#Follow me for more shitty pro tips

[seventeenpins]

triptych - pt ii

pairing: tommy miller x joel miller x f!reader

word count: 3.3k

summary: after a shitty day, the man you've been chatting with all evening brings you back to his place only for you to discover he lives with his brother, an old flame of yours. they both fuck you. pre-outbreak. 18+

warnings: ooof i know i'm gonna miss something but here goes! multiple orgasms, dirty talk, pussy eating, dick sucking, ass eating/ass play, anal, joel miller is an ass man, double penetration, it's literally just porn there is so little substance here it's shameful, probably not incest but maybe a little??? like the brothers aren't into each other but their balls kinda touch so i'll leave that just in case..., light spanking, creampie, light breeding?, pls tell me if i'm missing anything important

a/n: wowowow i cannot believe how fuckin lovely y'all are, i hadn't been writing for years but i certainly never received so much feedback. thanks for reading and interacting and being part of such a cool and deeply horny community 😅 my asks are always open and i'd love to take on some requests! thank u to those who've sent some so far, i'm working on them now. besides requests, upcoming fics include a follow-up to bad girl and a vampire au 💕

also, thank you for indulging in this pairing!! (grouping?) i feel like a lot of threesome fics are very pro-joel with tommy cucking, and though they're fucking excellent, i wanted to give tommy some love and an equal place at the side of his incredibly hot brother.

check out part i

when you'd first sat down at that grimy dive bar, never in a million years would you have anticipated the scene that was unfolding in front of you now.

“shit," tommy says, "she looks so nice down on her knees for us, huh joel?”

joel looks feral as he stares you down. "such a good girl for us,” he agrees, “but we gotta see if that mouth can do more than talk.”

he's holding your wrists behind your back, while tommy grips a firm hand through your hair and unbuckles his belt with the other.

"open up, baby," tommy says, and presses one finger into your mouth and then another. he gently strokes his fingers in and out of your mouth, pressing into your tongue, slowly going deeper and deeper till you're sure you can feel the digits at the back of your throat. you can feel that you've started to drool a little, and tommy lets out a little groan at the discovery.

"you think you're ready for me?" tommy asks, and you nod.

in one smooth motion, his cock is springing from his boxers and the head is pressing gently at your lips.

feeling just the tip in your mouth, you already know your jaw is gonna hurt tomorrow. you relax your jaw and open wider, and tommy makes a slightly strangled noise that you take as a great sign.

as he fucks into your mouth, your eyes begin to water and tommy notices, brushing the tears away.

"you're takin' it so good," joel lavishes his praise on you and you never want it to end, "such a good girl, aren't you? keep that throat nice and open for my brother, won't ya? i know you wanna relax into it, baby, let him see just how much you love havin his dick down your throat."

it makes you moan, his words making you almost uncomfortably wet. tommy keeps thrusting down your throat, hips occasionally stuttering.

"shit, honey-" tommy says, and chuckles at your whine when he pulls his cock out of your mouth, "you're suckin' it so good, i need a break or i'm gonna come in that pretty mouth a whole lot sooner than i mean to."

joel drops your wrists and backs up to the sofa.

"why don'tcha sit on my lap, darlin'?" he grins, and pats on his inner thigh, his cock visibly straining in his jeans, a little damp patch visible where you're sure the tip is.

"only if you take your pants off," you say, and joel's eyebrows shoot up.

joel considers. "fine, but we're gonna work you up real nice before you get to sit on anyone's cock.

once you're sat on joel's lap, his cock straining against his boxers, tommy’s kissing you with such frenzied passion you feel dizzy. the sensation is only heightened when joel runs a knuckle down your spine, dragging over each vertebrae, massaging and tantalising. then both hands are grabbing at your waist and over your hips as if mapping you out. it’s not overtly hungry, not yet, but there’s a sensuality to it you didn’t quite remember from your brief and ill-fated encounters with joel years back. you're suddenly hit with a pang of sadness that you never stayed in touch. you would've liked to see him get his first grey hairs. instead it feels like you hit fast forward and jolted ahead.

joel's close behind you and you feel his hot breath on your neck as he pulls down the neckline of your top and licks a line along the hollow of your collarbone and back up to your ear, and the drag of his tongue is delicious. he nibbles on your earlobe and the sensation draws an obscene moan from your lips. 

tommy’s close to you, too, his big hands cupping your jaw as he kisses his tongue deep into your mouth, running it along your teeth. his cock is still hanging out from his jeans, thick and hard, and you don't try to disguise the way you stare at it as you look him up and down.

"you've got far too many clothes on, sweetheart," tommy grins, and you pull off your top. before you can unhook your bra, joel's already unfastened it and is helping you pull it off.

tommy drops to his knees now, licking and sucking at your nipples, as joel unbuttons your pants, unzips them, and helps you lift your hips to yank them off of you.

the graze of tommy's teeth against the sensitive flesh of your breast makes you whimper and rut up on joel's thigh, and the brothers both laugh at your desperate noises.

"shit, she's needy, ain't she?" joel teases as he grips your waist with one hand and lets the other drag down to your panties, holding you in place while he starts to rub his fingers along your slit through the damp fabric.

he tugs at the band of your lace panties and ponders for a moment. "you partial to these?" he asks, and you shrug, "not particularly".

"good," joel says. that's all he needs to hear before he's tearing them apart and dropping the tattered fabric aside.

"well now you're just putting on a show," you tease, and he laughs but doesn't disagree. he just strokes a finger along your folds.

"i think you're a girl who likes a show," he tells you as he gathers up a little bit of your slick and slides it along your pussy. "now, what else do you like, darlin'? you want me to play with your lil clit? or just finger fuck you?"

"both," you whine, "any of it. all of it, please-"

he teases a finger into you very gently, just a little press that goes a little deeper each time he pulls it out and presses back in, till you realise he's sinking it in all the way to the hand with each thrust.

right as he adds another finger, to your surprise, tommy drops to his knees. he spreads your thighs wider and looks up for a moment, and you think you can feel joel nod behind you. that's all it takes, and tommy dives in. joel thrusts his fingers into you more urgently as laves kisses on and around your clit. he deepens it, pressing harder, flicking his tongue furiously along your swollen nerve endings and there's enough sensation that you know you won't last long.

"yes, that's it," you cry, and now it's your turn to grab tommy by the hair and press his face right where you need it the most. you're grinding up on his tongue while joel steadily continues to pump his fingers in and out of you, and you know you couldn't be quiet even if you tried.

"fuck," your words sound more like sobs now and you really don't give a shit, "keep going, just like that, joel you can go harder, tommy yes, lick my clit like that, i'm gonna- i'm gonna come-"

"good girl," joel talks you through it, "letting us take care of you like this. you need us to fuck you stupid, don'tcha? you're gonna leave here in the mornin' all stretched open, feeling us deep inside ya for days, huh?"

his filthy words are all you need to teeter over the edge- "fuuuck!" you scream, and you're positively panting now, verging on hysterical. you know joel can feel your pussy clench around him, you're so wet you're worried you've ruined joel's jeans, and you're so overstimulated that you can't speak more than a syllable or two at a time.

"oh you come so pretty," tommy says, pulling away from you to speak. you can see the way his lips are glistening with your slick before he kisses you on your inner thighs, peppering the soft skin with attention.

then, your eyes practically roll back in your head as he dives back in.

joel hasn't stopped fingering you, either, and once tommy's mouth is back on you, joel presses his fingers back into you more deeply again.

"shit, it's too much, i don't think i can take another this quick-" you try to say, but joel shushes you.

"i can already feel it coming," joel tells you, "can feel how your thighs are trembling, how you're already clenching down on me."

you're treading dangerously close to uncomfortably overstimulated, but you're also so completely turned on, you barely care. if you're gonna die in pursuit of a nut, so be it.

"fuck, you're right-" you tell joel, and tommy moans into you letting delicious vibrations pulse through you, and that sends you over the edge again.

you thrust and writhe and rut against them both, and tommy shows you mercy this time, drawing back and letting you get a little relief from the overwhelm of sensation instead of keeping his mouth on you.

you need a moment to catch your breath, and both joel and tommy rub soothing circles into your skin, joel's hands on your hips and tommy's on your thighs, and it feels exquisite.

"that's it, sweetheart, that's it-" joel soothes, and though your breathing's evened out, you know your thighs are still shaking.

tommy's licking up the arousal from between your thighs as if cleaning you off, and he looks up at you with almost dopey, half-lidded eyes, grinning.

"you taste like heaven, honey," he says, and he looks almost as fucked out as you feel. all this from eating pussy, you wonder, and that's another point in the favor of tommy miller being a man who likes to take care of fine things.

"i think i'm gettin' jealous now," joel teases, "i might need a taste, too."

without another word, tommy kisses you deeply and you taste yourself on his tongue. joel tilts your head back to meet him, and he kisses the taste from your mouth, groaning as he does it.

the sounds they're both making are so fucking hot, you love how they emote. there's nothing as unsexy as getting fucked by someone who stays absolutely silent throughout, and hearing them as pathetic as you feel works you up even more.

"what do you need, sweetheart," joel asks, and he's running a finger along your swollen folds now, teasing and torturous.

"you want us to fuck your pussy and your mouth," he asks, and moves to stroke a finger along your cheek, "you wanna have a big cock on either end of ya?"

you shake your head and joel raises his eyebrows.

"tell us what you want, baby," tommy says, and joel drags his fingers back along your pussy before tentatively using his forefinger to circle your asshole.

"please, joel-" you realise you're begging and it draws a laugh from tommy.

"you're a naughty girl, aren't you?" tommy asks, and the way he's grinning tells you that he wouldn't want it any other way.

"wanna feel full of you, both of you-" you whine.

"you gotta tell us, else we won't know what you want," joel says. from his tone of voice, it's clear he knows exactly what you want, but you need to beg for it.

"my pussy. and my ass. wanna ride both of you, feel both of you, get fucked by both of you-"

"jesus christ," tommy moans, "i bet we can make that happen, huh, big brother?"

you turn around to look at joel and his pupils are so blown, his eyes look black.

"bedroom." joel says, and it isn't a request.

tommy scoops you up in his arms and follows joel to his bedroom.

"drop her right here," joel says to tommy, and you're deposited on the edge of the bed, joel kneeling on the floor in front of you.

"looks so pretty for us," tommy says, and he sits down in an armchair near the foot of the bed and starts stroking his aching cock.

you'd been so fucked out already, you almost forgot you'd done almost nothing to take care of them. tommy's cock looks almost red and angry, and joel's is still tucked into his boxers, but the damp spot is spreading and it looks so thick through the fabric.

"let's get you ready for us, sweetheart," joel says, and without any more warning, he hooks his hands under your knees and pulls you up, legs spread, knees hanging over his shoulders. "i'm gonna eat this cute lil asshole, baby," he says and spits on your tight hole before rubbing his thumb gently against it, spreading the saliva.

he teases you with his tongue a little, testing it before pressing it flat and licking along it. you moan, and he growls against you.

you learn very quickly that joel miller is an ass man.

he eats ass like he was made for it, growling into you, spit dripping down his chest as he keeps your legs propped up on his shoulders, your thighs held in place with one arm. you're gasping through your moans and joel is drawing circles around your hole now, popping a finger into his mouth, and tentatively pressing it into the tight ring of muscle. it's fucking animalistic and you don't think anything could possibly make this better, until you notice the moans coming from tommy and the wet sounds of him furiously fisting his cock.

you're already fucked out from your first orgasms that you're practically boneless and limp, totally relaxed in a way you didn't often get. it made the feeling of joel fucking his fingers into you more glorious, building you up in a way you're not used to.

he makes quick (but thorough) work of opening you up, till he's got three fingers in your asshole and tommy's telling you how beautiful you look through his own choked moans, and you think you might lose your mind as you pant and grind and whine and joel isn't saying anything because his mouth is far too busy.

he pulls back and takes a good look at you. with someone else you might feel uncomfortably exposed but instead, you see hunger and desire in the brothers' and you know this is affecting them at least as much as it is you.

"i think we've got ya ready," joel hums, and he turns to look at his brother, "wanna check?" he asks, and tommy stands up and walks over.

you know you feel loose and ready, but the simple act of tommy popping a finger into your mouth to get it wet and then tracing it around your asshole, examining the preparation, drives you insane.

"i think she'll take it good for us," he grins and your heart flutters, "good girl," he says to you.

"you ready for us?" joel asks, and you nod.

"fuck me," you tell them.

joel lowers you down from his shoulders and tommy lays down on the bed before beckoning you.

"giddy up, cowgirl," he says with a wink, and you roll your eyes but take your cue.

you crawl up the bed, straddling his legs and then hovering over his cock which he's holding aloft.

"you good, baby?" he asks softly, and it's incredibly sweet in a way that makes you want to eat him up alive and also get fucked within an inch of your life by him.

"fuckin great," you tell him, and you pull him into a deep kiss before relaxing yourself over his cock, letting the head press into your pussy and sinking down onto it.

"jesus christ," he chokes out, and he sounds so desperate you can't help but fucking down on him, your ass slapping as you, move, his cock pressing so fucking deep into you and then you feel joel approach you from behind his hands gently running over your asscheeks and you know he's feeling the way your flesh bounces as you get off on his brother's cock. then, his hands are off of you, you hear the squirt of a lube bottle, and suddenly joel's thick lubed tip is pressing against you.

you try to thrust backwards towards it, but almost pull off tommy's cock fully, and it's like you're trying to ride both ends of a dick seesaw.

joel notices your frustration, laughing as you writhe.

"patience," he says, and delivers a sharp smack to your ass that thrusts you deeper onto tommy's cock. then, you can feel joel pressing into you, inch by inch.

once his cock head is fully sheathed in your tight ass, you take a moment to breathe before you start to find a rhythm that'll get all of you off at the same time. it takes a moment, and a few adjustments by all three of you, but before you know it, you can feel tommy brushing against your cervix and joel fully fucking into your asshole, practically rearranging your guts. with each rough thrust, they're fucking into you as one.

you're all moaning, gasping for breath. the slapping of skin against skin is delicious, and you're certain joel's balls are smacking against tommy's and you're not sure if it's weird or the hottest thing you've ever experienced.

you feel so full, you feel so fucking full it's perfect, it's delicious, you wanna be split open like this for the rest of time, want to feel two fat cocks using your holes for their pleasure, for your pleasure, because it all just feels so fucking good.

"fuck," tommy says, and it's the first thing any of you have been able to vocalise for a minute, "i'm gonna-"

"come in me," you tell him, cutting him off and he shudders.

that's all he needed before it hits him and he lets out a deep groan and unloads deep into you. it sets off a chain reaction. you come next, clenching around tommy's cock and exploding with a sob, your entire body shaking uncontrollably, and that tips joel over the edge, too as you whine at him, "come in my ass, joel-" and then he makes a strangled noise and you feel his balls tighten and hips stutter and he's unloading in you, pulse after pulse of thick come.

you lay there, tommy beneath you and joel on top of you, their cocks still twitching inside of you. gently, you tap joel's hip and he grunts and rolls over, pulling out of you. you gingerly pull yourself off of tommy, and then immediately collapse between the two of them.

"well, shit," you say, so totally blissed out you're floating on a whole other level.

"jesus christ," tommy says, and then joel starts laughing and it's the best thing you've ever heard.

"you doin' alright, darlin?" joel asks, "we take good care o' ya?"

you nod, consumed with so much euphoria you can't use your words properly.

"good- good joel," you say, "good tommy," you pat them each on the thighs and joel snorts.

tommy pops off the bed for a moment and rummages around in the other room before coming back to ask, "need a hit?"

you nod and he places the joint between your lips and sparks it. you take a deep inhale and slow blink as you sit yourself up and look at both of them.

"let's clean ya up, darlin," joel says, and, as it turns out, tommy brought a washcloth as well as weed. and he had my priorities straight you think.

"if you want me out of your house," you tell them, "you'd better tell me now so i can call a cab. otherwise, i'm gonna pass out here in the next twelve seconds."

"i won't be here in the morning", joel tells you, "got an early shift, but as i recall, tommy's specialty is box pancakes and they sometimes turn out edible."

tommy playfully slaps at his brother, and then kisses your cheek. joel kisses your cheek, too. tommy cleans you up a little, and you fall contentedly asleep between these two beautiful men.

the last thing you think before you drift off is fuck that promotion, it's not such a bad day after all.

[whatbigotspost]

I think a lot of people who aren’t neurotypical but only discovered it as adults (🙋‍♀️) just have some natural talents in masking and have no idea that their brains aren’t “the norm” for a long time. I’ll never forget talking about my decision making processes as “like really fast flow charts” and “mentally running if/thens” and having my friend be like “I follow my gut” and being soooooo confused 😅

There’s all kinds of shitty takes in the orbit of this topic (someone said “everyone has adhd now” around me the other day) but really it has been underdiagnosed/misunderstood, etc.

And then we literally spent years places like here reading bunch of incredibly helpful adults WITH diagnoses like autism and adhd say “oh hey if your brain is like mine, pro tip…” and they saved our goddamn asses so many times with those pro tips that well let’s just say, at when someone hands you a mirror over and over at some point you’re bound to say “oh shit! It’s me!” And then a lot of us talked to our less online friends and said “oh hey this is me, and I think you may love these tool too,” so we like handed the mirror a lot and voila more people who have always has adhd (that’s mine, fill in yours here) are revealed.

There’s no conspiracy here. Like trust me I’m not clamoring to have the can’t always control my impulses and bad memory club for funsies.

[blessyatoz]

longfic (+48k words and on posting) tags: pro-hero izuku midoriya, manager au, falling in love, humor read all on AO3 excerpt from chapter four: how to follow a Pro-Hero on patrol

The room was shrouded in darkness.

It was cold—the windows in Izuku's room were wide open, and no blanket covered him. He always left them that way: in case something happened, in case someone called for help, in case anyone needed him, he would hear it.

Hikage-san's Danger Sense would alert him to any significant danger approaching, yes, he knew that. But it was a habit, a routine he had developed. One that gave him a certain sense of security, somehow. So he kept doing it, always leaving them open, always feeling the cold.

It was more than the middle of the night, once again. He never got home before this hour in recent years. His alarm was set to go off in four hours and forty minutes.

He should be sleeping.

But here he was, eyes glued to the ceiling, replaying a memory from earlier today.

Yo, Uzuki-kun! I’m Marin, nice to meet ya!

A memory of Marin’s words to a little boy, at sunset, in the middle of a children’s playground. A sandbox.

He remembered how he had arrived there. It hadn’t taken long to resolve the emergency he’d been called to—he made sure everyone was safe, talked to the police, and returned to the park sidewalk where he’d left his assistant. He just hadn’t expected her not to be there anymore exactly where he’d left her.

But a quick glance at the horizon was enough to spot her, the tips of her pink hair giving her away from a distance—she was in a sandbox, apparently talking to some kids. He smiled. Kitagawa-san was naturally social (and a bit crazy fun, for sure, he thought with a chuckle) so she was probably playing with them.

Izuku then began to walk in her direction, but he stopped. He stopped behind some bushes when a group of boys came running out, looking terrified—they even bumped into him on the way.

None of them apologized or acknowledged his presence; they seemed too scared to notice, driven by a need to escape evident in each of their faces. All he heard as they talked among themselves was:

"That shitty quirkless Uzuki, he’s gonna get it when he’s alone!"

"Yeah! We’ll get him good!"

That got Izuku out of guard.

And before he could say anything (something that might change their minds, something that might make them less scared), the kids had already disappeared from his sight.

Then Izuku looked ahead, through the tall bushes. And he heard:

"Yo, Uzuki-kun! I’m Marin, nice to meet ya!" He saw Marin smile brightly, gently patting a boy’s hair. The little guy was crying. "So, what happened here, huh? Were those your friends?"

“Th-they are.” Midoriya heard the boy stammer and lower his gaze, sniffling again. The scene seemed strangely familiar to him. "T-they were making fun of me."

"Why’s that, huh? You seem like such a cool kid to me!"

The boy swallowed hard, looking away. As if he felt ashamed. As if he felt guilty.

He took a while to respond.

"B-b-because..." He seemed afraid to say. "I-I’m q-q-quirkless… Just because I wanted to be the hero in our play… S-Sorry, One-san. Sorry! I-I-I don’t wanna bother y-you!”

Strangely familiar to him.

“Nah, don’t worry, little guy! You don’t have to apologize to me! You not bothering me, okay?! You looked like you were asking for help! I’ve come anyway.”

Izuku felt a gentle breeze brush against his face—Kitagawa-san's words somehow touching him.

Like he was asking for help, huh? 

“S-sorry! Sorry, one-san!”

"Don’t say sorry, little guy. These guys are a bunch of jerks." Kitagawa-san, don’t swear in front of kids! Izuku thought automatically. But that wasn’t where his mind was really focused. It was on something else. On her all other words. On how she seemed to care. On how all of this was bringing back memories.

“Huh?”

“A bunch of jerks, that’s what I said. Those friends of yours are j.e.r.k.s,” Kitagawa-san continued, with an expression Izuku recognized as nothing less than comedic indignation. “How can they know you won’t be an incredible hero, huh? Impossible! You’ve got a whole future ahead of you, Uzuki-kun! What nonsense…!”

‘B-but they’re not wrong, Marin-onesan. I-I-I… I-I don’t have—”

“Don't have a quirk?” The boy nodded, a tear running down his nose. He looked like he was about to cry again. But Kitagawa-san was quicker, smiling that big smile of hers, the kind that Izuku couldn’t even count how many crinkles it created around her eyes. “And since when does that mean you can’t be a hero?”

The words seemed to jump out of Kitagawa’s mouth, like her body, her mouth moved before she even had the chance to think straight. As if she didn’t need it. As if she was sure of it.

All Might's first words to him pop into Izuku’s mind. Why?

I cannot simply say, ‘You can become a hero even without power.’

Was what he first said to him. Before all.

“B-but—”

“But nothing! Listen to your one-san! Isn’t this your dream?”

Izuku saw the boy nod, the tearful expression starting to fade from his little face. Kitagawa-san then carefully picked up the fabric from the ground and gently tied it around the boy’s neck. 

It was a cape. A green one.

“Then no one can say anything about it, gotcha?! No one can tell you what you can or can’t do! ONLY YOU! Don’t let those idiots’ opinions mess with your goal, okay, Uzuki-kun?!” Kitagawa-san was like a wall of confidence, unshakeable, with an unbreakable belief. The boy’s eyes sparkled with admiration, practically twinkling with stars. More than admiration—Izuku knew it: it was hope. “You’re not only can, you are going to be one hell of an amazing hero! I know that!” And Izuku knew, Izuku knew exactly what felt like to hear something that. The words he always wanted to hear. He had dreamed of it for too long as a child not to know. To have someone say that to you. To have someone encourage you like that, even when no one else believed in you. Just like All Might had done for him once, when made him his sucessor. “And then you’re gonna rub it in those idiots’ faces just how wrong they were!”

Izuku watched Marin make those ridiculous punching sound effects in the air, making the boy laugh.

“Yeah!” He cheered, throwing punches in the air.

“You’re gonna be the greatest hero in the world!”

“Yes!”

“And you’re gonna kick a ton of villain asses!”

“YEAH!” And then Izuku heard Marin’s laugh, loud, expansive, and contagious, the kind you could hear even from miles away.

“I believe in you!” Izuku heard Kitagawa-san say, and the All Might’s voice saying ‘You can become a hero.’ was the thing that came to his mind. “And I’m counting on you, okay? I’m, like, super clumsy and always getting into trouble. So in a few years, you better be ready to be my hero, okay, Uzuki-kun?”

Izuku listened.

What was that trying to leak from his eyes?

“I'll be, Marin one-san!” The sad expression had long since left the boy’s face. All that remained now was a smile—and a look of courage and determination.

Izuku watched them laugh quietly for a few moments, as if soaking in the comforting feeling of the silly, stupid promise they’d made. But Izuku knew that it wasn’t a silly promise. Not either stupid.

To that boy, it wasn’t.

Kitagawa-san had done something there. Something big, real. Like a real hero. Something that many heroes would never believe in or have the guts to do. That almost no one ever said it to him back in the past, just All Might. And that was more than—

He realized: what was that trying to leak from his eyes? Those were small tears. Tears. 

Why did he was about to cry? He didn’t know… He didn’t know how they had gotten there—they just… were.

At that moment, he heard Marin’s voice say in a strange and funny tone:

“Do you want ice cream?” He saw her offer a completely melted ice cream to the boy. 

One of the scoops fell comically to the ground.

“No.” The boy was emphatic—as Marin looked at him with a face that ranged between offense and indignation. Izuku found himself laughing softly, a bit silly, a bit shaky.

He was still an emotional mess, wasn’t he? Crap.

The boy waved towards something further away, and Izuku noticed it was his parents. The boy then began to walk away from Kitagawa-san, a smile of pure determination and confidence lighting up his entire face. He never took his eyes off her when he said:

“Thank you, Marin-onesan! You can be sure I’ll be an amazing hero and I’ll save you! Please wait for me! I’ll show you! I’ll show everyone!”

That was the memory of today. And Izuku remembered, Izuku remembered the whole scene perfectly. As if it had happened to him. Just like he remembered when All Might believed in him.

And Kitagawa-san says that he, Izuku, is the incredible one.

Kitagawa-san had been an even more incredible hero that day. Even though she didn’t know.

Suddenly, he noticed: he wasn’t as cold anymore.

The window remained open, always open—the curtains swayed and swayed slowly, the night breeze filling his room at home.

That night, Izuku didn’t have much time left to sleep.

That night, his alarm would go off in less than three hours now.

He was tired, exhausted.

But still, he drifted into sleep with a smile, a quiet warmth settling deep within him.

AUTHOR NOTES:

HELLO TUMBLR that's a tiny little except from my fic Izuku Midoriya/Original Female Character. We already have six chapters posted. Feel free to check out the all chapters and tags on AO3! Hope you enjoyyyy! Comments and kudos are appreciated, I just love to know what u guys are thinking about the shipp dynamic <3

[hausofmingi]

his good girl - chapter 1

pairing: song mini x stripper!reader

tags: stripper au, smut series

warnings: slight mentions of stalker, bad words (tee hee), dom!mingi, sub!reader, riding, daddydom!mingi, finger sucking, being carried and getting fucked, a bit of physical roughness (reader receiving), degradation but also praise, cum eating (off the floor!), aftercare

wc: 3.8 k

an: so I decided to give the reader a name because that feels more realistic to me as a reader than y/n. I find that sometimes reading "y/n" takes me out of it a little, so lmk if you find this helpful as well! Also, I am a little depraved so right off the bat, this gets very crazy kinky

minors dni!! 18+ only!!

“Where is the red garter belt I let you borrow?” You are racing around your and Lina’s small apartment, trying to prepare for yet another night on the job. 

“I don’t know, I may have left it at the club?” Lina answers from the bathroom. 

Red is his favorite. You don’t want to disappoint. 

“Well great Lina thanks for that, I’m never letting you borrow my shit again.” 

“Love you too!” she calls after you as you leave to go shopping. It’s not like you’re against making another trip to get some new pieces, but why do you always make the same mistake in letting Lina borrow your favorite stuff…

Your’s and Lina’s apartment is in a pretty run down building in an unsafe part of Gangnam, but no matter how shitty it is, its yours and you really want it to feel like home. 

But, that doesn’t mean you don’t feel the pair of eyes watching you as you exit out of your apartment building and walk towards the bus stop. 

You have been noticing that lately, the feeling that someone is watching you. When you leave your house, when you’re at the grocery store, while you’re going on a run. You try and brush it off because this is normal for women and all that, but today, you pay just a little harder attention. 

Out of the corner of your eye, you see a figure in a black hood (Jacket? Coat? You don’t want to look too hard) standing across the street from your apartment building. You walk a little faster to the bus stop just in case. 

That night, after spending more than you should on new lingerie sets, you and Lina are about to take the stage for your first stage set. It’s almost midnight, which is usually the time he makes his appearance. 

You always get butterflies, but not the stage fright normal kind of butterflies, the kind that make your clit perk up and your nipples harden. 

Why do you always get so worked up over a man who hasn’t even fucked you?, you think as you make your way up to the stage. 

You really have become quite the pro at this. After 4 years of working for this club, your boss has dubbed you his favorite girl. Doyeon always protects you and gives you the most popular customers, knowing you will always keep them coming back. 

You always thought it felt nice to be appreciated, especially knowing he didn’t have any intentions of coming onto you, on account of he’s a flaming fruitcake.

Its a good ways into your set, and his table still sits empty. You feel the sweat start to form on your back, but try to stay in your routine. 

Why isn’t he here? Where could he be instead? Did his company find out he was doing this? 

You always got scared that it might be leaked that idols come here, knowing the sasaengs stalker habits. Mingi, being a part of one of the biggest Korean boy groups, Ateez, must have a large number of crazy fans following him. 

Did they find out and tip the press to show up here? You didn’t see anyone outside though… Your mind runs rampant with all of the reasons that it could possibly be as you walk off stage and collect your tips from the stage manager. 

Tears start to threaten to spill, and you think you are crazy yet again to be this affected by a man you haven’t even had a conversation with. 

On the way home, Lina can tell you’re bothered and nudges your side as you walk home. 

“So you know how Taehyun has been requesting me a lot? Well he mentioned his upcoming tour tonight, I think he might finally take me along with them!” She exclaimed excitedly. 

“Don’t be ridiculous, he’s just saying that so you’ll suck him off some more.” you say. 

“Well damn… What’s got you all worked up honey?” She always called you honey when she was trying to comfort you. 

“Mingi didn’t come tonight..” you admit. 

“On a Thursday? That’s… super out of character. Well don’t worry, I’m sure practice just went long or he has an early morning schedule or….” her talking trails off as you dissociate. 

Lina has always been a nice friend, agreeing to move in with you without knowing you very well, trying her best to always cheer you up. It’s not her fault you felt like you guys were never really close. You give her props for trying though. 

You pull out your phone and check his bubble and instagram, seeing if maybe they could give you some clues. Nothing. 

You fall asleep that night thinking of the last time his fingers swiped your lip, hoping it wasn’t the last.

—

The next night at the club is gloomy. Even though it’s a Friday, attendance is lower and your energy is even lower. 

The feeling of someone watching you has been bothering you all day, but the guy in the hood has yet to make an appearance. You are just looking forward to curling up in your bed tonight and continually refreshing Mingi’s bubble messages. 

The stage manager calls for everyone to get onstage for the final number and the other girls rush out. You take your time though, not feeling like getting in a rush for this menial thing. 

You hang your head in your hands, covering your eyes and taking a breath. Just get through it, he’s just a man, you try to remind yourself. 

A smell reaches you, like a really expensive cologne. Musky and masculine, and somehow… dominant. 

You look up and standing in the doorway is him. He stands as if he owns the place, hands in his pocket, opting for a fitted vest tonight in lieu of a jacket. 

And he’s staring you down, studying you intently. If it was anyone else, you would feel the need to cover yourself and apologize. But not with him. 

You probably look like a dumbass, staring at him through the mirror with your mouth slightly open. 

He speaks first. “You were worried.” It’s a question but he doesn’t need an answer. 

“Yes,” is all you can manage to squeak out. 

He leans against the doorway, messing with his shirt cuff. You still haven’t moved, frozen in place. How did he get in here, past the security guard? How did he know which dressing room you were in? Was he the person in the hood you noticed this morning? He must be stalking you… Why doesn’t that bother you more? 

He notices your anxiety moving through you. “Don’t worry, I just know the security guard. He owed me a favor. I’m not a stalker” he responds, as if he read your mind.

“That’s… good” you say. 

He drops his arms and strides towards you, slowly as to not spook you. “Well thank you for worrying about me. I’m okay, for now. But, here’s the problem my love,” he draws his finger up your arm, making your hair stand up and bumps form. “You may be in trouble.” 

You aren’t sure what he means. “What kind of trouble?” you ask. “Like legal trouble?” 

You are afraid that maybe one of the idols ratted this place out and the feds are going to come knocking down your door and take you all away. Would Mingi still visit you in jail? Surely not, there’s no lap dances there… 

He sticks his finger under your chin and pushes it up to make you look at him. Drip. 

“Please stop letting your mind get ahead of you, baby. Let daddy speak.” DRIP. 

“A sasaeng has been getting very close to you. Too close. I can’t let you get hurt.” Awe, he wants to protect you. DRIP DRIP DRIPPING. 

“How did they find me?” you ask. 

He leans against the counter as he continues, “I am not sure, I don’t even know how much they know. Sasaengs are insane people with insane complexes. This one has been stalking me since pre-debut. But I’ve always been careful that she doesn’t see me come in here. So how she knows that you are important to me, I don’t know…” IMPORTANT TO HIM??? 

Okay you’ll have to throw these underwear out at this point. 

“So what do I need to do then? To protect myself I mean” you ask him. 

“Nothing, I want you to do absolutely nothing and let me handle it. But in the meantime, you can’t go back to your apartment.” 

Hate to say it, but fine by you. Maybe you’ll save some money by not having to replace your stolen shit anymore.

“Where will I go instead?” you ask. 

“You’ll come stay with me.” Jesus Christ, 20 year old you would be freaking the fuck out. But, it doesn’t make you freak out, in that way at least. 

“What about Lina, what about my job? I can’t live with you, much less San and Seonghwa. I’ll never see you. What if you have to travel for schedules? I’m just supposed to stay in your dorm 24/7? I have a life! I barely even know you! You only ever say 4 words to me, and then fucking leave me in a puddle, how can I just-” 

His hand stroking the side of your cheek cuts you off. “Again with the mind racing, baby. I don’t want you to uproot your life, it will be temporary. I have my own apartment now too, so we won’t be with other members. It will only be until we are 100% sure you are safe to be alone. I will take care of you, I promise.” he reassures. 

You lean into the hand that holds your head, a few tears falling into it. You finally get the courage to look up at him, making eye contact. He has dropped his heavy, dominant demeanor. Instead, his eyes hold only comfort and concern. 

Maybe he wasn’t kidding; maybe you really are important to him. 

After a minute of silence, “Okay, so what do I need to do right now?” you ask.

“Change and pack up your stuff, we are going to the apartment. Make a list of what all you need from your apartment when we get home and I will send a staff to collect it all in the morning.” 

“And take a breath, princess.” You unclench your jaw, which you didn’t even realize was clenched. He kisses your forehead before reaching down to grab your duffle bag that you carry your things in. 

You think in silence as you pack. Take a breath he says… he will protect me he says… Why me? Why is protecting me, a stripper, just some stripper that he barely speaks to. He doesn’t even know my real name…

“Yes I do,” he says from the chair he has sat down in to wait for you. Oops, you must’ve said that part outloud. 

“It’s Cora.” You like the way he flips the “r” of your American name with his Korean accent. 

“How do you know that?” he ignores you. “How do you know I used to live with San and Seonghwa?” “Touche…” you respond.

“All done?” he asks. You nod. He crosses to you and starts stroking your arms to comfort you. 

“I want you to remember though, you still have to be a good girl for me at the apartment, can you do that?” 

You look up at him through your eyelashes, surprised that he still is holding this up even at a time like this. Is it all an act, or is it truly how he is? Either way, you are turned on once again. 

“Yes..” you respond. He cocks his eyebrow, questioning your answer. 

“Yes what?” 

“Yes… daddy.”

“There’s my good girl.”

With his hand on your back, he guides you out of the dressing room and out the back door, where a black hatchback with tinted windows is waiting. He holds open the door for you, and helps you into the car. If only other men treated all their strippers like this…

The car ride home (whatever home means at the moment) is very silent. He has his hand on your thigh the entire way, the other staying steady on the wheel. His thumb rubs back and forth, another attempt at comfort you’re guessing. It works, sort of. 

Just smelling him and being near him your body is relaxed, knowing he will take care of you and wanting to give yourself to him. It’s like you are under his spell, which is crazy. You are usually so independent and self-sufficient. What about him makes you want to grant his every wish? 

“Shouldn’t you be blindfolding me, so I won’t know where your apartment is and so I won’t run away and all that?” you ask, kind of joking. 

“You won’t” he says while keeping his eyes on the road, fully confident in his answer. 

He’s probably right. 

–

Finally you reach the apartment. You almost drifted off to sleep, even though the drive was only about 20 minutes. He parks right outside the front door of the building and gets out to open your door for you. He offers his hand to help you out of the car. It’s much appreciated because you are still in your platform heels, just throwing a coat over your outfit you were going to wear to perform in. 

He keeps his hand on your back as you walk up to the doors, through the lobby, and up the elevator. It’s a really nice building with a concierge and fresh flowers all over. Sometimes you forget how big Ateez really is, and figure that Mingi bought this place with his own money. 

You wonder if he has neighbors on his floor. Do they know he lives next to them? Does he talk to his neighbors at all? Do they know that he is having his own personal stripper move in with him?

They’re gonna know now, from how loud you are being. 

How you ended up riding him in his dining room chair about 15 minutes later, you’re not so sure. 

—

He was going slow, too slow, slow enough that you could feel every. single. inch. 

You tried to grind your hips and get him in deeper, but the tight hold he had on your asscheek lets you know that even though you are on top, you are not in control. 

His other hand is holding your face, his thumb hooked in your mouth. You suck and gag on it as much as you can, but it’s hard to focus when he is going this slow. 

You felt high, things were getting foggy. All you knew is that you wanted to please him. 

“My beautiful girl, doing so well. You were waiting for this for a long time weren’t you?” his deep voice sends sparks to your clit and makes you even wetter, if that’s even possible. 

You can only close your eyes and nod. You want to throw your head back, but his hand on your cheek and thumb in your mouth keeps it facing forward. “Now baby, what did I say? Eyes. on. me.” 

He jerks your head a bit, just to make you a little scared. 

You know he would never hurt you. 

Unless you asked. 

You open your eyes like a good girl. How could you not be a good girl for him? 

His breath catches when you make eye contact with him again. His eyes bare into your soul, never breaking. 

You whimper a little when the head of his cock catches someplace you have never felt before. He smirks, knowing. He hits it again, making the upper half of your body keen forward, his thumb slipping out of your mouth. 

Your hands, which were bracing on the back of the chair, move down to his pecs. You are desperate for him, desperate for that feeling that release you dreamt about him giving you. 

You start to bounce since he let go of you, letting his arms hang down and his head fall back in pleasure. You are doing that to him. You are making him let go. 

You grind his cockhead up against your g-spot over and over again, drooling down his neck. 

You wish you could see what you guys look like, his giant body draped over the chair in ecstasy, you sat on his thick thighs bouncing on his perfect cock, licking up and down his neck. 

You’re close, really close, and your walls start to constrict down on his cock. His eyes shoot open and he jerks his head up at the feeling. 

“Hold on princess,” he practically growls at you. 

Hold onto what? You think. 

He grabs underneath your thighs, holding his hands behind your back and lifts the both of you out of the chair with him still inside of you. 

Oh my god, holy shit. 

This was too good, you couldn’t have even dreamt this up. 

You wrap your hands around his neck and he pummels into you as fast as he can, hitting your g-spot every single time as if he has memorized the angle. The sound of his balls hitting your ass covers your cries of his name. 

“Fucking. Take it.” he says, his forehead touching yours. He has essentially lost control of his body, just bouncing you wildly up and down his cock. 

It’s coming, It’s coming. Please, please, please, “please.” You don’t even know what you’re begging for, if you’re even talking out loud. You feel like you are losing your grip on reality, its so so close. 

He stills inside of you, leaving his cock right on the spot you need the most. He just shallowly thrusts, just rubbing your g-spot with his cockhead. Holy shit, it feels like fucking heaven. 

“Now,” he commands. 

And you obey. 

You flutter around him, feeling how his shallow thrusts stutter when you cum. You don’t stop for at least a full minute. 

“Thank you thank you thank you, oh fuck, thank you daddy” is all you can say as your clit jumps in ecstasy. 

His eyebrows are furrowed together, he’s close too. Right as your orgasm tapers out, you tighten your thighs around him and give him 3 bounces. That’s all he needs. 

He pulls you off of him just as he’s cumming, holding you away from him so you can watch the cum drip out of his cock and onto the floor. It’s so beautiful, you think. 

He sets your legs down on the floor, but they can’t hold you up and you fall to your knees. You can barely see straight, and you can’t catch your breath. Holy shit he may really have fucked the shit out of you. 

You keep your eyes turned to the ground while you try and slow your heart, but you see him start to squat down to your level. He picks up your chin with his hand to look up at him. “Baby… you need to clean up your mess.” 

“Wh..What?” you stutter. 

He stands up straight again, looming over you with his giant presence. “Clean it up.” his gaze falls to the ground and yours follows. 

Oh… you get it now. 

Not breaking eye contact, you lean your head down. You stick out your tongue and lick up the cum that he let fall to the floor, as well as some from you that you didn’t even realize had dripped down. He smiles. 

You feel like a pet, like a slave. 

You fucking love it. 

“That’s my good girl.” he praises you. You wipe off your mouth and look up at him through your eyelashes. He squats back down to your level, seeming to have fallen for your puppy dog eyes. 

“Does my baby need help getting cleaned up?” 

“Yes daddy.” 

He bends down to pick you up, which he does with ease, as if you weighed nothing. He guides your legs to wrap around him and he carries you into the bathroom. 

He sets you down to sit on the toilet and turns on the shower to start heating up. Why do you feel so dizzy? You gaze can’t focus. 

“Cora… don’t pass out on me my love.” he holds your face in his hands. 

“What do you need baby?” you grab onto his wrist to try and steady yourself. 

“Just a minute… I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t apologize, take your time.”

He strokes your hair as you take a few deep breaths to steady yourself. 

“Is the shower ready?” you ask. 

“Yes my love, whenever you are.”

“Will you help me?” you ask.

“Of course” he says as he starts guiding you towards the shower door. 

He lets you step in first and before you can protest that you can shower on your own, he steps in behind you. 

It's a really big shower, with beautiful blue tiles and a detachable shower head. Detachable? Huh…

You lean into his chest, your head barely meeting the middle of it due to his height. One of his arms wraps around your body while the other starts to shampoo your hair. 

Why do you already feel so comfortable with him? As if you have been showering together for years. You literally just licked this man’s cum off the floor and have no remorse about it. Should you feel guilty? 

Nah, you kind of just feel like bragging to other Atiny’s on Twitter. I sucked his beautiful cock!! Suckers!!! Probably wouldn’t be the best idea…

After washing the rest of your body and getting you out of the shower and making sure you brushed your teeth, you are now tucked into his extremely comfortable bed. You don’t usually sleep naked, but it seems right when he is too. 

You turn to face him in the bed. He was already staring at you, it seems. 

“You know, I wasn’t expecting us to fuck right off the bat..” you admit. 

“Me neither, but I am not surprised. It’s hard to resist you.”

“You’ve been resisting me for the past 6 months. You know I always craved more from you.”

“Yes I did know. But I didn’t want to enjoy you in such a public space. I just craved being around you. Its hard to resist you, though, princess. Just know that.”

I guess that makes me feel better, but still… so many things unanswered.

“I know you are probably questioning a lot of things. Just try and get some sleep tonight, okay my love?” he asks. 

“Okay..” you agree in a small voice, knowing that you will wake up tomorrow with even more unanswered questions. 

“Good girl.” He curls his arm around your middle and tucks you into his side, kissing your forehead before drifting to sleep. 

He smells like the same cologne he was wearing earlier tonight. Beautiful, musky, and masculine. You let yourself drift to sleep, breathing him in.

OKAY I DID IT MY FIRST CHAPTER. plz reblog and like.

[melodygatesauthor]

Why haven't you updated A Bit Doggy??

Oh hi Nonnie. How are you doing? You good? I sure hope so.

I was going to ignore this, but honestly I found this pretty rude the way you’re asking and I think I’ll use this as an opportunity to educate you and anyone else who thinks this is an appropriate way to approach writers when asking this kind of question. - and yes I’m going to call special attention to the fact that you wrote “doggy” instead of “dodgy” because if you’re going to demand something of me so rudely at least check your autocorrect my guy. But I digress.

Please read below the cut:

Firstly, I understand you’re excited about the next update. I am too. There are nice ways to ask and buddy…this ain’t it.

“Hey, I am so excited for the next chapter of A Bit Dodgy, I know you’ve been busy with other projects and real life, do you have an ETA for the update? No pressure I’m just very excited.” - this shows me, and other writers, that you’re respecting my time, which IS important despite what YOU may think. It also shows me that you’re not applying pressure to me.

When you say:

“Why haven’t you…?” What am I supposed to say to this? Why does it matter WHY I haven’t updated it? That’s quite frankly NONE of your business. Logically you can assume that there’s probably a good, and sometimes personal reason for WHY someone hasn’t updated.

Secondly, I’ve already made 2 posts explaining WHY I haven’t updated and WHEN I plan to update on both THIS blog and @melodygatesupdates. Big pro tip here pal, maybe look through my blog a bit before coming in with a rude question like this.

Clearly you’re following me and paying VERY close attention to when I post and don’t post so, educate yourself please.

Third, there’s nothing wrong with being excited about a story and wanting an update. I GET it. Writers know (and I can’t stress this point enough) WRITERS KNOW THAT THEY HAVEN’T UPDATED AND DON’T NEED YOU IN THEIR INBOX TO MAKE THEM FEEL MORE ANXIOUS.

Instead of asking why, you can say “hey, hope everything is going well. Excited for the next ABD update!” This tells me that you’re excited, and that you’re supportive of me and my time. That’s all the “nudge” that I would really consider appropriate.

That’s pretty much it. I don’t care if you find my response bitchy because quite frankly, it’s supposed to be. The reason I LEFT a smaller fandom I was part of was the lack of support from other writers, and ENTITLED SHITTY READERS. People who DON’T reblog and yet they demand updates and make requests. I’m sick of it. I don’t think I’ll ever leave the MK fandom but Nonnie, shit like this makes writers leave so keep that in mind the next time you want to come into someone’s inbox asking rude fucking questions.

Also, follow my fucking update blog so you can see when I DO make updates or tell people when I won’t be updating something. Hope that satisfies your curiosity.

[breeding-puppie]

I'm having a really shitty day,week,month and even year,any advice?

Shitty Day Masterlist:

Take a relaxing bath/shower

Use your best or favorite products, use the fancy soap or more expensive haircare products, let yourself enjoy everything. If you feel low energy, don't force yourself to make a big to-do about it. Just enjoy pampering and taking care of yourself. (Pro-tip: pretend like you're caring for your sick lover/person if you don't like caring for yourself)

Move your body

I know, I know. But just hear me out. Nothing major. Do a little light stretching, a short pilates/yoga routine, take a walk outside. Anything to move your body in a way you haven't consistently been doing will help to ease some tension in your muscles and improve your mood. It's a super neurotypical piece of advice but as someone who struggles with her mental health I find that it does feed me a bit of happy juice.

Indulge in a new hyperfixation

Obviously do this to your liking/budget/ability, but indulging in something that makes you feel happy and fulfilled is a great way to shake off the shit. If you're in-between hyperfixations, go down a random YouTube rabbit hole!

Find something to live for

Maybe you wanna go to see an upcoming movie. Maybe you have an animal to care for. Maybe your favorite season is approaching and you can't wait to enjoy it. Maybe you've been craving a certain candy for a week. Find something that makes you feel a little bit more alive, and hold onto it.

Everyone has different needs

You can read 1000 blog posts or articles, watch hundreds of tiktoks, and sit down to articulate the perfect recovery/feel good plan. At the end of the day there's nothing that works for me that's guaranteed to work for you. Listening to your body and following your natural intuition to what you need is what is going to make you feel better. Start indulging in the absolutely ass wild cravings your body has, sleep when you feel the need to, do weird little somersaults or crawl on the floor, sit upside down in your chair. Strange as it is, your body knows what it needs to regulate, and learning to listen to those prompts can help so much.

Remember that at the end of the day, you know what you need, what you want, and that you're capable of attaining it. Refrain from using negative language about yourself, even jokingly, and over time you'll notice your perceptions change. Find ways to meditate every day (actual meditation, reading, listening to music, going for a walk/drive, petting your animal, watering plants, etc) so your brain has time to release the bad vibes. Remember that tough times and bad plot twists are just that, they add to the plot of our own personal narratives and they are not permanent.

I wish you the best, and hope you begin to heal in the ways you need the most 🩷

[higgs-the-god]

heyy sorry to bother u but i was hoping u could give me a tip? im in the "mgs twitter fandom" or whatever and recently the people there are getting really aggressive when it comes to harassing people over stuff like fics or even small disagreements and also doxxing and...im very paranoid and scared about it, i dont think my twt is "suspicious" but they really just use any shitty excuse and since i interacted with some of them in the past (i didnt know they were so aggressive) i dont really know how to pull away (also, id still like to see the art memes and stuff) normally this wouldnt be a problem since im good at keeping quiet and observing but recently they actually did all this to someone i know and it got me really scared..im having a harder and harder time staying quiet and i dont know what to do, you seem more experient in this so, how do i stay safe? i do avoid any pro/anti discourse but im sure they could find something that could be tracked back and IDK could you give me some advice? im really sorry for the text and (possible) bad english

I wish I could provide much help but honestly I don’t know! In my experience befriending those who are like. The infamous “””gross proshitters””” of the fandom is a fair way to keep safe, but my method has always been to just keep to myself :( I know how terrifying it can be, and at this point I don’t really follow anyone who is too vague on labels 😔

[mixingpumpkins]

Hi, I just graduated university recently and will likely be doing some remote part-time freelance proofreading and editing while I search for something more permanent. Because I believe I saw that you do similar work yourself, is there anything I should know that might help me prepare for early obstacles if I’ve never been paid for this work before? Any tips? I feel as though I’m a fairly talented writer and editor, I’m just wondering if there’s anything I should be looking out for outside of my own skills.

Hi! Congrats on your graduation. :)

Honestly, it depends on what kind of editing you're doing. Books? Resumes? Blog posts? Technical writing? Content mill-type articles from all the outlets that are putting things like "5 Reasons We Can't Wait to See the Next Marvel Movie (and 5 Reasons the MCU Should Die in a Fire, Actually)" on your Google feed?

Also, is this freelance editing like... you set up shop on your own site, you're on a platform like Fiverr, or doing contract work with a media company? They're all different animals, so I'll answer like you're applying for part-time contract editing work. (If it's one of the former, lmk.)

Overall tips...

You probably already know this, but have good samples both for things you've edited AND things you've written (and ideally, links to where they're published online). If you're applying to edit at a specific outlet, try to pick samples that are similar to their vibe. Don't stress if they're not a 100% match, but it certainly helps. (Do NOT send 5 million sample pieces unless the application asks for it. Just pick the best you have that's similar to what you'd be editing for the job.)

Don't stress about an interview. Chances are, they already feel you can do good work – they've already seen your samples. Now they just want to see how much of a fit you are for the people you'll be working with.

Generally, people who hire editors want to see 1) can you spot when a writer isn't following a style guide/other standards and correct them on it, 2) can you do this while meeting a certain productivity standard, 3) can you not constantly fuck up with any tech you need to use, and 4) can you be pleasant and communicative with anyone you're required to work with. If yes, you're in good shape. BUT...

...These are hard things to tell from an application and interview alone, so you'll probably have a probationary period to this end. There will probably be at least one other editor who looks over ALL your work during this period to see if you're meeting their standards. DO NOT DO THIS FOR FREE. Do not do anything "here, edit these 3 articles/these 5 pages as a trial" for free. Shitty companies and people do this to use applicants and trainees for free labor. If you're doing work while you're in training, they should be paying you.

Do some research on average pay rates for the kind of editing you're doing. If you can set your own rates, you'll know what to shoot for (adjust for your experience). If you can't and you're hunting on job boards, you'll have a better idea of which employers are trying to rip you off.

If you can, avoid working with people and companies who accept, encourage, or are interested in using AI in any part of their content generation or creation process. (The reasons why are a rant for a different day.) If you get to a job and your "editing" is to essentially fact-check and rewrite AI content to make it sound more human, fucking run.

Be prepared to check for AI-generated content if you're working in a circumstance where human writing is still valued.

Get very comfortable with giving and receiving feedback, if you're not already. Be kind, but don't stress too much about stroking egos. Most pro writers (well, outside the book publishing or screenplay world) won't fight you – they just want to get their pieces out there and get paid, especially if they work on a per-word basis.

Get REALLY comfortable with editing to strict word count standards. (My first book had +/- 3 words of wiggle room around certain sections' target word counts.) Yes, you will probably have to cut something that you love or reword it to something worse a few times. No, a publisher/printer/higher-up editor will not usually let you make an exception. Mourn these instances and move on.

Writers will sometimes get mad. Some of them will try to bully or steamroll editors they've never worked with before. Don't let them. Give them grace because you know what it's like to have to kill your darlings, but remember that you were hired to hold them to certain standards. It doesn't matter if they've been published in Forbes or the New York Times and you're a new face – if their current work isn't meeting the standards it needs to, hold them to it.

Try to develop a good rapport with any writers, editors, or others you work with, even if you're only doing this as a part-time, temporary thing. You never know what opportunities may come down the line if you cross paths with these people again.

Try not to do what I do on Tumblr, aka word-vomit all over everything every time I answer an ask. ^^^^^^^^

Best of luck!

[theestervashti]

"The Fishies." From Esther 8: 3-6.

So the Court sides with "bitterness against oppression", but so what? Something sinister turned an entire kingdom against the Jewish people and created a close call. Now the prophet explains the real antidote to this need man has given himself to murder other men in large numbers for arbitrary reasons.

Esther asks the King for a firm rebuttal to the plan of Haman the Agagite, "the rooftop of populism", a false narrative that criminalized the Jewish people for standing up for their human rights. Haman is the product of what is called Hammedatha or "the fortification of the opinion", my favorite- a political party system.

We see this happening now- Donald Trump is gathering dark servants like Elon Musk from around the world to himself in order to amplify his wicked voice give it more air time in more places and languages. Marjorie Taylor Green and Mike Johnson did the same thing claiming their enclave was more important than the lives of millions of Ukrainian and Russian citizens. If the Book of Esther decries anything it is the foundry that produces shitty people like these and breeds them through the media. No matter how despicable they are, people will listen, and then before long the killing starts.

Esther employs the king for antivenin, firm propaganda that explains how Godly must behave and why there must be punishment of human rights laws violations without a question:

3 Esther again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against the Jews. 

4 Then the king extended the gold scepter to Esther and she arose and stood before him.

5 “If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if he regards me with favor and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces. 

6 For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?”

Dispatches are made by persons who have a clear moral compass, who are able to speak articulately about an issue they are legally and ethically allowed to protest. Pro Life, an absurd barrier to human progress is the opposite. The desire to interfere in the family planning of others is not logical, but we have allowed this issue to tip our world over and turn it upside down the same with gay people and drag queens and how other people have sex.

There are wars, shootings, plagues, famines, floods, and our climate is killing us. Why can't we focus? Populism that is why. The King of Persia "science is sovereign" is the only way to approach legislation as it compels us to witness our troubles objectively and employ appropriate solutions, which we possess for the aforementioned difficulties. Religion is supposed to address attitude problems, the greatest of which is populism.

The Values in Gematria are:

v. 3. Esther begged, she pleaded. The Number is 9143, טאדג‎, tadge, "too fishy."

Men form communities upon which we depend for far more than survival, obviously. We want to be entertained, to be relaxed or exercised in a manner that contributes to our quality of life. Fish school- they gather in large numbers and follow the currents and the signals nature sends in order to survive another minute, however long it takes for reproduction to replace their numbers faster than they are lost.

We could not be more different from fish, but the collective consciousness needed to engage in a genocide or a war in Ukraine or Gaza is too fishy for a sane man to remotely consider.

v. 4: Then the king extended the gold scepter to Esther and she arose and stood before him. Esther, whom we call Ishtar is the epitome of sentience. She is the enlightened outcome that results when the law, the academy and the temple work together to ensure civil society prevails. She is mankind's earliest and most beloved celestial being and I am pleased to welcome her back into our lives.

The Number is 2678, בוזח‎‎‎, "blasphemer."

Every word in Hebrew works both ways. In this case, we apply the positive version of blasphemer because the script says Esther rose.

"The Hebrew word for "blasphemer" is megaddef. The Hebrew term for blasphemy is birkat hashem, which literally translates to "blessing the Name [of God]". 

The root of the term, lepo, refers to racism:

"The curious verb λεπω (lepo) means to peel, strip or de-bark (of trees). One would surmise a kinship with the Proto-Indo-European root "pil-", meaning hair, hence the English verbs to depilate (to remove hair), to peel (to remove a hairy skin), and to pillage (to clean out bare), but no, the experts declare the origin of our Greek verb obscure.

Earlier experts suggested links with the Latin libet, pleasing, hence our word love, or the noun lepos, meaning grace, which possibly has to do with λαμπω (lampo), to shine, but no, later experts refute all this, and suggest that our verb isn't even Indo-European. And that takes us to the Semitic language basin."

So the upper realm of blasphemy is to love the skin, the lower is to peel or pillage the skin.

v. 5: Let an order be written (and followed). The Number is 9284, טבחד‎, "a massacre."

Can justice be done without a massacre? The Torah says possibly but not likely. So when does the killing on either side of the law come to an end?

Not until everyone involved in incidents like January 6, October 7, the war in Ukraine, the RVW overturn, the Republican/Mormon kiddie porn ring, etc. are all rotting in their graves:

v. 6: For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?” The Number is 5726, הזבו‎ ‎, the zbo, "You are zebu, a fly with a drip."

"You go back and forth, and you are without honor. You have no respect."

"The verb זבב (zbb) isn't used in the Bible, but in cognate languages it means to go hither and thither, move to and fro. This verb's sole derivative is the slightly more common masculine noun זבוב (zebub), meaning fly.

The fly, scholars suppose, was known as a creature that zips to and fro or bumbles hither and thither. In the Bible this noun occurs only in Ecclesiastes 10:1 (the death-bringing flies) and Isaiah 7:18 (as metaphor for the Egyptian army). And this noun is also immortalized in the name Beelzebub.

There may be a relation between our verb זבב (zbb) and the verb אזב ('zb).

The root זאב (z'b) does not exist as verb in the Bible, but in Arabic it means to despise, frighten and drive away. The associated noun זאב (ze'eb) occurs in both Arabic and Hebrew and means wolf, which seems to indicate that in the Levant the wolf was mainly seen as a cowardly nuisance which could easily be scared off.

The wolf does not actually appear in the narrative of the Bible; it's only referred to in metaphors and similes, and it should be remembered that the wolf did not have the same stature as it does in our world, and it certainly didn't enjoy as much respect."

As with blasphemy, the word Zebu has two magnitudes, the other means "you are gold."

In the next section, Xerxes explains who gets to stay, and who has to leave- the fish, the flies, or the men.

[shut-up-rabert]

hieieieee~

sorry for being random but can you gimme a few tips for scoring well in maths in cbse 12th grade? i scored just 34.5/80 in my half yearlies and you can imagine how must have i felt- the same old crying, anxiety attacks falana dimkana.

i thought i should ask it from someone who actually likes the subject rather than the people who just want me to score good to improve their school average :)

Areey koi na, aap padhare humare inbox mein shobha hi badh gayi humari🥹

Allllrightttt, let’s start with the basic tips:

Learn how to love maths-*gets hit with chappal* No seriously, this is the first one. Maths ko ye sochkar solve mat karo ki mujhe exam clear karna hai. Try to be curious about the concept instead, like “oh I just learnt this new trick to solve answers, let me learn/revise its functioning by solving these questions.”

Focus on your syllabus. This isn’t an exam but a practice tip. Solve the entire NCERT, examples and miscellaneous included (if you don’t like math in general than you can skip those 2 tho). Solved them? Solve it again! Then add to the mix the exampler and viola! 99% prepping complete. This is where majority of your exam will be from. And given that you aren’t a fan of math to begin with, you can afford to skip exampler aswell if your only aim is of getting a decent enough score. (Take for example my own exam. It was a bit out of syllabus with tougher and outside questions on the 4 marks side, I hadn’t practiced anything outside the ncert but still bagged an 85% in math without coaching and all.)

Take your sweet sweet time. Again, a practice tip. Don’t rush , don’t try to be ahead of syllabus or put more on your plate than you can handle. Do enough questions/exercises as you can take on a singular day. Take time to ‘digest’ them , or let them settle in your mind. How you did that question, what formulae and derivation were to be used, let it seep in. Then, do more questions once you feel like it, the next day Of course. Once you have somewhat versed yourself in those questions and come back for revision, increase the number of questions you do each time, like solving more of the kind from exampler/RD or combining multiple exercises in one session. It will help both your speed and practice in general. Ps, don’t forget to redo questions you got wrong! Take extra care with them :)

Don’t sweat it. Rona dhona chhod do, aur chinta to bhulke bhi mat lo. Isse jo kaam achha ho rha hai wo bhi kharaab ho jaega. I remember losing it after getting my first term result because I scored a mere 32/40 in math, took me awhile to get back to the subject. I did it again in my CLAT/AILET, I was so afraid/anxious that I ended up sick in the twilight hours of my exam day and naturally didn’t get a good score. I have learned my lesson since, do me a favour and learn from my mistakes instead of repeating them on yourself :’)

Analyse yourself. Last but not the least, Sweety, its you who knows her own predicament, tour strength and weaknesses, and how smart you really are. It’s your own life that depends on you, na kal ko Pados waali auntie ki life pe asar padega aapke kuchh karne na karne se, na wo chidne waali chachi ki, to in logo ka pressure bilkul mat lo. Aur na khudko inke bacho se compare karo. Final term hai abhi, tab tak itni mehnat karo ki apna personal best de sako, and if your personal best in math still falls short of being your overall best, then leave it. Bhagwaan ne jin fields m talent diya hai unme kuchh karo, kyunki kismat m aagey wahi likha hai. Believe me, you’ll walk away from math satisfied that you gave it your all Well that’s it from me, if you need any specific help, Pop in anytime. All the best wishes and lots of love, BA Math waali didi<3

[tteokdoroki]

all the love in the world | k.bakugou.

⇝ pairing: katsuki bakugou x fem!reader.

⇝ word count: 5.1K

⇝ rating: 18+, mature.

⇝ genre: pro hero!au, engaged!au, fluff and smut.

⇝ summary: as hard to believe as it may seem, bakugou lives for time off, where the days begin with him waking up by your side and  end with him falling asleep right next to you, while he thinks of all the ways he can love you during the hours in between.

⇝ warning(s): please read ! fluffy domestic bakugou ( i think this needed a warning okay? ), smut ( characters aged up to 20s ), soft morning sex, fingering ( female recieving ), dry humping, light!praise, heavy!breeding kink, switch!reader, dom!bakugou.

⇝ author’s note(s): hellooo my loves ! as a celebration of me reaching 100+ followers, i bring you my very first written imagine !! i love the idea of domestic baku so i hope you enoy reading as i did writing !! special thanks to @ozzy-bozzy​ for the teddy bear bracelets idea hehe

⇝ masterlist | requests

katsuki bakugou considered himself to be a very lucky person.

when he was younger he’d been blessed by a powerful quirk which only lead him to exceed his classmates back in U.A. he’d graduated said school’s hero course top of his class, even if he’d failed his provisionals the first time round— nothing could stop him from becoming the best.

so when the hot headed blonde bagged the role of side kick at a top hero agency and then launched himself to the highest points in the hero charts as a pro later on, katsuki felt like all of his dreams had come true.

that was until, he’d proposed to you.

you were katsuki’s final dream, for him to wait for you at the end of the aisle— your watery smile just for him. 

that’s the vision he saw in his sleep. when you had said yes to him, the night you got engaged under the stars and amongst the roses, it was then that the explosive hero had realised how lucky he truly was.

he had loved you for a long time, katsuki had— he almost couldn’t remember the time when he hadn’t. in the time that you’d spent together; soft gazes and lingering touches, you’d taught him a lot and he’d learned through your tolerance and generosity, something that had rubbed off on him, something he’d so desperately needed to cool down his hot demeanour.

he was grateful for a lot of things, all of the things you’d taught him— but mostly the entirety of you. while you’d always said that neither of you completed each other and only made one another better, bakugou knew that his life would be complete with you in it forever.

 he knew  from the moment you’d pinned him down underneath you during training back in high school— that he was going to make you his wife someday.

“jesus katsu, why’re you up s’early? it’s supposed to be our day off,” you mumble into your silk sheets; his scent sewn into your pillows. katsuki likes the orange silk that lines your bed; mostly because of the colour and partly because other fabrics irritate his skin. with sleepy eyes, you blink up at the blonde and catch him staring mid act. like always, bakugou looks away with a heated blush and paws it away from his cheeks. “whatcha lookin’ at dummy?”

one of kastuki’s favourite things is the way you look when you first wake up, groggily rubbing the sleep away from your eyes with a pout on your lips as the sun hits your face just right— creating a halo effect around you, like you’re his guardian angel…but he wouldn’t ever admit that to you, at least not until his wedding vows. “it’s the only time i get to look at you without hearin’ the dumb shit that comes out your mouth, woman.” katsuki grumbles back, finally meeting your eyes again.  

he can clearly see the love glittering your irises and the faint smile that plays teasingly on your lips as if you know that he’s joking. unwillingly; bakugou feels himself mirror the grin that you bare and a happy warmth then spreads across his chest.

“we still have the whole day ahead for you to ogle me like that katsuki bakugou,” you hum sweetly, the tail end of your words falling into a light giggle. the ash blonde feels his heart flutter just from the sound; a candied melody to his ears that he could never get tired of hearing. 

reaching over your shoulder, katsuki uses his warm hands to roll you over onto his awaiting lap. 

your arms instinctively wrap around his neck as the sheets fall from your body to reveal yourself in one of his shirts with an old merch design and your fingers weave their way into his pretty blonde hair. 

now that you’re in his lap; the pro hero can see the smirk making its way into your face as you look down at him lovingly. “seems like you were doing more than just looking baby…”

your hips grind down against your lover’s now prominent erection that sits hidden in his dark sweats— earning a slight gasp from the man himself. “s-shut up, dumbass…” bakugou growls through gritted teeth while you move above him. 

his words stay lodged in his throat, he wants to tell you that you’re always on his mind no matter what he’s doing or looking at but instead they die down as he drops his head to your neck, leaving sweet kisses along the column of it.

early morning love making with you was what katsuki bakugou considered one of his many blessings. he loves being this close to you— feeling every dip in your skin and kissing every mark on your body, his lips work their way up from your jawline to your chin and finally attempting to land a solid kiss to your own lips.

“nuh, katsu—“ your breathless whine fills the air, sending shivers down the spine of the man below you. he moves up to kiss you again, gripping your hips tightly while your movements begin to sync. “no, morning…morning breath…”

bakugou huffs, hand finding the back of your head to tilt it down into a soft liplock— contrasting with the harshness of his earlier movements. “fuck morning breath, i haven’t made love to you properly in a fucking week so let me kiss you. fuck.” usually, katsuki would have added his salty pet name of ‘shitty woman’ to the tail end of his phrases but he bites his tongue, saving it for later.

you give into your fiancé then, falling in love with the way his lips meld against yours so passionately all over again. fingers that belong to bakugou dance underneath your shirt, finding you bare within the fabric. one hand slips between your plush thighs, smoothly rubbing circles into your swelling clit ever so gently.

your breath hitches as katsuki traps you under his touch, playing with your folds as they begin to grow slick and form a wet patch on his deep grey sweats, making him groan. 

the explosive pro pushes two of his digits past your entrance, curling them and watching with sparkling scarlet eyes as your mouth hangs open in of the prettiest moans katsuki’s ever heard— his mouth falls open with you while your head tilts back, exposing your sweat glimmering skin to the sun’s rays. “feel good baby? yeah, you like that?” he mumbles condescendingly, slowly pumping them inside of you. “yeah you do,  yeah you fuckin’ do.”

“yeah, katsu...more…” a  breathless moan escapes you with every thrust of bakugou’s hot fingers, the cheeky bastard setting off small scale explosions to stimulate you from within. he’s hot, the heat from his body filling the space between you and spreading right down to your glistening mound— causing slick to gush from your tiny abused hole. 

you can feel his cock pulse beneath you with every twist of his fingers to reach that spongy pleasure spot deep within your leaking hot walls.

katsuki’s thick fingers stretch open your tiny hole, making your mouth water at the thought of his weighty cock being the next thing press into you but your raging thoughts are swiftly interrupted by your fiancé— who pulls from you completely and sucks the two fingers into his mouth to lick them clean of your sweet nectar.

katsuki keeps his vermillion eyes locked on you, the lewd action making saliva pool on your tongue. his own pink muscle darts out to wet his lips, no doubt spreading the taste of you across them before making a move to kiss you. 

the pro is quickly stopped, your hands that once roamed his bare back and messed hair, now pinning his own above his head.

bakugou is a strong man, he wouldn’t have been a top hero if he wasn’t— he trained constantly and sparred often with his fellow heroes but he doesn’t resist when you grip his wrists in your free hand, releasing his hard cock from it’s restraints before it slaps against his well toned stomach.

milky precum leaks against his warm skin, while you prepare yourself to mount him. the pair of you let out a groan in unison as you sink down on the hero’s thick length— as if the tensions and stresses of the week have melted away just him being sheathed inside of you.

“mnnn, so fuckin’ tight baby, gonna need to fuck you open again…”

bakugou’s voice is low and gravelly from the early morning, just how you like as his hips roll up into yours— further pushing his fat cock into you. his tip barely grazes your cervix  as you set the pace, lifting yourself up and down to bounce on your lover’s length. 

the way you feel inside, your soft velvety walls and gushing pussy make him buck up into you with more fever, as his own symphony of moans and weightless gasps dance through your ears. “yeah? take this pussy katsuki…m-make it yours,” you sigh, grip on his wrists loosening to the point where you set him free.  the blonde’s hands immediately move to grip your ass tightly— smirking at you lazily while the pads of his fingers sink into your flesh.

you look beautiful to him, bouncing on his cock and dripping all over his pelvis under the early morning sun, the way the gold lights up your hazy lust filled eyes.  

the fire of desire burns brightly in the depths of katsuki’s stomach, love finds its way into each of his thrusts from then on— mind clouding with the desire to fill you up so good with his love as the leaking  head of his thick girth drags against your walls, prodding at the spot that has you seeing stars. “that’s right yn baby…fuck that cock, fuck yeah baby,” he whispers brokenly to you, chest rising and falling desperately while sweat beads on his hairline. “love you, love you s’much...”

bakugou watches your gaze on him soften at his confession, the words he doesn’t say often but shows you everyday still hanging in the thick, warm air.  “i love you katsu, p-please,” your erratic thrusts slow to somewhat of a passionate grind, two lovers pressed hotly against one another as the sounds of your moans twist with that of skin on skin.

knot in your stomach tightening, katsuki can feel your release creeping on you from the way you clench around him at every plunge deep inside your sweet hole. strong arms wrap around you, katsuki noticing how you shake from pleasure above him while he brings you down onto loving thrusts as if to draw you closer. 

“gonna cum!”

your fiancé nods into your neck, rubbing smooth circles over your back as he pulls out of your heat completely and earns a needy whine from you. your hole spasms around nothing, right on the edge of release before bakugou forces his girth back into your accepting pushing. “cum for me angel, right on this cock,” he pants, holding you close while he rocks into you. “i've got you baby, let it all out…”

“mph, baku-! oh !”

hips stilling above his, you scratch and claw at any part of bakugou’s skin that you can— shaking as your release splashes against him, sending your eyes rolling to the back of your head and white spots dancing across your vision. the tightness of your heat drives the pro right over the edge, hot ropes of thick cum painting your insides white as his release reaches your womb.

the pair of you lay still, catching your breath as you collapse forward on your lover’s chest. while your breathing slows, katsuki rubs warming circles into your back to help calm you down— only smiling softly when you look up at him with clear, affectionate eyes. “did so good for me yn, fuckin’ love it when you take my cock like that first thing in the morning,” his words are soft on his usually sharp tongue, bakugou smoothing a thumb over your cheek while using a forefinger to tilt your head up into a sweet kiss

“always and only for you, my love,” you hum, eyes fluttering shut at the simple gesture even after you pull away. “and if you keep cummin’ in me like that katsuki ‘m gonna end up pregnant one of these days…”

bakugou smirks, pressing smaller kisses all over your face to make you giggle. you smile and greedily accept each one, loving the these tender moments between yourself and your fiancé.  “maybe that’s the fucking point, dumbass,”  he quips, biting on your cheek after landing a kiss there. “trying to put a shitty little brat in you.”

despite the small bite to his words, a blush still manages to creep its way onto katsuki’s face as you lay your head down on his chest with a smack to his waist. the ash blonde means every word and you know it too, he can tell by the knowing smile and slight gleam in your eye.

you fall back asleep not long after bakugou cleans you up.

he’d be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy counting every mark and bite he’d left on you as he tenderly wiped between your thighs and massaged over your skin. 

but he loved how cute you looked when curled up on his chest more, your hand clings to bakugou’s shoulder as if to check he’s still there even in your sleep— giving the hero ample opportunity to play with the ‘teddy bear’ bracelet thats cuffed to your wrist. you’d made it for one of your anniversaries; matching the ‘grizzly bear’ one on his own.

prying himself from your arms is no easy task for katsuki, your grip on him like an adorable iron vice or a child with a teddy bear. after setting himself free, the ash blonde with the crimson eyes heads down to the kitchen to make breakfast for the two of you— it was some what of a routine on your days off together, you always got the munchies after sex and bakugou knew just how to soothe your roaring appetite.

as he worked with the eggs and other breakfast ingredients, katsuki thought back to how much you praised him for his skills in the kitchen— he knew how much you loved his cooking and he would do anything to see you smile.

“god katsuki, i might have to start taking more days off it means i get to see my grizzly bear in the kitchen like this,” you hum from place leaning against the door frame. 

your fiancé turns round to face you with a light smirk, glimmering eyes inviting you further into the room. the explosive pro holds the sizzling pan he’d taken off the stove high above your head as you cuddle into his side, breathing in his warm caramel scent.

katsuki clicks his tongue, staring down at you fondly. “tell that to the fucking villains who fuck up the city every other day, maybe then we’d have more time to relax.” he counters, pulling a sweet chuckle from your sweet lips.

“if we start handing out your cooking, they’ll probably start turning themselves in!” you tease your lover back, swiping a bit of the pancakes from the pan above your head. katsuki grumbles and pats your ass indulgently— the supple skin peaking out from under the shirt that’s found it’s way back over your form. it’s a silent scold for eating before he’s fixed you a plate of all your favourites.

as usual bakugou pulls out your chair at the table, pressing his lips to your hairline before putting your steaming plate in front of you. your mouth waters while katsuki takes his seat opposite you with rolling eyes as he watches you tuck in to your breakfast. 

the entirety of your meal is filled with lingering gazes and hums of delight while you eat, almost as if you’re back on your first date ( bakugou spent half of the time watching you eat rather than doing so himself, but he just wanted to see if you liked the place ). 

leaning over the table to wipe syrup from your chin, the blonde smirks— quiet words falling calmly from his lips. “what do you want to do today, sweetheart?”

the birds chirps lovingly outside of your window, dancing under the sunshine— they remind you of your early mentor and often patrol partner hawks, who you needed to remember to invite to dinner soon. 

the weather is nice today and that gives you an idea. “let’s go out,” your eyes sparkle with a million dreams, each one bakugou wants to live out with you. “to the park with the roses, the pink ones where you—“

“where i proposed, got it,” katsuki smiles, the fond memory catching the tail end of his words. “i hear they introduced some new blooms too.”

you mirror his expression; stabbing your fork through a strawberry in the bowl of fresh fruit your lover had prepared for you. you hold the fork out to his lips and watch amusedly as he chomps the fruit from its place. “care to escort me, lover bear?”

“who else is going to? dumbass.”

“miss nightsky ! will ya sign my bag!”

“that’s a nice bag sweet one, you sure i can sign it?”

katsuki loves the way you are with kids, even though you’re a massive child yourself.

the pair of you decided to walk to the park; since the nice weather held up and it wasn’t too far from your private neighbourhood— even though it took a little longer to get there than expected. 

not that either of you minded, but many curious fans stopped to talk and ask for pictures; some even asked for autographs which you happily gave them. while the mighty ground zero was slightly grumbly about it, he adored how kind and patient you were with everyone you met no matter how old they were.

his vermillion eyes, though brownish looking under golden light, sparkle as you ruffle the little kid’s hair and wave politely to their awaiting parents. bakugou wants to have kids with you one day. 

it was something he hadn’t really thought about until recently, he knew it would be difficult, with both of you reaching the heights of your careers and the pair of you were still very private about your relationship as well, with word of your recent engagement already slipping into the tabloids.

there was no doubt that they’d speculate about your marriage too, no matter how private you kept it. keeping a child secret would be even harder. 

and yet; the thought of you holding a baby…his baby would, on some nights lull him to sleep.

you squeal like a little girl when the ash blonde stops to buy you an ice cream from a van by the entrance of the park; he can’t stand how much you love mint chocolate chip but buys you a towering double scoop anyways.  “how do you even eat that toothpastey shit?” bakugou grumbles, finishing off his orange popsicle as you walk into the flower garden.

“says the one who likes orange, you have no taste katsuki bakugou.” you chide but take his freehand nonetheless. the explosive pro’s thumb brushes over the back of your hand while you make your way through and he can’t help but pluck one of the pretty blooms from the bushes to tuck behind your ear.

you scold him for taking the flowers but your smile betrays you as katsuki dips you for a honeyed kiss on the lips. 

he’s never one for PDA but this was your spot, here just last year bakugou had sunk to his knees in front of you with an expensive diamond ring you were eyeing months before ( you would never say anything but katsuki always picked up on these things ). 

he would also never admit it, but his hand shook with every word that passed his lips and you were sure he had been crying harder than you were while he slipped a ring on your finger.

your secret kisses and tangled limbs hiding deep in the rose bushes are soon completely soaked by an onslaught of unexpected rain.

you shriek at the rain while katsuki grabs your hand, free arms thrown over your heads as you make a dash from the flower garden and head for the main streets in order to catch a bus.

the pair of you giggle as you stumble onto the vehicle, ringing out your drenched clothes and wiping at your wet faces as it heads home. bakugou pulls you into his arms, head resting atop yours to draw you closer— the heat from his quirk allows him to keep you warm and you get a load full of his sugary scent as well ( not that you mind ).

you stay like that on through the rustling traffic, cuddling like a cat to your heated fiancé but a tug on the bottom of bakugou’s wet shirt captures your attention. the pair of you look down to catch the innocent eyes belonging to a darling little girl. “u-uh h-hi mister gwound zewo!” the little one stumbles through her words and in the corner of your eyes you can spot the girl’s mother and give her a reassuring grin.

bakugou’s gaze softens at the curly haired girl and releases you to crouch down to her level despite the shaking bus.  his hand still holds onto yours though. 

he ruffles her hair with his free hand, making your heart warm— there was a side of katsuki the public never really got to see, where the hotheaded pro could be tender and quiet and often quite reserved. 

the media got a kick out of playing on the ash blonde’s explosive nature but moments like this let the real bakugou shine through.

“hey there kiddo, whatcha’ got there?” katsuki mumbles delicatley, noticing the girl hiding something behind her back.

“tisswue! for my favouwite hewo!” the little one says, gingerly holding it out to the blonde’s wet face for him to use. bakugou taps his cheek and cleans closer to let the little girl wipe his face with a tiny chubby hand. they chatter for the rest of the ride home— the girl bashfully twirling her hair around her fingers as katsuki compliments her quirk.

leaning your head on katsuki’s soused shoulder while you walk home, you look up at him with an adoring expression, wondering what he’d be like with a little girl of your own. “that was quiet adorable mister ground zero, you stole my hear away!” you tease, kissing your linked hands.

“yeah? well don’t get used to it shitty woman.” he says through gritted teeth and marches you both through the rain to get you home but the blush on his face tells you otherwise. if you ever had a daughter, you could only imagine what he’d be like with her.

katsuki heads straight for the shower when you get in, leaving you to pick a movie and order takeout as you’d discussed on the way home.

it was a regular routine for you both on nights off; you always picked the movie because if you left it up to your fiancé you’d end up watching some boring documentary on all might or cooking ( he was a closeted nerd at heart ). 

you settle on a cheesy romcom that you’ve seen about a hundred times because for one;  it’s your favourite and two, you’ll never get tired of seeing bakugou cry towards the end of the movie.

“take out should be here in twenty!” you call to your lover, when he passes by you to enter your living room.

“got it, now go wash up before you catch a cold, stupid—“ the ends of katsuki’s words are cut off by your stream of giggles, bouncing off your cream coloured walls. your ash blonde fiancé has half a mind to curse you out for slapping his ass through his fresh set of sweat pants but rolls his eyes nonetheless. 

he finishes pulling his tank top over his head while heading deeper into the room, not wanting to answer the door without one ( as much as your regular delivery driver would like that ).

while in the shower, you manage to scrub away stains of the rain and soreness from the day— washing over sweet love marks from katsuki with pride. a temporary reminder of his eternal love for you and you only. 

there’s already a change of clothes waiting for you when you step out of the shower; one of his old shirts and a set of boxers that you slip into comfortably. your nostrils are filled with nothing but the alluring scent of burning sugar, the traces left by bakugou himself.

he’s already munching on a box of tempura by the time you’ve headed back downstairs, crimson eyes light up when they land on you and you make a dive for the couch— rolling into katsuki’s side. “did you tip the delivery driver?” you ask, watching as your fiancé dips a piece of the food into some sauce before he holds it up to your lips.

“damn right i did, i didn’t wanna though…they kept staring at my arms,” bakugou revels in the way you laugh around the piece of food he pushes into your mouth. you chew with a grateful smile, the look of amusement never leaving your pretty face. “whatcha laughin’ at dumbass?”

“i think you forget how much the public loves your arms, ground zero.”

as soon as you press play on the movie, time seems to fly away from you both— the air is filled with streams of laughter and moments where you swipe from one another’s plates, picking on one another fondly. somehow by the time the film reaches it’s climax the food has been devoured and you’ve ended up huddling into bakugou’s chest. 

fingers laced with yours, bakugou twirls the diamond engagement ring you have on, around your finger, smiling at the precious reminder that you’re to be his forever and always.  “where do you think we’ll be in the future?” you question quietly, nuzzling into your fiancé’s side.

“married, of course.” crimson eyes find yours in the dimly lit room, almost rolling annoyance as if your question is the dumbest thing in the world. in response, you lean up and squish the explosive pro’s cheeks together and beam up at him while he scowls at you.

“stupid, you know that’s not what i meant,” the words despite harsh, leave your lips dreamily and a contented expression crosses your face. “i see us with kids, in a house much bigger than this one and a backyard that stretches for miles and miles—“ your words die warmly in your throat, figuring that you’ve gotten slightly carried away with the fanticies you’ve made for yourself and katsuki. 

in your mind, you can’t help but conjour up a litter of tiny bakugou’s running around a plush green garden— maybe a little dog too and your heart swells in your chest at the idea.

the hot head squeezes your hand, resurfacing you from your sea of thoughts. “you want kids? with me?” his voice is barely above a whisper, all of his vulnerabilities splayed out in the tone as he looks at you warmly.

“a whole family with you, as many as you want.”

suddenly, bakugou has you flipped onto your back and pinned underneath his muscular frame. 

his warm breath fans across your face making your eyes fall heavy with adoration. “four.” the blonde grunts, swooping down to brush his lips gently across yours, not quite kissing you much to your dismay. “i want four of those snotty little gremlins with you, maybe have the fifth by accident and then we’ll get a big fucking house for them to destroy—“

“f-five kids katsu?” you gasp out your words at katsuki starts to press increasingly harsh kisses to your jawline, settling on your neck while he licks over bites he’d left earlier today. 

bakugou murmurs something about ‘you said as many as i want’ before he’s growling at your hands that find their way into his blonde locks, tugging on them tightly as pleasure overwhelms your senses. 

he hums against your sweet skin, finding his place between your legs at the same time as his thoughts take him away from you. he’d love to see you pregnant, so full of his love and his children.

the movie is long forgotten by now as lust settles in every corner of the room. hands push beneath your shirt, groping and massaging your breasts to pull all sorts of sounds from you. 

bakugou forces a knee between your thighs, finally capturing your lips in a hungry and heated kiss— his tongue slips in your mouth after he pinches your thigh, fighting yours in a passionate dance for dominance. “gonna fuck a shitty little brat into you, yn,” katsuki almost whines as he pulls away from your inviting lips to press your foreheads together. you look gorgeous beneath him, flustered with swollen lips from each of your rough kisses and there’s no doubt in his mind you’re thinking the same about him. “gonna fill you up so good, gonna make pretty babies with you, hah?”

“ka-katsuki!” you can’t help but mewl at his breathless sinful words while you fist at his tank top. everything is hot, burning hot and you grind up into him with a newfound desperation, the friction against his hardening length sending your eyes rolling with ecstasy.. “we’re not even— mmm god, right there— we’re not even married yet!”

“gonna be at some point, why waste time fucking trying? not when i can cum in you and give you one right fucking now—“  bakugou moans heavily into your ear, diving back into a sloppy kiss as he fumbles around with the string of his sweatpants. 

you’re whimpering out for him, pulling the blonde into a lustful trance while you make a move to kick off your underwear when the sound of shattering glass pierces through the bubble of horniness you’ve both created. “shit.”

you both freeze and your matching gazes drop to the floor; a rapidly growing stain of red wine spilling onto the carpet under the coffee table your take out was on. 

the fluffy white rug had been a housewarming gift that katsuki begrudgingly accepted from your old school friend and fellow pro, izuku midoriya— so the sight of the now ruined rug makes you both burst out into harmonious laughter. you’re sure the number one wouldn’t mind. it’d make a great wedding story too.

you focus your eyes back on katsuki, cupping his face as that same love filled smile from earlier returns to your face. ”let’s start trying tomorrow, then?”

“tomorrow it is.” bakugou grins back, dotting your hairline with sweet pecks before cuddling into you.

baby making can wait for now, he supposes, for with another day off— he has all the time and all the love in the world to give to you.

[canary3d-obsessed]

Tutorial: Making a Gif in Photoshop

(Pinboard of all my Masterposts) (Tutorials Masterpost)

Here’s a beginner’s guide to making gifs in photoshop. I’m going with the assumption that 1. you have Photoshop (I do this in Photoshop CC 2021 at the moment, but this isn’t new functionality, so other recent versions should work similarly.) and 2. You want to be able to upload your gifs on Tumblr.

Note: When I name a menu in bold followed by this arrow thingy  -->  I am telling you what to select from that menu. If I have two arrow thingies, it’s two menu selections deep. Etc. 

Super Basic Stuff

1. Capture a video clip in MP4 format (or another Photoshop-friendly format; I use MP4). There are a lot of ways to do this--google it and you’ll find options. 

2. Drag the video clip into your photoshop session.

3. Image Menu-->Image Size-->width 540 pixels, with whatever height the aspect ratio assigns. Tumblr compresses your gifs to 540, so doing it yourself is the best way to avoid icky artifacts. Fun fact: iPad retina displays throw white flashing pixel artifacts that other displays don’t, so you may be making beautiful gifs that secretly look incredibly shitty on an iPad. I learned this the hard way when I got an iPad and looked at some of my posts. I learned the 540px resize tip from the good folks in Tumblr’s pixel art community, which fixes about 95 percent of my gifs. *bows down to pixel artists* 

4. File Menu-->Export-->Export for Web. These are my settings.

The settings in the top right control the quality of the gif. 

These can be changed around once you get the hang of things, but since this is the super basic version, these are settings I can vouch for. This gets me nice looking gifs without a lot of artifacts. Ignore the preset name; that’s what I call the preset I made for this. On your screen it’ll say “custom” unless you save your own preset.  It will remember your settings even if you don’t save a preset. 

The size of the gif is at the bottom left. For tumblr, this has to be under 10 meg. UNDER 10 meg, if you make a beautiful gif and save it at 10.0 mb tumblr is very likely to reject it and make you re-save it a few bytes smaller, thanks to rounding.

If it’s too big, just cancel and go to step 5. 

5. Window menu-->Timeline. In the timeline, you can trim your video by dragging the ends in, or by cutting with the scissors icon and deleting the extra bit. The controls in the timeline are fairly intuitive and limited to just what’s useful unlike premiere pro cough cough. 

6. There’s a context menu in the right upper corner of the timeline window. Select that and choose “set timeline frame rate” to speed the whole video up or down. Higher numbers mean more frames overall and a bigger, slower gif. Lower numbers mean fewer frames and smaller, faster gif.  

Slightly Less Basic Stuff

(after the cut)

You can convert your video to individual frames by exporting your gif and re-opening the gif, but you’re going to lose quality when you re-save so that’s not ideal. Better is to create a frame animation in the timeline. That has several steps. I’ve recorded an action for it that looks like this: 

1. Timeline Context Menu-->Convert-->Flatten Frames into Clips. This will make layers out of the individual frames in your timeline video. 

2. Timeline Context Menu-->Delete Timeline. This clears the timeline so you can use the layers to make frames. 

3. Window Menu-->Layers. Hopefully you already have the layers window open all the time, because it’s a fundamental part of photoshop workflow, but if not, do this to open it. 

4. At the bottom of the layers window there is a weird unhelpful video group with a single layer in it, shown in picture. Select it, hit the delete key, and chose “delete group and contents.” Otherwise this will become an annoying blank frame, as I recall.

5. In the middle of the currently-empty timeline window is a button that says “create video timeline” with a dropdown next to it. 

Click the dropdown to change the button to “create frame animation,” and then click that. This will create an animation with a single frame. 

6. Timeline Context Menu-->Make Frames from Layers. This puts all of your layers into your timeline. Whew! You see why I made an action for these steps.

7. Now you can delete frames from the ends or middle of your animation by selecting them and using the trash can icon on the timeline. Don’t hit “delete” as that will delete the associated layer, potentially, and cause you a headache while you figure out what happened. With a normal aspect ratio for your frame and 540 horizontal pixel width, you should be able to fit around 100 frames into a <10mb gif. It does vary a lot depending on what’s going on in the scene & how much each frame changes from the one before it.  And aspect ratio makes a huge difference - big square gifs are beautiful, but can’t fit nearly as many frames into the <10mb limit. 

8. If you changed your frame rate and want to introduce a delay between frames, go to Timeline Context Menu-->Select all Frames. This will grab all the frames so you can apply a delay to all of them at once. While they’re selected, choose the delay dropdown from any frame and it will apply to all of them. 

If a gif feels like it’s going too fast, I apply a delay of anywhere from 0.04 to 0.07 (using the “other...” option from the dropdown--all of the default delays are too much). That’s when my gif has a frame rate somewhere between 15 and 30 fps. Try some different settings and save the results out. Note: Always check your speed by loading the gif into a draft on Tumblr, since different previewers play things at different speeds, which is super annoying. 

9. When you’re satisfied or want to test, repeat step 4 of the Super Basic Stuff section.  

Fun with Layers

1. The order of the frames is the opposite of the order of the layers, which doesn’t matter for basic stuff, but when you start messing with adding text, layer effects, etc, this will definitely matter. You can reverse the order of the layers by selecting all of them in the layers window (NOT the frames in the timeline), and then:  Layer Menu --> Arrange --> Reverse. 

2. To put text on top of the whole sequence, choose the top layer in your layer window and click “text” to add your text. You can change your font, color, and size as much as you want, but you can’t drag your text around after you create it because it will (usually) only move on the current frame. So if you don’t like where it ends up, delete the text layer and try again. I usually keep text centered and add spaces to either end to put it where I want it. 

3. To add text in the middle of the sequence, use the timeline to select the frame where you want the text to appear. Then go look at the layers stack; scroll up and down until you see the visible/selected layer. This corresponds to your current frame. Stick your text layer on top of that layer and -- if your arranged your frame order correctly in step 1 -- the text should appear part way through your sequence. For this gif, each “eye contact” is a separate text layer placed a little further down the layer stack. 

4. To make text disappear partway through an animation, go to the timeline and select all the frames where you DON’T want the text. Keep them selected, go to your text layer in the layers menu, and hit the eyeball to make it invisible. That should make it invisible just for the selected frames. For this gif, I put all the text layers at the top but changed the visibility for each one to limit it to a particular set of frames.

5. To change the brightness of your gifs, select your top layer and go to Layers Menu -->New Adjustment Layer-->Brightness/Contrast. Adjustment layers let you make non-destructive modifications, and they affect all the layers below them so you can change the whole gif at one time. 

6. To change the color balance, I like to use: Layers Menu -->New Adjustment Layer-->Selective Color. Within the Selective Color controls, choose “neutrals” and give it some tweaks. As you get the hang of it, you can do a lot more with this, but basic adjustments to the neutrals setting will make a big difference. 

7. I use the BW adjustment layer to make black & white gifs - it has more options than simply desaturating - and I use a levels adjustment layer for more nuanced contrast changes than you get with brightness contrast. Hue/Saturation is good for resaturating flashback scenes. 

8. Any time you like the effect of an adjustment layer, save it (or a group of them) to a new document by going to the Layers Context Menu-->Duplicate Layers and then choose “New document” in the dialog window. Save your new doc, which will just be the adjustment layer(s). Then you can use these layers on other gifs, rather than constantly recreating your tweaks. When you’re giffing a whole show like I am, you find yourself making the same adjustments over and over anyway, so this is a time saver. 

All right, that’s all for now! Other tutorials are linked up at my Tutorials Masterpost. It’s small but it’s growing!

[thebibliosphere]

So I'm currently unemployed because I got fired for taking too much sick leave (it was legally sketchy blah blah blah but in the end I just can't work and take care of myself and investigate my mystery health problems at the same time). So I've been spending more time writing!

I really admire your writing and loved Hunger Pangs. I'm looking forward to the poly elements developing and I'm wondering if you have any advice for writing about poly. I've made one of my projects a snarky take on "write what you know" ... Apparently what I know is southern gothic meets Pacific northwest gothic, chronic illness pandemic surrealism, and falling back-asswards into threesomes.

I know this is a very open-ended question and I don't expect an answer, I'm just curious about it if you have the energy. As a writer, trying to write honestly / realistically about polyamory/enm, I'm curious if you have any thoughts on what's different about portraying monogamy or nonmonogamy in books, romance or erotica or otherwise.

I'm trying to read examples but it's hard to find examples that fit the niche I'm looking at. Excuse me if this question is nonsense, it's the cluster headaches.

I'm sorry to hear you've been dealing with all that and solidarity on the cluster headaches. But I'm glad you're finding an outlet through writing! And I hope you're happy with an open-ended ramble in response because oh boy, there's a lot I could talk about and I could probably do a better job of answering this sort of thing with more specific questions, but let's see where we end up.

There's definitely a big difference between writing polyamory/ENM (ethical non-monogamy) and what people often expect from monogamous love stories.

Just even from a purely sales and marketing standpoint, the moment you write anything polyamorous (or even just straight up LGBTQIA+ without the ENM) you're going to get considered closer to being erotica/obscene than hetero romances. It's an unfair bias, but it's one that exists in our society. But also the Amazon algorithm and their shitty, shitty human censors. Especially the ones that work the weekends. (Talking to you, Carlos 🖕.)

So not only do you start out hyper-aware that you're writing something that is highly stigmatized or fetishized (at least I'm hyper-aware) but that you are also writing for a niche market that is starving for positive content because the content that exists is either limited, not what they want, or is problematic in some fashion i.e. highly stigmatized or fetishy. And even then, the wants, desires, and expectations of the community you're writing for are complex and wildly varied and hard to fit into an easy formula.

When writing monogamous love stories, there is a set expectation that’s really hard to fuck up once you know it. X person meets Y. Attraction happens, followed by some sort of minor conflict/resolution. Other plot may happen. A greater catalyst involving personal growth for both parties (hopefully) happens. Follow the equation to its ultimate resolution and achieve Happily Ever After. 

But writing ENM is... a lot more difficult, if only because of the pure scope of possibilities. You could try to follow the same equation and shove three (or more) people into it, but it rarely works well. Usually because if you’re doing it right, you won’t have enough room in a single character arc to allow for enough growth, and if ENM requires anything in abundance, it’s room to grow.

And this post is huge so I’m going to put the rest under a cut :)

There's also a common refrain in certain online polyam/ENM circles that triads and throuples are overrepresented in media and they may be right to some extent. Personally, I believe the issue isn't that triads and throuples are overrepresented, but that there is such minuscule positive rep of ethical non-monogamy in general, that the few tiny instances we have of triads in media make it seem like it's "everywhere" when in actuality, it's still quite rare and the media we do have often veers into Unicorn Hunter fetish porn. Which is its own problematic thing. And just to be clear, I’m not including this part to dissuade you from writing "falling back-asswards into threesomes." If anything, I need more of it and would hook it directly into my brain if I could. I'm just throwing it out there into the void in the hope that someone will take the thought and run with it, lol.

I’d love to see more polyfidelitous rep in fiction, just as much as I’d like to see more relationship anarchy too. More diversity in fiction is always good.

Another thing that differs in writing ENM romance vs conventional monogamy is the feeling like you need to justify yourself. There's a lot of pressure to be as healthy and non-problematic as possible because you are being held to a higher standard of criticism. Both from people from without the ENM communities, and from the people within. Granted, some people don't give a shit and just want to read some fantastic porn (valid) but there are those who will cheerfully read Fifty Shades of Bullshit and call it "spicy" and "romantic," then turn around and call the most tooth-rottingly-sweet-fluff about a queer platonic polycule heresy. That's just the way the world works.

(Pro-tip for author life in general: never read your own reviews; that way madness lies. I glimpsed one the other day that tagged Hunger Pangs as “ethical cheating” and just about had an aneurism.)

And while that feeling of needing to justify yourself comes from a valid place of being excluded from the table of socially accepted norms, it can also be to the detriment of both the story and the subject matter at hand. I've seen some authors bend so far over backward to avoid being problematic in their portrayal of ENM, they end up being problematic for entirely different reasons. Usually because they give such a skewed, rose-tinted perspective of how things work, it ends up coming off as well... a bit culty and obnoxious tbh.

“Look how enlightened we are, freed from the trappings of monogamy and jealousy! We’re all so honest and perfect and happy!”

Yeah, uhu, sure Jan. Except here’s the thing, not all jealousy is bad. How you act on it can be, but jealousy itself is an important tool in the junk drawer that is the range of human emotion. It can clue us in to when we’re feeling sad or neglected, which in turn means we should figure out why we’re feeling those things. Sometimes it’s because brains are just like that and anxiety is a thing. Other times it’s because our needs are actually being neglected and we are in an unhealthy situation we need to remedy. You gotta put the work in to figure it out. Which is the same as any style of relationship, whether it’s mono, polyam or whatever flavor of ENM you subscribe to* And sometimes you just gotta be messy, because that’s how humans are. Being afraid to show that mess makes it a dishonest portrayal, and it also robs you of some great cannon fodder for character development.

Which brings me in a roundabout way to my current pet peeve in how certain writers take monogamous ideals and apply them to ENM, sometimes without even realizing it. The “Find the Right Person and Settle Down” trope.

Often, in this case, ENM or polyamory is treated as a phase. Something you mature out of with age or until you meet “The One(tm).” This is, of course, an attempt to follow the mono style formula expected in most romances. And while it might appeal to many readers, it’s uh, actually quite insulting. 

To give an example, I am currently seeing this a lot in the Witcher fandom. 

Fanon Netflix!Jaskier is everyone's favorite ethical slut until he meets Geralt then woops, wouldn’t you know, he just needed to find The One(tm). Suddenly, all his other sexual and romantic exploits or attractions mean nothing to him. Let's watch as he throws away a core aspect of his personality in favor of a man. 

Yeah... that sure showed those societal norms... 

If I were being generous, I’d say it’s a poor attempt at showing New Relationship Euphoria and how wrapped up people can become in new relationships. But honestly, it’s monogamous bias eking its way in to validate how special and unique the relationship is. Because sometimes people really can’t think of any other way to show how important and valid a relationship is without defining it in terms of exclusivity. Which is a fundamental misunderstanding of how ENM works for a lot of people and invalidates a lot of loving, serious and long-term relationships.

This is not to say that some polyam/poly-leaning people can't be happy in monogamous relationships! I am! (I consider myself ambiamorous. I'm happy with either monogamy or polyamory, it really just depends on the relationship(s) I’m in.) But I also don't regard my relationship with a mono partner as "settling down" or "growing up." It's just a choice I made to be with a person I love, and it's a valid one. Just like choosing to never close yourself off to multiple relationships is valid. And I wish more people realized that, or rather, I wish the people writing these things knew that :P

Anyway, I think I’ve rambled enough. I hope this collection of incoherent thoughts actually makes some sense and might be useful. 

----

*A good resource book that doesn't pull any punches in this regard is Polysecure by Jessica Fern. It's a wonderfully insightful read that explores the messier side of consensual non-monogamy, especially with how it can be affected by trauma or inter-relationship conflicts. But it also shows how to take better steps toward healthy, ethical non-monogamy (a far better job than More Than Two**) and conflict resolution, making it a valuable resource both for someone who is a part of this relationship style***, but also for writers on the outside looking in who might have a very simple or misguided idea of what conflict within polyam/ENM relationships might look like, vs traditional monogamous ones.

** The author of More Than Two has been accused of multiple accounts of abuse within the polyamorous community, with many of his coauthors having spoken out about the gaslighting and emotional and psychological damage they experienced while in a relationship with him. A lot of their stories are documented here: https://www.itrippedonthepolystair.com/ (warning: it is not light material and deals with issues of abuse, gaslighting, and a whole other plethora of Yikes.) While some people still find More Than Two helpful reading, there are now, thankfully, much, much better resources out there.

*** Some people consider polyam/ENM to be part of their identity or orientation, while others view it as a relationship style.It largely depends on the individual. 

[robthegoodfellow]

Directly follows this snippet. Takes place in Spin Me Right Round universe, where Billy’s path deviates before he assaults Lucas in canon timeline (hence the vibe between them here is less fraught than you’d expect). Despite that, Billy still has to confront the lingering effects of being raised by a bigot (by which I mean, his own racism), and this snippet reflects on that process. Trigger warning for mention of racist stereotypes and past encounters with derogatory terms related to Latino community.

He and McKinney fell into a pseudo routine, heading to the community courts when practice let out and staying until either it got too cold or too late, and then Billy would drive him home. They figured out that if McKinney was wearing orange sweatbands on his wrists, Billy could more accurately aim for his hands without turning his way, and McKinney had taken to calling a stream of “B—B—B!” whenever he was coming up behind for an open shot.

Sinclair joined them one afternoon when Billy wanted to try a drill that only worked with three players—turned out the kid was more athletic than he looked, and way more into basketball than Billy realized. Apparently he and Sinclair, Sr. followed the Indiana teams religiously, college and pro, but Junior had been so desperate to talk ball with someone nearer his own age that he didn’t shut up for like half an hour, going on and on about their draft prospects, singing the praises of Stipo and Special K, bemoaning the Pacers’ shitty season—1 and 8 since New Year’s, which… yikes.

McKinney had tolerated the high-pitched chatter with good grace, not that Sinclair needed more than the odd grunt for fuel, and gave him some pointers to improve his stance, his shot. When Billy had asked later, en route to Maple after offloading McKinney, why he’d never mentioned even the slightest interest in basketball before, Sinclair had replied, with more hilarious vitriol than should be possible from the mouth of a literal child: “You’re a Lakers fan.”

“We’re not even in the same conference!” Billy had countered, indignant despite the amusement. “Hate on the Celtics, for Christ’s sake.”

“I can hate on both,” he declared.

“Whatever, dude,” Billy said, dismissive, deliberately provoking. “You just wish you had some of that magic—I get it.”

Sinclair had boiled for the rest of the ride, to Billy’s glee.

And look—he’d started all this with the goal of improvement, but it was a narrow, maybe selfish, maybe dickish kind of improvement: upping his game to antagonize some douchebag. But the more they practiced, just them two and with the team, the more he just… liked it. He really, really liked playing point guard. It felt… good?... to set the guys up for success, to tip into motion the dominos that put points on the board. Even though he wasn’t scoring as much, himself—it was a different kind of satisfying, knowing he’d made the right call when someone else made a bucket.

Which was great—maybe his heart had grown a couple sizes or whatever—but… there was another unintended side-effect. One that he was simultaneously so reluctant to confront directly and yet so desperately glad for that… he could hardly have explained it if asked.

He recognized it now because it had happened to him before, back home. It was—it was like this: So, Neil was… fucking racist, right? Billy’s whole life, the bastard had spewed all kinds of vicious, vile shit, and more subtle, insidious shit. Like, it took Billy ages to figure out, when he was little, what his dad meant whenever he mockingly referred to Frito Banditos, even long after the chip company discontinued the mascot. Another one: in third grade, Billy learned the meaning of greenback a couple weeks before he heard Neil rant about a seemingly similar term, and it took a mortifying mix-up at school for him to realize his dad hadn’t meant skyrocketing rates of soggy dollar bills.

Even as a kid, a part of him knew Neil was off-base—knew he was wrong—but as the years wore on, and all that garbage piled up in his ears, it… it poisoned the well water. Billy didn’t mean to, but for a while, an invisible finger pressed Play on the tape recorder in his brain whenever he crossed paths with any Latino—and he’d tense, get all awkward, precisely because he’d be trying to act normal despite the foul phantom torrent reminding him on a loop that they were all gang bangers, drug dealers, lazy freeloaders, illegal aliens, on and on and on.

And Billy’d had this paranoia, that somehow… they knew? That one look in his eyes and his thoughts would be manifest, even though he didn’t believe those things, even though he would press Stop if he could, bash the tapes to smithereens if he knew how. He’d been polluted—felt it intensely—how Neil’s ugliness had become his ugliness.

It wasn’t until middle school, when he started surfing sometimes with this kid Joaquin, who’d then introduced him to Manny and Luis, that he realized he could filter out the mental contaminants through… well, meaningful interaction with people—with the targets of Neil’s bullish bigotry. He’d started recording new stuff, true stuff, over the old.

Like… how Joaquin’s family had been in California long before it was even a state, and still visited relatives just over the arbitrary line in Baja; how Luis was living proof that everything Neil had sneered about the Sanctuary movement was bullshit, because there was a genocide going on in Guatemala and the US was backing the slaughter—had a hand in all the bloodshed plaguing the region, in fact; how Manny’s uncle had been one of the artists who’d transformed the concrete pylons of Coronado Bridge into a towering medley of murals, remaking Chicano Park into something beautiful rather a bleak reminder of the wholesale destruction of a neighborhood in favor of a motorway.

How Joaquin could make him laugh harder than anyone else with his lightning-fast, brutal quips, but Luis showed him the value of just sitting on his board, legs dangling, and feel the rise and fall of the surge like a pair of lungs beneath him; how Mexican food was hands-down the best thing Billy had ever tasted—not that there’d been much competition, considering his Ma’s favorite dish involved pickled fish and Susan’s most adventurous seasoning was salt; how as soon as Billy mentioned wanting a tattoo, Manny had brought him badass sketches of skulls… and when Billy’s mom had passed, had dropped off this little painting of some lilies, which he’d only been able to look at once and then put it away in the shoebox—safekeeping, not safe for opening.

It wasn’t like they were constantly hanging out or baring their souls—and Billy bared almost nothing—but you spend enough time with people over the years and you can piece stuff together. He missed them—wished he’d let them in, let them see more of him than the laid-back, wise-cracking beach bum. Hadn’t seen them since last March, when he’d gone off the rails. Hadn’t even said goodbye before leaving town.

Anyway. Went without saying, but Neil’s myriad prejudices hadn’t been limited to Latinos, and so—yeah, sometimes with Sinclair, with Jeff, and McKinney and other guys on the team… same playback problem, different tape. It wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been when he was a kid, probably because of the groundwork he’d already done thanks to his surfer buddies, and because he wasn’t an idiot child anymore who only had his parents to go off of—he read shit, and he had eyes.

Yet he couldn’t ignore—and was secretly relieved—that another round of re-recording was afoot, because just knowing abstractly, academically, that Neil was full of shit and racism was, you know, bad… it couldn’t compare to actually getting to know a person. First, there’d been Sinclair, and Jeff, to a limited degree—and now…

He was pretty sure he and Patrick McKinney were… friends? Guys didn’t exchange bracelets, or whatever, so unless they were Labradors in human form like Eddie, it was sometimes hard to tell when you’d crossed from the neutral status of “teammates” to something chummier. On Billy’s end, nicknames meant you were in—and he didn’t seem to mind Billy trimming his first and last—but maybe for Pat, the “B” was just… expedient?

It was more than that, though, because… like, he knew that Patrick had two older brothers—one about to graduate from Purdue and one living in Chicago who worked in advertising and had been involved in the Coke Adds Life campaign his first year in the business. That his father had died of cancer five ago, so his uncle, his mom’s brother, had moved in to help keep the household afloat. That he didn’t like his uncle much, for reasons Billy could guess.

Pat was shy—he tended to clam up in group settings, preferred to quietly observe, only piping in when he felt strongly about something—but once you got him alone, he had a mega puckish streak. Laughed easily, ragged on Billy nonstop, always in good fun, and could take it as well as dish it. Which was fortunate, because: ABBA. And just in general, the dude’s musical tastes were weird as fuck. He showed up at the community courts with a boombox one afternoon and started blasting a disco mix, for crying out loud. Claimed he played better when he had some groovy tune stuck in his head.

So, yeah. Friends, or… getting there.

The results of all their extracurricular practice were—pretty immediate, and pretty obvious. Both of them got more minutes with every game, the team started winning more than losing. Billy pretended not to notice how Carver was increasingly ornery about it—real waspish, pun definitely intended. When Coach announced the starting line-up ahead of a Friday match toward the end of January with Hargrove and McKinney at one and two, Carver flushed to the roots of his lame accountant haircut, but waited until the team had been dismissed to the showers to unleash on a poor innocent locker—the clanging kick carried over the hiss of water and booming chatter, and even when most of the team had finished getting dressed, Carver’s every movement was imbued with a violent flourish.

It was honestly delicious to witness, though Billy made a point not to glance at him directly, monitoring instead with his—by now, very well-honed—peripheral vision. On the way out, trailed stoically by Baker and Copeland, the little pissant muttered, just loudly enough for everyone to hear, how the sport was clearly turning toward cheap tricks and theatrics, and wasn’t it a shame.

The door had barely swung closed when Billy keeled over, hands on knees, cackling like a fiend. Harrington, who’d been apprised of the plan since day one, playfully kneed him in the side and Billy flopped to the gross tile floor, still laughing, arms raised in a reclining Rocky victory pose. There was a smattering of chuckles around the room.

“Watch your back, B,” murmured Pat, leaning over him from his perch on the bench, his voice laden with amusement. “First it’s cheap tricks, then magic tricks, then…” He raised his brows.

“Turning tricks,” Billy finished, as though doomed to his fate, and Patrick snorted. “Don’t worry, man.” He accepted the offered hand and pulled himself upright. “No one’s gonna see me with the devil.”

They won that Friday at home against Jefferson High—a real nail-biter to the final minute, when Billy somehow managed a devious no-look bounce pass to Patrick in the paint for a jump shot so picture perfect that the bench rioted.

“That was some Showtime shit!” Pat hollered over the chaos of mobbing teammates at the final buzzer. He launched himself atop Billy in a semi-hug from behind, then bounded over to his mom in the stands, who was still in her scrubs under her winter coat.  

There was talk of a celebratory bonfire at the quarry, and as he and Harrington were leaving the locker room, intending to at least swing by, have a couple beers, Billy paused.

“Hey, Mickey!” he called. “You need a lift?”

Patrick scrunched his nose, caught up with them as they headed for the parking lot. “Ma’s gonna want me home.”

“We’re not planning to stay long,” Billy tried. “Could ya talk her into an hour?”

“You made the winning shot,” Harrington pointed out. “That’s gotta earn you something.”

Pat shook his head wryly. “No one talks her into anything, but I’ll ask. Wait up?”

They hung back while he jogged to his mother in the lobby, winced when his beseeching look was met with an unimpressed flat stare. When her gaze flicked their way, they both startled, then simultaneously raised an awkward hand. She bit her lips, repressing a smile—the same way Pat often did—turned back to her son, and let him plead his case a bit more. Uttered a few stern words that had Patrick alternately shaking and nodding his head, then shooed him away.

“Home by eleven thirty,” he said, and waved his arm in an after you toward the winter night.

[cayofdreams]

Down with the Monocracy

(Bratty!Fem!Reader x Bakugou)

Summary: Reader has had a FWB relationship with Bakugou for the past 4 months due to her monstrous sex drive. This relationship however, comes to a brisk end when reader seems to get a boyfriend. Frustrated at your now weird behavior towards him, he decides to get to the bottom of it...in his own way. 

Words: 7.5k

Rating: 🌊 Explicit, Smut

Warnings: cursing, bratty/stuck-up reader, implied cheating, heavy orgasm denial, fingering, dirty talking, spanking, degrading, slight breeding

Notes: Hello! This is the first fanfiction I’ve wrote in close to ten years. Its much longer than I intended for a first fanfic but I was desperate to get this out of my brain. I’ll probably chill out and do drabbles for a bit lol. Feel free to give me feedback as I’ve become more-so used to writing research and analysis papers, I wouldn’t be surprised if my fanfic writing is a bit wonky. Anyways, enjoy :-).

*H/N – Hero Name

 Harsh pants filled Bakugou’s dorm as the both of you tried to stay quiet.  Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sero were in the next room playing video games. You could occasionally hear them shouting at one another, a signal that one of them had lost or died in the game. Uraraka, Tsuyu, and Yaoyorozu were in the commons watching some sort of K-drama. You’d hear one of them let out surprised gasp or a giggle in reaction to whatever romantic scene transpired on the screen.

But these outside noises would leave your mind just as quickly as they’d come in due to the pleasure that was currently surging through your body. You were seated in Bakugou’s lap, faced towards his desk, grinding away at his cock trying to chase that pleasure to the maximum. Your hands clutching at the notebooks and flailed papers on his desk. A reminder that once again you guys could not study together for 10 minutes without needing to exhaust the filling sexual tension. Bakugou’s hands were grabbing at your hips, his grasp getting tighter as he got closer and closer to his climax.

“Oi…hurry up and cum..I have somewhere I need to-“ You couldn’t finish your sentence as Bakugou suddenly thrusted upward into you. Immediately you clasped your hands against your mouth to stifle your moans. He smirked at your weak attempt of rushing him.

“Surely…you’re not rushing me.” He lifted you up by your hips so that only the tip of his cock was inside you, before slamming you back down. “When your insatiable pussy is the one who started this.”

You didn’t know if he was talking about your lewd relationship in general, or just today’s scandalous activities. You assumed the latter. Waiting until you could stifle you moan enough to make a sentence, you responded. “…wasn’t me. You kept-“. He slammed into you again. You paused as you held back a groan that so desperately wanted to escape from your throat before continuing. “Kept…feeling up my t-thighs.” You flattened your palms tighter against your mouth as Bakugou increased his pace.

“Hah? So a little graze against your thighs…” He began as he traced his fingernails up and down your thighs. “Gets you like this?” A chuckle escaping him as he watched you struggle to keep your voice down as his cock continued to roughly glide in and out of your trembling walls. You didn’t respond. If you opened your mouth now, there’s no doubt that your classmates would hear the voice that represented the erotic things Bakugou was doing to you in his dorm.

“If your highness wishes me to cum, you better fucking start putting in better work than what you’re doing right now.” Bakugou slapped your thigh as if he were slapping a horse to get them to go faster. You winced as you gripped at the edge of Bakugou’s desk to better stabilize yourself. As soon as you started riding him at a more fierce pace his hands slip up to cup your breasts under your bra. He pinched at your nipples, making you let out a lewd noise that had you worrying if your neighboring classmates heard it.

Bakugou noticed you shoot a glance toward his door, listening to see if you’d been found out, and sucked at his teeth. “You worried about those dumbasses hearing you?” He got up, still inside you, and pressed his hand on your back so that you’d be face down on the desk and ass up in the air. Jutting his hip toward yours, you grunted behind gritted teeth as he leaned over so his lips traced just over your ear. “Hearing what I’m doing to your pussy?” His fingers massaging into your scalp before gripping tightly into your hair. “Fuck those extras. Let them hear.” Moving the hand that was on your back toward yours that were still tightly pressed against your mouth. He pried them away from your face, bringing your arm back so that he could use it as a reign when he began to fuck you. He straightened back up to steady himself firmly on the ground.

“Wait- Baku-! Hnngh!” Bakugou started to rhythmically jam the entirety of his cock inside you. Laughing at you as you struggled to not add on to the lewd noises your sopping mess was making.

“Fuck! L/N!” A hard slap came down on your ass cheek. The pleasurable pain causing your slippery walls to quiver against Bakugou’s cock. Your free hand roaming around the surface of the desk, now crumbling up homework papers under your fingers. “You like this? You like almost being found out by those shitty extras? Fucking pervert. Why don’t you just scream like you want to? I know you’re about to fucking cum.”

Your lips curling in under your teeth, grunts becoming louder and louder as your orgasm approached. The growls of the man behind you adding on to your auditory pleasures, drowning out the yells and cheers of your neighboring classmates. But it was getting harder and harder to hold your voice back, and Bakugou seemed to not give any care as his thrusts got deeper and more forceful.

“Fucking scream, L/N. I want to hear it. Imagine those dumbasses’ faces when you walk out there. Knowing what lewd shit you were doing with me.” He let go of your arm and reached around to wildly circle your clit. “And you portray yourself as some kind of princess. Fucking bullshit.”

You couldn’t hold back anymore. Even as your hand quickly went back to cover your mouth, it wouldn’t be able to hold back the suppressed groan you’d soon let out. “I said fucking-“ Before he could let out his demand the loud exclaims from the adjacent room poured into Bakugou’s. Another loss. Or win. Who gives a shit? All you knew is that those yells allowed you the opportunity to loudly moan Bakugou’s name to your heart’s desire as you finally reached your orgasm.

Bakugou would’ve called you out on cheating if the quivers of your orgasming walls wasn’t forcing him into his own intense wave of pleasure. “Oh shit…L/N…gonna cum. Fuck-“. He let out a couple more rough thrusts before spilling his seed inside the condom. You felt his cock pulsating, a weirdly pleasurable feeling as you were winding down from your own orgasm. Bakugou slipped out of you and slumped back in the chair and you soon followed, falling back into his lap.

Seeing that you were exhausted, he lifted up your leg so that he could reach down and slip off the used condom. Tying it in a single knot at the end and tossing it into the trash nearby. He let his hands softly feel up your thighs and squish your stomach, comforting you as you regained your breaths.

“You imbecile. We could’ve been found out, for real.” You said, pinching his thigh, too tired to hit him.

“Shut up. It doesn’t fucking matter.”

“It WILL matter if there’s ever a headline of us. ‘Upcoming pro-heroes, Ground Zero and H/N CAUGHT fornicating in the dormitories.’ You waved your hands in the air, mimicking a hysterical news reporter.

He chuckled into your back. “You fucking wish you could be in an obscene headline with me”. You sucked your teeth at him.

“Whatever.”

“Are you still going somewhere”

“Are you sane? Like I can move right after that.” You turned to look at him. “Make me some ramen. And don’t add a deadly amount of spice to it, either.” You got up and grabbed some tissues and started to wipe away the seeping wetness off your crotch and thighs.

“Like I’m making you shit! Make it yourself!” Bakugou got up and repositioned his shorts around his waist. Before he could grumble anymore, you placed a kiss on his cheek causing him to turn a deep shade of pink.

“You shouldn’t rebel. It just takes away from energy that’s better spent making that ramen.”

“Honestly, just shut up!” He turned away towards the door but you could still see the pink on the back of his ears.

You chuckled at the slam of the door, your smile widening as you heard him fumbling around in the kitchen.

But the time Bakugou returned with two hot bowls of ramen, you were knocked out asleep.

“…Fucking stuck-up vixen”

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

You sat in the karaoke room with Mina, Kirishima, Kaminari, and Jirou, making you the 5th wheel. But only temporarily, as your friends had supposedly invited a cute guy from a rival hero school to be your date for the evening. You loved being courted by attractive guys, you were a queen after all, so naturally you didn’t turn down the blind date. Though you must admit, since starting your friends-or rather, rivals-with-benefits relationship with Bakugou, you didn’t go out with guys much. You didn’t really see much of a need since your sexual appetite was being satisfied. Bonus points in that since it was no-strings-attached you didn’t have to frolic in romance, leaving you time and energy to concentrate on your hero studies.

“Are you excited, Y/N!? He texted me saying he’s on his way!” Mina was definitely more excited than you were, but you were waiting in anticipation none-the-less. Apparently Kaminari knew the guy, which worried you a bit since Kaminari was a dunce when it came to most things. But after Mina and Jirou reassured you the guy was definitely your type, you became more okay with date.

“Yeah, I suppose. Tardiness deducts points, though.” You playfully declared as the door to the karaoke room slowly opened.

“Aww…don’t be so strict with me, L/N. I’ll cry before I even properly meet you.” You heard a young man say as he entered the room. As soon as you looked at his face, you felt heat rise to your own. He was nothing less than exquisite. You’d never seen hair so soft-looking and flowy, skin so smooth and obviously baby-soft. A piercing pair of eyes that you were scared, or maybe hoped, could see straight through your clothing, into your soul.

“It’s okay if you cry. I like seeing cute boys cry.” You smiled with an obviously feigned innocence as you picked up your drink and sipped from it. He smiled seductively as he sat down right next to you, not leaving any space between your bodies.

“Seijirou!” Kaminari exclaimed, reaching over to fist pump your date. “Glad you could make it, dude!”

“Kaminari, long time no see. We need to have another jam session before we graduate.” The boy named Seijirou cooly stated, returning the fist bump. “Of course with L/N now joining us in the studio” He returned his gaze toward you. “I’m sure her alluring beauty and energy will inspire me with some great melodies”.

God, his coy smile could lead you straight into hell. How hadn’t you met him yet? You almost wanted to curse Kaminari for not introducing this stunningly attractive man to you before.

“Kyaa!! What a natural romantic!!” Mina shouted slapping her hand excitedly on Kirishima’s thigh. “Right, Eiji?!”

“Haha, yeah, babe.” Kirishima replied, taking Mina’s hand in his own to keep her from bruising his thigh.

Jirou reached over to grab the tablet that connected to the karaoke room’s TV screen. “Okay, guys lets get down to jamming.”

“Yeah!” Kaminari wrapped his arm around Jirou, pulling her into his chest as she picked the first song.

“I sure hope your voice is to the same standards as your face, Seiji.” You seductively challenged, looking him right in the eyes.

“I hope so too, I need to earn those points back.” Seijirou replied, his finger tracing slowly on your hand. You chuckled, holding his hand in yours now.

Jackpot, baby

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

After a long and tiring session of belching out everything from cute idol songs, to screaming death metal, it was time to head back home. Everyone was laughing and joking with each other as you all walked back. Everyone was also hand-in-hand with their respective partners, including you and Seijirou’s. In fact your hands had never left each other’s grasps since they first joined at the beginning of the karaoke session. You and Seijirou walked a few steps behind everyone, wanting to mimic any kind of privacy in order to soak in each other’s presence. Kirishima looked behind and noticed this, squeezing Mina’s hand to alert her as well. She grinned ear to ear at the lovely display of romance unfolding.

“Hey, F/N! Are you going home or….will you be continuing your date in private?” Mina winked at you, not at all trying to be discreet about her intentions.

“Oh. I guess I didn’t even think about it”. A total lie. You’d been strategizing how you’d cleverly get into bed with Seijirou since you first heard his pretty voice sing.  You wanted to know how he’d moan. How he’d make you moan. If he’d be better than Bakugou.

Woah, how did he cross your mind? You hadn’t even thought about him all night until the potential for good sex crossed your path. But thoughts of him dissipated with the sultry voice of Seijirou.

“I surely don’t mind the extra company. I’ve been dying to share my tea recipe with a worthy guest.” He squeezed your hand. “It’s a special recipe. Made especially for when my throat is sore from an awesome jam session..or when…” He looked directly at you. “When anyone’s throat is sore from using it…extensively.”

Your panties were drenched at this point. Not that they weren’t a bit damp the entire evening. You needed this mysteriously seductive man’s cock inside you. Now.

“Sounds like some delectable tea.” You bit your lip. Seijirou chuckled at you.

“Shame I didn’t bring my car, I’d hate to make you walk all the way back to my place”.

He has a car, too?!

You could throw your panties at him this very moment.

“I don’t mind walking with you, Seijirou.” You smiled up at him, squeezing his hand back.

Catching the mood, the group separated from the two of you, but not without the cheers of Mina encouraging you.

Of course, the two of you didn’t make it to his place. It’d take too long. You needed each other now. So you opted for the love hotel that was only a couple blocks away. As soon as you and Seijirou stepped into the erotically designed room, you jumped on him. He caught you, and you wrapped your leg around his waist. You drowned in each other’s kisses, wanting desperately to become one with each other. You for one, could not wait to see how Seijirou could maneuver his away around your body like he did with your mind.

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

Tapping your pen away on the notebook in front of you, you struggled to digest the information in the textbook. Not even knowing what to highlight anymore, words became more jumbled and muddled as you tried to continue reading. You couldn’t concentrate at all.

Sighing in annoyance, you got up from the common room’s table and went to make something hot to drink in the kitchen. Everyone was most likely asleep by now, but since you couldn’t seem to do so you decided to force yourself into exhaustion with some late-night studying. But unfortunately, despite feeling wide awake, it didn’t seem to help you focus any better in regards to studying. You were never a “studier” anyways.

As you waited for the hot water to boil, you scrolled through phone trying to find an entertaining distraction, settling for the digital magazine of your favorite fashion designer. You didn’t even notice Bakugou stroll into the kitchen

“Oi.”

So startled you almost dropped your phone, you turned around to see the owner of that voice.

“Fucking, hell, Bakugou. You scared the shit out of me.” Clutching at your chest, you tried to ease down the erratic beating of your heart. He always found a way to get an expletive out of you. Bakugou slightly pushed you against the counter to  get a better view of your backside.

“Nah, you’re good” Smirking, he went to the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water as you rolled your eyes at him. “What are you even doing up anyways? Taking some dumbass selfies?”

“Well, if you’re so interested in the affairs of L/N F/N, I’ll have you know that I was actually studying, like the non­-dumbass that I am”.

“Sounds like something a dumbass would say.” Taking a swig from the water bottle, Bakugou took a glance at your side profile, also noticing how revealing your pajamas were. Your pajama shorts were barely covering your plump ass, and the flesh of your thighs slightly spilled over the tightness of your thigh high socks. What the hell were you doing walking around the common area like that? Surely you were waiting for him.

He took a last sip of his water and pinched at your upper thigh.

“Gyah! Bakugou, what the hell?” Your annoyed face being 110% worth the cute noise he was able to force out of you.

“Why are you studying out here? You know you could’ve asked me for help.”. His fingertips still lingering over your thigh, faintly tracing over your skin. You sucked your teeth and lightly pushed his hand away.

“No, I couldn’t’ have.” Your phone buzzed at seemingly the right time; before temptation would get the best of you. You smiled at the recent text message you received, something that didn’t go unnoticed by Bakugou.

Raising an eyebrow, he watched you with suspicion before he made another attempt. This time, he made a squeeze at the squish of your waist. “Oh yeah? And why is that?” You grabbed at his wrist in protest but it only made him dig his fingertips deeper into your flesh. “I know you have needs, Y/N. You haven’t met up with me in the past few days, either.”

The fluster showing on your face didn’t help your denying, but you still tried to step away from him; a fail. He completely closed the distance between you and leaned down toward your ear.

“…Baku-“

“It must be so hard to contain it right now. Those slutty impulses of yours.” He grinned at the way you bit your lip trying to fight off the urges his voice was erupting in you. He knew his effect on you. “So how about you just accept the favor I’m so greatly offering to you and drop those soaked panties and bend over the counter so I can ram this cock into you like-

“I’m seeing someone!” You exclaimed, possible a bit too loud. Bakugou glanced at you as if trying to see if you were really telling the truth or not. You met his gaze with a stern expression. “I’m seeing someone.”

Slowly Bakugou let go of his grasp on you and stepped back. “You fuckin’ serious?”

Slowly nodding your head yes, you straightened back up to continue fixing your drink.

“What fucking psychopath would want to date you? Are you sure he’s real?”.

“I know this may come as a shock to you.” A sly grin appeared on your face. “That I could humble myself enough to share my precious time and energy with someone-“

“Oh, just shut up, already.” Bakugou sat his water bottle down on the counter, looking at it as if thinking deeply about something. There was a momentary silence before you broke it.

“Are you mad?”

Bakugou scoffed at you. “And just what exactly is there for me to be mad about?”

“Well this commences the end of our relationship. You’re no longer a concubine. Perhaps you’re wondering what more to life there is? Oh, maybe depressed is the word I was looking for.” You put your hand to your chin, feigning concern.

“As much as I’d love to shut you up right now with a cock down your throat, I’m quite happy this is over.” He moved to put his water bottle in the refrigerator. “I can finally put my stamina towards training instead of wasting it on that monstrous sex drive you have.”

“And with that, the counsel dismisses you.” You smugly took a sip from your drink.

“Oh, shut up. I’m going back to bed before I commit regicide.” Bakugou put his water bottle back in the fridge and walked past you towards the hallway. “Good luck on your ‘studying’, your highness”.

When Bakugou was long out of your sight, you heaved out a long sigh.

“…Fuck.”

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

A couple weeks had went by and honestly Bakugou was beyond frustrated. He didn’t really think you had it in you to avoid his presence for so long. You usually couldn’t go 2 days without coming at him with some kind of ‘You agreed to be my concubine…so fucking perform!’ bullshit. With his pride, he’d pummel someone like you into the dirt. But immediately after saying something like that you’d palm against his growing hardness before lowering your head to his crotch. And you’d  adorn the most lustful gaze. A gaze that told him that he was the only one who could satisfy you.

‘You’re supposed to be pleasing me, but I guess queens have duties too…’

Honestly you were such a fucking brat. Acting all high and mighty and then becoming a filthy wench only moments after having a cock shoved up you. But he lived for it. The challenge of getting you to finally submit to him during sex would drive him crazy. That blissful face of pleasure. Those lips that would call out for him to go faster.

Maybe he’d be willing to let you go if you weren’t being so goddamn strange around him now. Not only were you being more distant around him, whenever he so much as brushed up against you your face rose with obvious arousal. Your lips would slightly part as if you’re about to let out a moan- but then you’d scold him for being so close to you.

‘Can’t you back up? I can barely hear my own thoughts with your vulgar presence around me’

That sort of thing would happen multiple times and especially during training sessions with him. Whenever you were opponents and Bakugou had successfully won and had you pinned to the ground, you looked as if you were on the verge of orgasming. And then as soon as Aizawa blew the whistle to end the round, you’d quickly run away with an annoyed look.

One time he had approached you, asking what the fuck your deal was, but you quickly dismissed him.

‘Maybe I’m just so pleased with my boyfriend that I literally can’t go a minute without thinking of him. I can’t help that you’ve never made a girl feel that way.’

Bullshit.

Were you teasing him? Did you even have a boyfriend? If you did, why did you have a face that seemed as if you hadn’t been fucked properly in years? If this boyfriend of yours was so bad at sex, wouldn’t you have dumped him? Before the start of this rivals-with-benefits agreement you’d told him of the time you kicked a guy out in the middle of fucking because he had “no idea how to fuck his royals”.  

He’d really think your boyfriend was fake if it wasn’t for the fact that one time while sitting beside you, he saw you receive a message from someone with a heart by the name. And then you’d smile to yourself before pocketing your phone.

Fuck. Maybe this guy really was that good.

No.

Impossible.

No one could please you the way he did. He knew it. It was an irrefutable fact. He’d get down to the bottom of this. He’d make you realize who you really belonged to.

Bakugou grumbled at the unfinished homework on his desk. He couldn’t concentrate due to your stupid antics. He pulled out his phone to send you a text.

“What are you doing?”

Five minutes had gone by and he was already starting to regret his act of impulsivity. You usually took a while to respond but for some reason this time it was really irking him. He got lost in senses of regret before he heard his phone vibrate.

“Getting ready for my date.”

He scoffed at your reply.

“Oh, with that fake boyfriend of yours, huh?”

A couple minutes went by before Bakugou received another reply. This time it was an image. Opening it, It was a selfie of you in what he assumed was your date outfit. You always dressed exquisitely outside your school uniform and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t appreciate your sense of style. But right now, that appreciation was manifesting into lust.

Fuck, you didn’t have that big of breasts but why were they looking so plump, now? The dress you were wearing teased your collarbones and Bakugou might as well had been drooling at this point. Not replying after a couple minutes, stunned by your posh appearance, his phone vibrated again.

“I don’t get dressed up like this for any commoner. Now why are you disturbing me?”

He wanted to reply with a “Fuck you. Nothing, dumbass”, but he held back.

“I want my fucking manga back.”

A silly demand, he knew. But it was the only thing he could think of to get you back within his grips. Hopefully you weren’t too suspicious as it had been a few weeks since you borrowed his manga to read.

“Ugh…I suppose I can take time out of my meaningful getting-ready time to drop off your little comic. I’ll be there in 20.”

A smirk shaped the lips of Bakugou’s before he brisked his way to the shower in preparation for his plans.

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

Bakugou had finished putting on his clothes and was now tidying up his room in waiting for a knock at the door. But you were always so rude so instead he was alerted by the sudden swinging open of his door. Before he could yell at you he became entranced by your appearance.

The dress you were wearing hugged you in all the right places and came to a seductive stop slightly below the round of your ass. The plush of your thighs were teased as the start of the top of your opaque socks once again molded erotically around your flesh. It seemed you also had a bit of makeup on as your e/c popped out beautifully from your dark eyeliner.

But you were also entranced by his appearance. You could tell he just took a shower because the smell of his soap traced provocatively under your nose. He wasn’t even wearing anything special, a black long-sleeve top that perfectly fitted his biceps, and a pair of black shorts. But fuck, it was driving you crazy right now.

“Your comic.” You coldly tried to hand it to him, trying to not appear as aroused as you felt.

“Can’t you fucking put it back on the shelf. That’s where you got it from, isn’t it?”

You clicked your tongue at him. “Troublesome.” As you walked past Bakugou to get to the little bookcase above his desk, he watched you. The stride of your hips as you walked had him licking his lips behind you. As you put the manga back on the shelf, he walked up to you so there was no distance between the two of you. Before you could protest his proximity he interrupted you.

“Put it in the right order.”

“What?” You looked back at him confused and irritated. Why was he getting so close to you? Why did his voice sound so intoxicating?

“I have my manga in order. If you pay attention, you’ll see there’s a number on the cover. I believe they teach little princesses how to count, don’t they?” Bakugou once again took notice of your look of arousal spreading across your face. You sucked at your teeth as you hurriedly turned your face away from him. Even after you put the manga in his preferred place, he hadn’t moved away from you. You were starting to get antsy.

“What are you trying to-“

“Where are you going?” His red eyes were fixed on your face, more specifically your lips.

“I told you, a date.” Your fingernails scratched slightly against the wood of his desk. You were overwhelmed with frustration. With desire. But you couldn’t give in.

“Yeah, but where?”

“A restaurant.” Still avoiding his intense glare, it was becoming clear to you that Bakugou had plans as well. And that those plans would involve you.

“Oh. Must be fancy. Considering you look pretty good right now.”

“Hah! I don’t need you to tell me something so obvious. Only someone with my caliber of beauty could make a cheap dress like this look so go- Mmmph!” Suddenly Bakugou had his lips smashed against yours. Damned be your libido, your tongue wasn’t denying him. Your desires were beginning to take over you as you swapped saliva with your rival.

After a few moments, your hands pressed harshly against his chest to get him off you. A chain of saliva still linked the two of you. He licked away the connection with a smirk before pulling you back close to him. He turned you around slightly so that your back was pressed against his chest. One of his hands holding you in place by squeezing at your waist, the other rubbing against your inner thigh.

“The hell do you think you’re doing?!”

“I don’t fucking get it.” His slipped under your dress to rub against your now dampened panties. His palm rubbing slowly against your wetness. “You say that your boyfriend is good at fucking you, yet here you are drenched from a measly kiss from me.”

A moan escaped you as your hands gripped tightly against his wrists trying to pry away from him. You wanted to give in so bad, but you had something to prove. You couldn’t disappoint your ego right now.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you haven’t been fucked at all since you ended things with me, your highness.” You whined at his sarcastic nickname of you before your pride came back.

“You’re wrong. I’d say that I hadn’t started getting properly fucked since ending it with you.”

“When was the last time you guys fucked, then?”

“Last night! He pleasures me every night! More than you to say the least!”. You were losing your dominance quickly, assuming you had any right now. The slow stroking of Bakugou’s palm against your covered folds had you letting out whimpers.

“Oh? Is that so? How about this? If you don’t beg for me to make you cum within the next-“ Bakugou paused. “When’s your date?”. You bit your lips between your teeth ignoring him. Not pleased with your silence he dug his fingertips into your waist. You shut your eyes and let out a loud hum in your masochistic pleasure. “I asked you a fucking question. When is your date, L/N?”

“Seven! Fuck, its at seven!”. He loosened his grasp as he checked the clock on the desk.

6:28 P.M.

“Oh that’s not that far away, but I like a challenge.” His voice rumbled against your ear. “Then if I don’t have you begging to cum within the next 20 minutes, I, Bakugou Katsuki, will get down on my hands and knees and kiss your feet.”

He was being completely unfair. 20 minutes? That’s a long fucking time to hold back an orgasm, especially when it’s this guy trying to get you to reach one. But the thought of him kissing your feet flared your insatiable ego. You’ve lasted without cumming before, and you’d do it again to see Bakugou be put in the place he so rightfully deserved.

“So what do you say, your highness?”

“-my whore.” Your breaths settled as Bakugou looked puzzlingly at you. “Say you’re nothing but a whore for the royal L/N F/N while you kiss my feet and I’ll agree.”

“Tch. Fi-“

“And! I’m going to record it.” You were testing the waters now. But if Bakugou could handle any of the game he was talking right now, he’d surely agree.

“Fine. Then we start right now.”

You nodded in a rare display of compliance. Slowly, Bakugou began to rub his fingers against the crotch of your panties. He was going achingly slow, but you weren’t going to complain. The slower he took, the more time would be ate up. Was this his plan? To just go achingly slow for 20 minutes hoping you’d ask for him to speed up?

Imbecile.

You tried to focus on other things while Bakugou slowly rubbed away against your now wet panties. Looking away towards the desk, you thought about math equations. Complicated math equations. Math equations that could help solve the mysteries of our galaxy. Bakugou noticed your attempts of distraction and grinned, placing a soft kiss on are the area that your shoulder met your neck.

“Whatcha thinkin’ about?” The coarseness of his voice vibrating against your neck, taking you out of your mathematical universe.

“Your face after I upload that video on the internet…” You gasped at Bakugou’s sudden increase in pressure against your clothed vulva. He was still going pretty slow but you could feel the pressure cause your clit to swell. “And how…everyone is going to see how pathetic you really are.”

“Tch. You sure are good at acting sadistic. Too bad I’m the only one who knows what a fucking pig you really are. I’ll be making you admit that in just a few minutes.”

Before you could retort, Bakugou’s fingers started making increasingly faster grinds against your underwear. It was starting to become a challenge for you to not give in to the pleasures.

But then it suddenly clicked. He only said you didn’t have to beg, not that you couldn’t cum. Smirking you let your pleasure take over you, now softly moaning into the air. Waves of an encroaching orgasm began to fill your stomach and when you were about to finally go over the edge, Bakugou retreated his now slick hand away from you.

You quietly whined at the lack of pressure before steadying your breaths again. You stayed silent, adamant about not begging to the man behind you to finish the job.

“Oh…you’re pretty tough, huh? Lets see, it’s-“ Bakugou took another glance at the clock. “6:33. You only have 14 more minutes to go, princess. I believe it’s only fair that we kick it up just a bit.”

You smugly chuckled at his challenge. “I was wondering when you were going to make this diffi- Hnngg!”. Bakugou had moved the hand around your waist to tightly grasp the locks of your hair, turning your head to face him. Taking a moment to look directly at your grimaced face he smothered his lips onto yours, ravaging your mouth once again with his tongue. The fingers at your drenched panties increasing to a much faster pace.

You moaned loudly inside his mouth as you felt immense pressure build up inside you once again. You tried to wiggle your hips away from him but he placed his leg between yours, locking you into place. Struggling to breathe, you gripped his bicep in preparation for the orgasm once again approaching you.

Bakugou released your mouth as he once again removed his hand from between your hips. You now whined louder in protest.

“You got something to say?” He asked as he nibbled against your ear. You shook your head profusely. “I guess you really do like challenges, eh? Probably more than me.”

Bakugou lifted up one of your thighs so you’d place your foot on the edge of the desk. You hadn’t yet came down from your first failed orgasm before he sunk his hand into in your underwear and viciously circled around your clit.

You were moaning uncontrollably now, not caring if classmates outside Bakugou’s room could hear you. Chuckling, Bakugou bit down on your neck before licking away at the bite marks.

“Fuck! Bakugou! I-I’m gonna-“ You whined loudly at the repeated lack of friction between your thighs.

“You’re gonna what now? I don’t fucking think so. You haven’t let out a single beg. You know the rules.”

Your eyes watered as you unconsciously rubbed your thighs together trying to get yourself off. Failing, you had no choice but to let your body come down from its high.

As soon as your panting softened, they picked back up again when you felt Bakugou slowly stick two fingers up your sopping pussy. His fingers curving just right to lightly massage against the sensitive sponge inside you while moving them up and down in a quick motion.

“Hahh… Bakugou…”You groaned in pleasure. Too lost in trying to chase an orgasm, you hadn’t cared when Bakugou used his other hand to rip open your pretty dress. He roughly massaged at your breasts while burying his head in your neck.

“No bra? No fucking way you weren’t prepared for me to fuck you today.”

Your constant moans prevented you from replying. Bakugou pinched at your sensitive nipples while sucking harshly at your neck, leaving a bruise.

“You wanna cum, princess?”

“Yes! Yes, please!! Please let me cum! Fuck!” You gave in to his challenge, but it’d be worth it. You knew this was going to be the most intense orgasm of your life. So what if you sacrificed a bit of your ego?.

Just when you thought you were about to enter heaven, the fingers that were inside you slipped out.

“Hnngh- Nooo!! Please, Bakugou. I’m begging, I’m begging!” The tears that were settled at your eyes, trailed down. Your thighs trembled as you once again tried squeezing them together to satisfy you.

Bakugou smirked silently. Instead answering you by dragging you to the bed and pushing you down. He ripped off the rest of your dress before he spread your thighs apart to take a good look at the mess he created between your hips. The way not only your voice, but your pussy was begging for him made him want to give you everything you wanted.

But, no. You needed to learn a lesson. You’d remember what happens when you fuck with him- or don’t fuck with him, rather.

His gazing taking too long, you called out for him again. “Please, Bakugou. I want to cum. I wanna cum so baaad…”. You placed your hands on his that were digging into the flesh below your knees, trying to get him to take pity on you.

“I heard you the first time. How do you want to cum? With my fingers, my tongue, or my-“

“Your cock! Please, I want your cock!” Your hands now gripping tightly onto his. “I’ve never wanted something so bad before, Bakugou, pleeease…”

“You’re begging for my cock, huh”. He pulled down his shorts so his cock could spring free.

You nodded with no hesitation. Deciding not to tease you for now, he sunk inside you in one swift thrust, thanks to your abundant juices.

“Hnngh, yes! I’m gonna cum so hard! Gonna cum all over your cock. Oh baby… Gonna cum so hard for youuu…” Your moans turned into gutteral groans as he plunged deep inside you with every thrust. He made sure the tip of his cock was stroking right at your g-spot.

As he picked up the pace, you swear you could sense your pupils dilating as an orgasm approached. You could see the pearly gates of heaven and then-

Bakugou slipped his cock out of you. Leaving you a whining mess.

“Whyyy?! ? Y-You said I could cum. You said if I begged I could cummm…”. You were sobbing at this point. “What do you want? I’ll do anything, Katsuki…”

His cock twitched at the first time of hearing you say his name.  “Say you’re a whore.”

You looked up at him as you hesitated. He coerced you with the teasing of his cock against your entrance. Sniffling, you did what you know your pussy would want you do to.

“I’m a whore.” Your eyes shut trying to hold on to the last bit of dignity you had.

“And? Fucking look at me when you speak.”

The intensity of looking into his vermillion eyes made you want to cower away. But you did as demanded. “I’m a filthy whore for Bakugou Katsuki.”

“And only me?” He dipped the tip of his cock into you and you forgot what even the meaning of dignity was.

“Yeess!! Only you! Only Katsuki! I swear it! I swear it on everything, I swear…”

“Your boyfriend?”

“I-I…” You trailed off and Bakugou started to slip back out again.

“You know I could do this forever. I made sure to jack off a few times in the shower. Let’s find out how long I leave you in this state.”

“Nooo! I don’t have a boyfriend! Fuck! Damn you!”

“Ahh…so he was fake?”

“He wasn’t fake…He was real. But h-he broke up with me after a week or so. He said he couldn’t keep up with my sex drive. Told me I was a-a nympho… So I yelled at him about y-“ You paused, hesitating to keep going. Bakugou just stared at you, not afraid of leaving you like this if you didn’t finish. “About you…”

“Me?” He leaned down to kiss your forehead, praising you for telling him all this. “And just what did your highness say about me?”

“I said if a rugged commoner like you could satisfy me, then he should be able to, too. So he called me a slut and left.”. You turned your head away, too embarrassed by the sharing of your breakup. “How dare he speak to me like that…”. Bakugou took hold of your chin to face him as he leaned down and kissed you on the lips. He wiped away your tears with his thumb and continued to stroke your cheek.

“You’re not a slut, F/N.”

You chucked. “I’m a whore but not a slut?”.

“I didn’t say you were. You did.” He slipped back inside you, making you moan once more. “Besides, you’re only like this with me, right? I doubt he was making you feel the way I do, anyways. Not with how pathetic he sounds.”

“Yeah…no one can make me feel this good.” Your mouth gaped open as Bakugou began steady thrusts inside you. Your ribbed walls clenched around him begging for more. “Lets cum together, okay?” You placed each of your hands on his cheeks. “I wanna cum with you.”

Entranced by your sudden displays of sweetness, he plunged his cock deeper and faster into you. You slipped your hands into his hair and tugged as you felt your high approach. Your moans sounded more high-pitch and angelic as Bakugou leaned down to kiss your neck. He could better hear your beautiful sounds in this position and it was pushing him closer to his own climax.

His thrusts became more erratic at his impending orgasm. “F-fuck, F/N. I’m gonna cum- I’m gonna cum so deep in your pussy.” He layed multiple kisses along your neck. “I might just give you a little prince.”

“Oh fuck! Katsukiii…Katsukiiii…” You tugged his hair tighter. Your long-awaited orgasm finally washed over you. It seemed like it could never end as your walls twitched violently against Bakugou’s cock, making him lose himself even more.

“Me too, F/N- me too. Fuck!” Bakugou pumped his milky seed deep inside you and you could probably cum again just from the hot feeling of it. When it seemed his cock was drained, he allowed himself to collapse on top of you.

You slipped your hands under his shirt, caressing your fingers along his back as you regained your breathing. “You didn’t cum exactly when I did. I’m deducting points.”

He chucked beneath into your neck. “Fuck your point system. I’m rebelling against your shitty monocracy.” You gasped, feigning offense. He kissed you on the lips before turning his body to lay beside you.

“We should..uhh…probably go get a pill, right?”

You sent a confused look at him. “Bakugou, I’m on birth control.”

He shot up from the bed with shock. “Hah?! So why had we been using a condom?” He frustratingly gripped at his hair. “I could’ve been fucking you raw this whole time?!”

“Well I figured you used them because you didn’t trust me.”

“What?” He looked at you before turning his face away trying to hide his blush. “Of course I’d trust my girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?! This hasn’t been discussed with the counsel!”

Bakugou leaned over you, his forearms resting on either side of your head. “I believe I said I was rebelling against your shitty monocracy, F/N.” He pressed another kiss on your lips. “Who else is gonna put up with your stuck-up attitude and inhuman sex drive?” He layed back down beside you and pulled you into him, kissing the back of your shoulder.

You twisted your body to face him, looking directly into his eyes. “So you fell in love with the enemy?”

“Yeah, your highness. I fucking did. Gonna execute me?”

You shook your head and kissed his nose before burying into his chest. The up and down motions of his chest relaxing you, beckoning you to sleep.

“I did too.” You whispered softly, Bakugou had heard you though. Holding you tighter against his chest, the exhaustion and your comfort drifted him to sleep.

[my-mt-heart]

Let's talk about the thing. And just for the record, I am really tired of talking about the thing, so tired I am literally begging the TV gods not to give me any more reason to talk about the thing for at least a few episodes so that I can rest. But like it or not, the thing is relevant to Caryl's story, the thing being the potential for a Daryl and Connie romance. In order to understand it, we need to look at Daryl's commonwealth arc in 11B as a whole because I believe it's all a package deal. I know Daryl has only been in the Commonwealth for one episode, so I might be jumping the gun here and this could all blow up at any second. Also be advised that I'm going to be making predictions based on the trailer, and it may or may not coincide with filming since I don't keep up nearly as well with that as other amazing sleuths. 

Pro tip: If you're trying to track a story based on sequence of events, you're going to get lost. Always follow the emotions. The emotions are your compass. So where is Daryl starting off emotionally at the Commonwealth? He's feeling like an outsider looking in. He's behaving like an observer. In the very first scene, we see him looking around, taking everything in from the maze to the games to the people. But he's not really a part of any of it. He's still Daryl from Alexandria and he has the vest to prove it.

Juxtapose this with Connie, who is already fully immersed in this new way of life. She's hard at work, wearing what a journalist would wear. Yes, Kelly is too, but Connie is the star, the one whose accomplishments prove that she belongs here. So is it weird that Daryl takes her in too if she also represents the world he's trying to get a sense of? Maybe not to Daryl, but then Carol chimes in with her comment about asking Connie to dance and suddenly, he can't just observe anymore. Now he's being pressured to conform to someone else's vision of life, which is heartbreaking because his own vision (Carol) is continuing to put a wall between them. He knows his identity and his heart well enough to be able to brush it off in this moment, except then throughout the episode, the pressure to conform continues to build and build. 

At first, he goes about his assigned role as a military trainee with little conviction since, per his conversation with Rosita, it's only temporary anyway. He doesn't have to be a team player. He doesn't have to trust anyone outside his longtime friends. Alexandria's going to get cleaned up and then he can resume living the way that feels natural to him. Mercer insists otherwise, and maybe Daryl doesn’t know him well enough to take that to heart, but then he returns to his shitty apartment that no doubt reminds him of his troubled childhood, and something changes. The kids want to stay, and because he has a responsibility as an uncle, because his brain is wired to put literally everyone else's happiness before his own, he now has to re-evaluate everything he's doing. Alexa, play the "Under Pressure" song!

That conversation with Judith and RJ is an emotional turning point for Daryl, which is why we see him behaving differently afterwards. Standing at the door of the ball, symbolically the entrance to higher society, Daryl takes a beat to study Mercer, take notice of his status, and think for the first time that maybe, he should be striving for the same thing. And strive he does, arresting the first Commonwealth rebel to emerge, then letting the governor's egotistical son take the credit in order to gain his favor.

We joke that Daryl looks absolutely ridiculous in his armor, and that is not without reason. Him putting it on conveys he's ready to do what everyone is telling him to do, which is to be in the Commonwealth. To lead that life. To hold those values. But he is trying to fit into a role that's not meant for him, and that my friends goes hand-in-hand with Connie.  

In case it isn't clear, I am not saying Daryl has feelings for Connie. I very much maintain that he has his heart set on one person and that is Carol. I am not saying he's going to get together with Connie, even temporarily. I'm not even saying he's going to actively pursue her. The only thing I'm saying is that Carol has planted this concept of how he should see Connie in his head, and in the spirit of trying to craft the life people think he should have or want him to have, it is something that is going to be weighing on him when he and Connie interact going forward. Would he be doing even that much if Carol wasn't making herself emotionally unavailable to him? Absolutely not. See why it's important to track characters' emotions? Because ultimately those emotions determine what they do next.

In the trailer, we see Daryl attacking one of the soldiers and in another shot, we see him standing with Maggie and Hershel. Now maybe I’m misinterpreting what’s going on here, but I think it might mean we are going to see another shift in Daryl’s attitude toward the Commonwealth by 11x16. If he is rejecting their way of life, then it stands to reason he should reject the idea of Donnie along with it. Because he is affirming what he doesn’t want for himself, so that come 11C, he can start working toward what he really does want. Need that hint again? Vroom, Vroom. Like I’ve said before, pacing is always the hardest to predict, but this feels like a reasonable timeline. 

I know that this is still not the direction we want. I know some were hoping Donnie would die with the reunion or that Daryl would simply keep dismissing Carol's suggestions without another thought until the big eruption (which very much remains in the realm of possibility). But alas, the writers want this issue to be more complicated for both Daryl and Carol (and us!!). It's okay. Like I said before, it is counterproductive to build up to Donnie if the only goal is to let them be together for a bit before Daryl decides to peace out. That's not what's happening. It fits into the larger story, which is Caryl.