#idk why just one of those little endearing quirks he has?

[aeternallis]

How Kimchay’s love story is presented in KP the Series

Yknow, I think what’s one of the most interesting things about the way Kimchay’s story is told in the series is that it’s actually much easier to see how Kim fell in love with Chay, rather than the other way around.

Like, why did Chay fall for Kim? He idolized Wik, but what made it so that he fell for the individual behind the persona, yknow? Sure, there was most definitely physical attraction there, on account of the fact that Kim Theerapanyakul has Jeff Satur’s “sculpted on a Saturday by the gods” face, but otherwise, it’s actually harder to pinpoint why Chay fell in love, and we have little evidence of it.

In one of the Polaroids that Kim has in his collection, Chay describes Kim as being “very kind.” In what ways, I wonder? Was Kim a caring and polite gentleman when they’d gone on those little dates together? Were there any quirks that Kim had that Chay found charming, perhaps? Maybe it was the genuine connection they had through music and that they could just nerd out together? Chay could be himself when he was with Kim, in a way that he could only ever be with Porsche, up until that point in his life.

Furthermore, what interactions we as the audience see when Kim and Chay are on screen, BOC made it a point to always focus on Kim’s micro facial expressions, not Chay’s. The point is, Kim’s behavior towards Chay outside of the tutoring sessions and whatnot, it’s a mystery as to what made the younger man fall in love with him.

But looking at their love story the other way around, it’s so to easy to see why Kim fell in love with Chay, and Idk, I just find that...so very endearing, yknow?

Each time they were on screen together pre!break-up scene, Kim was always shown to be fascinated by the different aspects of Chay’s personality: his observant and empathetic nature, as shown when the young boy was able to pinpoint the little details that Kim had painstakingly included in his music videos. His boldness when asking Kim to be his guitar tutor, his sheer raw talent in being able to write a song within a few minutes, his headstrong nature when he tracked him down to sing him a song, etc etc.

Hell, even the more negative aspects of Chay’s personality: his impulsiveness when he put himself in harm’s way at the club, his defiance at blocking Kim’s every attempt post!break-up to contact him. 

I could go on and on, but personally, I just LOVE the fact that because we as the audience get to see how and why Kim fell in love with Chay, we in turn as the audience are also drawn in by his charms. I’ve seen a lot of Kinnporsche react videos on both Youtube and Tiktok, and a lot of the commentators almost always never fail to mention how admirably brave Chay is, even if his behavior also comes across as a bit cringy. It’s because of the fact that he’s so brave I think, that he comes off as cringy, because we as the audience can’t help but feel that we could never do something so daring. 

For a man like Kim who grew up likely somewhat spoiled and having the assurance of the Theerapanyakul name behind him all his life, whose always had servants and bodyguards at his beck and call (we’ve seen his callous attitude towards Big in episode 3 and 4, he’s mean motherfucker), whose early life must’ve been a constant parade of social performance and rigid structure, Chay’s otherworldly personality must’ve been a breath of fresh air, something that very much intrigued him in a way no other person has before. 

Personally, I’m of the opinion that Kim fell in love with Chay’s soul first and foremost, and mayhaps the physical attraction came afterwards (Barcode is a cutie pie, indeed). 

But, as is the very nature of the Theerapanyakul men, it’s no wonder he could hurt Chay so badly. But in that same vein, it’s no wonder he yearns to get him back just as badly. It’s no wonder he can lose his temper so badly when Chay put himself in danger. 

And it’s no wonder, he can kill so easily for Chay. 

[pandorkful]

Replaying Lunar on stream has been kinda wild, like man there are some things I either missed 20 years ago or completely forgot about.

Like how rotten these punk kids are! I feel like a mortified chaperone leading a field trip that's gone completely off the rails, half the time I'm reading out their dialog. Kyle and Nash are definitely the worst offenders, but Jessica's earned herself a slap on the wrist a couple times too.

Nall can be annoyingly childish, but he's not dipped into the abhorrent social behavior nearly as much. Mia and Alex remain on good terms with me, by being blessedly quiet most of the time.

I miss Ramus, he was my good boy! The one braincell that held the party together! He gets a bad rap for some misogynistic comments he makes, but those get completely blown out of the water by Kyle's toxic 90's "it's funny to hate women" masculinity. And to be honest, Ramus' two points of character flaw effectively cancel themselves out:

Whines that Luna shouldn't come on the adventure because "girls just keep guys from having fun." (A very mild and childish form of misogyny. )

Later hires a squad of bunnygirls to work in his store, proving that maybe he's grown and learned that his prior protestations were unfounded. (And his employees adore him, so he's definitely not mistreating them!)

And then there's Luna. Dear sweet, angry and tormented Luna. She also earned a few slaps on the wrist due to some carelessly judemental comments, but was mostly well behaved while she was with us.

Some of her dialog was written to be nagging, but I chose to interpret those moment as raw anger and it really adds to her character I think. She has every right to be angry, growing up in the worst village on Lunar!! Surrounded by weirdos who shipped her with her brother-by-adoption from the moment she showed up!!!

Oof, that's a plot quirk that I didn't pick up on the first time I played the game. WD did a decent job trying to bury it, but there are a few moments of "I miss OUR parents, Alex" that really had me feeling the Folger's holiday awkwardness.

Tbh, the main thing WD did to hide the lede was avoid publishing that Luna and Alex have the same surname (something that later game localizers didn't bother hiding,) and calling Luna a foundling as often as possible. Idk, maybe it's just me, but if you grow up from infanthood together, nursed by the same woman, and call the adults raising you "mom and dad".... you're siblings. It doesn't matter that you're not related by blood, you experienced the sibling relationship dynamic and therefore it is still incestuous to date eachother. Ew.

More worryingly, there's the argument that the Noah's didn't raise Luna as their daughter, but just as a "foundling." What does that entail? A cold, emotionally neglectful distance. An orphan kept close at hand only for her miraculous ability to keep their "real" kid from crying 24/7. (According to one early tie-in manga.) That's worse, I hate that. Though.... that would explain a lot of Luna's anger and frustration.

Does the second scenario make a romantic relationship between Luna and Alex okay? No. If anything, it makes it even worse.

It's too bad there's basically no mental health support on Lunar, because all these kids need intensive counseling of one sort or another.

Last night was the first appearance of Tempest and Fresca, two kids that I always forget, like, exist in the game. They're introduced like they matter, but, well... if you stick with my streams, we'll probably uncover why I'm so lukewarm on those characters either this upcoming Sunday or the Sunday after that (depending on whether Myght's tower is as annoying as I remember it being or not.)

For all my grousing, I still love the cast of Lunar so much. They are an absolute mess, in a way I don't see from other rpgs of that era or any other era if I'm honest. An endearing mess. I could just use a little less of some of the worst stuff that was mostly left behind in the 90's and early 00's.

On the other hand, sometimes it's good to be reminded of the things society has grown past. Because nostalgia can be a very dangerous thing.

(Also, I really need to work on writing out my Queer Lunar Thesis. Because I've got a queer reading for every one of these characters. Maybe even Tempest and Fresca? We'll have to get through their story before I can make up my mind on them. It'll be hilarious if they turn out to be the only hetero cis characters on the moon.)

[ilkkawhat]

6.18 The Unusual Suspect

[venusiangguk]

the art of wanting | jjk (m)

>>pairing: jungkook x reader / dilf!jk x grocery store clerk!oc

>>genre: strangers to lovers, smut, pwp, a lil bit of plot 

>>word count: 10.3k literally why cant i write anything short ever hhhh

>>warnings: cute baby!!!, jk being a good dad, he likes to garden :(, dom jk, sub oc, age gap, handjob, coming in pants, AYOOO OC GOT A FAT COOCHIE, lowkey body worship, fat coochie supremacy, oral (m/f), safe sex, sexual tension, praise, multiple orgasms, eye contact, jk likes to watch 🥴, asking for permission, jk’s lowkey controlling i guess but it’s soft and like not toxic lol, PLAYFUL use of the word ‘daddy’, no actual daddy kink 🙄, dirty talk

>>notes: idk what it is, but something about actual dads being called ‘daddy’ in a sexy way just does not sit right w me 😐 so i did not include the d word in any sexy context sry daddie luvers, maybe next time !! anyway! late vday one shot!! didn’t turn out as good as i wanted, but i still hope you enjoy! sorry for any mistakes; this is not beta’d lol ALSO ty to @moonb0yy​ for helping me with parts ilysm much bestie ur the best <3

>>summary: you find a baby in your store and in turn, a dilf finds you.

series masterlist, pt 1, pt 2, pt 3

Being a grocery store stocker at the ripe young age of 22 wasn’t exactly where you thought you would be after graduating from university. You thought you’d be in a big city, living it up. The stereotypical vision of a hot, independent, young girl making money, and experiencing success. Turns out you were wrong and that you maybe kinda sorta majored in something you have literally no interest in and now have a degree that you have zero desire to use. So alas, here you are, decked out in your khaki pants and light blue polo. Non-slip shoes truly tying the whole look together. 

 You also didn't think you would have a small, young, baby child gripping said khakis. You look down at the tiny human and then around the empty aisle. No one in sight. You are in the junk food lane of an overpriced, organic whole foods store. The health nuts that shop here don’t usually venture into ‘artificial’ ingredient territory. Baby seems to not be so picky. You glance down at her again. Her big doe eyes blink at you a single time.

 You gingerly shake your leg trying to get her off, kind of like you would to a chihuahua if it was jumping on you or humping your leg. Baby is quite resilient, hands small but very strong. She does have thumbs after all.

 “Can I help you?” You ask her with a quirked brow.

 She babbles for a second before her little chubby arms reach up. She makes grabby hands at you.

 You look at the box of teddy bear cookies in your hand, then back at the child. You slowly extend the box to her. 

 “Nuuu- uw!” She says, swatting the box from your hand to the floor. 

 Rude.

 Her grabby hands are insistent, and now she’s got a little scowl on her face. Might be close to tears? You don’t know, you don’t speak toddler.

 “Listen,” You say, appeasing her and picking her up. “That was not nice, and also, you shouldn’t be talking to strangers. Where’s your mommy, hmm?”

 She’s hoisted on your hip as you bounce her. Her fat little cheeks jiggle. You didn’t usually like kids, but this one was okay you supposed. She’s cute at the very least. She’s wearing the tiniest little skort with a pink shirt that has a taco on it. ‘Taco-bout cute!’ it says. She’s even got baby doc’s on, and you’re a little envious if you’re being honest. Those were expensive. Her pigtails stick straight out the sides of her head, a little lopsided, but endearing. You’re sure her mom did her best. 

 “Daaaaa,” She spouts.

 “Yeah?” You ask. You bounce her a little harder and the sweetest little giggle gurgles from her mouth, her eyes almost disappearing from how big she’s smiling. You spy some little teeth coming in. “You’re a little rude, but I think that’s because you’re spoiled because you’re so cute, huh?” You poke her belly.

 You switch to swaying her, and she coos. Rests her little head on your shoulder, one of her hands coming up to grip at your name tag. 

 “Hey now, don’t fall asleep. I need you to be able to identify your human. I can’t just hand you off to someone random.” You whisper, starting to walk to the customer service area so they can make an announcement over the intercom system.

 As you’re making your way to the front of the store, you see a man turning the corner. A very sexy man. He’s wearing sweats, but somehow still looks clean and put together. He’s got big sneakers on his feet, could pass as dad sneakers if you didn’t know otherwise. Those two tone shoes, your brand savvy mind knows, are Balenciagas. He’s tall and so so fine, but really really frantic. He looks frazzled, and like he’s lost something very important. You look at the baby. She probably counts as something important to most people.

 The man’s eyes fall on you, and then travel to the toddler in your arms. A look of relief falls over his features. He slumps and hangs his head exhaling, before he starts jogging towards you with a dazzling white smile on his face. He’s got dimples.

 And this just won’t do. Nope. You’ve got two hard limits. One of them being anal.

 The other being hot men that are also dads. 

 It’s weird you know. Your friends remind you of it whenever you swoon at seeing daddy-baby duos in public. You don’t even know what it is about it, but it just does something to your womb. Pussy? Same thing essentially. 

 He sighs looking at you like you have the cure to cancer in your arms as he comes face to face with you. 

 “That’s mine.” He says gesturing to the baby. 

 You hum. “Finder’s keeper’s.”

 His face falls and he looks like he’s about to panic again. You laugh.

 “Just kidding. But you do have to prove it. Not just gonna hand a baby to a stranger. I was just on my way to the front.”

 “No! Of course, um. Nari…” He coos, getting closer. The baby doesn’t acknowledge him much, just smiles, like she’s trying to ignore him. She turns closer to your chest and babbles before letting out a happy shriek. The man smiles like he’s in awe of the tiny little human in your arms. 

 “Slight recognition. A good sign. Got any pictures?” You ask, shifting her to your other hip.

 He nods and pulls out his phone. “She’s 18 months, she still only babbles but the doctor said she’s on the right track to talking,” He explains, trying to prove he knows all the baby facts that a dad should while swiping through his camera roll. It’s full of pictures of the baby girl. You see a selfie of him and the baby, she’s got oversized glasses on her face and the man is smiling so wide, mid-laugh. Maybe you’re dramatic but your heart literally shatters in your chest. “Absolutely hates peas, but loves butternut squash?” You glance at the hand basket hanging from his bent arm. There is indeed an assortment of baby mush in jars. “I don’t know, she’s kind of weird. Oh! Her name is Jeon Nari. Right Nari?” He sing-songs, trying to get her attention. 

 She reaches a plump little hand out to him, and he brings his face closer so she can reach better. She taps his cheek before she moves and grabs at his nose. She pulls her hand back with a squeal.

 He gasps. “Nari! Did you take my nose?” He makes an over exaggerated shocked expression. 

 She turns to you and offers you her clenched fist.

 You pull back, “I don’t want it.”

 She giggles, turning back to her dad. 

 “Can I have it back Miss. Nari? Please?”

 Miss. Nari. You’re going to pass away.

 Nari looks like she thinks about it before she all but flings herself from your grip to his arms. They are both laughing, and you feel like you’re third wheeling when you see her place her open mouth on his cheek, giving a kiss in the gross, adorable way that babies do. Not wanting to interrupt, you go back to stocking junk food.

 “Thank you.” He says softly. 

 You turn to look at him, and he’s got the baby on his hip, hand under her little diapered butt. She’s holding his thumb in her hand, resting on his chest. His strong dad chest.

 “No problem. Maybe don’t lose your baby again though.” Or maybe do, so I can find her and find you by association.

 He blushes. “I swear I’m a good dad. It’s just- The baby food is on the very bottom shelf, so I had to put her down to crouch and get it. And I swear. She can’t talk yet, but missy can toddle. Very fast.”

 You look at her for a moment and then just laugh. “She seems like the type to get what she wants, and if she wants to run through the grocery store?” You shrug. “Who are you to stop her? Daddy or not.”

 You swear you don’t mean it in a sexy way. But his blush moving farther down his neck is satisfying.

 He clears his throat. “Uh- Yeah. My fault. She’s a little spoiled.” He rubs his hand over the nape of his neck, bashful. Nari makes a noise of complaint. He gives her his hand back. She kicks gleefully in his hold.

 “Anyway,” You say, “You’re welcome.”

 He offers you a small smile before turning to his daughter. “Say ‘thank you’ baby.” 

 She glances as you and her face lights up. “Ba buuuuu!” 

 You coo. “You are very welcome sweet girl.” You say getting to her level. “Don’t give Daddy too hard of a time, okay?”

 To yours and her dad’s surprise, she leans forward in his hold and places her little hands on your face, leaning into breathe on you with an open mouth in her baby kiss way. Her dad makes a surprised noise.

 “Oop, sorry. She really likes you.” He chuckles leaning away. 

 You stare at him a little wide eyed, baby slobber on your forehead.

 He laughs harder and reaches his arm out. He wipes the spit off with the back of his hand. You both still, seeming to realize you’re having skin to skin contact at the same time. He drops his hand in a jerky manner.

 You both stare at each other, and you don’t miss the way his eyes flicker over your body, like he’s trying to refrain but curiosity or perhaps desire gets the best of him. You don’t know, but you hope it’s because he wants. 

 He looks like he’s gonna say something more, but Nari has other plans. Dinner plans if the way she’s wiggling in his arms towards the basket while gurgling unhappily means anything.

 “Ah, looks like it’s dinner time. Thanks again…” He looks at you expectantly. 

 “___.” You say, pointing to your name tag.

 He smiles and his eyes crinkle. “I’m Jeongguk.” He jumbles Nari a little, she shakes her head and grumbles before burying her face in his neck. He rolls his eyes. “You know her. She’s appreciative, just hungry.”

 “I understand. Have a good night Jeongguk.”

 “See you later, ___.”

 You watch him go, eyes traveling down to his toned back down to his cute butt. He catches you staring when he turns back and gives you a small wave and a smile. You play it cool. Gotta play it cool with cool dads.

 ~~~

 Another day, another can on a shelf. 

 Also, another baby grabbing your khakis.

 Well, not another baby. It’s the same baby. Little Nari. 

 “Why, hello there,” You coo, picking her up. “Where’s daddy? Or mommy?” You say puzzled. “Do you have one of those? Please say no.”

 She stares at you dumbly. She has a single sprout with a bow atop her head today. 

 You look around for her dad and see him peeking around the corner. Like he sent Nari to you and is waiting for her to do something. He sees you looking at him and sighs before he starts walking towards you. He’s in baggy jeans with tears in the thighs, along with an oversized crew neck today. You gulp. Dilf aisle 2.

 “She messed up.” He says on arrival.

 “Huh? No, she could never do anything wrong,” You say shielding her defensively. “Could you, Nari?”

 She rubs her full fist on her belly. “Na na.”

 You both look at her endeared albeit confused before Jeongguk speaks up.

 “You’re right.” He amends. “But she was supposed to give you your gift.” He gestures to one of her full hands.

 She’s fisting a paci in one and a small succulent in the other.

 You eye them before slowly looking at him. “Which one is for me?”

 He gives you a closed lip smile, shoulders shaking as he tries not to laugh.

 Although seeing Jeongguk smile and laugh and turn the prettiest shade of red because of you is satisfying, you give him a break and turn to Nari. “Can I have that?” You ask gently.

 She looks at you, and then at the succulent before promptly turning it upside down.

 “Nari!” Jeongguk gasps. He reaches out and takes it from her before more than just a little dirt falls to the ground.

 You laugh, and Nari squeals at you. She looks at Jeongguk almost as if asking if she did something right. Once again, he’s trying to hold in laughter.

 “Da!” She says pointing at you.

 “Here, let’s switch,” He says, taking the baby human from you and in exchange offering you a baby plant.

 “What’s this for?” You ask. You can’t keep plants alive for shit, but it’s cute and thoughtful.

 “For finding this one last time.” He says rubbing his nose on hers. She blows a raspberry. He makes a disgusted yet adored face. Dads and their babies man.

 “Thanks, sorry in advance if I kill it.”

 “Succulents are pretty low maintenance. Just moderate sunlight and watering like once a week.” He’s got his hip cocked, with Nari settled in the curve of it and you consciously have to avert your eyes from how trim and lithe it looks. 

 “You’d be surprised at how not self-sufficient I am.”

 He hums. 

 “So, she’s two?” You ask, placing the plant on a shelf so you can get back to stocking.

 “She’s 18 months.” He replies. 

 “So basically 2.”

 He makes a contemplative face. “Eh… 18 months.”

 You give him a look. “You’re one of those dads?”

 He’s smiling and makes an affrontive noise. “Hey, she’s only a baby once. I’m not gonna rush her!”

 “Baaa!” Nari agrees.

 “Yeah, tell her baby!” He encourages.

 He’s so sweet and hot and such a good dad. And he has to be successful and well off, you just know it. Groceries here were not cheap. You can feel it in the way your lower heartbeat goes crazy when you see him. You’re basically drooling right in front of him. But you have to keep it cool.

 “And how old is Daddy?”

 Not your coolest. You’ll admit that.

 You don’t even have a daddy kink. You just like his reactions. Mostly.

 Jeongguk cackles, head falling back and Nari looks at him with his copy pasted doe-eyes before she does the same. Her flexible little baby bones allow her to almost bend in half. Jeongguk cradles a big hand under her head and helps her back up, still laughing to himself softly. He adjusts her shirt so her round tummy isn’t exposed. She’s a lady, after all. She’s gotta be decent.

 “I’m 29,” He says once his laughter has subsided some. “And you?” He asks.

 “You wanna know how old I am?”

 He nods on a hum. “I’m curious.”

 “And why would you be curious about my age, hmm?” You tease.

 Jeongguk flushes and rolls his eyes playfully. Giving you a look that says, You know why. 

 You both know why. 

 “Humor me.” He bargains.

 “I’m 22.” You tell him simply.

 “Oh thank god.” He groans under his breath. Still a bit of a gap, he thinks. He still feels a little creepy but at least you're not in your teens still. And also it’s not like this… tension is going to amount to anything more than exactly that, because he will not actively pursue someone who is 7 years younger than him. Even if you are hot and keep calling him the forbidden d word.

 Nari looks at him concerned. “Daaaa?” She offers him her paci. He raises his hand to decline.

 “I’m okay thank you, that’s yours.” He pops it in her mouth and she immediately slumps against him, rubbing her face in his shirt. Must be sleepy. He turns back to you. “Thanks for moving the baby food by the way.”

 You think back to a week or so ago when you were restocking the baby aisle. Maybe you did reorganize a whole entire shelf for a random dilf you talked to once. Not your strongest moment but you justified it by reminding yourself that it genuinely didn’t make sense that the baby food was on the bottom shelf when something less imperative to a baby’s health could be. Like the $67 baby wipe warmer, or the equally pricy turtle bath thermometer. You would like to believe that Jeongguk was perfectly capable of figuring out if the water was right for baby with his hand and common sense.

 You turn a little red, embarrassed. You sniff. “You don’t know that was me.”

 “Ah, well I just have a feeling.” He drones while smiling softly and resting his cheek on the top of Nari’s head, looking at you. That’s when he seems to realize his baby is nodding off. “Hey missy.” He jostles her a little and she looks up blearily, confused and dazed, just having been on the cusp of a dreamland. “Don’t fall asleep, Mommy will be mad if I drop you off fresh from a nap because you,” He boops her nose and she swats at his hand with an unhappy grunt. She is absolutely rotten. “will keep her up all night, and I will have to hear all about it in angry texts.”

 You should mind your business, but you’re nosy and this is actually important information. 

“Mommy?” You pretend to focus on the cans you’re stocking, trying to go for causal and nonchalant.

 He takes a deep breath and the sighs. “Yup. We alternate weeks. Hers starts today. I’m here just restocking baby’s stuff. I like to send her off with extra so mom doesn’t have to worry.”

 Valuable, important information indeed.

 “That’s really nice of you.” You say genuinely.

 He nods, thoughtfully. “The least I could do. It’s already hard enough on this one, jumping around so much when she’s so little.” You can hear a small trace of sadness and guilt in his voice.

 “Hey,” you start, “that set up is a lot better than being in a house with parents that don’t get along. I think you’re a good dad.” You finish feeling a little silly. Like your opinion mattered. You’re 22 trying to console a sexy 29-year-old father.

 He regards you quietly for a moment before he breaks out into a smile. “Wanna know something funny I do whenever I send her off?”

 You nod, already chuckling a little.

 He points to her belly. Nari looks down confused. “I always give her to her Mom in clothes like this.” 

 She’s wearing a teal shirt that says ‘Daddy’s Girl ♡’ in big pink letters. You poke her tummy, and she gives the cutest most infectious baby giggles before lifting her shirt to show you her tummy. You squeeze it a little before she squirms and pulls her shirt back down clutching at her dad and giving him a slobbery, giggly, baby kiss.

 You full on laugh, giving him a round of applause. Funny and petty. “That’s so good.” You pause debating on whether or not to ask what you’re thinking. You do anyway. “Bad break up?”

 “Divorce actually.” He muses, adjusting Nari. “I mean we’re cordial for baby, but I wouldn’t say we are friends.” He thinks for a minute, “Although this is petty,” He gestures to her shirt again, “I mostly just do it because her mom gets annoyed and it’s funny and it makes it so I cry less when I drop her off. It’s not malicious.” He laughs a little to himself.

 Such. A. Good. Dad. Your heart is weeping. Something else is also wet. But it’s not your fault. It’s his. Before you can reply he’s speaking up again.

 “But on that note. I do have to actually shop and get her going. Thanks again for finding her that one day, don’t forget to water that.” He says nodding to the little plant on the shelf.

 “Guess you’ll have to remember to remind me.” You say, smiling slyly.

 “Guess so,” He says with a soft grin. “See you around. Say ‘bye bye’ Nari.”

 “Ba ba!” She says clenching her small hand in a wave of some sort.

 They turn to continue their shopping, and you can’t resist it when you say, “Don’t cry too much Daddy!” 

 Jeongguk’s steps falter before you see his shoulders shake with laughter.

 Without turning around, he says, “You gotta stop calling me that!” You can hear the smile in his voice. 

 He turns the corner, and you go back to stocking, reminding yourself to not forget your baby succulent at the end of your shift.

 ~~~

 You’re not made to work the register often. But when you do? It’s always as awful as the last. Having to deal with people and their coupons, or their questions, or their card declining really just isn’t how you want to spend an 8 hour shift. And you always contemplate quitting. Every single time. 

 Except this time.

 Jeongguk places his items on the belt, and you can’t help but stare.

 He’s got 3 red bull’s, 1 step ladder, some mangoes, and a bottle of plum wine. It’s an interesting assortment, and you have to ask, “Whatcha doin?” as you ring the items up.

 “Hi,” He says with that heart stopping, jaw dropping smile of his. “I’m decorating the second bedroom in my house. Bout time Nari moves out.” 

 You chuckle and nod to yourself. “No baby this week?”

 He shakes his head. “Hence the bottle of wine.”

 “Nice,” you say as you close off your lane. The man behind Jeongguk scowls at you, but you simply smile and wave goodbye, sending him a couple lanes over. You’ve decided it’s time for your break. “Does it have a theme?”

 Jeongguk looks between you and your closed lane as he pockets his card. It’s one of those sleek cards that are thick and heavy. The kind that just feel rich. Like when you see someone use it you just know they are doing well in life. He’s super casual today, workout shorts and a long sleeve shirt on his body. You wish you could see his legs better. He’s worn pants every other time that you’ve seen him. 

 Leaning against your lane he nods. “Yeah, kind of. I like plants and like gardening or whatever. I work a lot and it’s therapeutic and Nari likes playing in the dirt.” He waves his hand dismissively, “Anyway! Little one has to at least like flowers by default. So, I think I want a forest theme? I want to add mushrooms somehow because I found the cutest little mushroom stool at a secondhand store. Also, maybe some faeries.” He nods to himself. “I’ve already got the new furniture and everything. It’s a circular bed that kind of looks like a tree trunk, well not kind of- it actually looks like a tree and then these lamps that hang and look like those droopy flowers that faeries wear as hats? You know, the bell looking ones? Anyway, I also- ”

 You’re smiling really wide when he looks at you. He turns a little red. “Sorry,” he says. “This is probably the last thing you want to hear about at work.”

 You shake your head quickly. “No, no. I was just thinking that of course she’s gotta like plants. Her name does mean ‘lily’.”

 Jeongguk winces, pastes a faux look of guilt on his face. “Ah- That was a little selfish on my part.” He starts to roll up his sleeve. “My birth flower is a lily. I got this for her.” 

 When Jeongguk’s sleeve is properly rolled up, not only do you see a beautifully done tattoo of a lily flower, but you also see a whole entire sleeve covering his fair skin. Your eyes rake up and down his forearm and you have a horrible feeling that the sleeve continues all the way up his arm. He’s even got knuckle tattoos; you have no idea how you didn’t notice before. You blame Nari. 

 You swallow audibly. “That’s so hot.” It comes out sounding like a wheeze.

 “Huh?” Jeongguk says with a surprised laugh.

 You panic. “I said, that’s so… thought. Thoughtful. I think your tattoo is so thoughtful.”

 He laughs for a second longer before humming. “Thank you. But I’ll let you enjoy your break. I have to go get paint and wallpaper still, then I have to get straight to work. I procrastinated so I only have the weekend to get it done before she comes back.”

 You’re biting your lip in thought when he starts to walk away. Something that could be very embarrassing on the tip of your tongue. Are you sure you’re ready for potential rejection dished out by the incredibly hot dilf? What if he stops coming to the store and you can’t even ogle him anymore? Or play with his cute baby? You take a deep breath.

 “Wait! Jeongguk!”

 He stops and looks at you over his shoulder, throwing you a questioning gaze.

 “Do you- want help?”

 The look on his face would be comical and you would laugh at him if you could get a proper breath in around the nervous butterflies fluttering around in your chest cavity. He’s turned himself all the way around to look at you properly and he quite literally is just standing there. In the middle of the exit walkway.

 “You wanna help me decorate my daughter’s room?” He confirms.

 You nod. “Yes. I do. I get off in a couple hours.”

 Jeongguk feels his hands get a little sweaty. Maybe he’s kinda old, and maybe it’s been a while since he’s been in the game, but he’s almost positive that the… pull that’s between you both that’s been nagging at him isn’t innocent, and that if it manifested in his empty house where he is alone with you… it could potentially lead to his complete and utter demise. A little stilted flirting and smothering tension in the dry goods aisle was fine and good every couple weeks or so… but he meant it when he placed those imaginary boundaries between you two. The ones you don’t know about. The ones he put in place to ensure he won’t pursue someone so much younger. That means there’s only one answer to your question.

 “Yeah. I would love your help.”

 The answer being that he’s just going to practice really great self-control. He’s going to be an adult. He’s a dad! He’s like a pro at keeping his cool and being responsible! There’s no way he would break the rules he’s set for himself.

 Everything will be fine.

 ~~~

 Everything was not fine.

 You’re in his house and you’re not in your uniform. You’re in the tiniest pair of black soffe shorts he has ever seen, along with a fitted white v neck that lets the zipper of your sports bra peek out. The sports bra that is working very, very hard. Your tits did not look that big under the work polo, nor did your waist look so small. You reach on your tippy toes to mark off a higher area of the wall with blue masking tape. Your shirt lifts up and a twinkle catches his eye. There’s a jeweled heart dangling from your belly button. How cute. And how fucking awful for his sanity.

 Now Jeongguk’s not stupid. He really isn’t. He was on the Dean’s List in university, has his own company now. He’s smart and he has critical thinking skills. Yet somehow, he didn’t think about how you wouldn’t be showing up in your polo and khakis. Of course, you wouldn’t that would be stupid. Just like Jeongguk apparently. 

 “I think a faerie should go here.” You say pointing up to the marked spot. You smile at him expectantly. He smiles back, although it looks more like a grimace.

 “Don’t forget there’s going to be a tree playhouse in that corner.” He reminds.

 You hum. “Oh, maybe we- or you should put some of the vines you got on the wall? Kind of like ivy?” You bend over to pick up one of the long leaf garlands.

 Jeongguk’s face lights up, temporarily refocused by your idea. He could not be blamed if his eyes wandered when you bent down. He simply could not, any man would have succumbed to such a sight. 

 “That’s a such a good idea, here.” He says reaching for the leaves. “I’ll start tacking them up.”

 You shake your head. “I can do it. Where’s the step stool?”

 And that’s how you find yourself a few feet above him. Rich, successful people and their high ceilings. Jeongguk’s got his hands extended up and out, hovering over your hips, acting as a safety for you just in case you fall. His eyes are obnoxiously respectful, averted and looking away as if the sage green walls are a better sight than your ass in his face. His extended hands give you an idea though.

 What if you just… fall?

 You look at the distance between you and the floor once before committing and kamikazeing off the ladder. You’d like to think that you fall gracefully into his waiting arms. The grunt he lets out, and how hard his back hits the wall behind you tells you otherwise. Good thing the paint is dry.

 “Oof.” He breathes out, hands tight on your waist. His head falls back, and his eyes squeeze shut as he tries to catch his breath. 

 He braced your fall so you’re okay, just content in his arms as he recovers from getting the wind knocked out of him. Your hands are resting on his chest. His body is warm, and he smells good. 

 “Oh my god, are you okay?” He says once he can breathe properly. “You’re not hurt, are you?” His eyes look overly concerned, probably acting as he would if Nari fell. Dad instincts taking over as he lifts your arms to inspect them, bending them to make sure they still work. He looks like he’s about to take a look at your legs, but you stop him.

 “I’m fine, I’m fine!” You giggle. You place your hands on his cheeks and make him look at you. He’s got a surprised look on his face and you can feel how his cheeks heat up under your touch. Seems kind of on edge with you touching him. “Are you okay?” You ask quietly, a smile still lingering. Your hand runs from his cheek to his jaw, down to his neck. Your thumb just grazes his Adam's apple when he swallows and licks his lips. “You’re the one that caught me.” You tilt your head while you look up at him.

 “I…” He starts.

 But he doesn't finish because all he can focus on is the hand that was on his neck, slowly dragging down his shoulder, down his arm, then back up to rest on his bicep. It’s a simple, gentle touch, but the intentions behind your movements are salacious. He knows because the desire in the air has skyrocketed, he’s sure he could touch it if he could even bring himself to lift a hand. 

 “I’m good- I’m okay.” He whispers, frigid in your hold, like he’s scared to move. Like if he does what he should want, but doesn’t, you’ll vanish like one of the faeries on the wall. 

 “Are you sure?” Your tone matches his, and you look at him with wide puppy eyes, brows etched with exaggerated worry. “I know you’re like- really strong,” The hand you have resting on his upper arm squeezes for emphasis. “But maybe I should check? Just to make sure?”

 And fuck, he knows what you’re doing. He sees it written all over your face. The faux concern. The fake way you’re fretting over him. He feels it in the way your body inches closer to him, the heat radiating off of you just on the pleasant side of too hot. Your acrylics scratch at the nape of his neck and he can’t stop the chills that run down his arms.

 “You don’t have to do that I-”

 You’re on your toes, trying to reach his ear. He’s still too tall so you settle on whispering into his neck, “I want to.”

 Jeongguk’s eyes close so tight he starts to see those little white spots burst behind his lids. The whine that escapes from the back of his throat sounds distressed and pained, like he’s fighting with himself. 

 “__…” He says quietly. Just shy of pleading. Or maybe he’s warning. Warning you that you’re about to cross a line neither of you can go back from. It makes you smile.

 “Please,” You beg back. You press your body fully to his, boobs flush against his torso, hips angled against his. “Please tell me I can.” The hand that was at his nape slowly trails down to his torso, down his stomach. His abs tense underneath his long sleeve shirt, and he’s got his head turned away from you, like he’s battling with his cock and his morals.

 You press a soft kiss to his neck, and he shudders, the hands on your hips tighten like he doesn’t know if he wants to push you away or pull you closer. You place a hand on his jaw, then guide him to look at you. He comes easy enough and looks down his nose at you, eyes hooded, and brows furrowed.

 “It’s okay to want this,” You murmur. “It’s okay to want me.”

 His eyes shut, and he lets out a sigh. You feel him just barely press into your palm. “You’re just- I’m so much older than you… I don’t want to take advantage of you.” 

 You laugh a little. “You’re not, I want this. I’ve wanted this.” You press your lips to his neck again and pull a little bit of skin between your teeth before smiling into him. “I’ve thought about it so much… I’m a big girl, I know what I want. Plus, it’s just a little bit of fun.” Your fingertips on his lower belly play with the top of his shorts. “So, can I have it?”

 And Jeongguk can’t say no, not when you sound like that. Not when his cock is already hard and straining against his briefs. Not when your touch makes him crazy, not when it’s the first one he’s felt other than his own in months. 

So, he gives in. He nods and just like that, your hand slips into his shorts over his briefs and it’s good. So mind-numbingly good. The moan that falls from his lips as soon as your palm brushes over the head of his cock over the fabric is lewd and loud and so relieved. His head falls back against the wall, and his eyes flutter shut while you pump him over his Calvin’s, mouth parted slightly. His breaths go up in pitch at the tail end of his sighs, the softest moans filling the air.

 You rub your thighs together as you watch him succumb to pleasure, bottom lip pulled between your teeth. 

 “You sound even hotter than I thought you would.” You say quietly. Your hand travels farther down between his legs to fondle his balls. He gasps softly and spreads his legs wider for you, angling his hips so you can touch him better. You hum and move back up to stroke him. 

 “Feel good?” You ask.

 He laughs lightly and nods. “Yeah… so good.” He swallows. “‘S been awhile.” 

 You grin to yourself and look down. You can’t see much, really just touching in a way you think could be pleasing to him. It seems to be working a little bit at least, because in your palm, Jeongguk is so hard. His cock is thick, and long. It’s pulsing, twitching sometimes when you touch him just right. 

 Almost as if he can read your mind, he settles his big, tattooed hand over your small one, urging you to grip just a touch tighter, speed up just a little more.

 “Like that,” He moans.

 It’s not been long at all, but you can tell he’s close. The way he gets impossibly harder in your palm, and the damp patch that you feel every time your brush over the tip, are complete giveaways. He inhales deep breaths through his teeth, chest heaving before he sighs out shaky moans and groans. 

 “How long’s it been?” You’re nosy as usual. Your hand speeds up, pressing a little rougher into him.

 “Since the divorce so… 8? 9 months? Wait I-” He pauses, breaths coming out in accelerated little puffs. The hand he has over yours squeezes tightly, trying to halt your movements. His cock jumps in his underwear. “Slow- I’ll cum.” He chuckles softly, a little embarrassed.

 Your pussy throbs, and you know there’s a wet patch in your panties. You speed your hand up against his hold. He whines, squirming in your hand just a little. “Yeah?” you breathe. “You gonna cum for me, Jeongguk?”

 Jeongguk’s breathing is coming out in shattered exhales and when you bite at his neck he gasps. He wonders if you’re being playful like you’ve always been, or if you’re just as worked up as him, biting to release the tension boiling just under your skin.

 “Please,” He says, so wrecked. He doesn’t even know what he’s begging for. Does he want you to stop before he soaks his pants like a horny teen? Or does he want you to keep going, so he can finally finish in a hand that’s not his own?

 Jeongguk doesn’t feel like he has a choice as his orgasm rushes him. His mind is far away, and all reason is out the door, cumming the only thing at the forefront of his mind. He presses your palm into his cock hard and ruts up into it, his hips stuttering and thrusts erratic as he spills into his briefs, hot and wet against your hand.

 He doesn’t warn you at all, cums quietly in your palm. Body so tense, and face so obscene he looks like he’s in pain, like he came so hard that it hurt. You know your pussy aches.

 Once Jeongguk catches his breath, you're whipped around and pressed into the wall, taking his place. His lips meet yours instantly and before you can even kiss back, he’s already moving all over your body. Tiny kiss marks glistening here, there, everywhere. Your collarbones are decorated, as well as your cleavage. He toys with the zipper of your sports bra, looks like he’s thinking about pulling but ends up moving past it. One track mind, taking over.

 He settles on his knees, big hands roaming over your shirt before slipping underneath with a quick glance at you. He grips a little here, a little there. It’s like he’s admiring the curve at your waist, the dips of your hip bones. Every inch he can get his hands on.

 He pushes your shirt up to under your tits, and begins placing his soft, wet kisses all over again. His hands keep moving too, making goosebumps form all over your tummy. You feel him smile into your skin once he notices. He dips his tongue into your belly button making you giggle out a gasp. He bites at the dangling charm pulling just a little bit, before letting go and giggling with you. 

 “I love this… ‘s cute.” He says.

 You mumble a tiny thanks, as he nips at the softest part of your lower belly, right above the elastic of your shorts.

 He rests his chin where he bit just a moment before, looking up at you, pretty doe eyes sparkling. “Can I?” He asks.

 You wiggle a little under his gaze but nod, nonetheless.

 When your shorts and underwear hit the floor Jeongguk lets out the littlest gasp. You feel his fingers come up and settle on your hips caressing softly again, while his eyes are trained on your cunt. He licks his lips absently.

 “It’s so cute…” He says. He sounds a little awestruck as he brings his fingers down to stroke over the smooth, plump lips of your pussy. He pinches them between his thumb and index finger, and a little bit of your slick oozes out, leaving you shiny and glossy. 

 Typically, you wouldn't compare your cunt to something from the ocean, but it really was like a little clam. Your pussy lips the shell, and your clit a small little pink pearl tucked perfectly inside. 

 He sighs as he leans in and presses a gentle kiss just above your slit. Your breath stutters as you breathe in, looking down at him. He keeps kissing gently, slowly but surely moving where you want him most, but you're impatient, already trembling from how bad you want his mouth. 

 Your hips buck when you feel his mouth on your lips over your clit. All he needs to do is slip his tongue right there…

 “Please,” You whine, so so quietly. 

 But he hears you. And he groans, from deep within his chest, and you can see him bring a hand down to press at his cock. He sounds pained, overwhelmed as he rests his forehead on your belly. “Fuck don’t beg. I’ll give you whatever you want just-” He pecks your mound quickly, one more time. “Don’t beg.” 

 He suspires and finally fulfills your request. His tongue disappears between your plush little folds, the tip of it licking over your clit. You gasp at the first feel of his tongue on you, mouth falling open while you watch him. He looks up at you, eyes hazy and full of desire, shining with such obvious lust and adoration. 

 The way he looks at you, like you’re something more than sexual tension finally coming to a head, makes you dizzy. You squirm looking away for a moment. His eyes are too tender for the filthy atmosphere around you, too tender for the reality of your situation.

 When you look down at him again, you brush some hair out of his eyes, hand settling in the long strands. His eyes flutter shut, and he kind of pushes into your hold before he blinks up at you, a sultry look on his face, eyes hooded and dark. You see him smile softly, a soft laugh puffing against you before he nips at your mons lightly. Then his tongue is lazily slipping between your slit giving long, slow, filthy licks to your clit. He’s already got the thick, hot feeling of arousal curling in your tummy.

 Your free hand comes down and you slip your fingers between your folds, spreading yourself open with your index and ring finger, while pulling your hood back with the middle one, revealing your clit to him. Showing him exactly where you want him.

 Again, he looks at your pussy like it's the prettiest, most lush thing he’s ever seen. He brings his hand up and rubs over your nub with a single finger, looking up once more to see how your eyelashes kiss your cheeks as your eyes flutter closed and your brows pinch. 

 “It’s so tiny…” he presses a little harder, rubs a little faster. “I’ve heard that the smaller it is, the more sensitive?” He phrases it like a question. “Is that true?”

 “I think?” It comes out airy and distracted. You don’t really know. Makes sense you suppose. More nerves in a smaller area. But you don’t care at the moment.

 He hums. “I think so too… Just look at you.”

 You grip his hair pulling just the slightest amount. Not demanding, just suggesting… hoping. 

 “Lick it?” You whisper, voice salacious and pleading. 

 He holds your gaze and does as you ask, licking softly, almost teasing. His head moves in a nodding motion as his tongue repeatedly grazes over your exposed clit, you can feel his breath hot against your fingers. It’s soft and slow, and just not enough. You whine as you roll your hips to meet his tongue and it’s pornographic, the way you can see a little string of spit and slick still connecting you together right before his tongue meets your clit again.

 “Point your tongue… faster- yeah flick it… fuck,” you whimper. It’s airy and the lust you’re feeling is tangible, just pouring from you. From your lips, your pussy. Your head falls back hitting the wall behind you. You’re sighing and nodding. Encouraging him, letting him know that yes, right there, that’s perfect. 

 The way your orgasm builds takes you by surprise. It starts as that gentle simmer curling in your belly and grows until it’s that sharp pleasure in your chest, taking your breath away. You normally can’t cum just from someone’s mouth, usually needing fingers as well, but Jeongguk’s tongue is magic and the way he suctions gently, making little pulsing sensations with his lips, is ruining you and your legs are starting to shake. 

 “Please… please make me cum,” You beg. “I’m so close Jeongguk please.”

 He groans and the vibrations thrum, heavenly against you as you watch his eyes roll back. His hands grip at your ass and pull you closer to his mouth. 

 “Fuck baby watch me. Look at me while you fall apart on my tongue.” He moans quickly against your cunt. The pet name that accidentally slips from his lips makes you buzz.

 And you do. You look at him and his tongue working wet and nasty against you; it’s the only thing he needs to wreck you. You watch as long as you can until the pleasure is too much and the string in you snaps, eyes falling shut as you moan out a litany of praises full of yes’s and his name. You cum, writhing against the wall. 

 Jeongguk’s on his feet and you’re off of yours, his hands coming up to cup your ass and hoist you against the wall. Your hands wrap around his neck, legs around his waist, and you smile at him as you regulate your breathing. He kisses you, and you whine when you taste yourself on his tongue.

 “I wanna- can I fuck you?” He whispers against your lips, between eager kisses. He presses into you, making you feel how hard he is again. You wonder if it even went down after he came.

 “Please,” you say nodding.

 He nips at your jaw and you feel his smile as he places a peck to soothe. “What did I say about begging?”

 You’re about to reply but gasp instead as you feel him move away from the wall to carry you effortlessly through his home. It’s big and modern, spacious with minimalistic decor, sprinkled with baby stuff here and there. You feel the plush cushion of his bed under you some moments later. He’s over you in an instant, licking into your mouth once again, body molding to yours. He rolls his hips a few times when you wrap your legs around his waist, before pulling away, your lips are the last thing to part, like he can’t get enough for you.

 “I’ll be right back,” he says. Another light kiss is given before he disappears into what you assume is the bathroom.

 You figure he’s cleaning up the mess he made earlier and probably getting condoms. You glance at the crib by the side of his bed that has yet to be removed. Hopefully, he’s getting condoms. If not, you think you have one in your bag. 

 You busy yourself by getting ready for him, taking your shirt and bra off leaving you completely nude. You flop back onto his bed and stretch your arms out, it’s big enough that you can starfish and not have your hands or feet hang off. It smells like a subdued, softer version of him. Less fragrant and cologne-y and more clean and gentle, like laundry detergent and the little trace of body wash that lingers on his skin after a shower. It’s earthy, and kind of feminine. You roll over and shove your face in his pillow, inhaling deeply. Sandalwood you think. You know you don’t have much time when you hear the faucet shut off, and drawers being rummaged through, so you settle on to your back again, lazily running your fingers over your body, waiting for him.

 The bathroom opens and Jeongguk walks out, naked as well. He’s stroking himself slowly as he strides towards you, his other hand full of the goods. Your eyes zero in on his cock. Out of his briefs you can clearly see just how big he is. You gulp.

 He climbs onto the bed and settles between your legs again when you open easily for him. You run your hands over his body, feeling the ripples of his muscles running under his skin. Fingertips touch at the ink on his shoulder. You were right, a full sleeve. 

 He’s looking at you, searching your face, hand brushing gently at your hair. “You still wanna?”

 You don’t hesitate to nod. “Mhmm.” You sit up and peck his lips sweetly. “Please,” You tease with a smile.

 He rolls his eyes playfully and sits back on his heels, reaching for the condom that he set aside. There’s a bottle of lube next to it. You sigh internally, grateful and knowing you’re going to need it.

 You crawl in front of him. 

 He places a hand on your head, making you stop abruptly and laugh on all fours.

 “I won’t last if you blow me.” He says.

 You pout, then mirror his position in front of him. “Can I put it on for you, then?”

 He quirks a brow, but hands the foil packet to you, only to get it back when you have trouble opening it due to your nails. You smile sheepishly at him and kiss him sweetly when he hands it to you again. You stroke his bare cock just a few times, eyes on his face when he hisses at the feel of your hand on him without any clothes in the way. You can’t help yourself; you lean down and lick at the shiny, dripping tip, swirling your tongue around the head. You flick your tongue, and stroke, his foreskin rolling over, as his eyes roll back. His hips buck just barely, before you feel a hand in your hair pulling you up.

 He’s laughing and presses his face into your cheek. “You don’t listen well, do you? Hmm?”

 You pull away just enough to look down and place the condom at the tip of his cock, pinching just a little at the top as you slowly roll it down his length. “I just know what I want.” you whisper, tongue in cheek. His thighs tense and he takes a sharp breath, mirroring you and looking down.

 With your hand on him, the apprehension starts to set in. He’s thick. And long. Your hands are small, barely able to wrap around the girth.

 “Fuck…” He whispers. He grabs your other hand and places it on his cock as well, one on top of the other, his pink tip still sticking out the top. “Your hands look so good around me.”

 You stroke him with both hands, slowly over the condom. “You’re- like the biggest I’ve ever seen.”

 Jeongguk must hear the nervous tone your voice has taken because he places his hands on your face and has you look at him. Your hands don’t leave him, anxious but still eager. “I’ll go slow, and if you need me to stop I will. Just tell me.” He kisses you again, and you nod against his lips before falling back onto his pillows.

 The lubes within reach so you grab it and drizzle some onto your fingers before bringing them down and rubbing over your opening. You’re wet already, of course, but you’re gonna need all the help you can get with him. You know it won’t be that bad, and that your body will do what it’s supposed to. You think that maybe it is a mix of being with someone new, someone that you’ve been wanting, as well as his size that has you on edge. When Jeongguk finds his way between your legs, you drizzle some lube onto his cock as well, stroking to make sure he is thoroughly covered before lining him up. You take a deep breath.

 Jeongguk’s patient. When the swollen tip of his cock slips in all he does is furrow his brow and drop his mouth open, keeping control and resisting the instinctual urge to bury himself inside of your warm, tight, soaking cunt.  He’s over you braced on his forearms, head hanging, watching his engorged cock slip into you little by little, your fat pussy lips pillowing around his girth. He flicks his eyes up to you when he reaches the thickest part of his cock. A worried wrinkle forms between his brows.

 For good reason. It hurts. You feel annoying pricks of tears sting your eyes. A little whimper passes your lips when he pushes in another inch more.

 “So big, Gguk,” You whisper. Your hands are on his back, digging in trying to focus on the give of his muscles when you press your nails into his skin.

 He’s quick, kissing on your face gently, telling you that you’re doing so well, and that it’s almost over, and that he's almost in. He brings a hand between your bodies and rubs at your clit, slowly, trying to distract you from the sting as best he can.

 It works. His fingers are skilled, and you want him so badly despite the little ache, and then he’s inside of you. He’s buried to the hilt, and you both sigh into each other’s mouths.

 “I need a second now,” He laughs on a whisper. “You’re so tight, feel so good around me.” He coos, praising you. Letting you know just how good you did. His face is in your neck, kissing, sucking little pink flowers into your skin. His hands come up to your tits once he’s settled back on his knees, and he squeezes them, jiggles them lightly. 

 He drools at how they rest into soft circles as you lay on your back beneath him. He pulls out a few inches before pushing back in slowly, biting his lip when he sees them bounce before pillowing back into place. He does it a few more times, making quiet moans fall from your lips.

 With Jeongguk inside of you, you can understand how he knocked someone up. His stroke is so good and skilled, making you feel every inch of him every time he makes your hips meet. Pussy swallowing his cock, wet and slick. You never want him to leave, never want him to stop fucking you. Want to wrap your legs around him and keep him inside of you forever. The sting of the stretch has long subsided, his cock now satisfyingly sliding against your sensitive walls, filling you up so well, the tip kissing your g spot every time he angles his hips just right. 

 “You feel so fucking good,” He moans. He’s looking down at where his hips are now slamming into you with long steady plunges. One leg is wrapped around his waist, the other pushed back, resting on his shoulder. “‘M gonna make you cum,” He tells you. Looking at you, holding eye contact, watching every little shift in your features as pleasure courses through your veins. “Just from my cock.” The pace he plunges into you is fast, strokes consistent and long, as his hair swings around his face with every thrust. “On every part of me. With my tongue and my cock in your little pussy today, my fingers next time.” He continues, kissing you softly. The juxtaposition between his sweet actions and filthy words makes your cunt pulse around him. “Does that sound good baby? Hmm? Do you want that?”

 You nod desperately. “Yeah, wanna fuck you all the time. Love your fat cock, Jeongguk.” You’ve got a hand clawing into his back, another raised over your head, so you don’t hit the headboard due to the force of his thrusts.

 Jeongguk groans, and shudders. His cock throbs, you can feel it jerk inside you. He slows for just a moment before he picks back up again, faster and harder and deeper. “Fuck, look at you. Taking my cock so well.” Every word is punctuated by him pounding into you. “You’re such a good girl, such a good fucking girl.” The slap of his hips is as loud as your moans, his words doing something insane to your body, cunt tightening as he makes good on his promise. Bringing you to the edge with just his cock. 

 He reads you well for a first-time fuck. “Are you close?” He asks.

 Your eyes are shut and you’re quieting, body tensing and locking up as you get closer and closer to your orgasm. All you do is nod.

 He moans, higher pitched than before and you feel his hips lose their rhythm for a second before recovering. “Ask me,” He pants. “Ask me if you can cum.”

 Your eyes open and he’s looking at you with a sort of abashed expression on his face. A peek at the timid, shy Jeongguk you knew before you met the one fucking you into his matress. You agree easily with a jerky nod, letting him take control, tell you what to do. He said he would give you whatever you want, and you’ll do the same for him. Anything to make him feel as good as he’s making you.

 It’s not long before you’re doing what he asks.

 “Gguk… I’m gonna- Can I-” Your body shakes, and you turn your head to the side, trying to hide from him. “Please can I cum?” You mewl.

 You feel him grip your jaw, turning your face and making you look at him. “Yeah baby, cum for me. Lemme see.” His hand keeps a hold on you, and his hips never stop the whole time the rush burns through you. Your eyes are closed as you clench and cream on his cock, but he watches you. The way you don't know what to do with your hands, settling for pulling at his sheets. He watches every phase of your climax pass over your face. The look of almost confusion as you get overwhelmed, the devastating pleasure as you peak, the serene smile as you start to come down. 

 His hips slow, but don’t stop. He kisses you deep, before murmuring against your red bitten lips, fingers still gripping your jaw, keeping you where he wants you. “What do you say?”

 You know what he wants to hear, you give in effortlessly. It’s soft and saccharine sweet when you say, “Thank you.” 

 The submission does something to Jeongguk and his hold gets almost painful, before he sits up, and switches to grabbing at your hips, pulling you down onto his cock. “Good, you’re so good. Gonna make me fucking cum.”

 You nod, watching him while lying on your back. Tits bouncing every time he pumps his cock into you, frantic and needy. His hands on your hips are bruising, and his eyes are stuck on the way your pink pussy is getting beat up by his fat cock. He grabs one of your hands and brings it to his chest, urging you to rub your fingers over his nipple.

 “Yeah, touch me,” He whimpers as his head falls back and he moans shamelessly. “Fuck. Gonna cum.”

 He’s so beautiful when he does. His face is flushed, and he looks at you until he can't keep his eyes open, mouth parted, sporadic huffs falling from his lips as his chest heaves before his whole body tenses and jerks. He chokes out the softest, “Cumming.” and you feel him press into you as far as he can, spilling into the condom. His tattoos are a lovely contrast to his fair skin, the way the dark ink shines due to the light sheen of sweat coating his body is captivating. His neck is strong, and you spy a couple of little bruises that you don’t even remember leaving, but they look almost as pretty as his tattoos. When he looks at you again, you feel new waves of arousal flicker. He looks almost lost and overcome with the pleasure he’s feeling, eyes so dark and hooded, body still trembling a little as he keeps his hips moving in the smallest minute little thrusts, milking his cock of everything, like he never wants to pull out.  

 But of course, he does. Tying off the condom and plopping it onto his nightstand. He lays next to you, not too close, but his hand reaches out to play with yours laying by your side. He hums before laughing. It’s airy, both of you still catching your breath.

 “I can’t believe we christened my daughter's room.”

 You laugh with him, rubbing a hand over your face kind of embarrassed. You roll to face him. “Sorry you just- make me so crazy.”

 He faces you as well, and his eyes are sparkling with laughter. He pokes you in the forehead, “You make me crazy. You make my morals nonexistent.” He kisses your cheek softly before heaving himself up. “And I think that’s the cue for the wine.” He grabs a pair of new briefs from his dresser pulling them on before he grabs something from a different drawer and throwing it at you. One of his shirts. Walking towards the door, he turns to you. “Want a glass?”

 You fiddle with the shirt in your hands. “It’s getting late, maybe I should-”

 “You can stay.” He interrupts. He’s not looking at you, fingernails suddenly very interesting.

 “Do you want me to?” You ask.

 He shrugs. “I mean you still have to help me finish Nari’s room. You were the one that distracted us by jumping off a stepstool to get your hands on me.” He’s smirking when your head whips up to look at him, expression appalled. 

 “I did not jump. I fell.”

 He rolls his eyes, a big smile replacing the smirk. “Yeah, okay.”

 “Fuck you, go get the wine Daddy.”

~~~

helloooo! thank you for reading friends 🥺 i hope you liked it. i’ve got one thing to say..... nari main character.... please like and reblog  if you enjoyed, tell ya friends, drop a comment, leave a note, send an ask... lemme know ur thoughts pals ily <3

series masterlist, pt 1, pt 2, pt 3

[get-shiggy-with-it]

#1 Victory Royale

✧ pairing: college student!spinner x student!afab!reader

✧ word count: 4.4k

✧ warnings: college au/no quirks, light angst, mostly soft/fluff, smut, could be hate fucking if you squint, afab reader but no pronouns, this is pretty tame, by like my standards, I wrote this at work, not really a warning, but it felt like you needed to know that

✧ summary: relationships suck and Spinner is starting to think maybe he does too

✧ ao3 mirror

✧ a/n: Hey y'all, welcome back to more college au bs from me. This is set in the same universe once again as all my other college pieces. A very sweet anon asked if we'd ever get to see more of Spinner, so here he is! Also with another cameo from shiggy's bitch (endearing) cause I can't help myself.

“Ughhhhhh….”

Spinner’s groaning echoed through the tiny apartment, the heavy sound of creaking couch cushions under his weight following.

“What?” his long-suffering roommate shouted out their bedroom door, rapidly shoving clothing and a toothbrush into an overnight bag.

“Uggghhhhhhh!”

He let out with another, louder dying animal wail. He’d been like this since they woke up—wallowing in some strange concoction of self pity and Red Bull on the kitchen floor when they walked in for water two hours ago.

“Motherfucker,” they mumbled, tossing their bag to the floor and marching, more than a little disgruntled, into the hall. “What do you want?”

Spinner was sitting upside down on the couch now, feet up against the wall tapestry and cotton candy hair splayed out on the floor. He stared blankly as his friend came into view—arms crossed, frowning at him from the end of the hall—and opened his mouth once more, letting out another garbled grunt that had one of the neighbors pounding twice on the wall to shut his dramatic ass up.

“Dude seriously, are you gonna tell me who pissed in your cereal or are you just gonna scream until the guys next door kick a hole through our wall?”

They almost felt bad as he looked away, sniffing and letting himself slump farther off the sofa until he was sprawled completely on the hardwood and staring, glassy eyed, up at the ceiling.

When he finally spoke a full sentence, his gaze was locked on the water stain above him from a year ago when the upstairs neighbors flooded their apartment trying to make jungle juice in the bathtub.

“I don’t know, I’m just in my feels as the kids say,” he sounded so dejected—strange for someone who was perpetually energized to a frustrating degree—that their shoulders immediately slumped from a hardass square to a softer, more sympathetic angle

They padded over to join him on the floor.

“Care to elaborate, oh roomie of mine?”

There was a pause and Spinner tapped his nails against the hardwood idly before responding.

“I guess I’m just feeling, like, fucking I don’t know,” he sighed, knocking his head against the dusty boards, “left out I guess? That’s not quite right, but it’s just Magne mentioned last time she came to The League meeting that Jin was seeing somebody and it just got me all introspective and weird…”

“Hm,” his roommate hummed thoughtfully and studied the way the textured white ceiling gave way to the rings of brown water damage, like a dead and dying flower, “I thought you and Jin weren’t ever that serious?”

“We weren’t,” Spinner groaned again and rubbed his eyes. “We went on like, one date a year ago and I haven’t thought about it really at all since then. I’m not sure why hearing he’s got someone else now made me so fucking...jealous I guess.”

“I mean, maybe you just never really gave yourself the time to process it?” they asked and received only an annoyed huff and accompanying groan. “Sorry, should have asked if you were looking for advice or just wanting to rant. My bad.”

“No, it’s fine. I think it’s just…”

Spinner trailed off and they shifted as the hard floor bit at their back and made it ache. The muscles were sore already as it was, and Tomura blowing their fucking back a few times a week wasn’t really helping. They’d created some kind of perpetually horny monster, but something told them cracking a joke about it wasn’t really going to help the situation much. Thankfully, Spinner found his way to filling the silence a minute later.

“I don’t think it has anything specifically to do with Jin. Yeah I liked him, we’re still really good friends and I don’t feel like I need him to be more than that. It’s just that—and this is gonna make me sound like a massive asshole—but with you and your new fucking boyfie and now even Jin finding someone to date I just keep seeing reminders everywhere of how motherfucking isolated I am.”

“Oh,” they felt their face burn a bit, guilt frothing as they were forced to acknowledge the fact that in all the time they’ve spent holed up with Tomura, Spinner had been discarded like an old Steam game, bought impulsively on sale and never played again. “I’m sorry I haven’t been prioritizing you—”

“No, no, no shut the fuck with that,” he waved his hand to cut them off and pushed himself up on his palms. “I know I’m not being fair about it, and I really am happy for you guys, but idk man….I just feel like I’m never gonna find that you know?”

Beside him, his roommate remained sprawled out on the floor like a homicide tape outline and was just as deadly quiet.

“I just,” he continued, running an angry hand through his hair, “I know I could be such a good partner. Like I’m funny and I’m not a fucking creep, which is actually a plus to most people.”

He shot a side glance down and they rolled their eyes, sitting up and knocking his shoulder roughly till he toppled back to the dirty floor and they stood above him.

“Fuck off,” they chuckled.

His roommate watched as the laughter seemed to infect him like a bad cold, creeping down the back of his throat and shaking in his chest.

“No I’m serious, I would be such a fucking great boyfriend. I give goddamn top quality cuddles and I actually know how to do laundry, what more does one need truly?”

“Damn bro, you’ve known how to fold your own clothes this whole time?”

The giggling spread into the quiet space, rocking through both their shoulders and leaving the air feeling light—fresh like the first nights of Spring. When it finally petered out into friendly silence, they were both far lighter.

“I just like the way you fold my t-shirts, the sleeves don’t get those weird creases when you do it,” he muttered and stood, doing his best to fix the wild pink locks that stood on end from his fidgeting.

“Yeah I’m sure,” his roommate rolled their eyes and turned back down the hall.

When they left for the night to stay over with their boyfriend, Spinner tried not to acknowledge the way he subconsciously glared at their back as they walked out the door, skipping yet another League meeting to swap spit with that guy from their English class.

He tried even harder not to think of how their bed would be warm and their legs would have legs to tangle with, their chest have a chest to lay against, while he heated up instant noodles in the microwave and fell asleep alone on their living room couch.

Not to mention that tonight was the big tournament with that new group on campus. He was really banking on his bff (best fucking friend as they were always sure to clarify) and him teaming up to crush those assholes from The Commission or whatever they called themselves.

Fucking lame as shit name in his opinion.

In any case, he’d have to settle for Magne again, and she was such a loose cannon they were sure to get their asses handed to them. She was a great fucking tank, he’d be the first to admit, but strategy was not a strong point of hers and they desperately needed that tonight.

He could feel the sinking weight of failure rolling in the pit of his stomach already even as he dragged himself into his room to tug on an old pair of jeans.

It bothered him way more than it should, the idea of losing some gaming tournament that, by all means held little to no actual significance.

Spinner knew the stock he’d started placing in games was growing to an unhealthy degree.

He knew that.

But self awareness rarely did anything to alleviate the irrational fear of failing at one of the only remaining consistencies in his life.

It stung worse when the tournament kicked off and by the third round, Spinner was the only remaining League member in the brackets.

“Fucking shit…” he muttered to himself, the small basement room alight with the blue glow of the monitor and the sound of frantically smashing controllers.

Behind him on the couch—stolen long ago from the theater building—Magne held him by the shoulders as he grit his teeth and leaned into the movement of his avatar on screen.

“You got this babe,” she shouted, cheek pressed up to his ear. “Make ‘em eat shit for me!”

“I would if you stopped distracting me,” Spinner hissed back.

Really it wasn’t Magne’s aggressive and somewhat bloodthirsty style of encouragement that shook his focus so badly.

It was his opponent.

The fucking president of The Commission sat, thighs spread and pressed to his, resting your weight on your elbows and snarling beside him in the couch.

Your face was split in this heart stopping grin as you quite deftly dodged all his attempts to get a hit in and managed to land a few of your own in the process.

And you looked really hot doing it.

Which was definitely just a side effect of the punch he (didn’t) drink and the body heat fueled temperature of the room—sweaty skin against sweaty skin making his mind wander against his will.

The shifting in his seat was absolutely just to illogically make him move faster and had nothing to do with how tight his pants now seemed.

So much for not being a fucking creep.

Your teammates were gathered in a circle behind you, enraptured and exuding the kind of smug confidence that said quite clearly The League was fucked from the second they walked in.

Not even two minutes later your hands were thrown up, punching the air and your team piling over the back of the couch to drown you in a sea of celebratory limbs.

Spinner felt himself deflating even as he was toppled off the couch by your screaming members and The League collectively cursed in the background.

Truthfully he’d known the chances of winning were slim.

Ever since his roommate started getting busy with classes and clubs that ‘looked good on their resume,’ The League had gone downhill rapidly. It was a problem since long before that Shigaraki guy swooped in and stole them away, but Spinner couldn’t stop himself from lowkey holding that against him.

The League had consumed so much of his life in college, functioning as a haven where he was finally respected and belonged to an extent he’d never experienced before.

The stink of failure and loss, not of the game but the only space he’d ever really occupied without complaint, burned his face and made the room feel more suffocating than usual.

Magne looked as though she wanted to give him one of her signature—and admittedly very comforting—hugs, but the deadly look of disappointment on Spinner’s face must have made her think twice.

The rest of his team seemed to read this sudden downward shift in the room as they began to filter out, climbing the steps onto street level and away from the suddenly stuffy, uncomfortable meeting spot. Normally everyone would stay and finish off the drinks snuck past the janitorial staff, eating Doritos until well past midnight. This time they couldn’t wait to be rid of him.

He couldn’t really blame them.

The multimedia building was a strange place after hours. Once Spinner might have called it something rare and liminal, now it felt more like a prison.

He stood, packing up the consoles a bit more roughly than necessary when someone cleared their throat behind him.

He turned to see you, standing alone with hands on your hips and scowling like you were the one who just got their gaming reputation ruined.

“Dude what the fuck was that?”

Spinner bristled at the knife sharp point of your tone.

“Really?” he asked incredulously. “You seriously waited around to rub your win in my face?”

You rolled your eyes and took a step closer around the couch. “I’m not talking about the fucking game dumbass. Why the hell are you pouting like I stole your fucking candy or some shit? You ruined the vibes man.”

“If anyone was ruining the vibes, it was you and your cocky ass team.”

Spinner felt himself stepping closer too, pulled in by the celestial weight that accompanied any kindling argument.

“Me?” you pointed to your chest and scoffed, “Wow, I was really hoping you’d actually possess a bit of emotional maturity, but if this is how you get after a loss I’m not shocked your fucking club is bleeding members.”

At some point the two of you had gravitated close enough that he felt the puff of your last breath on his cheeks. Two comets, ready and willing to collide.

“I’m not being the asshole in this situation, you know that right?” Spinner glared down his nose at you, heart pounding in his ears. “Maybe you shouldn’t make fucking unfounded assumptions about people you don’t know.”

“So then why are your panties in a twist over a fucking game?” you retorted.

He was peripherally aware that your eyes had taken on the same laser focused quality as they had during the last round. Determined and locked onto him without sparing a glance to anything else.

It was this same undivided attention that he’d envied in you as you played, and as Spinner felt it trained on him, his pants once again felt uncomfortably restrictive.

“It’s not about the fucking game okay!?” his voice came out hoarse and far more petulant than he’s been aiming for.

Though he quickly felt the embarrassment give rise to a secondary heat as you both breathed each other’s air and searched the face across from you.

“Then what is it about?”

That strange, unexplainable, inexplicable rush of potential filled the small gap that remained between your bodies—the kind of tension Spinner was beginning to think he’d never feel again.

He’d kissed plenty of people. Almost more than he’d like to admit, or that they’d like to admit more accurately.

But when his flickering eyes found your hard stare still and unwavering from his, it felt incredibly natural to lean in and press his lips against your fading frown.

It was slow going, the few centimeters that separated you seemed like miles as he moved slowly, never breaking eye contact until his mouth was finally slotted over yours and you weren’t pushing him away.

There was still a bit of lingering confusion, as this was decidedly not what either of you appeared to be expecting from the prior conversation. That coupled with the fact that Spinner wasn’t entirely sure he remembered your first name made the feeling of your tongue prodding at the seam of his lips all the more startling.

When he gasped, you slid your hands up his chest and licked into his mouth. Tongue tangling between breaths, Spinner felt himself getting lost in the familiar and coveted taste of another mouth, another body, another hand that grasped, that desired, that wanted him.

***

Your knees dug into the cushions on either side of Spinner’s thighs as you bounced in his lap. He fought to keep his eyes open against the pleasure of his cock sinking into you over and over again, so he could watch the way your head was thrown back and your chest heaved with the exertion.

He dug his hands into your hips and let his head hit the back of the couch, feet planted on the floor to help his hips thrust up into you, earning him some of the prettiest, stifled moans he’d ever heard.

Truthfully, he had not expected to fuck you. He figured you might be down to just make out for a bit until the cleaning staff came and booted you from the building, but both your pants had quite quickly and naturally found their way to the floor.

Neither of you spoke much, which he was thankful for. That would have been far too complicated of a conversation, especially considering you really didn’t know each other all that well.

Spinner usually liked to do a bit of ‘getting to know you’ type activities before he hooked up with people, which he did with surprising frequency for somebody so starved for a long term thing. Sex just fucking felt good and it was this eagerness that was his downfall. Most people he’d fucked around with seemed to read the urge to get into their pants as a diminished interest or emotional attraction and Spinner ended up with more friends with benefits than actual friends...or benefits.

Regardless, it was fine by him that the only form of communication passing between you for now were scattered groans of pleasure and the wet slap of your ass against his thighs.

He’d nearly forgotten how fucking amazing pussy felt.

For no particular reason, Spinner had always found himself fooling around with bodies more similar to his own. Not that he had any real preference, though the lack of experience often made him a bit nervous in the whole ‘pleasing your partner’ department, despite many helpful lessons from his roommate.

That was all to say that Spinner was incredibly thankful you reached down to guide his hand that had clumsily begun rubbing circles on your clit. That is until you simply knocked it away and went back to riding his dick like a fucking champ.

Then he did speak.

“Wanna make you cum,” he mumbled and really did sound like he was pouting this time.

You peered down at him, slowing your pace so you sat flush in his lap, grinding his cock deep against your walls. Spinner keened as you clenched around him, pussy so deliciously warm he felt himself near to drowning in the feel of you.

“Mm fuck,” you panted, leaning in to steal a few more messy kisses from him before lifting up and enveloping him in the slick heat all over again. “Don’t worry about it.”

“No,” he nipped at the column or your throat, careful not to leave any lasting marks just in case. “If I’m finishing, you’re fucking finishing.”

You pulled back and stared at him for a moment. He felt you purposefully tightening around him just so he would squirm under your curious gaze. After a moment you smirked and rolled your eyes again, taking his hand and guiding his fingers back to that little nub just above where his thick length was seated inside you.

Spinner was proud of his dick, it was hefty but not so long that it was a hassle to fit—just enough to reach all the important bits. He was sensitive as hell too most of the time, so just about any pressure felt amazing. But the best part of it was watching whoever he was fucking fall apart on his goddamn perfect cock.

So when you whispered, “Like this,” and showed him the rhythm and motion you liked, he pulled himself back from the brink to pay attention, speeding up until that look of cooled control slid right off your face.

“Ahh, yes fuck...” the words tumbled from you freely now. “Shit, yeah just like that—”

Spinner could get fucking drunk off the low groan that left you as he planted his feet more firmly and bucked his hips up. He must have hit something good by the way you choked and moaned boarding on too loud, though he had neither the heart nor self control to stop you.

“Feel good?” he grunted, picking up the pace and force he thrust into you, so that you had to loop your arms around his neck and hold tightly as he speared you on his cock.

“Fuck...yes..” you whimpered into his shoulder which did wonders for his ego.

Spinner kept up his rubbing frantic patterns on your clit and feeling the gradual constriction of your walls around him—the coil growing tight and ready to snap. He nudged your cheek with his until you pulled back a bit to face him.

“I want to see you,” he murmured, sucking your tongue into his mouth for a moment and tearing himself away so he could watch as you came undone around him.

You gave him a strange, soft look and pressed your forehead to his, eyes zoned in on only him.

The rest of the room, the whole fucking basement and campus melted away under that stare.

Your nipples peaked through your shirt, brushing against his as you were jostled into him by the movement of your hips. As you reached your peak, words devolved into increasingly breathy gasps. It took Spinner an incredible amount of concentration not to fucking paint your insides then and there.

Your pussy was so goddamn tight and warm and milking him just right, it was a fucking impressive feat to remain staunchly at the edge of his peak as your mouth fell open and your fingernails scratched at his back when you finally came—the telltale spasms around his cock and the near sobs coming from you more than enough indication.

He lost himself well and truly then.

Lost in the false sense of intimacy that came with being allowed to see you fall apart, this person he barely knew yet made him feel immensely important in that moment. Your breath and spit was in his mouth, the smell and feel of you soaking his length pushed him beyond the realm of conscious thought.

There was only a deep and burning need to be closer to you. So, so much closer.

His hands moved of their own accord, hooking under your thighs and flipping your bodies so your back hit the cushions and he hovered above you. The angle allowed him to slide deeper, pulling out and thrusting his hips in fast, hard strokes that hurtled him towards release.

Spinner couldn’t keep himself quite now either, panting and moaning and gasping unashamedly with his eyes screwed shut as you took his cock so unbelievably well.

It wasn’t until your hands, softer than he’d imagined, cupped his jaw and pulled him down to meet you that he was brought back down from whatever higher plane of existence his impending orgasm whisked him too.

Your lips weren’t nearly as frantic as the rocking of his thighs, the slap of his balls against your ass. The sweetness was an odd but welcome contrast.

“I’m gonna—fucking mm...” he tried so hard to get his tongue to form the words but he could feel himself slipping further as you started clamping around his length again.

“I know,” you breathed against his lips, faces pressed together and unmoving eyes steady on his own. “Ahh, inside if you want.”

He did want.

Oh fuck did he want nothing more in that moment to stay sunk in your warmth and pump you so full, but the last few remaining logical braincells reminded him that was not a great idea. Not without a more in-depth conversation neither of you was in a state to have.

“Shouldn’t...” he groaned and moved to pull out but your ankles locked around his ass and forced him back down.

“It’s okay,” you huffed and rocked into him, squeezing around the sensitive head of his dick just once, just right and that did him in.

It was something in the way you looked at him, so that he could feel nothing but secure—nothing but safe wrapped up in you. Something about the way you pressed him closer, in the movement of your thumb on his cheek.

It scratched some deep seated, lonely itch in Spinner.

Made it feel like this meant a hell of a lot more than it probably did.

In seconds he was blowing his fucking load right into you, milking himself in your heat until he was spent and overstimulated. You were kind enough to pull him to you, turning your bodies so you laid side by side on the coach, his softening cock slipping from you in a gush of release.

For a minute or so, neither of you spoke, just stared, long and comfortable at the stranger you’d just fucked on the gaming club couch.

Well.

Fucked wasn’t really the word he’d use at that point to describe what you’d just done, but anything more than that felt presumptuous.

You broke the silence as he nuzzled into your palm.

“You really needed that didn’t you?”

Spinner couldn’t help the familiar, infectious laugh that rattled in his chest. He liked the smile it earned him, far more genuine than any others you’d worn that night.

“Uh, yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I guess I did.”

You hummed, nodding in response. “Mm, me too.”

And somehow, for no real logical reason, Spinner knew you understood. That you felt the same isolation, the same starvation for love, for holding weight in someone else’s world.

That the games were just a placeholder, a way to fill the space, to get lost in other lives, in other stories where he did matter. Where his actions had foreseeable and measurable worth. That’s why it hurt to lose. Not for the glory, but for the destruction of the only remaining diversion from how empty his reality felt.

Even if it wasn’t really.

Even if there were friends and benefits and friends who offered both. His roommate could let him rest his head in their lap on movie nights or sleep in his bed on occasion when the heat went out and he got cold too quickly. But none of that quite filled the hole like you now, holding his face and knowing the struggle without him having to explain it.

Nothing like you pulling him in and kissing him too familiarly for someone he’d only known a day.

Magne used to say something about shit like this. Something like how people bond in train cars when there’s a rat eating a slice of pizza and you all watch it happen. Some weird camaraderie forged in the shared experience of life being a little fucking freaky a lot of the time.

That was how it felt when you slipped your leg between his and brushed your lips together again. Content to lay, half naked in the media building basement, making out with some guy you beat at Smash and fucked right after.

Reveling in the brief but meaningful feeling of mattering in some small, strange way to someone else.

Of holding weight.

Of being held.

[my-headcanons-academia]

Are Iida's legs okay?? (Iida quirk hc)

• If he punctured his engine would it heal or would he weld it?

If it's a biological thing, which I think I should assume it is since it grows out of him, then it would heal.

What if it's a Bakugou thing, like how Bakugou doesn't sweat nitroglycerin, he sweats nitroglycerin like sweat. What if it's not metal, it's just a metal-like skin.

Wait is Testutestu actually metal or is it hardened skin like metal?

I bet he isn't sure if it would heal or he'd need to weld it and this keeps this man up at night. He asked Midoriya his opinion but Midoruya just mumbled to himself for hours until he was distracted because it is now midnight and Iida asked him at lunch.

• Those are blue flames we see coming from those engines are known to go into overheat and to my knowledge, he has normal skin around that so that would hurt right??

THE NERVE DAMAGE THIS MAN MUST HAVE???

He has insanely high pain tolerance to deal with this stuff and it's really a detriment. He can get stabbed in the leg and not know unless he looks down because he legit just doesn't feel anything.

He has a bunch of scars around his calves too from scrapes he didn't really think were that deep, so when he thought they were healed enough he'd pick the scab off thinking the skin was grown fine underneath it but no. Picking the scab makes it look like a murder scene with all the blood. That was an interesting night when he had to explain why he had blood on his hands to Tensei who walked in on him by the sink.

• And how does fuel work?? again those are B L U E and purple flames! you need a lot of fuel and gas for that stuff?

Wiki says "he drinks orange juice as a source of fuel for his Quirk, while carbonated drinks make him stall" so it's like Momo's quirk but then what the fuck is his stomach doing?? (Also why doesn't he have Orange Juice or capri suns on hand then??? Give him compartments in his suit for orange juice if that is his literal fuel????)

Poor doctors in mha, 1. Mutant quirks change anatomy so much, the organs have to change too, so things are probably never in the same place, and what if they find a new organ then don't know what is or why it's there?? Same goes for emitter quirks, different things are gonna be different specialised to each individual, AND TRANSFORMATION QUIRKS. DOES IT ALL CHANGE?? DO ORGANS AND BONES AND STUFF ALL JUST CHANGE?? WHAT IF THEY NEED TO GO SURGERY BUT THE DOCTORS DONT KNOW WTF THEYRE LOOKING AT?? • He's a try hard nerd jock so I bet he chugged gasoline one time to see if it would make him run faster.

I bet he did all the maths, all the equations and probabilities, and he still drank it. Tesei saw, took pictures and hangs them up around the house to forever use as blackmail.

• Back on about the Orange juice thing, if the fuel is made of that, then does he leave CO2 or nah? Does it smell of Oranges? Is it a nice smell? Is he just a walking fragrencer?

Because it would be warm oranges because y'know it's fire. Would that smell good? are there fumes with it too? is it like flatulence and oranges? because you do need gas for those blue flames.

Iida has been around the smoke from his engines all his life so he's gone nose-blind toward it and no one gives him a straight answer when he asks if it smells of anything. Uraraka said burnt marshmallows, Tensei (who is also nose-blind to it) said pineapple, Izuku took a whiff and got high. No one is allowed to purposefully whiff it anymore.

• This man needs more leg support damn. That much thrust from his calves can not be good for his knees. I know he's grown up with it so he's used to it, and he either has the strongest knees in existence from all that endurance or his knees dislocate every other time he uses his quirk.

He has so much joint pain. He wants to get a walking stick for his joint pain and it confuses villains because they think that must mean he's out of commission but no, he can easily withstand the pain, the cane just helps. And can also be used as a weapon. The aesthetic bastard probably makes it look like a sword to match his aesthetic.

• Speaking of aesthetic, he saw Denki playing portal 2 one time and saw the characters long fall boots and instantly fell in love with them (he wants to commission Mei to make them but is honestly too scared to,)

He runs so quickly, if he goes up a ramp he will go flying and when he lands, having those kind of boots to cushion the fall wouldhelp exponentially. Also it'll make him even taller and I'm all for that. They also fit his aesthetic!

• More speaking of his aesthetic. I get the whole knight shtick is a family thing and it is also very endearing. But the wind drag. Wind resistance isn't really a problem for us because we go at human speed. He goes at human speed but the human has engines in his legs. That much clunky armour is good for protection especially to cushion the blow if he messes up a run and crashes into something and it's also good for blunt force trauma for up close attacks but there is gonna be so much wind drag. He already has enough speed where it doesn't matter too much if he is dragged just a little bit but I imagine wind drag could mess up balance and stuff. And here's where I'm torn, because he's a rich kid who is proud of his family so wants to carry on the tradition, same hero name, same hero aesthetic, same stuff like that, but should that really go above functionality? I'm not saying to minimise wind resistance he should wear a leotard or speedo or something with no armour like that, and idk the materials used, but that armour looks heavy.

He has so much inner turmoil about this. He always has an identity crisis when this is brought up.

• This bitch's metabolism tho. Orange juice is one fuel, what are the others? whatever they are, he should be eating a lot of it because that stuff gets burnt up so quick. He wouldn't be chubby, because all of his running, and he already looks like a big sturdy guy, I'm just saying, for efficiency, he should look like how Russian Women Who Fight Bears, or a Viking, that kinda physique, strong as hell, big and sturdy.

• He should have prescription goggles instead of glasses. Or. Y'know. CONTACT LESNES. SO YOU DONT HAVE TO WORRY. ABOUT YOUR GLASSES BREAKING. OR FALLING OFF WHEN YOU ZOOM. But I do understand it's for the nerd-jock trope. Guess he cares about aesthetic more than functionality 😔 but goggles can keep wind out your eyes if tho. He looks like a lovable doofus either way.

Uraraka recommends contact lenses since he forgot those existed.

He cries that day. But he was wearing the goggles so the tears kinda just stayed there.

[sukiglycerin]

call it fate (or a christmas miracle) || katsuki bakugou.

* pairing: bodyguard!katsuki bakugou x earthbending quirk!reader (gender neutral!)

* genre: bodyguard!au, fluff, some angst, fake dating, aNd thEre wAs OnE bEd

* words: 10.3k (help)

* warnings: swearing bc bakugou, too much backstory, idk what bodyguards even do, there’s a fight scene (in a similar lieu to the sports festival arc), hunter x hunter? no this is tsundere x tsundere, i want to hug bakugou, yes i imagine mr. tanaka to be the tanaka from kuroshitsuji, christmas is a very minor aspect of the story (but the title was too good to resist)

* original request from @apexqueenie​: Hnnnnnnnnnnnngh can I get a Bodygaurd Bakuboi x bratty reader who don’t like to be watched like a hawk cuz she wants to do fun things pretty please? // and from anonymous:  if it's ok, can I request Bakugou with a reader who has a quirk like earth bending please? // and from @killkurzyackerman​: ÒWÓ UR REQS ARE OPEN can u do a bakubabe with like lil sassy bad bitch vibe reader bc ive seen a lot of fics that sorta like softie or angel type and no offense theyre great but ya know sumthn diff this time please

* a/n: this is a very long fic, to say the least. i combined these three requests! though reader’s quirk doesn’t appear often, it conveys my thoughts on how bakugou would go about with that quirk. moreover, i hope this reader is badass? i realize that that characterization is quite hard for me. so, i hope you don’t see reader as super soft! i made them fight back against bakugou (literally, too) and kinda bratty hehe. i got to explore a lot of new things with this fic, so i hope they reach you well. this is a repost because it originally did not show up in the tags!

* synopsis: things had gotten boring with bakugou as your bodyguard. it was only until an interesting proposal by the man that things would change. well, maybe a little too much would change...

you, to be quite simple and honest, were getting tired of katsuki bakugou. he'd been your bodyguard for years (years! much longer than any other you'd hired!) and he was getting boring. dull. plain. any synonymous word would fit. he was boring like a 24 hour session of watching paint dry, monotone like a professor’s droning that never failed to put you to sleep. (perhaps he was even more spiritless than professor sato at the academy. he caught you sleeping no less than thirteen times in his class. the number didn’t even account for the times he didn’t catch you.)

to the untrained eye, katsuki bakugou is vibrant. he's aggressive, unruly, and ruggedly charming (somehow). he's a wonder in a suit-and-tie and the epitome of an oxymoron with his harsh words, rough hands, and crisp suit. it was that very reason you’d hired him; his personality excited you. it seemed unpredictable and it was a challenge.

like all other challenges, bakugou was not impossible. once the challenge was overcome, time flow was stagnant; you watched the ticking of a clock as the day passed by you. you’d gotten used to him and he’d gotten used to you. these days, he watched you like a hawk. you could never slip past those sharp eyes anymore, no matter what you did. he was not fazed by any of your antics (ticked off mildly, sure, but he could live with it).

“leave me alooooone,” you whined for the fourth time in an hour as you exited a mall. bakugou's hands were full of shopping bags filled with everything from clothing to the latest technological invention. you weren’t sure how he was supposed to protect you in that condition. though, to be candid - in the first place, you didn’t need protection. you attended a private institution designed to maximize the use of your quirk as a child and graduated with absolutely flying colors. on top, you’d taken various martial arts outside of school. you didn’t know why your parents were still concerned about your wellbeing. you handled it fine. around 99.9% of the time, you could easily beat your bodyguard in a fair fight. it was a regular practice for you; so common that there was a reward if a bodyguard could last longer than six months working for you. not that any of them liked to be called bodyguards.

“sweetheart, i would if i could,” bakugou gritted through his teeth. “pay’s too good to- goddamn, what did you even buy?” he’d stopped behind you to adjust his grip on one of the bags.

you hummed pleasantly, continuing at your same, leisurely pace. his question was a rhetoric; he watched you buy everything with your black credit card. you watched as a car pulled up in front of you.

“there’s our ride,” you said, brushing bakugou’s shoulder as you stepped into the car. he grunted in response, loading the car with your purchases.

“fight me with your quirk when we get home,” you said during the ride. “you have, what, a boom boom quirk?”

he made a noise in his throat, voice hard. “my quirk’s explosions. nitroglycerin.”

“dangerous,” you said through a smile. he’d never used his quirk around you, but you were already starting to see possibilities of strategies you could use.

“so says the master earthbender,” he retorted sarcastically.

you clicked your tongue. “we’ll see who wins in the fight, explodo-boy.”

“finally brave enough to challenge me, eh?"

“i was always this brave.”

“oh, give it up already, bakugou!” you directed another wall of rocky terrain toward bakugou, who blew up the land and sent rocks flying. his stance was hunched slightly, forehead matted with sweat. the sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up to his elbows, coat long abandoned on the rugged terrain.

“tired already?” he snarled. he put his hands together, preparing for a bigger explosion. you didn’t let him have this opportunity, slinging a large rock to absorb the impact of the explosion. he dodged swiftly, to your disappointment, but his attack seemed to be subdued.

you used his delayed reaction time to try to trap him with terrain under his feet, but he was somehow a step ahead of you. you heard a popping noise; bakugou was propelled through the air, your rocks blasted already and a cloud of dust forming. you cussed under your breath, already moving yourself away from his estimated landing spot that was too close to you.

he sent crackling explosions to the bottoms of your feet, but you easily dodged them. you created a temporary platform of elevated ground to protect yourself from the small explosions, jumping off it and rolling away. he was already aiming a larger blast toward you, presumably expecting your escape route. you figured it’d be a directed blast to pierce through a wall. you knew that the explosion would be unavoidable. to counter, you created a line of walls resembling dominos. they acted as stairsteps; you quickly ran up to the highest you could conjure in the short time you had before bakugou hit them. you grabbed the closest piece of rock that you could and leapt as bakugou’s blast made contact with your steps, chucking the rock at him and aiming to kick him when you landed. you knew he had no power to counter, being unable to react quickly due to the powerful nature of the blast he’d conjured.

you were about to win when the door to the training facility opened. you froze, literally, in midair and frowned, turning to look at the intruder.

“fighting, young-?” one of the butlers, tanaka, said. he was an elderly man with a gentle voice, but his eyes always seemed to glint with a clandestine humour in it.

“you can call me by my first name. please put me down, tanaka,” you said, no malice in your voice. he nodded, and you softly landed on your feet next to bakugou. you’d known tanaka for far too long for him to use honorifics with you. he’d practically raised you as a child.

“you haven’t fought in a while,” tanaka commented. he conjured a water bottle (you never knew how he had the right things for the right occasions) and walked toward you.

you made a noise of acknowledgement. “and it seems i was just about to win.”

he smiled tenderly. “i’m sure.” he handed you the water bottle, which upon further inspection, you saw was ice cold.

“thank you,” you said, gingerly accepting the beverage. the water flowed soothingly down your throat, easing the aching that had formed due to all the dust you’d kicked up in the fight.

“mr. bakugou?” tanaka asked, offering another water bottle (seriously, where did he get that?).

“thanks,” bakugou took the bottle. he drank feverishly, quickly finishing the bottle in what must’ve been two seconds flat. so undignified.

“y/n, you have an appointment in 15 minutes with-” tanaka said as you capped your water bottle.

“oh, yeah,” you said, waving off the matter. “i got it.”

you brushed off the dust on your clothes and started toward the exit. bakugou was quick to follow you, nodding politely to tanaka.

bakugou stood outside the door during the meeting you had with your father. you were not a minute too late or too early when you stepped into your father’s office, freshened up and dressed in clean attire, the dusty clothing from your fight with bakugou long discarded. the smell of leather and mint enveloped you, reminding you of the days you’d play in your father’s office in your youth. the room was always dim, the light on your father’s desk being the brightest object in the vicinity when the curtains were pulled down. when you were younger, you liked to pretend the room was made of chocolate, as the color was so dominant on the interior. your father was not pleased to find five-year-old you trying to bite the corner of his desk, to say the least. 

the sight of his office was ever-so familiar to you, and once held a feeling of endearment in your heart. that was then; now, you only ever entered the room for a business-related matter. your face was blank, lips held in a thin line -  you anticipated the topic of the meeting since your father first scheduled it a week ago. it, quite frankly, was inevitable; you could be neither opposed nor favorably disposed to it.

“i’ve found a compatible match for you, y/n.” your father sat at his desk, eyes intensely trained on you. “they’re from a well-off family with a strong quirk.”

compatible. it didn’t mean they got along with you or would be a good partner; no, it meant that they matched the superficial criteria set by your family.

“yes, father,” you said indifferently. he nodded, as if already expecting the answer.

“you’ll meet them soon. we’re arranging the date,” he folded his hands on the desk. “tanaka will alert you of it when it’s finalized. that is all.”

you nodded, taking your cue to leave. giving the room one last glance, you started to push the door open, then paused. door halfway open, allowing outside light to stream into the dark room, you looked back at your father. it was now or never to ask, you guessed.

“father… we wouldn’t happen to be having a family gathering anytime soon, would we? for new years or anything...” you hadn’t had any in the recent years, but you’d figured you’d ask. the scent of homemade food and the comforting chatter of the gatherings always made your heart swell.

he grunted, not looking up from the papers he shuffled around in his hands. “no.”

“ah. okay,” you said, sighing quietly. you knew better than to get your hopes up for such things. you turned back to the light, where bakugou was awaiting you, and shut the door behind you with a thud.

you walked in silence.

“so, no plans for the holidays?” bakugou asked bluntly.

“eavesdropping, i see,” you deadpanned.

“shouldn’t’ve had the conversation in front of the whole damn world.”

you rolled your eyes. “what about it?” you asked. “my lack of plans, i mean.”

“well-” he coughed awkwardly into his sleeve, averting his eyes. “that old hag- my, uh, mom, somehow got under the impression that i’m no longer… single. probably because of my profession - she thinks it’s ridden with scandals like a damn drama - but, uh… she’s expecting me to bring… company home for our christmas dinner…. and i can’t ask any of my friends, ‘cause she knows them… i wouldn’t damn ask you if i had no other option…”

“thanks,” you interjected. you held your tongue from making a comment about how little friends he probably had. “anyway, why don’t you tell her no?”

he slouched. “have you met her?” he grumbled. “the hag won’t listen to me. trust me, i would’ve, but… you can’t refuse her, once her mind is set on something… she’s too stubborn for her damn good.”

“like you,” you remarked, earning a small shove from the man.

“pl-” he choked, “pl - ah, fuck - please can you go to the dinner with me? it’s just for a night and morning, i need you to fake being my date. i can tell her we broke up later or whatever, i just really need…”

your lip curled. a desperate bakugou was a rare sight, and you wanted to relish in it for as long as you could. you feigned further consideration.

“but there’s so much i would rather be doing…” you whined. it was a lie. all you wanted was some variation in your life; a dinner didn't sound too bad. perhaps there was a dark secret within the bakugou family you could exploit. 

“like what, wasting money?” bakugou muttered bitterly under his breath. you shot him a dirty look.

“fine, please?” he asked again. “there’ll be some damn good food… and, uh…” you tapped your foot with false impatience.

he cussed under his breath. “i’ll do whatever you want, damnit, just go with me! please!”

you cocked an eyebrow. “whatever i want?”

“yes, for a day,” he groused. “only a day.”

“alright!” you pumped your fist up. your father’s business training came in handy sometimes. “when’s the dinner?”

“this weekend,” bakugou said. “we also need to, uh, figure out how to act more… coupley.”

“...right,” you said. business class had not prepared you for that. “how the fuck do we do that?”

as it turned out, you two were not the best pair to fake a relationship. neither of you had actually been in a relationship prior to this. you didn’t really have time to date on top of your studies and such; you didn’t need to, anyway, because all of the people who were romantically interested in you bored you. their personality traits either consisted of rich or doormat. as for bakugou - well, he was bakugou. you couldn’t see anyone wanting to date that brute.

“i’ll pay,” you said upon entering a cafe. it was a big cafe, nestled in the midst of an even bigger mall. your tone was firm; there’d be no way bakugou would be paying. you looked up at the menu and said to him, “the usual?”

he was silent for a moment, and you almost thought he hadn’t heard you. he cleared his throat. “uh, yeah, sure. the usual.” weird.

you ordered yourself a drink and bakugou his usual order, a decaf iced caramel macchiato with light ice. he looked at you with a strange emotion on his face when you handed him his drink.you practically shoved it in his hands while he was too starstruck about god-knows-what.

the two of you settled at a booth (“table,” bakugou had argued. you eventually won the debate).

“so… trivia about each other, right?” you asked. “i guess we’ve got to get to know each other more.” he nodded. “well, first, you need to stop being so quiet. right now, you’re not my bodyguard or anything. we’re, uh…. dating. we’re partners. datemates. lovers.”

he choked on his drink at the word “lovers.” he sputtered, then gained composure. “yeah.”

“okay, i need to you to be more casual.”

“tch, who said i’m not casual right now?!” there it was; this was the bakugou you’d known when you first met him. he was awkward and amateur-ish, stumbling on his words and failing miserably at being polite. it was a fond memory. overtime, he’d obviously polished himself up (but only in the presence of you and your family).

“that’s more like it,” you said.

“tch.” he sipped his coffee, unrelenting to admit that you’d won.

“well, let’s cover basic facts. your birthday is april 20 and you like spicy food.”

he coughed again, setting his drink down. “yeah.”

“are you okay? d’you need water, or something? are the lights in here too bright?”

he shook his head, eyes still dazed with a certain unclarity. “‘m fine, idiot.”

you weren’t convinced. “...whatever you say.”

he took another sip, closing his eyes then continuing as normal. normal, in the standards of bakugou, of course. “i-i think i know damn well enough about you. don’t need to prove shit,” he grumbled the last bit.

“a little bit too well,” you muttered saltily. “well, this is a learning experience for me, take it or leave it. we need to get along at the dinner, don’t we?” you drummed your fingers on the table, eyes darting around at the cafe. the decor was pretty. 

he made a grievance under his breath, but nodded. “there’s my dad and my mom - the old hag - and me. i’m an only child.” figures. he continued, “they both work in fashion… yeah… my dad’s more quiet than my mom, she’s loud… apparently we’re a lot alike - don’t comment - but yeah, she’s my mom. they live in shizuoka, and it’ll be just them at the dinner. you’ll need to stay overnight...”

“seems… intimate,” you commented offhandedly.

he whistled. “you think?”

the gears in your head turned as you stared into the space over bakugou's shoulder at a large poster of some featured drink. it was all small talk to you, but you saw this meeting for what it was. an opportunity. it was your break from the uniform days plaguing you for the past week's - he wouldn’t need to watch over you, now your fake lover. lovers were equal. 

love - what was love? you didn’t know, but it didn’t matter. feigned or not, it was different. couples were moody, from what you could gather. one day they’d be hanging off each other’s limbs, and the next, they were bickering their heads off. it sounded fun, to be a couple with bakugou rather than his employer. you could say goodbye to normalcy and tedium.

you felt your lips turn into a smile as a plan developed in your mind, tapping the table at an increasingly faster tempo. who cared about the dinner? you were a fake couple! you could break away from the norm and find the things that made bakugou tick. you could gain a one-up over him. you could pick his personality apart piece by piece until it broke the monotony of daily life. you watched bakugou’s expression grow puzzled and frustrated. you pretended to be deep in thought, aware that bakugou was opening his mouth to make a snarky comment presumably about how the smile on your face was getting unnerving to him.

you didn’t let him speak, instead cupping your face in your hands and leaning in towards him. “how do you think we should become more intimate, kat-su-ki?”

you think you got soft over the years. when you first met bakugou, he was a rough little thing. being the same age as you, he was far less qualified compared to the other candidates to be your bodyguard. he looked out of place in his suit identical to everyone else. call it fate, or what you will, beckoning you towards him. when you first met him, you could’ve never imagined how far into the future you’d be stuck with the boy. all of the bodyguards you’d hired prior to bakugou’s appearance in your life didn’t last long. it wasn’t their fault; no, no, they were very competent. extremely competent - to the point it was boring, scrutinized under their meticulous gaze. you could do absolutely nothing under their watch, and where was the fun in that?

so, long story short, you hired bakugou for his incompetence. you’d low expectations for how long he’d last. you were surprised he could even put on a tie properly. from the way his hair spiked in every which way (“undignified!” your father had complained to you) and how his feet shuffled against the nice, newly polished cherry wood floors (“the scuff marks…”), bakugou was far from the epitome of a bodyguard. he couldn’t sit still and constantly made weird crackling noises (which you later learned were small explosions, not the concerningly incessant crack of his knuckles). the cherry on top to the disaster pie called bakugou, however, was his speech. he was polite, at face value, but also incredibly rough at face value. if you transcribed his words down, they’d be all standard formalities. it was the quirky way in which he presented his words; gritted out like somehow had forced him into this job. actually, scratch that, it was like this job was the be-all or end-all of his life. he was like an extremely tsundere shounen protagonist. he needed to win (“win what?” your father had laughed in disbelief) and be the very best. you'd… appreciate the sentiment more if you were his mentor in becoming a pokemon trainer.

of all the things bakugou was at the time, he was not a stoic old man nor a cold, indifferent boy who looked down on you snottily; he got the job. much to your father’s chagrin, of course. you’re pretty sure he had a backup bodyguard during the first month or so of bakugou’s employment, in case bakugou dropped out mysteriously for any reason. 

surprisingly, bakugou was competent, but not infuriatingly so. he had snark, and under any other employer he would’ve been fired in the first week. he did his job, and that was all. it was fun to tick him off, too, and so easy. it was - dare you say it? - cute. you wanted to watch him fall apart and leave, as so many others had. you waited for the day he’d get used to you or vice versa, when you’d wake up with nothing to look forward to. in the end, no one ever stayed with you. you could usually figure that out within the first week of a bodyguard’s services.

these days, you started feeling that way. bakugou was just becoming everyone else you’d ever hired. he was becoming everyone else. for some reason, though, you still clasped onto the thread of hope that maybe he was different, and that led you down a series of events trying to convince yourself he was different.

at the same time, you told yourself he was like everyone else. did you want him to stay or not? you didn’t know anymore. maybe fate would spin something good out of this, or maybe he would. you didn’t want it in your hands anymore.

being flirty was definitely not the best route of plan, but man, it was efficient. what better way to fake being a couple than organically develop that relationship? that was your bullshit reasoning to the logical part of yourself (when it was obviously far from the truth).

yeah, it was definitely not the best plan. you bored of it quite quickly, but couldn’t shake off the lasting feeling of fluttering in your stomach. you supposed it was because it was the most reaction you’d gotten from bakugou in months. you’d never seen him so disgruntled.

he was very, very blushy. you didn’t know how you hadn’t learned of it earlier. his cheeks were dusted strawberry red, matching the hue on the tips of his ears. ah, tsundere bakugou had returned for a short period of time. you wished you could've taken a picture of him.

you tapped the tip of his nose and he hissed at you, cheeks darkening a shade.

“a boop?” he scoffed indignantly in disbelief. “who calls it that? a five year old?” but you could tell that he really enjoyed it on the inside.

“what- what are you playing at, dumbass?” he swatted your hand when you tried to boop him again.

“c’mon, couples need to do coupley things, katsuki,” you cooed. “like overly affectionate pda~”

you didn’t know someone could get so red.

“since when did you call me by my first name?” he grumbled, unable to form any other type of response.

“since we started ‘dating,’” you teased back, realizing that watching bakugou become more and more uncomposed was more fun than you’d expected. he'd never become so open around you; after all, you'd had a strictly professional relationship prior, so bakugou never expressed any hint of a personality other than his behavior when he was first hired. it was a good change, in your eyes.

then, as you did of most things, you bored of it. sure, flustering bakugou was fun because he was so outwardly tsundere, but your attention span was short. he was already starting to recollect himself in record time, face cooling from a startling scarlet to pink and remarks becoming increasingly cohesive.

you're not even sure if he was aware of your gaze resting upon him as you half-assed responses and watched the gears in his head furiously turn. when he got real worked up, he pouted when speaking and occasionally slurred words together. his eyes tended to veer away when he thought of a response and he always got fidgety. 

eventually, you stopped teasing him. by this time, the ice in his drink had already melted and you were dangerously close to kissing him on the cheek (it was an impulse thing! you were not catching feelings!).

if there was one thing you learned, it was this: bakugou was truly a sight in his emotional state, though you could argue his unassuming state was equally, if not more breathtaking.

you noticed it as morning light illuminated him through the window of your room, hitting the silky fabric of your bedsheets around him. he was reading some book, dressed in comfortable attire that felt oddly domestic. maybe it'd be the most casual you'd ever see bakugou.

the thought struck a chord in you, making you wonder what'd happen after the dinner. it'd be awkward, for sure. it dawned on you that these moments with katsuki would vanish and things would go back to normal. they'd disappear into thin air, like nothing had ever happened. you weren't well educated in horology, but you were pretty sure that the time you'd spent with him would vanish as well, not to be spoken of or referenced ever again. time would keep trudging forward and you'd only be able to stare back as it disappeared on the horizon line.

you wanted to grasp the time that flooded your hands, encase the moment in glass and hold it in your palm forever.

"oi, idiot, what are you staring at?" and maybe it was the first time you truly heard bakugou's voice. it was rough on the edges with a soft core, you realized. maybe, after these couple of days, bakugou had started to care for you.

"nothing, stupid," you mumbled, returning your attention to your phone, but you couldn't shake off the newfound feeling that holed up in your heart. bakugou didn't care about you, you told yourself. you had a strictly professional relationship with him, and that was only broken for the time being because he needed a favour. 

right. this was all for a favor.

nights spent testing each other on the most miniscule of facts and afternoons spent telling each other stories about each other - it was all nothing. it wasn't a big deal, you repeated to yourself.

still, you couldn't help but to look back up at bakugou and let your imagination run. he wore a black shirt and sweatpants, a complete 180 turn from the typical three piece suit he normally wore. maybe this is what he'd look like in the mornings if you were a proper couple, not client and bodyguard - maybe in another universe. you could imagine his bedhead, hair all messy and eyes still worn with sleep, vastly different from the professional persona he had around you.  you'd wake up inhaling the scent of caramel and feeling his warmth surround you, feeling secure merely in his embrace. it'd be him and you in your own little bubble, unperturbed by the entire world.

wait, caramel? you wondered. where did that come from?

"you're staring again, dumbass," bakugou grunted, not looking up from his book.

"zoned out on the blandest thing i saw, sorry," you replied.

you sat in silence like that for a while. you weren't not exactly sure how it was bonding time for the dinner (were you sharing telepathic waves?), but it was comfortable like a fluffy comforter on a frigid winter day. it felt secure, like a home you never had in your own bedroom. every now and then there was the sound of a page turning from bakugou and a tap on your phone from you, and things never felt so normal. it was too short an eternity for you; before you knew it, you had some event to attend to for your father, solely there for the image of his company.

you didn't see the bittersweet look on bakugou's face as he watched you leave, or how he hadn't even finished a chapter of his book during the hours he'd sat with you. as his eyes followed your disappearing silhouette, bakugou wondered if he'd ever be able to see you like that again.

a foreign giddy feeling filled your chest as you got ready for the dinner with bakugou’s parents. you’d brought a bag for light travel packed with essentials (pyjamas, toothbrushes, and things like that), having planned ahead. you were typically indifferent to gatherings of any kind, having attended so many for your father. besides, this was a favor for bakugou. you weren’t sure why you were being so indecisive choosing an outfit for the dinner, or why your heart felt light as a feather, fluttering about in your rib cage boundless. this was no big deal, you told yourself. it’d only be bakugou and his parents; you’d spoken at gatherings of far more people with less nerves. you penned it down to only being excited for the food which was so coveted by bakugou. his mother, mitsuki, was apparently an outstanding cook (bakugou was apparently good as well), and you had to admit, you missed the heartening scent of homemade dishes. her specialty was spicy curry - your mouth watered at the thought. 

yes, you reassured yourself as you walked out of the door and met the fresh, winter air outside, you were only in it for the food. you had an abnormally fast heart rate and a spring to your step (as noted by bakugou) solely for the food. 

shizuoka prefecture was two hours away from your hometown, tokyo, and you forced bakugou to drive. the trip didn’t really feel like two hours, anyway, in your opinion. according to bakugou, that was only because you were sleeping the majority of the time and he was stuck with the dull task of driving and only the low hum of the radio to entertain him. 

“well, this is it,” you said to bakugou, approaching his parents’ home, bag in hand. it looked quite elegant on the outside, snow thinly blanketing the well-kept greenery in the front. you turned to look at him. his suit looked nicer than usual, on full display because he refused to wear a coat despite the frigid air biting at any bit of bare skin unsheathed on your body. (“just the perks of having a great quirk like mine,” he’d said. you punched his shoulder.) you huddled closer into the warm padding of your coat, watching your white breath dissipate in the air.

“it is,” he belatedly said. his face was atypically solemn, eyes downcast and seemingly lost in thought. you didn’t comment on it. something about the nippy winter air numbed the atmosphere, as if all warmth had subsided only to your coat. 

“do i look alright?” you asked him, trying to wipe away any last bits of drool you might’ve had on the corner of your mouth.

“yeah. you look… really nice,” he commented quietly. you didn’t mention that your bulky coat was covering the entirety of your attire. a heavy silence fell over the two of you.

anyway, the mood was quickly relieved by the presence of mitsuki bakugou, who greeted the pair of you at the door with her husband, masaru. bakugou really was a spitting image of his mother, sharing the same spiked blond hair and annoyingly clear skin with her. they also had similarly loud personalities, you observed later on. they’d often bicker with no real malicious intent. they were both much different compared to bakugou’s father, masaru, who was a gentle, soft-spoken man with brown hair and glasses. 

mitsuki met you with enthusiasm, eagerly asking you questions about yourself and your relationship with bakugou. it was strange to see bakugou so quiet; though, at some points in the conversation, he looked like he was going to be sick. you didn’t have time to ask him about it, occupied by his mother’s unending but well-meaning questions. you’d expected to fib for most of them, but the truth easily slipped from your tongue. even compliments about him were half-truths. 

"when we first met, he was like a fish out of water!" you recounted to mitsuki. "he stumbled on his words and my father didn't approve of him as my bodyguard. but, i pushed through, and here we are! right, katsuki?"

"r-right," he coughed, unable to look you in the eye and fidgeting nervously.

"it amazed me, too," mitsuki admitted. "i'd never seen our katsuki looking so polished before - it used to be a trouble getting him to even wake up at a decent time." she smiled at you. "you've brought a blessing on him."

bakugou cleared his throat. "don't talk about me like i'm not here," he grumbled.

"oh, katsuki," mitsuki cooed, pinching bakugou's cheek. "masaru, let's prepare dinner." she looked at you and bakugou. "the two of you don't need to worry about a thing - oh, you still have your bags! i’ll put them in katsuki’s room."

upon the absence of bakugou’s parents, the two of you sat beside each other without a word. 

“are you… feeling alright?” you asked suddenly, breaking the silence. “you don’t look so well.”

“fine,” he grunted. “i’m fine.”

“are you sure?” you teased in an attempt to lighten the mood. “not nervous meeting the parents?”

he cracked a small smile, but his fingers still nudged each other in his lap. you touched his shoulder, first in an attempt to comfort him, but soon realized that he was very toasty. you scooted towards him; he stared at you with an surprised, indecipherable expression. you linked his arm with yours and leaned into him, inhaling his cologne and bathing in his warmth.

“what?” you mumbled. “you’re warm.” you intertwined his fingers with yours. “warm,” you happily cooed, eyes slipping shut. 

“jesus christ,” bakugou hissed. “you’re freezing. is it humanly possible for your hands to be this cold?” his other hand enveloped your hand (still being held by his), rubbing his thumb soothingly on the heel of your palm. a bubble of warmth fizzed inside you, heart effervescing like a carbonated beverage. he held you long after your hand had passed room temperature, and you sensed that maybe the fuzzy feeling jittering about you wasn’t his quirk. it was like some sort of low fire, crackling deep within you. you hadn’t much time to dwell on the thought when your eyes jolted open, smelling really, really good food wafting from somewhere near.

“look at the lovebugs,” you heard mitsuki murmur, standing in the doorway connecting the kitchen to the living room leaning on her husband. “dinner’s ready,” she softly said upon noticing your eyes on her. 

your eyes widened, looking down at the hand entwined in yours, and you look at the man next to you. bakugou was sound asleep, tranquil slumber having sheathed itself around him. his head leaned against the top of the couch, mouth slightly agape and chest falling rhythmically.

“hey,” you whispered. reluctant to let go of his hand, you used your opposite hand to tap his shoulder lightly. “hey, sleepyhead.”

bakugou groaned, eyes still closed and body unmoving. “five… more… minutes…”

“sure,” you said easier than you expected. you immediately let go of the man’s hand (he reached out toward you blindly at this) and stood up. “i’ll just eat all of that food you've been looking forward to by myself…” mitsuki and masaru looked at you fondly.

“nice try, dumbass,” he said gruffly, standing up and putting a hand on your shoulder. his eyes were lidded with torpor and his voice was an octave deeper. it sent shivers down your spine - you hadn’t ever heard his voice like that - and a part of you wanted to hear it again. sadly, the effects of sleep passed him quite quickly; by the time he’d said “let’s eat, dumbass,” and made his way to the dining room, his voice was back to normal.

dinner consisted of scrumptious-looking (and tasting!) chicken katsu, curry, and even more conversation. your mouth watered as you spooned yourself the perfect ratio of rice, curry, and chicken in one bite. you politely raved to bakugou’s mother about her heavenly cooking, and bakugou never looked so proud or embarrassed in his life. masaru discussed fashion with you, mitsuki occasionally chiming in and offering to show you pictures of young bakugou modelling. you courteously declined for the fear of bakugou’s face getting any redder than it was already. 

“y’know, katsuki really wanted to be a pro-hero when he was younger,” mitsuki reminisced. “he even was accepted at that really prestigious hero school, ua.”

you looked at bakugou with questioning eyes, and he shook his head dismissively, hesitant to the topic. you wondered what he was doing here, as your bodyguard, rather than the hero he aspired to be. it wasn’t like he’d be unable to become a sidekick once out of ua, so what happened…?

at the end, you seemed to have gotten the approval of mitsuki and masaru. your heart twisted in pain realizing who you were and why you were here; this was asked of you, nothing real. you pushed the thought away, returning to the dining room after washing your hands. 

“oh, my!” mitsuki exclaimed as you entered the dining room. “it’s getting late.” she turned to you. “we don’t have a guest bedroom, so you’ll have to share a room with katsuki, if that’s alright?”

you looked to bakugou, who seemed lost in his own thoughts. “sure, i don’t mind,” you replied. 

“i’m sure you’d love to see bakugou’s childhood room.” this brought bakugou abruptly to his senses; his eyes rounded, face looking like a deer caught in headlights. 

a smile tweaked your lips. “i’d love to.”

you didn’t know what you were expecting when mitsuki opened the door to bakugou’s room. certainly, though, you were not expecting this. his room was decorated from head to toe with all might merchandise, carefully collected through the years. it could’ve been worse, you admitted to yourself, but bakugou’s interest in all might surprised you. the level of admiration bakugou had for the former symbol of peace was clear, plastered on the wall posters and figurines which dotted his bookshelves. 

“of course,” misuki said, “this is all really from his middle school days. he had to move to a dormitory system in high school, and i’m afraid he didn’t take much along with him…”

you tilted your head at bakugou, who’d taken particular interest in the ground with his hand sheepishly on the back of his neck.

“it’s cute,” you reassured him gently.

“though katsuki’s bed is pretty big, we could pull out a futon if you’d like…” 

“it’s alright.” shit. why did you say that? noting the bewilderment on bakugou’s face, you added, “we are dating and all…” you mentally smacked yourself for assuming bakugou would be comfortable sleeping in the same bed as you. “yeah,” bakugou said, much to your shock.

“that settles it!” mitsuki smiled. she winked. “don’t stay up too late.”

after mitsuki and masaru bade you goodnight and closed the door behind them, you were left alone with bakugou.

“hey, is that a picture of you?” after looking around the room, your eyes fell on a framed photo sitting on bakugou’s dresser. you reached for it, recognizing a familiar spiky haired blonde boy proudly holding a trophy.

“wait-” the frame was already held in your hands.

“aw, you were such a cute kid.” you teased, “can’t say the same about now.”

he huffed, ears reddening. “there’s a photo album on the bookshelf,” he mumbled, pointing to a thick looking book on his bookshelf. you eagerly plucked it from the shelf, holding it like a precious treasure in your two hands. he shoved his hands into his pockets and rested his chin on your shoulder, watching you open the photo album. 

the first photo was a baby photo, of course, and you could feel that it was taking every part of bakugou not to rip the book from your hands and scorch it all out of embarrassment. the first few pages were those of baby bakugou, eating food with his hands or playing with his parents. as the book progressed, you watched him develop a quirk (blowing up a vase) and become interested in pro-heroes (clutching an all might doll to his chest with a big smile on his face). the photos became more scarce as bakugou grew, but he seemed to grow happier. paging through photos of him in high school, the man’s gaze seemed to grow softer and fonder. his high school pictures consisted of him either standing in front of the famous ua or making an indifferent face with a group of his friends, who looked vaguely familiar from somewhere. upon further inspection, it dawned on you. you could recognize them all - they were young versions of the pro-heroes red riot, pinky, chargebolt, and cellophane. they regularly appeared on your newsfeed for one heroic deed or another, so it came no surprise to you that they attended the famed ua high. 

as for bakugou, though? you couldn’t understand what he was doing there, or rather, here. if he graduated ua, he’d be right on track to become a pro-hero, not a bodyguard. 

bakugou already sensed your revelation, shutting the book and putting it down. sitting on the bed, he squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“i know what you’re thinking,” he stated. he took a shaky breath. “i’m- i’m not ready to talk about it.” 

“okay,” you replied. “i think… we should get some sleep. you have to drive back tomorrow.”

he snorted. “me?” 

you nodded like it was a given.

the night was long, dragging in the same manner that you’d trudge through deep snow with weights on your ankles. it wasn’t that bakugou’s old bed was uncomfortable; it was surprisingly plush. you laid awake, though, as the clock ticked by and the house went silent. you felt as stiff as a wooden board, staring at the dark ceiling and thinking about everything and nothing.

your thoughts first strayed to bakugou’s childhood, and how he’d seemed the poster child for an aspiring pro-hero. how could he have given that up? he had friends, dreams, and a path open to his aspirations. yet somehow his life had deviated into this, pretending to date you for his parents’ sake.  

it felt strange to lay in his bed in his parents’ house and not to really call him yours. not that you wanted to call him yours outside of this scenario. definitely not. it was just the guilt gnawing at you that impaired your proper judgement - your conscience felt pity. you pulled off a large lie to bakugou’s parents that you were dating when in reality, you’d never even gone on a proper date with the man; for all you knew, he could be a terrible person. he could have terrible dating manners and leave to the bathroom when the check comes in an attempt to force his date to pay. it was hard to imagine, but hey, you reasoned to yourself, it was a possibility.

“can’t sleep either?” bakugou’s deep voice startled you. you thought he’d fallen asleep hours ago.

“yeah,” you snorted. “and here i thought you were in the habit of always sleeping early,” you referenced his mother’s stories of him in middle and high school. you turned on your side to face the man.

“kinda hard with five different all mights staring at me,” he joked, gesturing to his plethora of all might-themed decorations.

you imitated all might’s larger than life voice. “i am here! … to watch you sleep!”

bakugou first snickered, which then transitioned into a full-blown, unrestrained (yet somewhat hushed) laugh. you couldn’t help but laugh too, watching his features crinkle and gummy smile widen. your heart felt peculiar in your chest, but you couldn’t figure out the feeling. in the years you’d known him, you’d never seen him so relaxed or open. you knew you’d miss moments like this in the morning, when you’d drive back and the deal would be over. it sent a bittersweet pang to your heart - why couldn’t moments like these last forever?

you woke up to find bakugou gone, leaving you alone in the bed with only a warm indentation next to you letting you know he’d just left. you rubbed your eyes groggily, sitting up and pushing the covers aside. you swung your legs over the edge of the bedside, standing up and making the bed once again. you padded out of the all might-furnished room to the kitchen, where you could hear quiet footsteps and the sizzling of a frying pan.

“someone’s finally awake,” bakugou’s husky voice remarked. he was standing at the stovetop, wearing an apron over his nightwear and frying eggs. sleep had worn his voice deeper; you swooned at the domestic sight before you. no, it wasn’t swooning, you told yourself. just… appreciation. you really wanted to make a comment on his muscles, bulging from his short-sleeved shirt.

“that looks really yummy,” you said, in no way whatsoever referencing his biceps and definitely referring to the egg in the pan.

“i’d like to pretend that was an innocent comment, but the direction your eyes are looking at beg to differ,” bakugou deadpanned. you looked away, flushed.

“so, whatcha making?” you said, plopping yourself on a chair. 

“eggs, rice, natto, miso,” he said. “but nothing for you until you change and brush your teeth.”

you stuck your tongue out at him. “who are you, my mom?” you continued, “i used to hate natto when i was younger.”

“it’s good for you,” bakugou said, moving the egg onto a plate of steaming rice.

“you sound a lot like my mom,” you replied. “but i like natto now, just not too much of it.”

“i liked natto when i was younger,” bakugou said.

“really? all of my friends hated it. they complained about the smell.” you reminisced about your childhood days, when your biggest worry was whether you had homework or not.

“speaking of smell? your breath. go brush your teeth.”

“wh- i’m so far from you, there’s no way-”

“no hygiene, no food.”

“who even says that?” but you were already out of your chair and heading towards the bathroom.

“oh, by the way,” bakugou said as you were halfway through emptying your plate with rice in your mouth, “what do you want?”

“wha?” you said, chewing the egg-natto-rice mixture in your mouth. “what?”

“the deal,” he said. “before my parents wake up.”

“the deal-?” you racked your mind for any deal you’d made in the recent days, as you weren’t much a gambler, then it hit you. the deal. in an attempt to convince you to pretend to be his date, he’d said he’d do whatever you wanted for a day in exchange. you hadn’t thought about it at all.

“um,” you said intelligently. what did you want? you wanted to spend more time with him, but there would be no way…

“take me ice skating.” he choked on his rice.

“what?”

“i really want to ice skate…” you lied. “i’ve never been.” another lie.

“you want to go ice skating with me?”

“pay for me.” you could’ve paid for yourself. “and, you have terrible dating skills. how are you supposed to get a real partner? consider this beneficial for yourself.”

he blinked, taken aback. “...okay,” he agreed, dumbfounded. you hoped he couldn’t see through you. “when?”

“today, duh.”

by the time you finished your plate, bakugou’s parents had woken up to bid the two of you farewell. hours later, you found yourself at an outdoor ice skating rink in tokyo.

the rink was decorated festively; surrounding trees had been wrapped in golden lights and there was something in the atmosphere which bustled with cheer. those skating were either children or couples, laughing and skating together. you told yourself not to pay too much attention to them, but there was something about the way they looked so happy that made you yearn for the same.

you clumsily clomped toward the entrance of the rink itself, clad in four layers of warm clothing and worn rental skates. cold air nipped at your cheeks and your breath was a snowy white before your eyes. patting your cheeks in an attempt to half hype yourself up and half warm yourself up, you tensely stepped onto the frozen water. clunk. clunk. 

“you look like an idiot,” bakugou said as you made your way onto the ice with slow clunks. he was surprisingly cocky about his skating prowess once he’d gotten his skates on, despite his lack of experience on the ice. he was unaffected by the chilly weather, wearing a thin jacket and denim jeans despite the vast majority of other skaters wearing winter coats. 

“it’s cold,” you responded. slippery ice beneath your feet, you suddenly felt a great deal less confident in your ice skating abilities. it might as well have been your first time skating, in the eyes of bakugou. you took baby steps on the ice, both hands gripping the side rails while bakugou glided breezily past you. 

“c’mon, idiot, loosen up~”

easy for him to say. “i’m- trying,” you gritted out, attempting to copy his fluid motions. 

“hey, dumbass, take my hands.” bakugou stopped in front of you, both hands outstretched for you to hold. you looked at him warily, then accepted the offer, his hands replacing the railings. 

“don’t hold them that hard,” bakugou said. “i’m not going to drop you. relax.”

you nodded, gulping as you released your death grip on his hands. starting to skate backwards (an incredible feat in your eyes), he slowly guided you along the edge of the rink. you spent most of the time staring at your own feet, trying to keep your balance and rhythm in time with bakugou’s. once you seemed to get the hang of it, he sped up ever so slightly, loosening his grip on your hands.

“just like that,” and his voice was much gentler than you’d ever heard it. you looked up to meet his soft gaze. your heart leapt and he quickly averted his eyes. “um,” he coughed awkwardly. “i think you’ve gotten the hang of it.”

“okay.” you started to let go of his hands, testing your balance skating without anything to hold onto. in small amounts at first, you start to let go, allowing your strides to become longer and longer. bakugou matched your pace beside you and eventually, the two of you fell into conversation. you’d both forgotten your own words about how this was for him to gain dating experience; it felt too real to be practice.

“the truth is, i was really, really close to becoming a pro-hero,” he confessed, “but i was injured in my third year. i had to take a break for a year or so, but by that time, i was too rusty for the job.” 

“but-” you said, almost stumbling on the ice at the revelation, “didn’t you do all that training-?”

he shrugged. “it’s the reality of it,” he said dismissively, a momentary shadow crossing his face. he recomposed. “i’m over it now.”

you had the slight suspicion that his words didn’t ring quite true, but let go of it. still, you couldn’t help but think about all of his all might decor - he must have idolized the man, only to fail at his dream. his room was like a memento to everything he wanted yet couldn’t reach. “you wouldn’t have met me if you hadn’t become a bodyguard,” you said cheerily in an attempt to distract both him and yourself.

“true,” he smiled. then, almost to himself, he added, “i don’t regret that.”

the two of you skated a couple more laps around the rink. conversation faded and your feet became more and more sore after skating for so long. a chill had settled itself onto your bones as the sky tinted in anticipation of the evening to come.

“we should get going now,” bakugou said. “before it gets too cold.”

“yeah-” your phone buzzed in your pocket. “hang on, give me a second.”

it was tanaka, telling you that you had a date scheduled by your father in two hours. it took you a moment, it really did, to remember who you were and what your priorities truly lay.

you made it a point not to tell bakugou what the call was about on the way back. you told him it was about a business deal, and he pretended to buy it. the car ride was desolate, lacking all warmth despite the heater blasting. you felt guilty; why had you lied to bakugou? you and he both knew you were lying about the business deal. was it pity? why had you felt the need to protect him?

you could only amount it to the fact that maybe bakugou was becoming a friend. maybe bakugou was becoming someone you never wanted to hurt. your thoughts were the only thing you could hear over the buzz of the car’s heater. you looked to the sky with imploring eyes as if some cloud on the lavender-tinged atmosphere listened and could provide you an answer. 

you weren’t sure if it was the clouds’ doing or some star hiding behind the sun’s light that washed a sense of solemness by the time you returned to meet tanaka at the gates. it was almost enough to make you forget the sad feeling you held whilst looking at bakugou one last time before stepping out of the car to greet your old butler. the feeling was unfathomable to you; in your daze on the ride back, there’d seemingly been no reason for such a feeling to linger in your heart. why had you felt so much guilt, so much sadness for this man you were supposed to be strictly on business relations with?

not that you’d done this, anyway. your business relationship with bakugou ended the minute you agreed to that favour he’d proposed, and was further broken when you ice skated together. you wondered if he felt the same as you, or if things would return to the way they had been after this date tonight. somewhere deep in you hoped it wouldn’t - hoped he wouldn’t forget it all. (“stay here,” you’d told him when you stepped out of the car. his stare was vacant; would he? you weren’t sure why you even asked.)

“tanaka,” you said stiffly. the air was frigid around you (when had the temperature dropped so suddenly?) and a breeze wrapped itself around your legs. an impulse told you to turn back, look at bakugou, and tell him the things you left unsaid - but you didn’t. 

“y/n,” he nodded. it was like a wake-up call. this was who you were, truly. your father’s pawn, his company’s pawn. you were a face used for business and nothing more. you traded your feelings for your father’s wealth - that’s who you were.

yet it was the past two days that made you feel more like yourself than ever before. the time spent with bakugou, of all people, made you feel genuinely happy. he made your name feel more like yours than your father’s. it seemed it was he who could only coax this feeling out of you. you, certainly, couldn’t imagine it being anyone else. there was something unlike anything you’d experienced before which bakugou gave you. but you couldn’t let your father down, could you?

“y/n, we must go now,” tanaka urged. 

you didn’t look back.

bakugou watched you leave with an inscrutable expression. as soon as you vanished from his sight, he let out a deep sigh and bashed his head on the steering wheel, then rubbed the spot of contact. that would leave a mark.

he wished he could pretend he didn’t know what your sudden meeting was about. he couldn’t. what kind of bodyguard was unaware of his client’s schedule? you were going on a date, on account of your father’s absolutely superb matchmaking skills. he wanted to strangle the bastard. 

god, he was an idiot to have gotten his hopes up about you. just like countless other things in his life, you were unattainable. he was constantly in pursuit of the impossible, it felt, yet none of his endeavours’ ends had quite felt like this. it started when he was a child with a newly developed quirk. constant words of praise fluttered around his ears, all applauding his strong quirk and natural intelligence. it continued when he entered school, winning academic and athletic awards for what everyone called his talents. (he remembered looking up the definition of “talent” in a dictionary in his elementary school’s library and being sorely disappointed. no one had seen the hours he’d dedicated to practicing and studying after school - all of that couldn’t amount to what everyone else had called natural talent.) 

in doing so - winning all those competitions - he’d somehow earned the approval of all those around him. it was never something he’d wanted or aimed for, but it soon started to fit him like a custom-tailored outfit. somewhere along the way, he started to seek out the approval of others, flaunting his accomplishments to do so. however, as years went by, one thing became apparent: the tactics used on his peers and teachers would never gain his parents’ approval. he so yearned for a tad of his parents’ praise or satisfaction; even an “i’m proud of you, katsuki,” from them would’ve sent katsuki to the stars and back. he never was quite sure, as a youth, how to gain this prize, so to speak. and so, for the sake of his parents, he became stronger and stronger and thus began his journey to attain the first impossibility in his life.

high school, at once, came knocking on his door in the midst of this endless journey. with it came izuku midoriya, the boy katsuki had bullied in middle school. this time, though, it was izuku who was stronger; katsuki had so wanted to atone for all that he’d done to the boy, but it proved something impossible. on the physical level, izuku had already forgiven him and moved on. it wasn’t enough for katsuki, who’d really done nothing to deserve izuku’s kindness. so katsuki set off, trying to truly deserve the boy’s forgiveness and make up for everything he’d done. in katsuki’s mind, there would be nothing he could do that would balance out the weight of his actions to izuku. hence unraveled the second impossibility katsuki set up for himself.

the third impossibility found itself in katsuki’s third year at ua academy. he was working for his parents’ approval and atonement for izuku; this impossibility, though, would send everything crumbling down. impossibles, unlike any math equations covered during his schooling, could not be cancelled out the more brought into the equation. it was perhaps katsuki’s only salvation and lifeline, his passion to become a hero. fate snatched this very possibility from katsuki’s hand, snapping the lifeline and dangling it just out of his reach. all of it was cruel - the sympathetic words spoken from recovery girl’s lips and the weeks katsuki had to sit out of hero training. even worse was how katsuki watch his grade drop from one of the top in the class to only passable in general studies, no longer sharp enough to qualify for a pro-hero. by the time he healed, he was rendered unable to rejoin the hero course. his goal was thrown away easily, becoming another impossibility.

katsuki trained himself physically for a new job. an acquaintance had introduced him to being a bodyguard, and katsuki figured that was close enough to being a hero. not that he particularly enjoyed the notion of waiting on someone’s every beck and call. but through and through his countless impossibilities and misfortunes, he had to move forward. he was tired, so tired - hearing his parents’ disappointed voices on the phone and looking up to see a billboard of the newest top pro-hero, deku. when he foolishly and naively got his hopes up about you, the logical part in him knew it was doomed. he knew that as he stared at you, illuminated by a golden light in your bedroom, it was ill-fated. you were a miracle opening up a new life to him - but miracles weren’t real.

of all the impossibilities in his life, you were the most painful. why was he cursed in such a way? where had the happiness in his life gone, if not with you as you walked away from him? he stared at his suit cuff, suffocated in the stupid attire. he should never have taken this job. 

a knock. another knock. three more rapid knocks, and he finally looked up to see your eager face looking at him from the passenger side window. he hastily unlocked the car door with a click.

“finally,” your exasperated voice said to him, tinged in a happy hue that he’s confused by. 

“wh-where’s tanaka?” katsuki stuttered. “your date-”

“i did it, bakugou.” you beamed at him. “i refused. i said no.”

“wha-what? you refused what?” 

“the date, duh!” you laughed. you grew quiet. “i realized something. i realized that all i want is you, and it’s… it’s about time i start taking control of my life.”

katsuki cracked a smile. a real one, not painful like so many others he’d faked before. “you’re a dumbass, you know that?” and it was endearment, bringing you close to his heart. 

maybe fate had decided to bless him. maybe it was all the impossibilities in his life that had cancelled each other out to give him you. 

“oh, and by the way,” you said, changing the topic. “i’ve been thinking a lot about it recently. we need to have a rematch for that sorry excuse of a fight we had the other day. i will have an undisputed victory over you.”

“you’re on, moron.”

it was definitely fate that brought katsuki to you.

[bnhaclaimedmysoul]

how would todoroki shouto be as a boyfriend?

shouto-chaan asked: Can you make how boyfriend todoroki would be? Please??

Genre: fluff

Character: Todoroki shouto

Note I missed writing and my fangirling over shouto so I had to do this lmao

 In general

­-if you had touch starved cat who is just constantly bothering you by rubbing himself all over you, but in a human form?

-that’d be a pretty accurate way to put it

-he loves holding your face in his palms???

-he’d have no specific reason to do that

-but it’s just something he does impulsively

-getting distracted while studying together and you think he’s gonna try to get your attention by randomly pecking you?

-WRONG

-cuz he ain’t the cliched, suave guy you all hope this gentleman to be

-this boi will dead ass snap you from your reverie by holding your face in his palms

-until his intense stare just bores deep into your soul

-he’ll unknowingly pucker his lips while staring right into your eyes

-it’s so precious

-his irises just don’t bother to move since he’s just so enchanted by you and your presence

-he has a habit of laying on his chest, while on the bed,

-so his face is squashed right into the pillow (weirdly enough, he doesn’t suffocate)

-and there are times where you just walk into his room and see him in such a cozy sate

-that you don’t want to bother him

-but you also know that he may not be having enough of ventilation so you do try to go to him

-and sneak your palm beneath his cheek and try to tilt his head, so that he could get a breath of fresh air

-and when your fingers meet his damp skin, you realize that he probably just collapsed onto the bed after a hard day and didn’t bother to do anything

-including changing out of his uniform

-and after great difficulty of trying not to startle him awake, you do manage to get him change his position

-and then you try to fix his bangs, which were clinging onto his forehead due to the sweat

-he sighs at the feeling of cold air hitting his face and nuzzles into your touch

-and when you’re about to leave, you contemplate whether you want to kiss him

-but he beats you too it, by tugging onto your sweatshirt

-sleepily and incoherently mumbling under his breath

-chuckling at his cute antics of subconsciously not wanting to let you go, you tuck him with a soft blanket over his curled up body and place a small eskimo kiss

Cuddles/ Hugs

-you know that statement I made about a cat who got turned into a human?

-it’s truly tested over here

-he won’t voice his opinion out on cuddles

-and at the beginning he truly had no idea

-why would people even be bothered to hold each other and feel good about it?

-but the one time you hugged him for too long from the addictive comfort of a warmth of his left side

-he’d get flustered and ask you why you haven’t let go of him

-and when you realize that you may have taken it a tad bit too far

-and try to let loosen the grip on his waist

-the grip around your neck only tightens, pulling you closer into his chest

-and he may or may not have increased the temperature a bit too much that both of you started sweating and had to pull apart

-and when he realized that he yearned for your body within his arms, he’d internally sigh for not activating his right side and cool your bodies down

-I mean anything for the longer cuddles??? right???

-I’m not even trying to hide it, but he’s such a mf sucker for long cuddles

-SO GIVE THAT TO HIM!

-there are times where his eyebrows would be furrowed in intense contemplation

-with an endearing scowl on his face

-and when you see that face of his

-you can’t help your self but shower this baby in a ton of cuddles and hugs

-so you unexpectedly hug him from the back

-and the moment he feels a warmth enclosing upon his back

-curious, he’ll turn around to see what is going on and when you see him confused

-you tell a “shou-kun you could’ve just asked for more y’know instead of scowling at everyone?”

-and from this point

-this baby was just lost

-did he like back hugs/cuddles, where he little spoons 

-or front hugs/cuddles where he big spoons??

-he just didn’t know

-oh and about the nickname

-the time when you’re in each other arms and just trying to feel each other’s presence calms you down from within

-it’s also the time where you have nickname wars

-it’s just a cuddling shenanigan, but the both of you indulge in it to the point you end up trying to shout over each other’s voice even after the 20-minute-long cuddling session

Kisses

-idk where to start

-he’s a messy kisser

-his emotions just get so darn overwhelming when he feels the pair of your lips even hovering over his

-it drives him crazy

-normally he’s good at hiding his love for you

-but his bold proclamations of love all boils down to one and only thing

-kisses

-his hands embedded in your hair

-or his fingers just desperately trying to get a grip on your shoulder blades

-in a frenzy, he’ll even push you against a wall and trap you within his arms and torso

-likes to explore every inch of your face with his lips

-and draws out patterns with the quirk activated tips of your fingers to stimulate your senses

-and when you start to whine under his touch

-he loses control

-he goes wild and slams his lips against yours in a searing kiss and you’d literally have to push his face from yours when you start running out of breath

-more than unleashing his control, it’s just a result of not being able to freely express his emotions into words

-the emotions become more and more evident when he takes his time press firm, comforting kisses, it’s quite rare

-so treasure all those precious moments in the depths of your memory

Overall

-he is weirdly affectionate in terms that he craves for your touch but will never admit to it

-trying to get to know him is a process because there is just so much depth to him

-and excavating all those hidden surprises, like his inability to figure out what kind of hugs he likes better, is a god sent gift

-and throughout the relationship, you’ll find tiny predicaments of his

-in all honesty, he’s just a babe with genuine feelings but he doesn’t know what to do with it

-so please take care of him

[jaydadraws555]

I’m taking a risk here peeps

•My Opinion on MHA ships (I’ll be naming the more common ones and a couple smaller ones)•

•Disclaimer: I am NOT here to hate on ships, I am simply giving my opinion and you can ship whatever you want, I’m not here to stop you! •

•Now that we have the toxic idiots out of the way, let’s begin!•

(In no particular order)

-Kamijiro (Kaminari x Jiro): love this ship! It’s so cute and reminds me of Raven X Beast Boy (from Teen Titans). I find their dynamic extremely endearing and their just so cute together. I also love how Jiro is so put together and keeps her cool, but gets all flushed around Kaminari yet tires to hide it.

-Bakuraka (Bakugou x Uraraka): you all know this is my OTP! All the way! We already know bc of the sports festival that Bakugou clearly respects Uraraka. “I definitely wouldn’t call that girl frail” -Bakugou. And just respect in itself is a great first building block in a relationship. I feel as though these two could definitely be a power couple! And push each other to be the best they could be! There’s plenty more reasons why I believe Ochaco and Bakugou could be great together. But if you wanna see some more reasons as to why Bakugou and Ochaco should be a couple then head on down to the amazing @supervey on Instagram.

-Momojiro (Momo x Jiro): very cute ship and those two would be adorable together. I feel like Momo’s sparkly and bubbly personality mixed with Jiro’s calm and shy personality would be a great mix And the two would a very healthy relationship. But Kaminari and Jiro still take the cake when it comes to jiro in relationships.

-TodoMomo (Todorki X Momo): while I’m not a huge fan of shipping todoroki with anyone, (mainly because I believe the Abuse he endured as a child would make him a bit unstable. I feel as though once he is able to truely overcome his past and actually move on then he can be shipped, but until then. I believe he just focus on himself and healing from the abuse) I still feel as though todomono is cute, I just don’t ship it a ton a ton. I mean their cute, and I’ve made fanart featuring them. But I prefer Momojiro over todomomo.

-KiriBaku (Kirishima x Bakugou): I think they could be cute, especially with Bakugou’s harsh personality paired with Kirishima, who’s an actual ray of sunshine would be a very interesting dynamic. And we already know Bakugou respects Kirishima the same way he does Ururaka (as Bakugou began calling both by their real names instead of “wierd hair” or “round face” on the same day) but I still prefer Bakugou and Ochaco.

-Bakudeku (Bakugou x Deku): no, I don’t ship it. Because not only has Bakugou told Deku to kill himself in season one, but bullied Deku relentlessly throughout their childhood, first he Would let Deku follow him around, like some kind of pet, only to yell at him again for being weak. I’m sorry but that’s toxicity at its finest in my opinion. He didn’t really respect Deku, and the two are still constantly competing for power. That’s not healthy either. I believe their relationship would be abusive and toxic. Which is why I don’t ship it.

-Iidachaco (Iida x Ochaco): while its an underrated ship, I believe these two would be pretty cute. Ochaco’s bubbly and spontaneous personality paired with Iida’s stern and orderly personality would be a perfect pair to balance the two out. In the end, you might see some fanart for this very underrated ship, but I believe this shop diserves more attention, and should definitely be more widely known.

-Tododeku (Todoroki and Deku): Just like with Todomono I’m not a huge fan of shipping Todorki with others (see todomono for details). But I do believe these two would be good, not only bc of their almost opposite personalities (opposites attract) but also bc Deku helped Todoroki with his issue with his fire quirk. But eh, this ships alright. But all in all, but I don’t really ship it.

-Kaminari X Shinso (idk the official ship name): if I’m being honest I don’t really ship, the two havent really interacted at all to my knowledge and don’t really think that they would be compatible.

-Izucocha: (Izuku x Ochaco): I do ship, and it’s the one that’s most likely to become cannon. I see a lot of people say that this ship is too predictable and stuff, but there’s nothing wrong with writing realistic pairings. But the two look up to each other and help push each other to be better. Each of them see each other as amazing, and their just two cinnamon rolls who diserve to be together.

-Hawks x Endevor (idk the official ship name): idk, I don’t really ship it mainly because Endevor abused his son and his wife. And I don’t really think either of them are looking for or a relationship anyway to begin with.

-Hawks x Dabi: idc reall what happens with this ship, but I don’t think it’ll happen or it could be extremely problematic, mainly bc ones a hero and the other is a villain.

-Eri x Koda (as teens/adults obviously): I believe the ship could be cute, and I think the idea of Koda and Eri having small innocent little crushes on each other as little kids would be adorable. Like just imagine a little Koda running up to a little Eri and giving her a flower, then dashing away trying to hide his blushing cheeks. Now tell me that’s not an adorable idea!

-Deku x Shigaraki (idk the official ship name): HECK NO! That is Pedo and absolutely disgusting!

-Mr Aizawa X Miss joke (Idk the official ship name): yeah sure, I mean it’s not like Present mike would be any quiter, so sure.

-Mr Aizawa x Present Mike (idk the official ship name) just like Aizawa with Miss joke, I mean sure. But i prefer Miss Joke and Aizawa.

-Kirimina (Kirishima x Mina): I mean sure, if it became cannon it wouldn’t surprise me. It’s obvious Kirishima Admired Mina in middle school and her brave Actions in middle school clearly drove him to work harder. I’ve never really “shipped” them but their cute. So I don’t mind it. I’ve just personally never felt any romantic chemistry between them.

•So that’s my opinion no one asked for about ships. If you disagree with my opinion about ships, I don’t really care. Just be mature about it and don’t act like a child. And now my hands are aching.•

•Have a good day peeps and yea! (I might come back to edit this post if I think of more ships)•

[magioftheseas]

How would you rank the sdr2 girls from worst to best written?

That’s pretty hard considering there are like...different kinds of bad writing, from functional bad to offensive bad. But, then again, there’s both of that in sdr2. Also all but one of the girls who die only die in like... Chapters 2-3, the first half of the game, which come to think of it, is extremely fucking weird. Shouldn’t it be more spaced out...?

There’s also just that there are certain things that annoy me more than others, and I’ll maybe try to make note of that? Idk how solid this list is, but... Well, whatever.

Note: I’m only taking sdr2 proper into account.

Decent All Things Considered Tier

Mahiru - Probably the least amount of sexism in her character, with pretty defined flaws that contributed in her dying (her short temper and narrow-mindedness). Guess you could call them...fatal flaws. Hahahaaaa. Ah. Anyway, she was also fairly involved with story events before her death and her personality was pretty consistent. While there are still some issues and inherent sexism in her personality, at least she...still has...one? A nuanced one, at that? She’s not a shallow character, at least. Still, her “be a man shit” is annoying but I’ll take that over the other crap we have in this game.

Sonia - Generally involved and usually palpable in terms of handling. The sexist shit is more Souda’s fault than hers, so I don’t feel like knocking off points for it. The only issue is that she’s lacks big character moments and is overall a static character. She does get more fed up with Souda’s harassment though, which is something, even if nothing comes from it. Bah. Also the romantic subplot with Gundam is fine. It’s probably the most fine a romantic anything has ever been in this franchise. But because she lacks anything super profound, I can’t put her above Koizumi despite liking her more and her...surviving to the end.

There’s At Least Something Here But URGHHHHHHHH Tier

Mikan - Y’know I was pretty resistant to the idea of putting her at third because of her...everything. But, like, even so... I wouldn’t call her inconsistent, I wouldn’t call her shallow, and I think she’s fleshed out a decent amount. It’s just her...everything. Anyway, I’ve gone on length as to why I love Mikan’s writing on paper, supremely tacky and gross execution of her character aside. She’s probably the best example of a deconstruction in sdr2, being a ugu doormat with like, AAAAAAAALL the actual baggage and shittiness that kind of person would have. Mikan’s personality of being emotionally manipulative with a huge victim complex while also being incredibly resentful of those around her (for good reason) is still SUPER fascinating. There’s layers to how she even exploits herself for sympathy points as well as attention. But...y’know... Still inherently pretty gross and not handled deftly by someone who truly understands what a fucked up mentality that is. She’s definitely not palpable...but I guess the actual nuances of her personality make up for it in terms of...whether or not I think she’s at least well-written. Would have less qualms putting her this high if the characters actually learned shit from her.

Hiyoko - WE COULD’VE HAD IT AAAAAAAAAAALL. I love Hiyoko. She’s my other favorite sdr2 girl with Sonia. Bully girls often get a bad rap, but they can be interesting, and Hiyoko’s a particularly stand-out example. She’s not manipulative. She’s in fact, really soft-hearted and sensitive, and she hates those aspects of her, so she targets people specifically for having those traits. She’s insecure! And it makes her shitty! I stan! That she cares for Koizumi for actually reaching out to her is super important. She could’ve been one of the best if not the best...but then Kodaka had her killed for bullshit reasons and had to throw in a dumbass quirk about her not being able to dress herself to justify her bullshit death down the line, so any profound development she could’ve had is just...unceremoniously thrown out the window. It’s really so tragic. Hiyoko deserved so much better.

Peko - What’s worse, a terrible trope that’s fleshed out or a good trope that’s grossly wasted? Tough call, and this is what I ended up with. Still not sure if I made the right decision. Anyway, Peko’s entire character is based on the incredibly sexist trope of Girl Exists For Dude. Thankfully, she makes her own decisions and she’s presented as very woefully unaware of how Kuzuryuu actually feels. Her existing for Kuzuryuu’s sake to the point of happily sacrificing herself is, y’know, a flaw. That gets her killed. So I can pretend that Kodaka is saying it’s a bad thing that she’s like this. He’s probably not, given how Peko’s never really given a reason to live outside of Kuzuryuu, bUT I CAN PRETEND. Although I will say that as annoying as her canonically having romantic feelings for Kuzuryuu is, it’s still incredibly fucking funny seeing Hinata get crushed and rejected.

Just Not Good Tier

Ibuki - I sincerely had no idea where to put her at first. Ibuki’s writing is...fickle, due to primarily being comic relief so more often than not her dialogue and writing is more...jokes...than facets of a personality. And what personality is showcased has little variety. She definitely has those layers but they’re few and far between in the main storyline. And there’s stuff in her FTEs (her strong belief in individuality) that I don’t think comes up. Not to mention there’s completely untapped stuff such as how lonely she must be due to her band splitting, and... Really, she’s just the most wasted of the characters in term of how little she contributes beyond jokes. And sdr2′s sense of humor is pretty fucking shit, so I’m not a fan of a lot of the jokes, either. Ibuki is pretty...ahem, pardon the pun. Pretty one-note. The most offensive part of her character is probably from her attraction to women being portrayed really creepily, which I definitely super hate, but it’s only like...a few lines of dialogue and...I know for a fact how much worse it could’ve been. It could’ve been so, so, so much worse.

Chiaki - Could she have gone above Ibuki? Probably. I mean, her writing *is* more consistent and varied (even if she only has like, two more facets of a personality) buuuuuut. Kodaka literally said she’s his ideal girlfriend. And that grossness *does* seep into her writing to the point where it’s pungent. The fact that she’s idealized and that even her potentially off-putting traits are either meant to be endearing or desirable is... Ew. Pretty ew. But, with all that, she’s bland in what the narrative allows her to offer. Having her be the most moralistic of the cast also makes her pretty annoying when she starts preaching about trust, doubt, hope, killing is wrong, and then she makes excuses as to why she can’t be bothered to be involved with the plot a la Chapter 3 where she doesn’t do shit about the sick kids. She’s seriously more of a mouthpiece than a character and those can be fine...but maybe not so much in sdr2, and definitely not at the expense of other characters developing through learning this shit themselves instead of her having to tell them. The inherent gross sexism that she’s supposed to be Kodaka’s Ultimate Girlfriend sure doesn’t help.

Akane - I honestly feel kinda bad putting her at the bottom but...jeez, the more I think about it, the more Akane’s character really sucks ass. Like, she’s really shallow and uninspired. Even her damn “talent pose” is derivative of Sakura’s just with less ferocity and a panty shot. And as offensive as Nanami’s concept is, at least it can go unnoticed by the player. Akane being Boobs and Food girl is constantly shoved in your face. And the fact she has a history of sexual abuse really, REALLY makes it worse. At least with Mikan, there’s layers. With Akane, there ain’t. She’s just portrayed as too dumb to know any better. Urghhhhh. But what about her personality? Shallow. What about her arc? Frustratingly non-existent. She doesn’t learn a fucking thing despite her flaws actually making her a damn liability. Her...backstory? Well, abuse aside, it’s...weird. Her backstory is about struggling to survive. When...in the main story she's too stupid to live despite being a survivor. So, I don’t think it clicks, much less informs/fleshes out her character beyond giving us a reason for why she’s so sexualized and obsessed with food and...yeah, no thanks. Akane’s writing is the worst, both on the outset and in what little nuance we have.

[innerclouds]

This was requested of me, send me more! <3

1: when you have cereal, do you have more milk than cereal or more cereal than milk? More cereal then milk.

2: do you like the feeling of cold air on your cheeks on a wintery day? Yes.

3: what random objects do you use to bookmark your books? Strips of paper.

4: how do you take your coffee/tea? Coffee: Black. Tea: Plain.

5: are you self-conscious of your smile? Yes.

6: do you keep plants? Yes.

7: do you name your plants? No.

8: what artistic medium do you use to express your feelings? Digital/Paper.

9: do you like singing/humming to yourself? No.

10: do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach? Sides, I shift constantly.

11: what’s an inner joke you have with your friends? "Robush".

12: what’s your favorite planet? Neptune.

13: what’s something that made you smile today? Giant floofy chicken-gryphons.

14: if you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like? Bed, couch, nice kitchen, tv, computers, consoles, tons of plants and pets.

15: go google a weird space fact and tell us what it is! Don't even need to google it, I know one. There are "clouds" in space that taste like raspberries and smell like rum.

16: what’s your favorite pasta dish? Chicken alfredo.

17: what color do you really want to dye your hair? Purple or blue.

18: tell us about something dumb/funny you did that has since gone down in history between you and your friends and is always brought up. "Celtic Necklace".

19: do you keep a journal? what do you write/draw/ in it? No.

20: what’s your favorite eye color? Green/Hazel.

21: talk about your favorite bag, the one that’s been to hell and back with you and that you love to pieces. Don't have one.

22: are you a morning person? No.

23: what’s your favorite thing to do on lazy days where you have 0 obligations? Nap.

24: is there someone out there you would trust with every single one of your secrets? Yes.

25: what’s the weirdest place you’ve ever broken into? Cabin.

26: what are the shoes you’ve had for forever and wear with every single outfit? Don't have any of those.

27: what’s your favorite bubblegum flavor? Watermelon/Spearmint.

28: sunrise or sunset? Sunset.

29: what’s something really cute that one of your friends does and is totally endearing? We share a rather accurate hivemind.

30: think of it: have you ever been truly scared? Yes.

31: what is your opinion of socks? do you like wearing weird socks? do you sleep with socks? do you confine yourself to white sock hell? really, just talk about socks. Socks are useful, I have a few myself including super fluffy, warm and fuzzy ones for winter.

32: tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3AM when you were with friends. More closer to 2am then 3am, heli flew way lower then it should have and kept circling my place until after I turned off my computer screen and light, then it left.

33: what’s your fave pastry? Chocolate Éclair.

34: tell us about the stuffed animal you kept as a kid. what is it called? what does it look like? do you still keep it? Maggy. Cat. Yes.

35: do you like stationary and pretty pens and so on? do you use them often? Stationary yes, but I loathe pens. No.

36: which band’s sound would fit your mood right now? Weathers.

37: do you like keeping your room messy or clean? Clean.

38: tell us about your pet peeves! People who don't wash their hands after visiting the bathroom/before handling food.

39: what color do you wear the most? Black.

40: think of a piece of jewelry you own: what’s it’s story? does it have any meaning to you? Necklace, onyx pendant of my zodiac animal. Someone very close to me gave me it, it's very special to me.

41: what’s the last book you remember really, really loving? Raptor Red.

42: do you have a favorite coffee shop? describe it! I do not.

43: who was the last person you gazed at the stars with? Bae.

44: when was the last time you remember feeling completely serene and at peace with everything? In the company of the bae.

45: do you trust your instincts a lot? Yep.

46: tell us the worst pun you can think of. I honestly can't think of any off the top of my head.

47: what food do you think should be banned from the universe? Sharkfin soup.

48: what was your biggest fear as a kid? is it the same today? That's a very long list and yes, more or less.

49: do you like buying CDs and records? what was the last one you bought? Not really. Don't recall.

50: what’s an odd thing you collect? Rocks and anything with a specific gay red headed reaper.

51: think of a person. what song do you associate with them? Studio Killers: Jenny.

52: what are your favorite memes of the year so far? Idk.

53: have you ever watched the rocky horror picture show? heathers? beetlejuice? pulp fiction? what do you think of them? Rocky Horror: Yes. Amazing.

Heathers: No. No opinion.

Beetlejuice: Yes. Amazing.

Pulp Fiction: Yes. Amazing.

54: who’s the last person you saw with a true look of sadness on their face? Bae.

55: what’s the most dramatic thing you’ve ever done to prove a point? Rather not say.

56: what are some things you find endearing in people? Amusing quirks.

57: go listen to bohemian rhapsody. how did it make you feel? did you dramatically reenact the lyrics? Great song but no different. No.

58: who’s the wine mom and who’s the vodka aunt in your group of friends? why? Honestly never thought about that so I have no idea.

59: what’s your favorite myth? Cryptids.

60: do you like poetry? what are some of your faves? Yes. Ones bae writes.

61: what’s the stupidest gift you’ve ever given? the stupidest one you’ve ever received? Game pixels. I was gifted a beer once.

62: do you drink juice in the morning? which kind? Orange/Grapefruit.

63: are you fussy about your books and music? do you keep them meticulously organized or kinda leave them be? I don't organize by titles or theme or anything, just keep them neat and clean.

64: what color is the sky where you are right now? Pitch black.

65: is there anyone you haven’t seen in a long time who you’d love to hang out with? No.

66: what would your ideal flower crown look like? Woven blue irises/purple roses.

67: how do gloomy days where the sky is dark and the world is misty make you feel? Comfy.

68: what’s winter like where you live? Freezing and full of power outs.

69: what are your favorite board games? Balderdash.

70: have you ever used a ouija board? Nope.

71: what’s your favorite kind of tea? Black/Earl.

72: are you a person who needs to note everything down or else you’ll forget it? Yes.

73: what are some of your worst habits? Pop all the joints.

74: describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns. Adorable, fluffy sheep.

75: tell us about your pets! His name is Rune and he has atomic shits and giant paws, he's also very old and grouchy.

76: is there anything you should be doing right now but aren’t? Sleeping.

77: pink or yellow lemonade? Arnold Palmer.

78: are you in the minion hateclub or fanclub? I'm assuming you mean the little yellow pill looking guys, they're pretty adorable.

79: what’s one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you?

Anything and everything bae has ever done for me.

80: what color are your bedroom walls? did you choose that color? if so, why? Ugly wood paneling. No.

81: describe one of your friend’s eyes using the most abstract imagery you can think of. Idk.

82: are/were you good in school? Good as in what? Behavior? I was behaved sure, but I was also the person people forgot was even in the class/school because I didn't speak to anyone/make a sound/have friends.

83: what’s some of your favorite album art? I honestly don't recall off the top of my head.

84: are you planning on getting tattoos? which ones? Possibly.

85: do you read comics? what are your faves? I read manga if that counts: Kuroshitsuji Berserk JoJo Beastars

86: do you like concept albums? which ones? What's a concept album?

87: what are some movies you think everyone should watch at least once in their lives? Not sure.

88: are there any artistic movements you particularly enjoy? No.

89: are you close to your parents? Mother: Sorta. Father: Nope.

90: talk about your one of you favorite cities. I only really know of one city enough to form an opinion on it and I wouldn't call it my favorite.

91: where do you plan on traveling this year? New place and visit bae.

92: are you a person who drowns their pasta in cheese or a person who barely sprinkles a pinch? Ocean of cheese.

93: what’s the hairstyle you wear the most? Loose pony.

94: who was the last person you know to have a birthday? Me.

95: what are your plans for this weekend? Work.

96: do you install your computer updates really quickly or do you procrastinate on them a lot? Update before log off.

97: myer briggs type, zodiac sign, and hogwarts house? Who? Rat. I don't know, I always get mixed results with that.

98: when’s the last time you went hiking? did you enjoy it? I honestly can't recall.

99: list some songs that resonate to your soul whenever you hear them. Delta Heavy: White Flag Korpiklaani: Keep On Galloping Two Steps From Hell: Black Blade

100: if you were presented with two buttons, one that allows you to go 5 years into the past, the other 5 years into the future, which one would you press? why? Neither.

[irondevilpunisher]

My Jessica Jones S1&S2 Review

*Some Spoilers*

Well here it is, the post you might’ve been waiting for. Sorry it took so long to do this as I had so many other priorities in my life that needed my attention. But I’m here now and I’m ready to discuss my personal thoughts and opinions on Jessica Jones. To start off I wanna say honestly that I had originally no intention to watch this show. Its not that I thought it would be bad but that it didn’t really appeal to me. I have to like the idea and the characters to get behind something. However when the Defenders dropped in August of last year I had to admit my curiosity on the Jessica Jones peeked a little. I could tell there was a whole lot more to the character than hard-drinking and a give em’ hell attitude. Plus being a huge fan of the Daredevil Netflix show I felt I had to check it out.

For the most part my assumptions proved to be correct. I dove right into Jessica Jones’s freshman series right after finishing The Punisher and surprisingly quite enjoyed it. Now let me say first so there’s no mistaking my differentiated feelings on the two separate seasons how f**king brilliant Krysten Ritter is in this role. She brings such a delightful spunk, relatable complexity and strength yet vulnerability to the character that is so rarely seen these days. Jones is more than just another super-being, actually that was probably what made the show so unique. And she kicks a lot of ass. Opposite to what was done on Daredevil, the writers actually treated Jessica’s abilities secondary to her as a person while remaining more focused on her position as this edgy, tough-as-nails private eye. Off topic I’m a sucker for a good old fashioned detective story; Sherlock Holmes, Nancy Drew, Bogart in Casablanca. Can’t go wrong there.

So the basic premise of Jessica Jones is the story of a 30-something woman running from a dark past; living in New York as a self-employed sleuth. By she day nurses her demons with alcohol [which this show doesn’t glorify unlike Defenders] and random companionship, by night Jessica boldly prowls the city streets searching for the latest cheating husband or wife. Her closest friends/allies are her adopted sister Trish Walker, Geri Hogarth [the female lawyer seen in Daredevil and Iron First who currently works with Foggy Nelson], Luke Cage [a man also with abilities who works at a bar and is a Defender] and Malcolm Ducasse [a former addict/neighbor who lives her in building]. But I have to say though my favorite relationship of all those would have to be Jessica and her trusty camera. Anyway what starts as a typical day at the office for Miss Jones in the first episode quickly shifts into a relentless nightmare involving a specific demon she just can’t seem to escape.  

Going back to Jones’s character what I love most about her is she’s not one-note; there are dimensions and layers to her personality and background. Jessica is so much more than just her jaded quirks, attractive looks and impeccable super strength; she’s got a softer side if you can believe it. She can be feisty and sh*t-talking one minute then kind, funny and compassionate the next. There are moments where she thinks of others before herself; case in point sticking up for Ruben [one of her abused neighbors], saving a little girl from a coming car while dressed as a sandwich [one of my favorite Jessica moments] and helping Malcolm detox from his drug habit. Her supposed care-less attitude ironically is her way of caring in a different way. I adore her saucy sarcastic sense of humor which would easily come across as just plain bitchy or cold if it not for how Krysten delivers it onscreen. Its not mean but not entirely nice either yet is actually part of what makes her so endearing. I won’t go into full detail of her development but lets just say that cliffhanger in S1 really left you wanting more of this character. 

The supporting characters are fine and do well to compliment the hero however I wouldn’t say they’re as compelling to the ones on Daredevil, Iron Fist or Punisher. I did like Trish, she has a nice dynamic with Jessica and the writers do give their relationship an even focus in both seasons of the show. Malcolm is also great when he’s helping Jones in the office during season 1. And some of the other S1 building tenants are humorous and quirky. I did like Geri’s character in Daredevil, Defenders and Iron Fist; was stunned when I found out she was a main player in JJ and couldn’t wait to see what they do with her because Carrie-Anne Moss is so excellent. But when it came to actually seeing her story I found myself disappointed. I just couldn’t connect with her. Idk I guess I found found Hogarth even colder and unlikable on Jessica Jones compared to when I saw her assorted appearances on the other MCU shows. I know they tried to do a darker in-depth storyline with her in S2 but it just wasn’t executed proficiently. If there had been a proper build up towards it in S1 I might’ve gotten behind what the writers were doing but that’s just one of many mistakes in S2. 

Unpopular opinion: I wasn’t the biggest fan of Luke Cage in this series. I just didn’t find him that appealing as a character or cared about his relationship with Jessica. He fairs much better on his solo series and in Defenders. But I didn’t feel the chemistry between him and Jones nor did I care about their comic canon status. In fact I found their scenes dragging and boring. While Jessica clearly had an unhealthy thing going on with Kilgrave its no more toxic than what she has with Cage. Its completely based on sex for the sole fact that the two characters have psychological issues and both have supernatural abilities. There is also deception between them. Not to mention the fact that these two are connected by a certain tragedy which is a whole other reason why they would never work or function properly as a couple. Jones and Cage are far better off remaining friends/allies in my opinion. 

Moving on..

The major highlight of this series would have to be the show’s unstoppable villain and personally my favorite character in the series Kilgrave aka The Purple Man; magnificently hemmed by the ever so charismatic, acting powerhouse Doctor Who’s David Tennant. I never imagined another MCU Netflix villain coming close to what Wilson Fisk did on Daredevil but that’s exactly what Kilgrave manages to do so effortlessly on Jessica Jones. Tennant doesn’t play this character just strictly as a typical ‘bad guy’ or homicidal mind-controlling fiend; he has motivations, complexities and layers that mirror Ritter’s conflicted protagonist. As the episodes go on you actually start to feel for Kilgrave’s injustices and understand his extreme methods even when harming the innocent. His scenes with Jones are some of the most superb acting I’ve seen from both David and Krysten. They have exceptional chemistry together and play off one another so seamlessly. Their back and forth cat and mouse themed dynamic is actually the most entertaining part of this show. Seriously I could gush on for days about why I love Kilgrave.

Tennant commands the screen so powerfully; he’s just a total scene stealer as this character that in a way overshadows most of the supporting cast. He’s that larger than life. I gravitated to him so easily. What he does with Kilgrave is nothing short of fantastic to say the least. He could be scary, funny, classy, charming, emotional and deep without it ever muddling the character which is not an easy feat. I mean there’s just so much ground to cover with Kilgrave, endless story potential. While watching S1 I couldn’t wait for the writers to dabble further into his twisted childhood/dark past and tortured psyche. I mean if you get past the whole killing and rape aspect of him, Kilgrave isn’t all that horrible of a person. And while his infatuation with Jessica maybe borderline obsessive and abusive, he really does love her and demonstrates it. Sick as that sounds this guy just wants to be loved. He would go to ends of the earth for Jones it’s almost tragically poetic. Not more so than what the writers decide to actually do with him in the S1 finale unfortunately. But I won’t spoil that.

My second favorite character and probably the most underrated on Jessica Jones would have to be the young police sergeant Will Simpson aka future Nuke. Not many people remember or probably care too much about him since his appearance into the show doesn’t happen until 1x04. And if you don’t pay enough attention to this character he could become forgettable. But its not the fault of the actor per-say but rather the writing as well as the directing. Wil Traval is insanely adorable and a hot as hell blond babe but don’t let that distract from the fact that he’s got some major acting chops under his belt. And luckily for Traval I did notice his character right away. When Simpson enters the scene its not exactly puppies and kittens; he’s a ruthless Kilgrave drone sent to assassinate Trish which is fortunately prevented by Jessica. And after he’s freed from Kilgrave’s mind-control he reluctantly joins forces with Jones to take him down indefinitely. Thing I love most about Simpson is his integrity in the beginning; he tries to do the right thing and be a good person even if it means crossing the line to achieve that goal. 

He doesn’t always make the smartest or safest decisions but he does his best. Simpson has mystery, another quality I highly praise in a character. I spent most of my time wondering about the guy and wanting more of his background; especially when it was revealed he had ties to IGH. Simpson is so unpredictable with his shift in moods it was hard to read him but that’s what made him interesting. Another thing I love most about Simpson is his complicated alliance with Jessica Jones. For me its the second most entertaining part about watching the series. Ritter and Traval have sensational onscreen chemistry together its ridiculous how underused it is. I know most people probably preferred his relationship with Trish as well as probably shipped Jessica/Luke at this time but for me I just didn’t see enough story built there to care about either of those couples. I get weak in the knees when it comes to hilarious witty banter which Simpson and Jessica have in spades. Through IGH they had a connection with one another. There were times watching the episodes where I felt the writers were building a specific story between Jones and Simpson; whether it was a potential romance or future hero/nemesis arc I couldn’t wait to find out. Too bad that potential gets flushed down the toilet in S2.

Before I get into what I hated about season 2 because I did [all of it]; I need to address the show’s most intriguing elements of season 1. I loved its stylish Noir atmosphere; even the opening theme song is terrific [have it on my Spoitfy list]. The costumes, the settings and locations. From the lighting to the way the show is shot is so creative. Even the entire score is amazing. The pacing is nice. The action and special effects are pretty decent. I get the sense that I’m watching a cross between a Murder She Wrote and Sherlock Holmes hybrid. It just has this seductive pull of mystery and excitement. This show is not like Daredevil, Iron Fist, Luke Cage or Punisher but it does feel very much in the same universe. As I said the superhero aspect of it is more or less a secondary plot point but its refreshing and different. Not to say Jessica Jones doesn’t have its flaws as a series it does. I really wish some of the relationships had more time to blossom in S1 as well as S2. There was so much opportunity for the JJ writers to explore certain characters during its sophomore year unfortunately that wasn’t to be the case. Which brings me to the dud that is Jessica Jones season 2.

I won’t go into a whole thorough rant about what was awful about the second helping of Jones’s adventures but let me just say what they did in S1 they completely obliterated and ignored in S2 [including the characters]. I’m not kidding and I won’t lie about it either. I couldn’t wait to watch S2 because I thought S1 was just so fantastic. I wanted to see more of Jessica’s backstory, IGH, Will Simpson’s character growth and early stages of his Nuke persona, if Kilgrave was really coming back, Trish’s possible Hellcat transformation. I was excited for all this and more. But that’s not what happened. Apart from each of the characters being horribly butchered by the writers, especially Jessica Jones herself, the writing was crap; the Noir feel is just gone, its full of stupid PSA plots and the pacing is just a dragging snooze fest. And those sad super-running special effects would make the Flash sob waterfalls. Did they get rid of all the talent behind season 1 like what is going on? I could hardly keep my eyes open for some of the things that were happening. Actually what did happen because nothing made sense or I just didn’t care enough to make sense of it.

The impression I got from the JJ writers was like “to hell with it we’re doing whatever we want.” Everything about S2 was abysmal and disappointing. Zero structure and cohesiveness in storytelling. I can’t recall a single moment I enjoyed most about this season [maybe Kilgrave’s minor cameo].Trish became so unlikable to the point where I was nearly pulling my hair out and wanted her written off. Seriously I couldn’t stand her and I still don’t know how I feel about her after that finale. She wasn’t my favorite person to begin with but S2 solidified my distaste for her. Jessica my sweet Jessica where did you go because I didn’t see you any where in this season at all. The only thing I saw was your evil clone running around. Seriously though the development they did for Jones was just plain bad. Her character flip-flops more more times than the actual footwear my brain is still in knots. Too many lines were crossed with her she’s giving the Punisher a run for his money and not in a good way. I just don’t see any redemption for Jessica after this...none whatsoever. Its disheartening to say this because these writers took what I loved about Jones in the first year and threw it in a blender. 

The new characters were boring and uninteresting; ugh I’d rather watch paint drying than another scene between Jessica and that random dude the writers threw at her as a love interest. The main villain was just atrocious, predicable and made no freaking sense. WTF did they do to Malcolm?? And don’t even get me started on what was done to Simpson. I’ve been angry about it for weeks and honestly after watching S2 the wounds have not healed. Still not over it. Maybe they’ll surprise me with Simpson but I don’t have hope for that. I’m still shaking with anger as I write this thinking how much potential he had on this series and it was for nothing. Like most shows these days another character is thrown into the scrap heap before their time. What was the point of him being introduced if they weren’t going to dabble further into his Nuke comic history? I just refuse to stop b**ching about it because its so infuriating.    

Overall the Jessica Jones series for me is only partially solid. Is it my favorite MCU Netflix original series? Not by a long shot but I do think it’ll have a loyal following. I loved the first season it was edgy and smart but I hated the second season. I don’t know if season 3 will be any better after that waste of 13 hours I’ll never get back but who knows. There wasn’t much of a cliffhanger in S2 for me to even care about the next installment. Sounds harsh I know because I do love Krysten Ritter in this role. I think she carries herself masterfully. I just don’t feel S2 did her or her character any justice; if anything it hurt the future of Jessica Jones as a series for me. But that’s just my opinion.

Anyway don’t take my word for it watch the show and make your own conclusions. This has been my quick review of Jessica Jones ;)

[jakganim]

56,58,74,and 79 ❤❤

hello anon 💛 thank you for sending these in!! under a cut cos it’s a bit long!

56: what are some things you find endearing in people?

distinct features/habits/quirks that set them apart. for example the way one might scrunch their nose when they laugh, a snaggletooth, the way they fix/run their hand through their hair. idk, everyone does it differently and sometimes i find it super cute and endearing.

58: who’s the wine mom and who’s the vodka aunt in your group of friends? why?

surprise, none of my close friends are either of those haha we’re not a drinking bunch. my best friend is in a sorority so she’s had her fair share of getting smashed n she never did love it.

74: describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns.

i’m not sure if they’d consider me a good friend because we haven’t been friends for very long but the few times we’ve hung out, i’ve had a lot of fun. they’re comfortable to talk to and have an adorable laugh. i tend to talk a lot and they don’t talk as much as i do (a common theme in a few of my friends) so i’m always grateful that they listen to me so intently and don’t get bored. they don’t ever stop listening or go on their phone or change the subject or cut me off while i’m talking which is amazing. it’s sad because you’d think that should be the norm but a lot of people in my life (important ones too!) tend to just kind of stop listening or cut me off while i’m talking and i really hate that. so they’re gr8 for not doing it :’)

79: what’s one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you?

for my birthday my cousin and best friend surprised me in the middle of an hmart LOL so i was supposed to meet my cousin for brunch, go nrb, and then go to b1a4 together (he’d already surprised me with tickets so i thought it was over but little did i kNow) and i thought my best friend had class so it would be just my cousin and i. so he tells me when he gets to ktown cos he took the train into the city and he’s like “oh i’m in hmart looking at snacks” which is totally normal for us we just love looking at and buying junk food so i don’t question it. so i head over from my school and i go into hmart and the snack aisle is in the back so i have to go deep in and when i make it there literally both of them come out with bday hats on and a little cupcake with a candle AND IT’S LIT. IN THE MIDDLE OF A SUPERMARKET. and start singing happy birthday and i almost cried.

[entamewitchlulu]

Homura’s Top 15 Arc V Characters

and finally my top fifteen favorite Arc V characters!!!! <3 (not including cameo charas)

this was the absolute hardest one to narrow down tbh, there are like a billion other characters that i wanted to also be on this list ;w;

once again under the cut, this was a lot of fun to do~

and can i just say how blessed I feel that there are so many girls in Arc V that most of my list is made of them?? they might not be written the best they could be but damn it’s great to just have so many, especially coming off of the previous series where we’d be lucky to have two or three.

15. Selena

My dumb, useless lesbian daughter who needs to be grounded.  Idk, I just like her cause she’s kind of different than the usual fare for Yu-Gi-Oh ladies.  She’s prideful and brash, abrasive, headstrong, and hard to get along with, and she doesn’t always seem to notice social cues, being first and foremost a soldier and definitely a little gullible (like, she’ll immediately accept what other people tell her about Academia, my dumb child).  I can’t help but find her endearing, tho, for all of this mess of flaws and uncertainties.

14. Yoko Sakaki

Can you say BEST MOM???  Yoko is legit everything I ever wanted out of a mom character in Yu-Gi-Oh.  As someone who is very picky about parental characters, she’s honestly a legit good parent who supports her son, takes care of him, and gives him the right kind of pep talks when he’s down.  Not to mention she was a fucking gang leader???  Dude.  Best mom.

13. Masumi Kotsu

I love her for a lot of the same reasons as I love Selena: she’s a female character who’s allowed to be kind of a dick.  She’s rude and jumps to conclusions and sometimes bullies the people around her, but she’s also a fucking tsundere and I can’t help but like her for it.  In the end, she’s a stubborn butt but she’ll give in once she finds a reason to respect someone.

12. Sayaka Sasayama

God....look at her??? Pure.  Pure and good.  She is a precious child and I will protect her.  I always adopt the young ones, honestly, especially when they’re shy and nervous.  I love Sayaka because she’s the kind of person who overworks herself for the sake of others, who is scared and easily frightened but if she has to, she can pull herself together and fight.  She has to take her confidence from other people, but when she does grab hold of it, she’s a warrior like the rest of them.  She didn’t lose her softness from the war and she doesn’t seem to hold any grudges or resentment, she just wants to participate in making the world okay again.

11. Yuuri

I love him because he’s an absolute shit stain, and maybe he’s kinda tropey and flat, but he’s legit the exact replica of my favorite kind of self-indulgent, guilty pleasure villain.  He smooth talking, suave, talks formally, messes with people in his own creepy way, is incredibly confident and can’t even think of the word “losing,” and he has a legitimately creepy deck.  I love how sassy and confident he is, how he laughs every time someone tries to overcome him, and his possessive sort of nature, his intensity and single-minded focus on winning and being the best.

10. Tsukikage

THIS BOY IS MY S O N AND I WILL FIGHT ANYONE WHO HURTS HIM!!  I was not expecting to love Tsuki as much as I did.  He’s a loyal and reliable person, who really seems to have a great moral core.  He doesn’t have much in the way of back story but I find his aesthetic fascinating and I always want to know more about his clan and where he came from.  I also still really want to see under that mask goddamn.  But anyway, Tsuki is a pure, good boy and he deserves the world.  He’s so incredibly morally upright and I just can’t help but adore him.

9. Yuzu Hiragi

Her more recent appearances in the anime aside, she’s what I wanted out of a female lead in Yu-Gi-Oh since the very first series.  She’s tough and doesn’t back down from a challenge, she takes initiative to rectify her own weakness and isn’t afraid of putting in the hard work to better herself; she’s very morally minded and she’ll put herself in danger if it means doing the right thing.  Even when she’s lost in another dimension, her first priority is finding a way to warn the people there of the danger that’s coming, putting other people’s safety before even finding her way home.  Yuzu is a great girl who struggles with her own uncertainties and still comes out the stronger for it.

8. Reiji Akaba

I could talk for h o u r s about how much I love Reiji Akaba.  Reiji is someone that just keeps becoming more and more great as the series continues and hindsight begins to color his actions.  What he is to me is a sixteen-year-old boy who was forced to grow up all too quickly, forced to discard any and all unnecessary feelings for the sake of the greater good, against his own father no less, someone he was supposed to be able to trust.  I can’t blame him for the decisions he’s been making, for the sacrifices that occur, because he’s being sacrificing himself all this time.  I remember a post once about how Reiji represents selflessness in a way we normally don’t see in media, because it doesn’t look selfless.  But in the end, it is--Reiji hasn’t let himself enjoy anything or do anything for his own sake; everything is and always will be for the safety of his world.  And he will stand up for his convictions, his beliefs, and that safety for the peace of the universe even against the people he should be able to trust.  He’s a fascinating character full of layers of complexity much like rivals before him, and I love him for it a lot.

7. Sora Shiunin

Sora is a boy that deserves great things, okay?  I loved him almost from the minute he showed up, but that love only deepened as the series continued.  He’s got a great character aesthetic, for one thing, and a ridiculously cool deck.  I love his little quirk of always having a lollipop, and I love his internal struggle with morality and his place in the world.  His decision to defect from Academia because of his friendship with Yuya and Yuzu just felt so pure and I was like oh god this child has been so badly indoctrinated and now he’s experienced real affection and??? he deserves so many good things.  I just love him and I hope he gets adopted by Yoko because he deserves friendship and affection.

6. Zarc

He’s??? why is he so pure looking????  Zarc didn’t get as much development as I was hoping (I’m still crossing my fingers for a bit more) but for what we did get, I found him more than fascinating.  He was a happy, pure, joyful person who could hear his monsters, and was probably overjoyed to be able to actually interact with him once Real Solid Vision came into play.  And yet, circumstances turned him into a demon.  I want to know more about that, but from what I can glean, I think he was just tired.  I think he really wanted to entertain people, and so he gave into their demands, but the more violent things got, the more they demanded, and the more tired he and his monsters became, the more frustrated with being used as a glorified show animal, and that rage and anger just channeled through Zarc and he had no choice but to become a demon.  That transformation is fascinating to me, and I think it mirrors Yuya in a really interesting way, only Zarc continued all the way down the path of the demon and Yuya tried to reject it.  I have a lot of theories and headcanons about Zarc and I really hope we at least get to see him a bit more on screen before the end of the series.

5. Reira Akaba

I have adopted this child and he is mine now.  I found his character arc to be very powerful; this is a child who has survived hell and lost most of himself in the process; he was so broken that he didn’t even know who he was anymore and chose to be an empty shell instead.  But through interacting with others, he started to develop a new sense of self and reclaim not only his own personality, but his own will and strength too.  He’s so inspiring, especially in the wake of the last few episodes where he truly showed how much he had grown and how powerful he had become with his newfound courage and confidence.

4. Ruri Kurosaki

I love her??? A lot??? I fell in love with her the moment her design was revealed; she’s incredibly aesthetically pleasing and what little we were able to glean of her personality (damn you writers for building her up with so little at the end :( ) really resonates with me.  She’s a sweet girl who sometimes trips up on her own strategies, but she has a strong heart and will and would rather fight when cornered than scream and cry.  She deserved a lot better than the narrative gave her, but I still love her with all my heart.

3. Ray Akaba

Okay fuck me but she jumped up fast on my list (and by fuck me I mean I might be asexual but I would be 100% okay with her fucking me).  Ray is just??? Cool??  Like others, she didn’t get as much as I wanted (still crossing fingers for a tiny bit more before it’s all over), but what I did get from her was just exactly what I wanted.  She’s strong and takes on the sacrifices necessary for her family and her world.  It was honestly great to see a girl character being the world’s savior, and what I love the most is how Zarc’s voice actually wavered when he heard that Ray was back; like damn...he was actually scared of her because she was the only one that could take him out.  She’s a beautiful design and I love everything about her.  I only wish she had gotten a real deck ;w;

2. Grace Tyler

step on me Anyway, Grace is really super hot and I’m gay

I could leave it at that but also, I love what a fun antagonist turned ally she is.  She’s one of those villains who does things cause she things they’re fun; it’s fun to fight people and turn them into cards and solidify her superiority over others, she enjoys it.  But once she finds something more fun and more interesting, she becomes obsessed with that instead.  I can’t help but find her strange, cheerful personality and the way she bounces from whatever she finds interesting to the next interesting thing endearing.

1. Yuya Sakaki

I could talk for fucking days on end about why I love Yuya Sakaki, about why he is one of the most important things to happen in my life, about how inspiring he is, about how powerful his character arc is, everything. 

I could talk about how his philosophy is something that has gotten me through depressive episodes ever since I started watching, about how I wear his goggles that I made for my cosplay when I’m feeling sad, about how he’s basically taken over my life in the form of keychains.

Yuya is everything that I want to be and everything that I think that I am.  He wants so desperately to be the person that makes everyone smile, but there are selfish reasons behind it. He wants to be happy, but he doesn’t feel like he’s allowed to be happy unless he’s making other people happy.  He’s vulnerable, he feels things like an actual person, he bounces back and forth from fears and uncertainties and depression to confidence and exuberance and a willingness to try again.  He is legitimately a good living example of a pendulum, swinging back and forth between two sides, depression and confidence, and I have never related more to something than that.

And despite everything, he overcomes.  Despite everything against him, including himself, he steps forward and he never gives up.  For every time he falls back, he jumps forward just as far and farther.  Yuya Sakaki is one of the reasons I get up in the morning, and I couldn’t feel more blessed than to live in a world where his character exists.

He is me, and he is what I want to be, and I will continue to bounce forward from every period of sadness with as much egao as I can muster.

After all, the fun has only just begun <3