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crime-scene-psychic · 1 day ago

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I honestly think that the Nolan Batman trilogy was the best and worst thing to happen to the Batman franchise, because on one hand, it was the first live-action instance of trying to make Batman more gritty and serious (because while the Keaton, Kilmer, Clooney movies took the story much more seriously than the 60s television show, they were still goofy at times, which is why I honestly think they're the best rendition of Batman, because they were able to balance silliness with seriousness, which is what Batman is all about, but that's obviously an entirely different thesis) which then allowed for more people to take comic book movies serious, consequently leading to the rise of the DCEU and, obviously, the MCU (we would not have the MCU today and the actual good movies that came out of it without Nolan's trilogy, there's simply no argument there).

However, the Nolan trilogy also unfortunately made "dark, gritty Batman" the norm, meaning that once anyone tries to actually have some fun with Batman, they immediately get shit on by comic book dude bros. It also created the most annoying characterization of the Joker that everyone has been trying to replicate since and no one will be able to replicate, because they simply do not understand the character (I honest to God think the closest live-action actor who has ever made a Joker character work besider Heath Ledger was Cameron Monaghan in the Gotham television show, and he wasn't even really Joker??? but at least he didn't make it everyone else's problem and was a good mix of goofy and psychotic, not just psychotic) and will never be Heath Ledger (but they don't stop trying much to my forever annoyment).

And while I can recognize the cultural and significant impact on the comic and film community that Nolan's trilogy had, it is still by far my least favorite adaptation because of how serious it takes itself (and of course, the racism. The racism is actually the bigger one for me. Fuck Christopher Nolan for that. Ra's al Ghul is NOT a white man just because you want a plot twist, and you CANNOT just erase Bane being mixed race because you fucking FEEL LIKE IT because him being mixed race is extremely relevant to his origin). Batman has had serious moments in the comics, don't get me wrong, and I know things must evolve and change over time and that I cannot expect an 80 year old character to not be further developed throughout the decades, but it almost feels as if Nolan and Goyer (the writer) read a Sparks Notes version of the history of Batman, cracked their knuckles, and said "yeah, I think I got it."

Spoiler alert: they did not get it.

When I watch the Nolan trilogy (which I haven't in quite some time and I really don't want to, even to prove a point to people on the Internet) I notice how uninspired it feels, story-wise. While the action and cinematography is excellent, the story is lacking for me, and when you're telling a story like Batman, that has decades of content, you cannot just forgo storytelling for cool special effects.

I'd much rather watch a Batman adaptation that has the shittiest effects known to man with a writer who whole-heartily cares for the characters they're writing and has taken time to research. And that's honestly one of the biggest problems the comic book film industry is having now, both DC and Marvel. They're not hiring people who actually care about these characters to write them and they're focusing much more at appealing to everyone they can instead of who the movies should be made for: fans.

You're gonna have such a harder time convincing my mom, a woman who only cares about Wonder Woman, to watch the new Captain America film than you would someone who has read the Sam Wilson Cap comic run. And while this entire issue stems from the fact that the film industry is just that, an industry, and has become less about filmmakers making art and more-so how much money investors and producers can get out of ticket sales, it is still infuriating to see franchises you care deeply about be ruined by guys just there to cash their paychecks and be done with it.

And really, the film industry as we know it needs to be fucking demolished from the inside out, but that will never happen and now we're a bit off-topic. So, back to Batman.

I think another issue I have with newer live-action Batman adaptations is that they choose to forgo a VERY IMPORTANT character when it comes to Batman/Bruce Wayne's evolution as a character and story line.

Robin.

Since whatever the fuck the casting of Chris O'Donnell in 1995 was (why was he, like, a grown man?), people have been afraid to touch a live-action Dick Grayson with a six-foot pole (besides Titans, which I'm gonna get to in a sec). Which is ridiculous, because he is, like I said, an insanely important character when it comes to showing the growth Bruce Wayne goes through.

Bruce Wayne becomes Batman because he is so angry about his parent's deaths and the corruption of Gotham that he doesn't know what else to do. All the money in the world cannot change things for the better, his own father tried and died for his troubles, and he is left with no other option. Bruce Wayne works during the day to fight corruption via charity and his company, Batman works during the night and is able to do what Bruce Wayne can't (beating the shit out of people, mainly). The two are separate sides of the same coin.

And despite this seeming like a good arrangement, it's pretty obvious in most adaptations (at least they get THAT right) that beating the shit out of people in back alleys is not a good replacement for therapy. You're able to see the toll being Batman has on Bruce. He quickly becomes more occupied with being a vigilante than being himself. Bruce needs something to break through this internal struggle and help him balance both lives.

And so a boy named Dick Grayson comes along.

Dick's so important (and so are the other Robins, of course, but Dick being the first means I have to talk about him a bit more) because he forced Bruce to get his shit together. Here's a boy who's about the same age Bruce was when his parents died, who also just saw his parents killed in front of him, and is so full of rage he has no idea what to do. Sounds familiar...

Bruce is able to help himself by helping Dick. He gives him an outlet to vent his anger and frustrations while also looking out for him in the best way he can. While there are many issues with how Robin comes to be in various comic runs (and if this was real life it would be fucking ridiculous) Dick becoming Robin is extremely important. If he hadn't been taken in by Bruce Wayne, if he'd been allowed to let that anger continue to bubble up inside of him, he probably would have killed Tony Zucco and that would have been enough to set Dick down a terrible path he might not recover from.

The same goes for Bruce. If he were to set out and kill the person who shot his parents, he wouldn't be a hero anymore because that single event would shatter the entire point of Batman, which is that he is not meant to decide who lives and dies. If he were, how would he be any different than all the villains in Gotham that he fights as Batman? How would he be better than the corrupt businessman and politicians that he has to battle as Bruce Wayne? He wouldn't.

Batman needs Robin and Robin needs Batman, because they are yin and yang. Light within darkness, darkness within light. You cannot separate these characters and still tell an accurate story, it's impossible. I think that's a huge issue Nolan's movies have, on top of many others. You cannot accurately present to me a Batman story if there is no Robin, just as you couldn't give me a Robin story without Batman.

Every Robin is so important to how Bruce Wayne as a character is developed, and disregarding this as a creator is not only disrespectful to the character, it misses the entire point. I refuse to take your adaptation of Batman seriously if you can't figure out how important Robin is. He isn't just some kid sidekick, he isn't an optional side character, he is what makes Batman human. You cannot have gritty, Neo-noir Batman and forgo Robin just because you see him as the sidekick in tights. When Batman was silly and took itself less seriously, sure, there wasn't a lot to Robin nor Batman's troubling pasts. But now that you want to deep dive into Bruce Wayne's psyche and pick apart what makes him the way he is you wanna throw in the towel and erase the part that humanizes him? Fuck. You.

You can't make a complex Bruce Wayne and take away parts that help audiences understand his complexities, that's fucking STUPID!

Titans, for all its faults and problems, will always have my gratitude as it had the fucking balls to give, without a doubt, the best and most rounded live-action adaptation of Dick Grayson we have ever seen. Titans introduces Dick at a very important and rocky time in his character arch: him leaving Bruce.

If you're not in the know, there's a falling out between Bruce and Dick that's been written a couple different ways over the years, but all comes down to Dick being "fired" from being Robin and leaving Gotham. This is a bit of a newer story line in comparison to how long the character of Dick Grayson has been around, and eventually leads to Dick becoming independent from Bruce, signalling his evolution from "side kick" to his own hero, Nightwing. However, there's issues with Dick having to give up the Robin mantel, because it's something that is whole-heartily Dick Grayson. Robin wasn't something Bruce Wayne came up with, it was the nickname his parents gave to him. Even the colors are his, those were the colors of the Flying Graysons' uniforms. Robin is much more than just a vigilante alter-ego to Dick, it is the last link he has to his past and his parents. So when this is taken away from him and given to another, this causes a huge internal struggle for Dick, as he has to deal with the anger he now has for Bruce, a man he originally looked up to and idolized. This is Dick seeing how wrong it was for Bruce to do some of the things he did to Dick, despite at the time those choices being what both needed.

The way Titans is able to portray this extremely delicate time in Dick's story line in a way that not only makes sense for his character, but also allows for growth is really admirable. Like I said, the show isn't perfect by any means (can I PLEASE get a Romani actor to play Dick PLEASE) but it's the first time I feel that the character is wholeheartedly taken serious in a live-action setting. You can tell the writers have a better idea about how the characters should interact in a live-action setting and while some choices are questionable to me, the heart is there.

Nolan's movies in comparison feel soulless and devoid of all creativity and love. He does not care about these characters, no matter how much he tries to make you think that, and he never will. Christopher Nolan, you will NEVER convince me that you give two shits about Bruce Wayne. And if you, the director, can't bother to care, why should the audience? Why should I care about your adaptation if you can't even be bothered to put an ounce of individuality into it?

With Matt Reeves' Batman films underway, things are getting worse again. For a while, we only had to deal with the shitty Joker adaptations that tried to replicate Ledger's Joker, but with the Reeves Batman movies, the film bros are making themselves known again. I remember when the new design for the Riddler dropped and I said it was shit and people on Twitter and YouTube got SO PISSY at me and told me I just don't understand Batman and that I'm childish for enjoying the designs for Gotham Riddler/ Batman Forever Riddler and whatever and that I'm stupid, which none of those things are true, I hate to be confident in anything, but I think I know more about Batman than you do, Twitter troll.

The suit sucked and the character sucked. They just created a new character but gave him the Riddler's name. That's NOT the Riddler. That's honestly closer to Hush than Riddler, so just... do that? But of course, less people know about Hush than Riddler, and you're not trying to make a film for fans, you're trying to make money, so why would you ever be so silly as to do that! I'm not gonna talk to much about the new Riddler, just because it's super old news and it's not the point I was trying to make here, it's just something that continues to piss me off when it comes to gritty recreations of characters, because Riddler really never was supposed to be some Zodiac Killer wannabe, he's supposed to be a guy who leaves you riddles and makes you solve them and he's supposed to be a little silly about it. And I'm not saying you can't do a more gritty Riddler, because Arkham Knights did it super well imo! Just don't reinvent the wheel! Don't just make a new character and call him by another's name, that's a disservice to the character themselves and their creators.

This is a hard topic, because you have people who get the point of these characters (people who have actually read a comic before and paid attention to the story) but you also have insufferable film/comic bros who worship the ground Nolan and Reeves walks upon and who don't even take time to explore the rest of the Batfamily comics (his gang of vigilante children show up in the stand-alone Batman comics, though, so I don't know how they're missing this, unless they have the reading comprehension of a goldfish, which they probably do tbh). It's why I think a lot of these weirdos don't like Gotham Knights or Wayne Family Adventures, because they hate the thought of there being any semblance of fun in the Batman franchise. Not everything needs to be doom and gloom! Let Dick Grayson be bisexual and let Bruce Wayne have a PTA rival! You can have your cake and eat it too!

I know this seems like a silly sentiment coming from a person who just wrote an entire essay on this, but maybe don't take Batman so seriously? I don't mean, of course, that you can't care about these characters, I'm actually saying the opposite! I care very deeply for these characters, so much that I obviously spat all this out. I just think some people need to fucking chill when it comes to realistically portraying Batman. There's nothing wrong with taking a more serious approach to the characters and I have no problem modernizing them, but you can't just have action hero Batman, you have to have the human behind the mask too. And if you can't balance that, then I'm sorry, but you shouldn't be making Batman adaptations, because you obviously don't understand what the character is about.

I'm nervous to see where Reeves will go with the character, and only time will tell. I've heard rumors he plans to introduce Robin, I've heard rumors he doesn't. Either way, it's obviously out of my hands and I'll have opinions either way, but I really hope he has a better understanding of the history of the franchise than Nolan. While I appreciate, again, what Nolan did for revolutionizing not only the Batman franchise but the comic movie industry as well, I can still find faults in how he went about things. I truly don't believe we can have a worthy adaptation of Batman live action without Robin and without embracing the silliness of Batman's villains and I really hope producers, writers, and directors realize that soon.

Sorry if you read all that...

#batman #dc #dc comics #bruce wayne #robin #nightwing #dick grayson #christopher nolan #nolan batman movies #long post #sorry #but i had to say it

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aptbelle · 21 hours ago

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FOREST BOY

pairing: earthfairy!jun x female!reader

summary: y/n was a lonely little girl. she had no friends, just her imagination and the forest behind her home to get her through the day. the forest is where she’d run to to escape reality and day dream. one day, after running from her bullies, she meets a strange, yet charming boy, wen junhui. junhui shows her what lies deeper in the forest, and she is amazed. every single day, she goes to the forest just to see junhui, and they spend hours together. one thing y/n had noticed about junhui was that she never saw him outside of the forest, nor did he have any interest in leaving. they spend every day together until y/n has to go away for college. the news breaks junhui’s heart, and he goes away, which hurt y/n in return. four years later, y/n lands a job in her hometown, allowing her to come back home. she is excited to see junhui again, but he is nowhere to be seen, no matter how far in the forest she travels. however, she meets another boy, who is very similar to junhui, or so y/n thinks.

warnings: this story only includes jun and minghao! they are characters in this and not related to the ones irl. lower case intended! this story may have possible angst!

author's note: this is a story i had started on wattpad a couple years ago, but i never published it. so i decided to continue it on here! i hope you enjoy! i am a student, so i will update as much as i can while juggling school.

previous chapter: prologue

next chapter:

CHAPTER 1: HOME SWEET HOME

4 years later…

y/n never realized how blurry the train made the outside world look. the first time she took one on her way to college, she was occupied by a book the whole time. having finished all her books, she was left with nothing to read. she had her headphones on and was taking in the scenery of her hometown.

it’s been years since she came home, with school and summer internships she was very busy. all the hard work had finally paid off, she was finally graduated and began her career for her local newspaper, writing blogs about whatever the managers tell her. her first task was writing a nature article. this allowed her to be able to stay at home, for once.

she felt so guilty for not visiting more, but her parents had busy schedules as well, so hopefully they understood.

it was the end of spring, so everything was in full bloom. y/n had missed all the trees and flowers. her college town was nothing but city; the closest garden was too far for y/n to even consider walking. she reminisced about her childhood and teenage days she spent in the forest, with nothing but her thoughts and wen junhui to keep her company.

wen junhui.

y/n felt her heart skip. junhui. the boy she spent almost every hour with. she hadn’t thought about him in awhile. he was the reason she loved everything about nature. he taught y/n all she knows about the forest. she had created so many memories with him between those trees.

she could not wait to see him again.

y/n remembered how she left him, without a good explanation. she hoped he had come around, and would be happy upon her return.

though it was going by fast, y/n began to recognize the scenery around her. she was almost at her local train station. the stop would be any minute. she paused her music and put her phone away into her purse. she took her headphones off of her ears and put them around her neck.

her luggage was in the overhead compartment. she didn’t have much, just her clothes. she knew her mother would have kept her room just the same. the extra stuff she had around her dorm, she sold for extra money.

just a few minutes later, the train slowed down. the blurred image outside the window became a clear show of the station. y/n stood up and grabbed her luggage’s. she looked around outside, and saw her mother standing there with a sign.

‘welcome home, y/n!’ the sign read. her mother was shaking it around with a smile. her mother was usually the strict type, but where y/n had not been home in a very long time, her mother showed a happier side.

y/n hurried into the middle aisle so that she would not be the last to leave the train. she finally reached the doors to the outside and stepped off the train onto the platform.

she turned her head and instantly saw her mother running towards her.

“my sweet, y/n!” she exclaimed. she wrapped her arms around y/n. y/n missed these hugs so much. it felt so warm and inviting, reminding her of old times.

“hello, mom,” y/n hugged back, putting her head into her mother’s neck.

“i am so glad you are back home,” her mother said, letting go of the hug and putting her hands on y/n’s shoulders. y/n noticed the tears in her eyes. “you look so mature,” her mother continued.

y/n doesn’t think she had changed her appearance that much. she did cut her hair and change her style a bit. then again, her mother hadn’t seen her other than video calls for a couple years.

“thank you, mama,” y/n replied. her mother hadn’t changed at all, aside from the slight gray peeking from her roots. y/n had always been told she was a spitting image of her mother, which was a compliment she always loved to hear.

“was the trip okay?” her mother asked, “i know train rides can get boring after a while.”

“yes, it was alright,” y/n said, “it was nice seeing everything after so long.”

her mother smiled and patted y/n’s arms. “that’s so good to hear.”

y/n’s mother grabbed her stuff. “the car is just this way. don’t worry about driving, i will let you rest.”

“thanks, mama,” y/n replied.

y/n followed her mother to the car. there was a crowd of people at the station. the mother and daughter pushed through the crowd until they reached outside. her mother led y/n just a few more steps until they found the car.

y/n’s mother popped the truck and carefully set her luggage in. y/n walked to the passenger side and opened the door. she was suddenly hit with a nostalgic smell. the car had always kept the clean, new-car scent that y/n had loved. she truly felt at home. she got in the car, shut the door, and strapped the seat belt.

seconds later, y/n’s mother got in, letting out a big sigh. “oh, y/n, i am just so happy you’re finally home,” she said, patting her daughters thigh.

“yes, it’s been far too long,” y/n agreed. her mother started the car and began to drive out of the parking lot. “i’m surprised you aren’t on one of your business trips right now,” y/n continued.

her mother slightly smiled. “i’m scheduled to leave for one tomorrow, and stay gone for a couple days.”

y/n looked down. she knew her mother was very busy, but she had just gotten home. this didn’t upset her, though, she was used to this. this did give her more time to herself. more time to spend in the woods.

more time to find junhui.

“what are you smiling so wide for?” y/n’s mother asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“nothing,” y/n said, “just excited to see an old friend, junhui.”

y/n’s mother furrowed her eyebrows. “y/n,” she said sternly, “i thought you would grow out of that. this ‘junhui’ boy doesn’t exist. you’re too old for this kind of imagination.”

oh, right.

y/n’s mother never believed her when she brought up junhui. y/n didn’t blame her. junhui would never want to come over for dinner, and would only come to her house late at night, never through the front door but through the window. he would always use the same excuse, that his parents didn’t want him going to strangers’ houses.

y/n never met his parents neither, or seen his house. the more she thought, she only ever saw him in the forest. he didn’t go to school, or to town. just the forest. she had always assumed he had been homeschooled. that’s the only reasonable explanation.

“he exists, mother,” y/n said, chuckling, “he was just super shy.”

“super shy and super odd,” her mother replied, “only staying in that forest. no wonder you didn’t get kidnapped.”

already with the scolding. y/n loved her mother, but she knows that junhui was real, no matter if her mother saw her or not.

“plus,” her mother continued, “i never saw him when i went to the forest for a walk. just dead trees. maybe he left when you did, along with the rest of your mind.”

y/n kept her mouth shut, not wanting to further draw out her so called ‘delusions.’ she’d introduce them one day, if junhui was still around, which she hoped.

“are you still planning on keeping in touch with your college friends? i know you said you had made a few,” her mother chimed in.

y/n did make a few friends, but none were too close. she had a roommate in college, but they were far from friends, polar opposites. she told her mother, however, that they were close as can be.

“they’re all busy with their careers,” y/n told her mom, “not much time to talk.”

“ah, i see,” her mother nodded.

before too long, the two reached their neighborhood. everything felt like nothing had changed. their house was in the far part of the neighborhood, so it took maybe another couple minutes to reach it.

it was a comforting two story, accompanied by the wonderous forest in the back. just the sight of the trees made y/n feel safe. so many memories, and more to be made.

“home sweet home!” y/n’s mother exclaimed, pulling up to the house. she put the car in park and unbuckled. “don’t wait too long, you’re room isn’t in perfect shape for nothing!” y/n’s mother hopped out of the car and shut the door. she went around the back and grabbed her daughters stuff before heading into the house.

y/n stepped out of the car as well, looking around at her surroundings. no major changes, but she did notice a car at one of the houses down the street. when y/n left, that house was for sale. standing outside of it was a man who looked to be about y/n’s age. he had a black mullet and glasses. it seemed he was tending to some plants in front of his house. he turned in y/n’s direction, flashed her a smile, and waved. y/n waved back, and he turned back to what he was doing. he had an attractive smile, one y/n would remember, but she had never seen him before.

she turned her focus back to her childhood home, and began to walk in. she opened the door and was greeted once again with a familiar smell. her mother’s favorite scent was vanilla-lavender. she always made sure the house smelt like it. every time she’d smell this scent outside of her home, it made her think of home. now she was finally there.

“go get settled into your room, honey,” her mother said, “i’ll be asleep before too long. i have to leave early in the morning.”

“okay, thank you, mom,” y/n said. she walked up to her mother and gave her a hug.

“y/n, thank you for coming back,” her mother said.

“of course, there’s no where i’d rather be.” y/n let go of the hug, grabbed her stuff, and walked up to her room.

it was the last room in the hall, closest to the back of the house and closest to the forest. the door was shut, and still had the ‘y/n’s room’ sign on the door surrounded by assorted stickers that she put there when she was a little girl. she opened the doors and was flooded with nostalgia.

the bed was still on the left side of the room doused in the blue bedsheets and matching comforter that feels like marshmallows. the bookshelf on the right side still had all the same books that y/n had read a dozen times. the desk next to it was oddly neat. y/n usually had some kind of mess going on on it. the window was placed perfectly in the middle. the window which jun had popped in on countless occasions. the window which y/n had always escaped with him out of. the window showed a perfect view of the forest. she was eager to go for a walk. she needed material for her first article anyways, and the forest would be a perfect spot to come up with ideas.

she needed to unpack first. she set her luggage up on her bed and unzipped it. she didn’t have too many outfits, but she had a lot of lounge clothes. she put all her outfits in the closet ans the random shirts and shorts in the drawers, along with the undergarments. she left one set of lounge clothes out: black t-shirt and grey sweats. she changed out of her current clothes and put the lounge set on. she put on a pair of sneakers she brought with her.

y/n’s door opened. her mother was standing outside.

“i’m heading to bed now, sweetie,” her mother said, “are you settling in nicely?”

“yes, everything’s just the same,” y/n said, “i was going to head out to the forest a bit, find something to write my first article about.”

her mother nodded. “well, if you see you’re imaginary friend, tell him i said hi,” she joked before leaving the room.

y/n hoped she saw her ‘imaginary’ friend. she missed him after all this time, and hoped he was still around. she had so much to tell him about, and she was sure he did as well.

y/n grabbed her laptop and headed out the room. she went downstairs and to the back door. she opened it and headed into the forest.

there had been a perfectly paved path that she’d always take. she had walked it so many times that the grass had never been able to grow there. looking around she had noticed the trees had new vines on them, new bushes had sprouted, trees had grown taller, but she knew it would always be the same forest she basically grew up in.

she walked farther and farther in until something caught her eye: a rose bush. roses were her favorite, and a perfect topic for her to write about. roses symbolized so many different things, and were the cause of many memories with jun, who never forget they were her favorite

—

“tag, you’re it!” junhui yelled as he tapped 14 year old y/n’s shoulder from behind. before y/n could fully turn around, jun had already sped off. he was a lot faster than she could ever be, which is why he loved to play tag.

“jun!” y/n chuckled as she began to run after him the best she could. he was so far ahead that he looked like a tiny speck. y/n’s one goal was to catch up to him, and that was all she was focused on.

not the fact that her shoelace was untied.

she sped her pace up, not taking her eyes off of jun. all of a sudden, she felt her shoe get caught. she looked down and saw that she had stepped on her shoelace, causing her to fall in front of her.

in front of her, unbeknownst to her, was a large rose bush filled with thorns. when she fell, she felt them all prick into her at once. some of the thorns were in her face, arms, and thighs. she yelled out in pain.

“jun, help!” she called out, but he was probably too far to hear. everytime she tried to move, a new thorn pricked her in a new place. she was basically stuck in her favorite flower bush. to most people, it would have been great to be surrounded by their favorite flower, but in that moment, y/n wished to be anywhere else.

“y/n? where are you?” junhui’s voice rang. he must have turned around after he didn’t hear y/n chasing him anymore.

“jun!” she yelled, “i’m in the bush! help!” she peaked her head up as much as she could, and she saw jun in the distance. he was looking around frantically until he finally caught sight of the bush. he ran over to her as fast as he could.

“oh my gosh, y/n,” he said, “how did this happen? are you alright?”

“i tripped over my shoelace, and fell on a bed of roses,” y/n chuckled, “it hurts to move.”

“here,” jun said, putting his hands on her sides, “i’ll help you up.” he began to lift her out of the bush. thorns latched onto her and were stuck in her skin, but most of them were still on the bush.

“oh, y/n,” jun pouted, “you have maybe 20 thorn pricks. i am so sorry we shouldn’t have played this game out here.”

“jun, it’s okay,” y/n consoled him, “i had fun. i always have fun with you.” each spot burned in pain. she looked down at the arms and upper legs and saw many bloody cuts. she reached her hand up to her face, grazing her cheek. she winced in pain, feeling more cuts. tears rushed into her eyes.

junhui grabbed her hand. “don’t touch your face,” he said, “there are more cuts on it.” his dark brown eyes were full of concern and empathy. he wiped y/n’s tears before they got into and of the cuts. “i can fix them for you. make them heal faster.” jun took y/n by the hand once again and began to walk her deeper into the forest.

every step y/n took, her left ankle felt sore. she groaned in pain following behind jun. he took around and took notice of this, stopping in his tracks. “here,” he said, “put your arms around my neck.”

y/n nodded, doing as he said. she put her arms around him, and felt him reach under her legs and lift her up. he began to carry her bridal-style into the forest. “you feeling okay, m’lady?”

y/n smiled. “besides from all these pricks, yes,” she said to her charming friend carrying her, “this feels quite nice.”

“special treatment for a special girl,” jun said. he always had such a way with words, and he was the most caring friend y/n had, the only one to be correct.

“where are we going?” y/n asked. this is the farthest they have travelled in a while, and she doesn’t know what down here would help with her cuts.

“you’ll see,” jun said, “i’ve been meaning to show you this little spot anyways. now we have a perfect reason to go.”

that just made y/n too curious. what could it possibly be?

“and we are here!” jun exclaimed.

y/n looked ahead of them and her jaw dropped. in front of them was a beautiful pond. it was surrounded by vines and trees. the water was so clear. it almost looked blue. it was like an oasis.

“my little- wait,” jun said, “our little paradise.” he smiled at y/n. he carried her over to one of the rocks by the pond and sat her down on it.

“junhui, this place is beautiful!” she said, taking in the scenery.

“isn’t it?” jun said giving y/n a smile. “sit tight and i’ll clean the cuts for you. this is the cleanest water you can find.”

y/n relaxed on the rock as she watched jun at work. he walked over to a bush full of coral bells. they were called such for their bell-like shape. he took one of the flowers off and dipped it into the pond, collecting water in it. he brought the water-filled flower back to y/n, kneeling down in front of her.

jun took two fingers into the flower and rubbed the water over the cuts, wiping away all the blood. the water made the cuts feel painless, seemingly healing them. it made y/n feel at ease.

“you wanna know something?” jun said to y/n, his eyes looking all over her face, “no matter how much your face gets cut up, you’ll still be the prettiest girl in the world.”

y/n blushed. he always knew how to compliment her. he had the nicest and sweetest things to say no matter what.

“you’re a liar,” y/n chuckled as jun finished cleaning all her face-cuts.

“i never lie, m’lady,” jun said, dipping his fingers into the water again. “can i see your arms now?”

y/n nodded, showing her arms to jun, and he began to clean. he took care of them pretty quick, then moved to her legs. just a few minutes later, she was all taken care of. none of them burned anymore. y/n felt no pain.

“there you go,” jun said, “all better.”

y/n smiled at her friend. “jun, sometimes i swear you’re some kind of forest god or something.

jun shrugged and laughed. “something like that,” he said. his face suddenly changed, like he had remembered something. “i almost forgot!” he said as he walked off.

y/n cocked her head to the side. ‘what did he forget? i’m feeling all fine now,’ y/n wondered to herself.

jun was at another flower bush. this time it was another rose bush. he picked one of the roses off, taking the thorns off the stem one by one. he walked back over to y/n. he pushed her hair back behind her ear, and placed the rose there.

“finishing touch,” jun smiled.

y/n smiled. roses had always been her favorite, and jun remembered it. “kinda ironic, don’t you think?” she joked, which made jun chuckle.

“i couldn’t help it,” jun said, “they’re your favorite, and they suit you so well. everytime i see a rose, i think of you. no rose can live up to your beauty.”

y/n smiled wide. she wrapped her arms around the boy. “thank you, junhui, for everything,” she said.

he hugged her back. “of course, m’lady. anything for you, forever and always.”

—

that day just made y/n love roses even more, even though they tore her skin up. after looking at them for a few more seconds, she decided to start typing.

“Roses, often hailed as the "Queen of Flowers," hold a special place in human culture and history. Their beauty, fragrance, and variety have made them a symbol of love, passi-”

a sudden noise behind her caused her to pause typing. she looked behind her, but didn’t see anything. ‘must’ve been a squirrel or bird,’ she said to herself and went back to typing.

“-passion, and admiration across different civil-”

the noise was closer now, and sounded bigger than any squirrel or bird. it sounded like footsteps. the footsteps were then accompanied by a voice.

“well, hello there.”

#seventeen #seventeen x reader #svt #svt x reader #wen junhui #junhui #junhui x reader #jun #jun x reader #the8 #minghao #xu minghao #kpop x reader #kpop #kpop fanfic

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bitletsanddrabbles · 2 days ago

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Island of the Procrastinating Brain

I swear, my brain is actively trying to drive me insane.

Back in 2022 it came up with a plot for @alex51324 's "Island of the Gays" where the Duke of Crowborough comes to the Island because, well, by this point the man's less of a human being than he is a walking bundle of neurosis. I got through a couple of scenes before my brain got tired and stalled out, but I still have a good frame work. Every once in awhile, I come back and poke at it and get out a few more sentences. Maybe even a paragraph or two.

Yeah, have I mentioned I'm not a fast writer?

And Phillip does NOT want to deal with his issues and Thomas does NOT want to deal with Phillip, which, okay, FAIR, but that's kinda the point of the whole thing. But in the meantime my brain still wants to write Phillip on the Island, so what's it done?

Come up with a sequel, naturally!

And it really, really wants to write this sequel despite the fact I can't do it properly until I've written the first piece, which neither my brain or my characters seems interested in, because they are all PUNKS, but my brain will NOT stop thinking about this hypothetical sequel which, at this point, will never be written.

So I'm just going to write out the summary for the thing here, in case anyone's curious and wants a laugh, because I can and maybe it'll galvanize the lump of grey cells in my skull to be productive. Maybe. Not holding my breath.

Things you need to know before going into this:

Random.org has decided that Thomas is married to Peter Fitzroy for this one, which is kinda important for Thomas's characterization.

Phillip only kinda counts as human at this point, but he's actively trying to fix that. The results are mixed.

It was inspired by a couple of polls I ran when I was trying to figure out where I was taking the first piece (hey! I have the last scene written!) and the suggestions that Phillip might like working in some sort of architectural field (believe that was from @o-rchidae) and that he wind up married with an older working class bloke who would not take his shit.

Right then. Let's go.

Okay, so, this takes place a couple of years after the Walking Disaster of Crowborough arrived. At one point he was tapped to help with building or repairs or some such and he realized he liked it, so he's taken to studying books on building and architecture and has joined up with the local work crew. The problem is, he's basically teaching himself out of books and then applying it to real life, so he keeps getting ideas about "Say, why don't we do this thing THIS way?" and while it'll seem like a reasonable idea, there is, in fact, a very good reason NOT to do it that way, but because a) he's a Duke and b) a bunch of people hate him, on general principle if nothing else, everyone just goes "Oh, okay, sure" and the do it that way and…it fails. And the people who hate him laugh and it's obvious that EVERYONE knew it was a bad idea and he gets frustrated, but he wont' say it, because a) Duke and b) boys don't cry.

And this goes on for awhile.

After a bit, though, a new guy shows up who has lots of experience building things. It was kinda his job before he got here. He is educated in the ways of Building Things and knows what's up. He's also at least ten years Phillip's senior and has limited patience for upper class twits, so when he joins the crew and is informed there's this know-it-all-Duke who's always demanding they do things his way (by which we mean 'making suggestions that everyone just goes along with'), even though it's stupid and wastes time and resources, this guy goes "Pff, not on MY watch!"

And sure enough, the next time Phillip makes one of his suggestions, instead of "Yeah, sure, okay" he gets "We're not doing that." Why? "'Cause it's a stupid idea that won't work." WHY? "Because (insert full explanation of why the thing wouldn't work)." And Phillip stops asking and the rest of the crew cheers and laughs at how the old guy sure showed him and they anticipate an end to the questions.

THIS TOTALLY BACKFIRES.

Instead Phillip, who had actually been kinda slowing down on the suggestions over time, is making ALL of the suggestions, ALL of the times, and arguing every last aspect of the suggestion with Old Timer before giving up. The crew can't put up a fence without an argument. Old Timer starts calling Phillip 'Phil'. Rather than tell him to stop, Phillip just starts calling Old Timer by a similar nickname, which Old Timer ignores, because not giving in to his own trick, oh no. There's talk of starting a police department in case they murder each other.

After this has gone on for awhile there is a Big Dramatic Plot Twist and the Old Timer goes out into the woods for something and…doesn't come back in a timely manner. He stays gone long enough for people to get worried and mount a search. To everyone's shock, Phillip wants to come. He's quite insistent on the point. They finally agree to put him in Thomas's party because he and Thomas "get along now" (read: Thomas has spent enough time with Peter talking him down that he can tolerate Phillip's presence under the right circumstances as long as he doesn't say anything). The parties go out and before long, Thomas and Phillip's party has the good luck to find Old Timer. He's accidentally been injured badly enough he can't walk and crawling through the woods is not easy going. The manner of this accident wasn't a super obvious bad idea, but that could maybe have been avoided with a bit more thought, perhaps, with luck. Most of the party just nods and goes "Yeah, sounds about right, could have happened to anyone."

…Phillip flips straight out and starts screaming at Old Timer for being an idiot who could have got himself killed. And then storms off a ways into the woods, back toward the village, leaving everyone else wondering a) the best way to get the injured man back home and b) what the heck just happened with the prissy little Duke. Thomas gets deputized to go find out what Phillip's problem is. There is protesting involved, but he finally gives in because he'd like to be home by dinner, thank you very much.

Phillip has, by this point, stopped to have a smoke, which both gives Thomas an opportunity to catch up and, thankfully, a scent to find him by. Thomas asks him why on earth he's so upset that Old Timer is hurt since the two of them hate each other and everyone figured Phillip would LOVE it if the other man died…

And that's when he finds out that everyone's had that relationship all backwards. Phillip doesn't hate the Old Timer, oh no! He loves being called 'Phil'. He absolutely adores the fact that when he asks "Why don't we do this?", rather than just go "Yeah, okay" and waste time and resources doing something HE KNOWS WON'T WORK, the Old Timer says 'no' and, over the course of the argument, actually EXPLAINS why not, which means Phillip ACTUALLY LEARNS THINGS. The more he argues, the better he becomes at building things and he doesn't have to try and decipher what some book is telling him or guess what the book might be leaving out and he LOVES IT and if the Old Timer had died, how would he learn things then? When Thomas points out that he'd learn just as much - maybe more - if he just asked the Old Timer to teach him things rather than argue, Phillip low key panics because what if he figures out Phillip WANTS to learn and stops talking to him or refuses because he doesn't like him at all?

By this point Thomas is a) trying to remember if he was ever THIS paranoid, and praying he wasn't and b) wondering what on earth to do with a Duke who is clearly in love with a crusty old working class codger, but hasn't figured it out yet.

He decides to tell Rouse and make it HIS mess to deal with.

Phillip and the Old Timer eventually get married and get a cottage of their own and Phillip about dies happy at the idea of a home that he actually owns instead of something that he's the custodian of for the next generation who will be the custodians for the generation after that and so on.

#downton abbey #thomas barrow #downton abbey fanfiction #fanfiction #island of the gays #duke of crowborough

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anneangel · 2 days ago

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Aziraphale is not bad or foolish nor stupid in the last 15 minutes of S2. And he is clearly suffering when Crowley didn't agree to go with him to Heaven, that is noticeable to anyone (or so I suppose).

But, in the same way that Crowley is sad about the whole situation (and about Aziraphale's choice), the audience felt the same way (ok, I know Crowley would never hate Aziraphale, while some fans condemned him and hated him a lot after that). But, getting to my point: I believe that, for most of us, Aziraphale is not "the bad", it's just that the entire 15 minutes were played to make us feel more empathy for Crowley.

He is the one we can identify with the most in the 'lover who declares his affection and is rejected'. Meanwhile, the 15 minutes still have Aziraphale saying that heaven 'is the side of the good guys' (something that would consequently be rejected by Crowley and the audience, who would agree with him in 'Heaven and Hell are toxic').

Its much harder to understand Aziraphale's side when the whole scene is played out in Crowley's favor. Aziraphale ends up coming off as the "poor naive" who leaves his love behind in exchange for trying to make Heaven a more decent place.

But listening: I also don't think Aziraphale thinks Heaven is perfect, he has shown that he doesn't always agree with God's plans or ways (he knows not to ask questions, he warns Angel Crowley, he gave his sword to Adam out of pity after the couple was expelled from Eden, he also didn't agree to kill Job's children). Aziraphale doesn't think Heaven is perfect, just that it's better than the alternative (Hell).

You see, both "Crowley book" and "Crowley show" fear the reprisals of Hell. It's not like Hell in GO isn't bad, because it is.

A while back I saw a poll that asked if you would like to be an angel or a demon, most people chose demon, but only because they use Crowley as a parameter, they want to be like Crowley, so they chose demon, but the question wasn't if you want to be Crowley, but a demon. Crowley is an exception, not the rule. Being a demon is not about being like Crowley, Crowley is the gray aspect between the black and white that Heaven and Hell are (he and Aziraphale are the gray aspect).

So Heaven is relatively more pleasant than Hell, that is beyond doubt. I think that when Aziraphale says "it's heaven, the side of the good guys", he didn't mean that it's the side of the "perfect and good", he was just replying that, compared to the alternative (Hell), Heaven was better.

This doesn't mean that Aziraphale support the publicity of heaven: He doesn't understand all the ordinances of Heaven, but he fears that disobedience and associating with demons (Crowley) will lead to his downfall, he feared that he had fallen after the whole "arc of Job". And he has reason to believe that he could fall if he is disobedient, or if he allies himself with "the wicked".

Angels did not fall only with Lucifer, mind you, biblically speaking 1/3 of the angels allied themselves with Lucifer's rebellion and fell with him (including Crowley). But after that there were other falls, before the flood for example, about 200 angels also fell: for having fallen in love with human women, having sex with them, creating Nephlins, and teaching forbidden knowledge to humans, all of this caused evil to be perpetrated on earth and it hence the flood.

So it is possible that an angel can fall at any time, if he does not fulfill the tasks of heaven and associates with the "wrong people".

Aziraphale does not think that heaven is perfect, but falling is still not a better option: Hell is not a better option.

Furthermore, he does not understand or obey all of Heaven's ordinances: he associated himself with Crowley, as well as committing sins (gluttony?), and others things. But he also knows that "running away" from Heaven (as Gabriel did) is not a good option in the long run.

So Aziraphale made the decision he thought was wisest in relation to Metatron, to find out what was happening in the management of Heaven, and trying to change what he believe is wrong.

See, Crowley's plan to run away isn't ideal, it's also naive foolishness.

Crowley would certainly agree with Aziraphale on "hell is toxic", they are in consensus on that. But, see, in the end of S2 Aziraphale and Crowley were both purposely put in a difficult situation, Metatron knew he would separate them by confronting them with a topic they would disagree on: Heaven.

Aziraphale, by saying "Heaven is the good guys' side," claimed to believe in the status quo. As if he believes that Heaven is broken, but can be fixed. But Crowley, by saying that "Heaven and Hell are toxic," doesn't believe they can be fixed, that it are both toxic precisely because it are functioning as it should.

I don't think either Crowley or Aziraphale is wrong, they just have different opinions based on what they believe. They shouldn't have to apologize for that. Aziraphale hurt Crowley, but Crowley also hurt Aziraphale. They're both hurt.

The reaction to Aziraphale was only so antagonistic because, as I said, the audience tends to identify more with Crowley and his idea that "Heaven and Hell are toxic", so they tend to give him more credibility during these last 15 minutes. But he was also wrong in the way he conducted the conversation.

Aziraphale saying that they can both go to Heaven as angels, is like having to accept that there is only Heaven and Hell and they need to join one of them, in the classic "if you can't beat them, join them". On the other hand, Crowley does not believe that it is possible to "join them", he believes that it is only possible to play against the system and outside of it, as an "us".

Only the plot of the sequel will show which one is being wiser (and I really hope the plot doesn't do it in a way that blames and ridicules one of them).

They both ended up saying things, and acting, in ways that hurt each other in S2. But that happens at least once in a couple's life, doesn't it?

So you see, the second season only separated them to bring them back together in the "sequel" in a more epic way (or so I hope❤️).

#good omens #ineffable husbands #ineffable idiots #aziraphale #aziraphale defense #anthony j crowley #crowley defense #gomens #aziraphale x crowley #aziraphale/crowley #aziracrow #go3 #go3 speculation #go2

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thatsmzbitchtoyou · 1 day ago

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Sugar & Spicy Books Chapter 3

Summary: Y/N is an accomplished writer who is newly divorced, and out of fear of the unknown, moves back to her small hometown she swore she’d never come back to. She comes across her best friend that never left, who helps her out of a tough spot. Will old feelings arise? Or is she just too big for such a small place now?

Warnings: language, smut

Previous chapter Next chapter

Y/N got into a routine with Bucky and Autumn. On the days she picked up Autumn from school she would take her out and about to grocery shop on Mondays, accompany her to softball practice on Wednesdays, and every Friday was take out night. She loved spending time with Autumn, and could see childhood Bucky in her whenever they would play, or in the way she smiled or laughed. She also got to spend a lot of time with Winnie, which she was grateful for. People around town recognized Y/N from way back when or from her books and would try to talk to her sometimes, but she always politely brushed them off whenever she was with Autumn, not wanting to be a spectacle. Every night after they all got home, had dinner, and Autumn went to bed she and Bucky would talk for way too long, catching up and having in-depth, intellectual conversations that she missed. She could feel that crush coming on full force as their friendship picked up right where it left off all those years ago.

Two weeks later they all came home one Friday with Bucky acting extra excited. “Alright, Autumn! You’re having a sleepover weekend at Grandma’s!” he announced.

“Yay!” Autumn cheered, running up to her room to gather a bag of her things.

“And you and I,” he said quietly, pointing at Y/N, “are going out.”

“Out?” Y/N smiled. “Out where?”

“Boston,” he smirked.

“Boston?” Y/N scoffed. “What the hell for?”

“To celebrate,” Bucky said. “Go change into something nice but warm. And pack an overnight bag.”

Y/N watched him walk up the stairs with wide eyes. She quickly followed, changing into one of the nicer dresses she still owned, fixing up her hair and makeup and wearing sensible shoes, just in case. She grabbed her fluffiest cardigan and a larger purse to carry her overnight things. When she went back downstairs Autumn was jumping in place, holding her own bag and pillow as Bucky was fixing his hair in the mirror in the entryway.

“Daddy let’s go!” Autumn whined, then turned to Y/N and gasped dramatically. “Y/N you look beautiful!”

Y/N smiled at her. “Aw, thanks lovey,” she said, looking down at herself. She looked up again at Bucky who was more dressed up than she had seen him since she came to town, looking dapper and cleaned up. She whistled at him. “Wow, Barnes, you really know how to clean up,” she smirked at him.

Bucky blushed at her compliment. “Says the woman who came down looking like that,” he gestured to her. “Looking good, Y/L/N.”

She hid her blush behind a laugh and reached out to squeeze his arm. Autumn pulled on the sleeve of her cardigan and she quickly placated her. “Alright, alright, let’s go.”

After dropping Autumn off the ride to Boston was two hours. She and Bucky talked the whole way, reminiscing on old times and crazy things from their childhoods. Bucky pulled up to a small hotel downtown, checked them in and dropped off their overnight things, then ordered an Uber. The driver pulled up to The Bell in Hand Tavern. “Oh Jesus, I remember this,” Y/N giggled. “When Sam got us fake IDs and we drank way too much. I had to haul your ass down the street before the cops came. You were trying to kiss me the whole way.”

“I remember everything up until that point,” Bucky laughed. “Then Steve drove us all the way home but missed the turn off and took us to Sugarbrush Farm.”

“Where you bathed in the smallest vat of maple syrup I’ve ever seen,” Y/N laughed as he helped her out of the car. “You were sticky for weeks…Sugar.”

Bucky rolled his eyes and wound an arm around her shoulders. He dipped his head down to her ear. “You think you’re teasing me, but I like it when you call me Sugar,” he said.

“Oh really?” Y/N scoffed, looking at him. Bucky arched an eyebrow at her as he steered her to the main front bar and flagged down the bartender. “Hi, I’ll have a Jameson Black Barrel. And she’ll have a,” he eyed her, “Nantucket Lemonade?”

“Ugh, yes,” Y/N moaned, her eyes rolling back. “I haven’t had that in ages.”

Bucky’s eyes widened at her expression but he quickly looked back at the bartender. “That’ll be it,” he nodded.

When their drinks were ready he took her over to a small table by the window and they sat. “So, what are we celebrating?” Y/N asked.

Bucky held up his glass. “Cheers to your divorce.”

Y/N laughed loudly and clinked her glass against his. “Cheers!” she said, drinking the cocktail. “Fuck that’s good.”

They ate and drank the night away, laughing and talking too loud as they got more tipsy. They didn’t notice people leaving until the bartender yelled out, “Last call!”

“Oh shit,” Bucky giggled and took out his phone. “We gotta go, honey.”

“Aw,” Y/N whined. “But I’m hungry!”

“We’ll find something to eat on the way back,” he smiled as he stood and helped her get up. She leaned on him heavily as he paid the tab and then ordered another Uber.

“How are you still standing and I’m struggling?” Y/N asked, gripping his arm tight.

“‘Cause I had two whiskeys and drank water, and you had…four cocktails?” Bucky chuckled.

“Ugh,” Y/N groaned as he helped her into the Uber. They convinced the Uber driver to stop by a fast food place to grab food before going to the hotel, inhaling the burgers and fries while they stumbled in and eventually found their room.

Bucky fumbled with the key card, dropping it twice while Y/N fought back fits of giggles. When he finally opened the door they both fell inside, laughing maniacally as they sprawled out on the floor and the door shut loudly. “Ssshhh!!” Bucky shushed her, bringing a finger to her lips. “It’s late!”

Y/N playfully nipped at his finger, making him gasp. “Gotcha,” she teased, before rolling over and crawling toward the bed. Bucky crawled after her, and as she started to climb the bed he slapped her ass. “Buck!” Y/N gasped, looking back at him.

“What? It’s not my fault you have a great ass,” Bucky smirked.

“Oh no, are you gonna try to have your way with me like last time?” Y/N laughed, lifting herself up onto the bed and laying flat on it.

“How dare you! I would never take advantage of such a refined lady!” he said in a horrible British accent. He flopped onto the bed next to her. “Though I can assure you…you’d love it,” he winked.

“So sure of yourself,” Y/N giggled. Her head was feeling fuzzy, the filter fully gone as she turned to face him. He leaned on his elbows, making it so he was slightly hovering above her at the angle she put herself in. Y/N stared at him for a moment before her hand reached up and her finger traced his lips. “You’re a good kisser, did you know that?” she asked.

“What?” Bucky scoffed.

“The night before I left,” Y/N frowned. “You kissed me, remember?”

“Yeah,” Bucky nodded, blinking rapidly.

Her thumb ran along his bottom lip, slightly pulling it down before she dropped her hand between them. “Softest, prettiest lips,” she whispered, then closed her eyes. “Felt like my heart was…flying that night,” she breathed.

“Really?” Bucky’s voice sounded closer.

“Mhm,” Y/N nodded, her eyes still closed. “Been dreaming about it ever since.”

She felt Bucky’s nose nuzzle her nose, his breath fanning her cheek. “I liked kissing you,” he breathed.

Y/N opened her eyes, looking up to see him staring at her with a soft look in his eyes. “Really?” she asked.

“Been dreaming about it ever since,” he repeated her words with a smirk.

Y/N sobered up as she processed his words and the position they were in, this moment that hung precariously in the balance between friendship and something more. She had the sudden realization that she had loved this man since she was a child, but it had just never been their time. He had only entered her life again recently, and as different and separate as their lives had been, it was like no time had passed at all. She wanted this. This life, with him and Autumn, in the town that she had initially run away from.

Bucky slowly leaned down, his gaze flickering to her lips. “Can I…can I kiss you, honey?” he whispered, his lips ghosting over hers.

“Yes,” Y/N whispered.

He smiled, then kissed her. Y/N sighed into the kiss, her entire body relaxing into the bed. It was like all the stress, tension, uncertainty, how lost she felt and how big the world felt, it all disappeared and tunnel visioned into this moment. All that mattered was that it was Bucky and he was kissing her…and it was perfect.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, her hand holding the back of his head to keep him close, scratching into his hair. Bucky moaned at the scratch, pulling his body to completely hover over hers, his hips nestled between her legs. Y/N got lost in his kisses, the euphoria of feeling his lips, his tongue, his teeth, his hands caressing her everywhere, his heaviness on top of her. She didn’t realize when they’d gotten naked, but suddenly they were and she felt him everywhere she could reach. The planes of muscles built up over time, the tuft of chest hair, his calloused fingers, and the pure pleasure at his cock rubbing between her lower lips.

Bucky kissed down her neck, her chest, giving plenty of attention and care to her breasts, then down her stomach to her core. He lifted her legs over his shoulders, gripping her thighs as he kissed over her clit, making her gasp and buck her hips, Bucky forcing her to stay put. He made out with her pussy, kissing and licking it like it was the most delicious dessert he’d ever had. Y/N’s head wrenched back as he sucked at her clit, then flicked it repeatedly with the tip of his tongue. She was cumming in seconds, squirming in his hold as she whimpered above him. Bucky licked and drank all she gave him. When he helped her through the aftershocks of her orgasm he slowly pulled himself up and crawled back up to kiss her, his mouth and chin shining with her slick. “And you call me Sugar,” he smiled as he bent down and kissed her again.

Y/N moaned at the taste of herself on his lips, her fingers scratching down his back. “Buck please,” she breathed.

Bucky nodded as his hand gripped his cock and slid it through her pussy again. “I’ll take care of you, honey,” he said. He aimed himself and started pushing forward. Y/N slightly winced at the stretch, her hands gripping his biceps as he thrust into her. When his hips were flush with hers he let out a grunt, his head leaning on her shoulder. “Fuck, Y/N…you feel so fucking good. Jesus,” he kissed her collarbone.

“You’re amazing,” she replied. “Please fuck me, Sugar. Fuck me. I can take it.”

Bucky huffed a laugh against her skin. “I’m sure you could, honey. And as much as I’d love to fuck you, right now I just wanna make love to you.” He lifted his head to look at her. “I just wanna feel you, nice and slow. Is that okay?” he pleaded. “I’ve wanted you for years, Y/N. I’ve loved you for so long.”

Y/N could feel tears start to build in her eyes. “I love you, Bucky,” she sniffled, cupping his face in her hands. “I’ve always loved you.”

Bucky smiled wide then kissed her. He started thrusting slowly, pulling keens and groans from her throat. His cock felt perfect, like it was meant to be in her. As much as she and Raf had had a mostly fulfilling sex life, it had never felt like this was him. Bucky’s hips rolled and thrust randomly, the switch up making her eyes roll back every time. He dug a hand under her neck, gripping her by the back of the head and the nape of the hair on her neck, forcing her head certain ways as he kissed her repeatedly. He would nip at her jaw and her earlobe, before kissing his way back to her mouth, where the kisses would change from sweet, soft pecks to demanding, sloppy, and passionate. She felt lightheaded at how he played her body like an instrument only he knew.

Her pussy fluttered around him, making him shudder above her, pulling away from another kiss as he gasped. “Damn, you gonna cum for me, honey? Cum all over my cock, huh?” Y/N nodded like she was still drunk. Bucky’s hips picked up the pace, his cock dragging in and out of her exquisitely. He suddenly hauled himself up and held her against him so she was sitting in his lap, her arms and legs wrapped around him as he changed the angle and started thrusting up into her even deeper. Y/N squealed, her nails digging into his back. “You feel how deep I am, Y/N? God, you’re perfect. Most perfect pussy. Better than I could have ever dreamed.” He kissed her deeply again, his hand still holding her by the back of the neck and his other hand splayed on her back, holding her where he wanted her. When he broke the kiss he leaned his forehead against her forehead and stared in her eyes. “You’re my perfect dream, you know that? Goddamn, I love you.”

“And you’re mine,” Y/N said, her breaths huffing against his face. “Love you…love you, Sugar, Bucky, love you.” She rattled on, feeling the build up in her belly. “Mine,” she groaned.

“Yours,” Bucky nodded, his hand at her neck sliding down to her clit and flicking it with his thumb fast. “Mine,” he nearly growled.

Y/N stiffened in his arms and came hard, shaking as it felt like lightning shooting through her veins and she cried out his name. He buckled at how her pussy gripped his cock, falling back onto the bed with her, his hips rolling into her as he shuddered again and whimpered loudly in her ear as he came. They held each other tightly as they calmed down, hot breaths fanning each other’s skin. Bucky lifted his head from her shoulder and looked at her. His gaze made her heart leap with how soft and wondrous he looked. “Did you mean it?” he asked quietly.

“What?” Y/N frowned.

“That you love me,” Bucky said, tracing her face with his fingers.

She smiled. “I do. I love you, Sugar. I’ve loved you since we were kids. I wish I would have realized it sooner.”

Bucky smiled. “Been dreaming about me ever since?”

Y/N laughed and smacked his shoulder. “Yes, you little shit.”

Bucky chuckled, but his eyes looked mischievous. “Did you think of me when you were fucking your husband?”

Y/N scoffed incredulously. “Okay, first of all, ex-husband, and secondly, you cheeky bastard!”

“Answer the question, honey,” Bucky said, dipping his head back down into the crook of her neck, nipping at her skin. His hold on her tightened again, and his hips rocked into her, pulling a gasp from her lips at how he was getting hard inside her again.

“Sometimes,” she replied breathily.

He hummed in her ear. “I’m gonna take real good care of you, honey. All that sexy stuff in your books? God, you got me feeling horny for years from your stories. Now I’m gonna take my time and show you what it can really be like. You want to show me how well you can take it now?”

Y/N groaned. “Holy shit…yes!” she cried out.

Bucky chuckled darkly. “Good girl…”

#marvel #bucky barnes #smut #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fanfic #series fanfic #chapter 3 #spicy books

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thefirstknife · 8 hours ago

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I wasn't aware of the discussions around Eramis being that rancid, personally (although I tend not to look at online discussion around media in general, thanks to how skin-deep at best much of it tends to be).

But the way you've talked about it makes me wonder how much of the people complaining about Eramis's character development are coming at it from a dislike of the idea of that redemption being a thing at all- the perspective that Doing Bad Things makes someone A Bad Person who can no longer be A Good Person, essentially. Seems like that mentality has grown... if not more common, at least louder, over time.

(Although your comment about not seeing why they'd 'pull a shocking twist for the sake of pulling a shocking twist to spite the audience' is a little funny in a sad way, considering how many people seem to think "outwit the audience and surprise them" is more important than "tell a coherent story as well as possible", even changing things if a twist is leaked, even if whatever they change it to makes no damn sense.)

It's really bad out there and it's strange for the exact reason you listed, because the same communities have previously entertained redemption ideas about characters like Calus and even Clovis; characters who have never expressed any wish to change or any beliefs that they may be in the wrong, no regrets and no remorse for what they've done.

So I can't even figure out if this with Eramis is about not wanting redemption stories. I think it's more about Eramis herself; not only is she a female character, but she's very largely and easily misunderstood. A lot of people's interaction with Beyond Light was... not entirely invested (a lot of the community was at the time mad about vaulting and hated everything new on principle), and her other storylines are in seasonal content that's gone now and that was almost universally hated; she was brought back in Plunder and then reappeared briefly in Defiance. A lot of people approached her from the get-go as "just some villain we will kill in the campaign" and then that didn't happen and these people were confused because they never paid any attention to her story. And then by the end of it, it just kinda slipped them by.

I don't know honestly. I may be overthinking it, but I definitely think that a lack of understanding of her story plays a huge role. Whether that's because they missed her story or just didn't pay attention to it or just had no interest in it - and nobody online they interact with offered any insight into her character (lore youtube) - they just don't get what's the fuss and they don't care about her. Some might say this is because the game didn't make people want to care, but I simply disagree. While I enjoy Eliksni stories, they're by far not at the top of my list of favourite things in Destiny so I don't have any special attachment to Eliksni characters, I didn't know Eramis before BL and I was never a diehard fan of her, but I understood her story and what they wanted to do with her for the past 4 years.

And I was happy that she got her character arc completed as was intended. I saw where it was going and this solution is the only one that made sense to me. So I don't think the whole "the game didn't make me care enough because it was badly set up" really holds water. The game can't put thoughts into your brain, sometimes you have to actually think about characters for yourself. Like, we shouldn't have to be spoon-fed that hard. Her arc and the setup was clear and it was written into the game's story, a lot of it even outside of lore books ("It was just in the lore books!" is a major complaint a lot of the time, and one I personally find baffling. You're in the Lore Books The Game. If you don't like lore being in lore books, you're in the wrong place).

We could honestly discuss this to no end, and everyone who dislikes Eramis or the conclusion to her story would probably have a different reason for it, or there would at least be a couple of them, not wanting redemption included. Could also be a combination - not understanding her story will lead a lot of people to think that her being redeemed makes no sense and that it wasn't supposed to happen.

I think it's also a case of people having a really hard time understanding that a character can be our ally while still hating our guts. I've seen plenty of comments from people saying they're annoyed about Eramis constantly being antagonistic towards us. This is baffling to me, because again, it makes sense that she doesn't like us. And it would be bizarre if all Eliksni were now suddenly fans of humanity like a hivemind. Some will never like us. This is good. They will still help us because there's bigger fish to fry, but they don't have to like us.

Eramis was a delight this episode to me and she was a really interesting character. She wasn't a huge deal overall and some of her story was fairly on the sidelines, but she was a very unique "villain" and antagonist to us since she was introduced and I think that her character arc was very well done all things considered. This amount of resistance and dislike for her from the wider community is something I simply can't see as anything other than a lack of understanding of the story (personal reasons and stuff like "I get it, I just don't really care that much" not included).

#destiny 2 #destiny 2 spoilers #revenant #revenant spoilers #eramis #ask #long post #went off again but i'm also really interested in the reasoning and i can never figure it out #the commentary almost always boils down to “i don't like it because i don't get it.”#but there could be other reasons. i definitely think that eramis being so antagonistic towards us (while being female) plays a role

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mitchywitchythings · 1 day ago

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Shoto with a s/o that takes care of their younger siblings, so much so that they call her mom instead of their actual mom and as Shoto visits her house more and more he sees they way they run to her and ask her for things and she takes care of them and one of them slips and calls her mom in front of him and he's just kinda shocked and confused on why the sibling did that and she explains that her parents really don't seem to care that they have kids and just kinda leave them to her. He also sees how she tries to balance school and her siblings and lets her just take a nap with him because he knows that she needs some sleep and is proud to have such a caring girlfriend. If you can't do that it's ok ❤️

How I Met Your Siblings

Summary: A summary of how Shoto Todoroki met your siblings and gave you a run for your money. It’s pretty chaotic but that’s expected when you have 3 other younger siblings who you take care of day and night without rest. The literal definition of mother.

Warning: Despite the siblings call you mom/mommy you are just their sister, Mentions of cheating but no actual cheating, angst with a happy ending, implied 18+ but nothing actually happened, OOC Todoroki? The cheating part doesn’t rlly make sense I just kinda rolled with it, prideful (Y/n)

Pairing: Todoroki Shoto X Fem! Reader

Word count: 12,000 words

A/n: Thank you to my first ever request!! The whole idea is so adorable and super fun to play around with! I loved writing this and NGL it wasn’t supposed to turn out as angst or this long, I just accidentally went overboard. ALSO IM SO SORRY FOR IT TAKING LITERAL YEARS TO WRITE! School had been holding me back for so long and my love life also punched me super hard in the gut and not to mention all of my personal problems.

1st Interaction: Todoroki Shoto meeting your siblings

“Hey, wanna come over to my house? I know you’ve been having a rough time over yours, with your dad being more pressuring with you after the sports festival?” I asked Shoto who was still keeping his books

Class had just finished, so it meant that it was time for everyone to go home. I stood at Shoto’s desk with my bag slung around my shoulder in a carefree manner. The windows to our classroom were open, letting the light from the orange sky pour into the room, a slight cold breeze was also carried in the wind, in this setting Shoto really looked pretty.

Looking up at me he spoke with a gentle smile, “Sure, thanks for your concern.”

We walked in comfortable silence to my house which was small in comparison to Shoto’s. But didn’t he didn’t know that because he had never visited my house before. While I only visited him once because his sister really wanted to meet me.

Unlike Shoto’s family… My family and I were in the middle class and they ran a hero support agency, building new gear to help heroes like Hawks and Miriko. You’d think they’d have a higher salary but unfortunately that wasn’t the case and so they work almost all day and night to earn money. Leaving me to care and fend for me and my siblings.

‘Honestly, they forgot they even have kids.’ I grumbled in my head. I sort of resented my parents a bit for that, work was always on their mind. And I didn’t blame them for that reason, I resented them because whenever they were home they didn’t seem to care for any of us.

No hello, goodnight, good morning, birthday greetings, or even congratulation on any special occasion. I could handle that, not my siblings though, I have 3 younger siblings, 2 boys and 1 sisters. All of them had unique talents and skills, all of which they wouldn’t have been able to achieve without my support. But still, I just supported them, they achieved it by themselves.

It hurts to see the disappointment and pain in my siblings' faces whenever our parents brush their talents and achievements off. And that’s why I chose to go to U.A. in the hero course. After I graduate I’ll be helping to pay and support whatever my siblings want.

That’s because my parents have to approve what kind of career we want to go into. And let’s just say, if my siblings wanted to have regular jobs like teachers, then my parents wouldn’t agree or pay for their college. And let's just say I didn’t want that for them. That’s why I need to earn lots of money and fast, for my siblings. And becoming a hero is the way to accomplish that goal, good thing that it’s my passion as well.

~~~

A sudden soft tune and vibration began coming out from my bag. I pulled out my phone, and looked at the dark screen with a picture of a young boy who had similar facial features to me. Seeing the caller ID, I didn’t hesitate to answer the call immediately.

“Hey, what’s up?” I asked, “Alright… Yes yes… Sure, not a problem… Anything else you need?… Alright then, love you too. I’ll be waiting for you back at the house and don’t take too long.”

“Who was that?” Shoto asked as his eyebrows furrowed in curiosity

“My younger brother, he said he’ll be coming home a bit late since his soccer practice is taking longer than expected. Also do you mind if we stop by a 7/11? He asked if I could buy him some onigiri.” I replied, putting my phone back into my bag.

“I don’t mind at all.” He replied in his usual monotone voice

“Thanks baby.” I gave him a kiss on the lips in surprise

“It’s no problem.” He smiled with a blush on his face, pulling me towards him by the waist.

And so we headed towards the direction of the nearest 7/11. Shoto had his arm wrapped around my waist in a very protective manner. Once we got to the 7/11, I began to go down the onigiri section, but I happened to pass by some instant soba noodles.

Knowing it was Shoto’s favorite food, I sneakily took it while he was looking at the slurpee machine in curiosity as if he hadn’t tried one once ever in his life, probably because of his father. After that I took some tuna mayo onigiri and other snacks that I knew my siblings would want and went up to the counter quickly before Shoto would offer to pay for it.

Mission successful! With a plastic bag in my hand, I waited for Shoto on one of the seats at the high table. Scrolling through my gallery, looking for pictures of my siblings. A sudden shadow towered over me, looking at my phone. Knowing who it was, I didn’t panic at all instead turning around to meet his gaze. I smiled and thanked him as he handed me a red colored slurpee, while in his other hand was a blue one.

”You never really mentioned anything about your siblings?” He questioned

I cooed adorably at that question, picturing my siblings in my mind, “Oh, you never asked plus, you don’t seem like you would hang out with kids unless you have to.”

“It’s not that I don’t like them.” He spoke bluntly

“Well then, not to worry. You’ll be meeting my siblings today.” I smiled at him, getting up and walking out of the store

“How about your parents?” Shoto trailed after me and headed off to my house.

I tensed up at his curiosity, “Well, I’ll see if they’re there. If so, I guess you could meet them.” Awkwardly sipping onto my slurpee while avoiding his gaze

He didn’t comment on my actions which I was very thankful for. We walked towards my home in an awkward silence after that, up until Shoto decided to break it. Asking if we could switch slurpees so that he could taste the flavor of mine.

I agreed to it and we switched up slurpees. Both of them tasted good, but I liked mine better. However unbeknownst to us, due to switching our slurpees. Our tongues that were supposedly red and blue, both turned violet. Something that would become very embarrassing later on.

~~~

We finally arrived at my house, it was a 2 story modern house. It looked really simple and cozy, Shoto noticed. Grabbing the keys out of my pocket and opening the door to my house, it was already around 5:30 PM. To my surprise both me and Shoto were greeted with a quiet house. We took off our shoes and headed towards the kitchen.

I was glad that my siblings weren’t causing any ruckus today but I was beginning to wonder where they were. We placed the plastic bag on the kitchen table and I stretched. Shoto had to go do a number 1, so he asked the direction of the bathroom. I told him the directions and waited for him on the living room couch.

“Hey guys, I’m home!” I yelled out, for the people upstairs to hear.

All Hell broke loose…

“Mom’s back home!!” Hikari my 6 year old sister came running down the stairs

“Hey wait up for me!” Hiroto my 8 year old brother tried to follow after her

“Don’t run down the stairs guys! You could trip and fall!” I yelled out, watching over them in concern.

My 2 siblings jumped into me and screamed out chants of ‘mom’s home’. I giggled along with them and had to pry myself off of them. Their hugs were like a vice grip, if I didn’t undergo any hero training I would have had a hard time pulling them off.

Directing them towards the counter, I pulled out their favorite snacks from the 7/11 plastic bag. Hiroto, the more introverted one out of all of us thanked me shyly with a hug while Hikari, the most extroverted among all of my siblings pulled me down to place a kiss on my cheek.

The door slammed open timingly to reveal my 12 year old brother with the exact same facial features as me except only more younger and boyish. At the same time, Shoto got out of the bathroom and entered the room who was still sipping on his blue slurpee. Only to meet Kaito who glared at him, while holding his soccer ball.

“Mom, who’s this?” He gritted his teeth, placing the soccer ball down to aim it at Shoto.

“Mom?” Shoto looked at you in wide eyes

“Kaito, stop that and I can explain everything to both of you.” I got up and ran towards them, standing in front of Shoto to shield him

“Kaito! Listen to what mom says!” Hiroto ran and tried to pull him away

“Kaito, stop being mean!” Hikari with tears in her eyes, cried comically

“Like Hell, I will! Who the Hell is this guy, with mom!” Kaito yelled, giving Shoto a full on death glare

Shoto was confused at your brother's actions, “I’m (N/n)’s boyfriend.” He spoke bluntly

“Mom’s boyfriend, like Hell will I allow that!” Kaito pushed off Hiroto and kicked the ball

All the while this was happening you yelled at him, “Kaito, that wasn’t nice! Apologize to Hiroto and c’mon please listen. He is my boyfriend and I love him very much! So please don’t kick the ball!”

I ran towards him to try to hold him back, while scolding him for pushing off Hiroto who luckily, landed on the couch with Hikari comforting him by hugging him from behind.

The soccer ball flew into the air with Kaito’s expert skills. Everyone’s eyes were glued onto the ball that was flying towards Shoto at lighting speed. I knew that I had no reason to worry for Shoto seeing as he’s very strong, but as his girlfriend and the person responsible for Kaito

I was worried for Shoto because I didn’t know what he’d think of me after this. Plus Kaito’s quirk was that he could control anything he touched for a period of time. This means that if you weren’t quick enough Shoto could very well get hit by the ball.

You activated your quirk, but Shoto was faster. He lifted his arm in front of him and aimed at the ball, which swerved to the left and with quick reflexes Shoto froze the ball completely, he bent down casually as though he hadn’t encased it in ice, he picked it up and began heating it up.

“HUH?!” Kaito yelled in shock, no one had been able to stop his soccer balls even with the use of their quirk except for me.

My siblings stared at Shoto for a minute in shock at what just happened until Hiroto recognized him, “Didn’t you place 2nd in the sports festival, just above mom who placed 3rd?”

“Yeah, yeah he is! He’s so cool with that fight with the green hair dude!” Hikari fangirled, running up to Shoto and hugging him by the leg.

“Ack- He’s the dude who literally obliterated his opponents…?” Kaito’s face became pale and he hid behind the couch

I sighed in irritation and walked towards him, “Kaito, that wasn’t nice. Apologize to Shoto then after Hiroto, now.” I said sternly

“Hah! Or else what?!” He replied in a shaky voice, trying to keep cool as he was a bit of a tsundere.

“Or else, I won’t give you your onigiri. And I’m not gonna tuck you in bed tonight.” He immediately stood up and walked in front of Shoto with an embarrassed and scared expression on his face.

“Mom, his face looks scary!” He whispered-yelled at me with a pleading face, asking for mercy.

“He’s not scary at all, Kai! He’s pretty handsome in fact, but pretty cold!” Hikari commented, while still clinging onto Shoto’s right leg

“Do it.” I replied back with a glare

“F-Fine… I-I” Taiko looked up to see Shoto staring at him a bit curious, “I’m sorry okay for trying to hit you with the soccer ball while using my quirk! But in my defense, you nor anyone will ever be good enough to be my mom/sister’s boyfriend!” He yelled, running behind the kitchen counter to shield himself from Shoto’s but mostly mine, gazes.

“That’s not what you're supposed to say!”

“Well what did you want me to say exactly?! Sorry for being an overprotective sibling and I approve of you dating-“ As Kaito went out of his hiding spot to storm towards you, he slipped and hit his head on the floor.

Shoto who stood in front of me trying to get me to calm down previously and tell me what my sibling did was okay and he was just being protective of me. I literally shoved him and ran to my sibling, placing his head on my lap and crying frantically. Looking over for any injuries or signs of concussion.

Shoto who stumbled back from me shoving him off, caught his balance and walked towards you. Activating his ice and inspecting the big bruise forming on my siblings head. There wasn’t any blood so that was good at least.

“An Angel��? No it's even better, mom?” He blinked, tears pouring down from his face from the pain.

“Yes! Are you alright?! Please stay awake, we need to make sure you don’t have any concussions! Shoto put your ice on him, please!” I cried frantically, not being able to keep my composure when it comes to my siblings.

“Did you and that guy?” He glared at Shoto though thankful for the icy cold hand on his bruise making it feel better, “Drink any slurpees, specifically red and blue?” He asked seriously

“Yes…? Why…?” My eyes widen in surprise and the tears stopped as well because of this

“I noticed them… And why are both your tongues violet?!”

Shoto stood silently with a blush while he watched me in slight amusement trying to explain why both our tongues were violet, “Huh?! It’s not what it looks like I swear! We just swapped-“

“Curse you peppermint candy! How dare you taint my mother! She’s still a virgin!”

“Kaito!” Me, Hikari, and Hiroto yelled in unison at him

“I’m glad.” Shoto added bluntly, making me dive my face into my hands in embarrassment

That was the first time Shoto had ever met my siblings and went to my house. After that, he began coming to my house more and more often. Finding himself liking it and feeling more comfortable there than in his own home.

2nd interaction: Todoroki Shoto meeting his s/o’s parents

Shoto was at my house again, this time he had already been here a few times before and met all of my family, except for my parents. Not until now.

Both my parents walked out of their office and walked past me and my siblings while Shoto was in the bathroom. They completely ignored us but in respect we greeted them politely. We were about to go out separate ways again had it not been for my siblings wanting their attention. It can’t be helped, children will always crave attention from their parents.

“Mother, look nee-san has a boyfriend and she brought him today.” Hikari said excitedly, trying to get a response from her biological mother

Notice how she said mother instead of mom. Hikari being the youngest one out of all of us, hasn’t really accepted that our parents don't really care for us. I mean we did try to hide it from her, shielding her from the harsh reality, but I think she’s starting to catch on.

“Is this true?” My mother gave me a questioning look

“Yes…” I looked away, trying to avoid everyone’s gazes

“Concentrate on becoming a hero and keeping the Family prestige, we’ve already begun to downgrade ever since the business wasn’t doing quite well with our competitors having more recent technology while ours has begun to downgrade. We simply don’t want you having any distractions which will lead to your downfall as well.” My father said sternly, looking at me intensely with tired eyes

“Who is this boy?” My mother questioned me crossing her arms in front of her chest

“I’m her boyfriend, it’s nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. (L/n).” Shoto suddenly stood besides me which startled everyone, he gave out his hand for my father to shake

My fathers eyes narrowed as he shook Shoto’s hands making my anxiety rise to the top, “(Y/n) never mentioned she had a boyfriend, how come we’re only hearing about this now? Also how’s your father doing with him being number 1 now, is he interested in some support gear?”

“Aren’t you, Todoroki Shoto? Son of Endeavor?” My mother pushed me aside to inspect Shoto

“Yes, miss.” Shoto replied, slightly uncomfortable at the mention of the number 1 hero.

“(Y/n), we approve of him.” My mother turned to look at me for a second then back to Shoto, “Does your father or his sidekicks need new gear? We’ll be giving out discounts since you're my daughter's boyfriend as long as you guys buy in bulk.”

“Mother, please. I think you’re making him uncomfortable.” I pleaded, trying to push my siblings out of the hallway and back into their rooms whilst trying to get Shoto out of the very uncomfortable situation.

“Nonsense, (Y/n). You should have introduced us to your boyfriend sooner.” My parents began giving Shoto more attention than me or my siblings had ever received in our entire life.

“We should have a formal dinner, getting to know each other. Todoroki, you should invite your family.” My father interjected

“We have a free schedule on this Thursday, there’s a new restaurant that opened near here. We should go there.” My parents began to overwhelm Shoto

‘Shit! What do I do?!’ I screamed watching my parents like hawks as they corner Shoto, who didn’t like the situation one bit but still held an unemotional expression. I could tell because of how his eyebrows were scrunched up and his eyes drifting towards mine, pleadingly.

“Mom, we got this.” Kaito, being the angel he was whispered to me

Relief overtook me as I ran and grabbed Shoto by the arm making a dash towards the front door, “Thanks, I owe you one.” I winked at them

Not a problem, Kai mouthed back. Walking towards his biological parents, ready to deal with their lecture and scolding. Internally I was super guilty and grateful to him, he always had my back and loyalty. All of my siblings do.

3rd interaction: Todoroki Shoto getting to know Hikari

“Nee~ Hikari, since your older sister is becoming a pro hero won’t that mean she’s going to leave you?” A girl who wore the same uniform as Hikari spoke out

“Mom becoming a pro hero is the coolest thing ever! But I know that she’ll ever leave me and my siblings, she just wouldn’t do that!” Hikara countered, not liking where the topic was going

“But Hikara, surely you know how busy pro heroes are and haven’t you heard your sister is aiming to rank in the top 10?” Another classmate of Hikara with blonde hair pushed Hikari a bit, trying to pull a reaction from her.

“Yeah, I know about it and I completely support her! But she’d never forget us! She’s our mommy!”

“Hey, how about this instead? To prove your sister isn’t gonna ever leave you, how about you and your sister come to my birthday party next week, this Saturday? She can also bring her classmates like Red Riot, Deku, and Froppy!” The blonde-haired kid shook Hikari harshly and cornered her into a nearby wall.

In fear Hikara began to stutter, voice breaking as her eyes began to gloss, “I-I don’t think that’s a g-good id-ea… I recall h-her saying how she’s g-gonna be really-… busy with her internship…!”

Turning on her quirk, the blonde kid got into a fighting position, “Look, I don’t care about that. Figure something out or else I’ll ruin your reputation and no one will want to be friends with you. I can assure you, you’ll be completely alone like a loser!”

“Stop it! You’re scaring me!” Hikara began to cry as she cowered into the corner wishing that her mom was there to comfort her.

“Look, she’s crying!”

“She’s going to go back crying to her sister!”

“Why’d you even call your sister mom again?!”

“That’s because her real mom doesn’t care for her!”

“You’re such a loser!”

“The only thing cool about you is your sister!”

“And you said you wanted to become a pro hero like your sister! Yet you can’t even defend yourself, how much more other people!”

The six girls began to circle Hikara like vultures about to pounce on their prey while they chanted words of insult towards Hikari. They activated their quirk and were about to use them when suddenly Shoto, who was heading towards the direction of your house, just happened to walk by what was happening.

He immediately recognized Hikara’s terrified voice and immediately intervened. Speaking sternly in a low and scary voice while glaring at the girls to get out, not before apologizing to Hikari. In response to Shoto’s scary face they jumped, apologizing to Hikari then running away from the scene.

“Stupid kids…” Shoto mumbled under his breath, “Are you alright? Do you have any injuries? Please stop crying. I've already dealt with your classmates.” Shoto grimaced, not really sure what to do about his girlfriend's crying sister.

“I was s-so scared!” The little girl ran into Shoto’s arms, hugging him in comfort

“Please calm down.” Kind of flustered at the situation, he awkwardly patted the girl on the head, hugging her back stiffly.

“T-Thank you, Todoroki…” Shoto’s heart warmed at that, your sister really was polite and adorable.

“No problem, if you ever need any help. I’m always here for your family.” He gave the girl a small smile as she began to finally calm down, “We should inform your sister about this as well, are you alright with that?”

“N-No… I don’t want mom to worry or have any more burdens…” Hikara tightened the hug

“You know you’re not a burden, especially towards your sister. I’m sure she’ll feel glad that you’re being open towards her.”

“Mom is taking care of us already, that’s more than enough. Please don’t tell her, I’m begging you.” She clutched onto his hand, giving him the best puppy eyes she could muster up.

“Alright, I respect your wishes. I won’t tell your sister but please try to be more open to her. What happened back there was really serious.” He sighed, slightly frustrated that he couldn’t tell you since it was about your sister whom he knew you cared greatly about

“It’s okay, it was my fault after all…”

Shoto doubted that, he couldn’t see everything that happened; he only got to the part where they ganged up on her, “How come?”

“They wanted me to bring mom and her friends to Misturi’s birthday next week. But I can’t because you guys have internships next week! So I told them about that and they didn’t like it! I’m sure I have no friends anymore and that I’m uninvited to her birthday!” The little girl huffed and began crying again

Shoto sighed at her explanation, “Listen, Hikari… None of it is your fault and based on what you just told me. None of them were your true friends to begin with. I guess they only like you because (Y/n) is becoming a hero. But that’s fine because not everyone is gonna like us or be nice to us. Some people use us for their own gain and that’s fine because we just have to distinguish those people and we’re also not alone. We have other people who’ll help us no matter what, the right person will come at the right time. And they won’t use us, they’ll stay by our side and those people are our real friends, and it doesn’t matter if those people are our family or outside of our family as regardless they’re our real friends and you can even consider them as your own family. Do you get me?” He hugged the little girl who reminded him so much of you as he gave a speech

“Hmm, I see… Thank you…” The girl hummed in response to Shoto’s little speech, “Can we still not tell my mommy about this though? She’s already stressed out as much as it is and I just want to forget about this. Can you p-promise me?” She sniffled as she held out her pink for him to take.

“… I promise.” Shoto didn’t like keeping secrets from you but she respected your sister's wish and so he’ll uphold it, “Hop on my back, I’m sure you’re tired so I’ll carry you home while you sleep.”

“Alright, thanks.” It didn’t took long before the child fell asleep on him

Walking back home, Shoto was slightly amused and worried about how frantic and panicked you looked when you realized your little sister hadn't returned home until you saw her fast asleep on Shoto’s back. The relief that flooded your eyes when you saw that she was safe and sound. Tears almost poured out even, you helped Shoto settle her onto her bed, to continue letting her sleep in peace.

“Thank you Shoto, I thought something had happened to her!” I cried into his arms the moment we stepped out of Hikari’s room, “I don’t know what I would’ve done!”

“Shh… It’s alright, nothing gonna happen while I’m here. I’m always here to help out and watch out for you and your siblings.”

“Thank you again, it really means a lot...”

“It’s no problem, I love you.” He kissed me

“I love you too.” I pulled him into the kiss even harder

4th interaction: Todoroki Shoto getting to know Hiroto

When Shoto had failed his provisional license and was forced to retake it along with Bakugo and the other students. Camie, the blonde girl from their competing school wouldn’t stop blabbering flirts left and right, specifically targeting Shoto.

Shoto being the dense bitch he is, never noticed a single thing. However, a certain Hiroto who was part of the class that Todoroki and the others were assigned to, noticed. And he was livid about how Todoroki didn’t really turn her down, but sometimes indulged in her questions.

Unbeknownst to Todoroki and the others that Hiroto was a part of this class, they continued to go on about their lives. Hiroto who usually never joined in on the class antics, because of how he was so introverted around his classmates. But his whole quiet nice guy personality did a full turn.

When it came to his mom, he’d do anything for her! And what Camie did, flirting with his mom’s boyfriend took things to a whole new level of personal. He was going to make her life a living Hell. Hiroto decided to keep his identity a secret in order to observe how Todoroki would handle the situation.

When Hiroto saw that Todoroki never really did anything, well you could say he wasn’t only pissed at Camie. He was going to do his best so that hero Shoto would not be able to receive his hero license and of course this revenge plan wouldn’t be complete if he didn’t include Camie. He had another devious plan for her…

“Hey, Todoroki! What’s your number?” Camie asked Todoroki right in front of the class they were supposed to correct their behavior.

“Why would you need it?” Shoto questioned in confusion

“Tsk!” Bakugo interrupted, immediately spotting Hiroto in the crowd of students but decided not to say anything.

It was easy enough for literally anyone to figure out that Hiroto was your sibling from looks alone since you looked exactly like him, just in the opposite gender. Hiroto was giving Shoto the death glare from all the way in the back of the class.

It was like bloodlust was pouring out of him, Hell even some of his classmates and including his teacher steered away from him. In fear of becoming the receiving end of his soon coming outrage.

‘Tsk, icy-hot good luck dealing with your girlfriend's brother, I respect the kid thought since the first time I met him. He’s definitely out for your blood.’ Bakugo thought proudly, looking at Hiroto with a smug smirk whilst the little boy continued to throw deadly death glares at the dual-haired boy. ‘Oh, this is gonna be so much fun.’

Time skip

Hiroto's quirk was the ability to control earth elements, mostly the ground but it would expand the more he develops. A very powerful quirk which he has yet to be able to control, he however was able to practice it a bit whenever you were home and not busy.

Those times were his favorite times with you since none of his other siblings would get to hog you to themselves since you’d be so busy tending to him.

So while Todoroki who was somehow dense enough not to notice the death glares being thrown at him from Hiroto. The usually behaved child (More behaved than the rest of his class) began to conspire and strategize with their class leader ways to make sure the heroes will bend to them.

Starting of with the chaos from the class, they began to use their quirks. And bully Shoto about being Five Wennies, a nickname Hiroto will definitely tell Kaito about so that they can bully him afterwards as well. Within the chaos Hiroto continued to hide and blend in with his classmates as to not be discovered. And he also made an agreement with his friends to do their best to make Camie fail.

When one of female children with brown hair tied in a ponytail started to have a crush on Five Wennies that’s when Hiroto turned his back on her. And they began fighting over who gets to date Five Winnies, her or his sister. Even though Hiroto was mad at Todoroki, he couldn’t help but feel inclined to defend him for his sister. The fight was a childish feud, had it not been for the fact they were both using quirks which could lead to someone getting seriously injured.

The teachers informed Shoto to take care of it, knowing the relationship of the kid and his girlfriend. Everything went ballistic between the two children so Shoto had to use his quirk to dissipate the fight and tension. Dark gray smoke covered the area and Shoto was still yet to discover that the one causing so much trouble was Hiroto. Multiple coughs rang through the air along with some groans and moans when the smoke finally dissipated everyone stared intently and anxiously about what was gonna happen next.

“Hiroto what are you doing?” Shoto asked in pure confusion at the boy

“Getting revenge!!” He yelled, quickly standing up and running at him

A large boulder hurled at Shoto, but having more experience in fighting than the child. It didn’t take much of his energy to stop it in its tracks with his ice. The dual haired boy was shocked and confused to say the least. Out of all your siblings, he expected Kaito to do something like this.

Hiroto ran around the iceberg and was exhausted at this point. There wasn’t much he could do before he’d pass out and Shoto knew it. The little boy had overused his quirk and this was the result of it. So quickly Shoto ran up to the boy as well, meeting him in the middle just in time before he fell to the ground.

He caught him in his arms and looked at him in worry, his eyes were barely open and a fever was forming. He knelt to the ground while still carrying the boy to make it easier for him. Hiroto was still fuming with hatred for the dual haired boy but was barely awake at this point. In his frustration, he did the only logical thing a kid would do. He cried, in fact threw a tantrum.

“How dare you!” The boy cried, punching Shoto weakly in the chest

“Hiroto calm down. You’re forming a fever and way too exhausted from overusing your quirk. Go to sleep.” Shoto spoke calmly but panicked on the inside

“No! You’re cheating on my sister! I hate you!” He barely croaked out with a shaky voice.

And with that Hiroto had finally succumbed to his fatigue. Slight tears formed at the corners of Shotos eyes at those words. He didn’t know why Hiroto thought he was cheating on (Y/n)! But it hurts like Hell to ever think of hurting (Y/n)! And the look on Hiroto’s face when he stared at Todoroki was one filled with resentment, a look that reminded Shoto the one he gives his father everyday. Never ever, would he think of physically or emotionally abusing anyone! Especially (Y/n), his own girlfriend! He’d rather die instead of becoming his father!

And so Shoto froze at that, his heart shattering as he realized that despite not cheating he had hurt Hiroto immensely, by something he didn’t even know what he did. Shoto traced back to his mind the memories of what he did within this day, had he forgotten to say I love you to you before he left? Had he accidentally insulted you with his blunt comments? What?! Just what was it?!

Unbeknownst to Shoto, Bakugo knew what the fuck was going on from the beginning as he knew what social clues were. And he was absolutely livid to think that one of his friends from the Bakusquad got kinda unintentionally cheated on, not really since there weren’t any intentions but it’s for the plot and I don’t know what else to do lol. And so Bakugo walked up to Shoto and punched him across the face. Luckily Shoto didn’t punch back or stumble as he still had Hiroto in his arm and instead glared at him, furious why he suddenly did that.

“Icy-hot, that bitch Camie flirted with you and you didn’t even realize that. You even engaged in it without realizing it, are you that fucking dense?!” Bakugo yelled

“Damn it. I didn’t…” Shoto replied honestly while placing his right hand on Hiroto’s forehead activating it and effectively bringing his ever growing fever down

“Then take the fucking hint and fix up your shit. I’m not going to help (Y/n) if she ever comes crying to me about this. You’re in deep shit.” The blonde boy growled

Time skip

Todoroki got his shit together and finished their retake successfully and avoided Camie at all cost this time like she was the plague but by this time she didn’t care as she had already scored his phone number and was in belief that she had a shot with him despite him already telling her he’s dating the most prettiest girl in the world. Apparently in her words and eyes which kept roaming around his body, making him extremely uncomfortable, that his little girlfriend didn’t need to know anything if only he kept his mouth sealed which he quickly shut down again.

Bakugo’s words of threat never left his mind, he knew that the boy was just looking out for you as you were a part of the Bakusquad and still his classmate as well. Shoto was anxious and scared shitless of what was going to happen next as he waited in the infirmary for your little brother to wake up, never leaving his side once. It didn’t take much longer before Hiroto finally awoke and saw Shoto sitting in a chair waiting for him with great anticipation. His right leg bouncing up and down in a fast rhythm to an unknown song.

“I don’t want you here, get out you cheater!” Hiroto yelled with a scratchy voice

“Listen, I can explain-“ Shoto began but was cut out

“I don’t want to hear any of your pathetic excuses! You knew how much we trusted you yet you cheated! You liar!”

“I won’t leave until you listen and you can’t make me leave.” Shoto replied calmly, his emotions more stable than earlier having already thought the situation through.

“Ack-!” The little boy groaned as he was unable to his his quirk now that he’s over used it, “Fine, I’m giving you 2 minutes tops. Don’t make me regret it.” He finished, growling slightly

“I didn’t grow up with the best figures in my life and because of that I lack the necessary social skills.”

“Yeah, and what about us? You see my parents caring about me and mom or even my siblings?” Hiroto was beginning to sound more and more like Kaito rather than himself

“I have a sister too, but unlike (Y/n), my sister Fuyumi wasn’t as successful as bringing our family together. It means I didn’t have a sister teaching me what’s right or wrong, I hadn’t realized that Camie was flirting with me and that I engaged with it. I only thought about it as her asking questions to be more knowledgeable about us. I was wrong and I realize that now. I should have told her that I was dating (Y/n). I’ve already talked about it to Camie and set her straight, although I haven’t talked about it to your sister.”

“Fine. You’re excused but this is the only time you get a get out of jail free card. And don’t think we’re immediately buddies now, you’ve got to earn my trust now that you’ve broken it.” The little boy growled at him

“I’ll be sure to do my best to earn it back.” Shoto replied with the most apologetic tone he could muster up, “And don’t worry I’ll be sure to tell your sister the truth.” He grimaced, worried about your reaction and if he had put your relationship in danger.

“You’re such a dumbass and asshole, Icy-hot. She’s sensitive about those, one word about it and she’s dumping you. I’m not even sure if you’ll be able to explain yourself.” Bakugo said as he strode in the room.

“Watch your language, Hiroto is still a child and I won’t tolerate you saying those in front of him.” Shoto growled at Bakugo, glaring at him and warning him not to do it again.

The said boy only scoffed in response, “Tch. Whatever.”

“It’s fine… But I also have to say that I agree with what Bakugo-san said, you see my sister is fearful about anything related to cheating.” Hiroto added, looking down in his lap worried for his mom.

“What do you mean?” Shoto questioned as far as he was concerned he was your first boyfriend and you never had much experience in the dating community.

“That bitch didn’t tell you as well, great just fucking great.” Bakugo rolled his eyes, “The only thing I know is that she had this thing with a guy but they were never able to get together as another girl came into the picture. Ever since that she’s been sensitive about that shit.” Bakugo huffed in annoyance.

“I see…” Shoto responded quietly, not really sure what to do with this information, “I don’t want to keep this from her but if what happened earlier hurts her then I’d rather keep it to myself.” Unconsciously Shoto gaslighted himself into believing it was fine to not tell his girlfriend he accidentally flirted with another girl.

“I’d rather keep my moms mental health standing strong.”

“Tch. Whatever.” Just as quickly as he entered, the blonde boy left the room promptly, silence following him.

“Hiroto, get some rest. I'm taking you back home in a while.” Shoto spoke, breaking the silence of the room and pushing the boy's shoulder back into the bed.

“Hey, uhh…” Hiroto began shyly earning a hum from the dual haired boy, “Treat my mom right, okay? We love her a lot and I’m giving you my trust on this”

“Of course, I never want to hurt your sister. I love her as well.” Shoto smiled gently, “Now sleep, you’re sister is worried about you.”

After that interaction, Shoto went out of the room for a bit to call his girlfriend to let her know that her brother was in the infirmary but is currently doing fine. He knew that you over worry about your siblings all the time even for the smallest of reasons, one of the things he loves about you.

But still in his heart, he’s guilty and feels absolute remorse about what happened. All he can think about is that it’s all his fault for being dense. Not being able to express his emotions well or tell what other people’s thoughts, emotions, and emotions are when it comes to love. In these times is where he truly renounces and feels hatred for his father and his doings. In these times he wished he never had a quirk to begin with, he’d rather be poor and quirkless than be born to a monster who disguises himself as a hero.

Ring…

Ring… Ring…

Ring… Ring… Ring…

With each ring Shoto’s anxiety and guilt rose up but being known for concealing his feelings and being unemotional it wasn’t hard at all to hide all of that guilt. Though it still ate him up, and it would be only a matter of time until he breaks or perhaps someone else does the break or better yet spilling some information on him to his beloved girlfriend.

“Hey Shoto! Are you done with your retest already? You should come over to my place. I'm making dinner and it’s cold soba, your favorite!” The girl cheered happily

“Hey, (Y/n)… Thanks, I'd like that a lot…” His heart cracked at the thought of you making him his favorite good for dinner, proving to him just how much you love him while he went behind your back.

“Is there anything wrong? You don’t really sound like yourself?” You questioned in worry, ready to do whatever it takes to help him feel better.

“At my retest… we were supposed to reform a class as the students were out of control but it turns out that class was Hiroto’s. He got in a fight with his classmate which resulted in him overusing his quirk and fainting.” He said almost breaking down from the guilt, in his mind the only thought that was running was that he was turning into his father for hurting someone he loved.

“WHAT!?! Why didn’t you inform me earlier! Is he alright! What exactly happened! Nevermind! I’m heading there instead, I’ll meet you in 5-10 minutes! By-“

He wiped a tear off his face and pulled himself together, clearing his throat he put an unemotional expression on with quite difficulty, “(Y/n), love.” Shoto said in his most calm and sincere voice hoping that it sounded as real as possible, it ultimately resulted in making you calm down as well and bring out your rational side, further pulling at Shotos heart how much he had an effect on you.

“Ack- Shoto…” I start to tear up, unable to understand why my brother had to go through that, “My brother he’s a good kid, he has never gotten into any fights before or-“ My emotions become overflowed and overwhelming that I just sobbed hysterically, “God! What kind of sister am I if I can’t keep an eye on my own siblings! I’m such a failure.”

At this point Shoto’s guilt had eaten him up so much that he was going to explain everything from Camie down to Hiroto arriving at the clinic. But in the back of his mind, he was reminded of Bakugo’s and Hiroto’s. Of how if he tried to tell you what happened, more specifically about him flirting with another woman no matter how unintentional it may have been, would result in his ass getting dumped. He in fact didn’t want his ass getting dumped so he did the most stupid thing he ever did in his life, and that was not listening to his gut instinct.

“Love, he’s alright and don’t worry you’re doing the best you can do and it’s more than enough. It isn't your fault at all, alright? I believe that your brother just got into some disagreement with his classmate about you. He just wanted to defend your name so once he gets home don’t lecture or get mad at him. Okay? And don’t worry I’ll be the one to bring him to you so just prepare dinner, we’ll be there on time.” Shoto said in his sweetest voice he could muster, bullet swears running down his face in anxiousness.

To Shoto, it felt like this was his most dangerous mission he’s ever taken and will ever take and that one wrong word would ruin it all.

“I-I… Alright, I’m just worried about him, you know? Thank you, baby. I’ll wait for you guys.” He could hear you wiping away your tears but your voice still continued to crack but despite that you pushed through and smiled gratefully at him through the phone.

Shoto smiled, thanking the heavens that he managed to not get his ass dumped today. But let’s just see how long he’ll keep this secret up, because as we all know the truth always comes out one way or another…

That night he brought Hiroto back home to you on his back, like what happened with Hikara. It gave him deja vu when he saw you fussing over Hiroto to make sure he wasn't harmed in any way, all the while profusely bowing down and thanking your boyfriend for taking care of your sibling.

Though his heart shattered at the thought of hurting you and not being able to apologize for it. For fear of losing you for the rest of his life. It scared him shitless. People came and left his life, but of all people he just couldn’t let you go. You're his first girlfriend, his first love! You’ve already left a mark in his life and no matter what he does it won’t ever change. He felt so selfish, he loathed the feeling. A part of him wanted you to choose someone better, someone who isn’t as dense as him, someone who didn’t have a lot of emotional baggage, someone who didn’t have a big ugly scar on their face…

But despite feeling all that self loathing, no matter what, he’d do anything to make you not leave him. He’d hate himself even more. His love for you was for eternity. It’s completely endless! So please! Don’t go and leave him and take his heart with you! He’s been through Hell and back through his entire life, so please just… Don’t leave…

In these moments, Shoto felt like he was exactly like his father. He hurt the ones he loved and didn’t apologize for it. His heart cried internally, but outside he kept a poker face, it was one of the things in life he was great at since a very young age. He learned to separate his inner turmoil with his emotions and with time he got so great at it.

Shoto after that began to gaslight himself into believing that what he did was right, and that he was just over thinking things, in truth he could bare the pain in his heart for hurting you, if he didn’t he would have rather stabbed his heart for daring to even hurt you, he was supposed to protect you. He promised that much to your siblings and to think he believed that he was a man of his words.

Look at him now… Turning back on those who he loves and loves him. God… He was his fathers son after all, perhaps he was just as arrogant as that tyrant, perhaps he abused those around him without even realizing it. It felt like all the progress he had made led him back to where he was at the sports festival right before finally Midoriya snapped him into reality with your help of course.

A hopeless boy, a boy filled with hatred, a boy who despite having everything at the touch of his fingertips was never truly happy… Shoto began to lie to himself that evening when he gave you a big and tight hug and pulled you into an unexpected but not unwelcome kiss, one that he poured all his passion into.

That night Shoto began to whisper sweet words into your ears nonstop and began to be more open of his love to you. It was weird of course, Shoto was never the open type to be so open about being affectionate. This was the first time he was really being affectionate, making you wonder what happened but you decided to keep your mouth shut wanting to enjoy the moment and attention since you guys did something that only you guys should know about as you both enjoyed a fiery passionate night. Something you’d regret in the future.

5th interaction: Todoroki Shoto getting to know Kaito

A few weeks after that night had passed and Shoto had already forgotten about the Camie incident but still he was trying his best to make it up to you, giving you surprise gifts and being more open and affectionate. Something you took gladly without hesitation, not questioning it’s his true intentions. Shoto walked into your house and was looking for you, for your date.

You told him you were home and to just let himself in through text, your last message being around 8-10 minutes ago. As Shoto began to search where you were in the house, it never occurred to him you could have been taking a shower and that you were that’s why when he knocked the door and no one responded, he immediately assumed you were there. Not being all to hear the running water from the shower.

He gave up and assumed that maybe you were talking and hanging out with your siblings in their rooms so he first went to Hikari’s, then Hiroto’s, and lastly Kaito. Kaito who was still going through puberty had a very high voice, somewhat similar to yours making him think that it was your whimper he heard coming from the room.

He knocked 3 times politely on the door, “W-Wait-!”

It was too late and Shoto had already opened the door. Kaito was on the floor in front of his bed in a arms wrapped around his knees in a cradling position, looking at a piece of crumpled paper resembling that of a card in dispiritedness.

“You’re not supposed to be here, get out…!” Kaito’s voice cracked, he was still crying, yelling out in frustration at Shoto.

“What’s wrong?” Shoto asked, disregarding Kaito’s initial words

“Get out…!” Kaito yelled and wanted to literally push Shoto out of his room himself but he didn’t have the energy to do that so he scoffed and rolled his eyes at his moms boyfriend, “… Tsk… Whatever just don’t tell anyone else what you saw, especially mommy.”

“Why not?” Shoto asked calmly

“Because they don’t deserve this!” Kaito burst out crying once again.

Shoto felt guilty for not leaving the room in the first place, disrespecting Kaito’s privacy but in the end Shoto recall you saying to him multiple times that your siblings meant the world to you and if anything bad were to happen to them, you wouldn’t know what to do.

And it seemed like something bad did happen so Shoto would need to rely on his hero instincts to get him through this mission seeing as his Emotional intelligence wasn’t as high as his intellectual intelligence.

Sitting down next to the boy Shoto asked paitently and calmly, “It’s alright, you can vent to me if you want and I promise I won’t tell your sis- your mom.”

Kaito groaned and sighed in defeat, “Fine, if you do I’ll make my mom hate you.” His threat was real and filled with malice

“I promise.” Shoto patted his back in comfort

“I-I… I’m going back…” Kaito swallowed his pride and a single year was shed, “A grade. I failed in a single subject so now I’m being held back… I-It’s just not fair! I studied! I r-really did! But I failed! I’m such a disappointment! A bad kid!” Kaito yelled out hysterically and wrapped his arms even tighter around his legs.

Shoto gulped and tried to remember what his mom did to him as a kid to comfort him whenever his dad hurt him with all those harsh training. He scooted even closer to Kaito and hugged him, Shoto was stiff of course but he was doing his best by saying that it’s alright and there wasn’t any need to cry over it and going a grade isn’t a big deal. And no one is disappointed in him, he did his best and that’s all that should matter.

After a while Kaito finally seemed to calm down and was actually appreciative of what his moms boyfriend did for him.

“I guess, you’re not so bad after all…” Kaito whispered to himself

6th interaction: Todoroki Shoto and his s/o breaking up and getting back together with the help of his s/o’s siblings

We were at the (L/n) household, Shoto was upstairs playing ang keeping all my siblings entertained while I was downstairs making us all snacks. It was late in the afternoon when I heard a phone vibrate in my pocket. Instinctively I grabbed it and unlocked it only to realize it wasn’t my phone, Shoto and I must’ve switched accidentally. I laughed slightly at the realization until I saw the notification that popped up. It was a text message and I knew it was wrong to invade Shotos privacy but before he didn’t mind me using his phone without his permission until recently which made me a bit suspicious.

Unknown: Hey Shoto! Are you still up for it? Your girlfriend doesn’t need to know after all🙈👀

Shoto: Sorry, your contact isn’t saved. Who is this?

Unknown: Silly boy! Good thing that you’re hot!!🥵 It’s Camie!! Remember the girl from the retake for the hero license?

My eyes widened in panic and fear as she I remembered exactly who she was.

Shoto: Of course, what is it that you want?

Camie: I was wondering if you’re still up to sneaking in my dorm tonight, my bed feels empty babe😭💔

Camie: *Sends a risky photo of herself*

Shoto: *Seen*

Shoto: Fuck you and your ugly ass!! I never want to see you ever again so get lost bitch!!! Be a home wrecker to someone else’s relationship and btw good luck when these photos get out😈

Camie: *Seen*

I dropped the phone on the counter and immediately started fuming, trying my best to stay calm as I immediately picked it up and screenshotted the conversation and sent it to my own phone through email so Shoto wouldn’t have noticed. It hurt so damn but I was angry too, so angry at Camie that at that moment I only wanted revenge. I thought that I didn’t have the heart to send out her photos but damn was it tempting right about now. But of course, I was a hero in training, I wouldn’t actually do it.

I calmed myself down and that’s when I remember that it takes two to tango. And I was livid at him right now but I also couldn’t bear the thought of losing him or hurting him, I loved him too much too. To dedicate yourself to someone only to find out that they were cheating on you behind your back with the same girl as all those years ago. And what’s even worse was to give yourself to that person, only then did tears begin to pool my eyes.

Old insecurities and bottled up feelings came pouring out of me and the next thing I knew was that I was sobbing quietly on my knees since my siblings were distracted watching a movie on the TV loudly. Only then is when Shoto came running down worriedly as if he had this instinct to know if I was in trouble. He headed towards me with my siblings following suit once they heard him come down and that’s when they saw me crying. Shoto was panicked and confused as to why I was like this and was about to hug me in comfort whenhis eyes landed on the phone on the counter and he realized that the inevitable finally happened, the truth got out.

“(Y/n), please believe me it’s not what it looks like!” Shoto begged

“Everyone except Shoto, I want you up right now and blasting music in your rooms. Understand?!” I yelled through tears and demanded for my siblings to head upstairs, embarrassed to have been caught by them when I was breaking down.

They complied immediately and ran back upstairs to their rooms and Shoto walked towards me carefully and hesitantly as if one wrong move would make me disappear.

“Shoto! Why?! How could you do this to me!!” I screamed through stutters as my voice cracked

This was the first fight we ever had and also the first time I ever yelled at him, “(Y/n) please let me explain! I’m begging you!! I can’t lose you!!” The usually calm and collected boy was gone in an instant, replaced by a desperate man

“I think everything has already been explained! Out!! I want you out of here!! And we’re over, I never want to see your face ever again!!” I yelled at him through tears

Before he could say anything but internally his heart and brain was screaming at his to do something. I grabbed his phone and pushed it onto his chest and grabbed my phone from him while dragging his ass outside and locking the door behind me.

“If you ever thought you could disrespect me like that! Think again Todoroki! So that’s why you’ve been acting strange these days!! Was that all I was too you? Some girl you could use as a body in your bed? Is this why you’ve been giving me so much attention recently? Cuz you can’t handle the guilt of fucking her!!! Am I a joke to you!! Did you really fuck her then me?! I bet you’re happy now and break to leave me now that you’ve had your fill!! Why couldn’t you keep it in your own pants!!” I yelled behind the door so quickly that he couldn’t interject and explain

“NO- love please don’t call me by my last name, it me Shoto.“ His voice boomed in desperation as his tears threatened to fall down his eyes, “(Y/n) you aren’t a joke to me and I highly respect you!! So please believe me when I say I didn’t cheat on you! You have to believe me! And you aren’t just someone I sleep with, you’re my girlfriend for crying out loud! I love you so much, I didn't use your body for anything, you have my word!”

“Love? You forfeit all right to my heart when you decide to cheat so how can I believe you? When the truth is staring right in front of me!? And wow Shoto you really know how to hurt me, of all people that’s the girl who you choose her! The girl who I was replaced with!” I sobbed even more at that

Shoto's heart felt like it was being stabbed and broken into a million shards of her words, “(Y/n)! God! Please listen to me, there is nothing that happened between us!!”

“Shoto do you even realize your actions doesn’t reflect your words? You slept with me only a few months ago right as the same time you started acting weirdly too affectionate, it adds up Todoroki!”

“(Y/n)! Please listen to my explanation and don’t open the door!! Just please! Nothing happened between me and her, it’s only you. It’s always only been you! I’m so stupid and I’m so sorry for everything!! This is all my fault!!”

“Oh! I made sure of that, good luck getting back with that homewrecker when all of this is over. You know, I hope you guys are soooo happy cuz whatever comes around goes around. I hope you know that Camie also sleeps with other guys on the weekends and that you’re just one of her playthings!! You know what I regret it all!!” I fell silent immediately though at his desperate choked scream

“No!!! Don’t say that, don’t say you regret it! Please I love you so much, that it hurts!! Please don’t regret anything, don’t regret loving me or giving yourself to me! I'm so so sorry!! (Y/N)!! Can’t you understand!!?? I love you and only you!! I never went to Camie or anything like that!! It’s still my fault though!! At the retest she kept flirting with me but- but I was so dense that I didn’t notice it and so when she asked for my number she gave it to me! After I realized what she was looking for I immediately shut it down but she wouldn’t listen and she wouldn’t take no for an answer even when I told her I had the best girlfriend in the world!! So please I’m really sorry (Y/n), I am begging you to believe me because I can’t live in a world without you in it!! My heart feels like it’s breaking into a million pieces just seeing you cry and even worst knowing that it’s my fault. I know I’m selfish!! But please. I don’t have anything else to look forward to in this life without you!! Before I met you life was dull and I was only trying to get through each day. I had never smiled or laughed so when I met you, you gave me happiness and unlocked a hidden part of myself that I didn’t know was buried!!” Shoto bawled his eyes out and served his raw and fragile heart to me as his emotions were borderline unstable, his emotions hugging high and wild

For some reason, my pride wouldn’t allow to see anything but red, “Run back to her then if you need some company!!” I was too angry to listen to reason, the feeling of betrayal and heartbreak overcoming anything else

“You’re so damn stubborn! But listen to me because you’re not hearing what I said! Becoming a hero is my dream no doubt and my goal but what’s the point if at the end of the day, all I’m fighting for is nothing. No laughter to return back home with, no delicious meals to look forward to, and even your siblings I love them all.” One could hear the desperation in his voice as he cried out

“Don’t bring my siblings into this… Why? Why then did you not tell me?” My voice was dry and weak from all the crying

“(Y/n)… We thought it was for the best that you didn’t know since you’re so sensitive to those kinds of topics. We just wanted to protect you…” He flinched

“We? Who the hell is we?”

“Me, Hiroto, and Bakugo…”

“You let a child decide? My brother especially? That seems like such a power dynamic. Thanks for informing me, I’ll get the real truth from him then. But aside from that, it wasn’t your decision to make! It wasn’t any of your decisions to make! I deserved to know the truth!! If that even is the truth!”

Shoto pounded on the door with his head, “It’s the truth! I swear to God it’s the truth so please (Y/n), just let me in! We can figure this out together, just- You need to trust me.” He was way too disheveled

I ignored him and from behind me all of my siblings who appeared of nowhere to hug me, “Guys… I’m so sorry you had to see me like this. Don’t worry, I’m strong.” Then I turned to Hiroto who was desperately clinging onto me, “Hiroto, please stay out of decisions like that. Understand?”

Tears welled up in the boys eyes, “Mom… I-I I’m so sorry! It’s not his fault it’s mine! I promise you, he’s telling the truth!! So please blame me, not him!!” The child wailed, tears finally broke down from his face as he kept pulling at me

“Hiroto. None of this is your fault, do you understand. Just please next time, let Todoroki deal with his own mistakes. He’s a big boy now.” I tried my best to calm him down, rubbing his back and whispering comforting words

“Mom.” Kaito spoke from behind me and rubbed my back as well in comfort, “Just get some closure and talk to him. Properly this time, no yelling just listen to his side of the story.”

“Kaito… It’s not that sim-“ I was cut off unfortunately by Hikari who jumped from behind me and hugged me tightly, crying her eyes out as well

“Talk to dad!!” She begged me to

“Dad?!” My eyes widened at the realization she called Shoto dad

My heart broke at their reactions and I knew that they were right but I didn’t want to let down my own pride but then again my siblings were the only people who could ever change my mind, I had to confront him one more time and actually resolve this issue but that didn’t make it any easier, “I-I… Fine… I’ll do it.” I got up and opened the door and walked out still hoping that he was still there waiting

I put a brave front and hardened myself and my emotions. I knew that despite Shoto being sorry for what he had done, my jealousy, insecurities and pride got the best of me and I couldn’t exactly control myself. On the steps connecting the house to the ground was where Shoto sat, who dove his face into the palms of his hands, still crying and broken over the breakup.

“Shoto. I’m out here to talk to you as per the request of my siblings so I suggest you don’t waste this opportunity.” I glared at him from behind with tears in my eyes

He turned around and before I could react he lunged at me with a hug and picked me up while stuttering out words of apologies, “I won’t d-do it again! I’m so s-o so s-sorry!! Please take me back! I swear I didn’t do anything with her, I was too dense to realize her asking for my number was her way of flirting with me! I never used yoh for your body or anything, I love you genuinely because you’re you!!” In front of me wasn’t future Pro Hero Shoto but just Shoto who was genuinely sorry for what he had done

My stone cold heart melted at his apology and the way he cried to me made me just want to hug him back and forgive him so I did just that, “I-I forgive you. I’m also at fault here for not telling you how sensitive I am to those topics and for also over reacting too much without actually listening to you.” I wailed in his arms as I finally hugged him back, “I was just so hurt and scared that you’ll run off to Camie cuz she also stole my ex-crush while he was trying to court me so I thought that she’d also be able to steal you from me. I didn’t want that but I instead pushed you away with my anger and everything went downhill!!” It felt good to release the truth, my shoulder felt light as well as my heart.

“I-I had no idea… it okay too, it honestly was my fault, I shouldn’t have even entertained her.” Shoto got on both of his knees and looked down in shame, “I’m so grateful that you’re taking me back but I feel like I didn’t apologize enough, I’ll do my best to make it up to you. I promise you that.”

I gave him and bittersweet smile and pulled him up, “It’s okay, I know you’re kinda dense, sorry. But yeah, you didn’t mean to do it. And I’m sure you were scared for my reaction about finding out about what happened and just wanted to protect me. Shoto, I forgive you so please stop blaming yourself.” I kissed him right after to which he immediately kissed back.

“I love you, you don’t even know how much but I love you with all my heart.” Shoto brushed my hair with his hands

“I love you too, to the moon and back” I kissed him once again

7th interaction: Todoroki Shoto realizing it’s time for a new beginning to start

On a peaceful Saturday morning, around 4 PM. The sky looked bright with barely any cloud covering up the sun, on days like these Shoto felt grateful for. With all the troubles he and his precious girlfriend went through over their years in U.A. they finally reached their end. Their final stage before becoming fully fledged heroes. And because of that, their school work had been piling up with no end.

You would’ve gotten it done easily the moment they were given but you were juggling and multitasking from focusing on your studies, hero training, and taking care of your siblings. So Shoto decided to just give you the break you deserve by hauling you over his shoulders and walking in the direction of his dorm room. All the while your siblings, who you snuck in the dorms following behind the both of you, giggling and making jokes about your dark eye bags which you responded by throwing a slipper in their direction but purposely missing. Shoto laid you on his futon and just ordered you to sleep much to your protest, but when your siblings jumped in as well and cuddled up to you to sleep, you decided that a couple hours of getting some sleep would be a really helpful recharge.

In the beginning of their relationship it was sweet and puppy love but throughout the passing time and harsh trials they were put in, especially with the third party incident back in their first year. It made his relationship with (Y/n) even stronger than before, making them try to understand each other and not just directly come to conclusions when a problem arises. It also made them more open to each other since, wanting nothing more than to never feel that sort of heartbreak ever again.

Looking around in his dorm room that had changed a lot throughout the 3 years his been in U.A. There were the 4 (L/n) siblings sleeping peacefully on his futon. Had you told him this was the sight he’d find himself in back in his first year when he was going through his rebellious phase he would’ve laughed at you. But now he couldn’t be more grateful of the sight as he secretly hid a small box with a ring in it in his underwear drawer that he had kept for years now, just waiting for the perfect moment to hand it to you. As he knew from the beginning he started dating you, you’d be his first, last, and only lover he’d have for the rest of his life. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.

#mitchywitchythings #bnha shoto todoroki #todoroki shoto #shoto todoroki x you #shoto todoroki #bnha x reader #shoto todoroki x reeader fluff #todoroki shoto x you #mha todoroki shoto #mha shoto todoroki #mha todoroki shouto #shouto todoroki x reader #shoto todoroki x reader #mha todoroki #bnha todoroki shoto #bnha fanfic #mha shouto todoroki #mha #bnha

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aquarines · 8 hours ago

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i really do hope we get sam reid in the writer's room, because i don't know if i can take any more lestat slander from some of the writers. the whole point of tvl is lestat telling his side of the story to louis. it's a love letter to him, explaining everything he couldn't while they were together. lestat isn't perfect, of course, but he's also generous and giving and awkward with some things. some of the writers have bought into the lestat self-hate, thinking that's who he actually is. hello!!! the man hates himself, thinks he's irredeemably evil, and in so doing, ACTS that way! hello!!! he isn't!!! it's been shown time and again from other characters that he's pretty great, if not a little insufferable at times. he is scared of being unloveable!!! WHEN HE IS SO LOVEABLE, I LOVE HIM SO MUCH, HE IS WORTH THE OCCASIONAL ANNOYING SHIT. you could spit in lestat's face, call his mother a whore, and then STAB him, and if he loves you he'd say "aww, someone's feeling grumpy : )" and then just keep going. THAT'S WHO LESTAT IS. (hi i have a cold and im thinking about him and all the missteps that happened in the show so far regarding his character).

heyo, sorry for the late(ish) response, and i hope you feel better now <333 drink some ginger and lemon tea, it always works for me (also lessen smoking if you do because it worsens the symptoms lol i speak from experience)

i basically agree with everything you wrote, like samuel is a true lestat understander in a way i feel some iwtv writers are simply not

like i wonder how they're going to adapt that part where he claims he seduced magnus and that's why magnus raped him into vampirism, if they take everything he says at face value

and yes his never ending tenacity and hope is one of his main traits, like he's literally "always turning the worst of a situation into something good" character embodied and it's what helps him survive all the shit anne puts him through in every book

like he got turned into a monster non-consensually and said "okay i'll be the best (i.e. the most a monster could be) monster you've ever seen"

also he simply does not give up on people no matter what they do to him!!! which is a coping mechanism but it's his whole thing!!! aaah i hope they translate this well on screen

yes he's a bit insufferable and does dumb shit some times (maybe a few more times) but what book or show character didn't?

anyways i love him your honour and i need tvl to be perfectly adapted or i'll be writing a strongly worded email to rolin jones (jk)

#if lestat had no fans etc etc #interview with the vampire #lestat de lioncourt #ask

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thelaurenshippen · 8 months ago

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911 really is such a good reminder of the particularly kind of joy that is weekly, seasons-long shows with many episodes per season. every character gets a moment to shine even in a truncated season. the satisfaction of seeing characters grapple with stuff that happened YEARS ago. having multi-episode arcs and one-off arcs that are equally enjoyable. beach episodes (metaphorical). I know we're all saying this all the time but why can't more tv be like this

#911 #911 spoilers #lauren feels things #do I hate waiting week to week for this show?#of COURSE #but it's so fun to run to youtube after an episode and watch the promo for next week #(why don't weekly streaming shows do promos btw? we should bring those back)#this week's 911 really was such a SHINING example of this #in one episode we got:#HUGE bobby exploration #bathena content #major hen exploration #AND henren content #eddie breakthrough #buddie content #callbacks to seasons 1 and 2 in MANY ways #tommy content!! that confrontation with his old shitty captain did so much in such a short time #we didn't get enough chimney or madney for my taste #but that's only because I can LITERALLY never get enough of them #and chimney had a hUGE episode 2 episodes ago so that's okay #and!!!!!! this is after a whole week spent JUST on bobby!#that was so compelling!!!#and in a 10 episode season still feels like we're getting to everything #the callback to dosed #the return of bobby's suicidal ideation #I mean jesus CHRIST #I'm so glad he and athena talked about the book #also I would loooooove love love another bobby chimeny convo about this at some point #bc that scene in s1 when bobby tells chimney about his plans to kill himself #is one of my favorite scenes it's SO good

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icewindandboringhorror · 9 days ago

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Pages from trying to keep a little sketchbook-scrapbook type thing going for two weeks lol. I gave myself specific rules in hopes they might all end up more cohesive/consistent seeming, but alas, scribbly chaos reigns, it seems

#sketchbook #scrapbook #Actually I feel like these are kind of incomprehensible in photo form like.. In person holding the book its easy to look at #but as images on this scale I feel like there's so much tiny little text and small scribles and stuff you'd have to 'right click > open #image in new browser tab > zoom in' just to actually really see the thing. which for 7 images is excessive lol.. so. probably not the best #medium for sharing really but. I suppose I thought they might look cooler lined up next to each other. The whole part of using a #limited color palette is so that maybe they kind of seem to have more consistent color schemes or something throughout. but I dont #know if they look all that 'related' or not. I think these types of challenges I have always sucked at because I am a being of clutter and #excess. I can't just do like one little simple nice looking design and have that Crisp Neat calligraphy with evenhanded perfect lines #and perfect symmetical composition and etc. etc. Like some poeple post very aesthetically clean and cohesive looking sketch #pages or something but I simply cannot hold back the brain impulse to add more. more. more. Fill every single blank space with color #or a little drawing or a sticker or something. I take away 500 things and there are still a million there. Even when I thik I'm being #'simplistic' I'm still usually being 2x more complicated and cluttered than the standard or whatever lol. I guess thats clear from my #outfits/costumes though too. Like whatever that saying is from that person about something like 'before you leave the house take off one #more accessory. you dont need it' for me is like.. 'before you leave the house. add 10 more accessories. and 6 more layers. and another'#AAANyway. I wonder if also maybe some people would try to plan theirs in a way to look good or something or like.. plot things on the page #before placing them. I did sometimes have a theme for a day kind of (like day 10 I ended up finding a few gold and green things and then #was like.. hey... what if I looked for a few other things and only used these colors today') but aside from that I was just slapping down #stickers randomly and working around them to fill the page. Maybe a lot of neat minimalistic asthetic design is about planning and #having a Vision set ahead of time. instead of just complete random whatever. doodling whilst watching youtube videos or eating lunch. It's #a miracle actually I've managed to not spill any food on the book the whole time. anyway.. I do wish the highlighter really showed up. the #scanner kind of makes the colors look VERY different to irl. But also it got much clearer images than just camera pictures of pages. alas..#..Still oddly enjoy the phrase 'Salisbury Steak gently kissed with industrial pollutants'#probably my favorite section of 'gluing random papers and things onto the page' lol #Also I wonder if it's super obvious that I literally never ever use references when I draw (save for the few freakish looking youtube #face sketches) since everyone is always in the same positions and looking very similar ghhb. This could have been a good opportunity to #work on not solely drawing from my mind and try to do more Dynamic Experimental scribbles. NO. Same exact eye for the 90th time #be upon ye. But I guess it was meant to be casual 'daily doodles'. True 'practice' would make it seem too effortful like a full project. hm #(lol the one decimated pencil in the set... never hand me a writing utensil. i will passively destroy it somehow. shaving the sides of a #pencil off with a knife or snapping a pen in half as a nervous fidget without even realizing i've done it. sorry to the drawing implements)

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formereldestdaughter · 10 months ago

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ok wait i need to hear more of your thoughts on peeta owning a bakery....

This is one of those rare times where I’m pretty sure this anon isn’t someone I know personally bc I’ve subjected anyone who will listen to my rant about the Peeta Bakery Headcanon. Anyway, you’re gonna regret asking this anon bc there are fucking Layers here.

I know this is probably a controversial take based on the number of fics where I’ve seen it, but I simply do not think that Peeta would open a commercial bakery after Mockingjay!! Like on a metatextual level, I don’t think it really fits with the point of the ending of the series. It actually sort of fascinates me that it’s just such a common headcanon because the ending of Mockingjay is exceedingly vague. I think that vagueness invites us, as readers, to imagine a better world post-revolution. A world where Katniss would feel confident that her children would be safe from injustice, where she’d feel confident that her children would never know want the way she did as a child. A just world. A kinder world. Can a capitalist society ever be just? Is a capitalist society where a disabled teenager has no other means to subsist himself (or feels like there’s no other way he can be a contributing member of his community) really the post-revolution world we dream of? Is that really the best we can imagine?

(This got so insanely long I’m adding a read more lmao)

I get that showing a better world is not always the point of post-mockingjay headcanons/fics. Like there are plenty of really great post-mockingjay fics I’ve seen where, yeah, part of the fic is that society like ISN’T all that different or all that much better. I’ve seen that really well done! Hell, I’ve written them myself! It’s easy to imagine how a lot of aspects of society would not get an overhaul, a lot of the same structural inequalities would continue to exist. One headcanon that really stuck with me (I can’t remember which fic it was from) was that Peeta sells basically mail order baked goods to people on the Capitol, sending them iced cakes and pastries by train, because there are still people who were “fans” of theirs during the Games. And idk this doesn’t actually have much to do with my point lol but I liked it because it’s kind of fucked up and like! Yeah! It makes sense! If he needed money that would be a good way to make it! War often makes people rich, often for horrible reasons, and often it’s people who already have capital in the first place.

Anyway, more about the hypothetical bakery because alright. I bring up the fact that “yeah society not being all that different post-revolution and still being an unjust capitalist hellscape” could be a reason why Peeta re-opens a bakery because that’s actually never the types of fics where I see the bakery headcanon. Fics where Peeta opens a bakery are usually trying to make the exact opposite point. Like. Things are getting better, now he can open a bakery! Look at how much better the world is now, plus he’s got a bakery! Peeta is healing, that’s why he can open a bakery now! And I am so, so sorry to inform everyone who’s never had the grave misfortune of owning a family business, but there is truly nothing further from the truth lmao. Like just putting aside the immense amount of emotional baggage that Peeta has about his family, running a small business is an insane amount of work in any context and being a baker especially is physically grueling and involves early hours (and long hours) that aren’t really the best fit with the multiple ways that Peeta is disabled now. (I could go into this more because I have a lot of thoughts. But I will spare you.). I also think it’s seen throughout the books that Peeta is someone who needs time to pursue creative outlets to process his feelings and someone who values leisure and values quality time with his loved ones. And having grown up in his family’s bakery, I think he’d understand the reality that running a bakery wouldn’t leave much space of those pursuits and wouldn’t leave much space for him to have the things that keep him healthy and stable. I think he’d know that the way he is now— after two Games and the war and unspeakable torture at the hands of a dictator—isn’t compatible with the lifestyle necessary for running a commercial bakery.

And tbh with that in mind, I don’t think he’d push himself to re-open a business (one that would be a constant reminder of his dead family and his complicated relationships with them that got no closure) that would require him to sacrifice his physical and emotional well-being. Like I think he might look into the possibility, I think he might even start trying to open a bakery out of a sense of obligation/duty, maybe harboring some idea that this is who he was supposed to be, who he would've been without the Games, or that it’s this last piece of his family that can live on, or that it’s this last connection to his family so he can’t let it die too. But ultimately, I think any attempt to open a bakery wouldn’t get very far. Maybe he'd start wading into the logistical nightmare that is small business ownership and realize it's not for him (because it's probably also true that as much as him and his brothers were involved in the business, there's almost certainly parts they weren't involved with and didn't see, i.e., filing taxes). Or maybe looking into opening a bakery— how triggering it is, the stress of it— causes a downward spiral. Maybe he hates how much he's worrying everyone by unraveling. Maybe having a breakdown from the stress of just trying to open a bakery makes him realize, yeah, maybe in another life he would have ran his family’s bakery but the way he is now just doesn’t work with running a bakery, not without great sacrifices he's not willing to make. I just can’t see a bakery coming to fruition.

I know a lot of fics include Peeta deciding to reopen a bakery as a big step in his healing or include him rebuilding a bakery as part of his healing process but honestly, I think the opposite would be more true: I think Peeta either trying/failing to open a bakery or ultimately deciding not to open a bakery would be hugely healing for him. I think it would be a huge part of him accepting the way he is now as a person, his new limitations but also his strengths. I think it would be a huge part of him accepting the way his life his now and accepting that he likes his life the way it is, that he’s satisfied with his life without needing to own a bakery. I think it would be an important part of him coming to terms with the loss of his family. I think he knows he can never have things back as they were and I don’t think he would try to recreate them, especially because his family’s legacy isn’t a business. I think he’s emotionally intelligent enough and self reflective enough to realize that what mattered to him about the bakery— taking care of others by feeding them, being integrated into his community and being actively involved in it, brightening people’s days with delightful things whether that’s beautiful cakes or hearty food or delicious treats— and the things he learned from his family through the bakery, are things that he can carry on in other meaningful ways.

(Do you regret sending this ask yet, anon? Because if not, you will soon. I’m not done yet. There’s more.)

I wasn’t really sure where to put this next part in what is rapidly becoming an essay because it sort of combines the points about like “what do we imagine a post-mockingjay society to look like” with the practical difficulties of starting this bakery but here’s another thing: do people really think that the Mellarks owned the land the bakery was on?? Like, sure, the merchants are the petit bourgeois of Twelve but I still don’t imagine they really own anything. In a society where houses are assigned to people upon marriage, where property ownership and capital are so closely interconnected with citizenship (as shown by the Plinths who, by having immense capital, are able to leave their District and become citizens of the Capitol) do people really think the Mellarks would be allowed to own the land their bakery is on?? I always imagined it sort of like a tenant farming situation: the Capitol gives them the raw materials for the bakery and in return the bakery give them some absurdly high portion of their profits, or the Capitol sells them a year’s supply of raw materials at a premium on credit and at the end of the year the Mellarks have to use the money they made with those materials to pay it back, except it’s never enough to turn a profit so they always have to buy next year’s materials on credit and the cycle continues.

We (understandably) get a really skewed view of the merchant class through Katniss’s perspective so I can see why people come to the conclusion that his family owned the property and, as the last surviving member, he would’ve inherited it. I’ve seen the inheritance thing in fics a lot or a hand wavey “well Twelve was decimated to no one owns anything anymore so it can be his” or even like an almost sort of reparations type situation where he’s entitled to the land as a surviving refugee of Twelve. But I don’t know. I guess I don’t think it fits with everything else we know about Panem that the Mellarks would’ve owned that land and I think the question of whether the government would’ve let him take ownership of the land post-revolution brings up a lot of issues about the structure of society post-Mockingjay that I find more interesting to explore in other ways, especially when, from an emotional perspective, 1) I find the idea of Peeta not opening a bakery more compelling and 2) I don’t think it really fits his character arc by the end of Mockingjay to reopen a bakery, as I went on about at length above lol.

On the flip side: literally who cares!! Do whatever you want!! Headcanon whatever you want!! I get why people go for the bakery!! It’s fun, it’s wholesome, it’s a built in bakery AU that isn’t even an AU. It doesn’t matter if it’s practical or realistic!! It doesn’t need to be practical or realistic!! It’s fanfic of a dystopian YA series!! My unfortunate affliction is that I grew up in a family that owned a restaurant and that I have multiple degrees in the social sciences so I can’t see the bakery without being like “What about the overheard? What about the start up costs? Who’s spending long nights balancing the books? Is Peeta covering shifts when an employee calls in sick? Is Peeta the sole person working there until the bakery is open long enough (often a year or more) to start turning a profit? How does that sleep schedule work with his nightmares? How does that work with Katniss’s nightmares? What happens when he has an episode and suddenly needs to take the day off before he has any employees? Does the bakery just remain closed for the day? Can the profit margins withstand regular unexpected closures? Can the supplies withstand regular unexpected closures?” And if the answer is “Elliott none of those things matter he’s not doing the bakery because he needs the money but because he wants to”, then my question is why does he want to? Does he not get the same sort of satisfaction out of feeding his loved ones? Doesn’t Peeta seem like someone who would rather give away baked goods than sell them?? Doesn’t Peeta seem like someone who would prefer to make cakes for people’s special occasions upon and then when they insist on paying him for it, he only lets them “pay for the ingredients” which actually cost significantly more than he says they did??

So yeah my point is that it’s a matter of personal taste! It doesn’t fit the way I see the series but that doesn’t mean it’s like wrong, I’m not an authority on Peeta lmao.

It’s also a matter of personal taste in the sense that I find the themes that most resonate with me at the end of Mockingjay (and the end of Peeta’s arc specifically) more interesting to explore in other ways. Grief, living with loss, relearning yourself, finding hope, figuring out your place in a dramatically different world when you don’t even know who you are anymore, healing, building a new life after such complete and total destruction of your old life— those are all things I find compelling about the end of Mockingjay but for me the bakery isn’t the most compelling way to explore them.

Not to say I find the concept of the bakery totally uninteresting. I have this fic about Johanna that I’ll probably never finish where the point sort of is that, yeah, her life really isn’t all that much better after the war. It’s been years at this point and she’s still miserable and she doesn’t know how to be a person but by the end she’s trying to figure it out. And towards the end, Peeta tells her that he’s spent years sort of passively, half-heartedly trying to figure out how to inherit the land his family’s bakery was on, only to find out it was never theirs in the first place. They’d been renting it the whole time and he’d never even known as a kid. So he sort of passively, half-heartedly went on another wild goose chase to find the owner and now, finally, after years of writing to various government agencies and being sent in circles and things being barely functional, he’s managed to track down the owner. Now it’s owned by the daughter of the man who owned it when he was a kid because the original owner (who was likely up to some sketchy war crime shit) died during the war and she inherited it (the irony…). He got in contact with her and asked how much it would take for her to sell it and she told him she’s not interested in selling but in light of the situation, in light of the fact that he’d have to build a new building in order to operate a bakery, that she’d cut him a deal— she’d only require 50% of the bakery’s profits as rent instead of the 80% his family used to pay. And of course Johanna is outraged, that’s not right, the owner shouldn’t be allowed to do that, they should do something about it, they should fight back. And Peeta is like. Not interested. He was actually sort of relieved that opening wasn’t very feasible. Getting the answer was a lightbulb moment where he saw that over the years of trying to look into this, he’s built a life that he likes— one where he’s stable, where his loved ones are stable, where he’s cared for and can care for others— and he doesn’t really want to change it drastically by opening a bakery anyway. He just needed an answer, one way or another, before he could get some closure and move on. (And the point of the conversation is Johanna is having her own lightbulb moment that it’s okay to move on, it’s okay to change, it’s not a betrayal of the people and things she’s lost but that’s not my point here!!).

But anyway. That’s obviously not about running the bakery— it’s about the choice to not run one.

Anyway!! Anyway… are you satisfied anon? Is this what you wanted?

Lastly, here is my most important qualm with the bakery headcanon: must Peeta be gainfully employed? Is it not enough for him to be Katniss’s boytoy? Can’t he just paint and garden and bake and hang out with his girlfriend all day? Is that really too much to ask?

#peeta mellark #thg #the hunger games #the hunger games meta #anyway wow this got so long and I literally read it through one (1) time so uhhh sorry if this makes no sense!!#as I was doing my one read through and realized that one of my other thoughts on this is that yeah I can much more easily see the #headcanon that peeta like sells baked goods (probably at cost with no profit) out of his kitchen because that’s much more flexible #and I think that would work a lot better with what like I guess I’d call his psychiatric disability post mockingjay #and how he’d certainly want to take care of Katniss too #like that sort of flexibility makes a lot more sense for him and it’s like. if he doesn’t bake for a few days or however long then it’s fin #it’s not a formal brick and mortar business #it’s just something he’s doing because it’s a way to be involved with people and a way to do something he’s passionate about #without there being waste and while covering some of the costs #and he doesn’t have to like keep books or do payroll or any of the things I can’t see him being very passionate about #as far as like bakery management goes Lmao he can just bake!!#but then I started getting into this whole thing about how that quote-unquote ‘running a business’ like that (informally from your house)#is actually a really common practice for people living in poverty so probably something that Katniss and peeta would’ve been familiar wirh #anyway and then this whole rant about how the emphasis on the brick and mortar bakery often goes hand in hand with #this widespread fandom thing of having a fundamental misunderstanding of how rural poverty works and what it looks like #but then I was too deep into it and said you know what? never mind! and deleted it lmao

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