#does she think ao3 is niche does she think i wouldn't know

[pickapea]

fanfiction is so much fun i wish i liked reading it </3

[sarcasticbeanie]

odysseus! for the send me a character thingy :3

First Impression I read about odysseus first in my Chinese textbook as a wee child of like. 10? Or something? It was the "Nobody" story, and I thought nothing of it because it was. You know. For a class. I did think it was a funny story though, and I suppose my first impression would be "classic main character from mythology", and nothing else.

Impression now He's a war criminal. He's my babygirl. He's cruel and wily. He's my poor little meow meow. He would kill with no hesitation and excels at war. He's a draft dodger and longs for home. He's the Sacker of Cities. He's the Father of Telemachus. He's filled with hubris and had a solid hand in his own downfall. He's paid his price and he just wants to go back home. I don't know man I'm squeezing him and throwing him off a cliff but I'm also tucking him into bed in Ithaca. u get me?

Favorite moment Many... but I love the part where he shot an arrow through the axe heads and did the dramatic reveal. it is I, odysseus. you've taken my home, prepare to die. etc etc. There's a visceral tonal shift when war and bloodshed suddenly seep through the pages after dozens of pages with no active warfare and not much death ... it's good stuff. I liked it.

Idea for a story Concocting a sci-fi fantasy AU for the Iliad and Odyssey in my brain, in which there are spaceships and magic and godly-AI-run companies and cyborgs and impenetrable planets made of metal and firewalls. Demigods are cyborgs whose cybernetic enhancements come from one or more godly-AI-ran companies. Ody's skills now include hacking and programming, and the Greeks finally won by attaching a "trojan horse" to their peace treaty. Calypso is a deathly intelligent and powerful space mob boss whose henchmen are all androids, and she wishes to meet someone who matches her own intellect. Circe runs an exotic space casino with replicas of long-since extinct creatures, with only magic-users as employees. Polyphemus is a heavily guarded surveillance station with hidden company secrets from Poseidon(TM) which Ody and co. stole, leading to tragedy. has this been done? this has probably been done. but I'm basing it off my own OC sci-fi universe so this is. so so niche. and only for me.

Unpopular opinion I don't know why there's a sudden uptick in the need for characters to be morally pure and good, and I think the debate surrounding "whether Ody cheated" is. odd? especially since there's so much vitriol against the guy for cheating? It may just be me but I don't really get it,, I wouldn't have cared even if he cheated. Listen. Listen. There's no moral high ground in Greek myths. They're all war criminals and that's fun for me.

Favourite relationship 10 fics on ao3 and it's odydiopen. i love poly relationships. even if they have no basis in canon at all. but neither did telegony and it's still considered to be part of the epic cycle, now is it? but also: ody & telemachus. your son is grown, and you have never even seen him as a child. your son is grown, and he does not even know your face. are you still a father? is he still your son? you've missed every part of his life and then some, and now he is a man grown, with his mouth twisted in his mother's wry smile - though he has your hair and eyes, you cannot see yourself in the tilt of his head, or the gentle crinkle in his brows. but now there's time to learn of him, now there's time to hold him in your arms - there is time, you are home, and that is what's important.

Favourite headcanon He would've loved the GPS. RIP my guy. All jokes aside I don't think I have one? Feel free to tell me any of yours though. Please.

[dreamcrow]

I need some Hot Crow Takes on what was the worst example of Villain Decay throughout ToA. also on what Leonora Janeth uses in her hair

send me a meta prompt (currently closed); thank you for the ask!

the arcane and esoteric mysteries of janeth's haircare regimen are beyond my humble (straight-haired) supposings. but for the villain decay? oh, morgana, hands down. 

gunmar is spooky, but a bit of a ham. for most of trollhunters, he’s also relatively distant. bular is a lot closer, and much more of an immediate threat, but he’s always ultimately subordinate (either to stricklander or his father) and he does, in the end, get got by a teenager. angor is initially presented as terrifying, and rightly so, but even if he becomes sympathetic he’s always formidable; stricklander starts out pretty nefarious (especially if you think about some of the implications of e.g. feeding bular a human security guard) but is of course, in proper gdt fashion, domesticated by wuv. obviously i have niche side blorbo brain fungus re: the arcane order but it's hard to assess their actual "villain decay" without having to think about That Film. at any rate, i don't think they're actually the worst example in toa: despite a concept/design that fucks so absolutely severely, once they get on screen, they're not actually built up all that much (or...well). it takes them less than the space of an episode (22 minutes) to go from "dread, ancient terrors that even merlin is afraid of" to "merlin shooing away them, the green knight, and their evil floating skull castle with less effort than he usually spares to criticize douxie." but that's another post.

morgana, though. part of what made her such a compelling villain was how little arthur figured in trollhunters. the existence of merlin implies the existence of arthur, of course, but in trollhunters arthur isn't there at all. instead, we get the negative space of him: his right hand (merlin) and the anti-arthur (morgana). obviously this is partly her role in arthuriana proper, but it also strikes me as pretty deliberate here: merlin's liege vs. merlin's student (and that liege's sister); humanity's last best hope vs. the queen of the otherworld; the king under the mountain vs. the witch under arcadia. i was not very tuned into morgana when i first got into trollhunters, but looking back over the series for this ask, the parallels are so obvious. and so tight! i wouldn't be surprised if some of this was even deliberate.

and the thing is: trollhunters has enough space as a series that its antagonists don't really have to pull their punches. morgana was nasty in trollhunters. pale lady, baba yaga, eldritch queen, mother of monsters—holy shit, right? and she's creepy, too: all muttering whispers and dread ancient magic! she takes angor’s soul, and then his free will. she taunts stricklander while possessing the body of one of his students (while threatening the permanent exile of two more to the depression dimension), and then in the guise of the human he's in love with. speaking to her faithful children—who only exist through morally dubious, unpleasant processes, for which she is implied to be responsible—via institutional heirloom phonograph! she's so much more connected to the shadow realm, here, probably the most compelling justification for reading shadow magic as dangerous. she's the big bad behind angor and gunmar (while playing them both against each other). she absolutely feels evenly paired with merlin, and (rightly) kicks his ass through most of the battle of the eternal night. she's evil but charismatic and even despite all that still a little human: when she taunts jim for not knowing merlin used her hand for the amulet, it isn't without a shadow of what must have been an ancient hurt.

and then. wizards. jesus christ (tired ben affleck smoking dot jpg)

[ » read the rest of the essay on ao3 ]

[starswallowingsea]

I've been thinking about this because of the shitty ads for contemporary YA romance going around and the way books are marketed using an extreme amount of fanfiction tropes and almost nothing else. Like yes tropes ARE a part of literature and can be used to help catalogue books and movies in archives and such but they aren't supposed to be supplements for summaries and plot.

Like if you tell me something is contemporary YA which follows a businesswoman struggling at her job and trying to figure out why she's unhappy slowly getting closer to the local cafe barista when she stops in over the course of the novel and she goes on a journey of self discovery and etc etc that would at least tell me what the book is about. I probably wouldn't read it or like it if I read it because I don't like contemporary YA romance but I at least know what it's about and would be able to recommend it to someone if they were looking for something similar.

But if you took that same book and ONLY told me it was contemporary YA romance, slowburn, and coffee shop, that doesn't really tell me anything about the characters or why I should care. These are original characters I can't just look at ao3 tags and be like "oh yeah I like these characters already I want to see them in this specific scenario" these are original characters and you have to give me a reason to care. When I'm looking for a book to read I'm looking for a book, not a fanfiction for something I already like. If I wanted to read fanfiction I would read it. Publishing fanfiction doesn't not make it fanfiction and describing books exclusively in fanfiction tropes and nothing else does not a good book advertisement make. They are not a replacement for an actual summary, they are a tool that can help quickly identify books in a catalogue or archive if someone is looking for something to read.

This isn't to dunk on fanfiction! I write and read fanfic but it's more akin to the junk food of the literature world. It's good and yummy and can fill in a specific niche in internet communities, but it shouldn't make up your entire literature consumption, yknow?

Also for fucks sake, stop describing classical literature with fanfiction tropes you are doing a severe disservice to them and completely missing the point of literally all those books. If I have to see one more person describe Pride and Prejudice as "enemies to lovers" I will scream.

[friendofthecrows]

I NEED to know abt the niche animes u were obsessed with PLEASE

Ok be patient bc my wifi is struggling BUT here:

(a lot of them aren't really THAT niche but still, you cannot find much fandom activity these days T-T I do take the opportunity to introduce them to anyone.)

I really like this specific like tone of anime if you get what I'm saying? And it would be easier to give you a list of examples than to explain so:

Monochrome factor. Okay so it does have some *questionable* aspects (there is one episode that is EITHER an interesting look into dysphoria OR transphobic, hard to tell. Also one of the main ships is...well I politely ignore that bc I always wipe it from my mind until I'm watching it and am like "oh right they paired this kid up with a whole grown adult. Forgot about that.") Anyways basically it's a somewhat campy shonen-ai mystery from 2008. Has a weirdly good plot (more towards the end, the start of it has a sort of formulaic plot that is clearly just a framework for the comedy, which is top-notch btw). There are these shadow monsters made from the darkness in people's hearts or whatever standard anime stuff but it gets a lot darker from there. And YES there is a beach episode and YES there is found family and possibly the best redemption arc in all of fiction and look, I was in a very emotional place the first time I watched it but it sure got me. It's objectively not a great show. Poorly written. 11/10 would recommend. Please watch this I need people to talk about it with.

Trickster (my beloved) this crosses into debatably popular territory idk, there are 53 fics on AO3. It's like a high school detective club with sci-fi and supernatural elements, which is always a banger. The MC is a suicidal immortal, so tw for that as well as pretty vivid explorations of trauma. It crosses into (or rather has bought an entire vacation home in) "cringe" levels of emo angst but it's good. It has. the BEST ending which I can't say bc spoilers. But it makes me smile just thinking about it. The main villain, 20 Faces (my beloved) (I will respectfully avoid using his name unless you've gotten to that point in the show) reminds me of the song "Year of the Cat" by Al Stewart but gay (it's the VIBES), which has the unfortunate effect of causing an Al Stewart song to be unironically one of my favorites of all time. One time I asked my mom "how many masks do you think 20 Faces has" and she just stared at me like I was an idiot, at which point I realized.

Descendants of Darkness: okay this one is PURE cringe. It's a shonen ai from 2000 and you can tell. It's also one of those supernatural mysteries I crave though, and I promise the writing gets better as it goes on. The first couple of episodes were so bad I almost didn't watch the rest, which ended up being good (or maybe everything seems good compared to the first ep, idk) I really liked the villain (fucked up unethical doctor, but only when it comes to the necromancy. with his other patients he's perfectly fine), he said so much absolutely fascinating "I would dissect this man" (me about him, though ALSO him to the other characters now that I think of it) sort of stuff as soon as we meet him so then I had to watch the whole thing. I watched it last summer and you could quiz me on what happens and I wouldn't remember. I certainly remember when [spoilers] though bc I wanted to throw my laptop across the room (did not) but it was all a ruse anyways, so it was alright. They did a very stereotypical edgy backstory for one of the MCs but they managed to pull it off so I'll give them points for that. Would recommend but only for those who can handle cringe. Like if you unironically liked Velocipastor, then give this a try.

Mouryou no Hako: This one is a more recent discovery so I'm less obsessed with it, but it's good. Writing-wise better than at least 2 on this list (Trickster was really good actually). If you're the type to be easily confused by sort of surreal, psychological shows with a semi-convoluted plot and enough left unsaid that if you aren't paying attention you won't have any idea what's going on, this is not for you (my dad was a constant stream of "i don't get it"'s and questions). If you plan to spend at least half an hour per day with a singular focus on the screen, it's good.

Two girls become friends, one gets pushed in the way of a train, and mysteries ensue. Also, there's like parts of people shoved in boxes and cult stuff so if that's triggering you probably don't want to watch it. (Did you know there's a text per block limit bc I didn't! lol so now we've left the numbered list)

Since this post has clearly gotten so long SPEED RUN through a bunch more in this niche or adjacent ones that are admittedly more mainstream but I'm also obsessed with: trigun, un-go, tasogare otome x amnesia (manga, haven't watched the anime), karneval, hyouka, ghost hunt, psychic detective yakumo, and there's one more that I keep thinking of and then forgetting that I know I love but cannot for the life of me remember the name, so I'll leave it here.

Sorry the post got so long! I will take any opportunity possible to ramble about these!

[linskywords]

Not that I'd expect you have a whole lot of experience with this because your stories are both amazing and (I assume) received well by everybody, but - any advice on separating your fic from it's kudos/comment/hit count? Discovering I am the world's biggest cliché and might be better not posting because I am not enjoying watching things "tank" ha ha ha. And I know it's all made up stats! But! I am still struggling not to associate them :/ it's not a big deal but I was just interested in your approach ♥️

Oh man, this is SUCH a tough one and I am not good at it at all. :((( It sucks to put something out in the world and feel like it's not being received with the enthusiasm you want it to be. I don't have any sort of magical fix for it, but here are a few things that are helpful to me when thinking about this:

Knowing that there is no amount of kudos/attention that would be enough. It's all relative, and that means that as soon as you reach one threshold, you want to get to the threshold beyond it. You can tell yourself, "I'll be happy once this story hits 25 kudos," but once you get to 25 you'll want to get to 50 and feel bad that you're not there yet. There is no number of kudos that will make you feel happy and whole. That has to come from other places.

Remembering that each person who does read or like or comment on your story is a whole real person. Let's be real -- if one stranger came up to you on the street and told you they loved your writing, wouldn't that feel fantastic? That's what's happening every time someone leaves kudos or a comment. Those aren't just tiny numbers ticking up (or not). They are REAL PEOPLE, telling you they liked your work. There was a tumblr post going around at one point that I loved, telling you to imagine your hit count or kudos count as a room full of people, all turned out to see your work, coming up to compliment you on it afterward. Even two people doing that would feel great. Even one.

Remembering that someone who reads could be powerfully moved by your work and never tell you. Maybe there's one person out there who read your work and loved it so much that bits of it stuck with them for years. Or they stay up late finishing it because they can't put it down. Or they come back and reread it over and over again. Maybe they're a lurker and they never tell you they loved it, but you had an intense impact on that person's life that you'll never see.

Remembering that people get better. Naomi Novik (aka astolat) is my favorite writer in the world. I've read almost everything she's posted on ao3, except for her fic from like twenty years ago, because it's just not very good. Terry Pratchett's first (published!) novel was so bad he was ashamed to sign it at book signings. You might already be happy with your writing -- quality is certainly not the same thing as ao3 stats -- but if you're not, or if you have moments of self-doubt, remember that people do, legitimately, drastically, get better. And not just people who are already great improving a little or whatever. It's possible to go from someone whose work isn't super worth reading to someone at the top of the craft.

Remembering that not everything is for everyone. This is obvious, and you know it already, but I wanted to throw it in. Some stories don't get read because they're just not pushing the popular trope buttons in whatever fandom they're in. Or the fandom itself might be unpopular. Or the story got published at a weird time of day and no one read it so now no one knows it's worth reading. Again: if even ONE person discovers it and reads it and loves it, that's pretty cool. But also, everything not being for everyone leads to the pretty cool inverse of some things being for some people very strongly. If you're writing for a niche, there might not be many people who love it, but they might love it a LOT. Even if they never tell you. Heck, I've read stories that I didn't even think were very well written and I still loved them because they happened to be doing the one thing I wanted really intensely. Quality isn't an objective thing and appeal isn't universal.

The bedrock love of writing itself. This is the most important one for me. Like I said above, praise of your writing will never make you happy. But writing itself could. Do you love sitting down and spinning out worlds that feel alive and real and meaningful to you? I do. The giddy feeling of getting kudos and comments isn't real, but the feeling of making something out of nothing but words, that is real. I sit down at my computer and feel like I'm doing the thing that is most right and good and satisfying for me out of all the possible things in the world. We tap at our keyboards and we are gods. And sometimes it's frustrating, and sometimes I do it badly, but it is a solid truth in my life that if I sit down to write, no matter how I'm feeling, I'm going to be feeling better by the time I get up. And if for some reason that fails, I can try again tomorrow. It's always going to be there for me, as a good thing that no one can destroy. I don't need kudos or comments to tell me that. Writing is an end in itself. If you recognize even a little of that feeling, or if it feels good to you in a totally different way that I can't even imagine, then it doesn't matter if your work reaches a million people or ten or zero. The work matters. DOING the work matters. Maybe you do even want to stop posting for a while, because the bad feelings are getting in the way of your enjoyment of writing. Or maybe you want to keep posting and recognize that you don't need anyone else to make it good for you. As Donna Murphy told Zoe Saldana in the scene in Center Stage that I cannot for the life of me find right now, you can always come back to the barre, and that's where things will be real and good and free of all the BS of numbers or reception or what anyone else thinks. You're writing. That's good. That matters.

Okay, that's what I've got for now. I hope that helps at least a little bit, nonny! You are awesome and I wish good things for you 😘🥰

[fritae]

The Missing Piece (Chapter 12)

Closer.

gang! au / ceo! au

characters: dabi x f. oc, lov

status: ongoing

read on ao3 here.

a/n: i really like this chapter heh, hope u enjoy! 😚

The staircase leads all the way to basement. I wondered why they would hide such steep, hidden steps in Dabi's office when they could create (much) shorter, more accessible ones from the first floor.

But I'm guessing that's the point.

This isn't supposed to be easy to reach. And Dabi's office is the one place no one would dare enter.

Aside from us, of course.

The basement is completely dark, forcing me to draw myself even closer to Dabi. I enjoy the weight of his hand in mine. He has a firm, tight grip. But just as the thought warms my cheeks, I shake it out of my head.

Within seconds, Dabi turns on the lights.

My eyes widen, taking in the sight before me.

Blood.

A lot of it.

Though it looks dried, like it's been there for ages.

I spot a wall of different sized knives on one hand. A gun display on the other. A shelf of jars, filled with a murky looking liquid and...I don't even want to know what that is inside.

Dabi watches me.

There's a simple, plastic white table in the center of the floor with a large white board behind it.

The place is much messier and less...classy, than the rest of the Blaze.

But I have the feeling it's because it's not meant for outside eyes.

"You okay?" Dabi asks.

I nod, squeezing his hand to comfort myself.

Before the others reach the bottom, he whispers in my ear, "Whenever you want to leave, let me know. You don't have to be here."

"Okay."

"And," He takes another glance at the stairs as the others begin to appear. "Again, Rina. This place does not exist. Anything we say here does not leave this room. Got it?"

I glance warily at the knives.

"Why are you so worried?" I try to smile so he doesn't pick up on my nervousness. "I don't have anyone outside of you guys anyway. Who would I talk to?"

My comment seems to confuse him. "What about-"

"Welcome to the League!!" Toga jumps off the last few steps and swings into full view.

I shoot Dabi a look. "The League?"

"The League of Villains, of course!" Atsuhiro follows Toga, a dramatic grin on his lips. "Only the baddest group of bad boys in town."

"And girls!" Toga calls out.

"League of Villains?" I cackle. "Who came up with that?"

Tenko scowls.

Oop.

Dabi lets go of my hand and motions for me to take a seat on one of the plastic chairs.

I pick a red chair near the board.

"So what is that you guys really do?"

"I told you," Dabi says. "Special services to people willing to pay up."

Given where we are, that suddenly feels a lot more sinister than it did when he first told me.

I look back at the knives and jars in the background.

"So like, a gang? Where you steal things and hurt people if someone pays you enough? Like the movies?"

"Guess you could put it that way."

"And there's actually people that pay for this stuff?"

Dabi shrugs. "It's a niche market."

Woah.

There's a lot more questions in my head, but now is not the time. Maybe later.

As Dabi moves to take a seat, his abdomen brushes against the edge of the table and he hisses in pain.

It releases blood again.

"Fuck!" He grips the skin.

I move closer to him, gripping his hands again. "It still hurts?" I ask worriedly. "Is there anything we can do?" I look around at the others quickly.

"Yes!" Toga says, a little too eagerly.

"What is it?"

She hops over to knives behind us, and takes a moment deciding which one she wants.

She brandishes a short but sharp blade and lets out an excited squeal, as though she enjoyed this.

"Fire please!" She calls out.

What's she doing?

Dabi groans and pulls a lighter out of his pocket. He tosses it toward her, and she carefully holds it under the edge of the blade, running it up and down for several minutes until it turns red.

She's going to seal the wound so it doesn't get infected.

"Lie down, boss," She says in a sing-song voice.

I clear the few papers were scattered on the table and move so Dabi could spread himself over it.

He lifts the edge of his shirt to his midriff, and my breath catches in my throat when I see his abdomen.

The skin is covered in large swaths of reddish purple.

Like parts of it were burnt off...

I gasp.

"These are old," Dabi looks at me. He's watching me carefully, wanting to see just how I'd react. "Still want to be here?"

I swallow my anxiety as I stare at Dabi's mismatched skin. I won't give him the chance to say 'I told you so.'

This must be why he wouldn't let me dress the wound.

He didn't want me to see this.

No wonder the stab didn't phase him.

What else has his body been through...

"Here I come!" Toga grins.

She was all too eager to take the scorching knife and press it to his stomach.

Dabi clenches his teeth immediately, leaving me to hurriedly stand next to him. I squeeze his hand to soothe him, but he grips mine back so hard I think he might break it.

I brush his hair out of eyes and press my hand to his forehead to calm him.

"It's okay," I tell him softly. "It's over."

The others stare at Dabi's wound uncomfortably, like they've been under Toga's knife before.

I wonder if they have similar wounds.

Dabi releases his harsh grip on my hand and begins to breathe slower.

One things strikes me though.

Despite all the pain he's undoubtedly feeling right now, not a single tear drops from his eyes.

I think it might just be him trying not to appear weak in front of us.

But as I look into his eyes, I'm surprised to find them completely dry.

"Are you superhuman or something?" I joke with him.

He looks at me quizzically.

"All of that and you didn't cry?"

Dabi closes his eyes. "I don't cry." He grits his teeth.

I roll my eyes.

Whatever you say.

The others slowly help him sit up straight. I take the first aid kit from Atsuhiro, picking out the cotton, gauze and antibacterial wipes.

Dabi is less reluctant when I try to wrap the area this time.

"You can hold onto me if you want," I tease as I wrap the gauze around his body.

A small smirk appears on his lips. His arm suddenly snakes around my waist, pulling me close to him.

I blush and the gauze falls out of my hands.

Dabi tilts his head. "What's wrong? Thought you wanted me to hold onto you?"

The guys snicker behind us.

I push him away from me, and he laughs as I take another piece of gauze and try again.

"You guys can talk now," I tell them focused on what I'm doing. "What exactly happened today?

Did Mr. Lane find out about the League? Is that what made you a target?"

Dabi is silent.

His silence puzzles me. I look to the others to see if they knew anything.

"Dabi tried blowing up his car!" Toga volunteers.

I frown.

Could this be just because of how Mr. Lane treated me?

No. There's no reason for it to mean that much to Dabi.

Enough to get angry, sure.

To harm Mr. Lane?

Doubtful.

"Why would you blow up his car?" I ask.

Tenko pulls up a chair. "We did some research on him. He's working with some really shady people. And Dabi told us about the whole Todoroki affair."

I shoot Dabi a look.

"They're trying to trick people into thinking they're heroes. That they should be put on a pedestal and admired. There's people out there telling their kids to be like them. Meanwhile they're going around-"

"Enough," Dabi interrupts Tenko. "Point is, they're fakes. They built up their media empires off that fake image. And we're going to expose them."

"But you guys are also doing...you know," I don't know how to say it in a way that isn't offensive. "I mean, you tried blowing up his car. And I'm guessing you probably have done more...if I'm not reaching."

Their eyes harden.

"We never pretended to be good."

I know I should stay silent, but I keep going.

"Right, but you have a double image too. There's the Blaze, and then there's the League."

They shake their heads.

"The Blaze is to funnel money into the League. Yeah, sure it's a front, but those who need our services know where to find us. We can't have masses of people finding out about the other shit we do, can we?"

"But how did this all start? What are you trying to achieve?"

"We just hate hypocrites. We'll help a bad guy to bring down a worse guy. Those that act like angels in public are our favorite targets. I don't care if we have to steal, blackmail, or kill them," Dabi's eyes shine with evil. "Whatever it takes to beat their egos down. Reveal the private faces they hide. Until they're forced to show their bloody hands before the world. Someone like Enji is using Lane for media coverage. Lane is depending on him for protection and cash. We can take them both down."

"What if you get caught?"

He dismisses the question, like it's not even worth his time. "By who?" He scoffs. "Lane? As soon as we take down Enji, Lane's done for. Since he's your old boss, we can give you leeway with how badly you want us to go after him." Dabi says this like that's what I'm genuinely concerned about right now. "Lane's a scared little prick anyway, as soon as he saw me he bounced out of the car and screamed for protection." He laughs like he can picture Mr. Lane's pathetic position as we speak. "But he'll fall. Just like the rest of them."

"I meant the police, Dabi."

The question puzzles him as if he's never considered it before. But the look in his eyes tells me they're even less of a concern than Mr. Lane.

"Don't worry about that," He says. "That's the least of our problems, to be honest."

I nod.

I let them speak uninterrupted for the rest of the night. They have business to take care of, and if I keep asking questions like this, they'll never get to finish. It's enough that they waited all day for me to leave so they could start. Can't hold them up at night as well.

The Todoroki name was brought up several times, among others. It seems strange now, considering Dabi knows it was Mr. Lane's relations with Enji that led to me leaving the company the way I did. Turns out he knows a lot more about Enji than I do.

I try to keep track of the other names as well, but there's so many and I'm so tired, I can barely keep up.

"Here's where Rina comes in," Dabi continues.

My eyes widen at the mention of my name.

"Enji's using Lane for his image. Rina, you said they were working on a movie or something?"

"A documentary, yes."

"We need to make sure that shit doesn't air."

I bite my lip, trying to remember as much information as I could about the documentary. It was supposed to air already. I remember Mr. Lane saying it would be within the month.

But it hasn't yet.

Which means I need to find out more from Al.

"My roommate still works at NNTV. She's the floor manager so she might have some idea of what's going on. I can ask her."

"You sure you can trust her?" Dabi asks with a frown.

"Well, I'm not gonna tell her any details, she's the one that's gonna need to have trust in me, no?"

Atsuhiro cracks his knuckles and rubs his neck. "I don't know, I don't like the sound of that. We have our own ways of finding stuff out so-"

"It won't hurt to try," I insist, looking at Dabi since he's the one that has final say on these matters. "Having 2 avenues of information is better than 1."

Truth be told, I just want to feel useful. I want to feel like I have a role to play, not just that I'm here to "sit and watch".

I want them to feel good about me being here, not apprehensive about whether this was a good decision.

After some deliberation, Dabi sighs. He looks to the others for input. "Might as well?"

"I mean she's here," Tenko says monotonously. "Might as well use her."

Dabi nods and then turns to me. "Just don't be stupid with it. Lead her into the conversation, don't bring it up out of nowhere. She'll be curious about why you're bringing it up. Don't say anything that'll make her ask questions. The more questions she asks you, the more suspicious she'll be."

"Relax guys, I got this." I smile. "Besides, she's a chatterbox. She'll open up at the slightest nudge and go on forever. She's the one that told me about all the.." I grimace. "..issues with the Todoroki company."

Plus, she's my friend! Of course, I can trust her. We've been roommates for years. If anyone could tell me about Mr. Lane's current plans for the documentary, it'd be her.

"So it's settled!" Toga claps. She takes a marker and goes up to the white board, drawing a flow chart with all that's been discussed today. She adds my part last, circling my name and underlining it several times for emphasis, over a big red INTEL SOURCING.

The sight of that makes me smile, like I have a role to play in all of this. I look around at the others but they're all preoccupied with moving things around and discussing their own parts.

The lack of enthusiasm isn't surprising, I mean this is normal for them.

But all I can think of is how exciting it'll be if I have something to contribute the next time we meet. If they'll call me down, and look at me expectantly. I imagine the looks on their faces with glee and the thought almost makes me giddy.

"Okay, are we done here?" Dabi asks.

A bunch of 'yes'es and 'yup's fill the basement.

"Alright then," Dabi grabs a leather jacket from on the wall and checks to make sure his keys are inside. Then he walks my way and grabs my arm.

"Time for you to go home," He says, moving me in front of him.

"But-"

"Now," His eyes narrow. He moves his head in a silent nudge, telling me to turn around and make my way upstairs.

The others watch us curiously, and Toga lets out a snicker at my expense.

"I'm jealous!" She calls after us. "Wish I had someone to drive me home!"

Dabi groans, nudging me to keep moving.

"Bye guys," I wave back at them from halfway up the steps. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

They all wave warmly and I can't help thinking how grateful I am that they trusted me with this.

It feels so weird emerging out of Dabi's office like this, from a secret path that leads deep under the building. But Dabi simply presses another tile in the walls, and the entrance reseals itself, as though it never existed.

We make our way to his car, and I hurry to catch up to him. The height difference certainly doesn't help.

He unlocks the car and slides into the driver's seat. I follow into the passenger's seat and shift awkwardly in my place.

"Where do you live?" He asks as he readjusts his rearview mirror. No sooner had I told him the address, than he revved the engine and sped away from the Blaze.

The ride is quiet for a while. Regrettably so. Dabi hands me a box of disinfectants to wipe the blood off my hands. I wonder how many times he's had to do the same thing before coming into the office.

I fiddle with the hems of my shirts as I try to think of something to talk about. Dabi doesn't seem to be in as big of a rush to speak, his eyes darting from the rearview to the side mirrors periodically as we cruise down the mostly empty highway.

"Dabi?"

"Hm."

"When they said you were gone today, were you really in the basement the whole time?"

Dabi takes a moment to answer. "After I got back, yeah. Couldn't exactly walk through the front doors looking the way I did." He glances at me before switching lanes.

"Were you avoiding me?"

"Partly."

I nod. "Now that I know about the League, do you think you'd avoid me in a case like this again?"

"A case like this won't happen again."

"Okay." I respond quietly. "Cause you know I get worried."

Dabi seems to be deep in thought.

"You worry a lot for someone who's only met me a month ago."

I smile. "Well, of course. We're friends aren't we?"

Dabi spares me a look before switching lanes again. "Right." But he doesn't look like he fully believes me.

"You think you'll be able to handle your friend?" He changes the subject.

"Who, Aliyah? Of course! I told you, we're really good friends and she's the kind of person that loves gossiping anyway. It'll be a piece of cake."

He grunts. "Okay. Because to be honest, that's part of why I wanted you at the Blaze."

I don't know why hearing that makes me feel slightly sad, but it does. "The documentary?"

"Yeah. I mean you work in the media industry. You'd know about that stuff. People like Enji have the industry wrapped around their palms. When you told me he was cozying up to NNTV, I figured you'd be the person to handle all of that for me."

I nod. "So why haven't you asked me before today?" Come to think of it, he even sounded reluctant about agreeing.

"I don't know," He sighs. "Still not sure I want you mixed up with all of this."

I roll my eyes. "I'm not even a member, remember? I'm just getting information for you," I tease. "What's so dangerous about that?"

"That's what worries me," Dabi glances at me, his brows pulled together. "That's all you see it as."

"What am I supposed to see it as?"

"What it is," Dabi gets increasingly agitated, but he tries to keep himself calm. "I'm not sure you're taking this seriously enough, Rina. The closer you get to us, the more at risk you are. The more people that know you work for me, especially what kind of work," He looks dead serious. "The more danger you'll be in."

I roll my eyes. "But no one knows anything about you, Dabi. I've been here for a month and I'm only just finding out about all of this. And I'm sure there's much more I don't know. How would people outside of the League even find out?"

"Same way we find out shit about them. Lane's using his Todoroki connections to supply him with information and protection. They're good at what they do."

My mouth drops. "You mean the Todorokis know about you?"

"Well," Dabi's jaw hardens. "They think they do."

I wait for him to say more, but he leaves it at that. We ride the rest of the distance in silence.

Once we pull up in front of my apartment complex, I try to put a smile on my face.

"Thanks Dabi." I tell him as I unlock the door.

He nods without looking at me. "See you tomorrow."

Those words trigger me immediately and I let go of the handle.

"Don't say that."

Dabi looks confused.

"You said that yesterday and had no intention of seeing me." I cross my arms. "You broke your promise."

"Don't be dramatic, no one says that shit as a promise."

"See you tomorrow means I'll see you tomorrow," I tell him seriously. "Otherwise, just say goodbye or something else."

He leans his head forward against the steering wheel and sighs. "It's just a stupid phrase, you're overthinking it."

I frown.

"See you tomorrow," He gives up. But still, I don't leave.

"I mean it!" He says. "I. Will. See. You. Tomorrow. Good enough?"

I grin. "Mhm, thank you!" I lean over to give him a quick hug before I leave, and he immediately recoils, like my body was made of ice.

"Handsy, aren't you," He mutters, craning his neck to look at me, without getting too close.

I pull away.

"Always have to ruin the moment, don't you," I counter, slightly disappointed. I turn to open the door, and suddenly feel him pull me back in.

"How do you do that?" His voices comes out low and raspy.

I look into his eyes. "Do what?"

There's that frustration in his eyes again.

"Fucking making me feel bad about shit I'd never fucking feel bad about." He growls.

The way he says it makes me blush.

"Cut that shit out."

"Yes sir," I mumble.

He leans his head back.

Then, he hesitantly opens his arms.

I shake my head, pulling my purse over my shoulder again. "Not gonna force you to do something you don't want to do."

I open the door this time, and just as I'm about to step out of his car, he pulls my arm again - harder this time, and I fall back into the bend of his arm.

My heart is pounding faster. I shake my hair from my face to get a better look at Dabi in the dark.

"Why are you so much fucking work," He mutters, his face inches away from mine. I swallow.

He leans forward to hug me closer to his chest. The leather jacket feels surprisingly smooth against my cheek, and my hand finds the back of his seat to balance myself, careful of coming near his wound. He holds me to him for a few long breaths and I smile against his chest, knowing he can't see me right now.

When we pull away, I look at his face once more. But Dabi avoids my gaze.

"You don't have to play along with me," I tell him, a teasing smile on my lips. "I'll only expect more from you next time."

"See you tomorrow," He mumbles, still without facing me. His foot is on the brakes but he's already pulling the gear shift into Drive.

And then, just before I leave for good and with no time to think this through -

I press my lips on his cheek.

Dabi's eyes widen immediately and he looks at me in alarm. "What-"

"Bye Dabi!" I wave with a laugh as I hurry out of his car. I run to the door of my building, grateful for the dark to hide my red cheeks.

Dabi remains in front of the building for a moment, his head still turned my way in shock.

I close the door behind me but hurry to the window, peeking the corner of my head out just in time to catch him shaking his head and rubbing a tired hand across his eyes.

There's no way to describe the relief and warmth in my chest, when he eventually pulls out of his spot.

But just before he can drive off, I swear I feel him smirk at the window.

As if he can hear the adrenaline thrumming in my veins.

[lilolilyr]

WIP tag

@banashee tagged me to post another work in progress, so I will post, un-edited, whatever bullshit I came up with last night when I was already half asleep after watching an ep of Suits and then reading an old Hanni&Nanni (St. Clare's) book. I think what my brain came up with is a crossover between those and also my ever growing fanfic multiverse so there's timetravel and dimensions and shit... oh, and naturally it's gay.

Wip lverse

Central arrives at Lindenhof

R/T (teaches) just been outed or sth, girls behind them but school threatened with being closed- dance, with boys from other school, H idea: dance ww mm, boys? Jenny's brother -> have an in, & if not all boys join doesn't matter as long as no Lindenhof girls dance with them. T/R gerührt but also hope won't nach draussen dringen)

Light off

Ugh wheretf are we, middle ages? Fuckinf castle and it isn't even hogwarts. Light...

Edits lumos maxima to fit kronleuchter

War nich lang dunkel also gleich wieder ans helle gewöhbt

Year? Oh lemme guess... Uniforms, awkward dance, electronic light but no smart tech in sight,... Must be xx... Hate that. Already bad capitalism of after & still shitty institurionalised homophobia & racism & misogyny of before.

Eyeroll

Well source isn't here, all muggles

???

Explanation:

Muggle= nonmagical

^or>: sacrilege!

Why?? Why does religion fit better or worse to nonmagical world? If anything magic is sth u can't explain fitting to religion, and as I have magic and you don't, if God exists likes me better than u

Pls no existential discussions before 3am after I had 3 vodka

Gross

Anyways

Looking for source: different universes, if timetravel splits, no-good bc vicious cycle, looking for source

Not here

U sure?

Knocks on Wall

Opens

Body in wall

O.o

Dude dead

Windstoss, zeefällt fast

Shield

Ugh now can't check for..

Well otherwise body!

...

Call the cops- poliicee! Just tell them sb hit a spec spot of the wall & it opened to a body. S the truth. & don't worry bout everyone being shocked, s a body in the wall, u gotta be shocked.

Girls notice T R stressed & not as close as want - H N Hilda J B C go 'need to talk to both' -> form wall so they can hold hands. Before leave turn around, T quickly presses kiss to Rs hand

Central thanks for assistance, & as thanks help against homophobia: a little confoundus maybe? Yeah, everyone in Castle who is homophobic & wants to act on it in some way is gonna forget homophobia exists. Forever? Hm naaah just until goes to sleep, but if next day same, same. Maybe enough to realise world doesn't end...

Isnt confoundus illegal?

Not if administered in a way xxxx by xxxx intentions and duration blah

???

Yeah lawyertalk u wouldn't understand

Oh shut up Harvard

Harvard? Yeah-

Already exists?

Founded in xxxx! Bitch. Bet already prestigious

...

Marianne near freak-out

Never allowed herself to think about it

Not since kissed Carla that day

Knows Carla just thinks about it and doesn't act on it, but she needed pretend wasn't a thing

Punches stuff in sportraum

H:??

Explains

So?? Not a problem for T R

Well they're not students!

?? Difference

Changing rooms! Schlafsaal!

So? I mean if makes u feel better guess can just turn around? But like eh. Hey actually... Ur into girls... So u know what looks good...

???

Would u be willing to check me out & tell me..... Bc want to impress some guy... U get to look without having to feel bad & I get info!

Not sure same (wlw mlw attraction)

Eh whatever best I've got. So?

Shrug sure whatever

In underwear when rest comes

???

Look

M shrugs like go for it

H explains happily

Rest also wants opinion

Petra eg afraid doesnt look good because Figur- M says pretty face way more important. Hilda says plus character more important anyway! M kinda almost laughs which makes Hanni laugh out loud.

Mamsell? Or sb comes around corner, Hanni (still in underwear) tries to hide, falls over tangled in skirt.

Who didn't ask M? Carla... What's with her anyway?

///before mamsell//Who's the prettiest?

Flickers to C. C blushes

Aww

Another pair of birdies?

Shut up!

Not since...

Omg so there is a since!

M heftig Yes but never again bc knew couldbt be!

Well now could...

C still won't tell mom- not cause she wouldn't approve but she'd worry about me and can't put her under strain bc health

M course

Just kiss already!

Oy!

Well?

Laugh and then they do bc wtf might as well happen this day already is so goddamn weird

Meanwhile J/B like when are they finally gonna figure it out lol

& Elli slowly realising that maybe those obsessions with Sadie and MrsQ etc were actually crushes xD

Hanni- heteroflexible

Nanni- ace

Jenny- bi/pan

Bobby- genderfluid, pan

Marianne- butch lesbian

Carla- femme lesbian

Elli- bicurious/bi

Doris- nonbinary/transmasc and still figuring out his sexuality

Hilda- lesbian

Carlotta- bi

Petra- straight

Jürgen straight

Peter x Wolfgang

Claudine trans girl

Sadie??

Yeah ok imma not explain but I might post a proper (ish) version on ao3 or my draft blog @thelucyverse some time :)

Tagging whoever sees this and wants to share!