would've shrugged, but your arms were chained to the wall behind you, and every time you moved your right arm it made an awful clicking noise that you knew wasn't natural. Your left shoulder was dislocated as well, meaning your arms were pretty much useless.

One leg was operational, but barely. You were so far out of commission you wouldn't be surprised if U.A. kicked you out to recuperate.

U.A. wouldn't, and couldn't, pay the ransom. You knew that. The best hope you had was that you could act your way out of this, or that they planned a raid to get you out.

They had done it for Bakugou, why not you, right?

Shouto passed through your thoughts, thoughts about what he might do to get you back, but you shut them down as soon as they entered your head.

You were trying to keep him in a safe place.

You hoped that Shouto never learned about this. About where they were keeping you, what they had already done to try and get you to talk.

He was your safe place now, safe and away from this building, wherever you were. You thought maybe if you could keep him out of your head here, it was a way of protecting him from the reality of your situation, even if he already knew.

"She's a kid," Sandy snarled, pointing at you viciously. "She's a kid. You know the Boss' rules about kids and you broke almost every one of them!"

"Yeah, well-"

"Guys, hey, I hate to interrupt," you interjected, "but I really have to go to the bathroom."

They both stared at you for a moment before Sandy asked, "Do you promise to not try and escape?"

"Buddy, I don't know if you've looked recently, but I doubt I'm doing anywhere," you quipped. "My ankle is obviously demolished, my head was cracked open like an egg, thanks to your buddy Darth Vader over there. Not to mention, I'm dehydrated and starving, and don't even get me started on how much my ribs are killing me right now, probably literally. Do I look like I'm in any shape to try and escape?"

Sandy frowned, glancing at you like this was the first time he was seeing the extent of what had been done to you.

"Alright, I'm going to undo the chains, but you can't try to escape, you'll only make things worse for yourself."

"Death seems preferable at this point," you grunted, trying to hide the pain you were in.

"Don't you have healing supplies?"

"How am I supposed to use them when I can't move my fucking arms?" you asked, wiggling your fingers in emphasis. "And you morons confiscated my belt, which had them all in it! You know what my quirk is! What did you think was in it? Explosives? No, I leave that to Dynamight."

"Fuck," Sandy muttered.

"Why do you care so much anyway?" the voice dude asked.

"Because if she dies then that means no money and no chance of surviving prison again. Do you know what happens to people who mess with kids in prison? Nothing good."

You logged that little piece of information away, trying to focus on their features, but with your concussion, your eyes weren't the hottest.

"Can you move?" Sandy asked you as he worked on unlocking your chains.

You couldn't help the cry of pain when your arms dropped to your sides, tearing stinging your eyes as you bit into your already roughed up lip.

"Shit. Can we get a medic in here?" Sandy shouted.

A door opened and someone stuck their head in. Sandy repeated his demand, and the door shut again.

"Why are you doing this?" you whimpered, trying to keep your voice even.

If they were sadists, any fear or pain you showed only gave them what they wanted.

"Because we don't have a choice," Sandy said. "The Boss gave us somewhere to belong, he gave us a place off the streets. We owe him. We would've died."

"Shut up," Smoker snapped, and you glanced at him.

"I have a headache, and it comes and goes as you talk. Please, for the love of all things holy, shut up," you hissed to Darth Vader, wanting to touch your head, but not being able to for multiple reasons.

Sandy touched your shoulder lightly and you cried out again, moving automatically to hit him, but your other arm twinged, bringing more tears to your eyes.

"Sorry," Sandy murmured, pulling his hands away.

You took a shaky breath, waiting for the pain to dull before you said, "There's no way I'm moving from this spot without being in pain, and I'm definitely going to need help."

"Holy fuck, you two morons were two lucky blows away from killing her."

You glanced over to see someone with a med kit strolling leisurely down the stairs.

"Hello Tempest," they said, giving you a bright smile.

"Hello Med Kit," you replied, giving them a grimace.

"You can call me Himo for now," Med Kit said. "Do you mind if I take a look?"

"You're going to whether I want you or not, but sure, go ahead," you muttered. "It's not really like you can make this any worse."

"I could break almost every bone in your body and keep you alive while doing it, so I could do so much worse, but that's not the goal here," Himo told you, setting to work.

"So what is the goal? Since I'm assuming that I'm never going to get out of here," you said, glancing around.

"Why do you think that?" Himo asked, ignoring your first question.

"Because I've seen your faces, I know your quirks, I know a general area of where I'm being kept, unless someone used a teleportation quirk of some sort. I know the school won't pay the ransom, my parents don't have that kind of money, and my boyfriend's father would never pay to see me safe and sound. He would probably twist his son's grief to get him to be compliant," you grumbled. "Besides, I'm a hero, hero-in-training, whatever, it's all semantics. I'm basically your arch-nemesis. Isn't that what every villain wants? To kill the person in their way?"

"We aren't villains," Sandy muttered.

"You break laws put in place to protect people, you attacked a minor, then kidnapped her after assaulting her, and you are trying to get a ransom for me," you pointed out. "That doesn't really scream 'hero' or 'civilian' to me."

"Have you ever though about who writes the rules? About how money can manipulate everything? The system is flawed, and we are going to make sure people know it," Darth Vader snarled. "Do you understand how unfair the world is?"

"Don't talk to me about the world being unfair," you whispered, your voice dropping, every muscle in your body tensing. "My boyfriend loves his mother more than pretty much anyone in the world. Her parents, his grandparents, arranged a quirk marriage, and she had four children she didn't necessarily want. Her husband drove her to near insanity, enough so that she poured a kettle of boiling water over my boyfriend's face because he looks like his father. His father has already managed to get one of his children killed, and he considers the other rejects because they don't have the quirk he wanted them to have. He's a different kind of monster, and he's not in jail.

"My own father verbally and mentally abused me for as long as I can remember. My mother and I were zombies until recently, when I decided I had had enough and my mother finally found the courage and will to leave his sorry ass in the gutters where it belongs. My father always had enough alcohol in his system to make him a human molotov cocktail. I had little to no self esteem until recently, and I still struggle to understand and comprehend that I am worth love. I am still learning to respect myself. So you don't get to preach to me about how unfair the world is buddy, we all know," you snarled.

"The hundreds, thousands of kids out on the street know. The women and men that get raped, and continue to see their own personal monster roam free know. The kids that get hit every day for not being what their parents want know. That's why people like me exist, to put away the monsters wearing human skin. That's why my friends and I try so hard to be heroes. It's not about the glory, or the money. It's about bring people to justice, it's about making sure that people feel safe. It's about giving other people something that we never had."

Silence echoed through the room as what you said sank in.

You hadn't meant to burst like that, but you were sick and tired of these guys using their shitty lives to make other people's lives shitty too.

"Why are you a hero, Tempest?" Himo asked.

"Because I want to save people," you replied. "I just told you that. I want to make sure that every child like me knows that they don't have to be their parents, that there is another option. I don't want the abused becoming the abuser. I want to make sure that the people doing the bad things get put where they belong. I want to help the kids that have nothing to lose, I want to help them realize that they have everything to gain. I want to give people like you hope."

There was no use in lying to them, they were probably going to kill you anyway. Besides, it might help you build rapport, and they might let you go when they realized that they made a mistake.

"People like us?"

"People who think that there isn't another option. People who have been shown nothing but the horrid parts of the world, the horrible parts of humanity. People who don't know what it's like to be loved completely by somebody, both good and bad. People who think that they owe someone who isn't worth one minute of their time. Good people who strayed too far from the path."

There was silence for a few minutes before you said, "I've seen a lot of real villains, people who aren't capable of basic human emotions, I've seen people who have no humanity in their eyes. They are the villains, they are the monster under our beds personified. People like you, you just simply wandered. You aren't lost, you're just further to the side than some other people. It would be easy for you to walk the path again."

You paused, thinking over what you said, then added, "Well, it wouldn't be easy necessarily, but it would be worth it."

"You still have the naivety of a child," Vader snarled.

"Call me what you want, naive, innocent, optimistic, I've heard it all, but in the end, I'm right," you told him.

"And how do you know that?"

"Because, at the end of the day, I know that every life I save isn't just one life," you replied. "That young woman I saved, she might have kids some day, or foster a child that needs a loving mother. That child I shoved out of the way might help the suicidal child in his class. Every life I save touches other people's lives. As hard as it is to believe, no one is ever truly alone in the world. Every smile I give to a stranger might make their day, might help them live long enough to find the thing that makes them happy. That's why I'm a hero."

More silence.

Your face heated, but there was something in their faces that told you they had never thought about it that way before.

"So, is there anything you can do to heal me?" you asked, breaking the silence.

"Like I said, these guys were two lucky blows away from killing you, I'm surprised that you're still alive, actually, everything considered. Your head will heal on it's own, but there might be a little scar left. However, your ribs might take longer. Three are cracked, and four are bruised. Your ankle might need surgery to get it back to the way it was. It's definitely broken, and there might be small bone particles floating around in there, I'm not entirely sure, my quirk isn't that detailed I'm afraid. Not to mention that, from what I can see, your shoulders just need to be popped back into place. One was dislocated more than the other, but it will hurt."

"Can't hurt worse than the state I'm in now. So what can you do? I'm assuming that taking me to a hospital is out of the question."

"Well, I can treat the cut on your head, relocate your shoulders, and I can see if someone else can take a look at your ankle, but everything else will have to heal on it's own."

"So there isn't much?"

"Nope, we don't have the equipment needed for your ankle here, and, like you said, no hospitals."

"Fucking gre- wait a minute, to you guys still have my belt?" you asked, perking up a little.

"Yeah, it's over here," Sandy said, walking over into the back corner, pulling your med belt out.

"Hand it over. I promise there's nothing too harmful in there. There are some painkillers, but it's just Midol. It's all medical stuff," you said, wincing as Sandy dropped it into your lap.

You opened it, taking out a small device.

"What does that thing even do?" Himo asked, looking at it warily.

"It's not a communicator or anything," you hurried to explain. "I made some friends in the support courses, so I asked if they could make me a device that works like an X-ray would. Himo, take it."

He took from you gently, which you appreciated, and turned it all around, trying to figure out how it worked.

"Alright, see that little button on the top left, yeah, right there. Click that button twice, like hitting the home button of a phone."

Himo did as he was told, and the screen blinked to life.

"Alright, hold the over my hurt ankle, and it should be able to show what's going on. Or," you added, "it'll blow up. Hatsume is kind of unpredictable like that."

Himo's hands tightened on it, but he did what you asked, and was clearly surprised when a detailed X-ray appeared on the screen.

"Holy shit, it worked!" you cheered, grinning.

"You have some very talented friends," Himo told you.

"I know right? She's a little quirky, but she's great at what she does!"

"How are you able to smile right now?" Sandy asked, looking at you with something akin to wonder.

"Don't get me wrong," you started. "I'm fucking terrified, but there's not much I can do in this situation. Besides, from what I can tell, other than the initial assault, you people don't want to hurt me. You want something from me. In this scenario, what I'm guessing, is that you want something from me, so you're going to be nice, and make me want to help you out, or make me feel like I owe you one, and then, when I don't comply, you'll either torture me to try and get what you want until I die, or you'll just kill me right off the bat."

Himo winced, and Sandy twitched.

"You guys really hate the thought of me dying, don't you?" you asked, cocking your head to the side, despite the protect of your brain. "Is this one of those scenarios where kids should be off limits?"

"We may be bad guys, but we have certain priorities," Sandy admitted. "Kids are a sore spot for most of us."

You nodded slightly. "I can see why. You guys said something about being on the streets? I know that sometimes kids band together, that's how they survive. I'm assuming you've lost friends."

"Smart kid," Himo murmured, eyes darting over the X-ray.

"Sometimes they give us profile training," you admitted. "Besides, I've been working on my psychology degree."

"Wicked smart kid," Sandy quipped.

"Alright, so I can set your ankle, there isn't anything wrong with it other than the obvious fact that it's broken," Himo said, handing the device back to you. "Riko, I'm gonna need your help."

"With what?" Sandy asked, looking skeptical.

"Can you hold her legs down? I need to relocate her shoulders before I do anything with her ankle, just because I have a feeling she attacks when she's hurt."

"Good instincts," you muttered.

"I'm a doctor," he confessed, grinning. "You learn a thing or two."

"Sorry about this," Sandy said.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much," you told him. "As long as that's all you do I'll considerate your way of trying to make up from everything else."

Sandy snorted, holding your legs just below your knees.

"This is going to hurt," Himo warned.

"I would be surprised if it-"

You clenched your teeth to try and keep your scream in as Himo popped your right arm back into place.

The rest of your body bucked, trying to roll away, but Sandy, Riko, had a firm hold on you.

You panted as the pain started to fade a little in your arm.

"Sorry, I've found it works better when people aren't expecting it," he said.

"Son of a bitch," you gritted out, spitting blood off to the side. "I bit my tongue."

Riko chuckled, shaking his head.

"Alright, now for the other one," Himo murmured. "I really don't understand how you managed to take this much damage."

"At least I only broke my ankle. My friend Deku has broken both arms, both legs, and both hands before. I think he's broken almost every bone in his body sa-"

Himo popped your other arm back into place and you couldn't stop the tears that flowed down your cheeks at that one, your jaw almost cracking with how hard you clenched it to try and keep the noises in.

"Fucking fuck," you muttered when the pain pulsed into something a little bit more bearable.

"Better?" Himo asked, prodding your shoulders.

"Yeah," you admitted, moving them slowly. You dug around in your med belt, pulling out two pieces of metal and a small bottle.

"What is that for?" Himo asked.

You pushed a button on the metal, and they extended to the required length.

"It's for a splint, or a cast," you told him. "Once you set my ankle, you put the metal on either side, and I can spray this one. It's a special kind of plaster, don't ask me how it works, I have no idea what's in it, but it'll hold until my ankle is fully healed, then it'll fall off on it's own."

"Amazing!"

"Heroes, when the respond to disasters, often have to set up triages until other emergency responders can arrive, so we have to know a little bit about basic medical treatments in emergencies like that. So a lot of us have belts and such to keep medical stuff in. I also keep duct tape and glue in here. You never know when you're gonna need it."

You pulled out some painkillers, popping two in your mouth, taking them dry.

"How?" Vader asked, sounding horrified.

"Hate to break it to you, but when you're a teenage girl, especially one learning to be a hero, when you don't always have time for water, you learn to take pills dry."

"TMI," Vader muttered.

"Hey, jackass, you asked," you told him.

Riko and Himo chuckled.

"Alright. Riko, see if you can get a hold on her, this is gonna hurt like a bitch," Himo warned. "Li, hold her other leg down."

"Don't use my fucking name!" Vader shouted.

"You know, I wouldn't have known that was your real name if you hadn't reacted that way," you told him. "Heroes are also trained to pick up on certain behaviors like that."

Li grumbled, but did as he was asked.

Himo situated himself, then said, "Get ready."

The pain had you blacking out before you knew what happened.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I knew something was wrong," Shouto muttered for the umpteenth time in the last ten minutes. "I should have gone with her!"

"Dude, it wasn't even your mission," Kaminari told him. "There was nothing you could've done for her."

"Yeah you half-and-half bastard," Bakugou chimed in. "Besides, we're gonna get her back, so shut up and try and think of something useful."

Everyone had leapt into action when it had sunk in that you were in serious danger. It didn't take long, and no one wanted to acknowledge that it was worrisome.

They had split up into teams.

Midoriya, Bakugou, Shouto, Kaminari, and Kirishima were working on the maps that had been given to the students.

Momo, Jirou, Uraraka, Mina, and Tsuyu were going over the interviews with raid members, trying to gather up information on what had happened, trying to see if there was a traitor among them, other than the undercover agent that they had been told about.

Tokoyami, Ojiro, Shoji, Sero, and Koda were helping the other heroes do recon missions and patrols in the area where they suspected you were being held.

Sato, Shinso, Hagaruke, and Iida were working on the case files of all the known members of the gang that you had been going after. Surprisingly, those four were the only ones able to hear about the things that some of the gang members had done.

Hagakure was crying softly to herself as she read, but no one could pull her away from the files.

"I have to know," she kept saying. "I need to know about what they did so I can help when we get her back."

Sato didn't know you as well as the others did, so he was a little less effected. He were itching to get you back, but the others had spent far more time with you personally.

Shinso, on the other hand, was powering through them, wanting to know what he had to avenge when they got to that building. He wanted to know what they might be doing to you so that he could have far more reason to get them arrested.

Iida just wanted something useful to do.

"They just cleared building seven in section 3-C!" Aoyama called from his spot the progress computer that they had set up in the common room.

Aoyama was in charge of letting them know what had been cleared, what was under suspicion, and what they had ruled out completely.

"Fuck, that pretty much clears that grid section," Bakugou muttered, forcefully crossing an abandoned apartment building off his map.

"They might need to expand their net," Midoriya added. "No one knows where she is. There's the possibility that they aren't even in that area."

"I hate this!" Shouto burst out. "I feel useless just sitting here!"

"It's either this or you get stuck back on the sidelines," Bakugou reminded him and he clenched his fists.

He just wanted you back safe and sound by his side, preferably with his arm around your shoulders.

He'd been trying to remember the last thing he said to you before you had gone on that raid, but he couldn't remember.

He hoped that it was 'I love you' or something similar, but not knowing was killing him.

"Todoroki-kun," Midoriya said, laying a hand on his arm. "We will get her back."

"Yeah, we aren't giving up on her, no way in hell," Kaminari added, eyes flashing gold in the lights of the common room.

"She never gave up on us, it's not manly for us to give up on her," Kirishima chimed in.

"I know," Shouto said. "I trust you all."

It went unsaid, but understood, that when it came time to get her back, Shouto was going to be the one leading the rescue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week later, Himo came into the basement and said, "Do you think you can walk?"

"On one leg maybe. Why?" you asked.

Your ankle was wrapped in the cast that you had taken out, but your ankle was feeling a little better than it had been. It still throbbed every once in a while, but it could've been worse.

"The boss wants to see you."

"Oh, the big boss," you griped, rolling your eyes. "He wants to see me he can come down here himself."

Himo hesitated, but he nodded, heading back upstairs.

You had known that there was an undercover agent in the gang, but you had yet to figure out who it was.

Every member of the gang seemed to know that you were there, that, or they were much bigger than you had anticipated.

So far, Himo and Riko were your top two suspicions, given that they were the only two that were actually kind to you, but you had a small part of you that wasn't sure.

The door opening a few minutes later announced the arrival of the leader, and you steeled yourself.

"You fucking morons," the man muttered, rubbing his eyes like he had a headache. "What did I say about kids?"

"Sorry Boss, but we didn't have a choice," Li said, stepping out of the shadows.

He had been stay with you for the entire week, and it was clear that you didn't have the kind of rapport with him that you did with Riko and Himo.

You had been trying to make a storm, something, to let the someone know where you were, but you had idea of knowing whether it was working or not. You were in the experimental stages of the large storm capabilities of your quirk, and you were completely drained at the moment.

"What's your name kid?" the man asked.

His hands were covered in rings, and scars littered the little bit of skin his tailored suit showed off.

You had seen Shouto in high class clothes for gatherings that he was required by social convention to attend, so this guy was either rich, or so far into debt that he was on the run from the banks.

"You can call me Tempest," you said.

"(Y/N). Second year at U.A. Class 2-A student, and one of the new public favorites," Li said.

"Aw, you looked me up, how sweet," you taunted. "But like I said, I prefer Tempest, it sounds cooler."

"Far enough," the boss said.

He was wearing a mask that covered the top half of his face, and a fedora type hat, so there wasn't much to catalog, but you did anyway.

"Are you here to kill me?" you asked, crossing your arms over your chest, despite the way it made the chains rattle.

"No, not if you give me what I want," the man said. His voice was deep, and he looked like he was in his early thirties, but you weren't entirely sure.

"I don't know who your rat is," you stated.

"How do you know that's what I wanted?"

"When I woke up on day two, your Sandy man and Darth Vader over there were talking about it. Vader actually asked me about it." You paused, then said, "You guys do realize that I'm right under an intern right? I'm not high enough to know about UC's. Think of me like the intern's intern. I'm lucky I even got to go on the raid."

The man watched your for a moment before he said, "I hate it when people tell me the truth. It means I don't get to have any fun."

"Sucks to be you then," you replied. "So what happens now?"

"You get broken," the man said, reaching out to touch your forehead.

"Good luck with that," you muttered when he pulled away.

Then the visions started.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Everybody get up!" Aoyama shouted. "Up, up, up! Someone called in a noise complaint late last night!"

Class 2-A poured into the common room.

Shouto, Midoriya, Bakugou, Kirishima, Kaminari and Sero ran in with no shirts on, and Kaminari fell trying to pull his shorts up over his Pikachu boxers. Shinso was already in there sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee clad in a t-shirt with a cat meme and dark jeans.

The girls poured in in a mix of pajamas and hoodies that they had stolen from the boys over the last week, their hair a mess and dark bags under their eyes.

"What's going on?" Shouto asked. He knew that his bags were darker than anyone's, and no one had seen him sleep in almost three days.

"Late last night someone called the tip line anonymously to complain about screaming from a condemned building smack dab in the middle of section 1-A. Someone checked into it and there has been a lot of activity in that area lately," Aoyama explained.

He had given up trying to keep up the sparkly attitude, though some of the French had stayed.

"Is there anything else?"

"Guess which gang has been operating in the middle of that area?" Shinso said, having stayed up with the sparkly blond.

"The Numerals," Shouto said.

"Tres bein!" Aoyama replied.

"Have the heroes been notified?"

"They started a conference at three this morning," Shinso said.

"And no one told us?" Shouto asked.

"They wanted to let us sleep. They know how hard we've been working," Shinso replied.

"I'll sleep when we get her back," Shouto snapped, heading for the conference room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aizawa shouldn't have been surprised when his former students streamed into the meeting that was being held to rescue (Y/L/N), but he was.

Though that might have been because most of the boys were shirtless and the girls were clad in their pajamas, and hoodies that were clearly not theirs.

"Catch us up," Shouto demanded.

"Shouto, what are you-"

"Shouto, you are aware that this is merely to scope out the building, correct?" Aizawa interrupted, glancing at his former class.

"We don't fucking care," Bakugou snarled. "You're going to catch us up, and you're going to let us join, because she's our friend, and we're the strongest team that you could ask for."

"We can't, in good conscience, let kids into-"

"Do we need to mention all the times that the League has attacked us in the last year? Not to mention Gentle Criminal, Stain, the whole Chisaki ordeal, should we go on?" Midoriya asked, frowning.

Endeavor went to talk again but more students started to talk.

"We can help," Kirishima chimed in. "We want to help."

"Besides," Kaminari added before any of the adults could chime in, "the more hands you have the better it'll be. We can capture more members and get her back. It's a win-win scenario. Gangs are known to be disorganized. If you can get word to your informant about a stealth mission, you might be able to get both them and (Y/L/N) out with minimal risk to them both."

"And we have useful quirks," Jirou supplied. "Kaminari can kill any power they have, Bakugou and Midoriya are good for taking stuff down, so are Kirishima and Sato. Todoroki is more than capable of restraining anyone that he comes across, and I can tell you where people are, how many and so on."

"Not to mention I can make communicators that are much harder to disconnect," Momo piped up.

"People don't really know about me yet," Shinso said, hands in his jeans pockets. "They don't know my quirk, so they're much more likely to fall for me, which is more than helpful for you, since it makes fighting back much less likely."

"We want to get her back, me more than anyone," Shouto said, arms crossed over his chest. "We can useful. Besides, I don't think I need to mention all the times that we've stepped in without your permission and gotten the objective completed while keeping everything legal."

Aizawa sighed.

"We really should just let them help," he said. "They're going to keep pushing, and I don't want any of them expelled and arrested. They are some of the best up and coming heroes. Besides, they all make good points."

"I feel the need to point out," Midoriya chimed in, "that the more of us you take, the more heroes you can have causing a distraction, or the more you can release to recharge and work on other things that are starting to take precedent, like the drug that the gang is manufacturing and selling."

There were more whispers, and finally the heroes sighed.

"Alright, but you're working with Eraserhead and Endeavor, since they're going to be leading the mission with Fatgum."

"We can work with that," Bakugou said. "But we want permission to engage if necessary."

"You would have that anyway," Fatgum said.

"We also want credit if we find her," Sero added. "We aren't going to let possible attackers think that we're defenseless. They take on one of us, they take on all of us."

"That can be discussed," Present Mic assured them.

"This should go without saying," Shouto began, "that I get to ride with her in the ambulance when we find her."

"Everyone assumed that anyway," Midnight told him. "Don't worry Todoroki, no one is going to keep you away from her."

Endeavor opened his mouth, but sharp looks from everyone had him shutting it again.

The students nodded.

"Now catch us up," Bakugou demanded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You couldn't remember when you had stopped processing things the proper way.

You couldn't remember a time before the nightmares.

They talked to you, they wanted you to know about an informant. Sometimes Shouto appeared, smiling and reaching his hands out to you. Sometimes your father walked in, drunk as always, shouting at you to do better.

You retreated in on yourself.

You turned to that small part of your brain that you had made to wait out the fighting, the yelling, the hurt. You retreated into the part of yourself that you knew no one could ever enter but you.

Shouto was there like he always was. He wasn't entirely your Shouto, but he wasn't the nightmare either.

He was a figment of your imagination, but he made things a little bit better.

"I'll come," he assured you. "I'll find you."

You were lying in a meadow, a small clearing surrounded by trees that were bent over you to create a small dome of shade.

"I know you will," you told him, reaching your hand out to him.

He touched his fingers to yours, but you couldn't feel it.

You remembered someone in the past calling it dissociating, but you weren't a professional yet.

You had never done it at U.A. since you had never felt the need, but this wasn't something that you would ever be able to forget how to do.

You could still see the nightmares, but it was like it was far away, background noise.

"Do you think that you'll ever go back?" Shouto asked. "Do you think that you'll ever go back to me?"

"Maybe, if the nightmares ever stop. If I think that it's actually you that I'm going back to," you said, watching him carefully.

"Do you remember the last thing you said to me?" Shouto inquired.

"Yeah. I said, 'I'll always come back to you'. Why are you asking me that?"

"Do you remember what I said to you?"

"You said, 'Promise me you'll be safe?' I was about to go on the raid, and you were upset about not being able to go with me."

"Do you promise to remember that?" Shouto asked.

"Yeah, I promise," you told him, smiling a little.

"(Y/F/N)! Oh, darling, what did they do to you? (Y/F/N), can you hear me?"

The nightmare was getting better at looking like the real Shouto, and this one had the same voice.

"Go to him," the dream Shouto said, sitting up.

"Why?"

"(Y/F/N), blink if you can hear me," Shouto demanded.

You forced yourself to blink.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shouto couldn't describe to absolute relief it was to see you blink.

He had seen the discarded cast off to the side of you, and he wasn't sure whether you would be able to hear him in that state.

"Hey darling, come on, we're gonna get you out of here, I promise," he murmured, touching your face lightly.

"Sh-Shouto," you rasped. "Shouto, wh-what was the last thing that you said to me?"

"Darling, don't try to speak," he told you, trying to figure out how to cut through the chains without hurting you.

"Shouto, what was the last thing that you said to me?" you asked again, reaching up to grab his hand.

"'Do you promise me that you'll be safe?'" he said, eyes roving over you to try and see any wounds. "That's what I said to you."

Your eyes widened in surprise before tears slipped out of your eyes.

"Sho, it really is you!"

"Darling, hey," he murmured, touching your face softly.

You were sobbing now, fully body sobs, and Shouto wanted so badly to take a moment to just relish in the fact that you were safe, but he had to get you out of there as soon as possilbe.

"Tsukuyomi," Shouto called. "Can Dark Shadow cut through chains?"

"Yes."

"I'm on the basement level of the building. I have Tempest, can you meet us down here?"

"On our way," Tokoyami assured him.

"Guys, I have her, she's in the basement with me, we're getting her out as we speak," Shouto declared over the coms, and he was met with cheers and relief that you were okay.

"How many of you are here?" you asked, wiping at your face.

"The whole class is here," Shouto told you. "Most of the hero agencies sent representatives that are here too."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, people were really upset that you were taken, especially with the role you played in apprehending Numeral gang members on the last raid, and the part you played in bringing the drug to light."

"Wow," you murmured, making Shouto laugh.

"Hold on just a little bit longer darling," he coaxed. "Our friends are on the way."

"I can't believe that it's really you," you whispered, touching his face softly, rubbing your thumb over his scar the way you did.

"Oh darling, what did they do to you?" he asked.

"For the past couple of days they've been trying to break me, they want to know who the undercover agent is. I don't know who it is though, so the leader of the Numerals used his quirk on me. He makes the drugs. His quirk makes you see things, makes you feel things. It's like he can burrow into your head and take the images out of your head."

You shuddered in his arms and he frowned as Tokoyami appeared in the doorway.

"Hello (Y/L/N)," he said, smiling at you.

"Hey little bird," you replied, your smile watery with emotions.

"Can Dark Shadow get through those chains?"

"Of course," Tokoyami told Shouto.

"Hello starlight," Dark Shadow said.

"Hi Dark Shadow," you murmured, stroking the sentinent creature before he tore through the chains like paper mache.

You rubbed at your wrists for a moment before you threw your arms around Shouto, burying your face in his neck.

"Sho," you sobbed, tears back full force.

"I've got you darling," he murmured. "I've got you. You're free, you're free."

You nodded, arms tight around him.

Shouto scooped you up, cradling you against his chest, letting you sob as much as you needed to.

The paramedics that had been called to the scene hadn't managed to get Shouto to let go of you, and you showed no signs of letting go of him, so they had managed to do everything they needed to with you clinging to him.

"She'll need physical therapy, not to mention professional trauma therapy. She's malnourished and dehydrated, not to mention suffering from exhaustion and a very severe concussion. Her ankle needs to be further inspected, and there's some internal damage, some cracked ribs that might need to be taken care of, but we can do some more thorough work at the hospital. I assume that you're coming with her?" the paramedic asked when he was finished.

"Yes, I'm her boyfriend," Shouto said.

"Alright, well, you have to let go of her so that we can get her hooked up to an IV and make sure that we don't make her concussion any worse. You really shouldn't have moved her, but there's only so much we can do about that now," the other paramedic told him.

"I-It's okay Shouto," you murmured, pulling away from him enough to wipe your face off.

Your breathing was ragged, and you looked like you wanted to go back to being unconscious, but you allowed the paramedics to get you onto an IV and a bed with a neck supporter.

"Shouto, will you stay with me?" you asked.

"Always darling," Shouto said, gripping your hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Forthree weeks afterwards, you were stuck in the hospital. Your ankle hadn't been as bad as it had been feared, you back on your feet in a week, and you were undergoing physical therapy.

You were back to a normal diet, and you were going to therapy three times a week. Well, the shrink came to you, but semantics.

Your class visited every day, bringing you your homework and recorded lessons, most of them crying, and more than elated that you were back, safe.

Shouto, after being given permission by your parents, was being counted as a family member, and he had been practically living in the hospital with you.

For the first week, he had refused to leave your hospital room. He had slept curled around you, despite the machines that you had been hooked up to, he had missed class, staying with you and keeping you company.

There was also the reason of him being the only one to be able to calm you down after a nightmare.

There were nightmares where you woke up sweaty and nervous, asking the nurse on the night shift to light the candles that were all around your room.

But there were some that had you hurtling to the small bathroom in your room, hurling the contents of your stomach up. Then there were the ones that got so bad that you locked yourself in the bathroom, hiding yourself away in a corner until someone noticed and got a hold of Shouto.

They were getting better, and you were getting better about people coming up behind you, the touching.

For a few days after being admitted to the hospital, the only person who could touch you was Shouto.

Your mother had been heart broken every time you flinched away from her touches.

Your father had only come once, and he had been carried out by hospital staff after Shouto had tossed him out of your room.

You had retreated into yourself after that, and had come clean to Shouto about some of what had happened while you were being held hostage.

The therapy was helping, and so was the massive support that you were getting from the public and other heroes that had been in similar situations.

Your friends were very understanding of you not touching them as much anymore, and you and Bakugou were closer than ever, since he had experienced something similar.

Today was your first day back in the dorms, and you weren't going to lie to yourself, you were nervous.

The class had slowly starting moving all the gifts that you were receiving into your room, so you were only carrying a small bag.

"Shouto," you began. "You know that you can walk away if I get to be too much right?"

It had been bothering you for a while, that he had stayed with you for so long. It had bothered you that he had given up so much of his time for you, while getting very little from you in return.

"Why would I do that?" Shouto asked cocking his head to the side in confusion.

"I just mean that . . . well, I know that I haven't been the easiest girlfriend to have recently, and I . . . I have more issues than when we first started dating, and things have changed. I'm way more high maintenance than I was. I wouldn't blame you if you wanted a different girl-"

"Stop it right there," he demanded, turning to you.

His eyes were hard, despite his soft tone of voice.

"(Y/F/N), I don't want anyone other than you," he said. "I don't care if you wake me up at three in the morning screaming. I don't care if you sometimes have days where you feel like you can't say anything to me. I don't care if you have days where you can't get out of bed. I love you. I love you more than anything, and those things are not going to stop me from loving you.

"You are one of the strongest women in my life, and I am not letting you go because you have some issues. We've all got issues, hell, I have issues we haven't even touched on. Those things are just another part of you that I get to love. Alright?"

You nodded, blinking back tears.

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" you asked softly, wrapping your arms around his neck.

He waited for a moment before he wrapped his arms around your waist.

You weren't entirely sure why touch was such a problem for you now. Other than the injuries you had received during the fight, nothing had happened to you that would explain it, nothing you could remember anyway.

There had been some retrograde amnesia that went along with your kidnapping, though the doctors had assured you that those memories would come back with enough time.

And they had. There were still a few blank spots, but there weren't nearly as many as there had been.

"All the right things," he murmured, kissing your forehead hesitantly.

"I love you too Shouto," you told him.

He smiled softly at you, then turned towards the doors.

They opened, revealing your friends and a huge banner with your characterized face on it.

"Surprise!" they all said, though they didn't yell it like you had thought they would.

"Welcome home (Y/F/N)," Shouto said, sliding his arm around your shoulders as you both walked out.

Yeah, this was home.

[codenamed-queenie]

Nap Time

Hear me out.

When you work the graveyard shift busting baddies and crushing cases, you likely average about two, maybe three hours of sleep a night. At most. There’s only so much time in the day, right? And Timothy Jackson Drake is not the only member of his family who’s dangerously sleep-deprived. 

So, upon Alfred’s insistence (and many isolated incidents involving brick walls, hot coffee, shaving cream, and a lack of pants)--

A bargain was struck. Deals were made. Schedules were rearranged. Employers and Teachers were generously bribed. 

All for one minor, but critically crucial thing:

Family Nap Time

It was actually Duke who had the idea, to everyone’s surprise. He stepped into the manor one day and witnessed a state of chaos on a scale only achievable by a family of the World’s Greatest Detectives:

Dick had climbed on top of the fridge and curled into a fetal position, clutching a cup of coffee like his very life depended on it. 

His eyes were unfocused, staring into the eyes of demons nobody else could see.

Jason was screaming at the toaster in Portuguese and hitting it repeatedly with a whisk. Said toaster was on fire.

Steph was dutifully trying to put out the fire with the extinguisher Alfred always kept within reaching distance of the oven (for obvious reasons). 

The only problem? She was nowhere near the toaster.

Instead, she was spraying the potted Ficus on the opposite end of the kitchen, screaming ‘aaaaayyyyyyyyyy’ in complete monotone. 

Harper, who’d ‘spent the night’ to catch a quick hour and a half of sleep, was perched, bird-like, on the bar stool at the counter squeezing mustard into her Frosted Flakes. She stared, unblinking, at the bowl. 

Whether she thought it was milk, or whether she was perfectly aware of what was in her hand and just didn’t care what she was doing is unclear. 

Damian was hugging a struggling Alfred the cat like a teddy bear, and standing with his face in the corner of the room. Unmoving. Just...standing there. 

Tim was wearing swim trunks (they were actually Dick’s, and had little yellow rubber duckies on them) and sitting in the kitchen sink. Said sink was running. Tim’s head was tipped back. He stared at the ceiling while water continued to overflow onto the floor. 

Cass was nowhere to be seen. At least, at first. 

Bruce walked in, wearing nothing but a pair of his best underwear and Selina’s fluffiest bathrobe. He was holding a carton of orange juice. He nodded at Duke, and, as the most lucid of the bunch, said, 

“Morning, son. Breakfast?”

He stepped over to the fridge, and Cass was clinging koala-style to his back. 

Whether Bruce was aware of this fact was also unclear. 

Duke was fine. He operated during the daylight hours, and therefore had the best REM cycle in the family. But still...he had Concerns. 

So, collaborating with Alfred (a.k.a. the Only One Anyone Actually Listens To) they came up with Family Nap Time. 

The rules are simple:

At exactly 6am EST report to Wayne Manor

Family Nap Time shall take place at least three (3) times per week

Refer to the Family Group Messages for more info

Bring: 

Your fluffiest blanket

If you do not have a fluffiest blanket, one will be provided for you

One or more pillow(s)

Body Pillows are Highly Encouraged

(But if necessary, a younger sibling will serve the same purpose)

Fuzzy or Comfy Pajamas (and Socks)

Not required

(But you must be wearing CLOTHES, MASTER JASON)

A raffle shall be had each week to determine who gets to pick the white noise played in the background.

Those who would like to opt out of background noise will be supplied with foam earplugs. 

No, Master Timothy, the Bee Movie Script is not adequate white noise.

Master Jason, please take this seriously. Sirens, car horns, and explosions are not conducive to a positive sleep environment. I don’t care if that is what helps you sleep at night, why can’t you be more like Miss Cassandra and select wind chimes or ocean waves?

Everyone shall gather in the living room. 

You are free to sleep anywhere you would like

Couches, the rug, by the hearth, all are excellent choices. 

No, Master Timothy, you may not sleep in the chimney

Master Dick, the coffee table is an...interesting choice, but--

Miss Brown, please keep your hands to yourself

Especially within view of young Master Damian.

No cellular devices allowed

This means all of you

Yes, ALL of you

Even you Master Bruce, don’t give me that look

The Lights will be dimmed, and the curtains drawn.

This signals that it is time to Sleep

Glowsticks are banned, Miss Brown, I’m sorry. 

Everyone must sleep for at least 3 hours, but you are free to stay as long as you would like. 

Within reason

We made an exception one time, Master Timothy

But you cannot continue to spend the week on the sofa, no matter how little sleep you’ve gotten this past month.

There’s actual work that needs to be done

Failure to attend shall result in Mandatory Leave from all patrols and other related Vigilante Activity, to allow for the opportunity to sleep on your own time.

Either way, Sleep is a NECESSITY not a SUGGESTION

Needless to say, there’s some bumps in the road, and a few debates to be settled and rules to be tweaked. But all in all? Family Nap Time is a huge hit.

The rest of the heroes in the Super Community are well aware of this practice, as well. 

Tim was teased about it at a Titans’ briefing only once. (The other Titans are still attending group therapy.)

Roy negged Jason about it a few times, then stopped once he started to notice how the dark bags under his friend’s eyes started to slowly disappear. 

The Birds of Prey pick up the slack while Babs heads over to Wayne Manor to join the siesta festivities (Siestivities?) She always helps Alfred make chamomile tea for the others. 

And lastly, 

Barry Allen, the poor fool, burst into Wayne Manor one day and shouted something about an emergency in space that the League needed Bruce for, asap!

Twelve heads perked up out of a nest made of pillows, sheets and blankets set up in the living room, glaring daggers

It was at that moment, Barry knew

He. F****d. Up.

All he remembers is the unholy sound of shrieking, fingernails, fists, and being stuffed somewhere dark (the broom closet)

Anything past that? Gonzo.

Wally had to pick him up after Alfred gave the all-clear.

It’s become a sacred, but unspoken, rule for any hero outside of Gotham: 

Let the Bats Sleep...or else

[shadowed-dancer]

An interview with anime-only MHA fans (who happen to be my parents lol) regarding Season 5

With the MHA Anime doing some... redecorating, manga readers have been curious about how anime onlies are reacting to second half of Season 5, as well as what they're understanding, what's sticking out as important, and what has them confused. Well, it just so happens that both my parents got into the series when I started watching, but neither have read the manga! Therefore, I decided to pose a little impromptu interview to find out how they've understood Season 5 (so far).

And don't worry, I included lots of pretty pictures to make this more visually appealing.

(Everything is spoiler free for the manga, but it discusses events up to episodes 102 and 103 of the anime)

Background

While my parents are technically anime onlies, I do sometimes talk about the manga with them. However, they only know vague concepts, like my mom knows there's going to be a giant battle but has no idea why it happens or when it takes place. I have also brought up the fact that the villain arc exists, but they do not know what happens in it.

As well, my parents are staggered as to how far they've watched. My dad is caught up completely, with his most recent episode being 103 (the one where Hawks stands in front of that table and the boys learn what they should work on), while my mom only watches the dub, and is therefore at 102 (the one where Endeavor takes down Starservant and Hawks gives him that book)

All answers are nearly word for word what they said, simply edited to make grammatical sense in writing, or to fill in when they forgot a character name. As well, they were interviewed separately, so they wouldn't influence each other's answers.

Also obviously disclaimer, but this is just a tiny, tiny sample size. Obviously my parents don't speak on behalf of all MHA anime onlies, and I'm sure there are many out there who would answer this very differently.

Anyways, on with the interviews!

What do you know/understand regarding the villain arc in the manga?

Mom: For a portion of the story, the manga is just focused on the villain side of the story. We will get some backstory for Shigaraki. I think you said we will learn about Toga and Dabi as well

Dad: [gave many answers about the League in general but nothing specifically pertaining to the arc. Eventually I figured out he had no idea what I was talking about regarding the "villain arc" despite me having mentioned it a few times]

What do you understand is happening in the anime?

Mom: There was some explosion in a city. Hawks is pretending to work with the villains and is an insider. There's some event he got wind of so the kids are getting mandatory assingments with agencies. One of the teachers was shocked that they were bringing students into this.

Dad: The kids are being trained but the higher ups feel they'll be in danger is four months, so they're speeding up the training

What did you think of Hawks/What is Hawks doing?

Mom: Hawks tried to pass a secret message to Endeavour that something big is happening soon. Hawks is well liked by the public and trusted by the villains. Oh, the big event Hawks found out about is that the villain supporters are now 100,000 members strong! They had a name but I don't remember what it was

Dad: Hawks is a double agent. He's working for the good guys and is undercover for the bad guys. He's not actually betraying the heroes though because he gave the note to Endeavour

What did you think about the scene where Shigaraki is laughing at the start of an episode?

Mom: Something nasty went down and we don't know what. I wasn't really paying attention to that scene that much

Me: Are you curious to know what happened?

Mom: I guess so

Dad: I don't remember that scene

Do you remember when Hawks flew in with his coffee, there was a man there holding a laptop whose face we never saw. What do you think about him?

Mom: I don't know who you're talking about

Dad: I don't remember him

People keep mentioning the Deika City Incident. What do you think they're talking about?

Mom: This is the first I'm hearing about this

Me: You never heard them mention the Deika incident?

Mom: No

Dad: The villains put out a test to see what the heroes are capable of. They're doing mini test runs.

(For dad only, as it pertains to episode 103) What do you think is happening at that table Hawks was standing in front of?

Dad: They (the people at the table) are still testing if he's loyal. They said he's doing perfect by throwing propaganda around and getting the youth on board

Me: You remember who was at the table, right?

Dad: Yeah, the League of Villains

Me: Do you understand how they got to the table?

Dad: If you join and prove yourself you can sit at the table

Me: Ok, but how did the League end up sitting at the table?

Dad: They comondeered it

Me: From who?

Dad: ... Never mind I don't know how they got there

Me: Did you realize there were people there besides the League?

Dad: Yeah, those are wannabe villains who did a good job.

Me: How do you think the wannabe villains joined/found the League?

Dad: They were recruited, or some were part of Overhaul's group and joined the League

(I checked and yes, he remembers the scenes in Season 3 where the League was trying to recruit members, so he thinks they succeeded)

My conclusions

My parents understand the plot of the Endeavor Agency Arc just fine, and they understand that Hawks has uncovered something bad, but aren't really sure what's happening with the villains.

The general idea they seem to have is that the Deika incident and whatever way the League got more supporters isn't really something to be "revealed" but is more something that... just sort of happened off screen. My mom assumes they just rallied Stain supporters, my dad believes they went recruiting while also absorbing members from other villain groups, like the Hassaikai.

I found it interesting that neither of my parents paid much mind to the Shigaraki scene. It makes me wonder if other anime only fans also brushed it off as some random scene, without making the connection that it meant something.

And I can't even attribute this to my parents just "not paying attention" because CLEARLY my mom was. The fact that she remembers Cementos' comment in the meeting, or the number of the "villain supporters" tells me she's been paying attention, but subconsciously decided the scene wasn't important enough to remember.

Also, for those wondering why I asked about "the man with the laptop", it's because I was curious if he was memorable enough to cause intrigue. The answer (according to my parents) is: apparently not.

Anyways, thank you all so much for reading! I hope you found this insightful/interesting! If you liked it, I'd appreciate you reblogging this post so more people can see it, since this is a question I've seen a lot of manga readers asking.

If you want to ask your anime only friends/family members the same/similar questions to find out what the know, feel free to do so! (But please tag me, I'd love to see what people answer! And please leave a link back to this original post, I'd appreciate it!)

[kimberly-spirits13]

Right Hand Man (Loyal to the End) Pt. 2

Pairing: Damian Wayne x reader

Synopsis: You were like Talia’s daughter. The only thing was that you weren’t and instead, you had grown up in the foster care system and at a young age were taken by and personally trained by Talia. Along the way, you meet Damian and the two of you start to work side by side and eventually, after some time become closer and closer. However, when disaster in the league strikes, you face balancing an old, forgotten life as a normal child and the burden of right hand to the demon heir.

Also, I didn’t want to have Damian so young in this so just go with it. I’m thinking maybe early 15 or almost 16 at the most. Idk I just don’t like writing for young Dami.

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2273

Pt. 1

        You walked around the squad that you were assigned to watch over this morning. It was an easy viewing as you picked out each mistake that was made by the fighters. The objective of this time was to make improvements in skills where needed in the time that you were waiting for Damian to arrive for sparing. Now that you were older, the two of you trained outside almost to set an example for the rest of the members in lower ranks. It was almost a shaming method as well. Look at these two teenagers, they are years ahead of you in skill and training.

        A few minutes of this routine had passed. You were getting tired of no action yourself. Damian must have been attending to some private matters since he was never late. Talia made sure of that for one part. Eventually, the mood shifted into something even more serious and focused and you knew that he had entered the training grounds.

        “How kind of you to finally show up.” You said drawing your sword.

        “I had previous arrangements to attend to.” Damian returned taking his own sword in hand.

        “An eventful morning for the demon.”

        “Indeed, it was General.”

        You could tell that there were eyes on you the entire time that the two of you were training. It wasn’t uncommon but for the longest time, it took a while to get used to in the start of this newer training environment. Eventually you did get very accustomed to it and started playing harder. It was important to look like you really had the best training and grasp of what you were doing. Otherwise you were a bigger target. That was something you didn’t want under any circumstances. Damian didn’t mind. Instead, he seemed to like the challenge you presented. It wasn’t often in the field he ever got any sort of action like this. It was pretty typical for take downs to be easy, child’s play really. At least, that’s what he liked to think of it.

        For what started feeling like hours, you and Damian trained along with the rest of the recruits. It was sweltering hot outside. The sun’s heat beat down on everyone there without any sign of stopping. The cloudless sky offered no shelter from the rays either. You finally defeated Damian for the last time. Your fights would go until the other slipped up and then they’d start over until you both new that it was time to leave.

        “You haven’t heard anything about strange happenings or something of concern of late have you?” You asked entering the building.

        “No, I didn’t. Today was a common briefing of training and education. I anticipate you will have a meeting with mother at a later time over the same subjects.” Damian replied as the two of you turned into a different hallway heading to the cafeteria, “Mother was acting strange this morning however. I do not know if it has to do with our shared concerns.”

        You didn’t say anything, instead you just nodded before the two of you entered the giant room that everyone sat and ate in. There were different rooms situated inside for different ranks but mostly everyone sat together. It was difficult to escape the people which was something that was meant to be established but for the top players. They stuck together. That’s another reason why you and Damian were so close.

        “I want you to sit with me today instead of with the other group.” Damian said as the two of you took what you wanted for lunch and walked to where he and his mother always sat and ate. Talia was to be late today because of matters she was handling by herself. You two sat in silence for some time.

        “The recruits seemed ... mostly normal for the decent part of today.” You said, “In other words, there have been no red flags of anything internal. I walked around the entirety of the grounds to check.”

        “Maybe Mother and Grandfather are planning something that will just be sudden.” Damian pondered out loud, “We most likely won’t have to worry about it.”

        “It will probably affect me more than you.” You commented, “I’m pretty certain that you’d be safer when it came to some mass elimination scheme.”

        “You should be confident in your place among the League.”

        “I am, I just know that things can change at the random.” “That’s what makes it exciting around here.” “You know, other than the constant threat of being killed.”

        Damian spared you a smirk at the comment but nothing else. You saw it and knew he understood for some part.

        “Where is your next mission?” He asked.

        “It’s to Italy.” “I should only be gone for two, maybe three days at most.” “It’s basic kill a diplomat here, a politician there kind of mission before you ask.”

        Damian cocked a brow, “How did you know I’d ask?”         “You always do al Ghul.”

        “That is the one part of your training and job that I envy.”

        “And that is?” You asked.

        “You get to go and actually do things outside of the League’s headquarters and fight.” He answered simply.

        “Don’t let your mother hear that.” You chuckled only a bit to yourself.

        It was only in times like these or even just only on the roof tops that you’d ever let yourself crack a smile or make anything close to a joke. It was the only time you’d actually be even a sliver of yourself around someone. That is, whatever of yourself was left from all of these years spent here. You thought that what you did was important. It kept your branch of the League together even. Assigned to watch over Damian and be his right hand, that is what you defined yourself by. It was always position to you. Whether you liked it or not, this wasn’t the place to be friendly or all that different from the rest besides in skill and ruthlessness.

        “We’d better get to our class.” You said breaking the silence that came between you two.

        Damian stood up followed by you and the two of you headed to your tutoring session. It wasn’t long before this was over, in fact today was probably the last you’d see your teacher alive.

_______________________________________________________________________

        The tutor seemed to know just as well as you and Damian that this was their last day probably seeing the light of day. The room that the two of you were seated in was a well- lit room with only a table and large chalk board. You could practically feel the nervous energy that your tutor was radiating today. It got worse and worse every day leading up to it. You almost wanted to feel bad for him but you didn’t. That’s where you sometimes come to question the League. It was always taught in some lessons that it was human nature to be compassionate and not disassociate from others. People were supposed to need and feel for each other. You didn’t though. The League made sure of that very quickly.

        The lesson was quick, you didn’t really care much about what the tutor was saying. It was mainly just an overview of what you and Damian had learned. You two exchanged looks at the end of the session before walking out of the room. Talia was there with another recruit. You knew what the other was there to do when he walked into the room you were just in, you didn’t know however why Talia was there.

        “Y/N, I need to speak with you about your upcoming mission.” She said.

        You nodded goodbye to Damian before leaving with Talia.

        “I trust that your lessons were more than suitable?” She asked.

        “Correct, they were of desirable level.” You replied walking by her side.

        “Good. Now about this mission.” Talia turned a corner and into a room before shutting the door behind you, “This isn’t just another simple mission.” “The diplomats that you’re targeting will have highly trained security teams. You must choose the right moment to strike which I’d like to think you might be able to do from your training. Make sure there is as little of security as possible. After you accomplish stage one, move your squad onto stage two of killing the others and then return as soon as possible.” “Any questions? This should be standard by now.”

        “Understood.” You nodded.

        “In addition, with the success of your past few missions, it has been decided that you will be elevated into a newer status of High General. Still by the same title, you have more tasks and control over your own squads. I do expect that you will handle this well. You start after your mission with the same schedule. However, you will be training more in the middle ranks.”

        “Thank you, I am honored.” You said sincerely before cocking a brow, “However, I must ask since it has been troubling me for the past few days. Is there anything that I should be expecting that will happen? Are there any sweeping of the ranks that I should know about?”

        “I see that you must have picked up on something.” Talia said, “This is confidential information. I am only sharing this with you because of your status and position. There have been concerns raised of an attack from outer forces. We have not figured out which ones yet, you should not concern yourself with that yet. However, the only thing besides your mission and daily tasks you should be concerned with, is the safety of my son, the heir to the League. There is no true telling information on what will happen so keep on your highest guard.”

        “Yes Talia.”

        There was a pause that filled the room. You knew that there was something else.

        “General. That is the position you have been given. That is not however your only job.” Talia started, “Your main, most important job is to be my son’s second hand. If something were to ever happen to myself or The Demon Head, I fully expect you to stay with Damian over everything. Do not make me regret my decision in picking you off the ground of that orphanage.”

        “My loyalties are well placed Talia. I stay with him until death just as I was assigned from the start of this all. As High General, as the Demon’s second, you have my word.”

         Eventually, you left. The rest of the day was ahead of you and tomorrow, you’d be suiting up for Italy. Ready to leave the League even for a mission, you were antsy the rest of the day. Not enough for notice as usual though. Damian knew however. He could tell that your game was a bit off since this morning. He could tell that you were either anticipating more than what you gave off, or you were preparing yourself for this next mission a bit too much.

_______________________________________________________________________

        That night he confronted you as the two of you sat on the rooftop.

        “You were off of your game today Y/N.” Damian said almost catching you off guard.

        “So, I was.”

        “What caused this rarity?”

        “I am just ready to start my mission. I have a brewing feeling that it should go over very well.” You answered, “That is what Talia wanted to discuss with me earlier today.”

        “It was just this and nothing else?” Damian cocked his brow suspiciously.

        “Correct.” You reassured, “There was nothing else besides talk of schooling. She did inform me that I will be taking the High General position which was gratifying.”

        “You have my congratulations Y/N.” He commended.

        “And you have my appreciation Damian.”

        “The only thing that I did pick up from the conversation wasn’t... much. Just keep on your highest guard.”

        You didn’t bother saying anything else. Watching the stars and then the clouds float by every now and again was enough. It was easy to just stay up there and do nothing. There was no schedule besides having to get at least some sleep that night. There were no recruits training out in the heat. And best of all, it was silent and cool outside. This was the best time and always would be a place of your favorite memories from life.

        “So, do you have any plans of changing your squad?” Damian asked.

        “In what way? My squad is perfectly formed. There shouldn’t be any issues within it. Not unless you’re insinuating that you want to join al Ghul.” You smirked.    

        “No, not at all. I’d rather not be taking orders from my right hand.” He shot back.

        “And I’d rather not be giving orders to one of the most stubborn people I know.”

        “Very funny L/N.”

        “Oh, so we’re on last name status. I must have said something to upset the young Demon.” You poked fun at him as you typically did.

        “You’d like to think you could.”

        “Anyways, regarding your question. I will not be adding or eliminating anyone from my squad unless I find someone in the lower ranks more suitable that can and will advance faster. Nevertheless, I am not actively looking for any new blood as some might call it.”

        “I understand.” Damian stood up to leave, “Will I see you before your mission tomorrow?”

        “Most definitely during breakfast. My team and I are leaving for Italy right after that though.” You answered jumping down from the roof top and onto the pavement below before walking inside, and down a hall until you eventually split from Damian to go to your room.

I hope you guys are enjoying this series. I have the series lined up in my schedule to post this time so hopefully it doesn’t just ... die lol. Anyways I hope you’re all having a wonderful day and week and are staying safe and healthy!

Tag List:

@idkmanicantenglish

[cruecifymesixx]

Love and Leather /part eighty/

Word Count: 5.9k

A/N: woohoo! 80 chapters! thanks for reading! feedback is always appreciated

Warnings: angst, language

Taglist:  @aryssav , @miserablecunt , @dangerous-like-a-loaded-pistol, @fandomshit6000, @anntheboneless,  @justjodeye, @supernaturalvikingwhore, @hi-my-name-is-riley, @extremesadnerding, @thatbandchick39, @awkwrdcait, @countrygirlswonderland, @awesomealmostdopestudent, , @tashy-bear, @krazykatkay456, @terror-triplet, @shouttatthedevill @beachystars, @rodriguez025, @kickstart-myheart-sixx, @s-outhie, @anxious-diabetic, @awkwardblackgirls, @rockersbox, @shamelessobsessions, @jerseytaint, @lilytalebi, @criminalyetminimal, @motley-queen, @trapt-in-a-dream, @lunamadhatter99, @broke-n-bitchy @thanks2pete,  @lovesick-heart0, @keepcalm-and-beyou, @miriampraez, @teenwolflover28, @lilyhw1, @motherloovebone, @random-internet-user-4471, @falcon-arrows, @talranocchia2001,  @waywardprincess666, @malibubarbievince, @iluvmesomemarvelndc, @zoenicoles, @vamprlestat, @supersoldierballerina, @primal-screamer @electradestiny, @marshbev, @n0-sh0rtage-0f-faults, @cruebaby, @ggorehorror, @valentines-in-london, @miss2001babe, @nassauartist  @cmft-jr-winchester, @bokkie92, @notworthyofyou1120 @xrosegoldwolfx, @lauravic​, @mgkobsessed, @chaoticvybe​,  @kellysimagines​ @thoughtsoftheantagonist​ @marvelismylifffe​, @sleepyjunhong​  @meetthesixxter​ @sparxx27​ @gingerspicetalks​ @kaitieskidmore1​ @unknownoblivion​ @nevergoodenuffbutokaaayyy​ @sublimeprincesswasteland​ @kylieinwonderland​ @haileynicoleseavey17​ @lavendersoundbarrier​ @youretheonlyonewhomakesme​, @xxisxxisxxis​, @dogmom2014​, @cruesixxlover1991​, @xpoisonousrosesx​, @cranberrirolls​, @m0rnlngstar​, @love-struck-aries​, @findingmyths​, @patheticgay69​, @i-want-to-shoot-myself​, @arianareirg​, @fentitrbl​, , @motleycrueprincess​, @redlipscrystalskies14​, @samanthadegaro​, @oskea93​, @idkmanhereisshitilike​, @idumpyourgrass​, @makaelahdelvalle​, @brideofdraculana​

Nikki’s hand felt like a damn weight wrapped around mine as we walked into Arianna’s school to drop her off. It was the first day back from winter break and she wanted the both of us to escort her in. She walked in front of us smiling big as other teachers greeted her as we forced our smiles and pretended like everything is a-okay.

His hand kept twitching around mine, well squeezing lightly as he knew I didn’t want to be holding it. Why would I? It’s been a week since everything and all we’ve done is argue after Arianna goes to sleep.

We arrived at her kindergarten classroom, Arianna excitedly running to her cubby to put away her backpack and give her lunchbox to Miss. Martinez to put in the fridge for later.

“Bye mom!” Arianna came over, crushing her face into my knees as she wrapped her arms around me. I bent over and kissed the top of her head.

“I’ll see you after school, alright? Be good today.” I smiled at her, smoothing my hand over her hair to tame it.

“No auntie?” She asked me, out of the corner of my eye I saw Nikki rolling his. I elbowed his side before crouching down to her level.

“We talked about this Ari.” I spoke softly as I held her hand, “Auntie will only be picking you up if me or daddy can’t. She’s living with Tommy now, so we need to be big girls and do things without her. You’ll still see her later this week maybe, okay?”

She nodded with a pout on her lips, “Okay...bye daddy.” She mumbled raising her arms up as he scooped her up in his arms.

“You have fun today, babe and I’ll see you later.” Nikki kisses her cheek and ran his hands up her sides, making her giggle as he put her back down. She waved to us as she went to go sit at the table with her other classmates.

“Vanity, it’s nice to see you. Happy holidays.” Her teacher came up to us, peppy as always.

“You too, Elaine.” I smiled at her, “I had to tell Arianna she couldn’t bring all the toys she got from Christmas to school.”

“Of course, it’s nice to see you again Nikki. I hope to see you more this semester. Could always use another dad on the PTA, I know Vanity has caught a few of our meetings.”

I smiled at Nikki, watching his nose wrinkle up in disgust, “No thank you. I’m sure I would scare them but yes you’ll see me more. With Arianna’s aunt out of the house, I’ll probably be the one picking her up from school because Vanity will be at work, right doll?” He snaked his arm around my waist and kisses the top of my head.

“Of course, honey.” I forced a smile, but my teeth were gritted.

“Ah, Clementine. That’s too bad, I know Arianna was extremely fond of her. She would sometimes talk my ear off about her auntie all day. Oh! If you two want to sign Arianna up for some little league sports, the paperwork is down by the office. I know she enjoys running around and kicking the ball around at recess with the boys.”

“She does?” Nikki seemed genuinely surprised as I had to hold back an eye roll and a laugh.

“Yeah, how do you think she came home last semester with that giant scratch on her leg?” I told him bitterly, “We’ll stop by the office before we leave and discuss it tonight at dinner. Thank you Elaine.”

We both waved by to Arianna before leaving her classroom, “Okay, I gotta get to the studio-where are you going? Van, I’m already running late.” Nikki groaned as I turned the opposite way of him.

“Didn’t you hear me? I’m going to the office to pick up paperwork for sports.” I rolled my eyes as he followed me down the hallway.

“Vanity, we don’t have time for little league sports. You know, with the album being produced and then we’ll be going on tour before we know it.”

“Huh, I don’t remember being a member of Mötley Crüe?” I turned the corner, making sure not to bump into kids as I walked up to the bulletin board near the office and examined it.

“Well you aren’t, but you two will be going on tour with me.” I laughed as his statement as I looked between soccer and softball.

“Says who?”

“Vanity, don’t fucking start.” He said in a lower tone as I reached up and took a packet.

“You keep making decisions for us Nikki without bothering to tell me.” I glared at him, “I am not going on tour with you and neither is Arianna. I’m not just gonna rip her away from school and home just because you want us to be with you.” I shook my head, growing frustrated with him already. And it was barely nine in the morning.

“You use to love going on tour with me.” Nikki mumbled as I laughed.

“Because I was twenty five years old without a care in the world who just wanted to get fucked by a hot rockstar and plug my nose up with blow.” I folded the papers up and placed them into my purse, “We’re not kids anymore, Nikki.”

I started walking away from him, feeling him grab my hand as I quickly pulled it away from, “Jesus fu- are you really still mad at me?”

I glared at him, “Am I really still mad at you?” I tapped my chin, “Hm, let me go pay off Tommy to get him to shut up and back off so you and I can be together for my own selfish reasons. How would you feel about it?”

Nikki pretended to think hard, “I actually wouldn’t mind.” I rolled my eyes as we walked out the front doors of her school, “But Tommy’s my best friend, he would know when to back off. That’s something you can’t say about Clementine because she doesn’t know her fucking boundaries.”

“Yes she does.” I raised my voice just enough as he stared me down when he opened up the car door for me.

“No, she fucking didn’t. She was always in our space Vanity, we never had a moment alone without her calling for you.” Nikki spoke before slamming the door. I closed my eyes for a brief second and took a few deep breaths.

“Just take me home so you can get to the studio on time.” I spoke to him as he got in and buckled up. I reached for the dial knob to turn on the radio.

“I’m already late so you’re coming with me.” He stated as he turned out of the parking lot and started driving down the street.

I groaned, “Nikki, really? It’s my day off I want to be at home. There’s laundry to do and I needed to go grocery shopping and Anarchy has to go to the groomers today as well.”

“Can you chill for five seconds? It’s barely eight thirty in the morning. And I only have to be there till noon. I’ll help with laundry and we can go to the store after I’m done at the studio and Anarchy’s appointment isn’t until three-“

“..And three is when Arianna gets out of school. And she’ll want a snack and she’ll need help with her homework.”

Nikki laughed, “Oh come on! How hard can her homework be? Ain’t it just coloring?” He shook his head as he took a sip from his water.

“No, it’s counting and tracing shapes and letters and she struggles with writing out things. If you helped with her homework you’d know that.” I explained to him as I saw him roll his eyes under his sunglasses.

“I do too help her. We count guitar picks or her gummies. Unlike you who makes her count on her fingers, that’s boring. I make learning fun at least.” Nikki said in a matter of fact type tone.

“Whatever. She doesn’t stay focused long enough when I help her with math-“

“Because you’re boring, doll.”

I scoffed and lightly smacked his arm, “I am not!”

Nikki reached for my hand and kisses my knuckles through a smile when we came to a stop at a red light, “I love you.” He rested our hands on the center console as he brushed his thumb over my skin repeatedly.

“Yeah, yeah I love you too.”

Some days I think Nikki and I are okay. That things are good and normal, if you can even call our relationship normal. Today was one of those days. I mean, yeah we’re arguing a bit but it’s not volatile like it usually would be. It’s tolerable. Then there’s days like how it has been with New Years and the Clementine situation that makes me believe we aren’t okay. But I also know we have more good days than bad days.

I sat comfortably in the silence as Nikki traced shapes with his fingertips, “Is Clementine gonna be there? I haven’t seen her..” I quietly spoke. I was nervous about seeing her again and how she would be. I don’t think she would hold it against me. But still, I was worried.

“Yeah probably. She’s been there every day this past week acting like an abused little puppy. She sits on the couch and doesn’t say anything unless Tommy or Mick talks to her.” Nikki said bitterly as I sighed.

“Great...” I mumbled as he pulled up to the gates of the studio. The security guard buzzed us in as we soon parked after.

“You’ll be fine.” Nikki reassured me as I nodded. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder as we walked in. The white walls were riddled with gold, platinum and diamond record plaques of all the artists that have worked here. We walked down the hallways before Nikki opened up the door for me.

“Hey guys, sorry I’m late. It was Arianna’s first day back at school.” Nikki explained as he took off his jacket and hanged it up and went straight over to the other three right away.

I stood by the door seeing Clementine sitting on the couch reading a book, not even bothering to say hi to me. I noticed there was refreshments off to the side, I grabbed a water bottle and a lollipop.

“Good morning, Van.” I turned around to look at John, I quickly moved out of his way.

“Uh morning. How are you?” I questioned as I unwrapped the candy and stuck it in my mouth.

“I’m great, you?”

I shrugged, “I’m here.”

John chuckled and poured himself a cup of coffee, “Ain’t it a bit early for candy?” 

I watched as he dumped sugar packet after sugar packet into coffee and when he was done he reached for a donut, “What’s the difference between this and that?” I asked as he glanced at the items in his hand.

“That’s fair.” He laughed, “It’s nice to see you. You barely come to band practice.”

I nodded, sucking on the tip of the lollipop before taking it out of my mouth and licking the sticky residue off my lips, “It’s boring. I’ve been to too many. Plus Arianna and me working now. I’m only here because I was forced to come.”

John grinned, “You poor princess.”

“I’m only allowed out when my captor says it’s okay.” I joked. Sorta.

“Well you two aren’t together so why does he have a say?” John asked confused as he took a sip of his coffee.

“Huh, I think I like you even more now.” I smiled wide.

“So I’m guessing you won’t like to be on tour with him when we end up going?”

I shrugged, “I would love to go on tour, but again we have a child so it’s kinda difficult. It’s just something him and I have to discuss.”

*Nikki’s POV*

I grabbed my bass out of the case as I started to tune it, strumming the strings lightly as I went. I looked up when Tommy hit my knee, “What?”

“I found those pamphlets you were asking for.” He said as I watched him pull out his wallet and hand me a folded up laminate paper.

“Dude. Really? She’s right there.” I quickly took it from his hands as I spoke in a hush tone, “I haven’t brought it up to her yet.”

Tommy raised an eyebrow, “No? That’s gonna go over well. You know how hard it was to just get her to go to therapy in New York? It was fuckin difficult, Sixx.”

I rolled my eyes as I stuffed the paper into my front pocket, “Well I think we need to go together. You went to this?” I asked him and he nodded.

“Yeah-“ he glanced at Clementine for a moment and then leaned a bit closer to me, “Before I got with Clem, Heather and I were going. We only went to like three sessions though before we decided divorce would be better. But a lot of the stuff the therapist was saying made sense and I’m sure it could help you guys, if stubborn over there gets on board with it.”

I sighed, “I’m gonna make her favorite tonight and then after talk to her about it. We can’t keep doing this fighting with Arianna in the house and I know she’s sick of it like I am.”

“Good luck Nikki.” Tommy laughed as he patted my shoulder, “What’s Corabi doing?”

I looked over my shoulder seeing him and Van talking, “He has a crush on her or something. Kinda like how you did.” I shook my head and laughed as I turned back to the bass.

“Well I’d be mad if the roles were switched and he was trying to make a move on Clementine.” Tommy pointed out as I rolled my eyes.

“Hey baby!” I yelled for her as she looked over at me, “Can you make me a cup of coffee and bring me a donut. The maple one please.” Van nodded and started getting it for me.

“I’m not worried about him. He isn’t even her type.”

“What’s her type then?” Tommy asked as I smirked when Van came over.

“Tommy wants to know what your type is.” I asked her as she stared at me.

“My type? Like guys? Or?”

“Guys.”

She chuckled, “Asshole bassists named Nikki.” Van handed me my cup of coffee and donut, “Why?”

Tommy and I both looked at each other and shrugged, “Guy talk.”

She rolled her eyes at us, “Whatever, thanks for getting me away from John. He wouldn’t shut the fuck up.”

I glanced at Tommy giving him a told you so type look. I patted the stool next to me for her to sit down, “It’s too early for candy.” I pointed at the lollipop.

“Oh shut it and let me rot my teeth in peace. I’m gonna get my period soon.”

“Ew.” Tommy stated, his nose wrinkling you in disgust.

I chuckled, “Dude, you have a girlfriend.”

“Yeah I know, but that’s different. It’s Vanity.”

I laughed and continued tuning the bass so we could get started. I noticed Van kept looking over at Clementine. I nudged her side, “Just go talk to her.” I said quietly but she shook her head, “Van..”

“She’s reading.” Vanity retorted, “So how’s the album coming?”

“Van, stop being a puss and go talk to her. She’s nervous just like you are.” Tommy butted in as he twirled his drumsticks, “She’s worried you hate her.”

I rolled my eyes, “That’s fuckin dramatic. Just go talk to her so we can work.”

*Vanity’s POV*

I stared at Nikki as he gave me the cold shoulder after he snapped at me. I looked at Tommy and he shrugged his shoulders and motioned me to go to Clem.

I sighed and got off the stool and walked over to the other couch adjacent to Clementine. I saw her eyes flicker to me before she continued to read her book, “Hey..” I squeaked, twiddling with my thumbs. I took a step or two to sit down on the couch but she quickly put her legs up on the cushion. Well that sure as hell made it clear.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, feeling my heart beat in my ears, “What’s up?” I asked, grabbing a rolling chair from the nearby desk and sitting in it.

“Not much.”

I nodded, watching as she went back to reading the book. I tilted my head, “Oh! Interview With a Vampire. I didn’t know it was a book. The movie was really good.”

Clementine shook her head and spoke in a monotone, “They missed a lot of important parts.”

“How are you doing?” I asked, seeing her glance at me as I smiled brightly.

“Fine. You?”

“I’m okay..” I looked over at the guys practicing a new song, “They sound good.”

“Yep.”

My hands were lightly trembling so I held them in my lap, “Um, did you get settled into Tommy’s okay?”

I watched as Clementine turned the next page, “Yeah, it’s been nice.”

“Good, good. I’m glad. I am sorry it happened the way it did. You having to leave and everything..”I spoke as she finally looked at me for longer than a millisecond.

“I’m sure Nikki is pleased. He got what he wanted finally.”

I frowned at her words, “No, no. It’s not like that at all. I am so sorry Clemmy.” I repeated myself as she chuckled and put the book on her thigh.

“Really? So you’re sorry for him? Because he doesn’t think he did nothing wrong?” She scowled as I shook my head at her words.

“N-no I’m not, I’m not trying to apologize for him. I’m saying sorry for how it happened and how I was yelling.”

She rolled her eyes and picked her book up, “Yeah, whatever V.”

“Maybe we can go grab lunch or-“ I stopped talking immediately when I noticed her cold hard stare, “...or not.”

“I’m busy with some commissions. So thanks for the offer.”

“Oh! That’s great Clem! I’m happy you’re finally getting commissions done for people other than me and Tommy.” I smiled, speaking harmlessly but then my  smile went away as she scoffed at my words. 

“I’m not some useless artist after all.”

I was taken back by her words, “Useless? Clem, I have have never said that and neither has Nikki. So you can’t say that about him either.”

“Yes he has. Multiple times. Can I get back to reading now? I have nothing else to talk about with you.”

My eyebrows scrunched together as I got up, “Yeah, sorry for interrupting you.”

I did not ever imagine Clementine would be that standoffish towards me. I sighed as I went over and sat on an amp next to Nikki. He stopped strumming a melody and looked at me, “I told you she didn’t want to talk to me.” I frowned, eyed beginning to get heavy with tears, “She hates me Nikki.” I mumbled to him as he sighed and gave my thigh a squeeze before reaching for my hand and kissing it.

“Baby, if she can’t get over it and just let it go then that’s her own damn problem.”

I shrugged at his words, “Yeah, maybe you’re right.” I glanced over at her, pretending like I wasn’t even in the room.

“She’ll be crying over you in a week Van, saying how much she misses you. Quit overthinking it. I see those gears turning up there.”

“I doubt it.”

“Vanity.” Nikki gave me a stern look, “It’s going to blow over. It’s still fresh, okay? If she’s being a bitch do you want me to say something to her?”

I looked at him, “No, no. Please, I don’t want you to do that. You’ve already said enough to her. It’s fine.”

I watched as Nikki glared, sending sharp daggers Clementines way. I noticed her squirm a bit as she adjusted on the couch and brought her book up higher to her face.

“Nikki, stop glaring.” I lightly swatted his chest, seeing the jaw muscle twitching.

“You don’t deserve the coldness from her. I do, it was my fault. So that shit ain’t right to me, Van. Where are you going?” Nikki questioned as I stood up to grab my purse.

“I’m gonna go get my nails done and I will come back to get you when I’m finished.” I told Nikki as he reached for my hand and pulled me to him.

“But I want you here, baby. Just hang out with me and the guys.”

I shook my head and leaned down to give him a kiss on the lips before bringing my lips to his ear, “You’re working and I’m uncomfortable and I’m going to end up crying if I don’t leave.” I stepped back and moved some pieces of hair out of his face, “So I will see you in a few hours.”

Nikki nodded as he dug into his back pocket, pulling out his wallet and handing me his credit card, “Be good.” He warned.

I smiled a bit and took his card, “You be good too.”

*Later that evening*

After dinner, I was sitting on the couch watching tv, or attempting to watch the tv as Arianna kept running back and forth between the living room and the backyard with Anarchy. I smiled and scooted over when Nikki came over with a glass of wine for me and sat down.

“Dinner was so good. I’m stuffed. Thank you baby.” I leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek. I took a sip of the wine before putting it on the coffee table.

“Anytime doll, you know I don’t mind cooking.” Nikki smiled as he lifted his arm up to wrap around my shoulders. I leaned into his side as we watched TV.

“Actually, while we have a moment of peace and quiet since the terror is occupied. I have something for you.” Nikki grinned as he lifted his hips up and pulled out a folded up white piece of paper and handed it to me:

‘Santa Monica Therapy and Behavioral Health’

“There’s a uh, therapist there. Her name is Crystal Peterson and she specializes in a lot of different issues. Like uh, anger management, anxiety and depression. Um, and couples that kinda...well that are kinda like us...”

I stared at the pamphlet with the list of areas the doctors their specialize in.

“Tommy, he went to see her with Heather when they were still trying to work things out. He said she was really good and that maybe she could help us-“

“No.”

I folded it up and handed it back to him. I reached for my glass of wine and the remote to change the channel.

“Why not? Van, I think it could be really good for us to maybe go talk to someone.”

I shook my head, “I’m not gonna pay hundreds and hundreds of dollars just for some therapist to tell us shit we already know. No, I’m not going Nikki.”

“But-“

I groaned and got off the couch, “I’m not going to therapy, relationship counseling, life coaching whatever the fuck it is you want to do. I’m not doing it. So you can take this nice little pamphlet and shove it.”

Nikki glared at me through choppy bangs, “Well, that kinda sucks for you because I already scheduled an appointment for the beginning of next month. We are going, Vanity.”

I breathed out, “Of course you did.” I rolled my eyes, “Nikki, why do you keep doing shit behind my back and just decide to drop it on me?”

“Because of this right here, Vanity! Because of the stupid, pointless bickering I have to go through every day with you. We need to do this!”

“We need to talk about stuff like this! Jesus Christ, why does it have to be always about what you want?! What about what I want!?”

Nikki laughed, “Oh knock it off. It’s always about what you want. And you always get it! You should want this Van!”

I shrugged, “Well I don’t, Nikki.”

He scoffed as he got off the couch and grabbed his boots that were sitting by the TV and his jacket off the back of the couch, “Where are you going?” I asked him, following him through the entry way as he walked to the front door, “Hello? I’m talking to you.”

Nikki quickly turned around, making me take a step back. I felt like a cunt when I saw his eyes were red and starting to feel with tears, “You should want this, Vanity.” He spoke through gritted teeth, “You should want to talk to a therapist with me for us! For our fucking daughter! But you don’t, so guess what that makes me think? It makes me think that you don’t even want this relationship. That you don’t want me.”

“Oh come on.” I laughed in disbelief, You can’t be serious, Nikki.”

Nikki closed his eyes for a split second, shaking his head as he let out a huff of hot air before he opened up the front door and quickly walked out. I watched his figure get distorted behind the glass panel as he went to his car and drove out of the gates.

*Later that night*

“Anarchy come on!” I shouted from my bedroom as she was barking up a storm downstairs, “Anarchy come here.” I whistle for her, hearing her tags on her collar jingle as she went up the stairs. I sat up in bed and reached across to turn on the lamp, “What are you barking about?” I asked as she jumped up on my bed before quickly running back down the stairs.

I yawned and saw that it was little after two in the morning. I slid off my bed, grabbing the black silk robe off my dresser before putting it on and walking out my door. I leaned over the railing when I heard light banging on the front door.

“Nikki?” I spoke out as I went to his bedroom, flipping on the light to see he still wasn’t back after leaving earlier.

I went down the stairs, Anarchy coming to my feet as I patted the top of her head. I heard muffled voices on the other side as the doorknob started rattling followed by more knocking against the wood.

“Fuck...” I muttered to myself as I disarmed the alarm with the code and opened up the door, jumping a bit when I saw John holding up Nikki in front of me.

“He’s, he’s like super drunk.” John slightly slurred with a laugh as he let go of Nikki, making him stumble over to me.

“I told you not to take me fucking home.” Nikki grumbled as he leaned against the archway, before tripping over his feet. I quickly wrapped my arms his waist to keep him standing up right, but he tried shoving me away “I-I don’t need a damn speech how I’m a fucking terrible person and just ruins the princesses fucking life.”

I sighed, “Thank you for making sure he got home safe.” I told John as he nodded in return.

“Of course. Goodnight guys.”

Nikki slung his arm over my shoulder, my cheek being pressed into his beer soaked shirt as I helped him walk inside the house. His fingers fumbled over the alarm panel to lock the house back up.

“Move Anarchy.” I nudged her out of the way with my foot as I brought Nikki over to the couch, almost missing it as he plopped down and laid on his side.

“Go yell at me.” He mumbled as he buried his face in the cushions. I reached for his foot and started untying the laces to his boot.

“I wasn’t going to say anything, Nikki.” I pulled on his leather boot and tossed it to the side before moving on to the other.

“Bullshit. There’s always something with you.” Nikki spoke harshly as he sat up and watched me, “I hate when you get mad at me.”

I tried ignoring him as I started unbuttoning the black dress shirt he’s wearing, “Well theres nothing now and I’m not mad at you. Can you lean forward? Your shirt smells like booze and it needs to be washed.” I looked at him as I pushed the fabric off his shoulders.

“You were mad earlier.” He shuffled on the couch as he pulled the shirt off his arms and handed it to me, “I-I think we should still see someone, V.”

I grabbed the shirt from his hand and took it to the laundry room and tossed it in the washer. I went back to him seeing him bent over petting Anarchy, “Come on, let’s get you to bed” He shook his head, “Nikki, seriously. You need to sleep.”

“I don’t want to loose you again.”

“Nikki, I’m right here.”

He rolled his eyes, “That’s not what I mean and I think-“ he spoke through a hiccup, “I think we, we both have things we need to get off our chest.”

I sat down on the couch next to him watching as he fumbled with my fingers and kissed my hand. With a sigh, “Why do we need to have someone tell us how to be in a relationship? I have nothing to talk about Nikki.”

Nikki slumped down on the couch as he rested his head against my arm, “You always have something to talk about. I just wanna have a happy life with you and Arianna..”

“We went to therapy in New York-“

“Yeah, a half assed session because you decided to blackout and drive. That’s not the same Vanity.”

I chewed on my nail as he sat up again and looked at me, “I’m happy, Nikki. Yeah we argue, but we’ve always argued.”

“I know you’re lying. You haven’t been happy here.”

I rolled my eyes and looked away from him, “Yes I have. Don’t tell me what I’ve been feeling because only I know that.”

“You don’t share a bed with me, you don’t give me hugs or kiss me, you barely like to hold my hand. We don’t talk like we use too. It’s like I’m just talking to an old friend, like, do you even still love me anymore?”

“Jesus Nikki, you’re drunk.” I got off the couch and stood in front of him, “Of course I love you so don’t ask me that question. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. I don’t want to have some stranger sit across from me and tell me how bad we are for one another because I know we aren’t. Why can’t we just figure it out in our own? Why do we need some dumb therapist?”

“And maybe this one won’t. We clearly can’t figure it out on our own, Van. Can we at least try? It worked for you in New York, so why can’t we do it here too?” I scoffed at Nikkis words.

“Oh? I don’t remember you being there when I was at my lowest and crying to my therapist. So how the fuck would you know if it worked? You don’t, because it didn’t.”

“Because you didn’t go! And don’t tell me you went because I know you and I know you didn’t bother. Therapy works as long as you keep continuing it constantly. It’s not just a one time thing and poof you’re fixed. We could really benefit from it.”

“You keep saying we, like we’ve discussed this before and we haven’t! You spring shit on me and wonder why I get so upset with you.”

“I’m not springing anything up on you! I am trying to talk to you about it. Fuck, you can sure talk to Clementine about everything that’s wrong but you can’t talk to me. Makes fucking perfect sense.” Nikki barked bitterly as I stared at him.

“Huh, well I don’t have that now because she won’t even look at me! You saw how it went today at the studio! You ruined my friendship Nikki-“

“And I’m sorry for that but for fucks sake she needed to go!”

“No, you wanted her to go Nikki! You wanted that. Fuck, just go to bed. I can’t talk to you when you’re like this.” I shook my head and picked up his boots before tossing them over by the stairs near his other pair.

“Oh? So we can’t talk at all then. Got it loud and clear.” Nikki argued back as he pulled himself off the couch and stood up, wobbling just a bit.

I stared at him, “I meant because you’re drunk, you fucking psycho.”

“You’re the one whose fucking nuts.”

“Me? I’m nuts?” I questioned, watching him nod as he sat back down when I stepped up to him. I laughed, “Here’s a thought, maybe take a step back and realize why I get so upset and irritated with you, Nikki. You have done every shitty thing in the book to me! Drugging me, playing with my emotions for years, acting psycho and possessive when I even think of talking to another man that isn’t you. Dying on me, knocking me up just to cheat on me. Coming back into my life and just dangling me along your string for months because you couldn’t decide if you want me or your slut of an ex wife. Paying off my best friend just because you’re a selfish, egomaniacal, drowning in mommy issues and numbing it with drugs and alcohol brat! I’m going to fucking bed.”

I breathed out and turned to walk away from him only to stop when a decorative pillow hit my back.

“Fuck you.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Fuck me?” I picked it up and threw it back at him, “Real mature, asshole. This is bullshit Nikki. You can speak your mind and express how you feel whenever you want, but god forbid I do it as well.”

“Because you never have anything nice to say about me! It’s always Nikki’s an asshole or Nikki ruins everything for me!” He rolled his eyes, mocking my voice as his tone was riddled with disgust it seemed like.

“I always say such good things about you Nikki, but lately you have been an asshole!”

He was quiet for a moment before grabbing the pillow he threw and placed it on the couch, “Whatever Vanity. Go fuck someone else if you’re so unhappy with me. Let someone else deal with your bullshit like I do.”

I watched as he laid down on the couch, grabbing the maroon blanket from the arm rest and put it over his face, “Goodnight Nikki.” I hit the light switch, feeling my hands shake as I walked up the stairs. I sighed seeing Arianna staring at me with her purple fairy blanket wrapped around her head and shoulders.

“Let’s go back to sleep.” I picked her up as she wrapped her arms around around me and I carried her to my bedroom and laid her down. I got in beside her, anarchy jumping up and laying by my feet.

“Did you hear me and daddy yelling?” I asked as I got comfortable and played with her hair. She nodded a bit and curled up next to me.

“I’m sorry baby.” I wrapped my arm around her and kissed the top of her head, “Me and daddy are just having a bad day.”

A bad day, week, month and a bad everything.

[onelastbreath-writes]

On Bruce And Texting:

Author’s Note: Hello and welcome, this is my first properly written fic, originally posted to my AO3, and now that I have finally created a writing blog, it’s here as well. Please enjoy!!  AO3.  Masterlist

Warnings: Hopefully none, its all cute and fluff <3

Summary: Bruce Wayne texts like he's sending correspondences to the Queen, so of course the little monsters he calls children just have to make fun of him! Brats, the lot of them, but he wouldn't have them any other way.

Features: Bruce Wayne/Selina Kyle, all the bats and birds, mentions JL, no crime fighting, only family fluff, jokes and nods to Millennial and GenZ shenanigans.

Word Count: 2.7k

---

Billionaire, genius, tech expert, father of many children, and all around up-to-date-with-just-about-everything type of person he may be, it is also a well-known Fact that Bruce Wayne, the Batman(TM) himself, can’t text to save his life.

Whether it’s due to his Very Proper English Upbringing, his inability to be informal via written correspondences of any type, his indifference, or the fact that it bothers his children so much, Bruce Wayne has not and never will text with anything less than perfect grammar, spelling, and formality. If he has not sent you a proper letter (featuring a dedication, indentation for every paragraph, signature, and post-script when applicable), he did, in fact, not send you that text. Informality is not his Batman Way(TM) according to his children... he’s not too sure what that even means, but it makes his young ones laugh so it’s probably fine?  

His oldest children (Richard and Jason) were raised in the time of Change, where computers, internet access, social media, and all things similar were only just being introduced into households en-masse. They were young enough to remember a time without such devices and connectivity (both for very different reasons, of course, but they grew up without the newest technology none-the-less). They could understand his relationship to the digital environment more so than his younger children, but they still tended to poke fun at his ‘texting blunders’ regularly. All his kids somehow ended up as brats. He doesn’t know how this happened. It’s certainly not his fault. He blames the League members, and especially Clark Kent, for their defiant personalities. 

His younger children, whom he loves dearly, like to confuse him as much as they possibly can with their slang, egregious spelling errors, and all-around ‘internet humour’. He doesn’t know what ‘wig’ or ‘worm’ or ‘oof’ or anything means. He has no idea what those dances are, or how they relate to the music that seems to always accompany them, and for the love of all that is good, don’t ask him what he thinks of this or that ‘meme’. What even is a ‘meme’, and should he be more concerned about his kids being obsessed with them? He tries, oh my god, does he try to follow the children’s conversations, but they somehow all learned a language he has no idea how to decrypt. His best response to them once they start speaking in tongues is as follows: smile but not too much, listen to child even though he is deeply confused, and pat child on head or shoulder when they are finished and are looking for assurance.  

He refuses to be a parent who ignores or tunes out his children, so he always makes sure to put down his work, his crossword, his tools, or whatever else is in his hands when a child searches him out for a conversation. But somehow, despite all the time he spends around them and their strange words, when he gets text from them comprised of abbreviations, acronyms, and completely random words, he goes a little cross eyed. He would never tell anyone, but he keeps a running list on his phone about the things they say that he has had to translate in the past. Spilling tea? Speaking the truth, usually to do with gossip. Wow? Multiple possible meanings: either a video game, or someone saying it (different pronunciation depending on context and who sent the text). Stickbug? A nice little prank with no ulterior motives, just for fun. Something along the lines of “this basic bitch Karen at the grocery store who is a dirty rat-licker and is def an anti-vaxxer just took 45 (forty-five) minutes to decide she didn’t actually want that almond milk. I Stan the cashier who had to put up with her. Rad af dude.” roughly translates to “A rude, middle-aged white woman who wasn’t wearing a mask and doesn’t believe in disease control or vaccinating her children wasted a great deal of an essential worker’s time in the checkout line. The cashier was very professional in their dealings with said customer and should be commended on their actions.”  

Given enough time, the internet for searching up new slang words, and occasionally some help from a friend (Alfred, Selina, Lucius, another of his children, etc), Bruce could decode and respond appropriately to most texts. He was quite proud of these achievements, and although he didn’t always like how often his children were on their phones or computers or gaming systems, he was quite proud of how integrated and easily they adapted to the ever-evolving world of electronics. All his kids were gifted in many ways, but their ability to learn, their hunger for knowledge, and their perseverance when exploring new and challenging ideas were always the things that he was most impressed by.  

He could do without their comments though. Yes, surprisingly, he did manage to get girlfriends with his type of texting. No, he doesn’t miss the ‘good old days’ when telegraphs were the main form of long-distance correspondence (how old do these brats think he is?!). And yes, he does know what a “tweet” is, and how to “post” on his social media accounts, and what “sliding into your DMs” is (thanks to a frantic search after a WE employee mentioned it near him). The Wayne children, truly whom and what Bruce considers his pride and joy, are cruel little jerks to him sometimes. His hoard of parenting books fails to mention what one should do when their children gang up on them. Bullying is covered of course, but he can’t really talk to a teacher or his guardian about how his second son calls him an idiot sandwich, or that his third son regularly tries to get him to do something “For The Vine”. His oldest and youngest boys are only slightly better in the bullying him department; Richard and his puppy dog eyes when he wants to do something dangerous or not-Alfred-approved, and Damian and his growing collection of pets because “Mother never let me have them, and I am deprived, and don’t you love me Father?”.  

His only good child is his beautiful daughter Cassandra, the flower of the Wayne clan. She gives him hugs, and pats his hands, and can sit with him and just enjoy the quiet and stillness when his other children are not around. Her language skills are improving by leaps and bounds every day, and her heart and spirit are unparalleled, but her main method of communication is in her movements. Her hands, her posture, her dancing; Bruce couldn’t think of a more graceful, fluid, powerful person if the world depended on it. His amazing little girl doesn't bully him (and if she ever does, he probably deserves it, he trusts her), so he turns to her most of all when it comes to communicating with someone else. She doesn’t let him send anything that is “sketchy” or “wrong words, bad meaning, Dad”. He would give the world to his children, but for Cassandra, he would destroy it and build her an entirely new one.

Social media, especially with his terrible children all having accounts dedicated to making him look like a simpleton, was another rocky terrain he had to navigate on the regular. He had professionals in place at WE to run the company’s many accounts, paid top dollar to help appeal and relate to the masses, but he mostly had to manage his personal accounts himself. And so, @TheRealBruceWayne was one of the greatest struggles in his adult life. Why can’t he just retweet every post from @WE_Offical and leave it at that? People should only want to know about what’s new with the company. What do you mean they want to know more about our family and private lives? That’s unnecessary, and not important to the running of the company, right? Right? Why are you laughing?!

Luckily, most people in his life aren’t so intimately aware of his struggles. He can act and lie all he wants about being “hip” and “woke” and whatever else the kids are saying these days when he’s with the JL or in board meeting intermissions, networking with his associates. The Batman knows all and sees all, Green Lantern, of course he understands how “Tiktok” works. The Batman is a robot without a funny bone in his body, Green Arrow, but I did witness him sigh and say “same” when he knocked his cup of coffee over while on monitor duty once. No matter how badly his darling children call him out, the Justice League would be so much worse. So, it’s one of his most importantly guarded secrets... even more so than his secret identity at this point. Being unmasked in front of every Gotham rogue would be less detrimental to him than his “friends” learning of his utter ineptitude in staying on top of the younger generations’ lingo.  

When questioned why the League doesn’t have a group chat or a forum or anything that they can use to contact each other outside of world ending matters and communicator (”because we’re friends, Batman! Ma and Pa Kent would love to have everyone over for a barbecue!”), the person who dared even mention texting isn’t even given a verbal response. They are just glared at, silently, often for several uninterrupted minutes, frozen in place only able to breathe shallowly in fear of setting off the Bat. “You know why” his glare says, “I’ll eat you, your family, and everything you have ever held dear” the younger members hear. No one makes the mistake of asking about it twice.  

Outside of his children and Alfred, and his small circle of true friends involved in all aspects of his life, there is only one more person Bruce allows to know of his Darkest Secret. Selina. Someone most people would recommend he not be involved with. Catwoman: accomplished thief, distraction, chaos-incarnate most nights, and his significant other. Sharp as a whip (ha) and crafty like no one’s business; he is head-over-heels. On again/Off again and all over the place their long romance has been, but no one has ever challenged him, intrigued him, like this clever, beautiful, amazing woman has. He’s brought his partners around his children before, both for their judgement, and for their worst behaviours to vet out any “unworthy” suitors. He trusts them explicitly to tell him the truth about those he allows into the manor; were they rude about Bruce wanting to have group outings, did they say something about Bruce’s money, did they get angry or shout or make anyone uncomfortable while they were here? If his children even looked slightly unhappy with someone he brought them to meet, that person would not be invited back. Children, he finds, have the best sight when meeting people; no motives other than finding safety and love, no fear of consequences from speaking honestly...  

Selina, or Catwoman, as they had known her first, was someone all of his kids liked without issue right off the bat. She would make puns and play word games with Richard, his first Robin, tiny, still working on his English, able to connect with him over their acrobatic abilities. His second Robin, Jason, skittish and feisty as an alley cat, knew of Catwoman and her daring escapades long before Bruce found him. The young boy had a few heroes, and no one (not even Wonder Woman) could compare to the incredible burglar who bought food and jackets and medicine for the street kids in Crime Alley. She was saintly in his eyes, and to this day, Bruce was still working on convincing Jason he was good enough for Selina. Tim and Cass and Stephanie (basically another daughter to Bruce, she spends so much time with the family) all joined the Wayne clan around the same time and officially met Selina as a friend and partner of his, and in the good graces of his first two sons. Selina, in all her nightly business, and many travels and acquaintances, had met the three independently, helping Tim get home safely back to Drake Manor when he escaped to photograph Batman and Robin in the dank darkness of Gotham when he was just a young boy, spending some time with Cassandra when her despicable father left her alone long enough to recover from his rough treatment, showing her the first scraps of kindness in her short life, and watching over and protecting Stephanie as she followed and sabotaged her father Cluemaster and his criminal activities. There was no need to win them over once they met her civilian identity, she had already gained their favour and acceptance, and they were happy to have her near their new family. Damian, his youngest, his biological son, took the longest to warm up to Selina. He would never fault his little boy for fighting so hard against a woman that was not his birth mother, especially after all the manipulation and cruelty dealt to him by Talia for the first decade of his life. But as he began to learn about his father, these people in his father’s life, and this woman that was Not His Mother but “still okay, I guess”, he grew to see her as acceptable. Her cats definitely helped, he’d say, no one with cats that loyal and happy can be a bad person.  

Selina, the love of his life, he’d admit quietly to himself, was also a dirty traitor and in cahoots with his terrible children. She would say his texting skills were “sweet” and “very gentlemanly” when she was asked by anyone outside the family, and privately to him she would say she thought they were “adorable” and “please don’t ever change, Bruce, I like it.” However, nothing seemed to bring her more joy than his children sending her texts and “Snaps” and “memes” about him to her. Sometimes it was screenshots of the family group chat that they forced him to join, where he would post “To whom it may concern...” and “In regards to...” when he needed to reach all his delinquents in a timely manner. Sometimes it was video clips of him staring at his phone intently, then typing something on his laptop, then him reading and nodding along, and then finally going back and responding to the text he received with a small, pleased smile. And sometimes, when he got too injured or was too incapacitated to text coherently, he’d have his nearest able child transcribe his text to her. Depending on who was texting her for Bruce, she could expect many different things. From Dick, she’d get lots of shorthand and silly emojis, and many, many, winky and crying/laughing faces in brackets depending on what Bruce had made him type. Jason, bless him, used proper English most of the time, but would never write a single word of Bruce’s soliloquy to her, instead she enjoyed the TL;DR version: “hurt again, missing you, come home soon, blah blah blah, sappy gross words here, love you”. Tim would allow speech recognition to run on Bruce’s phone, and just let it go until the man passed out. Stephanie, the little chaos child, would film it and send it to her, including all her muffled laughter and shaky camera shots of Bruce emoting with his available undamaged limbs. Cass, still more versed in physicality and emotive movement, would interpret Bruce’s text into mostly emojis, hearts and happy faces and animals, but would include photos, and phrases that she found important enough to type out for Selina. Damian, forever his Father’s son in any way possible, texts very formally, referring to her or his siblings Bruce mentions by last name only, and lots of “Father requests me to tell you...” and “Kyle, know that Father...”. She adores these kids, and once Bruce recovers enough to text her himself, or she gets back to the Manor, they get to laugh about whatever she was sent this time.  

So, while it’s true that Bruce couldn’t text his way out of a wet paper bag, and his kids are sometimes brats about it, there’s probably a lot of different reasons he doesn’t spend too much time trying to improve his skills. Whether it’s the smiles of his children, the giggles of his significant other, or the warm feeling in his chest when he sees all his important people bonding over him, well, in the end, who’s to say?

[i-need-entertainment]

Join Me: Shigaraki

You woke up chained to a chair, you groggily opened your eyes and looked around, seeing a dim, old bar filled with villains which you recognized to be from the League Of Villains. You looked to the left to be met with your feisty student, Katsuki Bakugo. “Bakugo, are you okay!?” You tried to call out to your student, but were quickly cut off by a deep gravely voice. 

“Quiet, don’t speak unless spoken to hero.” You looked in front of you to see none other than Dabi glaring at you, his face nonetheless seeming bored. “Now now Dabi, is that how we treat new members?” The raspy amused voice of their leader, Tomura Shigaraki announced his presence in the room, him being seated at the bar, facing the two chained up in chairs. “That’s how you treated me-“ Shigaraki shut Dabi up with a ‘shut up’. Shigaraki waved off the burnt man and walked over to the two who were chained up. “Excuse the rudeness of my colleague.” You did your best to regain your composure in front of the fearsome villain. You had never been this close to him before. Whereas the students and your co-worker Aizawa were introduced to him earlier on in the year, you were only brought in to assist the class after the USJ incident, so you had never been so close to the young villain before. You did your best to remain stoic and confident, but that face was quickly dropping. Not only were you young and inexperienced, but you also oddly enough found the young villain…attractive…? Not just in physical appearances either. But, him. How he could walk into a room and instantly take control, How he was so mysterious and strong, and having a ‘villainous’ quirk yourself, you could understand being outcasted by society. All of your life since you had gotten your quirk you had been told ‘Are you sure you want to be a hero? Wouldn’t you make a better villain instead?’ you normally laughed it off and told people you really did want to be a hero, but now you weren’t so sure. You’re sure they didn’t mean it, but even your own co-workers kept their distance from you, and a couple of weeks ago you overheard some of them gossiping about you…You even had to fight unbelievably hard to even GET the internship you had at UA, all because of a ‘bad guy’ quirk you used for good! You were a good hero! You saved people! Yet, here you were being gossiped about and outcasted all because you ‘could’ have been a villain. You wanted to do good! At least, you thought you did. But now? Being in a room full of them? You honestly weren’t sure. Looking around, you didn’t see the evil that people were always talking about, you just saw broken people who had no where else to go. People like you…Maybe you were better off here after all. “Moving on from that, I have a... proposition to make.” You listened while your student scoffed, clearly annoyed of being in the situation. “Join me. Join the League Of Villains.” You felt your heart stop at his offer…they…wanted you? To join…them? “Tch as if! I’m gonna be a hero dang it AND NONE OF YOU CAN STOP ME! WE’LL NEV-“ “I’ll join you.” Bakugo looked over at you, surprise gracing his features. “Just, please let him go, he’s not made for this life, I am.” Shigaraki thought this over. He really wanted BOTH of you to join, especially the hassle it took to get you both here. But he couldn’t deny his excitement at having you willingly join, not like he was gonna let you leave anyways. You see, over the past few months ever since you joined the UA staff, Shigaraki had developed a *little* crush on you. When he first saw you, he at first just thought you were beautiful, but after seeing how you were outcasted just because of your quirk when you had done nothing wrong, he couldn’t help but feel…sorry for you. Yes, he was a villain. And yes, he had killed a *few* people, but he had feelings. And having been in a similar situation his whole life, all he wanted was to give you the life you deserved, the life he knew he could give you. The freedom and power that came with being a villain. He thought it over, it would suck losing Bakugo, but if it meant having you, and having you go willingly, he might just make an exception. “Okay then (Hero name), welcome to the League Of Villains. You do understand, there is no turning back, right?” You nodded, giving him one of your signature smiles, making him thank the fact he had father on his face to hide his blush. “I do, and I have no intention of turning back. But, please let him go.” She motioned with her head over to Bakugo, “I know he’s…spirited…but he really doesn’t belong here. And I don’t think you’d want him anyways.” Bakugo couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His teacher, his sweet, compassionate teacher was willingly becoming a villain!? “Wait a da-“ “Bakugo.” You said in a warning tone, letting him know this was no time to argue. “Let me do this. This is my choice, not yours. We both know I’m better off here. Please tell the other students I’m sorry and good bye. I hopefully won’t be seeing them again.” You gave the boy a soft smile, and he was fighting back tears. You didn’t deserve this. Even though he had been a spoiled brat to you (and he knew it) you had never been anything short of kind to him, you even taught him a few things. “Sir? Is this acceptable to you?” Kurogiri asked his boss, looking at Shigaraki wondering what his answer would be. He really wanted Shigaraki to take the deal. 1. He knew about his crush, and being the mother of the League wanted him to het his happy ending, 2. He never wanted Bakugo to join, for starters he’s way too loud and would be yet another child that would be his responsibility, and him and Compress could only raise so many of them. *I do not ship them, but in my HC’s I said I feel like these two are the ‘moms’ of the league, so yeah. I don’t ship them WHATSOEVER but I had to include this* “Okay then, I accept. Kurogiri” He looked over to the mist covered man, “Drop him off with the heroes I guess, and be quick. We don’t want them finding us.” Kurogiri replied with a ‘Very well’ and unchained the young student, warping him to the conference room where the heroes were planning to rescue him, speedily warping away of course.

*At the conference room and prepare for some sadness*

Bakugo stood up after being dropped on the floor dang mist couldn’t even drop me right. He looked to his left to see his teacher, Mr. Aizawa, and he immediately remembered the events that had just happened. He remembered the sad look in his teachers eyes (by teacher I mean Y/n) when she had just been told she should have been a villain, the tears she held back when she was scolded for making a mistake. Why was she treated like that…treated so poorly? She never did anything. All she ever wanted to be was a hero. That’s all she ever wanted…His teacher reached over to him, shaking his shoulder a bit, Bakugo shook his head, clearing his thoughts as he glared at his homeroom teacher. “Bakugo, what happened to Y/n? Wasn’t she taken with you?” Bakugo scoffed and looked him in the eyes, dark crimson eyes ever so slightly brimmed with tears. “You should know. You’re part of the reason she’s not here any more.” The whole room looked in shock at Bakugo. “Bakugo, what do you mean” “I mean she’s a villain now! They offered it to both of us, and she accepted, SHE’S THE REASON I WAS SET FREE.” The whole room went silent. They had all known they might not have been as friendly to Y/n as they could have been, but surely she wouldn’t actually go and become a villain. Would she..? “Oh don’t act all surprised! You should have seen it coming with the way you all treated her. Pushed her to the side like she was nothing!” Beyond his own control, tears began to fall down his face making the unstable teenager’s emotions run even more wild. “Where is she? We have to go get her, -“ Bakugo cut his teacher off with a dark chuckle, “Don’t you get it? She’s not coming back. She’s joined them for good,   she’s not coming back. And you all have yourselves to thank for that.” The room remained silent, no one daring to speak a word. (So you know, the fight with all for one and all might still happened because *cough cough* my convenience *cough cough*)

*Back to base*

Shigaraki let Y/n out of the restraints and introduced her to the other members. “You already know me and Kurogiri, so now, you need to know the others. The burnt looking one is Dabi,” He pointed towards Dabi who nodded once in your direction, “But he’s a jerk so I’d recommend staying away from him” Dabi only nodded in agreement and went to the bar, getting a drink from Kurogiri. “The crazy looking one over there is Toga, try not to be alone in a room with her though, she’s prone to stabbing people who let their guard down.” Said girl giggled and bounced over to the two, “Hi! I’m Himiko Toga! But you can call me Toga. We’re going to be best friends I just know it!~” You smiled at her and giggled, nodding your head at the younger girl, who really wasn’t much younger than you. “That fellow over there is twice, don’t take much of what he says to heart.” You looked at him questionably until the man himself walked over and introduced himself, “Hey there pretty lady! It’s super nice to meet you!” You smiled at him, not understanding what Tomura had sai- “No it isn’t.” Ohhh okay. “And the magician and lizard looking guys are Mr. Compress and Spinner. And Magne is over there too.” You got a wave from Magne, a bow from Mr. Compress and a curt nod from Spinner. You smiled and waved to all of them. “Sorry to interrupt sir, but I’m sure Ms. L/n is tired, perhaps you would like to show her to her room?” Kurogiri looked at the young leader, smirking, and even though he couldn’t see it, Shigaraki knew it was there. Shigaraki sent a glare to the warp man before nodding and turning to Y/n, “Follow me, I’ll show you around, and then I’ll take you to your room.” You nodded and followed him. He showed you the base, before you two made your way to your room. “Here we are, Toga should have left you some clothes to sleep in, tomorrow we’ll get you some new ones.” Y/n looked at the young leader and smiled. “Thank you.” Tomura raised an eyebrow and looked at her. “For what?” “For taking me in…I’ve never really…belonged anywhere, but I already feel like I belong here, so thank you.” She smiled at him again, and he looked away, hand coming up to rub his neck. “Its nothing…um, I’ll see you tomorrow.” She nodded, “I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight.” “Night.” She smiled once again and went into her room, closing the door behind her. Shigaraki was lost in his own thoughts as he walked back to the bar. ‘night’? What an idiot…she probably thinks we’re stupid now…dang it..why do I have to be so bad at anything social?!He walked into the bar, sitting in the stool next to Dabi and asked Kurogiri for a drink. “So Handyman, how was your little date?” Dabi teased him. “Shut up ashtray, and it wasn’t a date. I was just doing what any decent leader would do. Not like you’d know anything about that.” Dabi feigned hurt and let out an ‘ouch’ and before Shigaraki could stop it, Toga came running over. “Date!?! You never told me anything about a date!!” Shigaraki shook the teenager off and glared at the smirking Dabi. “Now, now Toga. Shigaraki and Y/n are not dating, lets not jump to conclusions.” Toga whined. “Thank you Kurogiri.” Shigaraki said, sighing at someone who understood- “At least not yet.” Shigaraki could feel his cheeks heat up as he sent a glare to him. “Buuuut you totally should!! *GASP* You two will be my new favorite ship!! Behind Ryushot of course, and me and Dabi.” Dabi flicked her forehead with a ‘don’t even think about it’ and she whined even more. Shigaraki let his forehead fall to the bar, ordering another drink from Kurogiri. “Won’t all of you shut up? She and I aren’t dating, and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t like me like that anyways.” All three of them just rolled their eyes. Dabi went off to his room to sleep, and Kurogiri sent Toga to her room since it was past her bedtime. Leaving the young boss and his closest friend/caretaker. “Give it time Shigaraki. I think you’ll find she feels differently then what you may have originally believed.” Shigaraki only made a ‘Hm’ noise before getting up, finishing his drink and heading off to his room. “Thanks…for the advice and stuff.” Shigaraki said, making Kurogiri happily smile and nod his head. Shigaraki then went to his own room and flopped onto his bed, falling asleep fairly quickly. He woke up the next morning, stretched and got dressed, walking over to your room to wake you up so the two of you could go shopping. He knocked on your door and he heard a quiet ‘coming’ before he heard footsteps and the door opening. You yawned before rubbing your eyes and finally waking up enough to see you was at your door. After you saw it was Shigaraki you shot awake. “Good morning! Can I help you?” You had noticed his cheeks seemed a little red, and he was looking away. You were really confused for a second. “Just get dressed. We’re going to the mall to get you some new clothes remember?” You made a ‘Ohhh’ sound before nodding. “Okay, just give me five minutes.” He nodded and turned around, walking towards the bar area. You stood there confused for a second before you shut you door, grabbed the outfit Toga had left for you before walking into the bathroom. As soon as you went to get dressed you realized why he might have gone red in the face…

*Flashback to last night*

‘Goodnight’? How dumb are you! He probably thinks we’re really weird now…good going Y/n...Y/n walked over to her bed to change into the outfit Toga had left her…only to realize it wasn’t an ‘outfit’ at all. All that was there was a black oversized t-shirt that definitely didn’t belong to her. She shrugged and put it on, and since she had been in her hero costume, she didn’t have any shorts or anything to wear with it, but it didn’t matter. It’s not like anyone would be seeing her anyways.

*End of Flashback*

So that’s why his face was red…oops. Taking another look at the t-shirt you realized who’s t-shirt it might have been. Making your own face become hot at the thought of it. You did your best to ignore your heated face and the obvious butterflies in her stomach and put on the outfit Toga had gotten for her. A cropped black hoodie with white decals and mid rise black ripped skinny jeans, along with black and white vans and a white baseball cap to hide her hair. You exited the bathroom and room and met Shigaraki in the hallway, who was just wearing the usual black jeans with a black hoodie, and red shoes. But, no father. Which you were thankful for since you got to see his face. You two quickly ate breakfast, and left the hideout, making your way to the mall. The walk was fairly silent, until he broke the tense atmosphere. “Why did you say yes?” He had been wondering this since yesterday. Y/n sighed, looking up to the blue sky in thought, before directing her attention back to the young man. “I guess…I just needed a place to fit in…a place to be myself. I’ve never really ever…fit in anywhere. And because of my quirk, people always assumed I was a villain, even though I tried so hard to be a hero.” She looked away and sadly looked at the ground. “So when you made the offer, I realized being a villain was what I was meant to be all along.  It was where I was meant to be.” She looked up to him and offered a small smile, to which he returned a small one of his own. “I honestly didn’t think you would accept it. I thought you’d say no, ‘I’ll never join’ and all that crap.” It was his turn to look away, “But, I’m glad you joined…” Y/n felt the familiar heat in her cheeks return as she sheepishly looked away. The rest of the walk was filled with nice chit-chat as the two got to know each other better. Soon after they got to the mall and started getting all of the essentials. After they were done, they returned to the base, shopping bags in hand and it being extremely late. Over the course of the 9 hours or so they had spent together, the two had naturally been drawn to the other, being able to have smooth conversations and exchanging stories between the two. “Why would you do that?!” Y/n asked as she broke out into yet another fit of laughter. “He broke my game, so I put bleach in his shampoo, and pink hair dye in his conditioner. I really don’t see what’s so bad about his punishment. I had to go a week without playing my game.” “Wait- wait. He broke your game.” Shigaraki nodded. “On accident.” “Yet to be proven, but its unlikely” “So you tricked him into P E R M A M E N T L Y dying his hair pink!?” He pretended to be offended, but that was to hide the smile that was making its way to the surface, having heard her laugh for the first time today and learning more about the girl, he couldn’t help but fall more and more in love with her, and she was falling just as fast. “I really don’t see what you find so wrong with it, Y/n. Besides, he just dyed his hair back. He dyes his hair black anyways.” Y/n made a hum noise in agreement. “I thought he might have.” Shigaraki shrugged, “Not like I can judge, I wear a hand on my face.” Y/n giggled, making him smile. “Yeah, but I think you look cool.” Y/n gave him a cheeky smile. “The only not-cool part is that I can’t see your face.” He scoffed, “Yeah right. You do see me. Right?” Y/n stopped walking and looked him in the eye. “Yup.” She started walking, but paused to turn her head and look him in the eye once again. “Besides, I happen to think you’re really cute. Hand, or no hand.” She turned her head once again and started walking, leaving an utterly baffled Shigaraki. He quickly shook his head and speed walked to catch up to her. “Thank you…no one’s ever…said that to me before…” Y/n looked at him concerned. “Really?” He just nodded before shrugging his shoulders. “Usually they say I’m the opposite of what you called me.” Y/n only shook her head. “Well, don’t listen to them. Anyone who would say that to another human being is just insecure and stupid. Not to mention they’re very wrong.” They only walked another block or so before they were back at the base. Shigaraki and Y/n entered the bar, ignoring the expecting gazes of their comrades before making their way to Y/n’s room, where he set the bags down and walked out of her door, he was about to exit when he suddenly got a hit by a huge wave of courage. “Hey Y/n?” She turned from what she was doing and looked at him, slightly tilting her head to the side. “What is it?” “Would you like to…go on a date with me…sometime?” Y/n’s face lit up and she smiled widely before happily nodding her head. “Yes! I-I mean, I’d love to, Tomura.” He smiled, also breathing out a sigh of relief. “Great, does this Friday work? At like, I don’t know, 5 or something?” “Sounds good to me~” “Alright, uh, night, I’ll see you tomorrow I guess.” Y/n quickly made her way over to Tomura, gave him a small kiss on the cheek and, “I’ll see you tomorrow Tomura, goodnight.” His face went red before smiling, nodding his head and leaving Y/n’s room, walking to the bar to be met with an expecting Kurogiri, Toga and Dabi. He sat down, ordered his usual and took a sip, ignoring the questioning gazes of his comrades. “So…?” Asked Toga. “So..? What?” She groaned “So what with you and Y/n!?!” His fac went ever so slightly red. “We talked, got stuff and left. Not much else happened.” He finished off his drink, handing the drink to Kurogiri, who was also hoping SOMETHING good had come out of it. He walked to the door, “So you’re tellin me, you spent all day with the girl and absolutely NOTHING happened between you two?” Dabi asked. Shigaraki got to the door, opened it and stopped. Turning around to face the three. “Well, I have a date on Friday. Goodnight.” Before he could endure Toga’s squealing, he shut the door and made his way to his bedroom, crashing on his bed, undoubtedly excited for his first date with the woman of his dreams.

[popculturebuffet]

The Color of Friendship Review (Commissioned by WeirdKev27): A World of People

Happy Black History Month! Another day, another comission from longtime supporter of the blog Weird Kev and like a good chunk of his-non duck asks, he asked me for something outside my usual wheelhouse. In the past this has meant an episode of the short lived fox show whoops in which we found out how Santa dealt with the end of the world, didn’t know how doors worked, and interacted with some characters so thin you could remake the episode with just Mick Foley in a santa suit and carboard cutouts playing the characters lines and it’d be about the same, and earlier this month Sorry Wrong Meeting, an episode of a sitcom i’d never seen an episode of the Jeffersons about the KKK. So unsuprisingly his big comission for Black History Month was the 2000 Disney Channel Original Movie, The Color of Friendship. 

I couldn’t find much on the making of the film, which dosen’t entirely suprise me as at the time this came out, Disney was releasing around 10 a year and whlie that stopped shortly, it still was a whopping 6 a year for some time, ocasionally more ocasionaly less, slowly dwindling down to the two of year we have now. Though it’s still an ongoing concern and has been since the channel started in 83, closing in on 40 years ago, so it’s still impressive Disney hasn’t just outright phased them out. Then again the popular ones make them a lot of money and some like High School Musical and the Descendants Trilogies have broken out so big they’ve lead to spinoff books, tv series in the latter’s case, and all that stuff making them money hand over fist. So making some cheap movies that MIGHT end up making them rich and usually star people that are already on shows they have or were at one point is a no loose proposition, especially now they add an extra release to the Disney Plus callender twice a year. And while the library has it’s gaps and i’ve griped about them enough.. I will say it’s stil la damn good library and it’s nice to be able to watch a film like this, as the dvd was LONG out of print and likely horribly expensive, and while renting it was an option, it would’ve chipped into what I got commissioned for the film. Still would’ve done it it just would’ve sucked to loose money on the deal, if only two bucks, for something I had no control over. Still would do that over adding it onto the comission fee. Point is stuff that’s not been easy to get for some time is now just a few clicks or taps of the remote away, and having the VAST majority of disney’s long and storied history from theatrical to dcom to weird tv oddities like.. this thing

I don’t know what Fuzzbucket is, and frankly I don’t want to know.. I mean I will for a comission or something but i’m not going to go out of my way to find out what that thing is and if it can give me scabies through a telvision screen despite being fictional and proabably long dead. At least I tell myself it’s long dead so ic an sleep at night without worrying about that thing breaking into my house and watchnig me while I sleep changing “SOON JACOB, SOON”. So yeah while you’ll hear me complain about the gaps in DIsney Plus’ library a lot on this blog. 

I will give credit where it’s due, and what is on there is pretty expansive and now includes the Muppet Show, which I give them full credit for as that probably took a LOT of work and money to make happen. Plus WandaVision is fucking fantastic, especially now i’m finally all caught up. 

But while as I said I couldn’t find much on the making of the film I did find a bit on it’s inspiration: It was inspried by a short story wrtten by Piper Dellums, a writer, poet and activist, and daughter of Ron Dellums. Dellums is a notable congressman who fought against apartheid and constantly fought for a bill to divest from South Africa, something that SHOCKINGLY, Ronald Regan tried to veto because he was a racist disney anamatronic what did you expect, and all in all seemed pretty awesome. He sued Bush SR to try and prevent Desert Storm, in his earliest days in office had an exibit near his phsyical office of vietnam war crimes to try and hold them acountable and in general seems to be a fascenating, hardworking man who constantly and religiously fought for the people and against war. 

The story was a real life account of the Piper’s experince housing a South African Student, Marie, who the Delums Family expected to be black.. but turned out ot be white. During Apartheid, south africas racist as hell and horrifying goverment system of segregation that wasn’t abolished till the 90′s. As expected she was racist, but as a proudct of the horribly racist country she came from and much like with her fictional counterpart in this film, slowly grew to realize how fucked up her homeland was and by the time she went back, became an activist She and Piper were very close but her story ends tragically as eventually Piper stopped hearing from her after she was arrested and despite attempts to talk to her.. it was clear by the silence, and by the fact Piper visited South Africa post-aparthied to help and likely would’ve seen her.. that she was likely quitely killed by the state. But her story thankfully lives on, so join me under the cut to see how a 20 year old disney movie aired during black history month handles this difficult real life story, racisim and the 70′s. 

The Cast: Quick bit about the cast since I usually do this for first episodes of an animated show and wish i’d done so for my other film reviews so far. Though to keep things simple, i’m only doing the main four cast members, especailly since frankly outside of Mahree’s parents the rest are more supporting roles that don’t have a lot of screen time and in hte case of the south african embassy workers, are just there to be racist card board cutout villians.  Piper, who keeps her name from real life is played by Shadia Simmons, who eventually retired from acting to become a High School and Acting Teacher. During her career she was in a bunch of Disney Channel Original Movies, including the first two Zenon Movies, and was in a major role in a bunch of live action childrens shows: I Was A Sizth Grade Alien, Strange Days at Blake Holsely High, and Life with Derek, the only one of which i’ve seen and even then barely so I can’t comment on the rest of her work. Simmons does a decent job in the film, and does shine in the more dramtic scenes, not the best part of it but certainly not bad at all. 

Lindsay Haun plays Mahree, and had more of an acting career after this one, having a small recurring role on True Blood as Hadley, while also directing some smaller films. Haun is easily one of the two highlights of the movie and the best of the two main tween actresses by a mile. More on that in a bit. 

Next we have Carl Fucking Lumbly as Congressman Ron Dellums. Carl has had a long and storied career and the fucking is because of what I best know him from: Playing the Martian Manhunter Jon Jonzz on Justice League. And let me not undersell it: his version of Jon is waht made me LOVE the character, still do to this day, being the first time I encountered any version of Jon and the one I still love the most, a stoic man who tries to adapt to a world he feels he can never be a part of, adding shades to his stitled demeanour to show off his emtitons and in general being the heart and soul of what made this verison work and made me love the character with his performance. He’s done other stuff too including Cagney and Lacey, Doctor Sleepand what have you.. but he’ll always be Jonn to me and that’s not a bad thing in the slightest. Unsuprisingly he’s the other standout here. 

Finally we have Penny Johnson as Ron’s wife and Piper’s Mother Roscoe,  who played Captain Sisko’s love intrest on Deep Space 9 and was one of the leads on castle. Haven’t seen either of those but she does seem awesome and does a terrific job here. 

Moving on to the film itself.. it’s really fantastic. It has some awkwardness and goofy bollocks as you’d expect from a disney channel original movie in 2000, but it handles a really heavy subject, race relations, gracefully and clearly with the goal of educating an audience with a lot of white kids in it about race. So I can praise what it does right i’m going to be handling the parts that are a bit wobbly first so I can get to the good stuff

Awkwardness and Goofy Bollocks:

First the out and out criticism: The films TV Movie roots show in places, as this film lacks the polish these films would have later this decade, with the film barely having an opening title sequence and just sorta throwing you in, though to their credit it does open with the utterly awesome Back in Love Again, because 70′s. 

That slaps and that’s an undeniable fact. What’s also an undenaible fact is the film dosen’t try the hardest to be very 70′s in it’s sets and what not, though it does do it a little with the clothes and that not being the case with Mahree is intentional, as her family while wealthy is from another culture and one literally and metaphorically behind the times. 

I will also say Shadia Simmons is a decent actress, but is mildly weak in comparison to the other 3 in the leads, but its more the result of putting a pretty standard child sitcom actress up against two experinced actors who know what their doing and one whose about as experinced as her, but simply has a LOT to work with and goes above and beyond. It’s less that she’s bad and more that she’s simply not as good as what’s around her, and in general I tend to go easier on child actors since it’s not an easy job for a grown adult much less a teenager, it’s very pressurey and there’s a reason a LOT of them bottom out as they get older or retire all together. 

I will say though that Piper’s brothers are awful and I feel are only there because she actually had brothers. The actors try, i’m not pinning this on them but writing wise their just two little shits who contirbute ntohing of value to any scene their in, being generally way to young to get into the heavy topic at hand, and mostly being there for unfunny shneanigans. They aren’t in the film too much otherwise they might’ve ruined it for me, but if Shadia struggles a bit agianst sttronge perofrmances imagine who younger actors with the stage direction “Be the bane of my existence” and you’ll MAYBE see the problem. 

The film also loves cheesy time passing montages, including an actual factual shopping montage, easily the goofiest, but it’s something you’d expect from a dcom and helps lighten the mood. That’s a running theme outside the brothers there really isn’t anything too silly.. until the last act.  See in the last act, the film tackles the real life death of Steve Biko, a South African activist against apartheid who was captured by the state and very transparently murdered in jail. with the government claming he killed himself which no one bought because why would they, and it sparked riots worldwide and finally got the US to take Apartheid seriously according to the film. Though as I mentioned earlier Regan did not in case you thought the republican party being terrible and deeply racist was a brand new thing. It was not. Guys like Tucker Carlson and Former President Trump are a symptom, not the disease.. though they certainly look and feel like some form of plauge. Point is Mahree is breifly taken by the embassy.. whose staff who take her feel like the Disney Channel Original Movie form of Nazi’s. The heavy accents, the way they compose themselves... I half expect an elderly indiana jones to show up to whip the piss out of them. And dont’ get me wrong, the only diffrence between these pricks and a nazi is the fact they don’t call themselves nazis, this isn’t a nuanced horrifying racist to be scared of but a saturday morning cartoon version. 

While  white supremacists in real life can be cartoonishly evil, again see trump and carlson, it does kind of undercut the seriousness and nuance of things to have your villians be cold, cackling cutouts who are 5 seconds away from saying “You are part of the rebel alliance and a traitor take her away” to our heroine, especailly since Mahree’s reaction to being taken away and confusion at everything and at being treated like a prisoner by her own people are very painful and very well acted.   I do get showing them as monsters, because they were, but given Mahree’s father who as a south african police man was DEFINTELY ONE and even outside his racisim doubts and downtalks his own daughter, still feels like an actual person, if not a GOOD person, they could’ve done better and did in the same film. 

But that stuff aside.. I really can’t find much that’s honestly that silly or bad and as you can tell what little I did was more a product of being a tv movie. So now i’ve got the negatives out of the way

This Film Is Pretty Good: It truly is, for a lot of reasons. But the biggest is the nuance. It could’ve been easy to just have Maree as some racist kid needing to learn a lesson who was openly cruel and easy to jeer at.. but the film went iwth the reality: that she was instead an extremley privlaged and insulated girl who simply NEVER knew better. To her her very racist and segregated world is just the way the world worked for her and she dosen’t even consider when the Dellums come to pick her up minus Ron these aren’t servants and her own servant’s words fall on deaf ears, as the poor woman tries to make it clear how miserable her life is and how much she deseprately wants this child to do better. Marhee is never actively malicious even when, due to the shock of her all black host family, she baricades herself in Piper’s room. It’s obnoxious sure and CERTAINLY hurtful and the film makes no bones about it and Piper rightfully calls her out on it. The film dosen’t let her get away with any intetnional racisim like that and after Piper calls her out, she realizes she’s been selifsh and makes a genuine effort. And even then the film makes a good choice in not making it an easy road to realization. Mahree makes a genuine effort in the first place not because of any big revelation or anything, but because she simply hears her dad in her head telling her she’d give up after a week and that, coupled with Piper’s words, makes her see herself as a selfish brat. Even after she’s floored by a mall where black and white people stand side by side aand casually talks about horrors like ID Cards like i’ts a GOOD thing, because that’s what she’s been taught by her dad. That black people are happy being told where they can and can’t go when no they weren’t they simply had no chocie in the matter. And while we do see early on when an asshole at a restraunt assaults a waiter for an accident that Mahree clearly isn’t okay with the more horrifying side of things, she still dosen’t quite grasp WHY that happened, simply that it’s something that does reguarly she dosen’t like. It’s excellently, and unsuprisingly called back when they visit an ice cream place in the states and something similar happens.. but the guy takes it in stride, even ordering a sundae, to Maree’s confusion. 

It’s what makes the film work and all the more striking: As Roscoe makes clear to Ron, whose admant about nto having a racist in the house, this is not her fault. While the film makes it clear Mahree’s behavior at first was not okay and her prejudiece is not okay, it also makes it VERY clear she’s a product of a terrible system and terrible parenting from people who choose to benneift from the system instead of challenge it. She’s only like this because she hasn’t had a reason to ever think diffrent and just took her parents at face value and no mater the country, this is something that sadly happens far too often: Someone hating a group or thinking discrimination is okay because that’s how they were taught and that’s all they’ve known and the only way to change that is to challenge that opinon and try to get them to have some empathy and see the other way and as this film shows it’s a struggle.. and at the end of the day while the Dellums make a concentrated effort, Maree is the one who has to realize what her parents taught her is bad and her country is inherently flawed and NEEDS to change, just like ours did, and STILL badly needs to. 

And that’s where the nuance kicks in as the good congressman is understandable in not wanting a racist in his house... but his wife is equally right that Maree is not some easy symbol of his hatred towards south africa, but a girl who grew up knowing nothing more than the fucked up system, and eventually he comes around, realizing , especially after she apologizes for him even thinking she’d use a racial slur on piper after a very powerful conversation with the two and piper accidently saying she used the South African N Word, almost accidently getting her friend thrown out, that she simply hasn’t been outside her shell and gently guides her to keep reading roots, even letting her take it with her if she wants back home. The film shows the full pain of the situation  but also shows change is posisble. Again it’s not easy, Mahree has a panic attack waiting in an almost all black line in school and it’s shown to be as horrible a thought as it is., but she DOES change and it comes off as real, as someone realizing the system they grew up with is broken and needs to be fixed and she can’t just sit back and let it. 

What makes this happen, besides the aformentioned kidnapping by saturday morning cartoon racists, is Piper confronting her after a friend from south africa forces Piper to acccept that while her and Mahree are friends, Mahree might not seee her as equal and Piper in turn in a heated argument and easily Simmons best performance of the film, that things are broken and wrong and that her “firend”, her nanny/servant back home, is not happy. It leaves Mahree crying and Ron telling her the honest truth: Change was, and again still is but this was 2000 and while we should’ve had this talk disney channel wasn’t ready for it, needed to make things better here.. and tha’ts what south african’s doing> Fighting for equal rights at last. It’s some powerful, heavy as hell stuff you woudln’t expect from a line of movie that also include a robot house, before that was an actual thing, a merMAN dad MerMan, a boy slowly turning into a leprechaun, and at least two diffrent movies centering around wacky kidnappings. It’s a nuanced and hard look at race, as hard as late 90′s jsut turned into the 2000′s disney could get mind, aimed at kids and the film, whiel stilted really has my utter praise. It’s genuinely moving, well acted and teaches a valuable message that while not eveyrone can change.. it dosen’t hurt to try and help them, as well as the equal message that change start with YOU. someone has to WANT to be better and learn and actually let other people in to help them. And I wont’ lie and say this is the most naunced or subtle film.. at time’s it’s about as subtle as a ralph wiggum throught he window

But sometimes you don’t need to be. It also taught kids about apartheid, not me as I barely saw the film, but many learned of something ghoulsih that had barely ended at the time of the film’s release, something I only learned about as a teen via bloom county and a diffrent world, which has an utterly awesome apartheid episode “A World Alike”. Seriously check it out if you have prime, as it shows that america isn’t the only country with a deep history of ingraned racisim. And was it an easy way to have an anti racisim narriative without fully confronting america’s own racist history? Yup. Just.. yup. Can I blame Disney Channel for it when they clearly, while equipped to tackle racisim, weren’t ready to tackle something that dense or heavy, and while Proud Family later would there’s a diffrence between a 20 minute one off episode of a cartoon and 90 minutes of film? Yeah. For what it is and for what the time period is, I applaud this film taking on such a heavy topic with grace. Some goofyiness here and there yes and some lack of subtly.. but still grace. For what it is is, it’s pretty good and i hope to show it to my nieces one day soon. It has i’ts heart in the right place and thus has a place in my heart. See you next rainbow. 

[davalynbaker]

racist as f*ck (se01-ep03)

Here we are, back at it again. Episode three. Advanced apologies because this summer has been a doozy. I lost my great-grandmother in June (every day without her feels surreal) and after some inner debate against that good old IMPOSTER SYNDROME, I went back to school to finish getting my bachelor degree.

The adventure through school is a blog post for another day but I’m here to talk about Insecure so let’s get to that.

This episode was written by Dayna Lynne North and directed by Melina Matsoukas.

Music used in the episode here.

Issa goes back home but her reunion with Lawrence is a series of very awkward events. They haven’t worked through anything! The whole issue throughout this entire season is how incredibly shitty these two are when it comes to communication. I swear to god, watching them interact with each other was stressing me out.

In the middle of all this, Issa and Lawrence are suffering with work woes. Lawrence’s head hunter basically tells him that he needs to dial it back even though the advice falls on his stubborn and deaf ears. Meanwhile, Issa walks in on a group conversation (Freida included) about her that’s clearly about her.

“They’re having secret white meetings and they’re sending secret white emails.”

There isn’t one black woman that has worked in a predominantly white space that’s walked around with a scarlet letter tattooed on their forehead after making one mistake while their white coworkers are given several chances for improvement. It’s just one of the many complexities of systemic racism in the workplace. 

What else is new?

At home, Issa explains her frustrations to Lawrence but he gives her the generic, “You have to work twice as hard to prove them wrong.” It’s not very supportive and when he turns around and explains to Issa about his own struggles with the head hunter, he is met with indifference. Issa absolutely should have listened to him because his feelings are also valid but every day, it’s the same conversation about the same damn problem. Lawrence, need to get over this shit and get a fucking job.

Nobody wants to choose a job that they feel will set them back a few paces. I never planned to do admin work in my thirties either but bills need to be paid. Issa tells him that she agrees with the head hunter and Lawrence doesn’t give much push back. I’m sure at this moment, he feels guilty for not offering the emotional and financial support that Issa needs but Issa also could have been a more supportive partner in this situation. There’s nothing more frustrating in the world than knowing you are qualified and will work hard for these jobs, only to be met with so many dead ends. That couldn’t be easy for Lawrence. (I can’t believe I’m actually defending him)

Trying to make it work, Lawrence offers to get a bite to eat but Isssa declines and goes off to have dinner with Molly.

After expressing her Lawrence woes, Molly gives Issa the “Love is a two way street” speech and Issa is not in the mood to hear that. Molly made a lot of sense in that situation but don’t worry, that’s the last time I’ll be saying that in this update.

Later, Molly and Issa join a group of friends and we meet the rest of the quartet: Tiffany (Amanda Seales) (along with her husband Derek [Wade Allain-Marcus]) and Kelli (Natasha Rothwell). In short, Tiffany is the bougie one and Kelli is the horny one. Not much of that changes until the most current season when Tiffany is given a really great storyline. Kelli, not so much.

Molly is still trying to figure out how she feels about Jered, so she invites him to this friend circle so everyone can also gage their opinions of him. They immediately fall in love with him. He’s charismatic and easy-going while also doting on Molly. But then she finds out that he’s never been to college and suddenly shifts her views on pursuing a relationship with him.

We’re only three episodes in and I’m already tired.

The next day, Issa has a beach day for the kids. One of my favorite scenes in this episode is when the kids replace “bitch” with “beach” because kids are little shits BUT THEY’RE JUST SO FUNNY. Quick shout out to Too $hort as one of the kids goes, “What’s my favorite word? BEACH!” That got a good laugh out of me.  Her beach day is successful and she basically proves her racist white coworkers wrong and gets an apology from Frieda in the process.

As Issa is at beach day, Lawrence visits his favorite bank teller, who I lovingly coined Titty Tasha. No, I’m serious. Tasha is fine as hell. Lawrence laments to her about finding a job or lack thereof, but Tasha boosts him and strokes his ego which is really all he wanted from Issa. 

But also, like I said, Tasha has big boobs and Lawrence may think he’s just being friendly but he’s not fooling me. He’s not fooling anybody with enough sense to know what his aim is. He even purposely lets someone skip him in the line so he can speak to Tasha. 

Men are funny.

While Issa is succeeding at beach day and Lawrence is subconsciously flirting with Tasha, Molly is harassing her black coworker. I mean, she wasn’t necessarily harassing the poor woman but the fact that she stayed quiet when Rashida or “Da Da” as she liked being called was introduced and her white coworker said he didn’t see color, just someone that was going to be getting her coffee makes this even more strange. 

Molly represents a very particular kind of elite black person and they always get on my nerves. I’ve had bosses like this, teachers and principals, classmates, family members… you name it. They hide behind these weird politics and ideals of how black people are supposed to behave around white folks all in the name of, “can’t let them see us being too authentic.” Girl, fuck these white people. Your white coworkers get raises and praise for doing half the work you do and you’re worried about a black girl that refuses to code switch to get ahead? Sounds like jealousy to me. 

Anyway, Da Da rightfully tells her off and Molly doesn’t take that as a moment to reflect but only to be self-righteous. This could have possibly marked the beginning of my dislike for this character, to be honest.

Also, seeming to just not “get it,” Molly gets accepted into the elite Black People Meet website called “The League” and calls Issa to boast about it. Issa wonders why she is still doing this after she spent a whole ass night trying to see how her closest friends felt about Jered. Molly’s reasoning is that The League has a better group of black men to date since Jered didn’t go to college. 

And yes, we know that’s a stupid reason but there’s a deeper layer of self-sabotage here concerning Molly. 

Issa basically points out how ridiculous this is, but Molly just doesn’t think Issa gets it. Or at least, Molly doesn’t want to hear Issa be honest with her. So she goes on her date but just before she heads inside, she tells Jered she just wants to be friends. Molly is counting a chicken before the egg hatches - which is just one of the many characteristics given to her. No, I don’t like Molly but I think it’s a testament to great writing that they do something so simple with this character because it will be something that appears in future episodes.

After her successful beach day, Issa comes home to find Lawrence fixing dinner but she’s got takeout in her hands. Damn, you guys can’t even properly communicate about dinner. 

Issa puts the dinner away with some frustration but chooses to eat the dinner that Lawrence prepared on the couch. This very obviously pisses Lawrence off because they really need to have a talk about her running away and him being a bum, so an argument ensues. Issa spills food on the couch and Lawrence uses the couch as a symbolism for the giant ass stain in their relationship. He blurts out that he’s trying and she’s not supporting and Issa has a moment of realization after a montage of when they first purchased the couch (and were happy) up to the present (when they are not) while Mocky’s “Weather the Storm” plays on. God, this scene was so good because we see this couple, who once loved each other so much, slowly fall apart as the singer’s haunting voice floats from scene to scene.

Issa tells Lawrence that she’s sorry and she is going to try and do better while Lawrence admits his faults and agrees. They toss out the couch and buy a new one because you know, symbolism and all.

New couch! New beginnings!

Or something like that…

In the meantime, I’ll be back with another recap and discussion of the episode!

[juleschurchill]

TASK 009 >>> questionnaire

What are your character’s nicknames, if any?

Contrary to popular belief, “ J u l e s ” is in fact, her given name. 

Not Julia, Juliet, Julianne — it’s just Jules. ( after the author of an crumbling, unreadable old book her father has had in his possession since he was a boy. The story inside is worn and warped by war and age, but the cover is still clear: TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA by JULES VERNE. 

It was an impossible, unthinkable feat now, to travel that far under. Unimaginable. But Aaron Churchill wanted his daughter to do impossible things.) 

She wouldn’t go by Jules if it weren’t her actual, given name — nicknames aren’t exactly professional. But at home it’s fine — she’s called Jule-bug, J, Jul, and a rather ridiculous collection of petnames, courtesy of her father.

Do they have any bad habits?

Her bluntness is a rude habit, one her mother  e n d l e s s l y  scolded her on. Be nice, Jules! Be polite, Jules!  ( But Jules doesn’t like being a liar. She  likes telling the truth, the brutal, boring, terrible truth. Is that so bad?) With that comes her habit of being judgmental, of thinking she’s the one who has it all figured out, the only one who understands anything. 

(Doesn’t help that so far in her life, she hasn’t exactly been proven wrong.)

Do they have any tattoos? If not, would they want one?

Absolutely not, tattoos are for vagrants and capitolites, and the Churchills don’t have a particularly high opinion of either group. Nothing is that important that it needs to be permanent, anyway. 

Do they have any scars? How did they get them?

Jules is lucky insofar that the only scars she has is from a childhood well-lived. There’s remnants of scraped knees from tripping playing tag, a burn behind her ear from letting her little sister straighten her hair. 

But nothing traumatic, nothing awful, nothing bad. 

Not yet.

How do they dress most of the time?

( ooc ; Do you know how, in the Sound of Music, the captain has his seven children wear literal uniforms before Maria comes?

                                                      ...Yeah. Her dad was like that.)

Her clothes are high-quality, as fits one of the richer families in District Seven, but not ostentatious. She’s never casual — her wardrobe had a wide array of  blouses and sweaters and skirts and corduroys, but no jeans, no sweatpants, no t-shirts. If it’s not appropriate for Sunday Mass, Jules Churchill doesn’t wear it. 

What words or phrases do they use frequently?

More than phrases, Jules has a distinct style of speaking — she repeats things for emphasize, instead of saying things like “very,” she says “this is bad, bad, bad, “or I love love love this dress.” 

Also, notably, Jules rarely swears unless she’s in extreme circumstances. It’s not very proper.

If anyone, who do they trust to protect them?

Short list: Her dad, only her Dad.  She trusts the other members of her family, but when it comes to protection, only one person could do it, and that is Aaron Churchill. She very much views him as her one and only protector, her guardian against all things. 

(And he would say the same thing. The fact that he can’t possibly protect Jules in the Hunger Games in any discernible way — it eats the man alive. He’s supposed to be her protector, he’s supposed to take care of her, and he can’t, can’t can’t. 

What is the point of power if you cannot protect your little girl?)

Are they argumentative or do they avoid conflict?

Depends on who you are. Do you have something Jules wants, a position or authority? She can play the yes-man all you like. But if Jules decides you’re not worth it, get ready to hear her monolingual on how incredibly wrong, wrong, wrong you are.

Did they have any role models growing up other than their parents?

No. Only Dad. No one outside of the family really mattered.

When was the time when they were the most frightened?

...Does this very moment count? Jules trusts herself, trusts her instincts, but she’s also terrified every waking moment of the games. From the moment her name was called out in the city square, every moment has been more terrifying than the last.

(Jules doesn’t want to die, her entire life so far has been planning from the future, they cannot take that away from her. If there’s no future, there was no point to any of it at all. 

That can’t be the story. 

                                    I want a different story!)

When was the time when they were the happiest?

Jules Churchill, age ten, the sort of age where everything is wrong with you and the world is against everything you do. Despite fate and biology and puberty working against her, Jules is successful, well-liked, the darling of her teachers. So much so, in fact, one of her teacher’s tells her: 

“Jules Churchill, you truly are your father’s daughter.”

She ran straight to City Hall after school, just so he could tell them, as she stood panting, red-faced in her father’s office, he simply laughed. 

“Jules, we already knew that. It’s clear to anyone who meets you that you’re mine.”

What is their most embarrassing moment?

After she turned fifteen, her father occasionally brought her to city hall for the day to shadow him. At fifteen, Jules thought she knew everything about the world, and acted as such to peacekeepers, her father’s staff, and plenty of other high-ranking officials. 

The chewing-out by her father midway through the day made it clear that she was not as smart as she seemed. Not yet, anyway.

Are they optimistic or pessimistic?

Pessimistic about the world, but optimistic about her own prospects in it. Jules is very much aware that the world she lives in is a cruel, ugly, unforgiving and unwelcoming place. But she also has the deeply-held belief that she can overcome that if she’s smart enough, if she works hard enough. 

(I wish that counted for something. I wish it counted for anything at all.)

What is their most treasured possession?

Her father own a bronze pocket-watch of incredibly old age, put together before the dark days. She has always, always, always wanted it, always made comments about how she hopes someday it will be given to her. It’s an heirloom, a piece of their family that has always been in their family. 

Her father gave it to Jules to have as her token. She intends to return it to him, though.

How do they spend a typical Saturday night?

Not terribly surprising, but Jules was rather popular at her school back in Seven. The wealthy, charming daughter of the Mayor had no trouble finding friends, and as such, if her schedule of studying allowed it, Jules was a regular attendant of District Seven’s house parties, though no, she never partook in any of the more inappropriate activities that defined teenage parties. 

(She just liked dancing.)

What song would you use to describe them?

baobabs by regina spektor

and i wouldn't raise my child inside this city anyway / they grow up too savvy and they grow up too fast / and they know about buying shit and they know about sex / and they know about investment banking and also about brokerage firms / and they know about the numbers and they know about the words / and they know about the bottom line and also about stones / and they know about careers and about the real deals /and they all grow up and become people's people with people skills

but you have tamed me / now you must take me / how am I supposed to be / I don't have my thorns now

Are they introverted or extroverted?

Extroverted, if only through sheer force of will. Jules prides herself on being able to talk to anybody and everybody. Especially in her element (District Seven, with her family, etc), Jules owns the room she goes into, knows how to light up the room she’s in.

Are they organized or messy? 

Organized in terms of her room, messy in terms of her desk. Too many thoughts, too many papers, too many things to keep track of when it came to her brain. Her room, however, is immaculate — clothes arranged by color, nothing on the floor at all.

What do they like about themselves?

To be frank, there’s a lot. Jules is a more than a little bit full herself, if you haven’t noticed yet. 

She loves her brain, her calculating, clever way of thinking her way into and out of every situation she needed to. She knows she’s attractive, though it doesn’t matter all too much to her (who cares if I’m pretty if I fail my finals?!), though it’s certainly a plus. 

She loves where she comes from, her intelligent, ambitious, historic family. She loves her role as the heir apparent of that very family. She loves being Jules Churchill.

How do they relax?

A good book — HISTORY OF PANEM, usually, maybe a folk story or two. Fire roaring in the parlor of her home in Seven, a cup of tea squealing from the kitchen. 

What is their ideal date?

Traditional, traditional, traditional. Wear something nice, take her to dinner, pay for it, and make sure to entertain her with the conversation — if she’s bored, you’re over. 

(also, eating her out afterwards wouldn’t hurt)

Do they want children? Why or why not?

Yes, but that doesn’t exactly mean Jules wants to be a mother. She wants to continue her family line, maybe even have someone love her unconditionally in the way a child does. But raising a child? Changing diapers and feeding and comforting and crying with a child for eighteen-plus some years?

Who had time for that?

Where do they see themselves in five years?

The plan has changed since she was reaped — though her heart can’t fully rule out following in her father’s footsteps, she’s not sure a Victor would even be eligible to be chosen as the mayor. But a Victor has a power all it’s own, probably more so than a mayor — something Jules wants to wield wisely.

What would be their three wishes if they found a genie’s lamp?

To win ( d u h . ) 

For her family to wield power comparable to the snows in the capitol (yeah, something she has seriously thought about) 

For pomegranates to grow in Seven — she tried one here in the capitol, and it is the closest Jules has come to falling in love.

Describe your character sitting in their favorite spot.

See above — the parlor of her home in Seven, with it’s ancient Persian rugs, warm fire-lit lamps, shelf after shelf of books and usually at least one member of her family inside. Add herbal tea for an especially happy Jules.

[coraltae]

Catch for Me Pt. 1

genre: fluff, sports, slice of life, high school au, baseball player au, diamond no ace au

pairing: taehyung x reader (ft. bts and seventeen members)

word count: 3800++

warning: none

author's note: hi everyone, I’m back with another series, which is quite different from The Seven Deadly Sins (TSDS is still my priority). I love sports anime, so I really want to try writing sports au, though I’m not too sure if it turns out to be a complete failure lol. I was trying something new as I was working on this story. Hope you’ll like this one too!

summary: Being a daughter of a former professional baseball player, you had been taught how to play the sport since you were little and you’d grown to love it - a little bit too much, actually. Even if you couldn’t play in official games, you still enjoyed playing catcher for the team’s pitchers. However, it’s not until after meeting a certain pitcher in high school that you finally found someone’s pitches you wanted to catch the most.

Part 1 (on-going)

"Strike! Batter out! Game set! South Korea team wins!"

The second the umpire announced his last judgment of the game, half the spectators in the stadium jumped to their feet and roared in joy at once. Some of them threw their caps up high, some others hugged fellow spectators to celebrate. A lot of them were seen tearing up in happiness.

It's the one and only time South Korea national baseball team won the Baseball World Cup. How you wished you were there in person during the historical moment to watch the game live. Moreover, when your dad was the ace pitcher standing on the mound, throwing the last pitch that struck out USA team's last batter.

"Yes!" you cheered in unison with the crowds on TV as if you were there with them in the bleachers at the same time when in fact, it happened around twenty years ago when Dad was still active as a part of South Korea national baseball team.

Sanghyuk, your one year younger brother, shouted even louder than you while slamming his fist on the dining table excitedly, almost spilling his milk as he did. "Way to go, Dad!"

Your mom emerged from the kitchen with her hands on her hips, looking furious. Glaring at her daughter and son, she approached the dining table and grabbed the remote control to turn it off.

"But Mom," you protested, "we haven't got to the winning ceremony part yet."

Sanghyuk jumped to his feet and attempted to snatch the remote control from Mom only to fail miserably when she shoved it inside her apron's pocket.

"I have nothing against you replaying your dad's game," Mom started fumingly. "But it's not okay if it's going to make you late on your first day of school. Get up and go already! Your dad is going to be late too!"

However, Dad was currently preoccupied with the sports news he's reading that he couldn't hear what his wife was saying. "What? Black Dragon lost again? Just how many losses are we going to have this season? It's our longest losing streak. If only I can-"

Mom was practically boiling with anger by now as she yelled, "Just get out of the house, you baseball freaks!"

You, Sanghyuk, and Dad flinched at Mom's thundering voice. The three of you quickly got up from your seats and grabbed your things on the couch. With backpack slung over one shoulder and sports bag in hand, you hurried out of the house, following Dad and Sanghyuk into the car. Sanghyuk occupied the seat beside the driver's like usual, so you got into the back seat.

"Your mom called us baseball freaks but she loves us anyway," Dad sniggered as he started the engine of the car.

Sanghyuk crossed his arms across his chest after putting on seatbelt and huffed in irritation. "I don't get it. What is Mom so angry about? She watches the game a lot of times more than us at home."

You peeked at the digital clock on the car's dashboard and let out a strangled yelp. "Mom's got a point. We're late. Don't you have a shoot this morning, Dad?"

"For the sports drink ads? Yeah, but it won't start until-" Dad glanced at the clock. "What? It's this late already?"

Dad stepped on the gas and hurriedly drove you to school, mumbling how Mom would kill him if she knew he dropped you off late. While Sanghyuk kept complaining that it's totally fine to be late because he didn't have any intention to be a model student anyway. You told him off, reminding him that Mom wouldn't let him play baseball if his performance was bad at school. He fell silent immediately.

You rushed out of the car as Dad pulled over at Yonhap High School. The backpack and the sports bag weighed you down, but you had no choice other than sprinting all the way to the school hall. Since you're awfully late, the entrance ceremony must have started already.

Dad rolled down the car window. "I'll come back later after school, Y/N!"

Sanghyuk's laughter was heard from beside him. "Run faster! You might have a chance to enter the track team!"

He's lucky you had no time to deal with him. If not, you would have smacked him in the head for his unnecessary comment.

You cussed under your breath as you entered the school and were faced with the shoes lockers, which meant you had to change your shoes first with indoor shoes before stepping into the school premises. Luckily, you were wearing slip-on shoes, so you managed to change shoes much quicker.

Without even stopping to find out which class you're assigned to, you ran straight to the school hall, dismissing the teachers in the corridor trying to scold you for being late. The hall was already packed with students when you got there and the ceremony was halfway through. A male student - you supposed he was the student representative - was standing on the stage, in the middle of giving his speech. You thought you were doomed, but then you spotted your friend from middle school, Jihye, waved at you. Ignoring the stares from the teachers and the other students, you went over to sit next to her; you're grateful she'd saved a seat for you even when you forgot to ask her to.

Jihye sighed as you put down your things on the floor near your feet. "I don't even want to know why you're late. I can pretty much guess why. You should have at least tried to be punctual on the first day, though."

You laughed apologetically. "Sorry, Jihye. You know our family. We get distracted most of the time. So, what did I miss?"

Shrugging, Jihye said in an uninterested tone, "Nothing much. Some lame ass speeches maybe." She cocked her head towards the male student delivering his speech in front of the whole school. "But don't you think that guy is cute? He's in our class."

So you were in the same class as Jihye and this speech guy. You studied the guy for a while. Instead of paying attention to his face to confirm what Jihye had said, you were more interested in his somewhat quite built physique. "He seems pretty athletic. I wonder if he plays baseball."

Jihye shook her head at your excessive passion for baseball. "I should have known. You haven't changed at all, Y/N. I haven't met you since our last day in middle school and still, there's only baseball in your head. We're finally in high school. You should give a bit more thoughts on dating."

Honestly, dating had never really crossed your mind until Jihye mentioned it. You'd been actively playing baseball and joining little league team since elementary school days, although you couldn't be a regular in middle school because the regulation forbid women to participate in official baseball tournament. With so many practice schedules, you had no time to think about relationships.

"Maybe later. I'd rather focus on baseball for now. Baseball is all I have after all," you answered drily as your attention slowly shifted from the speech guy to the guy sitting next to you.

What caught your eye was the baseball he was holding. He kept tossing and catching it - very softly so the ball wouldn't fly too far away from his hand - as if he was playing catch on his own. Occasionally, he changed his grip on the ball before tossing it again. He was trying not to be conspicuous by not letting the ball go higher than his face. Although, you doubted the teacher wouldn't notice a student holding a baseball in the middle of entrance ceremony.

It didn't take an expert to guess that he played pitcher after a few minutes of close observation. He changed his grip rather often, so you assumed he had quite a few variations of pitches. He would be a great asset for the team, you thought happily.

"Hey there," you greeted him out of the blue, catching him off guard, causing him to almost drop the ball to the ground. "Are you joining the baseball team?"

He nodded absentmindedly, his eyes showing that he totally didn't expect you to talk to him, much less ask him about joining the school's baseball team.

You practically beamed at him in excitement. "Cool! I'm joining too as a manager! I can't wait to see you throw later! I'm Y/N by the way, what's your name?"

"God, Y/N! You're too loud!" Jihye hissed from your other side. "And you're scaring him, for goodness' sake!"

Laughing awkwardly, he shook his head. "No, no. It's fine. I'm Taehyung."

"My name is Jihye," Jihye introduced herself. "I apologize for my baseball idiot friend, Taehyung. And if I'm not wrong, you're in class A?"

Taehyung seemed surprised. "How did you know?"

Jihye shrugged. "I saw your name when I was searching mine and hers." She cocked her head towards you. "We're in the same class."

"Can I ask why did you come to this school?" you asked the question weighing on your mind since before the start of school year, cutting short the introduction session. "I mean, I'm grateful that baseball players actually want to enroll in this brand new school, but won't you normally want to go to powerhouse schools like Shinyang?"

"I was scouted," Taehyung simply answered. "This school provides accomodation for sports scholarship students from out of town. On top of that, I don't need to take any academic exams. So yeah, I accepted it. It's a hard work to convince Mom that Seoul is safe, though. She thinks it's dangerous here."

It was a rather disheartening answer from a baseball player. You were quite disappointed to hear he didn't take baseball that seriously. But then again, you shouldn't judge people just from their passion for baseball. Not all people playing baseball were as dedicated as Dad and Sanghyuk. You should stop comparing other players to them.

"But," Taehyung suddenly spoke again, stopping your train of thoughts, "I want to challenge myself. From where I come from, there aren't many guys my age who play baseball. That's why I came all the way here to Seoul. I want to see if I have a chance against the awesome players here."

Listening to his words, you couldn't help but break into a smile. Taehyung wasn't as bad as you'd thought. He was just a pure, innocent baseball freak who went out of his way to leave his hometown to see how far he could go in a big city. His strong enthusiasm for baseball was seen through his fiery eyes, and that sight always successfully captivated you. Nothing was more admirable than seeing someone passionately chasing their dream.

The countless speeches with varied speakers from the headmaster until the representatives from each after school clubs - when it was baseball club's turn, you were dragged to the stage by one of the teachers, probably as your punishment for being late - finally came to an end after what seemed like forever. Bringing you to the teacher's office instead of your new classroom, the teacher who had made you say a few words on behalf of the baseball team against your will gave you a long lecture about the importance of punctuality. You tuned her out after the first few seconds.

The chatterbox teacher sent you back to your classroom when the homeroom was already finished. Somehow, you and Taehyung ended up as class representatives without you agreeing to the extra job. Jihye filled you in that the homeroom teacher thought you would be able to learn to be more responsible with this. Apparently, Taehyung was also chosen because he was caught playing with baseball during the entrance ceremony. The first day of school was pretty much a hassle so far.

"I can't wait for the school to end," you mumbled, your voice muffled because you buried your face in your backpack on the table.

Jihye, whose seat was in front of you, turned her back to say, "The first period hasn't even started yet."

"I want my ball back." Taehyung sighed as he kept clenching and unclenching his right fist in the seat next to yours; the homeroom teacher had confiscated his baseball. "It feels weird if I'm not gripping something."

Jihye groaned in exasperation and spun around to face the whiteboard again. "I can't believe I'm stuck with two baseball freaks. Give me a break. Just don't talk to me."

Lucky for Jihye, the first period's teacher walked in the next second and forced the class to fall silent immediately. You could hardly concentrate on the lesson since the nextdoor class' first period was P.E. and they were playing baseball outside. From where you were sitting, right by the window, you could clearly see the baseball field beside the school's building. And the clank of the metal bat hitting the baseball sounded very nice in your ears that you wanted to join them play badly, instead of listening to the boring history lesson.

Taehyung must have the same thought. His head snapped towards the window everytime the clank was heard. It'd been a while since you met a person who was as crazy in love with baseball as your family. With all the latest trends in technology, you were happy that some people still loved playing old school sports like baseball.

Baseball hasn't died yet, you thought cheerfully.

***

Taehyung was beyond frustrated when Teacher Bang, his homeroom teacher, asked him and you to stay behind in class to help him with completing the class' attendance list after the school ended. Despite already itching to throw some pitches, he sat back down and quietly worked on the list since Teacher Bang promised to return his baseball once he finished with the task.

"This is stupid," Taehyung heard you mutter under your breath while ticking the boxes beside the names on the list paper he'd created. "Who the hell is Jung Chungoong?"

"It's Jeon Jungkook, actually. The student's rep. You know, the speech guy," Taehyung answered distractedly, not stopping from copying the names of the class A's students list he'd stolen from the announcement board.

In his peripheral vision, Taehyung saw you tick the box next to Jungkook's name on the newly made list and strain your eyes again to decipher Teacher Bang's horrible scribble. You lasted only a few seconds before groaning out loud. "Forget it. I give up. I'll just tick everyone's name. No one is absent today anyway. Right?"

Taehyung only answered with a hum and sprang to his feet immediately as he finished writing the last name. He hurriedly gave the paper to you while grabbing his things.

"I'm going first, Y/N," Taehyung said hastily, rushing to exit the class. "Don't forget to get my baseball from Teacher Bang. Thank you in advance. See you in the field."

"Hey, wait for me, Taehyung!" Taehyung heard you shout as he passed through the door, but he ignored you and ran straight to the baseball field. Although feeling sorry to leave you, he couldn't wait to play with his new teammates. He was too excited to see how awesome the players in Seoul were that he almost forgot changing his indoor shoes with baseball cleats before going out to the field.

The coach and the new baseball team members were seen standing on the field, the players lining up in an orderly fashion, seemingly in the middle of introduction. Taehyung picked the outermost position so that he wouldn't disturb their self-introduction session. The coach saw him coming but didn't say anything; Taehyung assumed he was excused.

"I'm Park Jimin from class A. I play shortstop. I used to play for Hwadam Middle School in Busan," a boy loudly announced, looking very excited and cheerful. Taehyung was elated to know he was surrounded with boys who liked baseball as much as he was. His friends back in his hometown didn't even find baseball fun; they were only playing because he invited them to.

"I'm Jeon Jungkook from class A. I play catcher. I also used to play for Hwadam Middle School in Busan," the boy whom Taehyung remembered as Jungkook from the entrance ceremony said.

"Next," the coach urged when no one spoke afterwards, his eyes meeting Taehyung's.

Taehyung flinched as he realized it must be his turn. "I'm Taehyung from class A. I play pitcher. I used to play for Baeksu Middle School in Daegu," Taehyung copied the way the others did.

"Is that everyone, Scout Han?" the coach asked the lady beside him; Taehyung recognized her as the lady who had scouted him back in Daegu a few months ago.

Scout Han scanned her clipboard and nodded. "Yes, everyone's here. Twenty of them."

"Firstly, I want to ask you..." The coach looked at Taehyung, asking for his name.

"It's Taehyung, Coach," Taehyung offered nervously. It seemed the coach wouldn't let him off the hook for coming late.

As Taehyung had feared, the coach asked, "Taehyung, why are you late?"

"Sorry, Dad. He was with me."

Taehyung saw you running towards the team with Jihye, already wearing training pants. He was wondering why you were here before he was reminded about his conversation with you this morning. You had said something to him about joining as a manager. Jihye must be joining too since she came with you. But what surprised him the most was the fact that you called the coach 'dad'.

"What took you guys so long?" the coach asked you.

"Me and Taehyung are class reps," you said matter-of-factly.

The coach burst into laughter. "I'm worried about the future of the class."

"It's not like I wanted it," you mumbled in irritation.

"Jihye, you're joining?" the coach asked Jihye. Taehyung guessed you and Jihye had been friends for quite a while since your father knew her.

Jihye shrugged. "Y/N begged me to help. I know nothing about baseball, though. Sorry if I disappoint you, Uncle Yong."

"No worries, Jihye. We need all the help we can get." Coach Yong turned to face the players back. The longer Taehyung studied the coach's face, the more familiar he seemed. He just couldn't remember where he'd seen him before. "To all of you, welcome to the team. Some of you might have recognized me, but let me introduce myself. I'm Yong Hyunjin, a former pro baseball athlete." Taehyung nodded as a sign of recognition after the coach's self-introduction, finally getting why he looked so familiar; he must have seen him in TV or something. "You can just call me Coach Yong. I know this school is totally brand new and we only have first-year students this year, but there's nothing wrong with setting our goal high. I'm counting on you guys to bring me to the nationals."

Some of them started whispering, some others laughed bitterly. No one seemed to have the confidence to go to the nationals. Even Taehyung found it nearly impossible. How could you possibly hope a group of first-years which was just formed to win against powerhouses?

"Coach, aren't you expecting too much from us?" a foreign player, whom Taehyung didn't know the name of, asked, sounding more like accusing than questioning. He didn't seem to agree with the coach's goal for the team wholeheartedly and instead, viewed it as a ridiculous request. "We barely know each other on the team while other schools have probably been playing together for three years."

Coach Yong shook his head in disagreement. "It depends on you, whether you take this seriously or not. I believe we can, if we're all in this together. It's up to you to make this work. So, are we good?"

"Yes," a few of them mumbled in a low voice. Some others were hesitant to answer, seemingly still thinking it's impossible to go to the nationals with freshly made team. Taehyung weren't sure of what to think of this. It's worth the try, but logically, it's too early for them to think about nationals when it's still unclear whether they would be able to pass the second round. It's much more reasonable to set the target to reach the quarterfinals or semifinals in the first year. He didn't want to be pessimistic, but he also didn't want to get his hopes up too high.

"Sure, we can!" Jimin the shortstop piped up excitedly, totally a contrast with the others. "We have Jungkook on the team! He's one of the best players in Busan!"

"Shut up, Jimin," Jungkook said in exasperation. "You're exaggerating."

Taehyung supposed that the two of them had known each other for quite a while. He recalled that they were indeed from the same middle school from their introduction. They must have been playing baseball together for quite a while. Honestly, he was envious that they had each other to play baseball with, unlike him.

"I like that spirit, Jimin," Coach Yong said and gave Jimin a thumbs up. "Now, we'll see how good you are in the position you've chosen. Pitchers and catchers first. Pair up and throw some pitches."

Taehyung knew he was in deep trouble. He arrived late at the field when almost all of them had done with their introductions - only Jungkook and Jimin left. The only catcher he knew was Jungkook and someone already came up to him right after Coach Yong finished talking. He scanned his surroundings and his spirit sank as all of the players wearing catcher's gear sets already had their partners. No one was going to play with him too here.

"Hey, why are you just standing there?" You arched your brow at Taehyung, approaching him when nobody else did. "You're a pitcher, right?"

But Taehyung was much more intrigued with the catcher's gear sets you were wearing. "Aren't you a manager?"

“Manager-slash-catcher,” you corrected him. “Dad asked me to help the pitchers train. So yeah, it’s a pain. I’d rather be playing in some real games, but apparently some stupid regulation doesn’t allow girls to play in official high school baseball tournament, so I’m not complaining. This is a lot better than being unable to play at all.”

Taehyung beamed at you, despite your story behind becoming catcher for training pitchers on the team. He finally found a catcher to play with. He couldn’t be any happier than this. “Great! Then can you catch for me?”

You rolled your eyes. “Were you even listening to me? If I’m not going to catch for you, then what am I wearing this gear for?” You threw a baseball at him, which he caught easily with his pitcher’s glove. “Here’s your ball. It’s a hassle to get it back from Teacher Bang - you’re welcome. You’d better throw some decent pitches or you’d be stuck doing class rep’s chores alone for a week. I still haven’t forgiven you for leaving me alone with that damn attendance list.”

“Sorry.” Taehyung apologetically grinned. “Challenge accepted. Make sure you don’t let the balls pass your back.”

You tapped your catcher’s mitt against his chest. “Don’t underestimate me, young man. Although I’m a girl, I’m still the daughter of the famous ex-pro baseball player.”

author’s note: Tell me what you think about the first chapter! I hope I didn’t ruin it too badly. Feedback is greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!

[mismagireve]

WIPs/Drafts/Concepts

going under a cut because this fucker is long

like 60-stories-and-their-summaries long

Works In Progress

He Who Invites—Police Detective Ryotaro Dojima is pulled into the strange magical side of the Inaba Murder Case when he sees his nephew’s persona casually hovering above him one night.  Focuses largely on Dojima’s development and his interactions with the Investigation Team in the real world as they plan their next moves.  Five out of ??? Chapters published.

Everything Stays—The Fell Dragon Grima interacts with his fellow dragons in the kingdom of Askr.  A writing challenge to tell a story in 300-700 words each.  Somewhat on hold until more dragon units are added to the game.  Two out of Fourteen stories published.

Drafts

Words Spoken In Wormwood—Members of the Rose Cult have not overlooked Amadeus’s strange eccentricities.  They may not know what he is, but they know that he’s almost certainly not human.  Several cultists discuss Amadeus’s relationship with the Hero in a bar one night, leading to uncomfortable revelations.  Oneshot; draft has 1,751 words so far.

Can You Hear Your Heart Sing?—When you get close enough to your soulmate, your heart can’t help but sing in sheer joy at finding the person that is destined to love you forever; this causes problems when your soulmate is your also the person destined to be your enemy.  Slowburn Heropulchure Soulmate AU.  Multichapter story; draft has 722 words so far.

Somewhere Ages And Ages Hence—In exchange for being declared dead and saved from being imprisoned or executed for a crime they didn’t commit, the Reader puts their life in the hands of a strange man in a Rose uniform living out in the woods with his daughter.  Oblivious to his true identity (but not his true form), the Reader slowly falls in love with their new family.  Second-person Slowburn Reader/Sepulchure story, set during Book 3.  The Calamity Saga is unfortunately canon in this one.  Contains smut.  Twoshot; draft has 4,534 words so far.

Don’t You Dare Call Me Daddy—Though initially only taking the job for extra textbook money, Hero has to admit that it has some nice benefits.  Like getting pounded into a mattress until she can’t see straight by her old highschool history teacher.  Heropulchure Babysitter AU.  Contains smut.  Oneshot; draft has 508 words so far.

In Which The Lowblood Prince Saves A Dragon From A Princess—Prince Karkat of Prospit is sent to diffuse a situation between two princesses.  This would be fairly easy if not for the fact that one of said princesses was a dragon.  Old-ass Homestuck fic draft from 2015.  I think this was going to be fefkat.  Oneshot; draft has 1,481 words so far.

Fic Concepts

DC Comics

Not Quite Bat Son—When a new hero from Fawcett City is welcomed into the Justice League on a probationary membership, Billionaire Bruce Wayne feels a pang of nostalgia for the old city and decides to check in on how his godson Billy Batson is doing after so much time away—only to find that Billy’s guardian Ebeneezer Batson had thrown the boy to the streets nearly an entire year ago, and his whereabouts are unknown.

Tim And Dick Write A Yaoi—Sequel to The Bat And The Billionaire.  Dick Grayson and Tim Drake, the former and current Robins respectively, attempt to write their own “janky brucebat romance story” after the discovery that a market for such stories actually exists sends them into howling laughter.  The boys quickly grow bored of their story, but other players in the Batman mythos slowly find and add on to the document until it is completed.

Ain’t You Ever Hear Of A Harlequin Bat?—Harley Quinn’s dumped the Joker for good, and her new boytoy Bruce Wayne is keeping her safe in the public eye while her new partner Batman keeps an eye on the Joker’s activities in Gotham to make sure it stays that way.  Look out Gotham City, Harley Quinn maybe be fighting crime instead of causing it these days, but joining the Batclan hasn’t done a thing to reign her in.

The Adventures of Supergirl—Kara Zor-El finds a small drone with a voice coming out of it, claiming (reluctantly) to belong to a hero named Querl Dox from the 31st century.  Though initially not wanting assistance and not wanting to interfere with the past respectively, the two quickly become partners when a supervillain attack turns out to be more than Kara can handle by herself.  Querl’s history documents say she saved the world countless times; they never said she didn’t have help.

DC Comics: Black Dadam Initiative

The Prince of Kahndaq—Though not exactly planning on ever stepping down, Black Adam is still a practical enough man to plan for the possibility that he might have to anyways; that plan includes the task of choosing an heir for the throne of Kahndaq.  With no living descendants and no living mortals worthy of his kingdom, Black Adam comes to realize that the only being alive that could truly make a claim for his throne is current champion of Shazam: Billy Batson.  Not that Billy is going anywhere without his co-champions to back him up.

Welcome Home Uncle Teth!—After 5,000 years hurtling through space, the last thing that Black Adam had expected to see was not that the wizard Shazam had chosen a new Champion, but that said champion and his companions would welcome Black Adam with open arms as if he was some long lost relative instead of an enemy.  Perhaps—perhaps he might wait a bit to destroy them all.  It... has been an awful long time since anyone was happy to see him...

Ben-Adam—In accordance to ancient Egyptian belief, it takes, on average, 3,000 years for a soul to be able to reincarnate in human form once again.  But perhaps in certain special cases, a soul may choose to delay its return to human form.  When Black Adam returns to Earth after 5,000 years away, he finds one of his children waiting for him:  Billy Batson, a child living on the streets with the power of Shazam and no memory of his past life.

Fire Emblem Heroes

The Villain Of This Story—The Fell Dragon Grima is summoned to Askr, and the Order of Heroes finds that he can’t be sent away.  Not wanting to waste a perfectly good unit, the Summoner takes it upon themself to make an ally of the old god, show him that humanity has more to offer than pain and empty promises—and perhaps find love?  Grima/Summoner.

Love Like You—A series of cute oneshots of Grima and the Summoner in various situations.

We Are Ready (We Are Many)—Legion finds himselves smitten with the Summoner after they unwittingly become the first person to treat him and his brothers with unconditional kindness.  When Reese and Clarisse join the Order of Heroes, he can’t help but feel... jealous as his Summoner offers them the same treatment.  Contains smut.

Imposter—This masked swordsman, prior to what he says, cannot be Marth.  Camus has fought Marth, and while this stranger is close, he isn’t the real deal.  From what Camus can tell, he isn’t even a he at all...  Camus/Lucina crackshipping.

Penance—Titania finds the Black Knight in Askr long before any of her fellow mercenaries are summoned, and while she knows that his life is Ike’s to take, there is no way that she can bear to let the man live even a second more.  At least, no way until she realizes that the Black Knight wants her to kill him; there’s no valor in killing a man who wants to die.  Which, she supposes, leaves them at a bit of an impasse.  Titania/Zelgius crackshipping.

Google: How Do I Escape Another World?—A college student finds herself embroiled in a sudden inexplicable war as the Summoner of Askr; too bad she comes from a world without Fire Emblem so she doesn’t know who or what anything is.  At least she has her phone with her to look things up in the real world and keep in touch with her friends... Kiran/Bruno AU.

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows Of Valentia

Creation Of The Brand—The brand of a Divine Dragon signifies a blood pact between dragons and the men that worship them.  In the early days of the nation that would become Rigel, a young tribal leader petitions her god to grant them someone worthy of becoming King.  Reader/Duma.  Contains smut.

All But Invincible—Zeke finds his memories returning much quicker after joining the Rigelian army under Jerome’s command; unlike in canon, this time he makes sure to tell Tatiana about what he’s discovered, leading to changes in the upcoming war with Zofia.  Tatizeke AU.

Sable Blood—Tatiana finds a coffin washed up on the beach, and the man isn’t human: he’s a vampire.  A young vampire, one with little power, and littler bloodlust still.  Instead of wanting to dominate the village, he’s indebted to it, and begins working to make their home an easier place to live... Something that catches the eye of the vampiress Nuibaba, whom holds this region under her iron grip.  Tatizeke AU.

Hello?  Hello?  Are You There?—In modern day Valm, long after all the gods have died and all the magic is considered little more than a myth, Tatiana moves into a house on the coast after returning to her old hometown—and finds an old ghost haunting it as she sleeps.  Tatizeke AU.

Fire Emblem Tellius Saga

Black Dawn—Sothe didn’t come in time and Micaiah was unable to escape enemy capture, leading the soldiers to bring her to a surprised General Zelgius visiting from mainland Begnion.  Not seeing any way to free her without revealing himself, Zelgius kills the soldiers and escapes with Micaiah, joining the Dawn Brigade and continuing his master’s plans at the cost of his life in Begnion.  Micaiah/Zelgius AU.

Absolution Of The Queen—Yune is able to heal the Black Knight before he perishes from his wounds, and Zelgius survives to see the end of the war.  Micaiah gives him a public pardon when she is crowned Queen in order to not deprive the struggling people of Daein of one of their few heroes, something Zelgius finds too forgiving to bear.  Then she requests that he marry her in order to strengthen the throne.  Micaiah/Zelgius AU.

The Branded King—Zelgius is normally able to smother his conscience without much issue, but one order from Ashnard suddenly strikes a chord.  The Mad King challenges his knight to a duel to the death for his ideals, and claims Zelgius as his heir upon losing.  Later, an attempt to reconcile his dual identities leads Zelgius to both cut off his ties with Begnion and reveal his true nature.  Thus begins the reign of the Branded King.  Micaiah/Zelgius AU.

What We Talked About—Ike did return from his journey one day, though he never again set foot in the nations of man.  Part of the reason he’d left was to find himself after living so much of his life fighting a war.  And part of it was to learn to become someone that could stand on equal footing with the woman he loved.  Ike/Lethe AU.

Happy Family—Lillia is able to hold on long enough for Greil and Elena to flee Daein.  Zelgius accidentally bears his brand to Greil, who offers him a chance to escape.  Lehran’s Medallion never changes hands with someone who could not withstand its power.  And the world is a happier place.  Everybody Lives AU.  Micaiah/Zelgius.

White Dahlias—Faced for the first time in his life with someone whom not only understands him, but appreciates his company, the Black Knight falls quickly and completely for his maiden.  It was easy to shove his feelings aside at first for the sake of the mission—but then he started coughing up flower petals.  Micaiah/Zelgius Hanahaki Disease AU.

Diplomatic Relations—Micaiah was never spirited away to Daein, but declared a bastard child and thrown into the ranks of the servants with only the grace of Prime Minister Sephiran keeping her from being executed instead.  Years later, an envoy from the country of Daein arrives in Begnion, and Micaiah encounters the Black Knight while tending to her royal sister.  Micaiah/Zelgius No War AU.

I Can Read Minds, You Know—There are many things that the Black Knight does not tell her, and she is willing to allow him his secrets.  However... her knight is not nearly as guarded with his emotions as he thinks he is, and they’re becoming a bit distracting.  Micaiah/Zelgius.  Contains smut.

Dragonfable

Red Bloodied Armor—Formerly written for NaNoWriMo, in serious need of rewriting.  While on the voyage home from yet another failed attempt at finding out who she used to be, Serenity’s carriage is attacked by a dragon, forcing her to take cover in a nearby castle in the woods.  Though her monstrous host is all too happy to let her stay as long as she wants and keep his daughter company, without any means of contacting the outside world, there’s no way she can leave.  And on top of that, there seems to be something else going on in the castle that no one wants her to know about... Serepulchure Beauty And The Beast AU.

A Warm Heart(h)—Xan never did recover his spark after the Hero defeated his Magman and headed to Serenity’s Inn for a job as promised.  Though admittedly terrified at first, it didn’t take all that long for the innkeeper to warm up to him.  Everyone deserves a second chance, right?  Serenity/Xan AU.

Dragonfable Awakening—Serenity joins the army after a a small detachment saves her from bandits on her way to garner trade deals for her inn.  It works out well enough: the people are nice, and she’s quite useful as a cook and a healer.  On top of that... there is a certain wyvern lord who just keeps catching her eye.  Serepulchure Fire Emblem Awakening AU.

Fate/Doom Knight—Serenity tried out the summoning circle on a lark.  Magic wasn’t real, and surely summoning spirits wasn’t either.  So why is there suddenly a very tall man in red armor in her living room asking if she’s his master?  And what the heck is a Holy Grail War?  Serepulchure Fate/Stay Night AU.

Firefly—A Star Captain wakes up in a field shortly outside of Falconreach and finds himself a stranger in a strange land.  How did he get here?  How can he get home?  At least the locals seem friendly enough...  Based loosely on conversations with @tmae3114.  Serenity/Sys-Zero AU.

Basking In The Aftermath—There are few things more enjoyable after a successful hunt than going out to the nearest tavern, having a nice meal, and getting absolutely plastered with your brother-in-arms.  Throw in some casual sex on top of that?  Now you’ve got a dragonslayer’s idea of a good time.  Hero/Galanoth.  Contains smut.

Skyrim

Gods Of Dov—Two women wake up in a cart heading to Helgen, and hundreds of miles away, a man outside of time wakes in a field.  Together, they are not only Skyrim’s only hope of stopping Alduin, but the only hope of all of Mundus.  Skyrim AU where the protagonists are Galanoth, Kensington, and Daeris.  Based on a heavily modded instance of Skyrim and mine and @hnybnny’s AQW headcanons.

Ancient Alphabets—Miraak has a name on the inside of his wrist that no one can read.  His soulmate’s name.  It is faded and white; his soulmate hasn’t been born yet.  His fellow priests console him as the years go by and his soulmate has still not been born, but Miraak is a very patient man.  He can wait.  He can wait all that he needs to until the time comes that the Last Dragonborn finally meets him.  Miraak/LDB Soulmate AU.

To Steal A Champion—As Nightingale of Nocturnal, the Dovahkiin is far better at thievery than the average mortal.  Better enough, apparently, to steal the bonds tying Miraak to Hermaus Mora for her own use.  She was just trying to keep Mora from killing him so she could kill him herself; now what’s she supposed to do with a Champion?  Miraak/LDB AU.

Fate/Stay Night

The Holy Childcare War—Heroic Spirit EMIYA is summoned in the Archer class, but his Masters are both a young Rin Tohsaka and a young Sakura Matou before her family ever traded her away.  Still wanting to prevent his future from ever occurring, Archer decides to take his two small masters and run before their father can ruin their lives and set the catastrophic events of the Fifth Holy Grail War into motion.  Unsanctioned fan sequel/retelling of the Fate doujin “Childcare is War”.

Sakura Doraku—Kariya Matou wasn’t going to win the war, and he knew it.  But that doesn’t mean he can’t save Sakura.  Sacrificing his own soul and all of his command seals to power the required miracle, he was able to grant his servant Lancelot Independent Action A+, allowing him to linger in the material plane and protect Sakura indefinitely.  Seeking to obey his Master’s final orders and redeem himself for his crimes, Lancelot steals Sakura away from the Matou family and raises her as his own for the next ten years—when Sakura is chosen as a Master for the Fifth Holy Grail War.

Oleanders In June—As magus from an old but nondescript family, Pepper Malone never thought she would get to see a Holy Grail War, much less participate in one.  So when the war starts up in the middle of her hometown, she’s going to need all the help she can get just to survive it; especially with her monstrous knight of a servant jamming up the works.  OC/Berserkerlot.  Contains smut.

Pokemon

Seelonce Mayday—At the behest of her doctor, May finally sets out on her pokemon journey through the Hoenn region in hopes that the changing scenery, fresh air, and possibility of bonding with new friends and pokemon might help lessen her depression (in conjunction with regular medication of course).  Partly a retelling of ORAS with a splash of Emerald thrown in, partly an attempt to work out my own issues vicariously through helping May overcome hers.

So Now You’re The Very Best, What’s Next?—With his pokemon journey over, it’s time for Red to return to school like every other kid.  But, what other kid can relate to what he’s been through?  Blue might’ve become Champion just the same as Red did, but he didn’t take down a criminal organization while he was at it—and speaking of criminals, what’s Red’s mom going to say about Mewtwo...?

Raphael—Byron meets a new drinking buddy one night, a man with long white hair and bright blue eyes.  He meets the man again a few nights later, and a few nights after that.  It’s nice to have someone to talk to that gets him so well, but he can’t shake the feeling that maybe there’s a connection between his new friend and the sudden string of people being rushed to the hospital for nightmare-induced insomnia.

Transformers

Cadmus—Professor Sumdac is long dead from a lab accident, and his daughter Sari is tossed out from the company she apparently has no claim to.  Trying her best to survive on the streets, Sari finds a family in the old disembodied head her father used to keep in his lab.  An unsanctioned fan rewrite of My Big Sister The Spider.

Heterodyne—Soundwave escaped the Shadowzone much quicker than expected, though with no Megatron to serve and no war to fight, he’s left at a bit of a loss for what to do now... At least, until Knock Out vouches for him to the Autobots and reminds him that there are plenty of Decepticons who’ll be coming to Earth that don’t agree with Megatron’s order to disband.  Though his new life working with former enemies is less than ideal, at least Soundwave doesn’t have to put up with Starscream anymore; not that Miko isn’t a menace in her own right.  Junewave AU.

Black Noise—There is a temple hiding deep in the woods, and a monster hiding deeper still.  A monster bound in human form nearly thirty years ago from what June hears the locals say.  And now this monster is holding her son hostage in exchange for her help in returning it to its original form.  Reverse Beauty And The Beast Junewave AU.

Deep Cover—Vorns upon vorns after an incident in Autoboot Camp lead to him losing his memory, Longarm Prime begins to fear that he may secretly be a Decepticon spy after finding hints of an additional alternative mode.  Turning directly to Ultra Magnus for advice on how to deal with this potential information leak, Longarm learns that not only was he a spy—he’s Megatron’s right-hand man.

Miscellaneous

Feral—The Dark Warrior Project was not a complete failure, but it could hardly be called a success.  With most of his body changed and most of his mind locked away under a haze of dark eco and pain, a very different Jak is rescued from Baron Praxis’s prisons—leading to a very different revolution of Haven City, and a very different ending for many of the players involved. 

What’s In A Name?—No one actually calls themselves Guild Girl or High Elf Archer: Goblin Slayer is just terrible at remembering names.  Though oddly, he does still call himself Goblin Slayer rather than a conventional name.  Priestess, or Lucidia rather, wants to know why.

It’s Not About Goblins (But I Do Care)—Guild Girl and Cow Girl put up a good fight, but Priestess has won Goblin Slayer’s heart.  Unfortunately, Goblin Slayer’s backstory has left him with a few... issues regarding intimacy and displays of affection.  At least he’s trying?

Disarmament—What is there left for the Doom Slayer to do when all the legions of doom have been slain?  What is there left to live for now that he’s finally completed his goal?  There’s a brave new world out there in need of repairing after Hell invaded.  Maybe it’s time to help picking up the pieces.  A speculative ending to the 2016 Doom reboot series.

Original Concepts

Inside The City Walls—One hundred years ago, a man named Mackeroy Neren protected the country around the Walled City from vampires.  When he left for a hunt and never returned, the City ceased almost all trade, and rarely ever opens the Walls.  But—something’s gotten into the City.  Something’s lurking in the shadows.  And one Patrice “Patty” Argall finds herself wrapped up in the middle of it all.

God’s Stone Crown—For unknown reasons, several players of the popular VRMMO God’s Stone Crown Online find themselves trapped as their characters within the game world, where things are much different than actually playing the game would lead one to believe.  There are many unfinished dungeons within the game that turn out to merely be unmapped within the world: maybe one of them could hold the key to escaping the game? Co-created with @nostalgiamascot.

The Miracles of Saint Maylis—302 years ago, Saint Maylis converted a demon to the light of the church, training him in the faith as she would any other.  300 years ago Saint Maylis lead an army against the encroach of a great evil, and never returned.  Now, the evil is returning, and the only one who can truly stop it is the only one left who was there: Sir Penetratus Iseley, the First Miracle of Saint Maylis.

Another Day In Kingfisher Bay—Welcome to idyllic Kingfisher Bay, home to a thriving superhero/supervillain population.  Would you like to spend your days cleaning up blood because one of the heroes took shelter in the wrong apartment again?  Get abducted by an alien overlord?  Or perhaps have a supervillain for a neighbor?  Try anything and everything here in Kingfisher Bay!

Journey To The Demon King—Yuliya is a simple cleric, tasked with guiding the Chosen Hero on his journey to slay the Demon King when they rise again.  So why is everyone so convinced she’s the Demon King’s next coming?  Do you see any horns under this habit???

[bsd-hq-writer]

Number 221 for prompts with Deku?

A nice simple request, but I couldn’t help but get creative and expand a bit, hope you like it. 

~Admin Ghost

“He’s so good though, how would I ever be able to live up to him,” You groaned dramatically.

“Well for one he’s not as out of your league as you think,” Ashido told you straight, “And secondly, he’s notoriously dense, so you gotta ramp up your attempts,”

“Is it weird that I really don’t believe you,” you sighed and put your face on your hand.

You had been transferred from Shiketsu at the beginning of your third year, and become a part of class 3-A. The famous class A had been through a lot together, so you wondered if you would even fit in, but you were still a heroics student, so naturally, you proved yourself quickly.

When you first showed up for class on your first day and claimed your seat, you immediately were hit by the fact that the boy in front of you was really cute. You quickly learned that this was the intern hero Deku, who had been lauded as having the potential of being the new symbol of peace. There was no way the future symbol of peace, and one of the smartest boys in the class would even look at you, at least not the way you wanted him to.

“Yeah, it’s way weird because I have my ways of knowing these things,” she winked before walking back to her own desk as Midoriya walked in chatting with Iida and Uraraka as usual.

“Hey Y/N!” he greeted as he came over to his seat and set his things down.

“Hey Midoriya,” you returned the greeting, “What do you think we’re doing in class today?”

“I have a feeling Aizawa is going to spring some kind of test exercise at us again,” he sighed, “He hasn’t done something like that all semester,”

“Aww man, I hope we at least get to be in pairs, the one on one training with All Might was brutal,” you groaned, “Of course it doesn’t help that I got faced with Tokoyami, man that guy can really move when he has to,” Of course it didn’t help that your quirk only let you speed up and slow down objects you touched or threw, it didn’t work on living things either.

“It didn’t help that his dark shadow gives him a second pair of eyes, otherwise some of your projectiles could have hit him,” Midoriya pointed out. You used specially formulated foam pellets for training that wouldn’t seriously injure anyone but would still hurt like heck. You had metal pellets for real-world use, but even then you were only allowed to carry a few on you during internships since you could potentially kill someone with them.

“Yeah no kidding, there is not much that gets past him, but you did really well against Kirishima, he almost had you but that last move you did, with the really fast ricochet, he didn’t even have time to react!” You slowly realised you had been raising your voice ever so slightly, so even Bakugou was glancing in your direction from the seat in front of Midoriya. You sank in your seat, which caught Midoriya’s notice, but he went on to say, “He doesn’t really have a whole lot of weaknesses to exploit, and I’m not built for long battles, so using my speed was the only clear way to win,” he nodded to you, “You’re very fast too, but I bet you could work well with a bit of concealment,”

You blinked at the advice and opened your mouth to thank him, but before you could get the words out of your mouth, Aizawa stepped in and everyone quieted quickly, very used to the teacher’s no-nonsense attitude. True to Midoriya’ words, he immediately announced the test.

“This will be a recon exercise, in which you are expected to locate a group of faux villains and gather information about their base and operations. The villains are members of Gang Orca’s agency and a support agency that assists in training exercises, but be warned, they are not going to go easy on you if they catch you, but should you be captured, rest assured that isn’t the end of the test, your teammates can bail you out. The test will end when you’ve returned with your information, or when you have all been captured,” Aizawa explained before sending the class to get changed and meet at the training grounds.

“We’re on the same team, that’s great,” Midoriya said excitedly as Aizawa revealed the teams of 3. He had found you as soon as he had gotten out to the gate, chatting with you some more about various quirk match-ups and sparring pairs. Your other teammate turned out to be Jiro, which Midoriya said was a great advantage considering what they were tasked with.

The first team was Kaminari, Bakugou and Kirishima, and surprise surprise, stealth wasn’t exactly their thing. That being said they still passed in a pretty clever turn of events that clearly Bakugou thought through. He dove right in and stormed the place, drawing the villains to him. In the meantime Kirishima and Kaminari found their operations room, using Kaminari’s quirk to fry their computers while Kirishima grabbed some maps and shipping ledgers. Bakugou, on the other hand, looked like he was leading the villains on a wild goose chase, but as the three heroes made their rather explosive escape, Bakugou snatched one of the sheets Kirishima had grabbed and jotted a rough map of the place down, Kirishima taking it back only to add a couple details.

“Not the most conventional intelligence gathering, but I’m impressed,” was all Aizawa had to say before your group was up next. You thought about asking Kirishima where the base was, but then Aizawa seemed to sense your curiosity and quickly mentioned that the villain group, location and objective changed every time. You sighed and caught up with Jiro and Midoriya who had already gone to the gate. Finding the place proved harder than you had expected and only when Midoriya had bounced himself up onto a rooftop and saw some movement from one of the larger warehouses did you guys finally locate the base. Jiro immediately plugged into the building, listening for numbers.

“There are only three people I can hear moving around in there,” she told them.

“We can’t assume that they are the only ones, we have to stay cautious. Jiro, do you think you can lead us to them?” Midoriya cautioned. Jiro nodded shortly and the three of them crept into the building.

As the three of you passed through a door into the office section of the building, you suddenly felt uneasy and stopped short of the door just as it suddenly slammed shut. You whipped around and no one was around, but you noticed a security cam at the end of the hallway, which you quickly shot down with a pellet. You found two more in the immediate vicinity and took them out as well. You went back to the door that your teammates had passed through and listened in, hearing nothing on the other side, which was odd in itself. You took a few steps back and used a couple of larger rocks you had grabbed on the way to bust the lock. Once you were inside, you noticed the trap door just inside the doorway, and the dark void of it meant it was likely pretty deep. You hoped Midoriya and Jiro were okay and decided your best bet was to keep scouring the main building, and hopefully find some sort of information on this place.

After some very thorough searching, you eventually found a security room with only one person inside. You could shoot them, but they didn’t seem to notice you because they were focussed on the fight happening wherever your friends were. Knocking them out would probably be better, so you crept up and wrapped your arm around the villain’s throat squeezing until they passed out. You quickly let go and lay them on their side on the floor before tying them up. The security console placed your friends on the third basement level fighting two villains who seemed to be enjoying the fight. Jiro looked fine so far but her support boots had clearly been targeted, Midoriya, on the other hand, was receiving the brunt of the damage, being forced to dodge the muscle-headed gorilla man before being knocked back by what looked like floating hands. That image made you want to run to them, but even if he was being knocked down, Midoriya still appeared able to fight as he jumped back up just in time to avoid the other hand.

Glancing at the other camera’s gave you an insight into what was done here, you could see multiple views of a chemical lab, and a couple different rooms with grungy medical set-ups. Clearly, they were a drug ring, but what kind was not clear. You looked at a map to find the chem lab and saw it was nearby. You decided you would swing by there before heading down to assist your friends.

The lab wasn’t as empty as it appeared. You had looked around a bit and had found a filing cabinet with reports on quirk enhancing drug tests, which you tucked into one of your pouches. You took a second look around before stumbling across someone lying on the floor. Your first reaction was to draw back, but the person on the ground looked normal, you wondered briefly if they were actually a civilian who was pulled into this, that kind of stuff happened in reality, so why not in a test? The last thing you remembered was crouching down beside the person and touching them. The second your hand met their shoulder, a spike of pain shot through you and you collapsed.

“Quit worrying, if she was really in any danger Aizawa would have stopped it,”

“Aizawa-sensei won’t always be there,”

“Well, neither will you,” a pause, “Unless you man up already and-”

“OH! She’s coming to!,” as your senses returned, you realised you were being carried, and that your head had been resting on Midoriya’s chest, with his heart racing like crazy. You opened your eyes and immediately regretted it as the light sent a spike of pain through your head, “Don’t move too much, Y/N, We’re almost out,”

“Are you okay?” was the first thing out of your mouth, which earned a snort from Jiro as she jogged beside Midoriya, but Midoriya just looked dumbfounded.

“Says the person we found passed out in the lab, some creepy lab guy hovering over you trying to take things from your pouches,” Midoriya eventually mustered the clarity to tell you.

“I was an idiot, he played dead and so I went to check on him, but when I touched him…”

“We didn’t know how he knocked you out, but it made us play cautious enough that Jiro was able to drive him back with her heartbeat fuzz and then lock him in the closet,” Midoriya explained.

“Did he find the stuff I tucked away?” You asked reaching into your pockets and taking the pages out of the back most pouch, “Hah, I still got them, passing grade, here we come,”

“At least you got us something, we were too busy fighting to get much,” Jiro admitted, “But luckily enough it really was only three people, the goons we fought and the guy who got you,”

“Actually there was four,” you corrected, telling them the one you choked out in the security room.

“You passed, despite the minor setbacks you faced,” Aizawa nodded as the exited the gate, “Midoriya, take Y/N to Recovery girl,” to which he cheerfully obliged. He hadn’t put you down yet, but you knew the second you tried to stand on your own, you would be reeling. You didn’t mind so much, Midoriya was strong and of course, your massive crush on him only made your heart race, pounding almost as much as his was. You figured it was probably still from the exertion of the test, but the fact that it wasn’t slowing down made you wonder what you thought you had heard before you fully came to.

“Midoriya?” you spoke up tentatively.

He flinched only slightly, but dipped his head to meet your gaze, “Am I going to fast? Jostling you at all? Or do you feel like your going to pass out again?” he began to ramble nervously, which surprised you, he had seemed so composed before.

“Um… none of that,” you blinked, “I was just…er, I thought I heard something when I woke up,”

“Heard something? You mean like voices, or a noise, or did you hear…oh,” he stopped mid-ramble and gulped, “You heard that didn’t you,”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know if she said that just because I was unconscious, or if she was joking or something, or if she was just teasing,” you stammered out, blushing madly now. This was it, he was going to turn you down and it was never going to be because he was so amazing and-

“She was right,” Midoriya mumbled, looking just about as red as you did, “You’re such a good person, a great hero, and well, I like spending time with you,”

“Huh?” you blurted, much to your horror, and ducked your face into your hands.

Midoriya only laughed, “I guess I really do just have to say it,” he took a deep breath, “I love you. I’ve loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you and- Oh screw it!” He blurted before curling you closer to his chest with one arm so he could move your hands from your face. He just barely got them out of the way before his mouth met yours and kissed you.

“I thought I heard students coming down this way,” you heard the sharp voice of the nurse come from just down the hall, “Get on in here, and none of that in my office if you please,”

The two of you broke apart, both blushing hard again, but Midoriya compiled and took you inside. Though there wasn’t much Recovery girl could do about the residual dizziness, she did provide a bed for you to rest in, and she even let Midoriya stay, though she gave him warning about funny business again. Despite not being able to kiss again, you were more than happy when he slipped off his gloves so he could hold your hand in his even as you drifted back to sleep.