#I'm glad they've taken this time to build up her relationship with the rest of the team outside of lucy

[echofades]

Thank you so much for such beautiful GIF’s! The Kacy fandom seems to be getting smaller since Lucy time away began so I’m extra grateful for this, focusing on the incredible moment between Jane and Kate! Thank you again

Ah thank you for the sweet message! I joined this fandom at a terrible time with it being like one episode before Lucy disappeared, but hopefully we will soon have Kacy content to be excited about again 🤞🤞 until then gotta appreciate Kate being integrated more and more into the fam!!

[ateez-himari]

Hi bb!!! How have you been!!! I've been busy with exams but i still have 4 to go, anywayssssss I'm back for more questionssss because I'm nosy🤭🤭

1-has hima ever gotten into scandalous scandals(lol) cause they're some crazy scandals in the industry, especially concerning female idols

2-how is hima's relationship with the other members' families, ik woo's younger brother would love her

3-during her career has anyone spoken badly about mimi, cause the industry thinks it's funny to always look down on ateez and steal their whole concept 🤦🤦

4-this might be weird so feel free to not answer it, butt have mingri ever been called out for their acts, especially during their tours cause I'm guessing they now share a room tgthr

5-what was himari's reaction to THIS

HE SHOULD'VE GAVE US A WARNING DAMN IT

Love you bb take care mwahh💓💓

Hi sweet!! I've been under a lot of stress but overall I'm okay! I only have 2 more exams to go so I'm feeling somewhat relieved. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR QUESTIONS I LOOK FORWARD TO THEM EACH TIME!! 🥰

• One of the biggest scandals came during 'Kingdom : Legendary War' because her scars were visible (not by choice) and people were claiming that she was promoting SH, even though most were aware that these were from the accident. The most recent scandal was actually not that long ago; people were calling her rude for cursing at one of the BTS antis that set up the funeral wreaths outside of the HYBE building, but obviously Atiny could not care less. (One of the antis started taunting her seeing that Himari was shaken by the wreaths - this girl literally almost lost her brother several times - so she walked over to them and said "how about you get a fucking job instead of obsessing over someone that will never know your name ? go home and get a life bitch")

The rest were mainly dating scandals (especially with Jungkook which made the two of them laugh so hard), scandals about how close she is with the members or even about how she started wearing clothes that are 'too feminine' and 'too sexy' (she used to insist on wearing the same clothes as the members but when she got comfortable with her femininity she started wearing more feminine clothing)

• The members' parents are so glad that there's a girl in their life to keep them in check, but after learning about her past they've all taken on some sort of parental role in her life as well (she's very close to Mingi & San's parents). Hima is really close to Haneul since she only has brothers, so having a sister figure is a welcome change. Getting close to Kyungmin was a little more difficult seeing as she's afraid of being around young children (an irrational fear developed through her childhood trauma) but the boy took to her so quickly that she had no choice but to accept - now he thinks of her as an older sister. She's not actually that close with the other siblings but they're close enough to be called friends

• So many people, especially variety/talk show hosts since being the only girl in an all male group makes her an easy target for jokes such as "you're living with 8 hot men and you haven't slept with any of them" or even questions about how she got into the group in the first place - even though the survival show demonstrates the grueling effort se put into obtaining that spot

Many of those people used Yoongi as an insult, saying that she was probably copying his production style or getting tracks from him, etc., even going as far as accusing her of plagiarizing smaller artists (that they conveniently did not name). So many claims were made about her talent, her dancing, her stage presence, image, etc., but nowadays she's beginning to snap back at them (the first that took hits was "Sun" from My Teenage Girl, she was so pissed that she stated "maybe i should have given the producers the original demo tracks, i bet they would have loved to copy that too since they're so unphased about taking the chorus. what else do they want ? our music show wins ?" when people defended the song saying it was a sample error she showed the instrumental to prove it was all from scratch

• So many times that at some point gossip sites were having field days, especially now that they've gone public since as we know there are always going to be people who refuse to accept idol relationships. People were finding it 'inappropriate' that she would so casually sit on his lap during lives, that they kissed so publicly, etc. A lot of 'fans' even criticized them for most likely being intimate while they were sharing the same hotel room - which at some point Mingi had enough of and simply said "yeah, so what ? how do you think my verse in 'man on fire' was written?"

• Hima has seen Mingi in much less clothing many times over their relationship but these pictures had her going absolutely FERAL, she practically jumped his bones the second they were uploaded. She didn't even say anything, just dragged him into his room and the other members knew it was time to leave. This woman was practically drooling over them, she squealed so hard into the couch cushions that he came rushing out of the shower

HE REALLY SHOULD HAVE, I WAS HALF ASLEEP AND THE SECOND I OPEN MY PHONE THIS POPS UP ?? THIS IS MADNESS, HE WANTS US DEAD

Love you too Mina!! Good luck on your exams and take good care of yourself! Mwahhh 😘❤️

[swearyshera]

Alice,

I've loved being able to read Sweary She-Ra through the years. I happened upon it only a few months after finishing She-Ra (I was late to the party due to not having Netflix, oops), and it gave me so much wonderful content to keep my excitement for the series alive.

The way you explored the characters, especially Catra's mental health and her relationship with Shadow Weaver, helped give me a new understanding and greater appreciation of them. I bring up Catra specifically because, I'll be honest, I wasn't a big Catra fan for awhile. I liked her well enough, then kinda didn't in season 4, but grew fond of her again around season 5. But you helped me understand her thought-process, and I came to like her more because of it. I really like that you also handled her in a nuanced way, where, as you've said many times, you explained her behavior without excusing it, and that made all the difference.

One of the things I really appreciated about your take on She-Ra was how apparent your intelligence was, as well as your writing skill. It wasn't just "Catra says fuck and Glimmer has killed dozens," even though it could have been--you went the extra mile (or kilometer, since you're British :P) and gave us a variety of jokes, as well as mood shifts from comedic to tragic to dramatic to hopeful. All of the characters felt like themselves, even though they were pushed up to 11 and had some creative liberties taken, such as Frosta being a demon and Hordak's Geordie accent. You had a good handle on all of them, which can be very hard to do with a large cast, especially one written by another writer.

I also really appreciated that you took the time to answer asks and build a community here. It gave us lovely jokes such as Bob (that's right, I haven't forgotten about him), Catra's age, and Entrapta reading our comments. I've always been very shy online, but seeing you having such nice interactions with fans helped me open up, and I'm glad I did! I used to ask anonymously from time to time (yes, my first ask was about DT, all the way back during your start on season one, what else would it be? XD), and I'm glad I've gotten to chat and joke with you, as have the rest of us.

I'm so glad that you stuck with this and created such a wonderful fan-series. We never got a movie, but this was just as good, in my opinion. It was like watching SPOP for the first time all over again. I'm excited to see what you create next, be it SPOP-related or not. I hope the future has great things in store for you.

You brought us laughs, tears, and spectacular Glimmer-swears, and your blog means so much to so many people. You mean so much to so many people. I hope you find success in your future endeavors!

FOR THE HONOR OF GAYSKULL!

What can I say, it's truly been an honour (of Gayskull) to write something that I had no idea brought so much to many people. I'm genuinely quite humbled by the reaction.

I always wanted to be fair to all the characters, to show their reasons without necessarily validating the invalid stuff that they've done, and that particularly came across with Catra. It's no secret that I see a lot of parallels between her and my own history, but I've applied the same take-no-shit but be kind approach that I took with myself over the years. And I've learned a lot about mental health during that time, so I could give that sometimes painful realism, but also know just how to make fun of it in the right way.

In some ways, I feel like the characters I've written have taken on their own personality that's very distinct from the original, and that's probably why I think there's a little more mileage in them yet. Both in terms of original stuff (my pilot script Snowflakes has almost 1:1 versions of DT and Perfuma!), but also in the possibility for creating more Sweary stuff, and that is slowly taking shape - although I am taking it easy for a bit, I've already outlined a story which I'd love to make into an audio drama. Currently workshopping it with a couple of people, so watch this space...

It has been a joy to get so many asks from people, yourself included, and my inbox will always be open. I'm not going anywhere for a while! You were very much my DT-asker-in-chief, and I'm super glad you enjoyed their scenes (heck, you even got them a cameo at the end!). So thank you immensely for the support.

I'm happy I've been able to contribute to a wonderful fandom in such a way, and I'm eager to keep on giving back to a community that has given me so many amazing friends.

FOR THE HONOR OF GAYSKULL!

[dross-the-fish]

Okay, but the Victor and Adam building the mate were so good to 😳 I am very much rotating it in my mind

I kinda wish I had something super cool to say about it, but this is mostly random thoughts, so sorry about that 😅

Totally not crying about Adam trying to call Victor father, poor guy. Like sure, understandably Victor isn’t that pleased with him because of, you know, the murdering, but it's hard not to sympathize with Adams need to be accepted by Victor.

i do also love how Adam talks about the diy wife tho. Like in this very sweet and romantic way, and it also kinda feel like a part of it is coming from his own experience of being rejected.

But there also like a level of wrong with the whole thing? Like it feels like he's already kind of building an imaginary relationship with her, before they've technically officially met.

And in some way it also feels like he is setting himself up for failure, like, most likely the actual relationship would probably not live up to whatever fantasy he has (and in the end Victor is very much in the right about the bride)

love Adam, he is so fucked up and in need of so much therapy <3

(and i hope this wasn't too incoherent to read)

Anyway, i just think its a cool piece you've writen and i am gonna print it out and eat it ☺️😋

Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

And you're right about Adam building a fantasy. That's a thing he tends to do in my AU and part of why things went so sour with Dorian. Adam has concepts about love and family and his own idea of how things are "supposed to go" and ultimately he ends up setting himself up. You can't blame him to much because he's had no socialization but at the same time it's painful to watch him keep getting his hopes crushed because he builds narratives that aren't really feasible.

And there was no way the bride could have worked, if she came out as intelligent and capable of independent learning as Adam did then I don't see her contenting herself with a husband she didn't pick as her only company for the rest of her life and there's no knowing how Adam might have taken it if she had rejected him. He may have loved the idea of her but there was no way for him to love her as a person.

Victor knows this, he's an ass for his treatment of Adam and his biases towards Adam's appearance but in the case of the bride Victor isn't wrong.

Unfortunately Adam is so desperate for companionship that he'll never be able to see that.

[morganupstead]

Hey 👋 just wanna talk about last night eps (warning: it's a long one)

Med: that scene where the cardiac surgeon headbutts Crockett, it just made me laugh so hard, it was so sudden and unexpected 😂

Fire: Kidd with her lieutenant jacket and her lieutenant shirt 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻 that's all i ever wanted. I'm sad Brett is leaving (tho i saw it coming) and I'm really gonna miss Kara, for however long her break is. I hope we get some scenes with the team missing Sylvie cuz she didn't have a lot of screen time lately (just want them to show Kara some love, even if it's just a goodbye scene). Also, I'm simply bored of the OFI storyline, i didn't even cared about the case last night; they need to let it rest for a while

PD: i was on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. The way they showed Kim's feelings, how overwhelmed she was, with that camera work, the blurred vision, the muffled conversation of the team - amazing! -. Kev having Kim and Adam's back, so supportive and reassuring them they'll find Mak, that's the friendship we love and I'm glad they made sure to show it to us. Kim saying "where's my daughter?" with so much self-confidence, and Mak calling Kim "Mom" 😢😢. The moment Platt arrived to the building and went straight to Kim i almost cried cuz her first priority was to make sure she was okay. And the fact that Kim told Adam Mak was her daughter, how hurt Ruz looked, i just know that conversation isn't over.

To put it in a few words: loved PDs episode last night, it was exciting, full of adrenaline, so emotional!! And Marina and Paddy delivered really powerful performances 👏🏻👏🏻

Sorry for the long rant 🙈🙈 a lot happened last night 😆

Hi!!! I literally never get long asks ever so this is fun:

Med: I caught the last 20 ish minutes of Med and it was so worth seeing Crockett get head-butted because it was weirdly so funny. The guy thought he did something with that but overall it was just hilarious.

Fire: I didn't know how much I needed to see Stella Kidd with a Lieutenant Jacket until I did, and it was literally glorious. Our girl is running her own team now and it feels so right for her.

We saw how much being away from Casey is really affecting Brett even though she's put up a good front; it was naturally going to come crashing down at some point. I hope going to spend real quality time with him is what she needs because the woman looked so sad. I loved that Violet and Stella were so supportive and were there for her because that trio is so amazing. Women supporting women is something so important to me so I was really glad to see it.

I think the OFI case was fine, I don't really have any strong feelings on it either way other than I don't really mind it all that much?? Other than the fact that Seager just annoys me because they've taken her character which had real potential into just fawning over Kelly Severide every chance she gets. I want to like her, but the writers need to give her something new and different, enough of this already.

Also, Squad 3 trying to get a boot on Cap's bald ass head??? The comedic highlight of the season right there, and honestly one of my favorites ever. I have watched it no less than 15 more times and I die laughing without fail.

PD: Oh where do I start with this... That episode was a doozy, even though we kind of knew this I wasn't prepared to feel every emotion Kim and Adam were feeling for a solid hour. The crew really did a fantastic job on this one by making the camera work mimic the feelings they were going through and it 100% made us the viewers feel more connected. That Burgwater moment made me cry because those two have such a tight bond that it hurt so much. When Mak called her "Mom" I seriously had my mouth hanging open and I could not believe it. The look when Kim realizes what she just said???? Priceless.

I'm positive that Burzek is in some real trouble. The way that their relationship ebbed and flowed within one hour was kind of astounding. To being each other's rock, to screaming at each other in frustration and fear, and then sitting on Makayla's bed silently communicating everything they couldn't say out loud. By the end, you could see the guilt seeping out of Adam, and I think that's why he walks away. He lead with his heart instead of his head, it could have ended badly, and now he feels like he's not good enough for both of them. Kim and Adam have a lot of talking to get through this because there is no way this isn't going to be an uphill battle.

[ionlyspeakinmyheroacademia]

Late Nights and Lavender Tea

series masterlist ☕️ 

Pairing: Izuku Midoriya x Ochako Uraraka

Warnings: Some lauguage, gets a lil steamy at some parts, slow burn, MAJOR SPOILERS

Summary: After a year of friendship, Uraraka realizes that she is totally in love with her best friend, Midoriya Izuku. There's just one slight problem. She's in a happy, committed relationship with Iida Tenya.Or is she? As their relationship progresses, she sees a side of Tenya that scares her- and she wonders if she made the right choice to get with him in the first place. And her resurfacing feelings for Izuku aren't helping her case, not in the slightest.Midoriya Izuku always avoids romantic relationships, but he simply cannot avoid his feelings for Uraraka Ochako. She's taken, but Izuku can't help but hopelessly pine after her. After seemingly the millionth late-night talk over tea, he realizes that he's head over heels in love with her. He's in love with a girl who's off-limits. He can swallow his feelings for her sake, of course.That's okay with Izuku. If she's happy, he's happy for her. It's really okay, honestly.Teenage relationships are hard. That's one thing they've both realized.

Notes: This is my first fic, let me know what you think! (cross posted on ao3)

Chapter 5: Out of the Frying Pan

Ochako was exhausted. She’d been up since before they had gone out to patrol yesterday, and they had left pretty early, considering Ryukyu usually didn’t even get up until noon. Nejire Chan, on the other hand, had them up and working at six AM. She had gone straight from patrol to taking on the group of low-level villains with Tsu, Nejire, and Ryukyu, where she had been kidnapped when they left her to keep watch. 

She shuddered, pushing thoughts of the night before away. It was too soon to think about it. She looked over at Tenya, still asleep on the chair next to her bed. He was so peaceful as he slept, the anger gone from his features. Outside the door, she could see her parents talking with the doctors and Ryukyu and Nejire, who had just arrived, and Tsu burst into the room, flying over to Ochako, throwing her arms around her. 

“I was so worried about you!” Tsu cried, tears falling rapidly, as she sobbed into Ochako’s hospital gown. 

“Shh, shh,” Ochako soothed, rubbing her friend’s back consolingly. 

“I should never have left you alone-”

“Tsu, it’s not your fault. It’s my own fault, I volunteered to stay by myself. It’s my own damn fault that I was too stupid to realize I needed help.” Before Tsu could tell her she was wrong, Ryukyu and Nejire hurried in, and Nejire, not unlike Tsu, pulled Ochako into a hug. 

“Are you okay? What did they do to you? Who saved you again? Was it that guy in the chair? Isn’t that your class rep? Oooh, is he your boyfriend? I could have sworn it was the green-haired problem child. Deku right?” Nejire, as always, erupted into a million questions, leaving Ochako flustered.

“Don’t suffocate her, Nejire,” Ryukyu scolded, and set a hand on Ochako’s shoulder. “Ochako, I’m so sorry I put you in danger. As your supervisor, the blame falls on me for your capture. I'm so sorry for putting you through that.”

“Ryukyu-” Ochako started, when Tenya sat up groggily, turning to the women in the room, looking confused before he registered what was going on. “Hey sleepyhead,” she teased, smiling at him warmly.

“What time is it?” he asked sleepily, taking his glasses off to rub his eye. 

“Around seven,” Ochako’s father said as he walked into the room, followed by her mother, both of them holding two cups of coffee.  

“Would you like one?” Ochako’s mother asked Ryukyu, who accepted the caffeine gratefully because she wasn’t used to being up at this hour. 

“No, thank you,” Nejire answered when Ochako’s father asked if she wanted his other cup. “I have enough energy, at least that’s what Ryukyu says.” 

“Well, alright. Iida, would you like it? I have sugar here if you want anything,” her dad asked, turning to her boyfriend.

“Yes, thank you sir,” Tenya replied, taking the steaming cup from her father, blowing it off before taking a sip.   

“Anyway, Ochako, honey,” her mom said, coming over to stand next to the bed, “You’re cleared to be discharged so that they can get you to Recovery Girl. That way you can be back in the dorms by tonight.”

Ochako nodded, smiling warmly at her mother. “Okay, mom,” she answered, as her mom reached down to ruffle her daughter’s hair. 

“We’ll give you guys some time alone,” Ryukyu said, putting an arm around both Nejire and Tsu, and walking out of the room. 

“I’m going to head out too, if that’s alright, Ochako,” Tenya smiled softly at her, leaning over to kiss her forehead. “I have to report back to Manual.”

“Of course, see you later Tenya,” she answered, returning his smile. 

“He’s an okay kid,” her dad said, watching Tenya walk down the hall, putting his helmet back on. Ochako didn’t respond, just watched him walk away, thinking about what her friends had told her a few days before. 

“You okay, baby?” her mom asked gently, tucking Ochako’s hair behind her ear and turning her daughter’s face to look in her eyes. Ochako shook her head, tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes, the mask she had put up to hide her pain tumbling down with those three little words. “Aww, sweetie, shh, shh.”

“I was so scared, Mom. I didn’t think I would ever see you guys again, I…” she choked out, sobbing as her parents threw their arms around her, “I thought I was going to die all alone, tied up in a old warehouse, with no way to be heard or seen, I thought I was going to die, and no one would know what happened to me, you guys would have lost your only daughter, and I would have never gotten to tell you I love you.”

Her parents soothed her as she sobbed into their shirts, whispering calming words to her, rocking her back and forth, kissing her hair, and her mother crying with her. 

“We love you Ochako, we’re so glad you’re okay,” her father said, his voice shaking, and her mother nodding, sobbing at the thought of her daughter dying.

“If it weren’t for Deku, I’d be dead,” she looked at her parents in the eyes, “I owe him my life.”

“The next time I see him he’s getting a huge hug, make sure to warn him,” he mother said, her voice muffled by Ochako’s hospital gown, and Ochako and her father laughed. 

“I will mom,” she replied.

“Anyway, I brought donuts,” her father burst out suddenly. “I didn’t have enough to share with everyone, so I didn’t get them out when your friends were here, but I got you chocolate creme, your favorite!”

“Aw, dad, you didn’t have to do that!” Ochako exclaimed, but took the donut anyway, biting into the fluffy pastry, savoring the sweetness. 

“Anything for my favorite daughter,” he laughed, ruffling her hair. She smiled as he passed a donut to her mother, and all three of them squished on the bed, catching up before Ochako had to go back to school.

…

“That should do it for today,” Recovery Girl sighed, “I couldn’t fully fix your leg without using all your energy, so you’ll need a crutch until tomorrow, and I’ll fix it in the morning, all right sweetie?”

“Yes, thank you so much ma’am.”

“Your welcome dear,” Recovery Girl replied, smiling at Ochako, and handing her a lollipop. “Make sure you’re careful with that leg tonight, and don’t do anything to raise your stress levels. You need to rest, especially after what happened last night.”

Ochako nodded, unwrapping the sucker and putting it in her mouth. 

“Anywho, I’ll see you in the morning dear.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Ochako said, and stood, reaching for the crutch, and started slowly out of the room, adjusting to how the crutches sat under her arm, rubbing uncomfortably, causing her to wince. She made her way to the dorms, admiring the sunset, savoring her time alone, or at least she thought she was. 

The events of the night before had planted fear in her heart, growing into paranoia, and Ochako felt herself looking over her shoulder constantly. This was the first time she’d been alone since the capture, and it was starting to dawn on her that she wasn’t okay, not in the slightest. She was terrified, in a way she had never been before. 

I hate this feeling, I don’t want to live the rest of my life in fear. I’ll never be able to do anything, she thought, rubbing circles on her temples, stopping to adjust her crutches. It was then when she heard the sound in the trees behind her. 

It was a quiet noise, only a small crack in a branch, but she jumped, landing painfully on her still injured leg. Her heart raced, staring at the trees, hoping it was nothing, only a squirrel or a large bird. She groaned inwardly, turning back to the dorms. I’m such an idiot, she scolded herself, UA is heavily guarded, I’m perfectly safe here.

But no matter what she told herself, she was still frightened, and she hurried to Heights Alliance with her heart in her throat, moving as fast as her injured leg would let her. 

When she reached the building, she breathed a sigh of relief, and composed herself before pushing the door open. 

“She’s back!” she heard Mina cry, and all at once, she was swarmed by her classmates, questions being thrown at her left and right.

“All right, everyone, move out of the way, Ochako’s boyfriend coming through,” Tenya called from the back of the group, and all of their classmates moved out of the way reluctantly, and Tenya made his way towards her.

“Hey,” she said, kissing him lightly on the cheek, and smiling up at him. 

“You okay?” he said softly, so only she could hear, keeping the conversation between them. 

“Yeah, just tired, Recovery Girl took a lot of my energy healing my injuries, and she still has more to heal tomorrow.”

“Do you want to go sit down?”

“Sure, that sounds nice,” she replied, and he helped her over to the couch neighboring the one where Todoroki and Sora were sitting, Todoroki’s head in Sora’s lap as his boyfriend played with his hair.

She leaned against Tenya’s chest, closing her eyes and trying to drone out the conversations of her classmates. She let her mind wander, thinking back to the other night, with the girls, remembering what they had said. Tenya had been acting normal, back to the way he’d been before the Sports Festival, before everything had gone downhill. Ochako had never been in a relationship, so she really didn’t know what to expect, but she knew something was wrong with her and Tenya’s relationship, but she cared about him too much to let him go.

“Why are you so tired babe?” she heard Sora ask Todoroki.

“Well, I got like, two hours of sleep, thanks to Midoriya. I covered for him after he went and broke the rules, and ended up getting chewed out all night, and when Midoriya finally got there, dear ol’ dad and Burnin lectured him. And of course when I tried to leave I got in trouble, so I didn’t go to bed until at least six-thirty this morning,” Todoroki answered, and Ochako sat up, looking at him quizzically.

“What do you mean? What did Deku do?” Ochako asked, genuinely confused.

“He saved you. We had specific instructions not to, but he was distraught, he said he really needed to make sure you were safe,” Todoroki said, and then turned to her, puzzled. “Why, did he not tell you?”

“That little shit,” she said under her breath, and stood up, positioning her crutch under her arm and hobbling towards the elevator. 

“Where are you going?” Tenya called.

“To give him a piece of my mind!” she yelled back, hitting the up button and tapping her good foot impatiently. He was in for a hell of lecture, that was for sure. 

Izuku had been studying when Ochako burst into his room, fuming. 

“Hey! You’re back! How are you-”

“Uh uh, I have a bone to pick with you,” she growled, limping over to him, and putting her free hand on her hip. “Izuku, what were you thinking! You could be expelled for defying a direct order like that! Do you not remember what happened last year with Bakugou? I won’t let you get expelled for me!”

“What was I supposed to do, Ochako? I couldn’t let you get killed, I couldn’t. I know I didn’t follow the rules, but someone once told me, ‘Meddling where you don’t need to is the essence of being a hero’. I couldn’t let you die, I just couldn’t, and I’m sorry if that makes you angry, but I saved your life, and I’m proud of that. I had to save you Ochako,” he said, bursting into tears, hastily wiping them away. She stood there in shock for a moment, staring at him as tears started to fill her own eyes. She stumbled forward, and threw her arms around his shaking shoulders, both of them sobbing into each other’s shirts. 

“I’m sorry Izuku, I just don’t want you to throw your future away for me,” she cried, her anger ebbing away as they held each other.

“I’m not sorry,” he whispered, burying his face in her hair, even though he knew deep down he shouldn’t. “I’ll never be sorry for saving you.” I love you, his heart was repeating over and over, and he wanted to scream those three little words as loud as he could, but he bit them back. She was with Iida, she had a boyfriend. He stifled another sob, and hugged her tighter, trying to commit her to memory. They stayed there for a good while, just hugging each other tightly, trying to hold each other’s sadness in, patching up the holes the two of them had left in each other’s hearts. 

…

“So,” Izuku asked, sniffling. “How are you feeling?” The two of them had been sitting in his room for a while now, after breaking down in front of each other. They had sat in silence for a good five minutes, Ochako sitting in his desk chair, and Izuku sitting rigidly on the edge of his bed. 

“I’m exhausted, I mean, I already was, and then I cried, so now I’m extra tired,” she answered, laughing lightly, cutting the laugh off with a yawn.

“Do you want to lay down? I need to keep studying anyway, and it’s getting late,” he suggested, immediately cursing himself. You idiot, his brain screamed at him.

“Do you mind?” she asked, “I could use some sleep.”

“Of course not, here,” he jumped up awkwardly, moving over to the desk as she shuffled over to the bed, slipping her slippers off and getting under the covers. He turned the lights off, leaving on the lamp on his desk, and sat down, trying to distract himself from the fact that Ochako Uraraka was in his bed. They sat in awkward silence for a few minutes, and Izuku stared blankly at his notebook, doodling absently, anything to distract him from her.

“Izuku?” he heard her whisper from behind him. 

“Yeah?” he said quietly, turning to look at her, and saw tears shining in her eyes. “Hey, what’s wrong?” He moved to sit on the bed next to her, and brushed her hair from her eyes gently. 

“I’m scared ‘Zu,” she whispered, tears spilling over. “I don’t want to sleep, I’m scared I’ll have nightmares again.” He reached over and wiped her tears away. 

“Shhh, it’ll be okay Ochako, don’t worry.”

“I haven’t slept since this morning, and I didn’t sleep for long, I had these terrible nightmares…” she wiped her tears away hastily. “Sorry, this is the second time I’ve cried in front of you in an hour. God, I’m so pathetic.”

“No you’re not,” he reassured, setting a light hand on her knee. 

“Midoriya, have you seen-” he heard a voice from behind him, and a swift intake of breath. 

Izuku turned around, and smiled at Iida. “Hey Iida, what’s up?”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Iida roared, storming over to Izuku and ripping him off the bed, picking him up and throwing him by the collar of his shirt into the All Might covered wall.

“Whoa, what’s going on?” Izuku said after grunting in pain. “Why the hell did you thro-” He was cut off by Iida’s fist colliding into his face.

“Tenya!” Ochako screamed from behind them, trying to stand up, reaching for her crutch. “What is wrong with you! What are you doing?”

Izuku slid to the floor, pinching his nose that was gushing blood. He looked up to see Iida, his eyes full of pure malice, pulling his arm back for another punch. Izuku prepared himself for the blow, but it never came. He opened his eyes to see Ochako’s hand on Iida’s arm, pulling it back. Iida swiveled around to face her. 

“Stop, please, stop,” she whimpered, trying to reason with him, but Izuku could see his arm twitching. He tried to make a sound, but he was too late- Iida had already slapped Ochako across the face.

[ty-talks-comics]

Best of DC: Week of October 2nd, 2019

Runner Up: Batman #80 - Tom King, John Romita Jr., Klaus Janson, Tomeu Morey and Clayton Cowles

Batman is Broken no more.

For 79 issues, Bane has been orchestrating a convoluted plot in an effort to prove himself Batman's most superior foe, the man who broke the Bat twice. He's pulled Bruce's father, Thomas Wayne, from another universe, caused Catwoman to leave Batman at the altar and has completely taken over Gotham City after Thomas defeated Bruce at Ra's al Ghul most powerful Lazarus Pit.

Everything has been in an effort to leave Bruce broken, without help, unable to stop Bane. It would have worked too, if not for Catwoman. The last two issues have been mostly filler issues for Batman and Catwoman to rebuild their relationship by fighting crime together again. They've recontextualized their relationship with Bruce realizing that he can be happy and still be Batman and Catwoman realizes that she's not taking anything away from Bruce by being with him.

They make each other better with Bruce taming her more criminal aspects and Selina taking away some of the more brutal rage that got him in trouble for beating the crap out of Mister Freeze several issues ago. 

Tom King does very well with writing relationships like this even if sometimes it seems heavy handed on the part of it being a woman’s duty to fix her man. Catwoman and Batman ounce off of each other in the most adorable and loving ways, but when it’s time for business, no one can hold a candle to them. Batman #80 succeeds on the merits of their skills and the skills of the entire creative tem of this book.

Right off the bat, the book begins with a noir Batman feel as Bruce, in his beach disguise (or rather his Matches Malone guise) walks through the streets of Gotham on a rainy night before being stopped by Officers Pyg and Dent. The two criminals attempt to accost him, not knowing he’s Batman and they get the crap kicked out of them. Batman doesn’t even break a sweat before he’s punched them both in the throat and gives Harvey another to the face for good measure. Harvey shoots him in the chest twice, but Bruce slowly opens his shirt to reveal a Bat emblem before tossing the bullets away like a boss. 

John Romita Jr. knows his way around a fight scene and conveys Batman’s strength and the terror of his presence in general by how Harvey reacts upon realizing it’s him. Tomeu Morey sets the scene with his amazing coloring by tinting these pages in yellow, DC’s general color for fear before it transitions into darker colors when Batman reveals himself. Klaus Janson’s inks set the tone for how unknown this mysterious stranger is before the ultimate reveal and in only a few pages, this book has me sold.

Opposite Batman who likes to be seen and feared, Catwoman strikes from the shadows. Mad Hatter is just patrolling Gotham when he spies a cat, musing about laws over strays and pulling the longest pistol ever recorded in comics out of his hat. I’m not kidding, this gun was comically large. While Batman’s scene was tinted in yellow, these pages are split between the cool blue of a street light and the seductive purple of the night sky in another, non-rainy, part of Gotham. It plays well into Selina’s finesse as she quickly and quietly takes down Mad Hatter, saving the cat.

Batman pretty much makes the rounds, letting his villains know that he’s returned to Gotham, Kite-Man gets an amazing scene as Batman drops him from a building while saying “Hell yeah” in response to Kite-Man asking if it’s actually him and later has a standoff with Officer Hush. The stand off has no reason to happen other than it’s  badass visual as these perfect opposites just trade philosophic barbs as Batman disables Hush with a batarang. In all of it’s rainy, sepia toned glory, it’s a nice double page spread, made even better by Janson’s inks giving everything the perfect black shadows.

Throughout the issue is a thread for Thomas Wayne as well. Because he's a father that lost his child, he treats Gotham Girl as if she's his own, giving her a new costume and consoling her however he can. He's gotten very close to her and as such when she's in distress over not having any more of the serum that can keep her alive as she uses her powers, Thomas is there for her. He tells her that she doesn't need powers and that she's skilled enough without them. He tells her to just rest as Arnold Wesker walks in to tell him that Bruce has arrived. 

Bane gave a standing order that if any of the Batfamily were to reenter Gotham City, then someone close to them would die. Damian did it and got Alfred killed which left the child as the only prisoner. Batman had to know this as well as he monologues after defeating Hush that his father has to make a decision: will he kill his own Grandson? 

Batman is getting very intense as Tom King is reaching the end of his run with this book. With only five issues left, I'm actually shaking in my boots with excitement. 

In reflection, I'm also mostly glad with the entirety of this almost three year story and the leaps and bounds it's made to cement Bane in a firm place at the top of Batman's Rogues Gallery. Bane had always been one of Batman's most deadly enemies, but this manipulation, the guile and deception, the audacity that he had to hatch such an amazing(ly insane and convoluted) plan just to ruin the life of his most hated enemy is insane.

Joker may always be Batman's most popular villain… but Bane will always be his greatest.