#btw the steam goes crazy if hes feeling or thinking too much . it makes it obvious thru the puppet that something is going on

[attex]

fuckign love drawing him doing this (smoke machine)

[luveline]

baby blurb idea: first time saying a pet name to steve! and his reaction! maybe kinda from his pov? so more of what’s going on inside his head yk

love your work btw <333

ty!! ♡ tw burning | gn!reader | 0.8k words

Steve is a hopeless cook. He's trying to get better at it to impress you and this involves a lot of new discoveries. For example, if you wrap something in aluminum foil and then bake it, upon opening the foil there's an abundance of steam. 

Steam is very, very hot. 

Steve gasps and jolts, his arm smacking into his chest as he recoils. 

Your flinch up where you'd been haunting the kitchen  table, the book in your lap falling to the floor. "What? What?" you ask worriedly, jumping onto your feet. 

Steve tries not to whine like a baby as he sticks his hand under the cold faucet, his hand throbbing. You round the table and force yourself into the small gap between his side and the countertop to look at his burned appendage, a raised and red strip of skin along his right hand and arm. 

"Burnt myself." His frustration is evident.

"Branded yourself, more like," you say, your eyebrows pinching up in distress. Steve finds himself momentarily distracted by your proximity, your dizzying smell and the pout of your bottom lip. 

You take his elbow into your hand and pull it away from the stream of cold water. You look over his arm assessingly, murmuring something too quiet to hear before you guide it back under. 

"Does it hurt?" you ask. You backtrack quickly, an insecurity lining your features. "Of course it hurts, I'm sorry." 

He reaches for you with his dry hand and gives your fingers three squeezes in quick succession. 

"It's awful. You're gonna have to amputate it for me." 

You wrinkle your nose and laugh, sounding relieved when you say, "That might be a bit extreme." 

"Maybe," he agrees. He goes to switch off the faucet and you leap to stop him. 

"Steve, you have to do it for longer! Like, twenty minutes at least." 

His eyes go wide at your demand and you don't give him much opportunity to protest as you take his arm into two careful but stern hands and force his hurt skin back under the water. 

"I'm sorry," he says, sounding about as startled as he feels. 

"Yeah, you will be," you grumble. Steve watches your shoulders hike up as your tone softens. "You gotta be careful, baby. This could've been so much worse." 

Baby, he thinks. Like a pulse. Baby, baby, baby. 

Steve feels an overwhelming wave of fondness for you like he often does and has to take a deep breath as he leans down to talk quietly into your ear. "You worry too much." 

"I worry the right amount," you deny, fingers stroking his arm. It's hard to hear you over the din of the rushing water from the faucet. Steve presses in closer.

"Baby," he says, grinning so wide it aches, "I'll be more careful, okay? Stop frowning." 

"I'm not frowning." 

"No?" he asks, rubbing his nose into your cheek until you turn your face to look at him. He takes it as an opportunity to press small, sweet kisses into the corner of your frown, once then twice then thrice, pulling back between them to gauge your expression. 

"There, now you're smiling," he says. 

You pretend to glare at him. "Why are you smiling? You're gravely injured." 

"Who knows. Maybe I'm going crazy with pain," he says teasingly, dropping his forehead against yours. 

You blow a pathetic raspberry. "I know you're making fun of me, I just can't work out what I did." 

"You didn't do anything, baby," he says. 

He can feel when you realise what you've done, your wet fingers tightening around his elbow and your eyes slipping closed. 

"Don't be shy. I liked it." He meets your eyes.

"Did you?" you ask tentatively. 

He presses another kiss to your face, not thinking of where so much as how quickly he can do it, greedy for your skin under his lips. "Uh-huh." 

"I can… I can call you something else. If you don't like baby. If there's one you like more." 

He can't remember the pain of the burn as he pulls his hand from the sink and grasps your forearm, dizzy fondness clouding every sense. "Any of them is fine as long as you're the one saying it." 

You seem about as distracted as he is for a moment, your smiling mouth a hair's width from his. "Baby," you test, your breath warming his lips. It feels just as good the second time. 

"Yeah?" he asks.

"Put your hand back under the faucet," you whisper slowly. 

He groans and tips his head back, your sparkling laughter loud in his ears as he fulfills your request. 

[honeypiehotchner]

intelligence & issues (Hotch x Fem!Reader) -- chapter twenty-two

I’m liking this two updates a week schedule because I hate leaving you guys hanging like that!! I hope this chapter makes it all better xx.

Oh btw the title of this chapter and last chapter are lyrics from “Hold On” by Chord Overstreet! (Also I know the gif is irrelevant but the ~emotion~ of it is relevant)

ALSO (wow I have a lot I keep forgetting to add) I meant to @ her last chapter, but all of these medical scenes and things were 100% done with the help of @thedumpsterqueen​ because I know next to nothing about all this stuff and she was an angel and let me ask all the crazy questions <333 (P.S. she has a Hotch fic called Standards of Performance on her blog that you guys should alllll read if you haven’t already!! It’s SO good it’s one of my favorites)

Warnings: angst and sadness, but that’s pretty much it

Previous chapter || Fic Masterlist

Chapter Twenty-Two: I can’t imagine a world with you gone

Everything is a blur in Hotch’s mind before and after the first gunshot rings through the air. He didn’t need to hear the buzzing in his ear to know it had hit you.

He took off at a sprint, as did the rest of the team.

His ears are ringing. His thoughts are racing. He’s never been a man who talks frequently to God, but he’s praying. Hoping you’re alive. Begging you to not be dead.

Aaron would never forgive himself if you died. As it stands, though, he won’t ever forgive himself for this.

Prentiss, Reid, and Rossi take off in one direction. Hotch and Morgan take the other. Police officers fill the gaps and follow behind, everyone searching for you and Savannah.

Morgan is the first to stumble on the room. His throat aches when he screams for Hotch, keeping his weapon aimed at Savannah.

“Put the gun down!” Morgan yells.

Hotch comes skidding to a stop in the doorway a second later, weapon raised, but his eyes are focused on you. Savannah’s boot is pressing into your thigh, blood oozing from your wound, soaking your pants, spilling onto the concrete. Hotch’s heart drops at the sight. He’s seen enough bullet wounds to know how much blood should come from them. That is too much.

The bullet must’ve hit the major artery. And the thought terrifies him.

Morgan takes the shot when Savannah refuses to move. It hits her stomach and she stumbles for a moment before falling. Morgan yells for the paramedics again, distantly thinking they should be in here by now.

Hotch falls to the ground beside you, his hands cupping your face, not caring who sees. His thumbs tap your cheeks, willing you to open your eyes. You have a pulse, but it’s weak. Weaker than what it should be.

He presses hard over your wound, hoping to slow the bleeding, but there’s more surrounding your leg than he wants to see.

“Y/N?” He says, his eyes watching your eyelids for any movement. He lets out a momentary sigh of relief when your eyes open. “Y/N, please, can you hear me?”

You stare back at him, no signs of his words registering in your eyes. They’re empty. Haunted, again, but for a different reason this time. This time it’s different. “Aaron…”

“I’m here,” Hotch says gently, pressing his hand harder, his heart breaking when you groan in pain. “I know,” he says, shushing you.

Your eyes travel around the room then, and Aaron follows. Morgan is pressing his hand over Savannah’s wound, speaking into his wrist, asking the others where the hell the paramedics are at.

But Aaron doesn’t want you to see that, so he cups your jaw again, turning your eyes back on him. He smiles as best he can, the tears beginning to spill from his eyes as he takes in your face.

“There’s my girl,” he says softly. “Keep holding on. They’re almost here.”

“Aaron,” you try to say, your voice low and strained, and Aaron shakes his head, trying to get you to stop talking. “Aaron...I don’t wanna go without-- I need to tell you that I--”

“Shhh,” he tries again, not wanting you to waste any energy. “You don’t need to.”

“I love you,” you finally get it out. And he’s stunned to complete silence and tears. “I love you so...so much. It hurts.”

“Y/N,” he says, panicked. Your eyes are closing. “Y/N! Come back, Y/N, come back to me. Y/N. Y/N, please.”

Hotch is too caught up in holding your face and keeping pressure on your wound to notice the paramedics have arrived. One team goes to Savannah, relieving Morgan, while the other comes to you, trying to usher Hotch away, but he doesn’t budge.  

“Hotch,” Morgan tugs on the unit chief, grabbing at his arms, his heart breaking for the both of you. “Hotch, you need to let them get to her.”

Reluctantly, Hotch backs up, clenching his bloodied fist, grimacing at the way your blood sticks his skin together.

Everything else is a blur.

What does it need to be clear for, anyway? If you’re not here?

+++

You’re still in surgery.

It’s been an hour. But it feels longer. It feels like it’s been an entire twenty-four hours.

The entire team has taken up camp in a waiting room at the hospital.

Reid is reading and rereading every magazine he can get his hands on to distract himself, never mind the fact that he reads them so fast that he rips a page on one from turning it so quickly. Morgan has Garcia on the phone and has left to get coffee at least three times, the first time returning with a tray of steaming cups and the next two times returning with only one, but two tearful eyes. Emily has been pacing and will wear a hole into the tile at this rate if she walks for another hour. JJ has been staring at the wall, chewing so hard on the inside of her cheek that she flinches when she draws blood.

Rossi has been staring at the wall, too, but mostly he’s been worrying about and watching Hotch.

Aaron has been biting his nails, tugging at his hair, angrily wiping away tears, and left once to go on a walk before returning two minutes later, asking if they had heard anything. Those two minutes had felt like two hours and he was worried sick for all 120 seconds that he missed something.

Dave hasn’t tried to say anything to Aaron, though he wants to. It’s heartbreaking to watch Aaron like this.

You’re going to pull through. Dave — and the rest of the team — can’t afford to think otherwise. And they refuse to think otherwise, unable to imagine what it would be like if you weren’t here.

But it seems like Aaron is thinking otherwise.

Truthfully, he is. But he’s thinking about so much more.

You love him. You love him. You love him.

And he was too stunned to say it back. The one chance he had, and it might be gone now. Ripped away. Forever.

He sent you in there. He did this to you. He had his reservations, but the call had already been made. You seemed so sure. You wanted to do this so badly. He didn’t want another fight about him not trusting you because it’s not about his trust for you, it’s about how terrified he was for you.

He’ll never forgive himself for this now. Not ever.

It’s a world he can’t even bear to imagine. One without you in it.

Yet here he is, grappling with the fact that he might not have to imagine it soon. He sent you in there. He knowingly put your life in danger. And now he’ll have to live with the consequences.

+++

Aaron is shaken from his trance by the doctor and a nurse coming in to inform the team that you’re out of surgery and that it went well.

But you’re in the ICU.

“She lost a great deal of blood,” the doctor says gravely. “But we think she’ll pull through. She just needs to be watched closely for the time being.”

Everyone nods silently, not sure of what else to say, other than feeling relief that you’re alive.

“Visiting hours are long over, so I recommend you all get some rest,” the nurse says. “She’s in good hands here.”

“Thank you,” Rossi replies.

The doctor excused himself, but the nurse stayed, offering to answer any extra questions. “Visiting hours start at seven a.m.,” she says first. “And in the ICU, only two visitors are allowed in her room at a time.” She doesn’t voice an apology, but one is in her tone as she glances between the six team members.

“Can I stay?” Hotch blurts out of nowhere. The team member’s heads all turn to look at him in surprise. “Can anyone stay the night, I mean.”

“Uh, yeah,” the nurse nods. “One person can.” Her eyebrows furrow sincerely. “Are you her dad?”

Morgan internalizes a snort.

“No,” Hotch replies kindly. “I’m not, but I’d like to stay. I’m her boss.”

Still the nurse looks skeptical. “Would she be okay with—”

“She’s his girlfriend,” Emily blurts out, tired of waiting. And when Hotch sends her a look, she says, “What? It would’ve taken you hours to say it.”

“Oh,” the nurse chuckles, embarrassed. “I’m so sorry. Yes, of course you can stay.”

Hotch lets a tiny smile shine through, but it’s not much. Truth is, he’s terrified to see you. But leaving you here alone – even if this is a hospital – terrifies him more.

The rest of the team says goodbye to head back to the hotel for some much-needed rest, if they can sleep at all. They know they’ll wake every couple hours to worry about you before sleep consumes them once more.

In the meantime, Hotch will be here to look after you for all of them. You’re like a little sister to the rest of them, even though Morgan is the only one to have voiced that. You’re loved here. Loved more than you’ll ever be able to comprehend.

You’re loved by Aaron much more than he’ll ever be able to articulate to you. But he’ll try. He’ll try to help you see.

+++

Hotch is finally walking to your room in the ICU after another half hour of waiting. The nurse said they had to get everything settled in your room before he could come back, which only made Hotch’s worry spike even more.

But eventually, he’s in your room with you. A pillow and blanket is in the chair by the window, but he’s not paying attention to it.

You. You’re asleep, of course, and probably will be for a few more hours. The nurse said you had already woken up once, but because of the pain medicine and the overall stress your body has been under in the past few hours, you fell back to sleep almost instantly.

Tears well in his eyes at the sight of you, laid up in the hospital bed, IVs and wires all over you. The beeping of the heart monitor is the only real sign to him that you’re even alive. Your chest is rising and falling, but it’s barely visible underneath the gown and blankets and wires.

You have one regular IV placed on the top of your left hand. Some other line is in your upper arm, and another in your wrist. He has no idea what they’re all for, he just knows he hates seeing you connected to so much.

Aaron wipes at his eyes angrily. Does he have a right to be this upset when he’s the one who sent you in there?

He turns and sets the pillow and blankets in the other chair, knowing he won’t sleep tonight even if he wanted to. Instead, he pulls the chair closer to your bed, where he can place his hand next to yours.

And, if you happen to wake up, you can reach for him if you need to.

+++

Three hours pass and you still haven’t woken up. Aaron knows. He’s been watching you the entire time.

The nurses have come to check on you a few times, assuring Aaron that it’s normal for you to be sleeping like this. But he just nods silently.

He wants you to wake up. Just for a minute. He needs you to just open your eyes and look at him, just once. That’s all he needs.

But it’s wishful thinking as the sky begins to lighten, showing the first signs of dawn.

Aaron links his pinky with yours, afraid to do much else and risk messing up your IV. Holding pinky fingers is enough right now. Or at least, it’ll have to be.

“I’m sorry,” he says out loud, to you, or really to no one at all, because he’s not even sure you can hear him. “I’m just so...sorry, Y/N.”

Stupid tears gather in his eyes again, clogging his throat, stopping his words.

But he keeps going.

“It’s my fault,” he says. “And I know you’ll try to convince me that it’s not, but Y/N, it is and I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I let this happen to you.”

He leans his head into the palm of his free hand, tightening his pinky finger’s grip on yours.

“I love you,” he blurts it out, tears warming his palm as they cascade down his cheeks. “I love you and I need you to wake up because I need you to hear it. I love you. I don’t think there’s ever been a day that I’ve known you that I haven’t loved you.”

He sniffles, loud and body-rattling, glad he’s alone in this room with you because he’d never let anyone else see him like this. No one but you.

“I tried to get it out before, but you were already gone, and I— You need to wake up. I need you to wake up. Please.”

Aaron keeps his eyes closed and head down for a few minutes longer. He doesn’t even see that you’ve opened your eyes.

Until your pinky finger gently squeezes his.

He lifts his head quickly, eyes wide and wild when he sees you’re looking back at him, eyes glassy with tears and exhaustion.

And just like that, just seeing your eyes open and looking right at him, the dam breaks once more. He’s a mess of tears when he leans his head down onto the bed. You lift your hand and thread your fingers through his hair, closing your eyes as more tears slip down your cheeks.

You scratch a soothing pattern on the base of his skull, moving your other hand over your body to hold onto his arm. He senses the movement and lifts his head, grabbing your hand and pressing it to his lips.

He’s not sure how long he stays there, all he knows is his back aches when he straightens up again, and you’ve fallen back asleep.

Next chapter

[botan-shirabuki]

Soi and Mitsuhide SFW/NSFW headcanons 😭💖

I would get hit by a bus for these two. They don't have to be in danger or anything, just in general.

SFW

-They're generally very well liked by the people in town, so when word got out that they were together, most people were so happy for them. Soi's favorite grocer even gave her a congratulatory discount the day they found out. Soi gets embarrassed by all the attention, but Mitsuhide takes it in stride. After all, when you've got It...you've Got It.

-Soi is a total geek-ass dweeb nerd about food. Like, yeah duh, she's a chef but it goes deeper than that. She reads so much about food and how recipes work that she can list trivia off the top of her head. Whenever her and Mitsuhide eat together, she'll usually begin each meal with some Fun Facts™ about what they're eating. Mitsuhide is so wholly enamoured with everything she tells him so he just sits and listens intently. If he asks her a really good question she goes !!!!! And she starts to go off on a tangent. He has to remind her that they're about to eat sometimes so the food doesn't go cold.

-Mitsuhide kept his love for cats from her for quite a while. "I wanted you to have sex with me." When she found out, she started feeding stray cats along with him. Her cat voice is nowhere near the level of his, but she tries her best. She actually used to be low-key scared of cats after she saw one maul a rabbit when she was younger, but seeing a herd of them around Mitsuhide being cute and fuzzy and meowing helped her get over that.

-Once they get to Sakamoto, they got the opportunity to foster a mother cat who had an injured leg and her kittens back to good health. It was a really hectic time in the castle because the kittens ended up being pretty energetic and many of their retainers ended up chasing them all around. But everyone in the castle grew so attatched to them so some of their retainers and maids ended up taking the kittens home themselves once they were old enough. Soi and Mitsuhide kept the mother and one of the kittens themselves until [DATA EXPUNGED]

-Speaking of the cats, Soi gets to hear all of his corny jokes that they do. Sometimes he'll feed the cats alone so he can practice getting the punchline right before he tries them on her. The thing is, Soi finds the way that he tells the joke funnier than the joke itself. If he finds a joke particularly funny and no one else is around, he'll be chuckling to himself and then he'll stop. And then he'll think about it and start laughing again. And then he'll get her attention; so she turns around, trying to act like she hasn't heard him snickering to himself, and asks him what is it. He proceeds to tell her a joke that she's heard before (maybe even delivered better) but the way he's clearly trying so hard not to crack up and ruin it makes her double over every time. Mitsuhide assumes he killed that shit and they both laugh together. Everyone wins!

-he loves playing with her hair. It's so soft and is such a pretty color when it catches the sunlight. He often runs his fingers through it and will tuck it behind her ears and set it back in its place when it gets messed up by the wind or Inuchiyo. Sometimes if they're sitting outside together he'll start braiding it, though it usually unravels. He can only imagine what it was like when it was long.

-They end each day by talking to each other about how their days went over tea and snacks. It's such a nice stress relief for the two of them and a guaranteed way for them to spend time with each other no matter how eventful their days are.

-Soi has the STRONGEST legs from how good she's gotten at jumping to conclusions. She doesn't mean to, but Mitsuhide means so much to her that her mind tends to go all over the place when he leaves any questions unanswered. Mitsuhide has no problem answering them when she confronts him though. He thinks she's cute when she realizes she was being overdramatic.

-It's a whole part-time job keeping Soi out of danger, whether it's holding her up when she trips on something, or keeping her from throwing a gourd full of deer piss at some scoundrels while they're visiting the capital. Soi gets very embarrassed and frustrated by him always needing to save her or stop her bc she doesn't want him to think of her as less than, or as a child he needs to babysit. Of course, Mitsuhide doesn't mind. Though he often looks exasperated or stressed out by these situations, he admires how impulsive she is. He doesn't want to see her hurt, of course, but that look of self-righteous determination she gets before she does something without thinking is one of his favorites.

-Soi is a very Sensitive Soul, but she tends to hold in her emotions. They've had to really work on communicating properly so that they don't get hung up on minor misunderstandings. Especially after Mitsuhide absolutely slam dunked on Soi's feelings for him. And when she was down, he proceeded to stomp on them, steam roll them, panini press them, tap dance and then finally crip walk on them. She's still not over that so they're working through it. Mitsuhide takes extra care not to hurt her anymore than that, because nothing ruined him like the look on her face at that teahouse 😔

NSFW

-They're both the most stressed people you'll ever meet (Mitsuhide from work and Soi from raw, unfiltered neurosis) and they've become each other's favorite form of stress relief. Those aforementioned nightly visits often escalate very quickly.

-Growing up, Soi never had an actual idea of what sex was. She knew it was something that couples did and that it was a section of the bookstore she wasn't allowed in. So at first, she was very hesitant to do anything too crazy with him even though they were a couple so in theory it was okay, but she didn't know what it would lead to or what the end goal was, if not a baby. But then Mitsuhide made her cum for the first time and she was like "OH THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN MISSING OUT ON!!!!!" And she's been a bust down ever since.

-They both dedicate themselves to being the perfect lover. Soi has finally steeled herself to go into the forbidden section of the bookstore and pick up relevant editions of The Lover's Guide. She's that girl who practices facial expressions and flattering positions in the mirror. Mitsuhide also reads All The Books. He's learned not to take advice from Nobunaga, Katsuie, or Hideyoshi because none of their tips are really His Style™. He also often finds himself thinking about how he can use his training to better his performance.

-They both masturbate (also, Mitsuhide taught her how to touch herself) during long bouts where they don't get to see each other. When they finally get to see each other again they're both really bashful, but Soi will end up blurting out that she thought about him while she did and then she'll kick herself for letting that slip out because she doesn't want to come across as desperate. But after a moment, he'll be like "Oh good, I thought of you too!"

-They're very sexually intense people. The sheer level of smoulder between them is INSANE. It's like when they're intimate, it's as if there aren't enough things they can do to show how much they love each other. It isn't enough to just fuck her through the floor. It isn't enough to leave her covered in hickeys and bruises. Soi likes to feel like he's trying to murder her with his dick. She also tends to cry when it's that good, but it's never from sadness. Mitsuhide has learned to just keep fucking her through it until she's nice and sated again 😌

-While Soi does like it rough, she doesn't want him to say anything degrading or mean. Mitsuhide will tell her she's beautiful after he slaps her. Or he'll tell her how good of a job she's doing while he fucks her face. Positive reinforcement is key :) Also, he never leaves any orifices sore because he's learned the RIGHT way to do all this. And he'd never forgive himself if he hurt her in a way that was truly unpleasant.

-Mitsuhide never speaks a single word about what they do to anyone in the castle. He would never put her on blast like that bc it's corny. However, Soi does have Oichi and a few maids that she's close with that she confides in. She intended to keep it secret too, but of course she went and accidentally implied that she likes auto-erotic asphyxiation so the cat was out of the bag. As far as she's concerned, her business is safe with them, though.

-Ever since she has become Aware, Soi has become a royal tease. Nothing too dramatic, she just knows what looks to give him and how to move while she serves Lord Nobunaga's dessert to make his resolve and self control go *Roman Holiday noises*. He gets her back every time without fail.

-They aren't exhibitionists, but they do often end up fucking in risky public/semi-public places (i.e., that dungeon, on the veranda, in an alley at night, on a balcony, in an empty room in the middle of the day......if you fuck on the shores of Lake Biwa and nobody is around, did it really happen?)

-Mitsuhide is a switch, and they've toyed with the idea of changing things up, but Soi would want nothing more than to give him the equal amount of pleasure that he gives her, and she doesn't trust her physical ability to do so. She's also not that good with rope and dildos are intimidating. They've decided that it's best to let her lead the way and tell him exactly what she wants (which btw, took her SO LONG to be able to do bc she's got so many hang ups lol). It's really helped her figure out what she really wants and likes. And although she usually just ends up requesting that he manhandles her anyway, it's reassuring to both of them that she chose for it to be that way.

[thatpinkbetch]

So...I feel like my fic We’re all time bombs ended perfectly, and I don’t want to add onto it, but also, I had an idea of how college would go - particularly for Bakugou. I wanted to add it onto my post about my head canons, but it got...long. So *cracks knuckles* here we fucking go.

Bakugou ends up dorming with Todoroki

It’s not that bad....but it’s not that good. At first

They’re at odds all the time, because Bakugou is instinctively combative with this guy who clearly would’ve been popular if they were still in high school, and Todoroki Does Not Care At All about his intimidation tactics.

BTW Todoroki was home-schooled so he doesn’t even know what the fuck popular is. 

It’s a little awkward because that’s just how Bakugou forms friendships - he tries to convince them he doesn’t like them but over time eventually lets it slip through his actions that he does, in fact, maybe kinda sort of like them.

So it takes time but they eventually come to an understanding with each other - learn how to live together.

In the beginning of the semester, Bakugou rants to Midoriya about his stupid ass, pretentious fucking roommate and every little thing they do that pisses him off.

When Midoriya first visits, he does notice that they’re a little reserved, but he still thinks Todoroki is nice - he would never say that to Bakugou, though.

Todoroki hardly ever gets to know Midoriya because whenever he comes to visit, Bakugou immediately takes him out and they go party or hang out somewhere, usually with other friends from high school.

But he’s a little shocked at the stark difference between their personalities.

It honestly is what makes him reconsider his first impression of Bakugou

His first thought is “why would this person, the nicest boy I’ve ever met in my life, date this asshole?”

His second thought is “maybe he’s not a complete asshole all the time?”

Bakugou does seem a bit calmer after the weekends, so already Todoroki appreciates this Midoriya guy

When they’re less antagonistic later on in the year, Bakugou feels more comfortable asking Todoroki to leave the room so he and his boyfriend could have some ~alone time~

This means the couple are at the dorm a bit more often whenever Midoriya visits - he gets to talk a bit with Todoroki, but Bakugou really wants to keep these parts of his life separate, so he tries to not let that shit happen too often.

Todoroki does end up finding out that Bakugou is a pretty nice person from Midoriya, “he just needs some time to warm up to you. And...for you to warm up to him.”

After Bakugou and Todoroki grow accustomed to each other, they find that, by the end of the year, they would consider the other a friend. And when they need to apply for rooming for the next school year, and Todoroki suggests that they ask to keep their same room since they have the right to, Bakugou doesn’t say no. This confirms to Todoroki what he’d suspected - that Bakugou does, actually, like him.

They don’t hang out over the break, but they find that, as their second year approaches, they don’t hate the idea of going back.

And they do see each other - staying in a dorm all break isn’t fun, but for Todoroki, it’s preferable to going home. He also has a friend from class (another rich kid who lived in the same town as him and they were neighborhood friends) he’s allowed to stay with - Iida - so half the break he’s over there.

Bakugou doesn’t go back to his childhood house, but he’s allowed to stay with Midoriya over the break - he does with every break, though the summer break was exceptionally long, so he would occasionally go back for a week and see Todoroki hanging out there and be like “fuck this” and go back.

He was worried about spending too much time living with Midoriya, and that Midoriya would grow sick of him, but as time went on, that fear became less and less of a concern.

Anyways, they’re back for another year, and it begins much more smoothly than the last.

Half way through, there’s an incident where Bakugou comes back to see a child in their dorm.

“What the fuck is this?”

“Language, Bakugou. There’s a child.”

“WHY IS THERE A CHILD?”

Said child starts screaming and throwing things.

“OI STOP THAT, STOP HIM HALF-AND-HALF!”

“He didn’t start until you started screaming!”

“AARRGGHH!” He takes Todoroki to the corner of their dorm so they can talk “in private.” Finds out that this child came up to Todoroki and the latter couldn’t find any trace of their parents, and he didn’t know what to do so he took the child back to his dorm to wait for a more capable adult.

“Why didn’t you take him to the police!” Bakugou whispers harshly.

“I don’t like the police.”

“NOBODY LIKES THE POLICE ASSHOLE!”

“WAAAAHHHHH!”

“Stop scaring the child, please.”

Bakugou is steaming now, wanting to calm this crazy child down.

“I’ll fucking kick his ass, we’ll see if he calms down then.”

“Don’t even joke about that,” Todoroki says, seriously.

“Why?” Bakugou asks, sarcastic of course. “It’s how I was raised.”

“Me to, that’s why I know there’s a better way.”

Of course, Bakugou is struck by that - not only does he see Todoroki in a different light, he is also reminded that he’s trying to be a better person, and not get stuck in the same habits - his habits, his mom’s habits.

Without another word, he sighs, then goes over to the kid and kneels in front of them, and with his regular voice (not that soothing, but still much better than the shouting), “Hey kid, look at you right now; you’re acting like me. You don’t wanna be like the big scary man.” Then he points at Todoroki, silently watching them. “You wanna be like that nice man you went up to to ask for help, right? He’s nice and calm, so try being like him. It’ll be easier to find your parents that way.” And then...the child calms down.

Bakugou takes the kid to the police, Todoroki follows because he wants to see how it’s done - he honestly just didn’t know what to do (neglect will do that to young adults.)

Everything is settled, and when they go to sleep that night, they both see the other in a different light.

Yeah obviously Todoroki sees how gentle Bakugou can be, and that he’s not just rough and tough, but only Midoriya has been able to drive Bakugou to be a better person, so Todoroki is...pretty special. Bakugou feels connected to him through their similar experiences.

It’s the end of their second year, and Todoroki ask him if he has plans for living arrangements. Bakugou explains that his boyfriend is transferring - he just got in - and they’re planning on getting an apartment together.

“Oh, okay.”

“...Why?”

Todoroki explains that he and his friend (Iida) have been looking for apartments, and they found a three bedroom one for a good price that’s close to campus and the good grocery store, and he was hoping to invite Bakugou to live with them.

“...How much is it?”

“Holy shit.”

“Let’s fucking do it.”

“But...what about your boyfriend?”

“We can share the room, dumbass. We were going to get a one person apartment anyway.”

So that’s how the third year finds Bakugou, Midoriya, Todoroki, and Iida all living together.

Oh no.

Bakugou has actually had Iida in a couple of his math classes, and while he was annoyed with him at first, they too have come to an understanding - Iida understands that there is nothing he can do to stop his disrespectful behavior, but Todoroki likes him, so he must be a good person.

Iida is also astonished that Midoriya, sweet, kind, amiable Midoriya, is in love with rude, obnoxious, self-centered Bakugou.

He and Midoriya make fast friends - really, really fast friends.

It’s a little annoying to Bakugou, but he can’t say he didn’t see it coming.

Todoroki is also intrigued, because now he gets to see how these two interact.

Bakugou hardly treats Midoriya any different than anyone else, and they’re a little surprised, because Midoriya simply laughs and smiles him off all the time.

Todoroki knew not to take Bakugou seriously, but that’s because he’s Todoroki and does not care enough to ever be intimidated by anyone. But seeing Midoriya interact with Bakugou, they both realize that Bakugou just shouts and swears a lot, and when you learn to speak “Kacchan,” then he’s actually an amazing friend.

The arrangement works a little too well.

Midoriya and Iida and Todoroki get along swimmingly, and Bakugou is irritated by the sunshine that fills his apartment, but at least at night he gets to hold his boyfriend close to him and just sleep. I mean, they often times do other things, obviously, but Bakugou really likes just being able to sleep next to Midoriya, in their own bed, in their own room, in their own apartment, far away from his childhood home. It’s like a dream he never thought possible.  

The first time Iida and Todoroki witness the couple having a fight, they’re worried.

Midoriya does something that upsets Bakugou - he damages one of Bakugou’s wheels by driving too fast over a pothole - and Bakugou blows up. Midoriya apologizes, genuinely; it’s clear he feels very bad about what he’d done. Bakugou is still upset. He doesn’t shout anymore, but he walks out, fuming.

Todoroki and Iida try to comfort Midoriya, who looks after his boyfriend with sorrow, but he kinda just...waves them off.

“Do you want me to talk to him?” Todoroki asks him.

“No, don’t bother him. Give him some space.”

“I’m sorry about that Midoriya. You were very apologetic, I don’t think he should have stormed off like that.”

“It’s fine Iida, just because I say I’m sorry doesn’t mean he has to accept it. He knows I feel bad, but just because I regret it doesn’t mean he isn’t allowed to still be angry. He just needs some time to himself.”

They’re a little startled by that wise commentary, but then they start to understand how this sweet boy could love that rough boy - he has all the patience and understanding in the world.

The next morning they wake up and are relieved to see Bakugou and Midoriya interacting as usual - the former making breakfast for the latter (and also for everyone, but he never admits that’s why he makes a whole heaping of everything).

That previous night, Midoriya had gone to their room to go to bed, cautious, but where else is he to go? Bakugou is in bed, and he simply says, “Come here.” Midoriya goes to the bed and feels himself pulled into Bakugou’s arms, settling in for the night.

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

.................

“I’m gonna pay for it all.”

“The fuck? With what money?”

“I have some saved up. I do have a job here you know.”

“Doesn’t pay that much.”

“Like I said, I’ve been saving up.”

“...For what?”

“Eh, just something, I don’t really know yet.”

“That means it’s something special, you fucker.”

“...I was saving up for your birthday present.”

“...fuck you,” Bakugou says, hugging him closer. With a smile, Midoriya says, “Love you too, Kacchan.”

Bakugou tells him they’ll pay half and half, since Midoriya is insistent on paying since it was his fault.

The chaotic trio continue to visit every other weekend, and now that Bakugou and Midoriya share an apartment with Iida and Todoroki, everyone’s friend group is getting mixed up together.

I don’t really have any more they just...live together and love each other, and then they graduate and do their damnedest to stay near each other and live their best lives.

Midoriya and Bakugou really fucking make it. After all the angst of their teenage years, everything they put each other through, they’re finally happy together. They know that no matter what happens, they’ll help the other through it.

Okay NOW I’m finally done with this fic...this got really long and out of hand but I’m done thinking about this universe!!

[wildwandererdreamer]

Good Girl, Bad Girl, Wicked Girl by Piper Lawson Book Review

Date Finished Reading: January 27th, 2022

Stars: 5/5

Angst: 5/5

Romance: 5/5

Darkness: 3/5

Mystery/Intrigue: 4/5

Uniqueness of Story: 3/5

Humor: 3/5

First, let me preface this by saying I would never have read this except for Piper Lawson and her Off-Limits series. Piper has this ability to pull me into her books from the first couple of pages. Usually, it takes me a while to get into a book. But with Piper’s writing, I’m hooked right away.

A rocker-romance never would have appealed to me because I’m not a huge fan of rock and roll. I am a fan of music, though, so I think that’s one of the reasons I loved this series so much. I’m so glad I started the Wicked series. It was Wickedly good! Ha, sorry, silly pun.

I never would have guessed that I’d consume the first 3 books in this series over 4 days (and this was while I was working on crazy work deadlines, btw).

It. Was. That. Good.

I couldn’t get enough of Jax and Haley and their wild and incredible love story.

Piper did an amazing job at setting up their back story in Good Girl, developing their love story in Bad Girl, and then rewarded readers with a jam-packed ending in Wicked Girl!

The chemistry between Jax and Haley is insane.

FREAKING INSANE.

I loved their slow-burning romance and the twists and turns that went with it. Piper really kept me guessing during each book and honestly, I would have been hooked either way because I loved the characters so much.

I wonder why he’s here. I wonder what took him so long. I wonder what he’s going to do to me when I get off this stage.

Jax is such an amazing hero in the book. I expected him to be this annoying rocker who was into drugs and alcohol.

Not in the slightest.

He may come across as a grump and asshole at the beginning but not for long. Underneath that façade was a gentleman who took care of everyone at the expense of his own happiness. It’s quite satisfying when Jax finally lets go of the reigns and goes for it not only with Haley but in other areas of his life too. I love to sing and music is a part of me too, so I connected with Jax in that way.

But really Haley and Jax really complement one another in the books and throughout the three books, the development of their love story was pure perfection.

This girl’s my shadow. We’re bound together by a thread that won’t let go even though we’re opposites in so many ways—she’s bright, I’m dark; she’s new, I’m jaded; she’s curious, I’m closed off. But from the second I noticed her, I can’t unsee her.

“I can’t be what you want.” I expect her to protest or pull away. Instead she smiles, the tiniest gesture in the blackness of the car, but I feel it in every part of me. “You already are.”

I loved how Hayley was so independent and I respected the decisions she made throughout the books, especially at the end of the second book. I think I would have done the same. As a character, she really grew from the first to the last book. Even though she’s only 24 at the end, I feel like in a way she was acting like she was in her 30s. It makes sense though considering she had to learn how to be alone. She was totally a kick-ass heroine who followed her dreams and wasn’t afraid to show off her tech talents.

I realized being alone is good sometimes. Because no matter what happens, there are times in your life when all you have is you. And you’ve got to learn to have your own back.

A few more thoughts:

The band members were fun to get to know as well as Haley’s BFF Serena and her “skunk” dog named Scrunchie. Haha, that name cracks me up! Oh, and I love sweet Annie.

You have to go into this series not expecting a lot of stream in the first book. It’s definitely a slow-burn romance but I didn’t mind since I connected with the characters so much. Stick with it and then in the second book, you get a ton of steam and then some. I treated the 3 books as a package deal and didn’t mind the cliffhangers. It anything it kept me even more interested!

I love it when a hero has a nickname for the heroine, and in this series, we get two! Hales and Babysitter. Super cute and it was fun reading about Haley’s reaction to both nicknames.

I have one more book to go – Wicked Forever, and I can’t wait to read Annie and Tyler’s story. Whohoo, I’m so happy that I got to experience this incredible series at the start of the new year!

[hencethebravery]

If you’re listening to the OUAT podcast that @the-reason-to-sail-home and I produce on a bi-weekly basis, then you might’ve heard that she’s a tad bit obsessed with a certain S7 headcanon that we’ll most likely never get to see, but which I promised to give her. This is me fulfilling that promise. If you don’t like it, it’s not my problem, since it’s Tessa’s weird fantasy and not mine. I’m jk, it’s so fluffy all ur teeth will fall out. btw, if you’re not listening to @podeverafter, you effing should be, ok?

+ Emma Swan’s always hated Sunday nights, mostly because they are often followed by Monday mornings. It has been suggested that she take advantage of the unique kind of quiet inherent to a Sunday night—the feeling that the entire working world is just as content as you, bellies full with a good meal, relaxed on the couch with a book or a TV remote. That was an easy thing to say, if you weren’t an orphan or struggling to make your rent. Even after she started making decent money catching incredibly stupid, irresponsible criminals, she still couldn’t quite get the hang of the kind of Sunday rhythm she’d always heard about.

It was just the whole Monday morning thing, ya know? It didn’t matter how pleasant her Sunday, how idyllic the evening went—it was still Monday the next morning, and it always came too early.

If she could go back in time and talk to a post-Neal, post-prison version of herself, a young woman who had recently lost the man she thought she had loved; a child who would never get the chance to love her back in the same way she did and always would adore him, she would tell her that the misery of a Monday morning? The grating buzz of an alarm in her ear; the fact that the space behind you is colder than you’d like; the depressing thought of an empty fridge? Yeah, all of that and more—one day it would just be another sad thing of a very distant past.

Their alarm goes off at 8:15 AM every Monday morning, but it doesn’t really need to, because Killian wakes up at 7 everyday, if not earlier, and reads beside her until it’s time for her to wake up. In fact, she almost never even hears the beeping, since he turns it off first and wakes her up with a kiss to the cheek instead. And this is the kicker, the thing that would make her past-self straight up laugh in her face—there’s usually a cup of coffee sitting on her nightstand, the steam reaching towards the ceiling with an enticing wave.

It had been a bit of a shock at first. Not because it wasn’t nice; it was one of the nicer ways she’d ever been woken up in her life, but because it seemed just a little bit too good to be true. The “good things” never seemed to stick around too long when it came to Emma Swan. In her experience, if things were ever “good,” it meant that things were undoubtedly about to take a turn for the worse. While she could’ve just as easily talked to her husband about the uneasiness of the whole thing, she retreated to her fallback position instead. Had given him a bit of a cold shoulder until she came to her senses and realized this was a problem most easily solved with a few choice words instead of a quiet grudge match he had no way of knowing he was a part of.

“It’s not that I don’t appreciate it,” she had reassured him hurriedly, hands twisting nervously in her lap, “it’s just a bit too...”

His eyebrow rose in a kind of, “continue,” gesture, and she tried to ignore the complete lack of surprise in his eyes. Like all of this, all of her craziness, he didn’t really need to go much out of his way to deal with it. In fact, it was a bit of a stretch to even say that he was “dealing,” with anything. He just sat there and listened, patiently, like he actually wanted to.

“...Nice?”

It had sounded absurd as soon as the word left her mouth, and she closed her eyes briefly in mortification. “I just mean,” trying to smile her way through the awkwardness, “I’m not used to it. That’s all. It’s strange to think I can have this kind of thing now.”

“I know, love,” he answered on a sigh, lightly pinching her chin. “And I’ll stop if you’d like, but I just need you to know that you deserve it, Swan.”

She kind of hated the way she still couldn’t help herself from blushing when he said shit like that, had to turn away from the love in his eyes, the tenor of his voice.

“You deserve all that and more.”

It didn’t take her nearly as long as she thought it would. It was almost like the sharing her feelings thing actually, um, helped? Who would’ve thought. Anyway, a few months later and she’s not quite sure how she’d ever gone on so long without it. The feeling of him beside her, the knowledge that even though she’s asleep, blissfully unaware of the sun peaking over the horizon, he’s there beside her, awake and ready.

She never thought she’d be one of those people who enjoyed the domestic routine they’d fallen into. This well-orchestrated dance of kisses and coffee and sharing the same sink at 9 AM before work. Spitting into the same sink even—a distinctly not-romantic move, but somehow it worked; all those winks and nudges in the mirror, his hip bumping lightly against her own.

If they ever ran late, which did happen occasionally, as she had been blessed (or cursed, as the case may be) with an arguably handsome husband, and she was only human, the usual choreography of their Monday morning went into double-time, a swift and less graceful exit from their home by 10:30 AM. During their quicker mornings there wasn’t always coffee on the nightstand, and every once in a while she happened to skip brushing her teeth, but there was always an inappropriately timed kiss, as if there was no time for basic hygiene, but a kiss, yes, absolutely.

The way he’d gently pull her against him with her jacket halfway over her shoulders, his gaze warm and his grin infectious. “We really don’t have time for this ya know,” she’d remind him with a stupid smile on her face, only vaguely concerned with the unfortunate fact of her morning breath.

“We’ll always have time for this,” he would say breathily, staring down at her lips like they weren’t chapped and dry from sleep. When he’d say shit like that her life would flash before her eyes; like some sad documentary about some other girl’s life who wound up poor and alone somewhere, her entire life come and gone with no one to care for and no one to care for her. And then he’d be there, his own breath just as unpleasant, his lips pressed firmly against hers and she would suddenly remember that her life didn’t end that way, but that it was still happening. Every morning.