#because that's the usual reaction of relief when the hero saves a character

[zazzander]

Thinking about how Qi Rong was beaten bloody, hung upside down for hours, is in a lot of pain, but - just because Xie Lian told him to - managed to run dozens of miles to the capital and then the palace to deliver the message that Xie Lian needs help. He then shouts and screams until both Mu Qing and Feng Xin (two guys he doesn't like AT ALL and dislike actually working together) go to help his cousin. And this is just ignored by the entire cast because "that's normal, anyone would do that". Except it's not normal, not everyone could do that. Qi Rong is a pampered prince who doesn't like to train. He definitely used up everything he had and more to achieve this feat!

[avelera]

Interesting Characters Do Things the Reader Wouldn't Do

I've been thinking a lot about what makes an interesting character. As a topic, the variety of answers and strategies to creating interesting characters could be literally endless. But one element I've been dwelling on is based on observation of how characters who fascinate and delight us are the ones that do things in ways that we, the audience, generally wouldn't do them.

I'm thinking about this from two angles:

How to make characters who do things the average person wouldn't do (in an interesting way).

Why derivative works like fanfic often experience character drift, where over time, the character who does unusual things and has unique reactions in canon drifts away from having these unique characteristics, and becomes increasingly generic and/or like the author.

Let's address Point 1 first. The way to make a character who does things in an unusual manner is, in theory, to make a unique environment and/or a unique character (bonus points for both).

For example, a unique environment is core to many exciting fictional narratives. Most of us don't have to grapple with what we would do, for example, if we were faced with a Bad Guy Who Wants to Destroy the World That Only We Can Stop.

Or, on a less "epic" level, most of us on average don't have to deal with, say, the whacky hijinks that formulate the meet-cute in a romcom, even the more mundane ones like spilling our coffee all over a beautiful stranger and scrambling to make it right, leading us to the love of our lives. These in general are not daily occurrences, so it's immediately interesting to see how the character would handle the situation, even if they do so in a sort of "average" way.

For example, in my mind, the "average" way you respond to a Bad Guy Who Wants to Destroy the World That Only We Can Stop is to step up to stop the bad guy. If you're really the only one who can Stop the Bad Guy, I think the all of us would at least like to think we would accept this challenge, especially if The Fate of the World was objectively, provably, at stake.

Now, I think with this example, creative types can spot the issue right away. The hero who heroically does what we average people hope we would do in such a crazy scenario, step up and help save the world, is actually really boring.

Your typical Good Guy Protagonist who does the Typical Thing when faced with this Very Generic Plot is really goddamn dull. There's a reason these heroes who help propel their Gang of Heroic Misfits to actually Fulfilling the Plot and Saving the World are usually saddled with a Comedy Relief Character and at least one person who voices misgivings (usually with some degree of sarcasm or humor) about the risks involved with volunteering to save the world.

Han Solo in Star Wars, Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, are beloved characters because they don't leap to Save the World and Fulfill the Plot. Instead, they do unexpected, unique things. They're in it for themselves and that colors their reactions away from generically Doing the Right Thing. They want things like money, or safety, or more rum. They want less impressive human things that we can nonetheless relate to, and they pursue those things with a level of style and humor that the protagonist, like Luke Skywalker or Will Turner, are not necessarily afforded as our generic Audience Stand-In/Hero because their job as The Hero is to go on a hero's journey, increase their skills over time so they can learn things and strive at the same pace as the plot progresses and, in general, are saddled with Fulfilling the Plot.

Now, that doesn't mean the main hero/protagonist always has to be boring. It is possible to have a protagonist tasked with Saving the World who isn't boring. But this requires they address the problem in a way the average person wouldn't. This doesn't necessarily mean rejecting the call to save the world, by the way. What it often means is going about saving the world in a way that is unique to them or that shows a unique understanding of how to respond to the threat, in perhaps a more subtle or roundabout way other than just going the most obvious direct route.

One way to figure how to make a hero who goes about Fulfilling the Plot in a more interesting way is by making them want something in addition to their desire to save the world.

For example, Newt from Pacific Rim, the Kaiju-obsessed scientist (while not technically the hero of Pacific Rim's A Plot, I see him as the protagonist of the B Plot) wants to save the world, obviously, he's one of the idiots who lives there. Everyone in the story of Pacific Rim, particularly those in the Shatterdome, want to save the world, that's a given. How they go about it is what makes them unique. What they want in addition to saving the world makes them unique. Newt wants to study Kaiju and is obsessed with them on a level that is comparable with his drive to save the world. This colors how he goes about saving the world, by sticking to his specialty of studying and understanding Kaiju.

While the most obvious way to save the world in Pacific Rim is to jump into a giant robot and go punch Kaiju, which is what our A Plot protagonist Raleigh Becket does (and he is, apologies to his fans, a bit boring as a result), Newt's B Plot protagonist way of going about this shows that the problem is bigger than one hero offering one simple solution can provide, which helps expand the world and the scale of the threat. And there are many interesting (arguably more interesting) ways to address this threat than being the butt-chinned golden boy jumping in a giant robot to offer the most direct solution to the problem. As a result, to me at least, Newt is a more interesting protagonist, because his entire personality isn't based on the most obvious, direct way to Accomplish the Plot (like Raleigh's is). Instead, he wants and likes other things too, specifically Kaiju, and thus he goes about Accomplishing the Plot in a less generic way that includes his special interest.

To go back to the romcom example, likewise, just to show that an epic plot isn't necessary to accomplish an interesting character, I think it can safely be said that the average, generic thing that your average sane human being would do if they accidentally spilled coffee on a beautiful stranger (thus kicking off the romcom) would be to apologize and help them clean it up.

That is, as noted, boring as hell. Because it's what anyone would do, by the way, what anyone should do in this circumstance.

Fiction doesn't need to be an object lesson. We know the script of what should happen in this scenario, so we are immediately interested if it's not what happens.

The manic pixie dream girl who, instead of simply apologizing and helping to clean the spill, instead grabs the protagonists' hand, rushes them out the door and declares they're being chased by spies, quick, come with me we have to hide! all out of an attempt to help the protagonist get out of the embarrassing situation so she can help them clean up somewhere else is at least slightly more interesting than the average polite response. If we dig into it to find out why she came up with such a bizarre response to helping someone clean up, instead of doing the generic thing, we begin to unlock a more intriguing character. Maybe her therapist just told her get out of the rut she's in by treating her life as an adventure and she took the advice a bit too literally. Why was she in therapy? Well, presumably we'll find that out as the story progresses, but at least now we've got a hook to wanting to know more (how effective such a hook would be is up to you).

TL;DR Characters who go about Fulfilling the Plot in a way the average person wouldn't, because they want something else just as much if not more, is an immediate recipe for making a more interesting character.

Now, Point 2, the character drift back to the center is also worth examining. I see it happen quite frequently, both in individual fanfics, in ongoing mainstream franchises, and in fandoms in general. This isn't quite the same as Flanderization, wherein complex characters get boiled down to simplistic reads of their crazier attributes. Rather, what I'd like to look at is when unique characters do the opposite, and increasingly act and behave the way the average person would. Or rather, the average person who matches the demographic and community of the writer.

An example that springs to mind is when a complex, indeed, Problematic character begins to open up about their emotions in fanfic, and speak and act in line with the most cutting edge progressive terminology, or in general talk about their emotions like they're a therapist. Characters who would rather die than show weakness in canon suddenly saying things like, "I'm sorry I got angry with you, I realized it's because of unresolved issues with my father and also, I am attracted to you, which made me self conscious about my appearance when I am around you. Please accept my sincere apologies. Perhaps we can discuss our relationship and consider becoming romantic partners?"

Obviously I'm exaggerating here (unless the character is an android). But while really no one in the real world talks like this, I'm going to refer back to the Saving the World example about how the generic thing we wished we would do when faced with such a conflict is actually the most boring response for a character.

We all hope, I think, that if we hurt our romantic partner's (or romantic prospect's) feelings, we would find the courage to apologize, explain ourselves, and do so in a way that was dignified for us and effective with them. How to do that is another question. What to do when we have imperfect knowledge is a question. What we do when we want something else more is a question and with characters, it's the more interesting question.

Perhaps the protagonist wants to apologize and would love to find a way to be romantically involved with their love interest, but they have no reason to believe the apology would be accepted, their dignity would remain intact, or that revealing the truth would culminate in a relationship rather than a painful rejection. Now you begin to have conflict, which is the stuff stories are made of. If the protagonist wants to save face more than they're willing to risk that rejection, instead of apologizing they may have a more tsundere response (often seen in fiction) of just getting more angry, or blaming their anger on the love interest for frazzling them, or finding a way to avoid the situation entirely because it's scarier than communicating openly.

TL;DR - The most morally upright, correct, and laudable response to an interpersonal conflict is probably the more boring one (unless it is somehow earned as a novelty by the narrative). People are complicated. Interesting characters are even more complicated than real life people. Lean into that.

Now, here are some reasons I think you see this sort of character drift towards the milquetoast in derivative works:

Fanfic is about fulfilling the need for something that isn't in canon. That's often its entire purpose. So of course characters who would rather die than communicate begin to communicate, and communicate well and transparently. That's the itch the author is trying to scratch for themselves and others. It's not a bug, it's a feature.

We all want to be liked. When writers put the character in a situation, and then put themselves in the character's shoes and think what they would do in that situation, there is a tendency towards politeness, appeasement, communication, and mending bridges as our first instinct for what should be done.

To delve into point 2 here a bit, the tendency to want to be well liked and to mend bridges is a good skill in the real world.

But fiction isn't the real world.

I don't really particularly want to read a story where a character does everything I would have done in that scenario, whether it's saving the world or navigating a meet cute. That's boring. I want to see what someone who isn't me would do, so I can live vicariously through them without suffering the consequences personally.

If I as myself met, say, the evil scientist behind a rogue plot to destroy the world, I'm not even sure I'd be able to yell at that person because of how badly I want to be Well Liked. I'd probably just call the authorities (assuming the Evil Scientist isn't allied with them) and remand them into custody and hope they get a trial before facing their just punishment.

That is a very boring way to resolve a conflict with an evil scientist, unless you're Terry Pratchett, making a wider and very important point about the intrinsic value of due process in a moral of the story that is deeply intertwined and well supported by the text. But the point in a Terry Pratchett book where due process is honored would be that due process isn't the easy thing to do in that scenario, it is the more interesting thing to have the hero not turn vigilante, because it's harder and it's an unusual response that not all of us would do in that situation.

There's a great moment in the show The Expanse, where the evil scientist example comes from. One protagonist (arguably the more more boring one, at least at that point in the story) hears the Clearly Very Evil Scientist offering information in exchange for his life. But we all know if the scientist is spared, evil will go unpunished, his evil work might even be continued by the powers that be since it is valuable, the victims to that point will go unavenged, and the Evil Scientist might even make a comeback and regain his freedom and power down the line. But what else can you do? He's the only one who can help. Without his knowledge, the heroes are back at square one. The obvious choice, the only choice for your average person, is to grin and bear it and remand the Evil Scientist over to custody for a fair trial and so valuable information can be gained from him, even if down the line it might lead to more evil.

The second protagonist shoots the Evil Scientist in the head. Right then and there.

It's a shocking moment. It's also an epic moment. It is not something the average person would have done. But it was something that arguably should have been done (in that very unique scenario) with the clear-eyed decision making made by someone who refuses to bend their morals. It's something we all might wish we would do, like save the world, in that scenario but it's done in a unique and interesting way that, more importantly, creates more conflict than it solves. It neatly sidestepped the generic, expectable plot of this Evil Scientist becoming a recurring villain, and instead demonstrated a person who is very different from the average person, demonstrated by how they take an extreme action that therefore made for a better story. Shooter Protagonist did this because he wanted to avenge the victims of this scientist and stop this particular scientist from doing more evil more than he cared about how the information this scientist had might serve the heroes in stopping the overall plot. It solved one long term problem, maybe, by eliminating Evil Scientist, but it created more because now they can't get info out of Evil Scientist and the quest just got harder. But, the victims are avenged. And possibly, we'll never really know, a greater catastrophe was averted by not sparing the Evil Scientist here.

TL;DR: To sum up really, in my eyes, the key to interesting characters in original fiction and fanfiction is to have characters who want to do something other than just fulfill the plot in the most straightforward and logical way possible, whether that plot is saving the world (in the most generic way possible) or whether it's getting their love interest to like them (in the most generic and nice way possible).

Making characters who have other priorities or who want something else just as much if not more (to study monsters while saving the world, or to spice up their life having imaginary adventures while making this other person like you) are instantly more interesting. Layer more of those on and you're well on your way to an intriguing story.

And if you're trying to write good fanfic, take note of all the places where the protagonist does things you wouldn't do in a way you wouldn't do them. Therein, in my opinion, lies the key to interesting characters.

Losing that element and making unique characters act more and more the way we would in the same scenario is what makes them boring over time, it's at the heart of how fandoms can improve some stories (with creativity if they dream up more unique characteristics and adventures than canon does) but can also degrade others to the same cookie cutter stereotypes by polishing away the rough edges of a character until everyone is just Really Nice and never messes up or does anything wrong or unpopular or rude or bigoted that could get in the way of them Fulfilling the Plot (or romance) of the story in the most direct and generic and dull way possible.

[shotorozu]

you like their hands

character(s) : todoroki shouto, bakugou katsuki, midoriya izuku (1/?)

legend : [Y/N = your name] they/them pronouns used, quirk’s not specific

post type : headcanons; accompanied with a small scenario [fluff, the mildest of spice not nsfw]

note(s) : i was thinking about todo’s hands today— also i’ll be adding pictures of what i think their hand looks like so.. 😳

»»————-　♡　————-««

todoroki shouto

i’d like to believe that shouto’s hands would be long and pretty— kinda like how i’d imagine akaashi and kageyama’s hands

but have y’all seen that man’s hands in the anime and manga 😳 they’re not really what i’d call them “long”

so i had to find a mid point, kinda like a fusion of both.

his hands are either really pale, or the knuckles are just really red

moving on..

you have a weird infactuation with his hands, and you were gonna tell him! but you just didn’t know when

he didn’t really get it at first??

yes, he will respect and properly entertain your interests. but.. his hands? he doesn’t get that part yet

shouto can say he takes care of them well. washing his hands at least 3 times a day, and applying lotion on them with the slightest mint scent in it

and he takes care of his hands because he needs to rely on them everytime he uses his quirk.

speaking of quirk— his hands are either scorching to the touch, or cold.

so the first time he reaches out for your hand, you just.. freeze?? you were talking about something random while walking with him

then he just suddenly reached for your hand

seeing your reaction, he’s like.. “oh. my hand must be too cold for them. gotta switch.”

then he switches hands, holding your hand with his left. and you’re still the same, and it appears to be that switching didn’t really help

scenario

“what’s wrong, love?” he pulls you aside, staring at your expression— seeing that you became stiff when he reached for your touch.

you want to downplay the entire situation, really. but shouto doesn’t budge, that’s just who he is, and he’s still left wondering what’s wrong, and if he did something.

that is until you mention his hands, and that you like them

“your hands.. are really nice i guess,” you avert your gaze “i like them.” you say in almost a whisper like tone.

he sighs in relief. and he feels better that it’s not about the fact that you hate the temperature of his hands, since they’re either abnormally sahara desert hot or cold like fresh snow on a december morning.

his cheeks flare pink for a moment, in sudden realization “y-you like my hands?” shouto asks this as a confirmation, hoping that he actually heard it correctly.

but when you nod, he takes full advantage— entertaining your interest in his hands to his best abilities

he smiles when he sees your expression change when he brushes the back of your hand with his own. then, he finally holds your hand— the coolness of his right hand is making you hyper aware

your heart only pounds faster against your chest, when he presses his lips to the back of your hand, maintaining eyecontact as he does soz

after dating you, he paints his nails with clear nail polish. it makes him feel better knowing that they’ll stay clean even with all the hectic training

to calm you down, he likes to rub his thumb against your cheek— his quirk slightly activating while he stares into your eyes

a little spicy; but whenever you eat your desert during a date, he will wipe the excess off the side of your lips, and ask you to lick it off.

is he teasing you? or is he serious? we will never know.

bakugou katsuki

SCREAMs

bakugou’s hands are big, and his veins are prominent— but not too veiny to the point it’s concerning.

he sometimes likes wearing rings but.. that’s just sometimes

his hands are strangely soft, especially the palms— but he could say there’s some rough spots here and there, but he’d guess it’s because of his quirk.

bakugou’s hands are always warm and sweaty, which he never actually cared about— until he started dating you

he’s kinda worried that you wouldn’t wanna hold his hand, but you can say it’s actually the opposite?

you really like his hands.. but you’re just scared of getting judged

so when he reaches for your hand, you try to pretend that he wasn’t? you turn your head away— trying to not look the slightest bit of dazed

scenario

“what’s up with you?” bakugou interrogates you, his ruby irises glaring into your eyes— his voice gruff

“what?” you question, the sudden action was out of the blue— and you hold in your breath when his hands cage you in, large hands pressed on the wall behind you

“HAH?” he yells, not amused by your sudden oblivion, “don’t act dumb,” he grits his teeth “spit it out, and tell me what’s wrong.”

“nothing’s wrong, suki— i don’t really follow?” you try to convince him that no, i’m totally not afixiated with something about you, even though you’re my boyfriend; i don’t wanna admit that. however— you’re not very slick.

“tch, fucking liar.” his eyes narrow, “if you hate my fuckin’ hands, then i prefer it if you were honest about it.”

“sorry, but what?” you blink, suddenly appalled by his words, “hate.. your hands?”

“because that’s what it is, huh?” he moves even closer to you, practically inches away; and you can only pray that he can’t hear the rather loud beating of your heart. “my hands are so sweaty that you don’t wanna touch em, is that it?”

you’re agitated by his misunderstanding, and you sigh; finally deciding to come clean. “fine! fine. i like your hands.”

you didn’t mean to make it sound that upfront.

bakugou blinks, the sudden tension releasing into thin air, his expression left almost as equally surprised as you.

“tch. so that’s how it is,” he smirks, and by the way it looks— you suddenly regret telling him that.

well.. not really?

he actually takes advantage of that, making sure you remember his hands nicely.

when he sits next to you on the couch, he’ll throw his beefy ass arm around your shoulders like usual. then, he’ll run his hand up and down, making sure you’re aware of his touch.

bakugou will be THAT BITCH that’ll gesture you to come over so he could kiss you,

and when you’re leaning in— he’ll pinch your cheek, a sly grin on his face.

a little spicy; but he’s the type to rest his hand on your neck when you guys kiss <3 ugh

but overall— he’s really glad you actually like his hands, and it wasn’t like you hated them at all

but GOSH he just wished you told him from the start >:T

midoriya izuku

less veins, but.. DAMN THEY’RE KINDA THICK?? not too thick but.. have you seen his hands in the manga??

of course— his hands are rough, with a bunch of scars from his quirk. which he was kinda conscious about

but he tries hard to take care of them outside of combat things in fights; if they’re damaged then.. oh well

he definitely fiddles with pencils, and when he’s studying— the chance of him having a silver’s hand is likely (the thing where the graphite smeers on the back of your hand) he hates that shit

he definitely has a writer’s callus. PROVE ME WRONG!! that man writes a lot, and so do i so 😌 twinsies

but he tries to keep them clean, and he wants to make them feel less rough— so he will invest in some hand cream

compared to the other two, midoriya’s hands are normal in temperature.

but his grip is firm but he doesn’t really realize it sometimes.

you like his hands because.. the detail on his hands leave you mesmerized

but you don’t really wanna weird him out or make him uncomfortable. since he gets really flustered quick.

and you don’t want him to just stare at his hands and think about your fascination about them. no distractions

but he gets real pouty when you pull away

scenario

“hey Y/N, do you.. hate holding hands with me?” izuku asks one day, when you guys are studying in your room

“what?” you tilt your head, really surprised by his question— since you guys sat in silence for the last few minutes. you can feel the edge in your stomach grow when he mentions his hands.

“you always pull away when i try to hold your hand.” you gesture him to continue what he’s saying, and he continues “ but i get it though! my hands are.. scarred, rough. they’re kinda ugly compared to the rest of the guys.” he’s rambling, and you can’t help but feel really saddened.

“izuku, no.” you shake your head, “your hands aren’t ugly. yeah, they may be scarred and all— but they saved a lot of people, it saved eri, and it helped you get to where you are today.”

izuku’s cheeks flush with red, and he can’t say that you’re wrong. but; though he’s provided with reassurance, that’s not the answer he wanted

“but why won’t you hold my hand?”

“because i..” averting your eyes to the wall behind him, you’re looking for the right words. “i like your hands. i didn’t want to make you feel weird because of me.”

you look at his face after the confession, and it’s just ingulfed in a red shade.

on the contrary, this makes him like his hands more. everytime he looks at his hands, he’ll be motivated by your words.

but he’ll be a little shy with acting on it at first; especially in public

but fear not! izuku may seem innocent, but he also knows what he’s doing so.. don’t be decieved

when he’s studying, he’ll write with his right hand, and feed you little snacks with his left hand— urging you to open your mouth and take the snack

after sparring with you he’ll comment on how you did so good, also while placing his hands on your shoulder— massaging any sore parts

a little spicy, but when you guys are kissing, HIS HANDS WILL ROAM TO PLACES. pulling you closer as he attacks your lips

overall— he might be a little shy at first, but he can say he’s pretty accepting of your interest in his hands. it makes him feel better about the appearance of his hands.

»»————-　♡　————-««

likes and reblogs are appreciated, thanks for reading!

i do not own bnha/mha and it’s characters. boku no hero academia/my hero academia belongs to horikoshi kohei. i only own the writing, and i don’t profit off of my hobby.

do not reupload, translate, and use my work for any reading videos without my consent. do not plagiarize my work :))

[cloudninetonine]

A past that still haunts me

A/N: Hey guys, it's me (ya boi) I'm back with my still current hyper fixation Genshin Impact and a vent fic because I've been really stressed and well, it's hard living in my house :) It's a hurt/comfort fic because they always get to me and I needed to make something for myself

I am willing to do aftermath where the boys confront the abuser or do scenario but with different characters

Synopsis: You’re not a damsel in distress, you never have been and you never will be, but, well, sometimes you need a hero to rely on and that’s okay

Characters: Diluc, Kaeya, Zhongli and Childe

Warnings: Hints to past abuse, confrontation of abuser, violence, mentions of blood, threats, foul language

It had meant to be like any other menial day of an adventurer: sign in with Katheryne, complete your commissions, sign out with Katheryne with your payments - done and dusted.

But that wasn’t how it went, no, far from it - archons, so damn far from it.

“Thank you once again, (Name)” Katheryne’s smile was kind like usual, holding that familiar feeling of gratitude as she handed over your remission within a marked package, hand returning to the desk’s polished surface once you had taken it graciously, sending her a beaming grin back. “The Guild really appreciates your work ethic when it comes to the Ruin machines, it’s hard to come across adventurers who want to handle them anymore”

You sent her a shrug as you placed away the box “Can’t blame them really, they’re a hard bunch to handle- I was terrified of them when I first started too, but I had my vision to help me out, a lot of these folk only use there pure determination to eradicate them, gotta admire that!”

She laughed along with you politely “Have a good evening, (Name), I’ll see you again tomorrow?”

“Of course you will!” You backpedalled away from the guild reception, throwing the woman a polite double fingered salute as you did “Ad astra abyssoque as they say, my fair lady!”

She parrotted back her usual phrase before disappearing into the building, you walking further down the path of the city for your final activity for that day.

Of course, you didn’t reach that far, after all, it wasn’t that menial day you had expected, that you had wanted. Life was cruel sometimes, so incredibly cruel for no justified reason just for the sake of it all and you wished, archons, you wished you could rewind the clock and stop yourself from bumping into the body, to save yourself from all the repressed trauma bursting forth like a flurry of butterflies, well, more like moths, disgusting, ungodly, monster moths that aimed straight for the face.

“Sorry!” You yelped, too preoccupied with gathering your pocketwatch you had dropped in the stumble to see who it had been, after all, you were on a schedule and you didn’t want to be-

“(Name)?”

...late.

All of a sudden, time didn’t seem to exist, or maybe it was moving way too slowly from that horrid spike of adrenaline that shot into your bloodstream as soon as the voice registered.

You hoped to the Archons that it wasn’t, that it couldn’t, but did the gods hear your prayers?

“Oh Archons, it is you! It’s been such a long time!”

Of course, they did, they just didn’t care to listen. Ignoring the cries of your people were in fashion to them these days.

They stood there with a smile so excited it almost seemed to tear their face in half, with eyes sparkling with recognition after so many years away from them, they opened their arms welcoming you into their embrace like it was something just so normal for the two of you like you would come bounding to them like a lost puppy who had finally found their master.

The fear of your abuser dwarfed in comparison the pure feral rage and loathing to think that they even deserved to be breathing in the same space as you.

People were looking, of course, they were looking, you knew what they were doing, being bright and jovial, bringing others attention towards you both so that whatever scene you caused would be your fault like you were the bad guy. It was old tactics, of course, you wouldn’t dare do anything when you were younger, you’d just push through it, but this wasn’t old times, this wasn’t younger you, scared, smaller you afraid them, this was you now, a warrior, unwavering in battle, a person who smiled in the face of danger, who laughed at the pitiful fights that 2- no- 4 abyss mages brought to you!

To hell what other people thought, you’d stomp their head into the cobblestone if they had so much as poked you.

“Come here and give me a-”

You took a step back, mustering the deadliest face you could, but you wavered, it was only natural, no matter how much you could try to hype yourself up, this person was your first true experience of real-life nightmares, the first person to bring you true pain, no matter how many ruin guards, hunters, millachurls, mages- anything you faced, nothing could prepare you to face your first fear:

The fear of your older sibling.

“If you fucking touch me I’ll stab you-” The growl cracked nearing the end, you were always an angry crier but you were not about to fall back to this- this monster. “In front of all these people, I won’t hesitate”

Their face dropped followed by your stomach, though, the food you had for lunch sure did feel its way up your gullet.

“What’s with your language? We haven’t seen each other in four years and this is how you treat me? Your older sibling?” They laughed in disbelief because onlookers would think they were shocked, I mean, how could you speak to family like that? But they didn’t know, they didn’t know the words they had told you, the insults, the threats, those tight grabs, those beatings- they didn’t know, so they obviously didn’t know that the shock came from the fact that you had stood up to them.

You licked your lips to get rid of the dryness, but the problem you faced was that your mouth had dried out along with them, as did your throat.

Don’t let them turn this on you, don’t let them get the upper hand, you were better than them, so much better.

“You’re not my fucking sibling” You spat, feeling the air vibrate around you, a sudden shine from your cloak hinted you to the cause “You haven’t been for a long time, don’t fucking try that shit with me”

There it was, that familiar enraged spark, that look of hatred on their face, the thing that warned you about what you said had been the right thing to set them off, that they were just as easily triggered by the smallest act of rebellion just like when you were kids.

Of course, they hadn’t changed.

Evil never did.

They took a step forward but you didn’t back off, just hardened your resolve as they leaned in menacingly, as though their stupid little intimidation tactic still worked after all these years.

You told yourself it didn’t but you knew deep down that wasn’t completely true.

“Don’t speak to me like that, (Name)” Facade gone, they showed you what they really were, what they were really like after all, “Don’t you ever speak to me like that, you show me fucking respect”

Respect?

RESPECT!?

Oh Archons, you were angry, no, seething from the thought that they ever deserved respect.

That pathetic piece of shit, that gruelling pleb, mere gum on the bottom of your damn shoe-

You’d kill them, right here, right now.

You felt the familiar materialisation begin to form in your hand when another voice called out, a familiar loving one that nearly made your throat swell from relief.

“(Name)?”

Diluc

He could sense the tension. Of course, he could sense the tension, Diluc had faced this tension so many times before, he was practically the one that owned such a vibe anytime Kaeya even breathed near him for a second longer than necessary.

But being the one to witness it, to see you, the usual awkward, goofy sweetheart stare at another with such overbearing malice made him uneasy, caused his stomach to churn in ways he didn’t like, set him off in a way that was only reserved for the most chilling on moments.

Diluc wondered what exactly this stranger had done to warrant such a reaction from you.

“(Name)?” The redhead called, glancing around the many citizens of Mondstadt that watched the exchange with intrigue, guard and worry, eyes focused on the scene of this foreign stranger and fuming you, hand poised by your side with weapon particles dancing on your palm.

When Diluc finally made it over, his form seemed to curl protectively around you, hand landing on the small of your back delicately while keeping face with the person, eyes narrowed dangerously but still holding an air of civilness.

A true gentleman, even when you were close to merking some rando.

“Is there a problem?”

The stranger straightened immediately, backing up a few steps with their hands up in defence, sending Diluc a charming smile that the man could see through crystal clear.

“No problem, no problem at all” They glanced back at you, seemingly friendly despite his partner’s obvious ill intent that radiated off you in waves “Isn’t that right, (Name)?”

Diluc saw you tense up once again, the buzz from your Vision rising in volume with your obvious anger as you tightened your first, ready to just screw your weapon and go for the throat.

“If that is the case” The noble’s hand softly pressed against your back, gently but coaxing, knowing that conflict in the middle of the town centre would just bring the knights to meddle in affairs that they had no business attending “Then we shall be going”

“There’s no need to leave, after all, my sibling and I were just chatting”

He paused, shouldering a questioning glance your way but at the sight of your unruly expression, he pushed down his enquiries and once again began coaxing you away from the scene. Angel’s Share had already been open for a while, meaning the usual folk would already be settled in, but the storage room was sure to be a good place to chat and to calm you down, all he needed to do was get you away.

“We already had plans” The side glance had the stranger- your sibling, biting their tongue, brows furrowing in a known annoyance as the two of you began your way towards the pub, you still vibrating in anger. “Good day to you”

The two of you had made it a few feet when they called out once again “Don’t worry, (Name), I’ll see you again real soon”

Diluc’s arm tightened around you faster than you could react, tugging you away quickly “Diluc-”

“No, (Name)”

“Stay out-”

“Not here” Sharing a look, he softened at the shine in your eyes. “You’ll just attract the knights' attention”

You didn’t care, no, not one bit. If the knights had dared to interfere at that moment, they too would have been caught up in your blinded revenge, thrown aside or slashed down without single care just to finally eradicate the bane of your existence and you didn’t care about what consequences you brought about, you just didn’t and you made sure to tell Diluc that, as soon as you had the privacy of Angel’s Share’s storeroom, pacing up and down while he stood off to the side against the wall, watching silently.

“You had no right to get in my way!” You snapped, voice shaking from the pure emotions you were releasing “I finally had my chance, I was finally going to do it! They deserve to end by my hand, by my decision, after the years of torture they put me through! They deserved it! And you got in my way! How could you get in my way! I-”

Pushing off the wall, he slowly advanced towards you, carefully, hands out like he was approaching a wounded animal.

“I understand you’re upset-”

“I’m not upset!” You cried at him, stopping mid-step before dropping your head and tightly, grabbing your hair in your hands “I’m not upset! I’m angry! I’m so fucking angry! And I deserve to be fucking angry! I-”

The sob ripped through your throat despite you trying to hold it back, tears finally gathering in your eyes and rapidly falling down your cheeks “You should have let me kill them! I should have had the chance to rid the world of their evil! It’s not fair! It’s not- it’s not fair, I-”

You didn’t bother to fight him when his arms finally wrapped around you, just fell against him as you wept. The pent up rage, fear and sadness from years of repression taking its toll as you cried, your partner whispering sweet words as he raked his hand through your hair gently and leaned his head against yours.

“I’m sorry” His hand held your cheek fondly, ruby red staring back into your own eyes with a softness that made you melt “I didn’t know this meant so much to you, but if you’re willing to tell me, I’ll listen. I’ll always listen”

With another choked sob, you leaned into his hold “Please just hold me for now”

And he did just that.

Kaeya

The captain had promised to meet you at his office, a simple task really but with the lingering presence of Jean and the words ‘There’s so much work that needs to be done’ leaving her lips he bolted, hoping to catch you by the Guild and drag you to Angel Share for your date. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help her, it was just he had already promised you this night and Eula could have always taken his place with paperwork, her threat of “vengeance” as she liked to call it could wait for another day.

It was also due to the fact he had no intentions of filing any paperwork for as long as he could avoid it, but that was his secret to be kept.

Being the perspective man he was, he could tell straight away he had walked into something tense, surveying the surrounding people of Mondstadt who looked on in concern, the unbridled rage upon your face, the obviously intimidating lean that the stranger held over you- something was wrong and he knew he had to put a stop to it.

“(Name)?” You glanced for a single moment before your furious glare had returned to the stranger, another flag waving right in his face as he approached, “My dear? Who might this be?”

Before you could snap, lip curling in disgust, the stranger stood back to their full height, switching quickly with a fake charming smile that practically mirrored his own, holding out their hand towards him “(S/N) (Last), (Name)’s older sibling. it’s nice to meet you”

Kaeya’s smile widened and despite the glare from you that was now focused on him, he shook your sibling's hand in-kind “Kaeya Alberich, (Name)’s partner-”

He made sure to tighten his grip with his last words “And Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius”

Successfully, as he always was, Kaeya held back the smug, mocking grin that itched to climb onto his face when the neck of your sibling bobbed nervously, forehead reflecting the afternoon light as sweat gathered on their brow.

The man hadn’t obviously threatened them, surely, Kaeya was smarter than that, but then again, he could still present himself as a threat, a good one and well, his title was a menacing one when it came to the right moment. ‘Try anything and not only do I have the authority to kick your arse but the power to put you in a place many didn’t dare even step’ shortened into an innocent sentence with only 8 words.

“Cavalry Captain? That’s quite impressive” They laughed off, tugging away their hand awkwardly when Kaeya continued to keep a firm grip, his present eye focused solely on your siblings face. They glanced over to you “Quite an achievement for you, aye (Name)?”

You growled, “I’ll show you an achievement-”

Kaeya’s arm had wrapped around your waist not a second later, tugging you tighter to his side as the two of you turned, the man throwing your sibling a smile over his shoulder.

“As nice as it was to meet you, (S/B), we must be going”

And then without another word Kaeya dragged you away, heading in the direction of your home instead of Angel Share tavern, feeling your pure, unfiltered anger the whole way along with the citizens as they parted ways, rushing off from your rage.

It was only when you had returned to the sanctuary of your abode did you snap, jerking away from your boyfriend with angered strides and beginning your seething lecture towards him, moving up and down through the living room while he ventured off into the kitchen, grabbing 2 glasses and a bottle of wine.

“How dare you Kaeya! How fucking dare you! Do you have any idea what you were doing back there!? What was even happening back there!? So much for being the most observant man in Mondstadt because you seemed pretty dense to me the whole fucking time!” Your hands raked through your hair as you yelled, trying so hard to hold back the tears “I didn’t need your damn help, Kaeya! Nor did I fucking want it! Know to stay out of someone's business when it isn’t wanted!”

Logically you knew what he had done, you were smart like that and you knew Kaeya long enough to know what he was doing but your rage, fear and sadness blocked out everything in that moment, made you blind to reality, made you only think irrationally and Kaeya didn’t blame you for that. He could never blame you for that.

Though, it did hurt him to see you in this state.

“Wine?”

You gawked at him for a moment, staring at him with shock and confusion as he held out a wine glass towards you, another held in his other hand and a sweet smile plastered on his face, before your moment morphed into rage, grabbing the drink from his hand and tossing it towards the wall, the red wine splattering over the wallpaper and glass shards falling to the floor.

“Well, that was a waste-”

“Do you think I’m an idiot, Kaeya!?” You cried, not even bothering to hold back anymore as the tears fell and your voice cracked, hand pointing accusingly in his face “Is this some kind of joke to you!? Huh!? Am I a fool in your eyes!? Some sort of blubbering idiot!? Why must you- why do you-”

The second glass was placed on the dresser by you both, Kaeya’s hand coming to hold your cheek fondly while the other came to grab your hand that dangled in the air, still poised at him “I don’t think you're either of those, my dear, in fact, I think you’re one of the brightest in the whole of Teyvat, nevermind Mondstadt”

You hiccuped “Then why-”

Brushing away the wetness from your cheek, he brought your hand to his mouth to place a fond kiss on your palm “Because you mustn’t cry, (Name), don’t waste your tears on someone like them”

“I’m not crying, I’m-”

He shushed you gently and you finally relaxed, falling into his embrace with a heavy heart “-I’m not, I swear-”

Within the familiarity of your home, you wept in his arms, exhausted from the whirlwind of emotions and the scenes that had transpired that day, ready to just curl into yourself and try to block the flooding memories of history. Although, having Kaeya at that moment helped more than he could ever know, having him to rely on made it all so much easier to cope with that day.

“Tell me what ails you and I’ll listen” Brushing back some hair, he pressed a kiss to your head.

“Can..can we just stay like this for a while?”

“Of course, my dear”

Zhongli

He had sensed the incoming danger like it had been revealed in some sort of premonition. Maybe it had been a skill he had acquired after his long, eventful life, maybe it was his connection to Liyue and his citizens, but for some reason, as he sat before Iron Tongue Tian as the man recalled his tales of ancient Liyue like usual, Zhongli knew that the crowd that was forming around Wamin Restaurant had something that he need urgently attend, especially when even Tian paused his story to glance around the corner of the restaurant building to see the commotion.

When the archon had finally borne witness to the scene, he paused within the crowd, surveying the surroundings carefully. You were the centre of attention, along with another stranger, both glaring at one another with anger and disgust, though your own anger seemed to double compared to the other’s, seeing as your weapon was slowly materialising in your grip. Zhongli could also see Guild Master Lan making her way down the steps leading to the Guild reception, a worried expression on her face glancing between you and the approaching Millelith.

Zhongli made his decision, politely pushing through the crowd until he had finally made it by your side, hand being placed gently on your arm “(Name)?”

Both you and the stranger glanced at him, but he paid no mind to them, only held eye contact with you when Lan appeared by your other side, glaring at the stranger with a hardened gaze.

“Are you harassing my guild member?”

Before the stranger could respond, the Millelith had also popped in, glancing between you and them “Is there a problem?”

Zhongli had taken up your view when Lan began her take, she had borne witness for much longer than he had of course and he was certain that you were in no state to talk to the guards. Your eyes were glazed with hatred, pupils pinpricks in a sea of (E/C) and your hands were shaking, balled into fists.

If anything, he needed to try and calm you down first.

“Get the hell out of my way, Zhongli” Your teeth ground together, words shaking with anger “Don’t push yourself into my business”

“I’m sorry, my love, but I can’t do that” He tried brushing your cheek but you jerked away, glaring at his hand before glaring back at him, in no mood to be coddled “I don’t want you to do something you’d regret”

“Trust me, I won’t regret this one bit”

Zhongli held his tongue for the question that almost rolled out, knowing now wasn’t the time for inquiries when the stranger’s voice rang out, condescending and snarky as they addressed you.

“Still need people to protect you, aye (Name)? Of course, you’re still the same pathetic bitch from years ago”

You were lucky for your reputation around Liyue, for the picture of the kind and caring adventurer that had swept through the town from your years of living here because had it not been for that, you pushing aside your boyfriend and materialising your weapon to aim it at your sibling’s throat would have had you in cuffs that instant.

Lan grabbed you, tugging you away as you screamed “I’ll show you pathetic you fucker! Let me go!”

The Millelith didn’t wait to drag your sibling away, much to their cries of dismay, one sending Lan a nod while you continued to fight against her, crying out in frustration.

“Kid, you have to calm down-”

“Calm down!? No! Get the hell off me!”

Zhongli watched as you finally broke away, huffing and puffing up a storm before glancing amongst the crowd, staring at their worried and concerned faces, your own eyes tearing up before you looked away pushing past the crowd to find somewhere to be alone.

When Lan went to call out for you, Zhongli raised his hand, the two sharing a look before the archon made his way after you, his longer legs keeping a steady pace to which he could catch up to you, just beyond the bridge that led into Liyue Harbour. There were no people where you stood, just the lush green plants and great mountains of nature, a perfect place for you to let out your frustration without the prying eyes of the citizens.

“(Name)-”

“Leave me alone!” You cried, curling into yourself with your back turned to him “I don’t want you here, Zhongli! Nor did I want you back there! I didn’t need your or anyone else's help!”

You knew he was here from a place of concern, and deep down you begged that your words didn’t harm him in any way, but currently, you didn’t care, you didn’t want to care, you just wanted to be numb, numb to the flashbacks of your horrid past and numb to the feelings that were dragged along with them.

“My love, please, return with me to our home, I will brew some calming tea-”

“Tea? Tea!? Does it look like I want any fucking tea?! I couldn’t care any less about some fucking tea, Zhongli!” Spinning around on your heels, you scowled at him, not bothering to hide your rushing tears “Don’t you get it!? I want to be left alone, I-”

Two gloved hands gently encased your face, your angered expression morphing into one of shock as your partner stared down at you with glowing eyes filled with a deep-rooted love, affection, worry and so much more that you couldn’t put into mere mortal words. At that moment, everything felt as if it had melted away, only you and him were in this world, nothing else, just the two of you.

And you felt as though your heart had been lifted from the pressures of this life.

“I do not think it is best for you to be left alone” His baritone voice was always so calming, so serene and in your sane moment, you finally felt its effects “I wish to stay with you, so please, let me stay”

With a whimper, you grabbed onto his forearms and leaned your face into his hands, tears continuing to fall as your eyes fluttered shut “Okay…”

“They have hurt you deeply, haven’t they?”

Hesitantly, you nodded.

“Would you be so kind as to tell me the details?”

“I-...” Sharing eye contact once again, you whispered “Can- can you just...hold me for now? Please”

Moving his hands from your face, he engulfed you in his arms, leaning his head against yours “Of course”

Childe

The Harbinger had just left the Northland Bank, hell, he was just about to make his way down the spiral staircase but when hearing the commotion, he paused, something in his gut telling him to check just before and he was glad he did.

Glancing over the elevated walkway, he felt a fiery pit roar in the depths of his stomach, eyes narrowing dangerously at the scene; you were snarling in some other person’s face, their own face nothing short of disgust and a crowd that only seemed to grow by the minute.

Who the hell did this person think they were? Did they even know who you were? To stand so close to you, with a look of threat on their face like you weren’t about to kick their arse? Like he wasn’t about to kick their arse? How did this insignificant speck of dross not know your connections with him, the 11th Harbinger? Or did he know and was just trying his luck?

“Seems like someone has a death wish” And a death wish they had indeed.

Ignoring the perplexed glance from his subordinate stationed outside the building's entrance, Childe made his way down the steps, murderous look stitched on the whole way to the circle of civilians, the mass parting ways for the man that was Tartaglia and continuing to watch the moment in silence.

“Who the hell are you-” You both turned towards him, you in shock while the stranger stared in confusion until Childe’s hand wrapped around their collar, tugging them closer to look down at them with a deep-rooted disgust “-And why the hell are you harassing my partner?”

They fought against him, obviously, they did, but the surprise came when you saddled up next to him, grabbing his arm “Stay out of this, Tartaglia”

What? It hadn't been your request, no, you were always one to finish your whole fights you weren't "A damsel in distress after all!" no, you were so much more, so much greater but that look on your face, murderous and downright cruel- he just couldn't believe his ears.

Childe stared at you in shock while the stranger struggled, throwing him a dirty look in their attempts “Yeah, this is between my sibling and I”

Childe straightened in surprise, feeling embarrassment flood his system. Had he seriously just grabbed and threatened his lover’s family member? Oh, Archons, his judgement had been clouded by anger at the look of the scene, I mean, why would your sibling look at you that way-

“But it’s really no surprise that you still need to be babied, (Name), how shameful”

His eyes widened but not a moment later had you tackled your sibling, the crowd crying out in alarm as you threw back your fist and crushed their nose under the weight of your punch. “I’ll show you fucking shameful, bastard!”

There was shouting and a glance showed the oncoming Millelith marching towards the circle.

Being Fatui always did garner the attention of the guards nowadays, especially for him, who had tried to lure out the attention of their Archon by summoning an ancient god that nearly drowned the entirety of the harbour, so it was no surprise that they seemed to hurry in the pursuit when they noticed his appearance at the scene. However, lucky for him, your reputation as a great adventurer preceded you and throughout Liyue you were seen as a trusted and well-liked individual, meaning whatever trouble you got in, containing his meddling or not, was usually waved away due to the trust of the people.

So, without another thought, Childe tugged you off of your bloodied sibling and held you close, even as you thrashed violently, shouting at him to let you go.

“What is going on here?” A guard called, slamming the hilt of his polearm into the ground as he surveyed the area, eyes landing on the sibling before following the small trail of blood to you, still fighting against your boyfriend with threats falling from your lips “Was there a reason for this brawl? Who started it?”

As your sibling raised themselves on their forearms, they scowled and opened their mouth to respond, only for Childe to put in. “It was them, sir, they were the one that started it, (Name) was merely acting in self-defence”

The Millelith scowled at him, raising a brow and once again looking you over “Is that so?”

He addressed the crowd soon after “Is this what happened?”

And as expected, they all glanced over the sibling, then to you and piped up in agreement. It paid to be a hero, it seemed, the whole harbour returning the favour of years of helping out the community.

“If that’s the case, please come with us” The sibling cried out, anger and fear laced into their voice, trying to argue for their innocence only for the guards to grab them, hauling them away to archons know where while Childe did the same with you, slowly dragging you away from the scene and back into the bank, you screaming and cursing the whole way until you had made it to his office, finally managing to push him off and storming to the opposite side of the room practically seething.

“Who the hell do you think you are, Tartaglia!?” You cried, throwing out your arms in exaggeration “I didn’t need your fucking help! And why the fuck would you pull me off them!? I had them right where I wanted them and you fucking did that! Are you a moron!?”

“You had a sibling” He breathed, watching as you began to pace, muttering in an angered state “And you didn’t tell me”

“-after all these years I finally had the chance to end their pathetic excuse of a life and you just got in my fucking way! I’d waited too long for this moment and you fucking ruined it! How dare you, how fucking dare you-”

“(Name), why didn’t you tell me you had a sibling!?” He cried, walking up to you and grabbing your wrist to stop you “I was ready to kill them right there! And why are you talking about them like this!? They’re your family aren’t they-”

“They are not my fucking family!”

The scream echoed through the room, chilling Childe to the core as you ripped your arm from his grasp, running your hands through your hair before gripping it so tightly it felt close to being ripped from your head. But you didn’t care, no, you couldn’t, you were so angry and you needed something to keep you grounded, to keep yourself from losing yourself and getting lost in those haunting past memories.

The Harbinger felt his chest squeeze painfully as the tears fell down your face, red rimming your eyes and cheeks wet as you sobbed, chest heaving from trying to breathe “Family takes care of you! Family thinks of you in the highest light possible! They love you for who you are and they love you no matter what! That bastard hurt me, made me feel worthless and they refuse to believe they could do no wrong and I hate them! They are the bane of my existence! They are not my fucking family! I hate them, I hate them, I hate them, I-”

Arms were around you instantly, Childe’s face pressed into your hair as you wept, grasping onto the lapels of his suit and shoving your face into his chest to muffle your cries.

“I’m sorry” He whispered, his own eyes shining slightly “I’m sorry, I was being insensitive. Please, don’t cry”

“No, I’m not crying, I promised myself I wouldn’t-” You hiccuped “I wouldn’t waste any more tears on them-”

Then you broke off into more wails, your boyfriend holding you close and letting you continue to cry in his arms, warm and comforting until you were finally reduced to whimpers, leaning into him heavily as the remaining adrenaline in your body began to wear thin when he pressed a kiss to your forehead.

“Will...will you tell me about it?”

You sniffed “Later...just hold me for now, please, Ajax...”

His arms tightened protectively “Anything for you, my love”

[makeste]

i don't get it tbh. the apology shouldn't have been here. it was in the middle of everything and it had basically no impact on deku whatsoever? this was sooooo no what i was expecting and tbh i'm kinda mad about it ngl lol also ngl times twice but if whatever ochaco says does reach him instead of the kacchan apology that's been built up as the emotional climax for the entire series i'm just flat out gonna drop this manga lmao. but this was barely an emotional climax at all, i really don't get it

2/2 like we get just a few pages? shoved in there like "okay everyone talked now kacchan disappears from the chapter, that's over and done with, moving on" the apology itself was great, but the placement and brevity undermined its emotional resonance. deku remains the exact same after hearing it, doesn't think about katsuki at all. just about his earlier "can't keep up" words? then we go on to ochaco whose "saving heroes even though that's what everyone has been doing" i guess is more important?

3/3 (last one promise) like i'm sorry but there was time for several chaps of endeavor ugly crying, for mineta's anal beads and pervy romantic trope non-confession, for overhaul to pop up being his usual piece of shit self for no plot-relevant reason, for adult top heroes to stand around for chapters like "huh everything we're doing is awful. let's keep on trusting this smelly kid" and. a few panels for kacchan apology. no reaction. shoved among "idk u well mido but stay!" + ochaco making faces

4/4 (i lied) and all this after katsuki's distress and emotions were once more made into jokes at the hospital, emotional consequences of the war ignored, w all might probably dying and the last thing he did to this kid was ditch him leaving us to guess he maybe gives a shit abt him and maybe he bothered to visit in the hospital cuz they sure didn't show shit. i honestly feel like all katsuki stuff was shoved into the background: krbk friendship for mina, dkbk for ofa, name reveal for jokes...

okay, so I have talked in the past about fandom reacting like Miette whenever this stuff happens, and tbh this is basically what I mean by that anon. there is no reason whatsoever to assume that this is the one and only reaction we'll ever get from Deku regarding the apology and that it will never come up again. this is 100% going to be revisited. and tbh I think it's a smart move on Horikoshi's part, because if he gave us everything in this one chapter then what further development would there be to look forward to? he's gotta hold something back so that we have that one last milestone to anticipate in the rebuilding of their relationship. I've often said that for me me, Deku and Kacchan's story is the most important part of BnHA. and so it makes sense to me for Horikoshi to not completely resolve it until close to the end of the series, if not the very end.

I think this is a pretty good compromise honestly, because I wasn't even sure if we were going to get the apology itself before the finale. but this way we can head into the final battle with Kacchan having put all of his character development out there and not holding anything back, and it's nice to have that, and to have that reinforcement of just how far he's come, and how serious he is about his atonement. and so his feelings are finally all on the table now, and now it's all Deku.

and he deserves to have some time to work out how he feels about this and not be put on the spot to deliver a reaction, honestly. but to say it had "no impact whatsoever" is a huge overreaction imo. first of all, we saw the shock on his face -- he was absolutely floored. this was something he clearly never expected from Kacchan (which is why it was so important for Kacchan to actually say the words, in addition to taking action as he's already done -- because Deku needed to hear them, because he genuinely had no idea that Kacchan actually cared. and he deserves to know that, because Kacchan is one of the most important people in the world to him). not to mention that Deku kind of has a million other things on his mind right now. like we just had a whole entire arc about that lol. the apology isn't supposed to be for Kacchan's benefit; it's supposed to be for Deku's. so let him have the time to absorb it before he settles on what to say. Kacchan had all the time in the world to figure out his part of it, after all.

to me this is like a promise that there will be at least one last great, emotional, and deeply personal moment between the two of them. because when Deku finally does forgives him -- not that he hasn't already, imo, but once they finally have that conversation -- that shit is going to be so fucking cathartic, and tbh I'm glad Horikoshi didn't try to cram that into this chapter along with everything else that's currently going on. besides, I'd rather see that part of their reconciliation happen once Deku is more back to his normal self again; I feel like it would be more meaningful that way. right now he's too exhausted to be able to come up with any words. but he already has shown the best possible reaction I could have ever hoped for -- complete and utter relief and trust. Kacchan is the person he trusted enough that he could finally let go of his fears and anxieties -- if only for a moment -- and give into his exhaustion at long last, and that moment where he collapses and Kacchan runs to catch him has instantly become one of my favorites in the whole series.

so yeah, my apologies anon, but absolutely nothing is gonna spoil that for me, and I can't join you here in being even remotely disappointed with this chapter. well aside from the lack of hug lol (but I can be patient for that as well).

[shih-coulda-had-it]

AU Idea: What if Sorahiko had become an OFA User instead of Toshinori?

I think he’d be a terrible OFA user, in terms of what the ideal is (someone using the power to save others, or like Shinomori, cultivating it for the next). Gran Torino saves people, yeah, but in retrospect, his motives fall into two categories: safeguarding Nana’s legacy, and protecting the bigger picture.

Notes: I deliberately interpreted the prompt as “Gran Torino is the 8th holder (and he’ll choose Toshinori as the 9th).” The ficlet is set before Nana’s met Toshinori, but after she’s lost Mr. Shimura and Kotarou. I’m of the opinion that after Shinomori, the life expectancy rate of Quirked OFA holders dropped exponentially, so this is not a ficlet where Sorahiko bucks the trend and breaks Shinomori’s record by decades, as All Might did. tw canonical character death. gen.

//

“You can’t do this to me,” says Sorahiko, staring at the proffered strand of hair, ink-black and terribly innocuous, as though it doesn’t carry the weight of seven souls’ wills. He is huddled next to Nana, the both of them hiding from All for One’s meandering path of destruction. Time is running out. Escape is impossible—except for Sorahiko.

“Don’t argue,” she says.

“He’s seen me. I literally just kicked him in the face.”

“Gran Torino’s disappeared before.”

He scowls at the dig. “Stop trying to pass One for All on. You can get out of this, you’re just being defeatist. I’ll do another fly-by—”

“No.”

“I’m in bright yellow, he’ll be distracted—”

“I said no,” Nana repeats, and the flat tone is so at odds with her usual upbeat attitude that Sorahiko fumbles with a response. Being on the other end of this conversation rattles him; the situation is bad, but somehow, seeing Nana resigned to her fate, that hurts. She’s only had the stupid Quirk for a few years as opposed to En’s half-decade. “I’m choosing this. I’m choosing you, Sorahiko.”

“Don’t,” he says weakly.

Merciless, Nana stares him down. “You’re my best friend. There’s no one else I’d trust to hold One for All, and no, that’s not because you’re the last person on my list.”

“Your only, then.”

“My one and only.”

Sorahiko looks away. The world trembles, shivers, shudders--or is that him, quaking in his boots at the magnitude of Nana’s request? He’s not like Nana. He’s not like En, either. Sorahiko isn’t a pro-hero because he has big dreams or a bleeding heart, and if he’s given the responsibility of holding One for All, he’s not going to suddenly develop them.

“Please,” she says.

“You’re a cruel best friend,” he croaks, and dismisses the hair. If he’s going to be a coward, he might as well commit to the role. Sorahiko reaches with both hands to cradle her face, thumbs at her cheekbones, and lets his eyes be drawn to the weeping scrape on her forehead. A spare bit of shrapnel had cut the skin. The position is off-centered, but it’ll serve.

He closes his eyes. He bends down and presses his lips against the wound, until rust floods his palate and sweetness is a memory. He swallows the bitter pill down and feels it sear his throat raw.

When he pulls back to see her reaction, the first thing he registers is her wide-eyed look and the partially-opened mouth.

“I’m cruel?!” Nana finally manages.

“Pot, kettle,” Sorahiko says, and crushes her into a hug. She is here and solid and warm; her arms go around him too, tentative at first, and then desperately tight. He breathes: once, twice, three times in order to press the memory of Shimura Nana into his head.

“You don’t have to be the world’s hero,” she whispers. “Just be mine, okay?”

Sorahiko nods. It is a sharp jerk of his head, but enough of a concession that Nana exhales with relief. She extricates herself from his grasp and he lets her go, lets her gently push at his chest, lets her fool him with a grin that says everything will be okay.

“We’ll meet again. Some way, somehow, I promise.”

He nods again. Everything will be okay. He just has to believe in that for now, and with a bit of luck, he’ll slip under All for One’s radar. With a lot of luck, Nana will survive whatever killing blow is intended for her.

Everything will be okay, Nana’s grin assures.

His fingers curl into useless fists and as Nana vanishes back into the battlefield, swift and silent, Gran Torino begins to count the seconds.

//

Only a few years later, Gran Torino is accosted by some punk in a junior high uniform, all yellow wild hair and bright blue eyes and one earnest question: can someone Quirkless become a hero?

He is honest.

(He gives Toshinori her Quirk, and he trains him with her in mind, but between Sorahiko narrowly surviving his second encounter with All for One and Toshinori’s first experience with the Commission’s investigative procedures—All Might is not so much of a household name as he is a conspiracy theory.)

[heroloverangel]

Light Bulb

Nana Yagi is an excellent judge of character.

It’s good to be home. Your daughter is five days old now, and you were finally able to leave the hospital yesterday afternoon. You weren’t sure you wanted to live on UA’s campus with a newborn, but sleeping in your own familiar bed last night was a welcome reminder that you love it here. Even though you’re still recovering from major surgery, all the energy and activity around you makes you feel more productive.

You wake up in the morning and stagger out of bed to Nana’s crib, fussing over her diaper and making sure she gets plenty to eat. Toshinori’s already left to help with a class; you know he’d feel guilty about ignoring his students for too long no matter what the reason. You grab an apple to snack on and settle down to watch the news with Nana resting comfortably in your arm. It’s a blissfully peaceful day in the city from the looks of it, and you’re thankful that the school’s getting a well-deserved break from villain activity. 

“What should we do today while Papa’s at work?” Your baby blinks up at you before whining, and you smile happily down at her. She’s been fussy this morning, and you wonder if it’s because her father’s not there with her. You can get in a nice shower after you get her back down, and then maybe you’ll start on the excessive amount of emails you’ve been ignoring since you went into labor. You were in the hospital for days, you’d think people would have gotten the hint to leave you alone but your inbox is overflowing with messages. You walk into the bathroom and flip the light switch-

-Only for the bulb to give you the telltale flickering warning before going out and leaving you with only the dim light from the hallway. You yelp in surprise, too loud, and it disturbs Nana from her nap. She seems unhappy at the sight of you instead of the familiar thin face; you should feel annoyed that he’s already her favorite parent, but you think it’s heartwarming that she loves him just as much as you do. “Sshhh, it’s okay sweetheart. Mama didn’t mean to scare you.” You manage to calm her down with an adorable stuffed toy version of her father and glare into the dark room.

You’re going to need help. The ceilings in your home are sized for a man who’s over seven feet tall. You can’t reach the light bulb without a stepladder, and you’re certain that both your doctor and your husband would be upset if you went dragging one around the floor while you’re still recovering. You send your husband a text asking when he’ll be back and wait for his response.

“I’m sorry, I’ll be stuck in a staff meeting for awhile. I’ll send someone over to help ASAP.”

You sigh, kissing your dream of a warm shower goodbye for the foreseeable future. You assume it must be related to the hormones playing havoc with your emotions, but you feel guilty for bothering him with such a minor problem, and even worse that you can’t just do it yourself. It makes you think of all those days you spent alone at home, feeling helpless as you waited for All Might to save the world and come back home to you, and worrying about Toshinori after his injury. He’s always done so much, and you can’t even handle a light bulb of all things?

You hear a loud knock before you can descend further into this hole of self pity and doubt. “Open up, old lady. I’m not standing out here all day.”

You’re confused when you open the door. “Bakugo? You’re the one he sent over?”

“I had the time.” The student shoves past you with his usual scowl. “It’s not like you need to be a damn repair man to fix a light.” He’s right, it only takes two minutes for him to shove the heavy stepladder into place and change the faulty bulb, but he manages to swear impressively the entire time. Your daughter stirs in your arms, but rather than being upset at the noise she seems interested in this unfamiliar voice coming from the other room. He stomps out complaining about wasting his time on such a stupid errand and stops at the sight of her. “This your kid?”

You nod and move her blanket to show her off better. “Her name is Nana.”

“Why’s she staring at me like that?”

A smile starts at the corner of your mouth. “She must like you.” You step forward and beckon him to you. “Here, you should hold her.” The boy immediately takes a step back.

“Absolutely the hell not.” Your grin spreads at his reaction. If you didn’t know better, you’d think the fearless future hero was nervous. 

“You know, Midoriya didn’t have any trouble when he held her.”

His eyes narrow. “...Give me that baby.” You carefully pass Nana over, giving him quick instructions on how to support her head and adjusting his arms to make sure he’s got a safe hold on her. You’re not surprised that he learns quickly; you always knew that beneath his rough exterior (way, way beneath), Bakugo is a good kid who’ll be a great hero some day. You double check that neither of them are in distress before giving him a pat on the shoulder.

“Okay, great. Now stay like this for a bit while I go take a shower.”

“WHAT.” Nana blinks up at him but doesn’t cry at his outburst. “Get back here, you old hag!” You laugh in response, escaping to the bathroom while he yells at you. You emerge ten minutes later feeling refreshed and peaceful to find him still standing in the exact same spot and glaring murder in your direction. “Take. This. Thing. Back. Now,” he snarls, and you’re happy to rescue him.

“Thanks, you really did me a favor on that.” At this point, his temper amuses you more than anything. You hold him hostage for a couple more minutes as you tell him all about your daughter’s first few days, and you can see the relief on his face when the door opens again and Toshinori walks inside.

“Ah, young Bakugo. I appreciate you taking the time to help. Have you met our Nana yet?” His student’s patience finally snaps, he rushes for the open door and slams it hard behind him. The two of you stand there in silence for a moment before your eyes meet and you both start cracking up. “How was he, aside from that temper tantrum?”

You give your husband a kiss on the cheek as he reaches for your precious little girl. She’s always happy to see him and grabs at his hand, holding it with all the strength in her tiny body. “Bakugo? He was fine. He’ll never admit it, but I think he’s got a soft spot for kids.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“Yeah,” you agree and run your fingers over the fine yellow hair on her head. “How long do you think we can trick him into helping out by comparing him to Midoriya?” It’s been a long time since you’ve heard Toshinori laugh this hard.

[todorokibois]

Brat - Katsuki Bakugo X Reader {M}

Disclaimer: Katsuki is aged up to about 21, as are all characters in my fics.

Genre: Smut (Dom/Sub themes, slight humiliation, Mistress, Bakugo is a brat)

Pairing: Katsuki X Reader

Words: 3,966

A/n: Came up with this idea while I was rewatching some bnha the other day, and I thought to myself, I think it’s time for someone to put Bakugo in his place. Thus, this idea was born. I hope you enjoy, please let me know what you think!

Summary: The one in which you’ve had enough of Bakugo’s shit and decide to teach him some respect.

He’s been pushing your buttons all day. Every time you would suggest a plan to capture the criminals you’ve been chasing, he would counter your ideas, or go off and do his own thing. The worst was when he stormed into the building by himself, yelling at the villains to ‘stop being such little bitches’ and fight him head on. To say you’re frustrated would be an understatement.

Due to his attitude in the past, many other agencies refuse to work with him, leaving only a select few you can count on. You’re just lucky you have friends in those agencies, otherwise hero work might be a little bit more difficult to come by, especially when he goes off on his own like this, ignoring your direct orders.

It takes you all twice as long to capture the goons this time due to him nearly collapsing the building they were hiding in, completely ignoring the fact that you told him to wait for backup. Eventually, you managed to catch up to him and apprehend the villains you’ve been after, giving them to the authorities shortly after capture. 

However, not only are you beyond frustrated, but you’re also embarrassed by how Katsuki has been acting lately. Given that you’re one of the top heroes working at your agency, your team is supposed to listen to your orders and follow them, especially when it comes to tasks like this. Katsuki, on the other hand, directly refuses to even acknowledge how you run things, which only makes you believe he has no respect for the agency’s code of conduct, nor you, especially when the two of you are at work. 

You’re sick and tired of it, especially since the two of you are supposed to be partners, in more ways than one. You can’t count the amount of times you’ve overheard people commenting on your relationship because of this. Enough is enough, and you’ve decided you’re going to do something about this. It’s like he doesn’t have any respect for your authority.

This won’t be for long, though. Not if you have anything to say about it. Someone is going to have to put him in his place, and you know just the person to do it. You.

When the both of you get back to the agency building, your superior gave you both a massive scolding. Katsuki received a larger one than you, but you were still told to get him under control, lest the two of you want to be out of a job. The last thing the agency wants is their approval rating to go down in the eyes of the public, and Katsuki is already dangerously treading the edge.

“It’s your job to keep him under control, (Y/n),” your boss scolds you once the two of you are alone in their office.

“Yes, boss,” you reply, a sigh nearly escaping your lips for the umpteenth time that evening.

“Now go home and get some rest, tomorrow’s another day!” They say, sending you a tight smile as you nod politely and leave their office.

You say nothing as you pass Katsuki, expression remaining blank as your eyes blaze in anger. If anyone saw you, they’d think you look quite normal, but one look into your eyes and they’d know how pissed off you really are.

He huffs and rolls his eyes as you walk passed him, arms crossed as he follows you out to the car, “what? I got the job done, didn’t I?”

The only response he gets out of you is a glance at him out of the corner of your already narrowed eyes, only causing him to click his tongue in annoyance, “what?”

Sliding into the drivers side of the car, you remain silent. Turning the keys, you register him sliding in the passenger’s seat, teeth gritting against one another as he clenches his jaw. He tilts his head slightly upwards, his nose in the air as he looks over at you from the corner of his eyes.

“Are you really going to ignore me now, dumbass?” He scoffs as you remain silent. “Fine, I didn’t want to talk anyways.”

Usually, you’d be cussing him out by now, voices raised as you argue your whole drive back to your shared house about what has transpired this evening. To say your silence is slightly unnerving to him would not be an exaggeration. He has a feeling that you’ll probably lay into him as soon as you get home, and that anticipation alone is eating away at him. Believe it or not, he can’t stand you actually being upset at him, and he can tell you’re furious.

Your grip is tight on the steering wheel the whole ride home. Every so often, you can feel Katsuki’s gaze drift over to look at you, though he still defiantly holds his head high. Each time you let out a tense sigh, he tenses slightly, waiting for you to blow up at him like he knows you can. 

The longer this goes on, the more nervous he gets. Did he finally go overboard? Will you forgive him this time like you have all the other times he’s disobeyed your orders? It’s not like anyone got hurt this time, so he doesn’t understand why you’re so upset. In fact, you should be used to this by now.

Each second that goes by with this tense silence lingering in the air feels like an eternity to him, and by the time you’re pulling into the driveway he nearly breathes a sigh of relief. As you’re unlocking the front door, he figures he’ll attempt to talk to you again, wanting at least some sense of normalcy to come back to the two of you.

Stepping inside, he lets out an irritated huff, “look, if you’re saving the big lecture for when we get inside, you should just-“

His voice dies in his throat as you push him against the wall, the front door clicking shut beside you.

“You never know when to keep that big mouth of yours shut, huh, Katsuki?” You tut, shaking your head in disappointment. “You know, if you actually put it to good use, instead of spewing your typical bullshit…”

“The fuck are you talking about, (Y/n)?” He counters, brows furrowed.

“I’m talking about how this is the last time you’re going to disrespect me like that, you fucking brat,” you spit, pushing him harder into the wall with your arm across his chest.

“Oh, please,” he rolls his eyes, “if I hadn’t gone ahead-“

“Enough, Katsuki,” you cut him off, eyes hard as your gaze meets his. “This is the last time you pull something like this. I’ve put up with it for this long because I care about you, and it usually all works out in the end, but not anymore. It’s time you learned some respect.”

He scoffs, “and I suppose you’re going to teach me?”

“Damn right I am,” comes your immediate reply, and you can tell he isn’t expecting it. “It’s time someone knocked you down a few pegs, brat, and I’ll be happy to do it.”

A humourless puff of air escapes him, “I’d like to see you try.”

“Oh, baby,” you grin, “I’ve already started.”

At your words, his brow furrows further in confusion until he feels you arm shift slightly, allowing for your hand to rest at the base of his throat. His eyes go wide as he feels your fingers gently brushing over his skin, almost teasingly against his throat, your body now pushing into his fully.

“Like I said, you’ve always had such a loud mouth, Katsuki,” you stare into his eyes, and you know he’s watching you, waiting to see what your next move will be. “You’ve always needed someone to discipline you properly, to tell you ‘no’ and actually mean it. To bring you to your knees and make you beg-”

Before you can say another word, he cuts you off, “like hell I’d ever beg for anything.”

Your eyes flash, grip squeezing slightly at the base of his throat in warning as he gasps, “don’t interrupt me again.” 

You notice his eyebrow quirk slightly, his Adam’s apple bobbing against your hand as he swallows subtly, yet he nods once in understanding. 

“As I was saying,” you sigh, “you will beg by the time I’m done with you tonight. After I’m done teaching you some respect. Though, I don’t think I’ll need to try very hard.”

To emphasize your point, you bring your free hand to his crotch, cupping his semi-hard cock in your hands and squeezing. He inhales sharply, gritting his teeth as he feels you gently caressing his growing erection, both loving and hating how much this is actually turning him on at the moment. You smirk.

“After all, I’ve barely done anything to you, and you’re already this turned on,” your voice is low as you lean in to whisper into his ear. A shiver runs down his spine as he feels your breath ghost over his neck, “pathetic.”

A small moan escapes his lips, immediately causing his eyes to widen, face turning red as you chuckle at his reaction. He attempts to get words out, but all he can do is splutter as you release your hold on him with a quirked brow, nails trailing down his chest teasingly until all he’s left with is the faintest ghost of your touch over his skin.

“Seems to me like you’re already begging for me to have my way with you,” you say as you take a few steps backwards and away from him. 

He catches himself as he takes a small step towards you, gritting his teeth in frustration at what you’re doing to him. You watch as his fists clench at his sides, a fire igniting behind his irises. He’s putting up a front, and you can tell, one that’s close to cracking.

“Like hell I would,” he’s still, spine rigid as he watches you with defiance still shining in his eyes, along with something else. Something you’ve never seen before.

“Oh?” You quirk your brow once more, now taking small steps towards him as if you’re a cat stalking its prey, “you mean you don’t want to feel my hands all over your body, leaving marks for everyone to see? You don’t want to know what it’s like to be rewarded for being my good boy? You’d rather me not take care of that little situation you’ve got going on down there?” You trail your eyes over his body, gaze focusing on the tent now visible in his pants as he shifts slightly at the feeling of having your eyes on him like this. “Damn, Katsuki, I knew you were masochistic, but you shouldn’t let your pride get in the way all of the time.” You’re close enough to him now to trail a teasing finger across his chest. “Especially not at a time like this.”

He scowls, but you can see it doesn’t fully reach his eyes. He’s intrigued by your whole demeanour tonight, for he’s never really seen you act this way before. He always knew you could be demanding, a true leader that he honestly wouldn’t mind following anywhere you told him to, but he’s never had this directed towards him. Well, he’s never felt you mean it like this before.

Maybe he wanted this to happen. Maybe he wanted to see how far he could push you before you snapped and put him in his place. Maybe he’s been desperate for you to use him like he’s used you. The countless times throughout your relationship where he’s made you weak for him, made you beg him for more has made him want the same from you. Maybe, just maybe, there’s something more to it. Maybe he just wants to see how far you’re willing to go. Maybe, he just wants you to make him beg.

“I don’t let my pride get in the way,” he grumbles, as you take a step back to distance yourself from him once more. His gaze darts to the side as he crosses his arms in front of his chest, just waiting for you to do something to him.

“Sure you don’t,” you chuckle, now standing right in front of him. 

The two of you stare at one another for a few moments, the tension of anticipation lingering in the air between you. He can’t help but hold his breath as he watches your one hand come back up to cup his face, patting his cheek affectionately in the next moment.

“Once you’ve swallowed that pride of yours, brat, I’ll be waiting in the bedroom,” with a final smile that simply screams nothing but trouble for him, you’re turning around and heading up the stairs, leaving him standing there, stunned, in the front entranceway.

Letting out a frustrated growl, he shakes his head. No way in hell is he leaving things like this. There’s a part of him that wants to march right into your shared room and show you who you belong to. To put you in your place for teasing him like that. However, there’s another part of him that cannot help the way his heart races in excitement as he thinks of what you might have in store for him once he makes it upstairs.

The fire behind his eyes is still burning once he throws open the door, only for his steps to falter as he sees you casually changing your shirt. His gaze trails down your torso, swallowing slightly as he watches you turn around, you not wearing anything at all on your upper half.

“Took you long enough, brat,” you tut, shaking your head as you walk over to him, now frozen in the doorway. He’s seen you plenty of times without a shirt on, hell, even without a bra for that matter, but there’s something about your aura this time that makes whatever retort he’s about to say die in his throat. This time, you look serious, and he just knows he’s in for a long night. “What, no smart-ass remark?”

Your lips tugs upwards into a grin, arms crossing across your chest, only serving to emphasize the curve of your breasts. His mouth practically salivates at the thought of finally getting to touch you after what you did to him downstairs. He’s never gotten this worked up like this in such a short period of time before, and he wants to see what you’ll do to him next.

“Are you finally going to listen to me for once?” You ask, tilting your head slightly as you continue to stare at him expectantly.

“I always listen to you,” he responds grumpily.

“There’s that smart mouth of yours again,” you shake your head in mock disappointment. “Now, see, we wouldn’t be in this mess right now if that were the case. So, we’re going to start at lesson one: do exactly what I say, without question.”

He laughs in disbelief despite feeling the way his cock twitches in excitement in his pants at your words, “like hell I’ll do that.”

“Did I fucking stutter, Katsuki?” Your hands are on your hips now as you stare him down. “Now, I want you to get on your knees.”

“Excuse me?” He shoots you an incredulous look, not believing what you’ve just told him to do.

“I said,” you breathe, closing your eyes briefly as you walk towards him, grabbing him harshly by the back of his hair and pushing him down onto the floor beneath you, “on your fucking knees.”

A gasp escapes him as he feels his knees make contact with the floor, loving the way your hand feels harshly gripping his hair, forcing him to look up at you. Tugging at his hair causes a low groan to escape his lips, causing him to flush red in embarrassment once more.

“What did I say?” You hum, “you’re practically begging to be put in your place.”

“That’s not-“ he begins to protest, but a strangled moan escapes his throat as you tug on his hair once more.

“You were saying?” You smirk, only receiving another scowl in response. “Lesson two: right here, right now, you will address me as your Mistress. Do I make myself clear?”

“What? Like hell I’m calling you tha-“

“Do I make myself clear?” 

Another tug at his hair has him biting his lip before conceding, “yes, Mistress.”

“Good boy,” you release the hold your hand has on his hair in order to bring your hand down to cup his face gently. He stares up at you defiantly, but you can see the excitement growing in his eyes. He’s wanted this for a while now, and he can feel his cock straining against his jeans, practically begging for your touch. “Now, I think you should make it up to me, given the way you’ve acted today, don’t you?”

“Yeah, right-“

“What was that?” Your hand grips his chin, forcing him to stare directly into your eyes as a sadistic smile rests on your face.

He huffs slightly, eyes avoiding yours now as he grumbles out, “yes, Mistress.”

“Glad you agree,” you hum, releasing you grip on him in order to undo your pants. “We’re going to put that mouth of yours to good use, and maybe by then I’ll have thought of a suitable punishment for a brat such as yourself.”

At this, it’s his turn to quirk a brow at you, watching as you strip yourself of the rest of your clothes in front of him. He smirks, drinking in your figure before him and admiring every curve you have to offer. If this is his punishment, he’ll gladly take it. After all, he can’t wait to have you begging for him later tonight.

“Lesson three:” you begin to say, positioning yourself right in front of him, your hips in his line of sight. His mouth salivates at the thought of getting to taste you as your one leg comes to rest over his shoulder, hand now back in his hair. Just as he’s about to bring his hands up to help steady your figure more, your voice is halting his movements, “no touching me if you still want to come tonight.”

“Huh?” He recoils slightly, eyes wide as his cock throbs, reminding him of how painfully hard he’s become already, and once again he’s reminded how you have still yet to touch him.

“You heard me, baby,” you smirk down at him, fingers tightening their hold slightly in his hair. “Hands behind your back; no touching unless I say so. Now, put that mouth to good use.”

Without waiting for a response, you push his head down. Putting his hands behind his back, his eyes flick briefly to yours before he’s attaching his mouth to you, sucking your clit into your mouth before flicking it a few times with his tongue. 

One thing you can always count on Katsuki for is his need to be the best. No matter what he does, he’s always proving to everyone that he can do anything better than anyone else. No one compares to him, and even if he’d rather you be sucking his cock first right now, he’ll prove to you that he does in fact, deserve to come tonight. That, and he can listen. He wants to make you feel good, always, and seeing this side of you has sparked a new flame of desire for you in him. He’ll be your good boy, but he’s going to make you work for it.

Throwing your head back, you let out a moan, feeling him lick at your entrance with his tongue before moving it back up to flick at your clit. Your sounds are music to his ears, and he never grows tired of hearing his name fall from your lips, especially during these times. He only wishes he could touch you back, to tease you like you’ve been teasing him. However, he’ll do what he can for now, eating you out like a man starved, moving his tongue just how you like.

By now, your hand is gently stroking the top of his hair, brushing it out of his face so he can maintain eye contact with you as you grind your pussy on his mouth. You can feel the rumble of approval he lets out from his chest as you tug on his hair every now and then, only causing you to smirk.

“See, baby,” you comb your fingers through his hair for emphasis, “you do know how to properly use that mouth of yours.” His eyes flash and he renews his efforts tenfold. Again, he wants to prove to you that he can do it, to please you in a way that only he can. A low groan escapes your lips, “that’s it, baby boy, just like that.”

The nails of his right hand dig harshly into the skin of his left wrist, wanting nothing more than to grip your thighs and pull you into him so you cannot escape the pleasure he’s giving you. He can feel his chest swelling with pride with each jolt of your hips into his face, letting him know you’re enjoying this, too. Except, he can feel himself becoming greedy; he wants more.

“You gonna make me come?” A growl is all you get in response. “Come on, baby, make me come all over that pretty mouth of yours.”

His chest is heaving as a feral look takes over his eyes. Seeing you above him like this has awakened some part of him he never knew he had, and he loves the control you have over him right now. All he wants to do is please you, to make you feel good and be your good little boy until you can’t take it anymore. This is what he deserves, what you deserve.

With a few more sucks of your clit into his mouth, you can feel yourself tipping over the edge. Your hands bury themselves in his hair, tugging harshly at the roots as you anchor yourself to him, his tongue continuing to work you through your orgasm as your eyes flutter closed. 

A breathless moan of his name slips passed your lips, and his whole body twitches, gut clenching in ecstasy. His eyes watch your every movement as you still above him, your head thrown back as you attempt to catch your breath.

“That’s my good boy,” you breathe, removing your leg from his shoulder as you steady yourself onto your own two feet. He smirks subtly as he watches you sway slightly, knowing that he’s the one who’s done that to you. “Now, on your feet, baby.”

As soon as he goes to move, the smirk is falling right off his face. His pants are no longer uncomfortably tight, but instead, he can feel stickiness pooling against his skin as the material rubs against his sensitive cock.

“What’s the matter, baby boy?” You tilt your head mockingly as your eyes glance down to see the dark wet patch on his jeans. A sadistic smile spreads itself across your lips, eyes glinting darkly. “How cute,” you hum, “was the thought of my wet cunt on your lips that tempting to make you come untouched?”

“Shut up,” he growls, cheeks flaring once more as he avoids you gaze.

“How sweet,” you purr, walking over to the bed and kneeling on it. You notice him starting to head towards the bathroom to clean himself up before your voice has him halting in his tracks, “where do you think you’re going? I’m not done with you yet.”

[the-nysh]

What are your favorite garou moments?

F-favorite?! 😳 This might be hard to narrow down & choose...but if I go chronologically, I think I can make a good list of most memorable moments!

1. Garou surrounded by the A/B heroes and enduring the worst of odds (injured, fevered, outnumbered, poisoned), with his biggest test of character yet (at this point in the story) to defend the shed and miraculously pull out on top. (Where thematically you can interpret as his version of ‘justice’ prevailing.)

Because this challenge was the first time, since Garou’s introduction, that really 👀 opened my eyes. He wasn’t all bark and no bite; he truly was the resourceful, combative fighting genius he claimed to be, and this fight deliberately showed that (the perfect ‘show don’t tell’ example) to make his character’s competency and tenacity truly shine as believable. (And to this day, it’s still my favorite choreographed fight in the whole story.) Then adding the decisive ‘do or die’ protect Tareo in the shed moment? Ugh ;o; truly the emotional icing on the cake, both for his convictions and proving what he’s willing to risk his life for. That this guy had the makings of something great 👀 to keep an eye on, and this addition to the story was probably one of the best unexpected improvements over what the webcomic did to flesh out his character for the better. Because at the time, many fans were bemoaning the manga’s deviation from the wc with the whole tournament arc, but this change with the whole shed set up and resolution, completely flipped the mood that we were speeding along, right on course with even better expansions to look forward to. A welcome surprise for all that keeps on giving getting better the more you go back and revisit/reread the fight. :’D

2. Garou’s whole downtime during the dine n dash section, where he was basically just fucking around on his own, lost in thought trying to assess/clarify his goals to ‘become a monster’....while ironically saving civilians, rescuing Tareo again (from bullies) and accidentally behaving just like a hero without even realizing it! :’D That was hilarious. Basically this was his slower ‘slice of life’ moment he got for himself, and I love that shit - it’s basically one of my favorite parts to come back and reread from time to time (and one I hope to see animated/voiced one day), because it’s just so funny, with that fond smiling reader awareness like ‘aha~ you’re stubbornly trying to be someone you’re not, aren’t you squidward~’

3. Garou’s Big Damn Heroes moment (literally, the precise trope) busting thru walls to Tareo’s cries for help at perfect timing to rescue him in grand, feral dramatic fashion from Royal Ripper. 8′D .....Only for this fucker, in awkward denial fashion, to have the gall and say ‘It’s not like I came here to save you or....anything, baka’ Classic peak tsundere moment.

No really! It’s probably the first time I’ve ever burst out laughing from seeing that classic line uttered, and I couldn’t believe ONE actually went there, but he did (and used it in a fresh, but most effective platonic context different from usual), so what a delight! X’D 

4. This page, because it encapsulates peak feral protective Garou. o///o

Which Murata totally milked for all it’s worth while inking it on stream, even showing off teases of the finished panel from his assistants while the entire stream chat screamed. 8′D (In retrospect, this era was probably my favorite ‘peak opm’ while Murata was most prolific and active on stream with fandom interaction. I miss this age dearly.) 

5. Jumping ahead, Murata swooping in to unexpectedly drop Garou vs Darkshine (esp part 2) on us, which we had been waiting for to see adapted, only for Murata to suddenly deliver with the delicacy of taking a bludgeon to the forehead. 8′D Holy shit!

Especially because Murata somehow reached peak h0rny in the interim to proudly show off all of Garou’s ahem, assets in full glory. Murata has no chill!! D8 Anyway, I think my brain was fried for a week; I was too buzzed to properly sleep straight. And yes, Murata made the grueling wait for more Garou content totally worth it. 8′D

6. Unadapted webcomic territory now, but his badass line/entry with ‘your case of emergency just happened.’ While ripping through BS, utterly destroying GS, and yes, saving Tareo once again in grand, feral dramatic fashion. :3

How hilarious that his grand ‘monster debut’ was him actually uhhhhhh....saving a kid from a hostage situation and dramatically violently defeating the other monsters who threatened him, whom the other heroes couldn’t even win against. (Only to go ‘ayy heroes~ come at me and I’ll demonstrate to you why your hero marks fail to pass my test.’) Like oh my god, does Garou still not realize what he’s actually doing?! D8 Saitama, halp knock some cathartic sense into him! And for the most part, I find his fight with Saitama more tragic and painful to witness than anything, as his desperation grows and meets a figurative brick wall, mentally speaking. (So you won’t see me ‘cheering’ like some other fans might during his ‘beatdown,’ because that ‘punishment’ only breaks his will to live. Not fun. :O) But rest assured I will be right there frothing at the mouth to witness how awesome and unforgettable Murata intends to deliver this too. Particularly for that ‘case of emergency’ moment above (if/when manga Tareo somehow gets captured again for the battle), awesome moments like that are sure to make me go feral to finally see them in Murata’s style. 8′D

7. But!! There’s hope, because his moment of realization and clarity, where it all finally and silently sinks in, seeing the light after Tareo saves him and helps him understand who his true self has been all along - whom he had been denying and rejecting all this time - now that, is just beautiful. :’3

One of the best long-awaited payoff moments to see adapted in full glory for sure. I am prepared to be emotionally destroyed for this whole ‘eye scene’! So ONE & Murata, do your worst!!

8. His return in the webcomic’s ch133. ;A; And ONE, just knew how to deliver the suspense (even Murata was hyped) and make Garou’s long-awaited face reveal brilliant, beaming, and perfect. Hhuhuuhu pretty sure I cried from the compounded joy, familiar relief seeing how -it’s him-, and...the later sense of devastation from seeing the cycle of injustice happen to him all over again. :’)) (Which he silently shoulders and walks away from like a champ~) Anyway, you can still read/relive my whole first blind ch reaction here~

[stellar-imagines]

HEADCANONS REQUEST: ❝taking a hit.❞

[ Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia ] [ Characters: Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki, Kirishima Eijirou ]

「Headcanons of Midoriya, Bakugou and Kirishima reacting to their S/O taking a hard hit for them in battle and it puts them in such a bad state that they have to stop fighting and becoming a hero entirely.」

MIDORIYA IZUKU

♤ His initial reaction was to be expected. He was scared. When it came to the heat of the battle, there's always adrenaline pumping within his body and his senses became a bit sharper than usual. But he was so focused on the enemy and trying to create a chance to attack them that he forgot to watch his back. He had cursed himself for getting too cocky and forgetting that the enemy was able to strike from behind as well. Midoriya had turned around in an instant but he knew that he was too late. He thought he was a goner until you stepped in and took the hit for him. The blood that splattered onto his suit and the ground made him sick.

♤ Tears were accumulating on his eyes and after blinking once, it flowed endlessly. The villain was taken care of with the help of backup but Midoriya could care less about them right now. He never felt such intense pain before. The pain wasn't from the cuts he had on his entire body. He never felt so hopeless before. Midoriya could've done something to prevent this from happening. At this point, there was nothing he could do but wait and pray for you to recover without any major issues.

♤ When the news came, he was so devastated and he would apologize to you so many times. Midoriya blames himself so hard that you have to remind him every time that it was no his fault. Every time he sees you, he's reminded of that day where he failed to protect you. Now that you're unable to continue your hero duties, he's the one who has to work hard. Well, it's not like you don't have enough money or anything. You were so passionate about becoming a hero and he sees himself in you. He knows what it feels like to be told that you can never become a hero. Midoriya would provide comfort and tell you that you were still a hero, you had saved him after all.

♤ You didn't want him to carry the burden all on his own. You missed being a hero because it was your childhood dream job and you were really devastated that you couldn’t continue the job you loved. But, you didn’t really need it. You had Midoriya, your loving boyfriend who always supported you and you didn’t want to lose him. You decided to confront him on one day, ensuring that he had it drilled into his mind — he wasn’t at fault. Baby boy would probably cry a river and cuddle you until he falls asleep.

BAKUGOU KATSUKI

☆ Bakugou would be terrified. It wasn’t supposed to happen. He had vowed to be strong enough to protect everyone, win against villains, and protect people. Was all that talk nothing but bark but no bite? It happened way too fast for him to register. He thought he had an advantage until the villain's subordinate — that Bakugou thought he had defeated — rose up to deal one last hit before passing out. At that very moment, he had his guard down and was extremely exhausted after the intense battle. You had taken the hit for him and instantly fell to the ground. Clearly, it was a blow that was meant to take him down since it was enough to knock you unconscious. 

☆ He felt his own breath stop, guilt instantly overtaking him. He had been so absorbed in his fight and gotten a bit too cocky. In addition, thanks to the adrenaline running through his veins, he was only focused on what's in front of him. His arms were trembling as he carried you in your arms. Your hero costume was drenched in blood, eyes closed, your whole body hanging like a doll from his arms. Bakugou felt nothing but pain as he handed you over to the paramedics.

☆ The entire time you were hospitalized, he always came by every day. When the news came, you were obviously depressed. You weren't able to continue being a hero and just from hearing that, you suffered some mental damage. Bakugou blames himself because if he was more careful, you wouldn't be like this. Once you're released from the hospital, you often spent time at home. Your friends always came to visit and cheer you up while Bakugou would be out working as usual. He has ridiculed Midoriya before and seeing you completely mourning over the fact you'll never become a hero again makes him sad.

☆ He feels super guilty and tries to distract himself by drowning himself with work. It will take you some time to get over this and a lot of encouragement from different people. When you're finally back on your feet, you would convince yourself that you can't get depressed over this and that you should be grateful that you're alive today. You would confront Bakugou first, after noticing how much he had distanced himself from you. You would comfort him as he apologizes to you, hold him close, and remind him that it wasn't his fault.

KIRISHIMA EIJIROU

♡ You received a direct hit from the villain that caused your body to fall to the ground. Kirishima didn't realize his feet were moving and the next moment, he was already by your side. He picked you up and carried you out of the scene while barking at the other heroes that he needed backup while he recovers. He shook you lightly, calling out your name and hoped that you were fine. He frowned at the sight of you laying limp in his arms and quickly searched for a pulse. It was a relief to know that you were still alive but the sight of blood starting to seep from your head made him panic. He reassured himself that he would save you and made promises that you would be just fine. Boy was so afraid of losing you. He's always at the hospital, watching over you. Kirishima was reminded of how fragile a person's life was.

♡ Though he was relieved that your life wasn't really in danger or anything, he could see that you weren't the same as usual. It was natural, you were told that you were unable to continue your job as a Pro Hero. He wished so many times that it should've been him who had taken the hit. You had lost your dream, one that you had been chasing for as long as you could remember. Kirishima recalled the times your eyes sparkled whenever you were out on duty and the excitement in your eyes when you're out on missions. He knows that there's no use getting depressed himself. He had to be by your side and support you through your rehabilitation. 

♡ Kirishima tries to be happy for your sake and honestly, he does a good job at it. He knows how much you loved being a hero and he also knows that you were a strong person. It will take some time for you to get over the incident but Kirishima will be there with you as much as he can. Even after you've finally let reality sink in, you weren't the only one affected by this. Your boyfriend seemed to be blaming himself behind your back. You found out when he starts crying happy tears, knowing that you're finally feeling better. 

♡ The two of you had known each other for so long and you weren't going to let this incident break that strong bond you both developed over the years. Kirishima feels guilty but that's to be expected. You would tell him that he shouldn't be. When you decided to become a hero, you knew what you were signing up for. You never blamed him for anything and you would remind him over and over if you had to. Sometimes you'd be insecure because you'll be forever known as the hero who became quirkless. Kirishima will still love you the same and tell you that there are other jobs you could do.

Total: 1352 words Published: 08.08.2020

Thank you for requesting! ｡٩(ˊᗜˋ)و*｡ Got a bit too lengthy but.... Hope you liked it! ― author Lou

Thank you for requesting it! Was this supposed to be angsty? No right? But we hope you enjoyed this! ― author Natsuki

Requests are open! Matchups are closed!

Please do not mind the grammar mistakes and typos.

[runningdownthatroad]

I just have to get this off my chest after seeing some very disturbing posts about 9/11 floating around on my dash as well as some truly crude commentary. A lot probably won't agree with my sentiments but I feel like this needs to be said.

I've seen a lot of things on Tumblr in the past that maybe I consider to be in poor taste or don't agree with but I usually just scroll past, sometimes block for curating sake, but today is the first time I truly was shell-shocked. To see the memes and blasé jokes people are making about this day are just absolutely horrific and appalling.

I get that a lot of people on this site now may not remember what happened that day and only learned second hand through school or media or other people telling them. I get that a lot occurred after this that wasn't right which we definitely should be learning from. I also get that there is a lot of anti-American and anti-white sentiments going around currently, especially on this site.

But here's the thing:

Not only Americans died that day. Not only white people died that day. That's the thing about terrorists and what these hijackers did: they don't care about your skin color, your culture, your religious preference, your sexual orientation, your gender orientation, your age, your economic status, your personality, whether you support them or not, your political persuasion, your job, or any of it. Everyone is fair game to them. For crying out loud, look at what the Afghani people are currently going through and how the Taliban are treating their own country's people, women especially. If you think this is bad (which it truly is), have you seen how things went under their rule before 9/11 even happened? Do you know their terrifyingly violent and brutal history? Women had acid thrown in their faces if they didn't wear a full hijab. People were mutilated or executed if they didn't fall in line with the law of the Taliban. And this doesn't even begin to go into Al-Qaeda or Isis. But I'm not here to talk about that or delve into that topic too much.

My point in mentioning all of this is that white Americans weren't the only ones that were killed that day. People of all faiths, of all colors, of different countries, died that day, too. And the unity that is consistently discussed every 9/11 anniversary is in regards to us being aware of that fact, us mourning all of their losses together, and the collective desire to come together and help once the planes hit and after the towers collapsed.

So when people say "why am I supposed to cry over white Americans getting killed that day" think about that. Not only white Americans died that day. And regardless of their color, their nationality, their culture, their religion, etc. anyone dying is always sad. Whether it be a jetliner being used as a weapon that crashed into their floor or someone dying of cancer or someone being killed in a mudslide or someone dying in a car accident -- it is always sad. And empathy should always be shown in response, even if it doesn't impact you personally. Let's not forget these people have loved ones that got left behind, that are still here.

So when people say "if something knocks into a cow and knocks it over, I'm not expected to care, but if something knocks into a building and knocks it over, suddenly I'm supposed to care?" think about that. People aren't grieving two large pieces of steel architecture. People aren't saying "always remember those two towers". The WTC Towers were a symbol (yes, for American wealth, I get it) but became so much more of a multi-faceted powerful symbol after 9/11. The towers represent a way of life before 9/11 happened, but more importantly they represent the people lost that day, who were in the towers when they collapsed. For all of the first responders who were stuck on those floors still trying to help evacuate people to safety when the buildings finally gave. The two footprints and two blue lights aren't a symbol of American wealth or a naivete and simpler way of life pre-9/11 - they are a symbol of memorialization for that day. The Freedom Tower was erected to show that despite the loss of that day, we stood united (even if there seems to be more and more division these days). It's a message to the world that yes, destruction and death happened that day in NYC, but so did rebuilding and life carrying on. It's a symbol of strength, resilience, and unity - something that was everywhere you looked days after this event occurred. The two towers (aka NYC) may have gotten knocked down but the city got back up. They weren't kept down - that's the point of the Freedom Tower.

When people say "I don't understand, what is it that I shouldn't be forgetting since I can't remember it anyway" here is what we all should be remembering despite our age or our connection (or lack thereof) with this event:

2,997 innocent civilians died that day. Among them were 343 firefighters, 37 police officers, 23 Port Authority police officers, 8 EMS workers, and 4 other first responders. Also among them were 246 people on the four planes that crashed.

The passengers of United Flight 93 made a choice to fight back against the hijackers and saved lives that day by sacrificing their own.

Many children lost parents. Many parents lost children. Many brothers lost sisters, and many sisters lost brothers. Many spouses lost their significant others. Many lost friends, family, and loved ones.

For those who want a better connection to this day who didn't experience it and/or don't remember it, and for those others who are seriously lacking in empathy: yes, it was a highly publicized event due to the hundreds of cameras (including media outlets) watching that day, but if the horrific images aren't enough to garner some of your empathy, then there are plenty of other resources at your disposal. Documentaries like 9/11 by James Hanlon and the Naudet brothers, 102 Minutes That Changed America (which shows you not only all of the first-hand eyewitness accounts that day but also lets you hear 911 calls, radio transmissions between firefighters, and people's reactions to the event and each other who were there), 9/11 Firefighters (on Discovery Plus) and even more recently, 9/11: The Turning Point (on Netflix) which provides a 360 degree view of the events that led up to 9/11, 9/11 itself, and what came after, displaying all different viewpoints. You can read the 9/11 Commission Report or there are several books and memoirs out there like Wake-Up Call by Kristen Breitweiser, or even historical accounts in books, newspaper articles, and online. But most importantly, listen to people's stories. The ones who were there, the ones who saw it happen, the ones who ran in to help, the ones who lost loved ones. That is the most important part and the most powerful. On Hulu, ABC News ran segments of 9/11 Twenty Years Later, "Women Of Resilience" being especially powerful. It's hard not to feel a human connection to these stories or any kind of empathy.

For those who are making these jokes and memes, if you like shows like 9-1-1 and Chicago Fire, etc, imagine those first responder characters rushing into those buildings to save lives and losing theirs in the process. If you don't remember 9/11 or feel any connection or empathy, imagine hundreds of Bucks or Eddies or Bobbys or Hens or Chimneys dying that day as they worked to save so many. Sorry to be so blunt because I love those characters too, but do you get a little bit of the connection now? Do you feel any empathy? I'm not trying to equate real life heroes and sheroes with fictional characters of course, but if it helps you to understand a little better in some way, well...I'm throwing it out there.

I myself lived in the Tri-State area at the time of the attacks. I remember seeing the second plane seconds before it crashed into the second building. I remember the devastation I felt watching the first tower collapse knowing that a loved one was most likely inside and how hard I cried thinking he was dead. (thankfully, he had been late to work that day and he got out of the area before the towers came down) I remember the relief and gratefulness we all felt hearing from him to assure us that he was alive when he finally was able to get to a phone, stating he was covered in dust and ash from the buildings. I remember the panic and fear we all felt, thinking the world was ending and we were all going to die, that this was it, this was World War III, after it was confirmed that the Pentagon had also been hit and there was also a downed plane in Pennsylvania. I remember the grief another loved one suffered because she lost her entire floor (she had been out sick that day) and every single one of her co-workers. I remember the race to pick up children from school and get them home as soon as possible. I remember the rage that coursed through us seeing the footage of some people in certain countries celebrating the attacks in the streets, enjoying the deaths of so many Americans, a couple of these countries who lost citizens themselves in these attacks. I remember the camping out in front of the televisions night after night for a week straight afterwards, watching the news 24/7, worrying that there might be more attacks. I remember the feeling of sheer terror anytime a plane was heard overhead or seen appearing low enough in the sky that you could practically make out which airline it was for months afterwards. I remember seeing the lights the first time they were lit from our home. I remember feeling pure fear not only for what happened that day but also what came afterwards (not yet understanding that these weren't practitioners of Islam that did this but radical extremists who had literally hijacked the religion). I remember seeing the devastation at Ground Zero through a tear in the fabric over a fence as we walked through the city months afterwards. I remember not wanting to fly for years. I remember the anger I felt that our government had failed us due to political bs between agencies and countless others (which we found out especially when the 9/11 Commission Report came out) and that because of this horrific and absurd failure, thousands of innocent people had died. I remember seeing the crushed ladder truck, and the toy of the little girl who was on one of the planes at the 9/11 Memorial Museum and all of the pictures in that room that just floored me. (I also remember being pissed off that many were treating it as a selfie op where they were allowed to take pictures, completely missing the point of the museum's existence) But most of all, I remember feeling that life would never be the same for any of us ever again, and that the feeling of safety we had naively enjoyed on September 10, 2001 would never return.

But I also remember the compassion and unity we saw rising in the country after those attacks. I remember the gratitude for all of our first responders, those we lost that day and those who were still with us, actively working to recover those lost and to clear Ground Zero. I remember the feeling of collectiveness, that we all shared grief and showed support to one another in those days afterwards. I remember the fallen heroes and sheroes who ran into those buildings, who were off duty but raced from wherever they were that day to come and help. I remember The Man In the Red Bandana aka Welles Crowther (and many like him who worked to save others) who has become another important symbol of that day. I remember hearing all of the stories of people helping one another before and after the towers collapsed. I remember the good that this day represents. That while we may have seen some of the worst of humanity that day in the form of violence, death, weaponized airplanes, and devastation, we also saw the very best of humanity in the form of our first responders and people helping one another.

Look, did Islamophobia happen? Yes. Was it right? No, absolutely not. As I stated above, I myself feared the idea of the religion until I was educated by a friend of mine about the difference between the religion and extremism. This form of hijacking ideology can be seen in examples like the Westboro Baptist Church or even Hitler. Terrorists do not represent the true spirit of Islam no matter what the former tries to force people to believe. Just as the WBC is not the true spirit of Christianity, and so on and so forth. But even during the time I had feared the religion before gaining understanding and clarity, I never confronted or mistreated any practicing Muslim or Arab-American. Ever. I never posted hate or spewed vitriol against them. Just like with the current pandemic, I still cannot believe there are people out there attack Asian-Americans as if this whole thing is their fault. That's still mind boggling to me and it is absolutely 100% WRONG. It should not be happening. Same with Islamophobia. And it breaks my heart to read that many Arab-Americans and practicing Muslims still worry when this anniversary comes around that they may be attacked. It might not mean much, but I just want to say I am truly sorry for that and you have my full support. Always.

Did we go to war and was it just? Yes we did go to war. Was it just? Afghanistan? I need more information in order to have a fully-formed opinion but there are plenty who say yes and plenty who say no. Plenty who say we made things better over there (before we exited and the Taliban advanced) and plenty who say we didn't and only made it worse. I truly cannot say which assertion is correct and I think it would be narrow-minded and completely moronic (and possibly arrogant and presumptuous?) of me to speak on a subject I know so little about, one way or the other. Iraq? No, I don't think it was just and I honestly wish we could go back and do things differently.

But coming back to 9/11 and what this day means for so many, the people who died, the people who rushed headfirst into danger, the people who lost their loved ones. We saw incredible bravery, selflessness, and compassion for your fellow human that day despite what happened. We saw the strength within ourselves despite the fear and anger. We saw resilience. That is what the anniversary is meant to be a reminder of. The sacrifices, the loss, the courage, and the strength. Black, White, Gay, Straight, Christian, Muslim, Man, Woman, Young, Old -- it didn't matter. We all came together.

So regardless of whether it's the cool thing to do right now on this site (or elsewhere) to hate on America or 9/11 or white Americans or the anniversary itself on the very anniversary of these attacks, I ask that you please consider when posting these hurtful (and frankly harmful) words of hatred and vitriol such as referenced above that there are people out there who lost their loved ones on 9/11, that yes some of them may be on this very site and going through the 9/11 tag, and that some of them may have even lost a loved one in either war and are again on this site reading your words. Regardless of what you think or feel, please consider them and tag appropriately if you're going to post. Please consider that some of these people are currently losing their loved ones due to 9/11-related illnesses because of the cleanup at Ground Zero. Please consider that there are children who lost a parent or loved one, or who were orphaned that day (yes, they exist, we had some in our school district) who are also on this site reading your words. Basically, please just consider and be considerate. Please stop spreading hatred on a day that happened due to hatred; please stop perpetuating that cycle.

Like Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."

TLDR: Love and light, my friends. Love and light. ✌️❤️

[alitaimagines]

“you should let me love you. let me be the one too, give you everything you want and need. baby, good love and protection, make me your selection. show you the way love supposed to be. baby, you should let me love you.” 

character: keigo takami - MY HERO ACADEMIA 

note: sorry for all the Hawks! im just in a fluff mood for him. sooo, I might take requests after all. if any of you want to send something in particular, I’ll see if I can write it out! 

you had been together with Hawks for a few months now. 

was it hard? fuck yeah. did you regret ever telling him yes? absolutely not. being with Keigo was one of the best experiences of your life so far and you never wanted it to end. 

-

the two of you met after he saved your university from a villain. you were stuck as a hostage in a room with the villain itself. the class was filled with a bunch of students screaming, crying, or both but you were so paralyzed with fear that you weren’t able to say or do anything. 

once Hawks swooped in to save the class, he quickly defeated the villain before sending in the rest of the pro hero response team to grab everyone. 

you, being so struck by fear, didn’t move an inch. Hawks had seen this happen before and knew that the tears would be coming soon. your face was tucked in between your knees as he tapped you on the shoulder. 

“sweetheart, it’s fine, you can come with me.”

finally looking up, you seen the winged hero before slowly getting up. your hand trembled as you walked out of the university. a few of your friends instantly ran up to you as they wiped their tears to make sure you were okay. 

“lets get you to a medic,” one of your friends exclaimed as she slowly walked you to the paramedics. you still hadn’t uttered a word nor were you in the mood too. 

after your friends left you and the paramedic finally started checking you, they chalked up your frightened emotions as shock. they placed a weighted blanket on you before they noticed Hawks walking to them. 

he snapped his fingers as he told them to give you a few minutes alone, “I don’t think she’s in the right state of mind to be asked questions,” one of the paramedics said. he sighed, “I’m not asking her questions now leave,” he lectured as the paramedics finally listened and went to check on someone else. 

you were leaning up against the wall, your eyes still as hazy as they first were when he saved you. 

“you okay?” he asked as you didn’t respond. he sat next to you before sighing, “listen, I know what happened to you was traumatizing-,” Hawks didn’t even get through the first half of the sentence before hearing you bawl your eyes out. 

he watched as you hid your face between your blanket, “I could’ve died. my family could’ve had gotten a call that I was murdered. oh my god, how am I going to tell them?” you sobbed as you felt Hawks move you against him. 

“they’ve been notified,” he murmured as your eyes widened, “where’s my phone,” you yelled as you dug into your bag to see the 100+ messages from your family and friends. 

“call them in the morning, they know you’re okay but if you call them in the state you’re, it’s not going to help anyone here.” 

you knew he was right but you didn’t care. you immediately dialed your mom and heard her sobs racking through the phone as she asked you a million and one questions. 

“m-mom, it’s fine! i’m okay,” you managed to say as she tried to calm herself down, “c-can I c-call you tomorrow? I need to talk to the paramedics,” you lied as she agreed and hung up. 

Hawks saw you grip your phone as the tears kept flowing down, “thank you for saving me, I know you’re a very in demand hero and you probably need to get going but you saved me,” you admitted as he nodded. 

he had never seen anyone this shaken up before and truthfully, a part of him was disturbed. he saved hundreds of people before but for some reason, your reaction and you alone enraged him. 

Hawks never dealt with the aftermath of villains but he was going to make sure that the villain who did this actually served as many possible years as they could. 

“nah, I’ll stay behind and make sure you’re okay. don’t need you ruinnin’ off somewhere and getting hurt,” he replied as you shook your head, “it’s fine. I’m okay. I’ve received a few emails that I’m excused for classes for the rest of the week so I’m going to take the few days to recover,” you finally said without stuttering.

Hawks remained sitting as he watched you wrap the blanket around you, “do you have a car here?” you nodded as he finally thought of a way to keep an eye on you but make sure you weren’t going to noticed him, “I’ll walk you there,” he added on as you hesitantly agreed. 

you walked to your car in silence as Hawks held your backpack. your car was a bit on the beat up side but you were a college student, a brand new car probably wasn’t even in your financial means. 

you put your bag into the trunk before going to the drivers side and giving Hawks one final look, “thank you,” you whispered before getting into the car. 

he let you drive off for a few more minutes before deciding to fly and follow you to your house. he didn’t mean to be the creepiest person ever but he was just concerned about you getting home. 

your apartment didn’t look to be too far from your university but as soon as he watched you get into the complex, a sense of relief washed over him and finally decided to fly back to his agency.

-

it took Hawks a while for you to come around to the idea of you dating him. your fears were warranted though. you didn’t want to be so publicized in the media nor did you want any of his enemies coming after you.

you didn’t want to be in the hero field. far from it. so dating the number two hero was in the complete opposite side of the spectrum for you. 

there would be days where Hawks would just come by your house for a ‘glass of water’ in the middle of his patrol. you would be so adorably cute and make him not want to leave but he had people to save and villains to defeat. 

when you finally cracked down and accepted the idea of dating him, Hawks hadn’t felt so happy in so long. the idea of Hawks coming home to you and you greeting him with a hug and kiss basically projected him to cloud nine. 

that’s where you were now. it was a rare day off for him and you were cuddled up in his arms when he woke up in the morning. you were probably still dead asleep as you had a tendency to sleep without waking up to any commotion. 

you had your hair sprawled all over your face as he softly moved it away to get a good look at you. in a sense, you were like his own version of heaven. he didn’t even know if he believed in a God but if there was one, he felt like they placed you in his life on purpose.

Keigo didn’t really fall for the fake corny romantic bullshit but ever since becoming official with you, it was hard not too. you would greet him at your apartment when he stopped at your place after his shift and on the days where he asked you to go to his house an hour before his shift ended, you were there to greet him with a kiss. 

he truly never believed he would ever get the taste of such that life but here you were, in his arms peacefully asleep.

Keigo still hadn’t told you he loved you yet but he knew that would be coming sooner than later. he had no intention of letting you go now. you were stuck with the number two hero whether you liked it or not. 

it was already reaching ten when you started shuffling in place. he looked down at you as you opened your eyes and gave him the sleepiest smile you could have. 

“morning,” you muttered, “how long have you been up?”

he shrugged, “eight, maybe nine?” he estimated. your eyes widened, “that long? you haven’t gotten up to eat? would you want me to make you something?” you asked. 

“in a minute, I just want to hold you for a few moments,” he admitted. you gave him a kiss which he quickly deepened, “what has you so soft this morning? you’re usually teasing me by now,” you joked as he shrugged. 

“waking up to you this morning felt different,” he mentioned, “I’ve never waken up next to someone I love before.” 

your eyes widened as you grabbed his hand, “aw, Keigo, I’m honored. I know your life has been considerably harder in comparison to mine but you don’t have to feel like I’m going to leave you or something,” you responded as he nodded, “I love you too,” you said back making him smile. 

he immediately plopped you on top of him and kissed you again, “holding you this way is going to get addicting, you know that?” you giggled as you snuggled up to his chest, “really now?” you mocked as you got up, “well that sucks because I’m making you breakfast and you’re helping,” you told him as he chuckled lowly. 

you got off of him and grabbed his shirt before slipping it on and making your way to his bedroom bathroom. you and him brushed your teeth before he got into the shower. 

once he finished and put on a pair of grey sweatpants with a white shirt, he met you in his kitchen that went hardly touched. he maybe cooked once or twice in it? Keigo tended to order takeout and never did learn how to cook. 

you had headphones popped in as you took out a few things you bought yesterday and mixed them together before pouring milk. watching you do the most domestic thing ever made his heart flutter. it was like the two of you were married and in a way, he longed that this relationship would lead to that. 

“are you gonna help?” you exclaimed as he laughed, “coming love! you know you’re able to connect your phone to the stereo that’s in the wall, right?” 

he made his way over to you before giving you a kiss and helping you connect the music you had playing in your headphones to the speaker built into the wall. 

ALITA

[stillness-in-green]

I'm not really active in the MHA fandom or blog- but I agree a lot with your points on OH. To be fair though- I don't think weekly schedule in itself facilitate great writing imo b/c Mangaka's don't have the time to revise their drafts (they get usually max 6 hours of time to work on each page- everything from name to final touch ups- monthly authors get up to 2 days for each page), there's literally not enough time to think, reread or to adjust things. But I think Hori's reaching a point where it's not sustainable for him to keep at the pace he started MHA with. So he's cutting corners to move the plot faster- but compressed plotlines will come with executional pitfalls. That's just the limits of the medium when you don't have a dedicated writer/ don't have everything pre-planned. It's getting more apparant now, because we're in the final arc- and people are expecting pay offs to start happening. And in considering that the 'conversation' deku and OH had was supposed to be payoff on OH's character thread? It's a lotta waffling imo. I'm over it at this point- because If Hori is actually doing this because it's for his own health- then I'd rather he do that. regardless of whether I like his story or not- it's still his story- so the priority imo is so long as he's happy with his work- that's what should matter more. It doesn't mean it's above critque, or that we should all like it, not at all, ones reactions are one's own, and genuine in their emotions. There's nothing wrong with expressing such on ones own blog, and tagging it in the fanom. Critiques ultimately for those of us doing so, is moreso for ourselves, either those who want to work on creating our own IP, or just want some benchmarks to keep in mind in reading future stories and anticipating what actually appeals to one's own tastes. I just want to make a shoutout of all of that, cause I can tell some of the people reblogging your OH post don't get it at all and are too busy in the "I'm right, you're wrong mindset"- which is-realistically speaking nothing new when it comes to internet fandoms- but still missing the point of what you were saying. Unfortunatly- Tumblr's reply function is pretty much ass when it comes to anything of length on an actual post though. So hope you don't mind the rando tldr from a passer by.

Heya anon, I definitely don't mind the passer-by message. You're right about Hori's ridiculous work schedule. I complained during the war arc about all the breaks, but now I definitely wish he would take a few more than he has been. Not just for the story's sake, but also for his own--it's been AGES since he had one, it seems like. And in fairness, I can hardly expect him to make the time to do a bunch of research on e.g. the detrimental psychological impact of solitary confinement on his schedule.

In truth, the rant was mostly to get it off my chest. Normally, I save my most annoyed complaining for Discord, but sometimes when it feels like no one else is saying the things I want to see said (about Deku's motivations there, about the PLF arrests, about the MLA's views on quirk supremacy, etc), my motivation overflows.

Ultimately, I've been making my peace with the idea of jettisoning canon pretty much since Chapter 240 dropped and featured a Re-Destro whose characterization I liked considerably less than Chapter 239's Re-Destro,* so the idea of writing off the canon after a certain point and just writing the fic I want to write is something I'm very prepared to do.

Still, it'd be nice to be happy with the canon itself, and I really am hoping to be! There's so much good and interesting stuff going on in the series, really challenging material, and like many others, I hope that this arc is about really pushing Hero Society and its defenders to the breaking point so that they can see that the system they have does have to change--just to pick the obvious example, I don't want to see Hawks proven right that a system that could produce him and Lady Nagant is worth salvaging just because Deku is a good person.

Thanks for the message, anon! I grew out of the phase of being bothered by people who willfully miss my point or read me in bad faith many, many fandoms ago, so I'm not too concerned with the people in the comments doing that--I've gotten some very thoughtful responses and much more traction than I'd been expecting, so I'm glad the rant reached some like-feeling people! Here's to hoping Horikoshi gets some rest, and we all can find satisfaction in the story he's working so hard to bring us.

(*Regarding 239 vs. 240's Re-Destro, while I have my problems with how the MLA is being treated in general, the canon has given me more good RD material. I will probably never be over him calling Shigaraki "savior and liberator" and getting indignant about Shigaraki's safety GOOD SHIT GOOD SHIT. Also Clone!RD talking about the relief of only having to present one face to the world and wistfully reflecting on his group's sought-after Liberation as he falls into nothing I am still shook.)

[greasygyeom]

gigil | ten

pairing: Ten x Female Reader (Fluff)

words: 1.9k

warnings: might be disgustingly cute idk.

A/N: Gigil is a word used to describe the overwhelming feeling that comes over us when we see something cute.

At 1 am, with bare minimum noises in the background, save for a stray car zooming away in the distance and a blanket of stars overhead, Ten walked back to his apartment; feet dragging on the pavement, as they traced his displeasure along the way. 

For the third night in a row he’d had to stay overtime at office, simply because someone else had been too lazy to finish their portion of work assigned to them.

Had it been any other day, he would have pulled through without feeling this level of annoyance. Any other week, he would not have complained; he liked working alone, when no one was around to disturb him and ask him stupid questions. But the fact that this was happening during the few days your schedule wasn’t as tight knit as usual, was really testing his patience.

He’d thought long and hard on whether he was being too dramatic about it, because it wasn’t like he never got to see you—your off days always had his name written on them—it was just that off-late he’d been wanting to see a lot more of you.

For him, dating you had started as a breezy ‘hmm I’ll see where this takes me, I’m not looking for anything serious’, but had quickly and quite irreversibly morphed into an intense whirlwind of ‘fuck, I might love her’ and at the end of six months it had rendered him dizzy. 

He didn’t know when exactly he’d started to crave more of your attention, but on days it overpowered his entire existence. He wasn't yet used to the out of the blue pangs of wanting to hug you until you fell asleep in his arms, but he loved the warm and fuzzy feeling thoughts like these left him with.

On most days he could prioritise his work over his neediness for you. Today though? Today had been one of those days, where it had served as a roadblock between what he had to do and what he really wanted to do. Instead of being in bed, cuddled with you, watching a cute coming of age movie, he had to stay back and redraw the anatomy for a new character because some of his peers were incompetent. 

Half an hour of brooding and a long silent walk later, he finally reached his building. On his last call you had already been yawning, so he assumed you were fast asleep and entered the apartment as quietly as he possibly could… only to find you lying on the floor.

His heart dropped down to his stomach as the worst, most horrible thoughts of you being injured and unconscious and him being too late in taking you to the hospital clouded his mind.

His panic lasted only about 30 seconds though, until he switched on the lights and it unravelled a completely different story.

You were passed out on the floor alright, but because you’d fallen asleep cuddling with his cat. He didn’t see the cat because your back was facing the entrance. Louis had fit himself comfortably in the crevice of your concave form, lying curled up, snug next to your stomach and was using your arm as a pillow.

Ten’s heartbeat slowed down with the realisation that you were indeed alive and okay and he breathed in a sigh of relief, giggling fondly at the sight of you two sleeping so peacefully; completely unaware of his presence. 

He was kinda jealous of Louis, which was an insane thought, but he wanted in on what looked like a super cozy cuddle session.

Of course, he had to grab his phone and take some pictures first—how could he pass off this opportunity to stock up on some free serotonin. But as soon as he was done taking photos from every angle, he sat on the floor next to you, your back towards him, and rested his chin on your waist. It was a challenge to not kiss the sliver of skin peeking through, from between your shirt and boxers and an even bigger challenge to not wake you up.

He extended an arm to pet Louis, but the cat wasn’t having any of it. 

Within minutes Louis was out of sight and reach and it was just the two of you, on the cold floor. With no cat to disturb, his attention naturally wandered over to you. It was too tempting to not kiss your bare skin. Your hands were tucked under your head, like a makeshift pillow; sooner than later you were bound to get uncomfortable—it only made sense to wake you up. It was definitely not because you looked too cute and he couldn’t stand not being able to squish you. 

“Baby” he whispered softly, “Wake up.” 

You stirred at the sound of his voice, pushing your body towards him, but not really moving.

He had the widest grin plastered on his face, just looking at you. “Let’s go to bed, you’re sleeping on the floor.”

You hummed in response, too lethargic to actually move and also just a scat annoyed.

When he stroked your cheek, you shivered under his touch, goosebumps forming all over your body. His touch was electric. 

Feeling a bit smug about the reaction he just elicited out of you, he pulled your shirt up, just enough to expose your waist, and planted soft kisses alongside your ribs.

You squirmed with every kiss, until you were wide awake and sitting upright, fighting him off.

“Why why why” he giggled, as you pushed him away.

“Why!! Look at the tiiime.” You whined, not letting him have his way for the 800th time.

His face fell, “I know baby, I’m sorry. If it makes you feel better, I was really sulky the whole time I was there and not here.”

“No, that does not make me feel better.” You replied, “I don’t want you to sulk when you’re working.”

“Ayee you can’t have both.” 

“Both what?”

“Be mad at me and not let me be mad at my work.”

“I’m not mad at you.” You pouted, crawling into his lap, “I just really missed you.”

There was something so soothing about your presence, something he couldn’t really explain. He held you tight and buried his head in the crook of your neck, taking in the faint vanilla-esque scent you naturally emanated. 

“I missed you too, baby.”

You ran your fingers through his brownish-blonde hair, your heart skipping beats every time you felt his hot breath on your skin. You weren’t one to feel ticklish easily at all, except for under his touch. It was a phenomenon that perplexed you too. So when he slipped his hand under your shirt, to feel your skin, you shivered again. 

He raised his head and gave you a knowing, smug smile.

God he was so infuriating with how attractive he looked when he smiled like that.

“You’re lucky you’re this cute.”

He grinned even wider. “Oh? What’s that? You think I’m cute?”

“Yeah, I think you’re very cute. What of it?”

The cutest laugh escaped his lips and he cupped your face, “I think you’re cuter, now please kiss me.” 

He puckered his lips and in anticipation, closed his eyes, deliberately acting like a cringey young adult rom-com hero, but two could play that game, right?

You pecked him on his cheek instead. 

His dramatic reaction sent you into a fit of laughter and the whole time you were trying to contain yourself, he was gazing at you as if nothing else existed in his world, with the goofiest, most endearing smile on his face. 

He’d never told you he loved you—even though it’s all he’d thought about the past couple of days—partly because he was scared and partly because he didn’t want to scare you away. 

But the way you made his whole being melt into a mush of happiness, made him not want to hold it in anymore.

“Hey,” he interrupted your hysterics in a serious tone, causing you to stop and look at him. You couldn’t match the intensity in his eyes, but it sparked a wildfire at the pit of your stomach.

“I love you”

Did you hear that right? Did he say he loved you? 

“You what?”

“I love you.” 

You beamed ecstatically. “Good, ‘cuz I love you too.”

“Oh thank god” he exhaled in relief, but before he could finish that sentence you had him caught up in a long, sweet kiss that knocked the wind out of his lungs. 

In the dead of the night, you could only hear his soft moans as you bit and sucked on his lower lip. His hands wandered all over your body, grabbing and teasing you, while you focused on how he tasted like liquor and chocolate, without having any. 

Everything about him was intoxicating. 

“Let’s go in”, he signalled towards his room, when you finally parted away from him.

You looked delectable with your messy hair and slightly swollen lips. Ten wanted to devour you.

“Ohhhhh Mr. Lee why do you want to take me into your bedroom at 2:30 AM.. What are your intentions?” 

“To show you how much I love you.” he seduced, “Will you let me?”

“I’ll let you do whatever you want, baby” you replied, getting up and holding your hand out to help him.

“I wonder what good deeds I did to have found you in my life.”

You rolled your eyes as you walked towards his room. “And I wonder the exact opposite.”

He gasped. “Is that how it is huh? I guess you’ll never find out how much I love you then.”

“Aww.” You chuckled, closing the distance between you, “It’s okay, I can show you right here how much I love you instead?”

“No, I can feel Louis looking at us and I’m not about to traumatise my son. So, I’m gonna give him some treats and be right in.”

“Fifteen minutes or I’m going to sleep.”

“I’ll take five.”

“You and I both know you need at least fifteen minutes with Louis.”

How does this woman know me so well, he thought to himself walking over to where his cat was perched. 

“What do you think, Louis? Did I do the right thing” Ten whispered, nuzzling his nose in the fluffy fur. 

Louis meowed.

“Yeah, I think so too. She’s really great isn’t she.” 

Louis meowed again, making him chuckle.

While pouring some dry food in the bowl for his cat he realised he actually hadn’t eaten anything since afternoon, yet he felt full… full of this happiness and a kind of contentment that he’d never experienced before. He cringed at this disgustingly sappy thought and made his way back to you, into the bedroom. 

You were sprawled on the bed, already asleep, not even having managed to get under the blanket.

“So cute”, he fondly murmured, as he got in bed too and encompassed you completely in a hug—his arms now wrapped around your waist and one leg overlapping both of yours.

You stirred, but he pulled you in closer,

“It’s okay, go back to sleep baby.”

He heard a little affirmative hum and you turned around to face him—eyes half closed—to give him a tiny peck on his lips and then hid your face in his chest. 

You started falling back into your world of dreams and he fell right in with you, following you through a field of daisies, admiring your beauty as the sun glowed on your face; just like he would if you were awake. And tell you a thousand times over how beautiful he thought you were and love you and kiss you until you fell right back into his arms at the end of every night. 

There was something so sweet about that feeling, it made you smile and you thought yeah… it seemed like a good way to spend the rest of your life.

[unnursvanablog]

Vincenzo / kdrama review

This is just my opinions on the kdrama Vincenzo. Thoughts below are pretty much spoiler free, but if there are spoilers, I will put up a spoiler warning first.

It is always fun when any form of media completely surprises you and sweeps you of your feet, and just exceeds all your expectations. With Vincenzo I was expecting something very melodramatic, boring and quite typical legal drama that I would stop watching for a few episodes because I was dying of boredom but what I got was the exact opposite of that. It was so off-kilter.

The drama actually sounds as crazy as it sounds on paper and yet I don't think the description does it justice. Usually, I do not like such makjang type dramas or over the top soap opera style shows, but here it is done with so much humor and skill so instead of getting on my nerves I got this weird mix of soap opera, thriller, and comedy and then a group of weird, flawed and morally gray characters. It is a weird mix, but it works surprisingly well together. There is a good balance between all these different factors, and it makes quite a cohesive story.

Despite all the laughs and the absurdity that the drama throws at us, it never seems as if it is mocking the story or this soap opera world that is had crafted around it. It's more playing with it and really take advantage of it. smart. Because it takes itself quite seriously with it tone, and yet it does not because it's main goal seems to be making the most entertaining story, and achieving that is not easy. It's shows a certain strength within the story and the vision the people behind it had. And that shines quite clearly within the story and makes Vincenzo quite stylish.

The story goes in circles a bit. Sometimes things just seem to happen just because the story needs them to happen just for it to move forward. Some things feel too convenient but the show seems to be very aware of it that you kinda don’t question it too much. It feels wonderfully self-aware of it's genre, which also helps you suspend your disbelief and keeps you thoroughly  entertained while even the most convenient plot points are happening. The story sort of manages to be logical within this small world it has created.

It plays with the soap opera formula and the clichés that comes with those stories and tales of the mafia, to take the story and comedy to another level, making things more exciting, crazier, without making fun of it. It has all done to entertain us or to provoke sort of reaction out of the audience.

But I think it is the characters that really make this show what it is. They are just so fun or interesting! Every single character, whether they are supporting characters or not, have their own quirks and darker sides, although to varying degrees. They are all quite ridiculous and complex in their own way.  

Our hero Vincenzo is more of an anti-hero and even the antagonist gets some nuances and quirks that even if you sort of hated them you also enjoyed watching them. I have personally not enjoyed a villain in a kdrama this much for quite some time. They brought so much tension, drama, and comedy into the show that I was almost more excited to see what they would do more than our protagonist.

The same goes with the supporting cast. I enjoyed every scene, every little side-plot that they had going on, which does not always happen. Sometimes they feel like fillers to extend the story for no good reason, but here the supporting characters get to control both the humor of the episodes but also the heart of the show. They all felt important, flawed, and interesting in their own way. They are not just comic-relief,

The romance in Vincenzo is slow and never takes over much of the story itself, although it is very often lingering in the background and the drama is always alluding to it. However, it is never the center of the drama. It is not the main story or focus, and I have to say for my part I am usually fonder of a slow-burning romance and that really worked well here with everything else going on. I love some good pining and longing because the character does not want to admit that they are in love or have not realized it. And there was more than enough of that in Vincenzo. Both are learning to trust others and become good people. Although no one is really a good person in this show.

Do I feel like the drama could gave allowed Chae Young to save herself a little more instead of always having Vincenzo come and save the day and the drama itself had a tendency to rely a little too much on the charm and the visuals of Song Joongki for my taste. It became a bit too repetitive after a while.

Vincenzo is a style of kdrama that I rarely see. And although it contains many basics of soap opera storytelling and other types of kdramas out there, I feel it does stand out because I have never quite seen this mixture before. No matter what the drama did it was always exciting to see what happened next and it always kept me surprised even though I thought the story went in some circles and brushed over certain things along the way. I never felt like they truly ran out of ideas to entertain me and entertain me it certainly did. It never really dealt all its cards.

Vincenzo is not flawless, but it is a hell of a good time. There is always this tension within it, you kept on wondering what would happen next, what these characters would do. You have no know what is going to happen. There is always a lot going on and so much high drama, such high stakes, yet still always so filled with humor. It was a real roller coaster ride from start to finish. 

Vincenzo grabbed me completely and did not want to let me go until the very end. I have not enjoyed a kdrama and the discussions that took place around this much it for some time now. And that is what I will take from it; it was just pure fun. It was pure entertainment for me.

[thorin-is-a-cuddler]

Hero

A/N: (Y/N) is Number eight of the Umbrella Academy siblings. Her power is that she can make people feel things when she looks at them. From pain over warmth to relief. It has been of help to her siblings many times aready. But sometimes it is more fun to mess with them. And that is easily done...

- Diego is having a broody moment in Elliot’s house after the dinner with your father and you are trying to cheer him up now. -

word count: 2780

characters: Diego, (Y/N) 

You found Diego lying on Elliott’s bed, a knife between his fingers, his eyes focused on the way he was twirling it around.

He didn’t seem very happy all in all. He had taken a real beating to his self-confidence from his father and you could tell that he was trying not to let it hit too hard to home. Yet it did. And he wasn’t that good at working through those feelings all by himself, had never been. Isolating himself from the others who were cooking in the kitchen was just one way to avoid having anyone else notice his gloom. While some of the others might think it better to leave Diego alone and let him sort it all out, you didn’t share that point of view. 

Quietly you closed the door behind you after you had entered the room. You wrapped your arms around yourself, cleared your throat and looked at your brother carefully. He was already looking at you, his lips curled into a very small smile as his eyebrows were raised expectantly. You could see and feel the sadness he was trying so hard to swallow.

“(Y/N),” He addressed you softly while looking at the knife in his hands again, “I know what you will try to do. You don’t have to. Go on, get back to the others. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

Sadly you sighed, your shoulders moving up and down very harshly. In your head, you tried to find the right words to say to him, just anything to get him some relief. You knew he didn’t like it when you used your power on him without consent and you could totally understand that. It just made you crazy that you could so easily help him and he didn’t want it. 

“Diego, I-”

“Really, (Y/N), I don’t want you to burden yourself with my- ... feelings. You always try to make everything okay for all of us. And you don’t have to. Some things we just have to figure out by ourselves. I’m just starting to understand that-” 

“Would you... shut up for a second?” You said loudly, frustrated by his endless babbling that only made it more and more obvious to you just how small Diego was feeling at the very moment. 

He stopped mid-sentence and closed his mouth with a gentle huff. His brown eyes were full of love for you, as they always had been. Still, you were getting the feeling that Diego really was changing. He wasn’t quite as defensive as he usually had been before the 60s. He was trying to work through his defenses to be able to openly show you all more of his love, compassion and trust. That was good. Still, he didn’t have to do it all by himself. Protecting everyone he loved didn’t mean he couldn’t be protected in return. 

With another sigh, you walked over to the bed and settled down on the side of it, your face turned towards your brother over your shoulder. He was making more space for you, a slightly tenser expression in his eyes now that he realized you weren’t gonna drop the issue so easily. 

“Listen,” you started, turning your face forward again to look at the nervous fingers in your lap, “what Dad said to you was ... it was ... “ 

Fighting with the words in your head, you looked at him again, despair in your eyes, while you saw the sadness color is own gaze more clearly now. 

“Diego, it was complete idiocy!” You exclaimed, anger blooming between your eye brows like a dark flower. “It was the stupidest thing I ever heard an old man say and you know that Five can say some pretty stupid things. You are a hero. You have been always been my hero. I mean, not just mine, but mine in a way you weren’t to others. You were so cool, you never said no when I asked you to pin my stupid Umbrella themed socks to a wall with your knives.”

He chuckled softly at the memory, a bit of his sadness making room for better emotions. 

“You always try to do the right thing.” You continued, daring to look at his face again. “You protect people. Not just your family, but other families as well. I mean if that’s not something to be proud of, what is, right?”

Diego’s lip was wavering slightly and you weren’t sure if that was a good thing, but it seemed to you like he was less burdened by self-depricating thoughts than before. You nodded to yourself and tried to decide whether it would be good to take his hand when he made the decision for you. It moved you when Diego’s fingers gently closed around your own, stopping your nervous fumbling and making you look at him. 

“And you think you need your power to make people feel better?” His eyes were glowing with fondness, something that happened more often lately than it had before. It was a good change. It was precious. 

“Oh,” you made, dropping your face in your other hand with a relieved smile, your cheeks slightly darker than before, “man, I wasn’t sure what the hell to say to make you feel better, but it was all the truth and I’m glad if that reminded you of how great you actually are.” 

Diego raised his eye-brows meaningfully and grinned at you. “Yeah, I know, I’m amazing, right?” 

“Ooookay, apparently that was a bit too much. Next time I’ll just use my power on you again.” You tried to get up off the bed with a laugh, when Diego pulled you back by your hand, exclaiming his disagreement loudly while also tousling your hair in a playful manner. You were pulling at you arm to get away, when you had an idea all of a sudden. With a smirk you focused on your brother and sent a nice little feeling his way.

He squeaked in a very uncharacteristic manner and pulled his arm back, letting go of your wrist in the process. You snickered to yourself as he gaped at you with an open mouth. This had always been your favorite part of your power when it came to your siblings. You could make them feel better, yes, that didn’t take much effort. But you could also make them feel other things. Maybe take a little detour and cheer them up in a process that took a little longer...

Diego knew just what you had in mind. And he was not in favor of it. That wasn’t very surprising, considering how ticklish he was...

“Don’t you do it.” You saw the glint in Diego’s eyes as he warningly pointed a finger at you. “I swear my revenge will be devastating.”

You barely were able to hold back a grin at his words, rememebering all the tickle fights you had already lost against your beloved brother. Once he hit the right spots, you were out of the game, unable to focus on your power anymore and closing your eyes too much to really use it anyway. He knew just where he had to tickle to make you squeeze your eyes shut and laugh your head off. That was one of the best and worst things about having a brother. 

“I can see you smile in that veeeery unsettling way and I tell you no. You will not have fun with it, (Y/N), I swear this time you will regret every single ticklish feeling you send my way because I will tickle you so hard in return you will- GAHH!!” 

“You are in a really babbly mood today, aren’t you?” You asked with an innocent smile as Diego started twitching away from invisible hands. 

“Plehease don’t!” He giggled when your power started stroking all over his ticklish spots. “Please no tickles! I’m a grown ass mahahan, (Y/N)!!” 

“Just a little bit of it right over here.” You grinned when Diego threw himself onto his back on the bed as your tickle mojo circled around his middle. He wrapped his arms around his torso in an attempt to stop the ticklish feeling, but it was useless. He couldn’t stop it and he knew that very well. He had always been your favorite when it came to using that special side effect of your powers. Probably because it had always worked so well on him when it came to a good cheer up. 

Laughing so hard his cheeks started to glow in a cute rose color Diego now curled into a tiny ball and hit the sheets with his feet.

“SthaAAHAHAHAP, (Y/N)!! I’M OKAY I SWEEHHEEAR I AM!! NO MOHOHORE BAD MOODS I PROHOHOHMISE!!!” He shrieked with laughter when your tickles reached his upper ribs, poking, prodding and scratching all simultaneously as you just sat there and smirked at your brother’s strong reaction to the tickling. 

“Oh come on, it can’t be that bad. This is bad!” You chuckled as your brother started kicking much harder when you jumped on top of him and added your own hands to his sides while your mojo focused completely on his armpits, keeping his useless elbows pinned to his ribs in an attempt to protect himself. He was laughing so hard his eyes stayed squeezed shut and his hair started to get real tousled from him rubbing his head all over the pillow. 

You were just pinching his ribs, when Allison opened the door and crossed her arms in front of her chest, clearing her throat audibly. You whipped your head around and lost your focus on your brother for a second. Enough time for Diego to grab you and pin you to his chest with your back against his pecs. 

“ALLISON!!” You yelled and immediately tried to worm out of Diego’s embrace so that you could get a good look at him again and continue where you had been so rudely interrupted.

“Oh, how the tables have turned!” Diego murmurred in your ear with a rough laugh and you immediately knew your were doomed. 

“Sorry, sis, but saving Diego is the least of an apology I can offer him right now after the way I acted during the... dinner.” She said, unusually soft, making your brother breathe differently for a second. He was just as surprised as you were. Positively so. 

“Totally accepted.” He said to Allison, unusually soft as well, making you start kicking harder again. This was ridiculous. Diego was the one who needed some cheering up. You hadn’t signed up for immediate revenge.

“YOU CAN START THINKING OF AN APOLOGY FOR ME RIGHT NOW, ALLISON, YOU HEAR ME!!” You were trashing around way too much, you knew that, it was futile anyway and Diego was only waiting for you to be too weak to fight back properly anymore. 

Allison chuckled and leaned down a little to direct her next words at you. “My apology? I won’t rumor you to be more ticklish than you already are, how about that?” 

Your eyes widened and your struggles died down for a second. You bit your bottom lip and said. “Yeah please don’t do that...” 

Diego laughed at that and growled into your ear, making it impossible for you not to giggle at the slight tickle his beard was producing on your neck. 

Allison chuckled as well and started turning around to leave the room again. “No, you’d definitely be a goner if I did that. Have fun, guys.” 

“No. ALLISON! DON’T LEAVE ME! NA- GAHAHAHAD NOOOO!! DIEGOOOO!!” 

You knew Allison had left the door open on purpose. It probably felt a bit like the good parts of home to your siblings to hear you and Diego have a tickle fight. The sound of the laughter of you two must have been quite nice and reassuring to them. Wonderful. Couldn’t they have had the same response to Diego’s wheezing before? 

“Oh, I told you, little sis. This is gonna tickle.” Diego buried his face in your neck and blew a long raspberry, accompanied by the general ticklishness of his beard on your skin while his hands were worming their way under your arms to heighten the ticklish effect even more. 

You were an instant mess, your laughter completely out of control as he wrecked you like back in the old days. You couldn’t say that you hated it. You didn’t, despite the struggle you put into your fight against him. You just felt too loved and cherished as his sparkling eyes focused on getting just the right spots and his playful growls showed how much he enjoyed making you laugh like that. Well, maybe you had been in need of a good tickle. Still, it was an outrage that Diego still called you his “little” sister despite you having told him time and time again that you were all the same age.

In an attempt to make him laugh again you tried to fight back by skittering your nails down his ribs when you saw an opening, but he had the upper hand now and easily pushed your hand away before it had the chance to weaken him enough. 

“PLEHEHHEASE!! THIS IS MEHEHHEEAN!!” 

“Oh, you calling this mean, sweetheart?” Diego chuckled and managed to pin one of your arms down to the mattress, proceeding to tickle you even harder than before with his free hand, five fingers digging right into the spots that made you squeal. “You know what’s mean, is when you’re helpless like this, that’s mean.” 

“STAHAHHAP!! DIEGOO PLEHEHEHEASE!!!”

“Just a little bit right over here!” He mimicked your words from earlier and turned you on your back to get at your stomach. You tried to get a good look at him to summon your powers again, but it was no use. You just couldn’t keep your eyes open.

Defeat had to be called when he managed to lift your shirt just the littlest bit and blew a raspberry right on your side. You were screeching with laughter, pushing at his head and trying harder than before to weasel out of his embrace, but it didn’t work. He just kept dipping his head down to brush your belly with his beard and blow tiny raspberries all over the sensitive skin, until all you yould muster in coherent words was “OVER GAME OVER SOLDIER DOWN”. 

He actually had mercy then, a sweet smile on his face, as he put his chin up on his hands and crossed them over your belly. You rubbed at your face and groaned. But despite trying to, you could’t keep from laughing a little more, making your brother chuckle as well and playfully bury his face in your stomach. That feeling was enough to make you squeak again which made him lift his head up quickly, a big smile on his features. 

“We’re a little sensitive now, huh?” 

You mustered your strength and moved closer to ruffle through his hair very wildly with both your hands, making him sigh dramatically and say “Okay, you’re asking for this!” before he buried his face in your stomach again and went back to squeezing your sides with his hands. This time you didn’t last ten seconds before you could barely breathe anymore and tried to pull his hands off of your skin, your laughter adorably tired by now. He moved his head away soon and took his hands off of your ticklish spots with a clear offering of peace on his pleased face. “You had about enough, you little toad?”

You nodded with a giggly wheeze and rubbed at your eyes as he climbed off of you, huffing gently to himself. He scrambled up on the mattress to drop on his back next to you and sent you an affectionate glance. It all felt way too embarrassing to you now that it was over and you hid your face behind your hands with a groan. 

“Don’t look at me!” 

“Oh, come on,” He laughed and nudged you carefully, “I get to win too once in a while, or don’t I?” 

You looked at him out of the corner of your eye and couldn’t keep from grinning now as well. 

“Attagirl.” He gently nudged your chin with his fist and your smile grew. 

You took your hands away from your face and quickly buried it in his chest, as you threw your arms over his body and snuggled up to him. He let out a loud breath when your knee hit him in the stomach, but merely patted it with a gentle laugh once you were settled and nestled. 

“Diego?”

“Hmm?” 

“You still are my hero.”

He made a pleased noise and entangled one of his leg with yours. “Even though I am a ticklish hero?”

You smirked into his shirt. “Definitely.”