#because SOMEONE finally decided to wear a new rep body suit

[man-i-love-folklore]

currently have the worst mastermind score of my career

[bunnyywritings]

unexpected

tenya iida x fem!reader

[a/n: he’s so cute hehehe 🥺 here’s my first Iida fic, it’s your basic summer trope but...I simp for this man on the daily, I was a little sad to see that there aren’t many Tenya fics out there so I took it into my own hands, this is slightly self-indulgent but other than that, he deserves some love so uh yeah, enjoy! -yours truly, bunnyy -`ღ´-]

Class 1-A just couldn’t take the heat anymore so they begged and begged and begged until Aizawa finally gave in and planned a class trip to the beach.

Today, the girls decided to head to the mall and buy some new swimsuits since wearing the very non-flattering school issued swimsuits would be absolutely terrible. You had gone along since you didn’t really have a swimsuit, you had one from back in middle school but it hadn’t fit you anymore. So far, they had all been able to find one they liked except you. You had been to countless stores but hadn’t really found one that caught your eye but the girls insisted on going to one more store so you could look around. As you looked around, you had started to doubt that you’d actually find one. That doubt was realized when all the ones you had tried on were the wrong size.

Once back in the dorms, Momo had offered to make you one. An offer that you gratefully accepted. You had searched online and showed her what type of bathing suit would be ideal. After thanking her 100 times or so, you had gone down to the kitchen.

“Oh (y/n), You’re back. How was the mall?” I don’t think Todoroki realized how loaded that question actually was. He and Midoriya seemed to have been just chatting, eating snacks. Iida had been making some tea.

“Uhh well it was great, the girls were able to find some bathing suits.” You sat down across from your two friends.

“Is someone wrong? It doesn’t sound like you had a good time?” The freckled boy asked carefully

“I had a good time. It was nice to hang out with the girls but I’m just a little tired.” He nodded understandingly, Shoto had grabbed the packet of pocky and held it out to you in a silent offering. You giggled and accepted the offering, he nodded in approval when you took two of the strawberry flavored biscuits. You had joined their conversation about which pro hero had the best costume, a cup of tea was placed in front of you. Looking up, Iida offered you a small smile before sitting besides you and contributing to the discussion about All Might’s costume. You blew at the surface of the drink before taking a sip. It was black tea sweetened with just the right amount of honey and a bit of milk. You blushed at the fact that he remembered how you liked your tea. Too distracted in your thoughts, you nearly jumped out of your seat when Midoriya called you out.

“You agree with me (y/n), right?” Your eyes widened before you cleared your throat. Iida’s heart started to pound when he could see the mischief in your eyes.

“Well why are we even bothering to discuss All Might’s costume when Endeavor’s is clearly the best. Todoroki. Thoughts?” He had been friends with you long enough to know that you were just pulling his leg.

“Well, as much as I see your point. Why don’t we talk about how Kamui Woods has the worst costume.” Your jaw dropped.

“Okay now wait a second.” He knew that he was your favorite pro. “That’s a little much when someone like...”

Iida gave his 2 cents here and there but he enjoyed seeing you giggle and smile while joking with the other two. He couldn’t really explain why but his heart would pound harder any time you asked for his opinion or the butterflies in his stomach would go wild when you smiled.

Finally, the beach day came. Everyone had woken up bright and early to make sure everything was ready and loading everything onto the bus when it had arrived.

“IF YOU AREN’T IN THE BUS BY 9AM, WE WILL LEAVE YOU HERE! OH YEAH!” Aizawa cringed from beside Present Mic as he made that announcement. That meant that there was half an hour before you guys would leave. You nodded, amazed at the fact that you could hear your teacher while he was still outside. You finished packing your bag before getting changed into your swimsuit, standing in front of your mirror and scrutinizing your reflection. It was nothing to do with the swimsuit itself, Momo had done an amazing job. You were just...insecure. It was a one-piece with an opening at the stomach. It looked cute when you had seen it on the model online but on you, it seemed wrong. It made your thighs look like they were bulging out of the material and the pudgyness of your stomach seemed to be accentuated. Sighing, you pulled on your shorts and tank top before making your way out to the bus. Aizawa crossed your name off the list before you boarded and took a seat beside Ochako. Midoriya and Iida in the seats behind the two of you and Shoto and Tokoyami in the row in front.

Thankfully, the ride to the beach was only about an hour and a half long. Everyone unloaded the bus, as instructed by Iida. The beach was relatively empty so it gave you guys the abilities to claim a huge spot for the entire class. 1/3 of the class had instantly stripped down to their swimsuits and ran to the water. While the rest had set up the tent, some chairs, the volleyball net, or their personal umbrellas. You had offered to share yours with Tokoyami since it was big enough and he didnt seem too keen for on being in the sun too much. Even then, he had still peeled off his shirt and was sat on his towel in nothing but swim trunks as Dark Shadow had made an appearance and started to play with the sand.

You had sat down criss cross on your towel, book in hand. You had put it down from time to time to watch your classmates laughing and having fun. Midoriya had approached the two of you and asked if you guys had wanted to join their volleyball game. You had accepted the invitation but Tokoyami had politely declined. You were on a team whith Shoji, Shoto, Denki, and Shinso. Ochako, Midoriya, Iida, and Sero were on the other team. Mina, Tsuyu, Aoyama, and Momo were watching on the sidelines, cheering for both teams of course.

Halfway through the game and you all took a hydration break but you were starting to feel the heat. Quirks were allowed so with that and the fact that your quirk had to do with fire meant that your body ran warm.

“Are you okay (y/n)?” Shoji asked as he handed you a bottle of water. His question caught the attention of the others as they noticed that your cheeks were a bit more flushed than normal.

“Yeah, why don’t you change into your swimsuit?” Ochako asked, head tilted to the side.

“I-I have it on but well...” you sighed, deciding to be honest. “I’m just a little s-self conscious.” You looked away, slightly embarrassed as the words left your lips.

“Aww (y/n), no!! You’re super cute! Come one, I bet you look great!” Mina grinned encouragingly. “Plus, the girls have seen you pretty much naked before so there’s no need to be shy.”

“Mina!” There were calls of embarrassment from both the boys and the girls.

“You do have a point...” you mumbled to yourself. You walked off to the side and started to unbutton your shorts. All the boys had looked away to give you your privacy. (because they drink their respect women juice every morning)

“O-okay. D-done.” You nervously announced as you handed your clothes to Mina.

“See! I was right!”

“W-whoah! (Y/n), no disrespect but you look hot!” Denki smirked, nodding appreciatively. As the others had started to compliment you, no matter how hard Iida tried to restrain himself, he couldn’t stop his eyes running over your body. More specifically, your thighs. The way they slightly strained against the material of your bottoms made him blush. He couldn’t help but glance at them once the game had started. The way they flexed when you had gone to bump the ball or the slight jiggle they had when you ran for the ball. Don’t get me wrong, Iida likes you for you. Your personality, your kindness, and your intellect were very attractive to him but your body was a definite plus.

Your team had won the game and while Mina, Momo, and Tsu were congratulating you, Mina caught a glance at Iida. He had looked at you, eyes softened, and a blush on his cheeks before looking away.

“Ooh it looks like you’ve caught the eye of mister class rep.” She teased.

“W-what? Mina stop m-messing around like that.” You stuttered, her previous statement was making your heart want to burst.

“It’s true though! Don’t you have a thing for him too?”

“Well yeah but-“ you were cut off by her calling him over.

“Hey Iida! What do you think of (y/n)’s swimsuit? It’s nice right?” Oh how you wished the earth would split open and swallow you whole.

“Y-yes, I do. It’s very flattering (y/n).” His answer made your heart do somersaults. “May I o-offer some advice?”

“Oh uh yeah, sure.” You were a bit confused but wanted to see what we had to say.

“As a young hero, you work hard every day to get stronger and make sure you can be the best hero possible. You should be proud of your body because it’s the fruit of that hard work and well...because you look r-really beautiful. Regardless of what other people may say.” His sudden confession made your eyes widen but before you could respond, he had run off while shouting at Bakugo about the dangers of grilling without proper supervision.

Throughout the day, the girls teased you about your crush on the class rep. Currently, you were drying yourself off after having been in the ocean for a bit. You had wanted to confess to Iida. You had been slowly gathering the courage to do so, the other also helping hype you up.

“Hey uhm Iida. Would you maybe want to get a smoothie with me? From that place up the cove?” You were fiddling with your fingers.

“I would be glad to accompany you (y/n).”

So the two of you had gone off to get some smoothies. Chatting about trivial things as you waited. He had opted for an orange and carrot smoothie while you went for the simple mango smoothie.

“So uhm, before we go back. I h-have something to tell you...” he motioned for you to continue as he sipped at his smoothie. “Right. Well I just-well I...” you sighed, taking a calming deep breath before continuing. “I like you Iida, like uhm r-romantically. I have for a while now and I just thought I’d let you know.” He was silent, still sipping at his drink while processing your words.

“Well that’s a relief. I’ve been figuring it out over the passed couple of days but I have romantic feelings for you as well, (y/n). And seeing as the both of us seem to do relatively well in our normal studies and our hero studies, I could see that balancing a relationship with schoolwork should be relatively doable.” His words stunned you.

“Wait so does that mean-“ You really we’re at a loss for words.

“Yes. It means that I would like to pursue a relationship with you. As boyfriend and girlfriend.” The turn of events made you very giddy with happiness.

“C-could I hold your hand, Iida?” You asked nervously as the two of you walked back. He chuckled and nodded, taking your hand in his.

“I can do you one better.” He had leaned down, noses inches away. “If you’ll allow me to?” You nodded, closing your eyes and leaning forward to close the distance. Lips moving together, it was inexperienced but sweet and soft nonetheless. Both of you a blushing mess as you pulled away. The rest of the class cheering from a distance as they watched the exchange.

Later on that night, during the bonfire, the both of you sat next to each other. Having already changed into some sweats to protect yourself from the cold, he had let you wear his navy blue hoodie since you were still shivering. He hesitantly wrapped an arm around your waist, relaxing when you had moved closer and snuggled up to him. He watched with a soft gaze as you joked around with Shoto and the others and partaking in eating some s’mores. The way your cheeks puffed up as you gave him a tight lipped smile, mouth full of the concoction of gooey marshmallows and chopped made his chest feel fuzzy and warm.

Even as he held you close, as you nuzzled into his chest because the ghost story Tokoyami was telling was a little too scary for you, he still couldn’t believe that you had reciprocated his feelings. The girl that he had his heart set on since the second week of school was now his girlfriend. It was times like these that made him expect the unexpected.

gєиєяαℓ тαgℓιѕт (open): @ohbois-biggay-bnha​

[mozaikrolez]

a random assortment of open verse headcanons for akaza , douma , gyuutaro ( npc daki included ) , muzan kibutsuji , rui & new muse enmu .

because i have muses from the manga involved in these headcanons , be weary of the ones you aren’t familiar with as they do spoil a lil bit of season 2 ( specifically for gyuutaro & douma ) , but not that much . if you do not mind spoilers for demon slayer , you may proceed with no caution !

general info :

considering the timeline of demon slayer ( taisho era : 1912 - 1926 ) , i’ll be adding an extra hundred years to their chronological age to keep their origins as close to canon as possible .

missing person ? 9/10 times a demon ate them !

though the majority of the hc’s are carefree & light hearted — due to the nature of the series , general discussion of violence , mentions of manipulation & cannibalism will be present .

akaza

attending night school & taking some classes online , akaza recently started high school again as a student in his final year ( has done this around the 80s under a different alias & appearance ) . he is known for skipping classes & starting fights with other students . he has a jotaro kujo type of rep at his school .

he doesn’t really care about school all the much — mostly attending to play some kind of role in modern day society .

on the topic of fights , he often looks for them in the night life areas of the city — somewhere he can find a group of people to brutalize . he leads them to places where he can ( of course ) kill them without the possibility of prying eyes .

he has a soft spot for animals ! one rainy day , he found a stray cat & decided to take him in & raise a lil guy ! his name is hanabi .

he drives a motorcycle . what kind ? not sure yet !

on more than one occasion akaza beats the shit outta guys who stalk or harass women in many ways . this has led him to getting random gifts of gratitude when they find him again — stuff he REALLY doesn’t want to accept , but does to show show thanks .

really wants a hedgehog .

douma

he is still a cult leader in the modern day , but does other things on the side ! his cult looks a bit different than it did in the past . it’s recognized as a more of a spiritual group or collective revolving around self improvement , rather than a religious group or something .

he also plays the role of a swindler , sweet talking his way to riches & increasing his follower count .

aside from the fact that he HAS to be out at night , he really does enjoy the night life . the lights are exciting & the general atmosphere of people having a good time suits him .

enjoys going to a particular coffee shop on cloudy or rainy days , though he only goes there to sit in the lounge & not drink the coffee . buys sweets here & there then offers to pay the person behind him a treat too ( he’s really flirty with people ) .

for the past hundred years , douma has expanded on his collection of skulls from his victims . he has found an interest in morbid occult things , such as ; specimens ( animal skulls , animal organs , animal parts in general , bugs & other oddities ) , shrunken pygmy heads , taxidermies & other things of this nature .

he is extremely fascinated with other cultures & how they deal with dead bodies & has spent years researching about it . what is he looking at in those cafés ? possibly morbid shit ( he’s got a vpn ) ! because of this , he really wants to visit egypt to see a mummy .

kinda wants to attempt mummify someone or turn then into a taxidermy . maybe a doll .

gyuutaro & npc daki

going off of the lil extras that are provided at the end of each book , gyuutaro — like akaza , goes to night school & rides a motorcycle !

in japan , there are these services where you can pay to go out on a date with someone . daki does this instead of being a courtesan .

gyuutaro always stalks her while she goes on these dates so no one does anything that wasn’t agreed upon .

being the one who counts the money she earns , gyuutaro is really REALLY good at math . on that note , his organization skills when setting up an equation — PERFECT ! he’d be a perfect accountant !

on that note ... daki is sooo confused with that stuff . she’s not very good at math & would ask for his help but it would always end in a shouting match .

gyuutaro wears a mask to cover his face whenever he leaves the house in his human form . this is mostly to cover his face because he’s insecure about his appearance .

when paying for something gyuutaro has to build up the courage before he approaches the cashier .

muzan kibutsuji

muzan still out here living multiple lives ! one of which , a young gothic lolita who was adopted by a socialite family .

muzan is one of the few demons who leave while it’s a partly cloudy day . he uses a cute goth lolita parasol to reflect the sun !!

this persona , he goes by the name of keina ( last name wip ) & is considered to be a prodigy in replicating the art works of a famous pottery artist in the tiasho era ( this is reffering to gyokko who still makes pots for muazn to take credit for under the guise of keina )

in the persona muzan has when he is a young man he is the owner of a museum .

rui

rui is one of the demons that hasn’t really adapted to modern society . while he knows about cellphones , the internet & all that — he doesn’t really care to move to the city .

his presence & house in the forest is recognized as a famous urban legend on the internet : one about people who get killed by the ghosts that haunt the area . the general public believe that people just go missing or presumably get killed by wild life or eventually succumb to the elements .

while he doesn’t go into the nearby town too often , he does just to wander on occasion & doesn’t mind being spotted by people ( they often run from him thinking he’s a ghost ) .

enmu

enmu still works as a hypnotherapist who eventually tortures & eats his patients but he also finds his victims at places like train stations ( a place he likes to be for some reason ) .

enmu has a fascination for trains & you bet he collects train models . big big fan of those lil models .

he loves watching disturbing movies . while he is very chill about most things , this is possibly one of the few things he can get serious about . yes , knowing that the things that are happening in the movies are fake , but a movie with good acting that appears believable — he absolutely loves . what he loves more is showing the average person to watch their disgusted reactions .

& yes , he likes disturbing movies but there are some he does view as trash because is wasn’t good in his eyes . A Serbian Film would fall under this category for him .

this is him — THIS POST IS ENMU !!

he was a theatre kid . he likes musicals a TON !

has a pet spider  , mostly to disturb certain guests . even inciting the most subtle disturbing feeling in someone is ecstasy for him . it’s like playing mind games with them , the way he treats every interaction .

he actually has obsessions with idols & collects albums , posters & the like of his favs . if he could , he would turn his favorite idols into demons & have them serve him ( kinda like rui’s situation with his family — though enmu would be far more cruel & subject them to more torture ) .

[a-n-conrad]

Fighting and Flirting (Bakugo x Reader)

Chapter 6: Lessons in Rescue

[Summary: It’s finally time for your rescue lessons. As excited as you are to get a chance to learn a thing or two about disaster relief, the excitement is destroyed as your lessons at the USJ are interrupted.]

Masterlist

To be honest, the more you thought about it, the less that press break-in made sense to you. It seemed odd that reporters could get past the school’s security system, especially since they hadn’t been able to until lunch. You supposed it could’ve been someone’s quirk that you didn’t know about, but you were pretty sure if someone had a quirk like that, they weren’t likely to become reporters.

Either way, you reminded yourself, it’s not your job to worry about that. You had to focus on school, and making up for the fact that just about all of your classmates had quirks that were more fit for hero work than you. 

Admittedly, focusing purely on schoolwork had gotten a little harder recently. It seemed like you and Bakugo had been running into each other everywhere, and it was really starting to get on your nerves that you just couldn’t seem to avoid him, no matter how far away from the classroom you were. And it bugged you just as much that it didn’t seem to bug him as much.

After he helped you get past the reporters that day, you seemed to run into him just about every day on your way into school. Shoto was getting really sick of your bickering every day, but even he admitted that he was surprised that Bakugo hadn’t attempted to blow you up yet. No matter what you said to him, he never used his quirk against you. He’d just come back with a snarky remark, or maybe an insult. The worst he’d ever really done was threaten to punch you if you didn’t watch your mouth, and he only rolled his eyes and glared when you laughed at his threat.

You just couldn’t help but be annoyed at the fact that you were having a harder time than you thought keeping up your aggressive hatred towards him, no matter how much you thought he was a bully. You hated that you weren’t sure whether or not you hated him. You knew you hated how he treated people, especially Midoriya, but you couldn’t really say for sure that you hated him anymore. You could still say you wanted to punch him, though. You just couldn’t tell how hard.

“And you say I brood a lot,” Shoto sighed as the two of you walked into the classroom after lunch. You had sat with him today instead of Midoriya, Uraraka, and Iida because you felt bad that your walks to school had kept getting interrupted, but you had spent most of the time trying to figure out how you felt about Bakugo.

“Sorry,” you sighed, “I’m just really annoyed at my brain, right now.”

“Are you seriously letting Bakugo get that much in your head?”

“Shut up, Sho,” You snapped, looking around the room to make sure he wasn’t within earshot. You knew there was no way your pride would survive if he heard that you had spent that much time thinking about him, “I just hate that I’m not sure how I feel about him.”

“You really want to hate him that badly, huh?”

“I can’t just let him get away with being so self-centered all the time. He thinks he’s better than all of us and it bugs the hell out of me.”

“Prove him wrong, then. You don’t need to hate him to do that,” He stated as if it was obvious. You shook your head a little, annoyed at the fact that you hadn’t thought of that. You didn’t have to hate him to get this urge to punch his out, you just had to compete against him. 

“Everyone take your seats,” Aizawa said, slowly walking into the classroom, his regular tired look on his face. You had gotten used to his expression over time, though you had to admit, his total lack of visible caring had startled you at first.

You all took your seats, and you couldn’t help but giggle a little as you watched Iida glare at the few who were taking their time to get there. He was really taking his role of class rep seriously and you couldn’t help but find it entertaining.

“Today you’ll all be getting a lesson on rescue tactics and how to handle rescues in different situations,” He says, in the same monotone voice as usual, “In order to do this lesson, we will be needing to take a trip to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint Facility or the USJ. What you wear is up to you, I’m sure you’ll all excited about costumes, but keep in mind you haven’t gotten used to them yet.”

You know almost none of your classmates are going to skip out on a chance to wear their uniforms, and you can’t blame them. As much as you’re not fully comfortable with how revealing yours is, you still want to wear it as much as possible. You can’t help but feel like it makes you look more like a real hero.

“Since we’re going to an off campus facility We’ll have to take a bus there. That’ll be all, start getting ready,” With that Mr.Aizawa makes his way out of the classroom, leaving you all to prepare for your next task as heroes in training.

You find it a little funny as you watch Iida fuss over the order in which everyone loads onto the bus, and you almost lose it when he starts to freak out about how the layout of the bus ruined his seating plan. You take your seat next to Shoto, trying your best to not let your surprise show when BAkugo sits in front of him and Jiro sits in front of you.

The bus ride gets kind of boring for a while. You pull your cloak over your bare legs and lean your head back, tuning your classmates out as you start to fall asleep, trusting that Shoto would wake you up when you got there.

“But Bakugo’s always angry, so he’ll never be that popular,” you hear Tsu say through the fog of your half-asleep brain, causing you to wake up to make sure you heard her right.

Your hearing is confirmed when you hear Bakugo’s distinctive shout, “What the hell did you just say?”

You burst out laughing just as Kaminari decided to join the conversation, “You know, we really just met you, so it’s pretty telling that we all know that your personality is hot shit mixed with garbage.”

“You’re going to regret the day you applied to this school, you loser,” you start choking on your own laughter as Bakugo starts to lose his mind at your classmates, “And what do you think you’re laughing at, light show?”

- - - - -

When you make it to the USJ you’re met by a woman in a space suit, who you know from the news to be the hero called Thirteen. She had been known to help out a lot with disaster relief, which is why it made sense for her to be running the USJ like she was. 

As she made her introduction speech, explaining the premise of your training here, you couldn’t help but take a good look around the facility, or as much of it as you could see from your current vantage point at the entrance. 

There were all sorts of disasters simulated in the building. You could see an area of water, what looked like a rockslide on the side of a mountain, and even part of a simulated urban area. They really pulled out all the stops, and you couldn’t say you were surprised. However, you did have to take a moment to be grateful for your chance to get to train here, and for a moment, you were almost thankful to Endeavor for the opportunity. Almost.

Eventually, the speech starts to wrap up, and you tune back in, hoping to catch any instructions they plan on giving after their long-winded explanation. However, your teachers are interrupted by something forming in the central plaza of the facility.

You watch in a state of shock as a large black portal starts to form, and a large number of men start to file out. Most of them look quite intimidating, with large muscle, tattoos, and scars that they obviously got in fights. A few of them, however, stand out to you as obvious threats among the crowd. 

There’s a large person, seemingly formed out of the same material as the portals the ushered them all in aside from the metal armor protecting certain sections of his sides. Next to him is someone that looks for from humans, with pitch-black skin, a bird-like face, and an exposed brain. Something about his eyes looks so vacant that you’re sure there’s something seriously wrong. The last man that catches your eye looks the least physically imposing, though something about him chills you to your bones. His dry, light blue hair and body covered in hands make you slightly uneasy as he seems to command all of the other men to take their positions.

“What’s,” You gasp out, eyes wide and fear potent in your voice, “What the hell is going on?”

“I don’t know,” Shoto, mutters in return, glaring and studying the small army in front of you.

“Everyone, stay back,” Aizawa commands, holding out an arm to block the students the were about to walk towards the situation, “This isn’t part of the training. These are villains. Thirteen, protect the students.”

“Right,” She replies, taking a spot in front of your class as you start to huddle together.

“The schedule we got the other day said that All Might would be here,” One of the men shouts the blue-haired man in the back of the group

“It’s a shame he’s not here,” The man’s voice makes a shiver run up your spine, though you’re not quite sure why, “I wonder if he’d show up if we killed the children.”

He looks directly at you and your classmates, somehow managing to lock eyes with you. The insane look in his eyes and the words he had just said cause your stomach to tighten, knowing that he means it. You huddle a little closer to Shoto, grabbing his arm as the villains start to make their way towards you.

“Thirteen,” Aizawa’s voice is different than you had gotten used to. It’s urgent and passionate. Like he’s finally doing something that’s important to him, and you’re sure that he is, “Evacuate the kids and let the school know what’s going on. I’ll hold them off.”

“What?” Bakugo shouts, as though he’s offended.

“We can’t just run away,” You shout, letting go of Shoto and taking a few steps forward.

Your protests are ignored as Thirteen starts to usher you all towards the entrance, frantically trying to get you all to safety. You know that they need to keep you safe, but some part of you can’t help but feel like you’re failing to be a hero if you have to run away while your teacher fights all of those men.

As you start to get near the entrance another portal appears, transporting the man who seems to be making all of the portals directly in front of you, stopping your escape. The man towers over all of you, and Thirteen attempts to get in between you and him.

“Hello, Thirteen,” His voice seems like it echoes, though something about it just isn’t as terrifying as the other man’s, “I suppose you’re wondering who we are.”

“We don’t really care, loser,” Bakugo shouts, in reply, attempting to shove his way past Thirteen.

“We are the League of Villains,” He states, ignoring your classmate’s bold remark, “And we’re here to kill All Might.”

“Like hell!” With that, Bakugo launches himself past your teacher, aiming directly at the smoke-based man in front of you all. He’s followed close behind by Kirishima, the redhead obviously spurred on by Bakugo’s undying need to fight back.

Your instincts kick in, seeing your classmates rushing headfirst into danger, you know you have to do something. Anything. And while you don’t quite know what, your legs move without your permission, moving you into the front lines of the fight.

It’s at that moment that something happens. You can’t quite describe it, but as you watch yourself get wrapped in black smoke you know exactly what’s going on. You feel your feet leave the ground, and before you can even get a proper curse out, you’re no longer where you were just moments ago.

Taglist: @reyna-avila-ramirez-alreanaldo

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 169: Shut Up and Dance

Previously on BnHA: Aoyama creeped on Deku in the middle of the fucking night. A petrified Deku went to take a closer look only to find that Aoyama had left a weird “I KNOW~~” message spelled out on his balcony with fucking cheese. The next day in Cementoss’s class the kids resumed working on special moves. Deku got all brooding and thought about how he couldn’t beat Overhaul even with his absolute max of 20%. Then Aoyama got his attention and carved a possibly-suspicious-or-maybe-just-weird French message into a chunk of rock with his navel laser before collapsing in pain. Deku took Aoyama to rest for a bit and asked him what the cheese message meant. Aoyama said that Deku was like him -- someone who possessed a quirk that didn’t really suit his body. Aoyama himself is unable to control his navel laser without the aid of his support belt. He saw Deku as a kindred spirit and was trying to cheer him up since he knew he was starting to feel frustrated. And thus a new sparkly bond of friendship was born.

Today on BnHA: The kids randomly discuss how great Mina is at dancing and how great Jirou is at music stuff. Later that day, in a pure coincidence, Aizawa announces the upcoming cultural festival. Despite the recent string of villain attacks, the school has decided to go ahead with it as a way to hopefully help the stressed-out student body. 1-A gets to work determining what program their class will do, with people suggesting everything from petting zoos to cafes to “a banquet for students of darkness.” Momo and Iida narrow down everyone’s ridiculous suggestions, but they’re unable to settle on a final program, and Aizawa gives them one day to figure it out. That evening the kids gather in the fanfic dorms and Iida says they should come up with something that will help the other students de-stress. Todoroki of all people suggests that they host a dance party with live music. Jirou is a bit nervous about performing in front of everyone, but with her classmates’ support she agrees to do it. Let the Band AU arc begin.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 195 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS LOOK AT THIS!?!?

THIS IS MY FAVORITE COLOR PAGE EVER OMG

holy shit, I fucking love it. the colors! the (possibly unintentional) Wicked reference! MY LEADING LADY OCHAKO

and it looks like she’s wearing some of Mei’s gear. are we going to see any of these upgrades in her actual costume, or is this all just for the sake of a pretty cover? ah well, either way I love it

AND!!!

CULTURE FESTIVAL OMGGGGGG

lord I can’t even begin to imagine what a U.A. culture festival might be like. somehow I can’t quite picture them doing the typical cafe theme lol

oh my god you guys

MINA BREAKDANCING. 

you guys. ever since she got a bunch of bullies to dance with her in the middle of Kirishima’s flashback I’ve been wanting more of this lol

Deku is analyzing her moves, and it’s only just now occurred to me that this might be part of a new technique of hers and not just her spontaneously breaking out into a dance battle in the middle of the locker room

(ETA: nope just dancing. Mina is the best you guys)

lol now Deku says he wants to try and Mina’s volunteering to show him!

YESSSSSSSSS

NOW GET IIDA. HE NEEDS TO BE IN ON THIS. OH MY GOD. YOU GUYS. IT’S HAPPENINGGGGG

(ETA: this arc is a gift in so many ways)

oh hey Kaminari is casually hyping up Jirou’s hobby without any prompting!

is he trying to embarrass her or does he genuinely think it’s cool? OR MAYBE BOTH. WHY NOT. I REALLY DO SHIP THE SHIT OUT OF THIS DAMN TRIO NOW, DON’T I

he’s saying that her bedroom looked like “a music store” that one time they all went to see it

and he looks genuinely impressed, so I think it’s not teasing at all and he does in fact really think it’s cool

he says she must be a music pro and he’s asking how often she practices

and she’s getting all blushy and threatening him with one of her earjacks lol

he seems confused d’aww

(ETA: nice little bit with Kouda here which is followed up on later when he encourages her to perform and says it’s a skill well suited for a hero. I adore this sweet little friendship they have since taking that final exam together.)

she’s just shy, the way that some people are about the parts of themselves that are really personal. that means it’s really important to her and she’s maybe not fully ready to share it just yet

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

SO I HEARD

the class is losing their minds

IS IT SO FUCKING WRONG TO HAVE AT LEAST ONE NORMAL SCHOOL THING JESUS CHRIST. WE JUST SAT THROUGH FORTY CHAPTERS OF ANGST AND CHILD TORTURE. LET ME HAVE THIS, CHILDREN

!!

AIZAWA SHOUTA DID YOU REALLY ACTUALLY ADOPT THIS LITTLE GIRL OMG. PLEASE SAY YES. OMGGGGG

take her to the festival. let her come visit. omg. I will die of joy if that happens

(ETA: I did, in fact, die of joy)

so now the class is trying to figure out what to do

Kirishima is asking if it’s really okay “for us to be so carefree” at this particular juncture

Kiri were you not listening to a word I just fucking said. YES. y’all need to fucking relax for once in your damn lives

Kaminari is SHOCKED and is all “Kirishima you’ve changed, huh?”

but Kiri says it’s a valid concern though with all the villains running amok right now

Aizawa says that’s a fair point, but U.A. doesn’t revolve solely around the department of heroics

look at this Department of Management asshole acting like he’s going to get as big of a role in the series as Shinsou or Mei. haha you wish buddy

Aizawa says that this year’s festival will be made less public though, and will only occur within the school

well, good. honestly if y’all tried to pull more shit like the sports festival again at this juncture I would be raising some eyebrows, believe me

so they’re going to be deciding on their theme today! yaaaaay omgg

I’m going to take a wild guess here and predict that it will be something music related. since we had breakdancing Mina and music prodigy Jirou earlier. and also I’m really going to be needing that dancing Iida, you guys. I’m not kidding. we need to get on that stat

so finally Iida is taking charge, and tbh he was being remarkably restrained up till this point because I was expecting him to do this much earlier

he’s telling everyone to raise their hands if they have a suggestion

this class is full of passion

naturally the first suggestion is of course the classic

maybe if this was EVERY ANIME EVER. but this is BnHA! we can do better guys, come on!!

and we’ll just ignore Mineta

Ochako is suggesting a mochi shop! oh! I’m remembering that new years illustration now and I would love that tbh. but I don’t think that’s what we’re gonna end up with

look at all of these other ideas though

I love the idea of crepes and I’m already sad that they won’t end up going with that

Kouda’s idea is also amazing. and Kiri’s is super original

and Tokoyami’s I first read as “banquet of students” and I thought, that’s odd. I know he’s goth but I didn’t think he’d be out here suggesting cannibalism

but based on Kami’s stare, yeah, I’m pretty sure we’re gonna end up doing the music thing. CLASS 1-A DISCO. U.A. RAVE. AW YIHHH

wow

can you guys pick out which suggestion was Bakugou’s. it’s pretty easy tbh. study hall duhhhhhh

I actually love that the ideas we didn’t actually see can be so easily traced back to their originators. Deku’s hero quiz. Shouto’s soba house. Tsuyu’s “frog music chorus”, whatever that is. Ojiro’s martial arts performance. and so forth

Momo is now ruthlessly putting an end to the charade of diplomacy and erasing the ones that are “inappropriate or unrealistic” and “the ones that I don’t really understand” lmao

now the kids are getting back at the two reps by shooting down their own suggestions

and she’s combining the food themes into one, over Satou and Shouto’s protests that soba and crepes would “clash”

now things are getting out of hand

aaand the bell is ringing

Aizawa’s walking out and telling them all to make a decision by tomorrow morning

omg

oh damn

so now it’s nighttime in the fanfic dorms and 40-year-old Iida Tenya is in his relaxed business casual clothes watching youtube videos

I guess the rest of the gang must be here even though we’re not seeing them yet, because there are speech bubbles talking

I swear to god that boy really does go to bed at eight fucking pm every damn night. but why, though?? does he lie awake broodingly into the wee hours of the morning? does he go to bed early in order to wake up at the asscrack of dawn to work out? or does he just need the extra sleep because he’s a growing boy who runs at full steam shouting and blowing things up all day long and it’s just exhausting to be him? like, all three of these seem plausible to me lol

and then of course there’s the beloved fandom headcanon of him having PTSD and dealing with lots of nightmares too, and while we have really seen nothing in canon to hint at that, I’m obviously not going to dismiss any theory with that much Bakugou angst potential completely out of hand lol

but I think it’s probably the second and third one mostly tbh

as for the intern group, are they taking supplementary classes to make up for what they missed while they were out interning? that really is a lot of work, huh. no wonder the school decided to put an end to those for now

anyway, so Iida says that now that he’s had more time to think about it, he thinks they should come up with a theme that would assist the other departments in letting off some steam since they’re stressed out

that’s actually so thoughtful and pure

so Momo (at least I think it’s her?) is saying that in that case, they shouldn’t bother with a food theme since the U.A. kids are already accustomed to Lunch Rush’s food and it’s really hard to top that

so now they’ve narrowed it down to just a few options

they’re shooting down the petting zoo as “unsanitary”, wow. wow guys. so you don’t think that getting a bunch of cute baby animals for everyone to pet would help them to de-stress, huh. kay. I see how it is

oh my god

of all the people to end up suggesting this idea, he’s honestly the last person I would have expected

YESSSSSS U.A. UP IN THE CLUB

why is he the cutesttttt

LMAO

IT’S NOT LIKE THAT BUT I LOVE THE WAY YOUR MIND WORKS SUGAR MAN

oh my god. I will take this thought bubble of Bakugou and Todo getting lit in the club and I will keep it in my heart forever

Sero is objecting that it’ll be stressful (for them), but Mina says she can teach them all how to dance

LMAO AGAIN

yes look at him he has clearly mastered it

Mineta is now stepping in and saying that if they’re gonna turn class 1-A into New York’s Hottest Club then they’re gonna need some sick beats

AND NOW EVERYONE IS STARING AT YOU KNOW WHO

BRITNEY, BITCH

lol she’s going red again and is all “uh, what?”

Hagakure’s jumping in with the encouragement!

YESSSS YOU CAN DO IT JIROU YOU ROCK

but she’s getting all shy again and says it’s just a hobby

and now Kaminari’s having a flash of insight!

COME ON KAMI THIS IS YOUR MOMENT

YESSSS

god I ship it. he’s just so genuinely nice and encouraging. class A’s dumbest, sweetest boy

and now Kouda is also running over and says that it’s a skill that can put a smile on people’s faces and for that reason he does think it’s heroic

AND NOW HER GIRLFRIEND MOMO IS STEPPING IN PROTECTIVELY AND TELLING THEM THAT’S VERY NICE OF THEM, BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY IT’S JIROU’S DECISION

god this chapter is MomoJirouKami heaven and I’m on cloud fucking nine

YAAAAAY SHE’S GONNA DO IT

not if you don’t want to, I guess? though ngl that would be amazing

so with that, class A’s program is decided!

um. is this supposed to be important to the plot? who tf is this

(ETA: lol it both is and it isn’t. it’s relevant to the arc, but this arc is probably the least plot relevant in the series. though that doesn’t mean it’s not a complete and utter delight)

anyway! WHOOO HOOOO, SHUT UP AND DANCE WITH ME

I have no idea which bonus page goes with this chapter lol. so I’m just gonna skip it for now

[thegnasticious]

Going Postal

History is something I have always had trouble understanding. Not just connecting the events with the dates, people, and circumstances. What I can’t understand is how if history truly exists than how is the infallible nature of dysfunction and destruction a constant interjection? 

When I was younger all I wanted to be was a demolisher. I imagined myself sitting at the cab of the wrecking ball, knocking down anything I could be paid for. The sound of the swing of the wrecking ball as it cascaded bricks down street side like rain. 

Not too much longer in life, where those same bricks would have fallen, stands a much older version of me, still contemplating my function in life. In my hands I twirl the business card of my Uncle’s advertising agency, “WKRP”. At this point, i was heading down Wells st., contemplating an offer from them. They needed a part-time intern who if chosen for the job, could make it to a full-time status. The catch 22 was that I was not to tell anyone I had no experience whatsoever. 

All of this seemed simple and after the first meeting with the Agency’s representatives, I felt the weight of responsibility beginning to lift. Sitting in the confine’s of a nice Greek restaurant nearby, I discussed my potential with them. It was 2 reps who met with me and also the finest looking women they had at the agency, I assume to coerce my opinion. The thing that was odd about the interview was that it was highly personal, they asked more questions about me and less questions about what I do professionally. I didn’t know to be surprised or dissuaded by this, but I answered the questions diligently. 

At one point in the interview, I decided to ask, that for the position I was interning for, was I replacing someone? Despite it being a relatively simple question, their response was puzzling. The woman conducting the questions seemed to freeze on this, smiled and said “if there was, why would we need you?”, and that was the last of that. I brought up my discrepancy in experience and they seemed to ignore the inquiry altogether as if I said nothing at all. It was this point they started asking about my drug history. I responded by asking what relevance does it have and the older lady started explaining that she took these ‘special’ pills to control her ‘drug’ urges throughout the day at the agency. She also hinted that the best way in, was to take one of these. At the end of the interview she slipped me a bright Red pill in a napkin and said, “if you want to see us again, you know what to do”.

I went home that night to my little apartment. All I had was television and no roommates. It was all I needed really. As I sat on my couch, I twirled the pill around in my hand, wondering what kind of magic it might hold. I also couldn’t help thinking of it possibly being a backdoor into my mind, laced with Chinese brainwashing chemicals. For all I know, they never got rid of their last tech, and now they were wiring me to feed into his server database somewhere. Hell, I might be working more for that guy than the business then. The more I thought of the possibilities, I realized that even if the doubts were true, I had little choice but to take this pill. It was my test and I was going to pass it no matter what. I went to the sink and filled a glass of water, immediately taking the pill. It went down easy, I sank back into my couch moments later. Ten or so minutes in and nothing was happening. As I watched a newscast, I started noticing peculiar updates in the ticker headline below. The first read, “Man shoots police officer in old town, turns self in with gun”. The second read, “Monster in post office basement, trying to talk to people through fictional mail from nonexistent people”. I shook my head and the ticker returned to normal; War in Iraq, New videos from Al Qaeda. I started to doze off and as I did, I dropped the remote control, switching the channel. A loud noise came from the television, just as I felt that falling feeling into the chasm of sleep. I focused on the image being displayed, on the screen was a slow motion reverse of a horrible car accident. The focus was on a Woman’s face as it impacted the windshield. Little details refigured themselves as she drifted back from the glass, You could see she was quite beautiful before the start of the video. It was quite graphic for an advertisement and I found myself waiting for an Insurance company’s slogan or spokesperson. None was found, instead at the point she was safe back in her seat, it went to another person’s accident. This time a tire flew through the windshield and into the body of a 300 or so pound man, starting in a plume of a crimson gash from where it impacted. This video looked oddly real as well and extremely well shot. 

After about 5 of these, I started feeling really nauseous. I went to the bathroom and puked up this odd neon yellow puke, it must of been the pill I thought. When I returned to my living room, A man sat in the chair across the sofa, wearing a rounded type top-hat and a thick mustache. As I sat down, he seemed to pay no attention to me, repeatedly checking an old watch fixed to his coat. There was a coldness all around him, and an odd familiarity. He pulled out a book and began to read aloud,

“I watched you, I followed you. In health and in death. You like me, have led multiple lives and have been accused of the devil. I like you, have been alone and in the corner of a beast. In cell, or self we can find the means of freedom or unless solitude”.

He then vanished in to thin air, and the book appeared in my hands before me as if I just read that passage. I immediately shut the book, turned off the TV, 

and made the room blacker than night so I couldn’t even see my hand in front of me. 

The next morning, that odd cold still lingered as the sun rose. Even though I rested most of the night, I felt as if I got no sleep. Something would tug the blanket off of me, or a random noise would alert me awake. I never saw the full body of the Tophat man again, but I felt him in the room and I could still hear his voice. It was odd because when he spoke, it sounded as if a bigger and  meaner man was hiding behind his shoulder doubling his voice, but none was to be found. He also seemed out of place with time, not just by his watch piece, but his demeanor, something about him was lost, I could also tell he was a ghost and unfortunately not a hallucination. 

The reason I knew this, was because I had seem him before under much different circumstances. Before I moved from my hometown, I used to work many jobs, making money anywhere I could find it. As I got on a roll and made nearly enough money to get out of town, I noticed this strange man following me to and from jobs. He wouldn’t wear the Tophat as I had seen that night, or the old suit. He would have standard people’s clothes, but that same face and mustache. He never addressed me, but I got a vibe that he was watching me and as he got better and better at somehow finding me, I would find myself quitting the jobs to avoid his glare. I somehow knew his intent, even then was not in my favor.

Now that I recognized the man as he was, a relic seemingly, I began to wonder if he might of had something to do with my connection in the agency. I had been documenting this particular visage for years before and that it was coincidence that he was here now, did not seem likely.  

That was when the phone rang, on the other side of the line was my Uncle’s voice,

“We need to meet immediately. There is something I would like to talk to you about”, he said. 

It was a short L ride to the office. The entrance had a short security checkpoint, and I was able to get in. A lady at a check-in desk asked me who I was. Upon telling her, she instructed me with a maze-like list of turns and stairs that concluded in, “then you will be at the head executive office of your Uncle”. 

The building was very fancy looking, metal everything, with thick stone and crystal countertops about. There was a plastic smell to the place. People rushed to an there, with files and ideas. You could feel the synergy happening within. I navigated through the chaos and up 3-4 sets of stairs, where I finally found a calmer hallway, with only the names on the outside of doors. At the head of this hallway was my Uncle’s office. 

I knocked on his door.

A voice sounded from inside,

“Come in”, it said.

I entered through the big wooden door, to a very ornate and well set office. In one corner was a sand trap with a comb, it was perfectly groomed. The main light was a looming orb on the ceiling, looking more like something from a space craft than an office. Underneath it sat my Uncle in a Black suit, as I entered he tightened his collar and readjusted his files on his desk, paying particular attention to my shoes, which that day were nothing remarkable. 

“Sit down, stay a while”, he said pointing at the chair across.

I took a seat and waited for instructions.

“You might be wondering why we, I called you here today. I’ve been watching you for a while, and I know you have a particular set of talents most people would kill for. ‘We’ being an agency, wants to make it easier for ‘you’ to find the eye for your talents. This doesn’t happen overnight though and we need you to do the things we don’t want to, getting coffee, cleaning up for clientele, etcetera, etcetera. If you earn our respect, me might get a full time position for you, how does that sound?”, he said.

“That sounds great, sir.”, I said.

That night I could hardly sleep in anticipation of my job the next day. It was the first job I was excited for, not just for the payoff either. I found myself sleepless and anytime I dozed off some strange interruptions awoke me. I maybe slept for an hour and found myself half dozed off on the L to the office. It was odd, as soon as I left the apartment, the tiredness hit me like a ton of bricks. I almost slept through my stop, but something shook me awake on the train right as we neared the station. 

My first day was simple, they understood because of my history of insomnia, that it was an early start and they weren’t going to make that anymore complicated than it already was. I ran coffees, messages between leads of the company, and even helping with minor creative ideas here and there. Most of the people adored me, I couldn’t tell if it was legitimate or because they just wanted to appease my Uncle, who seemed to be both the leader and the shadow of the company, leading and looming over it’s every operation like a dark cloud.

The second and third days were still followed by sleepless nights. I began to wonder if I should try to contact the spirit that woke me up that night, if it was awakening me to try to talk again. Something about the haze of that pill seemed to break the barrier now impeding on the supposed visage. I didn’t understand how a pill could be producing hallucinations rather than inventing them so to speak. 

No full bodied apparition appeared again and I kept an eye out at the office for strange visitors in case he followed me around the job again. Many just took my odd behaviors because of it as paranoia of agency work; looking for spies from other companies and what not. The explanations to the various investigations seemed to still be fleeting.

I continued doing my tasks around the office, attempting to keep my mind off the Tophat man as much as possible in hopes that his presence might reduce. As I worked on broken printers, defunct computers and saw them work with the touch of my hand, I also started to wonder just how do things naturally break without direct negligence of function? Then my mind started to wander back to the Topcoat’s man old watch. It worked well, not because it was made that entirely, but because he made it work well I imagined. The more I thought about it, the more I thought what was he truly making sure of? A visage caught out of place with his time is only as much as that, whatever he was now, he was surely a ghost. What would a clock matter? 

With these thoughts, usually more problems presented themselves. Coincidental technical malfunctions that when sourced were problems no more than where things were placed, like the building had numerous dead zones. The more I tried to come up with theoretical explanations, the more I found myself going further down the rabbit hole; looking further at a consistent malfunction. It felt paradoxical some days; the solutions were bluntly simple. To me I could see the unpent energy leaking into their technology; their denial. Even my Uncle adorned a cross on his neck, under his tie, but it didn’t explain one thing we both saw. Kept hidden from me was a set of files on a server he had set up from the get-go, only accessible by him. In these files was numerous security reports of a Mustached maintenance man coming in and making inquiries on the buildings layout and businesses, but never doing subsequent work. He never let me know about this, in fact, he kept me completely unaware.

One of the things that bothered me the most was that strange Car accident commercial thing I kept seeing that night. I had this fear when I was younger of this thing called ‘Crash Test Dummies’. It was a cartoon that was literally about talking crash test dummies. There was short runs of action figures and promotions for it but most of it mysteriously dissolved with the company’s departure over lawsuits. It was peculiar though because the appeal wasn't particularly safety, in a way it was trying to make being a crash test dummy look cool, which in reality, dying in a car accident for scientific experiment is really not cool and painful for a mortal. Maybe I take things too literally, but that imagery reminded me of the underlying images that fueled my child-like fear of ‘Crash Test Dummies’.

Most of my nights were still sleepless, I couldn’t stop the numerous happenings. Lights would turn themselves on and of, I would find myself waking in up in strange places with no recollection of how or when I got there about the apartment. The wake up time for work was always early and I was always sleepless; I was burning the candle at both ends. Co-workers and even my Uncle started to notice so he cut back on my tasks, letting me leave early to get rest. I began to worry that my interest in the company was diminishing, and worse yet, when I was organizing a server structure the other day, based off an old folder set, I found evidence of an intern there before and possibly still doing work. Were they planning on replacing me? Why would they ever of hired me at all if he was still an active employee?

To make matters worse, winter was coming. In the city this meant soggy socks, shit seats, standing all the time and financial crunches like one could never imagine. My Uncle never was one for the winter and in the midst of this one he planned a trip to the beaches Florida. This left me in a higher position as most would be coming to me with their inquiries and many of the solutions I would have to formulate myself or at least I thought. When I arrived for the first day without him at the office, I was greeted by the Older woman whom I met in the interview. She was cleaning and organizing the main lobby and proceeded to tell me that she would be organizing my activities that day. With the days tasks, she left and other pill and a cryptic note, reading “take it or leave it”. 

Amongst these tasks and the arguably most important one was delivering the companies checks to be mailed out. Under special instructions from Etta, as she called herself outside of work, I was to mail these checks at a particular post office in the southernmost section of town. Doing most of my work on bike those days, I found this particular ride to be dangerous. The route was fraught with hot corners and red light districts, it wasn’t atypical to find gangsters patrolling those blocks as well. My bike was a fairly nice one and as I veered past groups of passerby’s I could see people eyeing it’s value and my awareness. The checks were rolled up in a sealed cardboard tube I had bundled in my messenger bag. I couldn’t help but think that myself, bike and checks was possibly totaling to a value over the apartment I returned to later. I disregarded my fears and focused on the path ahead. Potholes and open doors were my main obstacles those days, not to mention unaware city drivers. I would listen to the local radio to tune out the chaos around, sometimes it worked, sometimes it made it worse, depended on the broadcaster that day.  I recall that day that “Signed, sealed, delivered”, was playing as I neared that old post office. Something about the post office made me worried upon approach. It wasn’t the building itself, but a feeling I got from the area. I couldn't quite describe it but it felt a bit like reality went sideways there. Before this, things had been going quite well besides the visits from the Tophat man. I kept my supernatural concerns far from professional, besides the occasional personal suspicion of some strange coincidences. In the back of my mind, it was driving me quite nuts though, the possibility that this man was following me around, worried me. What was he looking for? Was he looking to expose faults in my pursuits? As I entered the Post office lobby, I overheard a distraught customer,

“Why won’t you let me in the basement?”, he said

“Sir, that’s for employees only, we keep extra mail in the main corridor”, the attendant responded. 

The man balled his fist and slammed it on the post office table.

“I just want to get down there”, he yelled.

“Not without this”, the attendant said and flashed a key.

The man grimaced and turned around muttering something to himself. 

I tried not to make eye contact.

As I approached the attendant she said,

“7th time today with that man and he’s not the only one. Crazies thinking they are talking to some sort of monster that lives downstairs”.

She proceeded to shake her head and continued,

“People these days, lord have mercy”.

“Just what exactly do they think is down there?”, I inquired.

“Some kind of beast, something to do with the Devil I hear. I don’t know if I believe much in it. I’ll tell you what though, some days when it’s awfully dark in here, you start to see the shadows dance on the walls, like there is some sort of gathering and the reason I take everyone’s shifts is because I’m getting Cataracts so I couldn’t know if it was shadows or my old eyes playing tricks on me. The others can’t stand it though, the one thing that gets to me. Is sometimes when I’m all alone, this old type of music starts echoing from the basement vents, as it’s all one system. Just this old melody I’ve never heard before, but for some reason I have, and it haunts me. If you don’t mind, I’d like to stop talking about this”, she answered. 

I handed her the tube and explained it was extremely important and had to be shipped as soon as possible. She proceeded to take the key she had pointed out earlier and brought the mail down to the basement, though there was a stack of to-be sent letters right next to her desk.

She seemed to be gone for an abnormally long amount of time. I turned around to see a Tophat and overcoat, hung up on a rack at the southern end of the room. I could swear it wasn’t there when I entered. I turned back to her desk, and tried to shake it off. She still hadn’t returned and I couldn't even hear steps from the basement. I turned around and briefly the overcoat hung as if a man running toward the exit filled it’s inside, then it dropped as if it was stagnant again. I left out the doors as fast as I could, not asking for a receipt. 

This in many ways was the coup that killed my internship. Those checks were the company’s Christmas checks and basically everyone was gossiping that I possibly stole there Christmas income when a ripped up cardboard tube was sent back to the office. Something or someone had taken and routed the money out of country and due to the culprit being what was a monster in the post office basement, nobody believed I didn’t have a part in taking both their hard earned money and bonus for the holidays. Without the CEO in office, much of the issue was compounding and caused a brief shutdown. In this time my Uncle was said to have started talks about taking me out of office for good, based on my current mental state. I began to wonder if the pills were helping me see this apparent evil, or had he deceived me into believing lies.

Upon return I was fit to train a group of interns and for some reason, when we had drinks afterwards, I let them know I was a fraud with basically no experience besides family relation. They could hardly believe me, that I would be trusted with such responsibility. It just slipped, after a man I saw with a rounded Tophat snuck in and out of the same bar, near undetected amongst the crowd. I could of been working on whim, but I felt this man was not a coincidence anymore. 

It wasn’t long before I was called into a sit down lunch with my Uncle where he explained my work with them would be coming to an abrupt close. He likened me to a criminal on a spree, explaining that he felt most of my talent and creativity was stolen from better represented sources. It was a blow to my personal ethics I still have yet to recover from today, coming from a man I respected enough to assist. I also had to wonder knowing what he knew about the man following me, did he know this Tophat man as well? Something about their behaviors mirrored each other but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Maybe it was the executive responsibilities of a major company mirrored aspects of the Devil, the greed, the amount of money being deposited on ideas whilst people died for far less outside the walls surrounding. 

I was let off with a slim amount of money to continue on and I wasn’t surprised to find in the next month, right as I spent my last dollar from the company, to find some grim news about my Uncle.

The news reached me as I was purchasing a newspaper, it was right on the headlines. “Local CEO dead in head on collision”, and underneath it read an article all about a man they called the Devil of the city. Supposedly the first Serial Killer to be recorded, he confessed to much of his misdoing before his execution on an Edison cylinder. He was also dubbed the Christmas Killer, and the Tophat man, he had a very widely remarked Mustache as well. The resemblance between him and the man who had been following me was uncanny, stories of how he threw away letters trying to be sent from children he murdered. The coldness of the man was signature as well, he was a perfect representation of what came to pass at the turn of the century and maybe why progression was such threat to him, was because he knew deep down he was a threat to progression. 

To this day I can’t look at a malfunctioning clock, or a misinterpreting computer and not think, 

is that you Holmes?

[katiecomma]

Book Review - One Last Stop

I would like to start this review by saying this: these words are entirely my opinion. This is a review of a piece of writing that is based on my opinions and experiences and feelings. That being said, if this book made you feel represented, if you related to the characters, if you loved this book my opinions do not invalidate any of that. We are looking at this from different minds and different perspectives and different life experiences. Which is one of the most wonderful things about art: the interpretation. So, you are still represented and relatable and loved no matter how I feel or what I have to say.

On to the review. I'm going to put it below the cut, because it is CHOCK FULL of spoilers. So if you don't want to be spoiled do not continue.

I will also say, this is not a super positive review. I didn't love this book. I didn't even really like it very much.

I'm going to divide this into talking points.

1. The New York Trope

I hate hate HATE the New York Trope. Again, this is a personal thing that's specific to me. It's not to say it's a bad trope, it's just one that I'm SO SO SOOOOO tired of. I hate the idea of someone who could never find a place ANYWHERE else no matter where they've tried to go, making their way to New York where they believe they will finally belong. And then magically, even though they're a loser or an outcast or whatever... they do! They awkwardly stumble into the perfect little found family of weird people that so perfectly suits them it's like where they were made to be. I hate it. Again, this is personal. And it may just be lingering bitterness, but I moved from a small town to the big city and found it almost IMPOSSIBLE to make friends. Those cool people that you wish you were friends with, already have their own groups of friends and they don't often just adopt random new people that they don't really know and make them "part of the family." Yes, I know... I'm bitter. It's fine. See? This is the personal experience swaying my opinions that I was talking about. In addition to having that personal opinion of the trope, I'm just kind of tired of it. I feel like the New York Trope has been very overdone.

2. Forced Trans Rep

I was excited for the trans rep in this book. Afterall, it starts at the very beginning of the very first chapter when August answers a roommate ad that states: "Must be queer & trans friendly." I was like: awesome! I am so on board for this! LET'S GO!

I feel the need to break here to say that I love Niko. He is amazing. And I love his character.

Ok... so, the ad specifically states trans friendly. It breaks trans out from queer, which suggests that someone within the apartment is trans. We meet the three roommates: Niko, Myla and Wes... and nobody mentions the trans thing again. Which is awesome. I'm still on board this rep train. We are led to believe one of the roommates is trans. And we don't need to know which one. Why do we need to know? It doesn't matter. The representation is there, in my opinion.

And then the awkward scene I didn't like. There are baby/kids pictures of all the roommates all over the fridge. August recognizes everyone except a little girl who only looks a little familiar, wearing a princess dress at Disneyland and making a grumpy face. August asks who it is. Niko, very casually goes: "Oh, that's me." At which point August has some internal dialogue that felt very much to me like: Ok, I thought there was something off about him, he's not really a normal guy. That's a paraphrase... but that was the vibe I got. I sent it to a few other people who confirmed that I'm not crazy, it vibes that way. So... in addition to this scene feeling forced to "out" the trans person in the apartment (which felt SOOO unnecessary since the ad let us know there was a trans person in residence), August's reaction came across as accepting, but not feeling like Niko was a normal guy. Which... I really didn't like. It made me not like August at ALL, who is the main character.

The whole thing just felt really unnecessary to me. Especially when there's a scene later on that does it better! There's a scene later where August is asking Niko about his psychic abilities and she goes: when did you know?... and Niko replies: "That I was trans?"... and August waves it off and goes: "No, that you were psychic." That in my opinion would have been a way better reveal moment. It doesn't seem forced, and August waves it off like it's no big deal.

I may be crazy... but that drove me a little nuts. And really made me dislike August. I understand it's important to point out that everyone could have a little bias buried in them still, and it's important to overcome that... but I really didn't need anything to make me dislike August more... which leads into my next point.

3. August Is An Asshole

Yes, I understand there are assholes in the world.

Yes, I understand that they are redeemable.

But I did not like August for most of this book.

I understand that part of it is supposed to be her defensiveness... and her want to be a loner.

But August is an unapologetic asshole and says dickhead things to the people who are trying to help her or care about her. And I just didn't like that.

Again, I understand she's had a shitty life... but there just wasn't a lot in this book to redeem August for me and make me like her. I spent a lot of the book being like: I hope this nice girl doesn't fall for her because she's a bit of a dickhead.

4. August's Self Hate

In addition to being a bit of a dick... August has so much self-hate I found this book hard to read at times. Every time there is a description of her doing ANYTHING it is tinged with self-hatred to the point that the book was frustrating to read. There is a scene where she's been out in the rain and she's wearing sneakers. She gets on the train and her "sneakers squelched unattractively." So even when things are out of her control she projects self-hate onto them. And I HATED IT SO MUCH. It was infuriating. Even after Jane starts to like her and tells her that she's attractive and that her body is attractive the narrative is still very much "why does she like me though?"

I've had this conversation/rant with a few other people... and I understand that self-hate is very engrained in our society. I understand that girls, especially chubby girls, have this on their mind a lot of the time. One friend said that it would be unrealistic to have a book where the chubby girl doesn't hate herself, the suspension of disbelief of that would not be possible. (I feel I should point out this friend is chubby also).

But as a fat girl I need to say: I'M FUCKING TIRED OF THIS. I HATE IT SO MUCH. I want a main character like Lizzo, walking around with her skin on display and being confidant. I know that's a leap, honestly, but I would even go for someone acknowledging their body but not in a hateful way. Or having a little bit of a confidence issue but nothing like what was in this book. August hates herself so much that honestly... I was kind of mad about it.

One of the best fictional fat girls of all time is Suki from Gilmore Girls. You know why I loved her? Growing up and now? Because her weight is NEVER brought up. It's never the point of any of her jokes. It's never suggested she should lose weight. She never has any plotlines around dieting for her wedding or trying to fit into an old dress. Her weight is NEVER AN ISSUE. THIS IS WHAT I WANT IN FAT GIRL REP!!!!

Sorry... this point in particular is very close to home for me. As someone who's recently found her confidence it was very hard for me to read an entire book where everyone around the chubby girl is being nice to her but she's rude to them and self hating to herself.

Do girls like this exist? Of course! I was one of these girls! But it's frustrating to read sometimes.

5. Jane's Promiscuity

I found this was a sloppy way of getting them to kiss. And I'm not a HUGE fan of the slut and virgin trope. I don't mind someone having experience. But it seemed like Jane slept with half the women in the US before she was 24. And the only reason there was for her to have SO many partners was for August to kiss her more.

Quick explanation if you haven't read the book: Jane starts getting her memories back via sensory experiences. So they decide she'll remember her partners better if August kisses her to help her remember kissing other girls.

So in the end it just felt like a REALLY lame excuse for them to kiss.

At this point, I feel you being like: did you like ANYTHING about the book at all?

I did!

6. Wes and Isiah and Maya and Niko

I loved pretty much every character BUT August.

Wes and Isiah's love story was much more interesting to me than August and Jane's. Wes had the self-hate going on too... but Wes' was related to being a disappointment to everyone in his past and not feeling like he could be anything else. And he didn't want to burden Isiah with a disappointment. But they were cute as HELL and I loved the development of their relationship.

Maya and Niko are just perfect, and wacky and wonderful and were adorable from the start.

7. Jane

I loved Jane's character (other than the previously mentioned promiscuity). She was fun and happy-go-lucky and had an interesting problem and an interesting history (again, aside from the promiscuity).

8. Queer History

It was only touched on briefly in the book, but I loved the idea that Jane was front and centre for a lot of events in queer history. I liked what it brought up. I liked the way it made August want to learn more about her community. I honestly wish there had been a little more. Especially since Jane lived through it all.

I loved loved LOVED Red White and Royal Blue.

One of the things I loved most about that book was the way she broke down walls and stereotypes. The way that Pez is so effeminate, but only shows interest in women throughout the book, and NEVER labels himself. Having queer rep throughout politics. Having a divorced woman as president. There was so much representation in that book, but it didn't feel forced the way it did in this one. One Last Stop seemed very centred around these tropes and stereotypes... and that drove me a little crazy. I expected more from Casey McQuiston after reading Red White and Royal Blue.

In conclusion. I will not be keeping this book. I will not be rereading it. I did not care for it much at all.

Ok. Rant over.

I WILL SAY IT AGAIN: if you disagree with me. If you felt something because of this book. If this book spoke to you and made you feel seen and represented. None of my bullshit opinion changes that. FEEL THOSE THINGS! Take the art that means something to you and keep it close.