#sorry i think i just used your ask as a springboard to be insane

[oswednesday]

My favorite Laius scene is when he feeds that one twink monster meat while the guy's trying to manipulate him. With the party in the background going full 'you do not have to to make him believe your on his side' and the twink having the face journey of forcing himself to eat it and go "yummy"

While laos just watches happily, presumedly fully aware that his new friend perhaps didn't want to. Linus just the kinda guy to walk up to someone and do some dom action but no one believes he tops.

They just look at his face and go "hours innocent looking, he must be a nice guy". Also the ask box broke 5 lines so so if there's Missouri i apologies

WARNING DUNGEON MESHI SPOILERS AHEAD

sorry to tease you but every way you’ve spelled his name in order: elvish/dwarven/halfling/gnomish the way i see it is, like he plays up not remembering kabru, because the person who is showing interest isnt the same guy who keeps bothering him, like that doesnt make “sense” but he does remember being “bothered” by kabru, he brushes him aside as he has this sort of energy that laios is just fully uninterested in but kabru is also Good with people, so good that it coaxes out this face of laios that he hides from others like that full frost, disgust stand on the top of a tower and be like youre all ants thats a bit dramatized but i think thats the intent

you’re kabru who can give everyone exactly what they want but doesnt know how to express his own heart's desires and this guy who is charming and bubbly with everyone blasts you with a cold shoulder this guy who lives solely for what he wants, you are kabru and you know he has no actual connections cause youve like ye old deep web stalked him but you cant really get much deeper than that because you’re kabru and you dont have any action connections with anyone either despite how much you’re there for everyone and how you have all their needs memorizes and he isnt ready to deal with that! it isnt until he meets mithrun and while hes still doing that im caring for you its like he doesnt have to pretend to be a billion things like tough and mean he doesnt want to be, he wants to be like a soft young man with friends who like him for who he is, he knows mithrun isnt planning to twist the knife in his direction unlike laios just doesnt seem to need anything and has a knife to twist

of course, he does! have needs, but its like the same thing with shuro on a level, he was keeping close to him cause of his nearness to falin, like would he have “let” falin be taken away in marriage to another country? um nope your brother in law is here too haha! most likely im like he says ill let falin know your feelings not you tell falin yourself when we get her back like, as if! but its also something he easily gets caught up in like oh your antagonist feelings towards me really ran that deep then show them? whats wrong with you why lie about what you want? you want falin so you must also want me, a world where he isnt the center of her world does Not exist to him (even before they fight we know his feelings are like this cause hes like shuro you look great, like oh you want this man to die and be dead)

like to laios kabru’s behaviors are predictable, human and boring, hes uninterested, but laios has this moment of like Oh! i can give that back! i can give you something human and predictable, And he does and its obvi that it was a thing he was just doing, even if he “meant” it, he shows a truer feeling to izutsumi when shes like DIDNT YOU PROMISE!! ; 0 ; when hes about to do something crazy town and hes like ah well have that dinner for me and leaves and he doesnt bother hiding stuff from her like he respects her beast self and relies on it so much that she can tell the moment hes off, there’s a lot of background stuff we dont really See much like mithrun’s story because it wouldnt "make for a good story", its like roleplaying players do between sessions with each other or with the dm or written documents it creates a very cool vibe i think in a different story it would be like this massive hole in the writing but its filled in by the familiarity of a roleplay group? Its a lovely tender story but i also liken it to like a theatre of cruelty, its wild, its questioning popular spiritual beliefs, theology, he literally does a dante’s inferno painting thing

[spooky-z]

FACT CHECK

3.6K

Maribat by @ozmav

Of all the investigations Alya had done in the name of journalism, finding out that Chloe Bourgeois and Marinette Dupain-Cheng were dating had been... disheartening.

Lila had told her she noticed the strange behavior of Chloe and Marinette, suspecting that the two were together, but Alya dismissed the idea because Chloe and Marinette dating? This could only be a joke.

But it was when Alya also noticed the behavior of the two girls and decided to investigate, that the truth came out.

Lila was right. She would never doubt her best friend again.

Knowing that the Queen of Hearts and Gremhilde were in a relationship came as a shock to Alya, but knowing the reason for that relationship was indeed sad.

Because fake a relationship to get Adrien's attention? That was beyond pathetic.

Alya knew that Marinette was jealous of Lila for being close to Adrien, and possibly was dating the model in secret - the Italian was being difficult to drop the word, despite the continuous blush being all the confirmation that the journalist needed -, which she feels sorry for the designer.

She also knew that Chloe did not love Adrien, but she was unhappy with the fact that the boy was no longer her private toy and that he had despised her in favor of true friends.

But setting up a crazy plan to get the boy's attention was a new level of insanity for both girls. They needed to understand that no meant no.

It was no surprise to Alya that Chloe acted in retaliation, but Marinette with Chloe? Alya felt sorry for her ex best friend.

Alya hadn't told the class yet because she didn't want to humiliate Marinette in front of everyone, but she told Lila, because she deserved to know the truth.

She was sitting in her place in the classroom, next to Nino and behind Adrien and Lila. Mlle. Bustier had given them free time, as long as they didn't leave their seats and keep the conversation low.

Chloe's snorting laughter echoed through the room from moment to moment, Marinette trying to control the blonde and Sabrina looking like she wanted to fall into a fit of laughter. The three problems of the Mlle. Bustier’s class together.

"It's sad, you know?" Lila sighed at her. She and Adrien facing Alya and Nino's table so they can talk. "They force themselves to act like they're happy just to get attention."

"What do you mean, dudete?" Nino questioned confused.

"It's kind of obvious that they keep doing these things to get their attention." Lila had a sad look in her eyes. "If they weren't so mean to me, I wouldn't mind being friends with them."

Alya felt her heart ache for her best friend. She suffered so much at the hands of the three and yet there she was, wanting to make friends with her bullies.

"You don't have to feel guilty, girl." She squeezed Lila's hand on the table. "They don't deserve your friendship, do they, Adrien?"

The boy had a complicated expression on his face, but he nodded cautiously. "Sure..."

Alya did not understand certain behaviors that Adrien had. Of course, the boy lived for years trapped in the ivory tower that was the Agreste mansion, but she thought that after hanging out with them for so long, he would have come out of his shell, but it looked like she was wrong.

At least, from what Lila said, he was much more open to her when they were alone. She hoped that this would soon change in relation to her friends.

▫▪▪

The next day, she was casually checking her blog, noting the decline in her popularity, before checking OTS-OnTheSpot. The blog that had debuted in the news world, being the rival of Ladyblog.

Alya was increasingly irritated by Ladybug's clear preference for the new blog over Ladyblog. Of course, the person - because nobody knew who it was and Max was unable to track the IP - obviously had better equipment than Alya, who only worked with the phone, but for Ladybug to betray her like that, it had been a slap in the face.

Somehow OTS got the best photos, the best videos, the best interviews, but no one ever got a glimpse of who the journalist was. Not even Chat Noir - she had asked - knew who the person behind the blog was, since he had never been interviewed before.

That was the other problem she had with OTS.

The person clearly focused on all miraculous and non-miraculous heroes, except Chat Noir. In fact, the times the blog touched on the cat hero's name, it was to mock his behavior in the middle of the battle. Not to mention, they were clearly a RoBug shipper - Robin and Ladybug - which, in Alya's opinion, was an insult to the black dots hero.

Everyone knew that LadyNoir was the real couple there. Chat Noir had confirmed in the last interview that Alya got of the hero.

She was wallowing in self-pity when Lila hurried into the classroom, drawing everyone's attention. All but Chloe who was messing with the phone, Nathaniel who drew on the tablet and Sabrina, who wrote something on a notepad. Marinette as always, late.

"Alya!" Lila ran to her. "You will not believe what I just saw."

The girl rose quickly from her chair, her journalistic senses on alert.

“What was that girl? Is it an akuma?”

With that, both Chloe and Adrien turned to the two.

The Italian shook her head in denial.

"No. It's Marinette.” She takes a deep breath, catching her breath. "Marinette was kissing a very scary guy in front of the school."

"WHAT?!" Alya shouted. "Are you sure it was her?"

Lila nodded frantically. "Absolutely sure. When they walked away, I saw her face and I also heard him call her name.”

Alya sat back in her chair in shock. Incredulous that Marinette would do something so dirty just to get attention.

"I think she realized that the plan with Chloe wouldn't work and tried to get attention in another way." Lila sighed. Only Nino and Adrien being able to hear their conversation.

The DJ frowned in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

Adrien was pale, but he didn't open his mouth to say anything.

"We found that-"

"MARIN!" Chloe squeaked in the background, running into Marinette's arms.

Alya and Lila were suddenly silent, watching the scene unfold. Alya had a sour taste in her mouth, disgusted by the way Marinette managed to act like nothing was happening. As if she weren't dirty.

"Hey, Coco." The brunette said, hugging Chloe. "Sorry for the delay, I had some things to resolve."

Chloe moved away from her; hands clasped together. "No problem." She smiled. It was rare for the class to see such a sincere smile coming from Chloe. "Come. I want to show you something that Timochi and I found earlier.” And he pulled the girl up the stairs, greeting Sabrina and Nathaniel on the way.

For a moment, Alya considered leaving this problem alone.

Sure, Marinette and Chloe deserved to be exposed to their friends, but technically neither was doing anything wrong. None attacked or did anything to harm Adrien, so no damage was done.

But then Alya remembered the smile that Chloe had shown when she saw Marinette.

This was not a fake or staged smile. That was a genuine and affectionate smile. Then Alya came to the conclusion that Chloe did indeed liked Marinette, while Marinette was only using the blonde as a springboard to reach Adrien.

The journalist might as well have ignored this discovery and let Chloe break her heart, as a vengeance for everything Bourgeois had done against them, but she failed. Alya was a fair girl. She couldn't sleep peacefully knowing that Marinette was playing with someone's feelings.

Even if that someone was Chloe Bourgeois.

She got up from the chair, facing the back of the room and Marinette. Lila had long since moved away to her chair beside Adrien.

Alya was furious.

“Marinette, aren't you ashamed of yourself? Act like nothing is wrong. I didn't know you could be that cold and calculating.” She caught everyone's attention again, especially Marinette.

Marinette sighed, her elbow resting on the table, she laid her head on her palm. There was an air of boredom around her. Chloe, Sabrina and Nathaniel with unimpressed looks on their faces.

“What did I do this time, Alya? I knocked Lila down the stairs? I hit Lila with a piece of wood? I stole Lila's ideas again?” The disinterested tone irritated the journalist even more.

"No, although all the statements are real, I am not talking about that." Alya spat. "I'm talking about you being a fake and dirty person, who's using Chloe in your sordid little game."

Everyone in the classroom began to whisper fervently, curious about the newest drama in the class.

"What?!" Chloe said without a voice. The expression on the blonde's face was pure disbelief.

Marinette raised an eyebrow, moving from her relaxed posture to a stiff one.

"What are you accusing me of this time, Alya?"

"I'm talking about you and Chloe dating and you cheating on her with someone in front of the school!" Alya shouted angrily.

Marinette whistled, unimpressed.

"I still don't know what you're talking about."

“I know everything, Marinette Dupain-Cheng! Don't you dare deny it!” The girl sidestepped Nino's hand, who was trying to calm his girlfriend. "I know about your silly plan to pretend to be dating Chloe just to get Adrien's attention and that Chloe likes you!"

Marinette stared at Alya without reaction and Alya celebrated it, believing she had won the argument.

That, of course, until Chloe, Marinette, Sabrina, and Nathaniel fell into a fit of violent laughter. Scaring all the students and leaving Alya surprised.

"What are you laughing at?!" Lila stood up to defend Alya. "It is true! We know everything!”

Sabrina was the first to compose herself, wiping away the tears that had escaped by the force of laughter. "Really? What else do you know?”

"I don't understand what you're laughing at!" Alya snarled, before turning to Chloe. “You should be thanking us for exposing Marinette. Hello, is she cheating on you!?”

"Alya, dear and innocent, Alya." Nathaniel sighed. Some laughter still escaping. "Where did you get that Chloe and Marinette are dating each other?"

Alya snorted indignantly at the mockery. "What are you talking about? Lila-“

“Oh, of course. Lila.” Chloe rolled her eyes. "The most reliable source of news you can find." The acidity in the words did not go unnoticed by anyone.

"Hey!" Coming from offended Lila.

"Sure, you're not wrong to assume that Chloe and I had something, since well, we dated for a while." Marinette started.

“Aha! So, you assume you were in a relationship!” Alya pointed.

Marinette raises an eyebrow. "Everyone here knows that, Alya." She sighed tiredly. "Chloe and I dated for a while at Collège, but we broke up before Lycée."

"What...?!" Alya murmured. "But you hated each other!"

"... They are telling the truth, Alya." Nino looked away, intimidated by Alya's anger. “You and Lila didn't know that because you entered Dupont at the Lycée, but the rest we did. I think Adrien, too, since Chloe and he are childhood friends.”

“Okay, so, you guys dated. But how do you explain this sudden approach now? You obviously hated each other.” Alya insisted.

Chloe snorted impatiently, maybe even a little irritated by Alya's attitude.

“It's called maturing, Alya. Do you know what is this?" The blonde crossed her arms. “Marin and I talked and came to the conclusion that we still like each other enough to become friends. That fighting wasn't getting us anywhere.”

“It still doesn't explain why you are so lovey-dovey. Let's be rational here, this love is at least suspect.” Lila pointed. There was a calculating air around her.

"Friendships are different for everyone, Liela." Marinette replied dryly. “I was never a person to curb my feelings whatever they are. I like to show my friends how much I appreciate them and they do the same for me because that's how friendship is. The support is mutual.”

"But waiting for you to understand this can be too much, since you probably don't know what it is like to have feelings other than pride, envy and dislike." Chloe waved her hand dismissively.

Lila's eyes flashed dangerously, before changing to a painful expression. The crocodile tears running down her cheeks.

“Why are you like that, Chloe? I tried my best to be friends with you, but you seem to hate me!” She sniffed and Alya was next to the girl, trying to comfort her. "If I were that bad, I would have already exposed your plan to get Adrien's attention, since you and Marinette are obsessed with him-" She brought her hands to her mouth, an expression of regret on her face. “I shouldn't have said that. I'm so sorry!" She went back to 'crying'.

Everyone in the room turned to look at Adrien's expression, who seemed lost. Eyes wide, mouth open. He looked in Marinette's direction as if trying to assemble a 500-piece puzzle.

Chloe murmured an 'oh please' tired of all the drama. Marinette didn't seem at all shaken by being exposed in front of the boy she loved. Nathaniel and Sabrina were just enjoying the show, while eating the macaroons that Marinette had brought.

"You don't have to apologize, Lila." Marinette replied calmly, making Lila swallow the fake tears and look at the girl. She realized that her attack had no desired effect. "My feelings for Adrien died the day he asked me to take the high road and let you lie." She looked at the model who looked chastened, before turning back to Lila. "I understood what he meant by that, but the fact that he prioritized your feelings over mine, killed any traces of love I had for him."

Alya gasped in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

Lila's eyes widened in panic. "Is nothing-"

"Oh, that's right." Marinette shook her head condescendingly. “You still believe that everything Lila says is true. Even the most absurd things.”

"Again with that story, Marinette?!" Kim complained angrily. "We know you made this up because you were jealous of Lila."

Nathaniel made a confused sound. "Why would Marinette be jealous of Lila?"

"Because Lila and Adrien are dating!" Alya screamed at the boy's lack of awareness.

“Alya! This was supposed to be a secret!” Lila hid her face with her hands.

"WHAT?!" Adrien got up from the chair surprised by the new information. "We aren’t-"

"... But Marin, haven't you been dating Damian since half of Lycée's first year?" Sabrina asked confused.

Marinette sighed at the whole situation.

"I am. But it seems that people still live in the past.”

"You don't have to lie to us just because you're ashamed, Marinette." Lila said sweetly. "We don't judge anyone here."

Chloe got up from her chair, clapping her hands on the table. "OK, that's it." She picked up the phone and dialed someone, everyone froze thinking she was calling the mayor. “Timo, please come and get us. I'm sick of having to share the same air as a bunch of imbeciles.” The person on the other end seemed to agree, because soon Chloe hung up and picked up her things from the table.

Marinette, Sabrina and Nathaniel soon following the blonde's example.

Sabrina had a thick folder in her hand, where it dropped heavily on Max's table. Chloe, on the other hand, left a pile of paper on Lila's and Nathaniel's on Alya's. Marinette came down the stairs in calm steps. Never failing to face the two girls.

“At Max's desk is a compilation of all Lila's lies. We managed to put this together in less than two hours, as her lies are not really good.” She started. Lila swallowing hard behind Alya. "At Lila's table and yours, orders to cease and desist on behalf of Prince Ali, Jagged, Clara, XY, Bruce Wayne, Style Queen and of course, Ladybug."

"WHAT?!" Lila and Alya shouted together.

Marinette didn't even blink at their reaction.

"I didn't intend to do anything against you, as we are in Lycée's senior year and I would finally be free of your mental games, Lila." She looked at the Italian. “But today you really pissed me off. Because in addition to accusing me of plotting to gain Adrien's attention, you accused me of being unfaithful and that is something I do not admit.”

"Dudete, don't you think you're being a little extreme?" Nino tried to ease the situation with Marinette.

The girl snorted in mockery, going back down the stairs, towards the door. And at the door, there was an unknown and scary-looking boy standing against the wood.

"Think on the bright side Nino: at least this way, your girlfriend will learn to check the facts first, before posting on her failed blog and Lila will learn to keep her lying tongue in her mouth."

Alya snarled in anger.

"And how do we know it is not a trick?"

Marinette stopped beside the boy, her hand resting on his broad chest and turned to Alya.

"Now Alya, just a search on google refutes all the bullshit that Lila has been spitting on you." She raised her eyebrow and the girl soon did as she was told, growing pale with every second she remained looking at the screen. “See how easy it is to check the facts? The internet nowadays, huh. Who knew?” She laughed as if she had told a very funny joke.

Adrien frowned at the girl's behavior, disappointed that she had done that. He thought they were in this together, but apparently, he was alone.

"Marinette-" The blonde tried to speak.

“Oh! I remembered something." She hit her fist against her open palm. "Lila, there are police and immigration agents waiting for you at the school door."

The entire class rose from their seats, still shaken by Marinette's revelations and Markov's confirmation that, yes, Lila was a dirty liar.

"... What?" Lila murmured weakly. It seemed that all the blood had left the Italian's body so pale she was.

"Did you think that willingly helping an emotional terrorist would not have consequences, Lila?" Marinette tilted her head innocently. "Wow. You are really deluded.” She hissed in shock.

The Italian fell without reaction to the floor. She had been defeated at her own game.

"Emotional terrorist...?" Adrien gasped. "Hawkmoth?! Was Lila helping Hawkmoth?”

“Yeap. We have evidence in videos, photos and audios. Not to mention that he admitted earlier today when the heroes invaded his operational base.” Marinette waved excitedly.

Adrien froze at the information. "But, but-"

"How do you know all this?!" Alya demanded.

“Didn't you know, Alya? I am OTS.” Marinette replied cynically, a bad smile on her face. "Ladybug gave an exclusive interview to my blog that must have aired two minutes ago."

Everyone was quick to pick up their tablets or phones to do what Marinette had said.

"You-you-" The journalist stuttered without knowing how to react.

“Now I have to go and let the law enforcement officers do their job. Bye!" She waved as she followed the boy from before, away from the classroom.

It was only when the officers entered the classroom to drag Lila out, that Alya realized what she had done and said.

She was a terrible journalist.

BONUS:

"... Cheers to the miraculous team, Robin, Red Robin, Super Boy and Spoiler!" The group of friends shouted, pounding the crystal glasses against each other.

“Another cheers for Lila Rossi having her ass delivered!” Chloe shouted excitedly, making friends laugh and accompany her.

"Today was a day of victory so let's celebrate as long as we can." Marc said snuggling up to Nathaniel who was almost dozing, despite all the noise.

"You had to see Alya's face when we threw the facts in her face." Sabrina hugged Stephanie, a little drunk on champagne.

"We saw it, Rina." The blonde replied, amused by the girl's behavior. "Timbers installed hidden cameras around the classroom for that purpose."

"What I thank my love for." Chloe told the boy, who was hugging her. "If it weren't for you, we would only relive that moment in memories."

"You're welcome Queenie." Tim kissed the girl's cheek affectionately.

"When are we going to visit Chat Noir, Hime?" Kagami asked Marinette. The two were curled together, with Damian on Marinette's back and Kagami between her legs.

"It would be a good idea for us to do this as soon as possible, so that he doesn't have time to use the ring for something bad." Damian kissed Marinette's head while his arms held Kagami against them. "Who knows what's going on in that boy's head."

Marinette sighed thoughtfully. Half melted between her lovers. "Tonight, we will approach Adrien Agreste."

"I hope he doesn't throw a tantrum." Jon groaned from where he was lying with Luka. "I don't have the patience to deal with him."

"I think he will be too distracted by his mother's return to react negatively." Luka murmured, another who was almost asleep. “Adrien may have a closed mind in some ways, but he is not a bad kid. He just needs someone to guide him on the right path.”

"I hope Emillie is that someone." Nathaniel replied sleepily.

All of them agreeing with the boy.

[tag list]

@saays-bitch @xxmdsxx @nicknnie @iamablinkmarvelarmy @damianette-is-life 

[intheticklecloset]

Deku’s Interrogation (My Hero Academia)

Primary Universe

Yaaaas! I loved writing this prompt so much! I decided to take that “capture the flag” idea and turn it into a “rescue the hostage” training exercise for the class. I also decided to have Kaminari be the ler because I’ve written a lot of ler Bakugou torturing poor Deku! 😂 I think the change was refreshing and fun! Enjoy!

~

In all of his hero training at U.A., Deku had never been cast to play a villain before. He didn’t know why, now that he thought about it. Selecting classmates to play villains seemed to be random each time; the fact that he’d gone so many rounds without being cast himself was actually a pretty impressive statistic. Had Mr. Aizawa done that on purpose? Or maybe All Might had something to do with it?

No, he decided, walking slowly and alertly through the empty streets of the fake city they were training in. It was just the luck of the draw that he’d never had to play a bad guy before. But today was different. Today they were doing rescue training, and he and six others had been cast to play the villains. His job was to keep any heroes from getting close enough to their base to rescue their captive, Mr. Aizawa. With his speed and raw power, he seemed the perfect choice to make sure no one even got close enough to the building, let alone inside it.

Up ahead, he heard a soft sound followed by a whispered curse. Instantly his mind was shuffling through potential threats. Which one of his classmates was nearby? He could only rule out those who were on his team as fellow villains; it could be anyone hiding around that corner up ahead.

Deciding the element of surprise would be best, Deku surged forward, leaping up onto the side of one structure to use as a springboard to attack whoever was hiding, but his opponent seemed to have suspected he’d do this and had already bailed from where they’d been just as Deku came hurtling toward the spot they’d vacated.

When he stood up, Deku found himself face-to-face with Kaminari.

“Aw, crap,” Denki muttered, putting on an angry face for the sake of their training. “Of course it had to be you.”

“Thought you could sneak up on me?” Deku asked, trying to stay in character.

“If I hadn’t tripped over that rock, I would have.”

“Too bad for you.”

Kaminari threw his hands in the air, violent sparks of electricity shooting out from his hands and flying toward Deku at record speed. But thanks to One For All, the “villain” was able to jet away quickly enough to avoid damage, then hurtle back toward Denki and grab his arms, twisting them behind him.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he said in what he hoped was a growling voice.

“Oh yeah?” Kami whipped his head back hard enough to smack into Deku’s forehead, making him shout in pain and stumble back in the seconds before he found himself shoved against a wall, soft electric currents shooting through his pinned wrists. “Now, if you so much as blink at me the wrong way, I’ll fry you so hard you’ll go up in smoke.”

Wow, he’s really into this, Deku thought.

“I’m only going to ask this once,” the electric hero continued. “Where is Mr. Aizawa?”

Deku grunted, but he knew better than to make any sudden movements. “Like I’d tell you.”

All of a sudden, Denki got a look in his eyes that sent a shiver down Deku’s spine. The blonde eyed him for a moment, then glanced at his wrists – still buzzing with a soft current – and chuckled lowly. “Heh. Aren’t you a little too ticklish to be playing a villain, Midoriya?”

Deku’s eyes widened. “Y-You…you wouldn’t. Not in the middle of training.”

Kaminari’s answering smirk was positively evil. “Try me.”

Deku tried to break out of Kami’s hold, but the instant he moved – as promised – his friend intensified the current running down his arms, making them freeze up in a painful electric shock. While he cried out and was distracted, Denki grabbed onto his hips and started kneading. “Tell me where he is.”

“NOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!” Deku burst into laughter, shooting his arms down to grab at Kami’s wrists desperately. “NOHOHOHOHO NO NO, YOU CAHAHAHAHAHAN’T DO THIHIS!!”

“Says who?” Denki challenged, pushing him right back up against the wall. “The rules say the heroes are to find and rescue the hostage by any means necessary. Well, I intend to do both, even if it means tickling you to pieces to get the information I need.”

“STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!! KAMINAHAHAHARI!!”

“Better talk, villain.” Denki’s smirk became more playful now. “Or I’ll use my quirk to really tickle it out of you.”

Everything in Deku wanted to beg Kaminari to let him go, but in order to fulfill his role as a villain, he knew he couldn’t give up the information without a fight. So, despite his singing nerves, he spat out a half-growled, “DOHOHOHOHO YOUR WOHOHOHORST!!”

“As you wish.”

“AAIIEEEEEEHEHEHEHEHEHE!!” Deku shrieked with hysterics when Kami ignited his sparks just enough to send extra intense ticklish shockwaves through his system. His legs quickly gave out beneath him from the assault. “NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!!”

“Tell me where Aizawa is!” Denki demanded, grinning as he followed Deku to the ground and pinned him there. “Tell me, or I’ll tickle you to death!”

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!” Deku desperately shoved at Kami’s shoulders, but in response the blonde merely laughed and straddled him, still focused on his hips. “I-I’LL NEHEHEVER TAHAHAHAHAHALK!!” He regretted his words even as he said them, but he had to stay in character! “I CAHAHAHAHAHAHAN TAHAHAHAHAKE IT!!”

“You can?” Kaminari beamed. “Great! Then you won’t mind if I just tickle and tickle and tickle and—”

“NOHOHOHOHOHOHO!! STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP TAHAHAHALKING!!” Deku pleaded, the teasing messing with him more than he could stand. Resisting tickle torture was one thing, but teasing as well?!

“Stop talking? I thought you said you could take this?” Denki knew full well what he was doing, and under normal circumstances perhaps he would have felt a little bad about it, but right now he had a job to do. He was getting that location out of Deku if it was the last thing he did. “Oh, I see. You can take the tickling; it’s the teasing you don’t like!”

“KAMI--!!”

“Well, I mean, I did say you were a little too ticklish to be a villain. And here we are, me completely dominating this fight, all because you’re just so insanely sensitive! Why did the villains think to put you on guard duty when just one little tickle would render you helpless like this?”

“I’M NOHOHOHOHOT HEHEHEHEHEHELPLESS!!” Deku screeched, kicking his legs and trying to pry Denki’s fingers from his hips. But anytime he got close enough to make contact, the sparks emanating from the hero would force him back again.

“No? Go ahead, then. Get out of this if you can, villain.”

He was trying. So, so desperately he was digging his heels into the pavement, twisting and writhing to try and get Kami’s weight off of him, shoving at any part of his body he could reach. None of it was working. Denki knew his death spot was his hips and he was just staying there and Deku was losing his mind laughing and the electric shocks were only making it worse—

“PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEASE!!” Deku couldn’t help it anymore; if he didn’t do something he was going to go insane. Laughter-induced tears streamed down his cheeks. “STAHAHAHAHAP, PLEASE, KAHAHAHAHAHAMINARI!!”

“Where’s Mr. Aizawa?” Denki demanded, slipping back into his role as a relentless hero now that he saw how desperate he’d made his friend. “Talk, villain!”

“I CAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAN’T!!” Deku screamed, tossing his head back with renewed hysterics when Denki intensified his ticklish shockwaves.

“The more you resist, the more I tickle,” Kaminari said in a low, threatening tone. “Talk.”

Now Deku was well and truly losing his mind. He knew there was no getting out of this physically; he was far too weakened by the tickling and his thoughts were turning to mush with every second that went by that his torturer didn’t let up on his death spot. He could barely breathe. His laughter was beyond out of control – it was wild. There was only one thing he could do to get this to stop, and while he hated giving in so easily, he had no choice.

“OKAYOKAYOKAHAHAHAHAHAHY I’LL TAHAHAHAHAHAHALK JUST PLEASE STOP TIHIHIHIHICKLING MEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!!”

Denki stopped, grinning victoriously, but at that moment the buzzer sounded and Present Mic’s voice blasted through the speakers. “The heroes have dismantled the villain’s defenses and rescued the hostage! This battle is over! Heroes win!”

For a moment, Kaminari could only blink in astonishment. His friends had rescued Mr. Aizawa while he was out here tickling Deku into submission? What good had that done anyone? He was such a moron. “Aw, man,” he mumbled, climbing off of his friend. “I didn’t even get to do anything.”

“A-Are you…kidding me?” Deku gasped incredulously, looking up at him through teary-eyed vision. “I w-was the villains’…primary defense! Y-You completely disarmed me, and while…while I was distracted the other h-heroes got in to rescue the hostage. You just won for…your whole team, Kaminari!”

Denki was silent for a moment. Then a megawatt grin spread across his features and he pumped a fist in the air. “All right! I did it!” He turned his smile to Deku, who still lay gasping for breath, and he hesitated. “Oh, uh…are you okay, Midoriya? Sorry if I went a little crazy, I just…” He knelt down beside his friend. “I had to play my role, you know?”

Deku groaned. “And since I couldn’t just give up the information you needed without a fight, I got tickled nearly to death. This doesn’t seem fair.”

“Well…I did say I’d hold you to letting me try out my new tickle-shocks on you.” Kaminari chuckled. “So you kind of had this coming anyway.”

After a long moment, Deku giggled tiredly. “Yeah, okay, I guess that makes me feel a little better.” He held out his hand, and Kaminari helped him to his feet. “Do me a favor though – next time you feel like tickling me, please do not use those tickle-shocks on my hips. That was unbearable.”

“Hey, I had to get the information I needed!” Denki replied with a laugh, walking with his friend away from the scene of the crime. “But it did seem a little intense. I won’t use them there again without warning you first; how does that sound?” He couldn’t very well promise to never do that again – it had been too much fun!

Deku considered for a moment, then nodded. “Okay. And hey, Kaminari?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks. I didn’t like playing a villain anyway.”

[apossessionadaybreak]

Family Bonding

I couldn’t stop grinning when I woke up today. Maybe it was the sun shining through the window, or the smell of coffee coming from the kitchen, or the strong, virile body I was wearing. I laughed, it couldn’t have been more than a couple of days since I hopped into this host but every moment spent in him was further proof that I had made the correct choice. It hadn’t been easy cornering him but week after week of playing the part of his coworker, slowly gaining his trust, had all finally led to this moment. I strutted around the room, a ridiculous one-man parade, a treat meant only for my eyes. I stood before the mirror and beheld my lovely form, feeling something begin to stir and strain against my briefs as I did so. Oh, did I feel good. But it was still early, there was plenty to do, places to be, and a lot more masquerading to do. I patted my member as it stiffened in its cloth prison. Perhaps, if I still remained unsatisfied at the end of the day.

I opened the door and walked into the rest of the house. Yes, yes, all of it lovely, all of it in order, all of it mine. I strode into the living room to see a young man having breakfast.

"Morning son," I called out in my strong voice. “Thanks for the coffee,” I boomed again as I helped myself to a fresh cup.

He nodded, hesitantly perhaps? I made a mental note of the way he looked at me today, and didn’t like what I saw. Uncertainty, unease. No that wouldn’t do at all. I resolved to be a better father as I walked up to where he sat.

“What are you doing on this fine Saturday?” I said, slapping him on the back as I did so. He winced, but gave a wan smile. “Grandpa’s coming over to pick me up, we’re going fishing.”

My jaw clenched but I continued smiling even as I felt a low, cold fury building up inside me. “He’s coming over?”

“Yeah, in fact, any minute now. Let me go get my stuff, I want to be ready to leave when he comes.” He grabbed his phone as he walked to his room, closing the door just a tad faster than normal. Something was not right. No, I thought darkly, nothing was right about this. A stern expression came over my face as I closed my eyes. Focus, I just needed some time to think, with this mind I could work out what I needed to do. I clenched my fists, and grit my teeth as I pondered. My father, my own father, the man who raised me, betraying me like this? How could he not tell me he was coming over? Sweat formed on my furrowed brow as I fumed, trying, failing to cool me off. I forced myself to breathe, to take my time. Certainly this was an affront to my senses but any one who saw me like this would think I had gone insane, becoming this worked up over nothing at all. But I had spent this long, worked this hard, only for that bumbling fool to come along and mess with things. I tried to console myself it would only be for an afternoon, no time at all really but inside my heart I knew I was lying to myself. I had become obsessed with this young man, this youth who was now my son. Having him listen to me, talk to me, look up to me, it was heaven. That had been another reason for taking this host, besides his obvious merits. How could I compete with the old man? He was my senior in every way. I couldn’t allow my son to be stolen away under my nose like that. Then again, this father of mine, it was his blood that coursed through my veins, the one who gave me this strong heart to beat his blood through my veins. I grinned, the solution had been so obvious, how could I have been so blind? I shook my head to myself in disbelief, how foolish I had been to not see the enormity of this golden opportunity on a silver plate. The doorbell rang, and I grinned, things were falling into place, everything would be in order, no, they would be even better than before. I heard the sound of my son’s door being opened.

“Is that Grandpa?” I heard his voice.

“Let me check” I hollered back, chuckling to myself as I did so.

Sure enough when I checked the peephole, I saw the familiar visage of my father, my old man standing outside, patiently waiting. I opened the door.

“Hiya Pops.”

“Oh, morning son. Hope you don’t mind, I planned to take Nate fishing. You can come along too if you want!” He laughed to himself, a hearty roar, like a large ashy fire. I marvelled at the sound and subconsciously licked my lips. I could barely contain my excitement.

“Sounds great Pops, I may just join you two but I’ve got something to show you. Come in, come in, we can talk more in my room.”

He graciously accepted my invitation as I undid the locks. Smiling to myself, I chained the gate and shut the door, making sure there was no way anyone could come in, or out. 

I led the way to my room, opening the door for my father. He stepped in imperiously, with the air of a man who had gotten his way all his life. Not arrogant, it was just how things worked when you were as loved and respected as he was.

“Alright son, what did you want to tell me?”

I smiled, my eyes lighting up with genuine joy.

“Hold still old man.”

I saw the barest frown begin to form on his face as his brow furrowed in puzzlement. He began to open his mouth to ask the question I knew was forming in his mind. I knew what he was going to say. I didn’t care, instead I lunged at his throat. He choked in a mixture of shock, panic, and utter confusion. He spluttered as he tried to yell out but the cry died in his throat as I held on, my penetrating gaze boring deep into his eyes. He whimpered slightly as he stared back, his pupils rapidly dilating, his normally half-shut eyes now open wide in terror and awe. I had him. I tilted my head back and began to push myself out. Slowly, surely, I unstuck the various parts of myself from within my host. My spectral form tore free from the muscle and bone it had been so deeply encased in for the past few days. I felt his senses began to leave me as his limbs grew numb and his eyes grew dull as I continued to detach myself. My host gagged as he coughed up more and more of my essence. I sighed, apparently even in death I could not escape from certain problems. When I had been alive I had been a large man. Now, I certainly had the spirit to match, just not always the body to go along with it. This vessel had been fairly accommodating, if a bit of a squeeze. The remnants of my ghostly belly bubbled up from my host’s, leaving only my tail to wiggle around in his throat. Just another oddity of being a ghost, though I supposed there was little need for legs if one could just as easily hover over the ground. I rubbed my plump hands together in anticipation. But I couldn’t leave just yet. I clutched on to my hefty paunch, digging in to grab handfuls of ectoplasm. Turning to my host with a loving look, I gently laid it over his face. It jiggled there momentarily, before sinking through his nose, his eyes, and soon it was pouring through every available orifice, heading straight for his brain. I felt the welcome return of his sight, his touch, his taste, though they were different now, faded in a way. No matter, so long as I still retained control, still dictated every breath he took, every step he made. Having finished the necessary preparations, I turned back to the old man. His shallow breaths indicated he was still under, still waiting but close, too close to consciousness. I smiled, a fighter, he would serve me well. I rubbed my hands together once again, straightening them out as far as they would go. Using my hosts’s mouth as a makeshift springboard, I lifted myself into the air, and dove straight into the old man’s open jaw.

Oh, what a RUSH. I could feel him, his spirit as it thrashed away, aware of this foreign presence, this threat to itself. I tunneled further, deeper still, pushing past the walls of red and white to the soft ethereal core. In one smooth motion, I grabbed onto it as I swung myself upright using the momentum I had gained, and pressed my own into it. It shuddered as it felt the unwelcome intrusion, the way it unwillingly yielded to take in mine, the way it could do nothing but accept me.

I opened my eyes, feeling a brand new set of senses fill my consciousness, swamping me with new information. I closed my eyes as I drank it all in, gluttonously sucking in as much as I could. More, more, more. I choked, opening my eyes involuntarily as I huffed a few short pants. Looking at me lovingly... was me. Even now as I looked at him, I could also see him looking at me through his eyes. We smiled in unison, lips curling up perfectly in sync. I smirked and he did as well. I laughed, and the bass of our voices layered effortlessly with each other, bouncing around the room. Together, we began to unbutton our shirts, unbuckle our belts. As the clothes slipped off our bodies we tumbled onto the nearby couch, staring at each other, scarcely breathing as we gazed at each other’s beauty. As the old man, I laid down first, slowly curling my back while still ensuring I could see my son. As my son, I brought my hairy body atop my father’s. We shivered, feeling the way our fur, our skin, brushed against each other, every contact a small jolt of pleasure. We looked at each other, entranced. It was understood what was to be done, no words needed to be said.

---

I stepped out of the room as the old man. Strong as these bodies were, the rapid sequence of activity had drained the younger. It was time for me to rest, but also time for me to continue my day afresh, with the adrenaline rush of a new host. I stepped out into the living room to see a young man sitting on the couch, staring at his phone. He looked up as I approached.

“Grandpa! You’re here!” He said, surprised. I closed my eyes from the abrupt rush as he addressed me, so trusting, so sincere.

“Sorry son,” I rumbled, “didn’t mean to keep you waiting. Had some matters to discuss with your dad.”

“Oh.” His face fell as he cast his eyes downwards. I frowned but stayed silent, sensing he wanted to say something.

“About dad... he’s been acting kind of weird lately. I don’t know what’s gotten into him.” Ah, so that was the problem. I patted myself on the back mentally, clearly I was on a streak of good decisions, making all the right moves.

“Don’t you worry about that son, we’ll have plenty of time to talk on the boat. Now let’s go fishing.” I saw him relax as he raised his head to smile at me. He got up from the couch and started to the door. I clapped a giant hand onto his shoulder, turning my head to give him a knowing wink.

[monkberries]

OG Paul anon here: Generally I agree with you, and I'd never presume that literally the whole fandom has one line of thought. However, I have been involved in the online fan community for many years now, and it's precisely because I've been involved in many fan spaces that I felt compelled to write my original hot take. If it was only something I came across in certain places it wouldn't bother me but that's not the case. It's way more frequent than it used to be. 1/2

As forums have shut down and Beatles communities on tumblr and social media have shrunk, you're not left with many options. So when those limited options are making your experience a miserable one, it's going to be a real problem. Back in the day when George was rising in popularity it was easier to find balance. Eventually those George fans either moved on or got sick of Paul fans bashing him & they left. This happened simultaneously in multiple places & quality of discussion suffered. 2/2

Yeah, sorry, that post wasn't really aimed specifically At You, it was more your messages sent me off on a tangent about like, fandom dynamics and online spaces and it spiraled. (This response will probably be similar where I'll explain things but please don't think I'm trying to talk down to you like you're an idiot or anything; I'm more trying to work things out with myself using your asks as a springboard.)

Unfortunately, yeah. I feel ya. That's the way of backlash. It's just a much slower moving backlash than most things online tend to be, I feel like, because of the insane amount of literature and huge spread of fans across generations and countries and online platforms. It's more like steering an ocean liner than moving a pendulum. Like, backlash online tends to swing wildly depending on the hour of the day. I remember a YA author on twitter getting butthurt that some college sophomore didn't include her book on a list of recommended books for some reason, and all her friends piled on and the college girl was run off of twitter within a couple of hours. But a couple of hours after that, there was a huge backlash against this YA author; and then the NEXT day there was backlash to the backlash, like, ooh did people go Too Far on that YA author? And there was a more balanced take after people got further away from it.

That's like, and incredibly simple example of the backlash boogie that goes on, but I feel like you can extrapolate it out to what's been happening in the Beatles fandom over a span of decades now. First there was the John Era, and in the past few decades it's been the HEY WHAT ABOUT PAUL Era. My assumption is that the Paul fans you've experienced see this as a balancing of the narratives; John got his days in the sun with Paul in shadow and now Paul gets to be on the pedestal and John gets to sit in the shadow. On the one hand, I get it, like, it must suck to be a Paul fan and see most of the popular media for the first 25 years of Beatle lit rip him to shreds. But I personally wish we could skip the second part where the scales tip the other way and just go straight to the part where we're far enough away to be even.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 177: Construction Site Clash

Previously on BnHA: Deku confronted Gentle outside of a tea shop. Gentle sprang into action and revealed his quirk: elasticity. Basically he’s Monkey D. Luffy but instead of making himself stretchy and bouncy, he can do it to anything he touches, including the ground and even the damn air. Deku charged at him and promptly got flung waaaay back, but Gentle and La Brava realized how strong he is (and La Brava recognized him from his batshit insane fight against Todoroki in the sports festival where he broke all off his fingers just to prove a fucking point) and tried to run, not wanting to go toe to toe with him. Probably a good call, because after getting bounced into the air, Deku -- thinking about Eri and Jirou and everyone else who’s been looking forward to the cultural festival -- unleashed his new long-range Delaware Smash: Air Force attack. Then he grabbed Gentle by the collar and flung him into a fucking building. Damn, Deku.

Today on BnHA: Deku has a weird conversation with Gentle while the latter dangles from a construction beam. Gentle tries to reason with Deku and explain how his plan is somehow going to be a win-win situation for everyone. Deku calls bullshit and then lies and says the authorities are on their way, so Gentle cheerfully leaps back into action and starts using his quirk to springboard all over the place Gran Torino style so that Deku can’t get in a clean shot. He then tries to drop a giant steel beam onto a hapless old man, forcing Deku to jump in and save him. While he’s occupied, Gentle and La Brava take the opportunity to flee. We get an update on the time -- it’s now 8:45 a.m., t-minus 15 minutes to the start of the festival -- and then we cut back to Deku, who gets real mad and lifts the beam with only one fucking hand while aiming another air gun attack at Gentle with the other. La Brava is all “oh shit this kid doesn’t give up” and says that she’ll have to use her quirk.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 202 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

you guys. it’s February 3rd 2019 and I’ve just watched the worst, most mind-numbingly boring Superbowl in history. wtf was that. BnHA please help me wash the bad taste out of my mouth please and thank you

lmao oh my god

do you guys remember that scene from Avengers where Bruce Banner wakes up in an abandoned building and Harry Dean Stanton thoughtfully gives him some pants. for some reason this reminded me of that. “well then, son, you’ve got a condition”

now La Brava’s running over from a nearby roof and she’s all “DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT POPS”

she says they’re just shooting a film, and she’s asking him to let the neighbors know as well

well this is the most transparent lie of all time

(ETA: or is it just transparent enough to work!)

and even she’s thinking that it’s probably not going to buy them much time and that their plans have basically been foiled and they have to retreat

and now we’re cutting to inside of the building

on the one hand, it’s a cool setting and conveniently empty so that no one will get hurt! but on the other hand, this looks like the perfect place for someone to land the wrong way on a rebar and get accidentally impaled. please no one get impaled. we had enough impalings in the last arc

Deku’s thinking grateful thoughts about Mei and flashing back to when she gave him the details about his new gloves

yeah I’m just going to post this, not even gonna try and sum it up

(ETA: might wanna think about using a different font in the future if you want to avoid any confusion when typing out the word “flick”, Jaimini)

she sure knows a lot about his OFA capabilities, huh? thankfully she’s the type who gets so caught up in whatever she’s currently focused on that she would never in a million years note the many, many similarities between Deku’s quirk and All Might’s

also, interestingly, Deku is thinking a “thank you” to Mina as well!

because he apparently incorporated her “special dance training” into his attack?? omg what. “dance-off, bro. you and me”

Gentle is such a wacky fellow he might actually do it too

oh my lord

see what I mean

also hush, Deku. it’s called “flair” okay?

now Gentle is grinning like a loon and saying that he’ll execute his plan no matter what. “this is my resolve”

your resolve is stupid, Gentle. there, I said it. I love you but you lost this one pal. stop trying to attack a bunch of teenagers who are just trying to have a fun and wholesome time at school

Deku’s yelling at him. “you’re no gentleman!”

wow, harsh Deku

now he’s asking what Gentle is planning

meanwhile La Brava is hopping the fence and entering the construction site, and this overly trusting man from earlier has been completely fooled

lol she should just make something up. “uh...” [okay, just be cool, La Brava. just pick something reasonable] “...Animal Planet.” [nailed it]

now she’s sprinting over to where Deku and Gentle are and getting ready to film again

lol

so Deku is telling him that the school is on high security alert and the alarms will sound even before he can get in and he’ll definitely be caught, and on top of that the festival will be called off

this motherfucker is genuinely trying to negotiate with him lmao

Deku’s all “THAT’S EVEN WORSE” and Gentle is all “lol yeah I guess” omg

and now he (Gentle) is all “well, so that’s my plan, now if you don’t mind I’d like to get back at it”

oh snap

well at least he’s a better liar than La Brava

uh oh, Gentle is activating his quirk again it looks like

he’s springboarding off the floor and shouting “BEGONE, STUDENT OF U.A.”

outstanding use of the word “begone”, Gentle my good man

anyway, so he’s bouncing around and Deku is watching and trying to predict his movements

and Gentle is getting ready to springboard again

that probably isn’t good for the building

-- oh for fuck’s...

so all that time training with Gran Torino was for nothing?

wtf, now what??

did he just get hit? what’s going on

Gentle is saying “if you can use an air bullet, allow me to counter with an air barrier”

wait, what? so is the idea to reflect Deku’s attack back on him?

oh wait. or did Deku just walk into an elastic patch of air and get bounced back? is that what it is?

La Brave is telling Gentle that they need to retreat, and yeah they really should

but instead, Gentle is removing a bolt from one of the beams

did he do that with his bare (well, gloved, but you know what I mean) hands?? just like that? either this construction is shoddy as hell, or else this is the single most unrealistic thing I’ve ever seen in this manga about kids with superpowers and bird heads and astronomical high school entrance exam budgets

anyway, now he’s bouncing on the beam and it’s vibrating

he says he can’t consciously deactivate his quirk

interesting. also potentially pretty dangerous and certainly inconvenient

but objects turn back to normal given a little time

and that’s what’s happening with this beam oh snap

well but I mean, as soon as you manhandled that screw loose -- did he use his quirk for that? is that why it was so easy? -- it was pretty clear what you intended to do

and by the way, dropping a steel beam onto a 16-year-old is pretty damn metal for someone who’s supposedly a gentleman villain

oh shit wait

damn, dropping it onto an unsuspecting old man who’s not even a fighter is even more metal

but thankfully Deku is Deku

nice, Deku

now he’s getting all outraged and “DID YOU JUST TRY TO DROP IT ON THAT INNOCENT OLD MAN”

oh, Gentle

c’mon, Gentle. c’mon. you tried to kill a dude. just admit it. that was not nice

(ETA: is La Brava still filming all this?? did the cops eventually get this footage? Gentle’s gonna be put away for attempted fucking murder. sorry dude)

now the old dude is finally running away, and meanwhile Gentle seemingly intends to just leave Deku here...?

ffff now he’s making the crane bendy??

and he’s telling Deku he’s sure someone will find him. lol what the hell is he going to do

Deku’s thinking to himself that they’re going to infiltrate the festival at this rate, and he has to act

omg yay we’re cutting back to 1-A!

lmaooooo Kaminari really didn’t end up sleeping a wink, huh. he was so hyped up

BAKUGOU, PUT ON YOUR T-SHIRT!! WE MADE IT JUST FOR THE OCCASION!!

I wish I could read what they say underneath the A? Toko’s shirt seems to start with “BN” (if they say bnha I s2g), but Momo’s shirt looks different. maybe an error though

(ETA: so as we eventually learn, they say “A Band”, and the delightful story behind this exceptionally creative name is the topic of today’s omake!)

the dancing team is also getting dressed, and they’ve got their own special costumes which are cute but I’m not gonna post the panel because Mineta is ruining it. how come no one ever drops a steel beam on him

Shouto is wearing one of the class A t-shirts, so I guess the staging team is rocking those too

anyway he’s asking where Deku went, and Aoyama says he went to buy rope

and now Shouto’s “is my boyfriend in danger” senses are tingling

this is a reasonable concern because as we all know, if you leave Deku alone for more than five minutes he will inevitably run into a villain. in hindsight they never should have let him leave

meanwhile Aoyama is already thinking about backup plans, oh damn

fully serious, if you combined Aoyama’s ingenuity with Mina’s they’d make a pretty unstoppable team. these kids are creative as fuck

ohhh, Gentle was just using the crane to launch himself and La Brava into the air towards U.A.

damn, dude doesn’t even care that Deku supposedly put out the alert. he says that if they make it in even with U.A. on the lookout for them, his name will become even more recognized

what are you trying to accomplish though, dude, in all seriousness? do you know what’s going to happen if U.A. suffers another break-in after all of the security measures they supposedly put in place, and after they insisted on holding the cultural festival despite police objections? they’ll be fucking shut down is what. this will be the third villain incident in less than six months. people are not going to be happy about that. best case, they’ll be allowed to stay open but with a ton of restrictions in place. basically you’ll make it harder than ever for them to do their job, when right now the world needs them more than ever. they’re raising the next generation of heroes here, and this is a post-All Might world. so maybe just cut them some slack, jesus christ

and now we’re cutting back to Deku, straining under the beam

come on Deku, you got this. powerlift this bitch

LOL OHHHHH SHIT

WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST PUT IT DOWN YOU NIMROD LMAO. “LOOK AT ME, I’M DEKU, ALL MIGHT’S SUCCESSOR! I CAN LIFT STEEL BEAMS WITH ONE HAND AND FIRE AIR CANNONS AT VILLAINS WITH THE OTHER”

oh damn. and it seems we’re finally going to get to see La Brava’s quirk! about fucking time. bring it

BONUS: what should we name the band?

“Electric Spark Kids”, Kaminari? really?? you really do just blurt out whatever the fuck pops into your head huh. (actually tbh this is my favorite name out of all of them)

Tokoyami has a fucking obsession with banquets. I really want to know how he ended up latching onto this out of all the “___ of darkness” things he could have possibly chosen. fwiw I did find out there is a song called Banquet in the Darkness which I haven’t actually listened to because the album art alone is frankly terrifying to me and I somewhat regret having looked this up

there is also a band called Ore, though I assume it’s intended to be the English definition of the word rather than Bakugou’s intended meaning. but it just goes to show you that it’s impossible to be original anymore no matter what you do

and then Momo is just... it’s a band... representing class A... band... A... band... A Band? and Jirou is just like OMG THAT’S THE GREATEST IDEA EVER despite the fact that it clearly is the most half-assed idea anyone has ever come up with. she just loves Momo that much. and is also desperate to stop the boys from coming up with any more suggestions lmao

by the way I just want to say that all of the kids are absolutely adorable in this sketch and it’s easily one of my favorite omakes for that reason alone. so stinking cute omg

[lenific]

@thatvermilionflycatcher asked Rumbelle + ‘Could you stop doing that?’ Set in Los Simuladores.

—

Belle felt Gold’s hooded gaze on her as she crossed the room to join the group at the table, but she pretended not to notice. She had offered her friendship and he’d slapped it away; if he wanted to make amends, he could step up and say something instead of trying to stare her into giving him an opening.

Her stomach still clenched into an unpleasant knot when the door snapped closed and her ears caught the faint sound of his cane against the floor as he headed to his private quarters. Coward, she thought, still seething at having served as the target of his undeserved tirade. He might be sorry, but until she heard an actual apology, Belle wanted nothing to do with the horrible man.

So intent was she on ignoring Gold, that Jefferson’s words, coming from a few inches away, caught her by surprise.

“Could you stop doing that?”

Belle glanced at him, at a loss as to his meaning. Her puzzlement grew when the other two men, far from dismissing their partner’s question as they often did when Jefferson’s love for needless drama peeked out, joined in the plea with nods of their own. She fidgeted, disconcerted at being the target of their concerted interest outside of an operation. “Stop doing… what?”

Jefferson rolled his eyes. “This thing,” he said, emphasizing the vagueness of the term with an exasperated wave of his hand, “you and Gold have going on. It was funny in the beginning, but now it’s just sad.”

“There’s nothing going on,” Belle told them, though her voice sounded irritated to her own ears. “In any case,-” she plugged in her laptop and connected it to the projector- “I found something that will help us get our client in the good graces of his future father-in-law. Mr. Fisher might claim to have no liking for music, but he’s saved a few videos of Mrs. Fisher dragging him onto a karaoke stage. I think-”

Jefferson grabbed her wrist before she could click the file open. “Yes, Beauty. Your hacking skills will save the day again, but why don’t we focus on you for once.”

Belle shuddered at the idea. “Let’s not.”

The brief struggle for the laptop mouse ended when the equipment abruptly turned off.

The projector plug in hand, David stood over them, looking exasperated. “Hatter, don’t be a baby. She will talk when she’s ready.”

Belle was about to thank him for his tact, but Viktor spoke first:

“No, she won’t.” He gave Belle an unapologetic stare, daring her to contradict him. “They’re made from the same cloth, she and Gold. Whatever is bothering her, she’ll either find a solution or let it fester, but God forbid she asks for help.” He leaned back into his chair, balancing his weight on the two back legs and pushing off into a rocking motion by pressing his feet against the table leg. “See? I told you it would be useless,” he said to Jefferson and David, his smirk entirely too smug for Belle’s taste. “She’s the suffering kind.”

Belle glared back at him. “No, I’m not.”

Viktor laughed. “Tell that to someone who hasn’t seen you mope around all week. What gives, Beauty?” He gave her his best impression of a concerned physician. “Gold didn’t live up to his end of the bargain, so to speak?”

Belle didn’t understand his meaning until Jefferson chimed in:

“Not Mr. Punctilious. He’d never leave a lady hanging.” He took advantage of Belle’s bewildered spluttering to grab her hand and pat it comfortingly. “Now, now. No need to look embarrassed, my lovely friend. You’re among family. Your secret stays here.” He leaned forward, his voice kept low. “He finished too quickly, didn’t he?”

Belle felt her cheeks burn. “What? No!”

“No shame in it,” Jefferson continued, as if they discussed Belle’s sex life often. “It happens to the best of us.”

Viktor snorted. “Speak for yourself, Hatter. Charming?”

David flushed, but his quick look away spoke for itself. “Never mind that,” he said out loud, coming again to separate Jefferson from Belle. “You two apologize to Belle - I mean, to Beauty, at once. Her personal life is none of our business.”

“When it affects Gold, it affects us,” Jefferson protested, while Viktor bit off more practically, “Everyone’s private life is our business, boy.”

“We could ask Gold for his input,” David warned, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket.

The other two groaned, but even though David was the youngest among them, they fell in line and grunted their apologies.

Belle felt her anger rise, and was tempted to grab her computer and walk far from this group of men who had so little respect for boundaries. Then she remembered what had drawn her to work with them in the first place: they always thought outside the box, and they didn’t shy away from the less lady-like aspects of her personality or her need to root around for every last nanobyte of information.

It was too soon to consider them friends, but at last she was a freak in a group of freaks.

A show of acceptance, she supposed, was adequate.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” she told them, taking measured breaths to keep her voice steady. “Gold and I are business partners, just like you are to him. Nothing more.”

Three pairs of eyes fixed on her with incredulity.

“Christ. It’s worse than I imagined,” said Jefferson, looking aghast right before he bumped his forehead against the table. “We’re doomed!”

Viktor grabbed his shoulder and righted him up. “Save the melodrama for tonight’s job, idiot. At least now we know why he’s been looking as if he’s about to devour somebody.” He glanced over at Belle to make sure she’d gotten his meaning, then gave Jefferson another shake. “This is good.”

“It is?”

“Sure,” said Viktor. “Gold isn’t angry. He isn’t nursing a bruised ego over some underperformance. He’s just…” Just in time, he caught David’s warning gaze. It took a few seconds for him to discard several obscene options. “Itching”

Now it was Jefferson’s turn to slap him over the head. “You're such an ass, Doc. Does she look like a tick?” He swatted at Viktor again, hitting a different place since Viktor’s hands couldn’t protect the whole area. “Itching, indeed.”

Belle giggled at their antics, but still shook her head. “It’s really not like that.”

“He likes you,” David said, his voice low and earnest. Unlike Belle, he didn’t startle when Jefferson and Viktor rolled onto the floor and continued their grappling there. “He’s never actually let anyone else into this room, outside the three of us. He could have requested that you email the information, but instead he invited you in.”

Belle looked away. “I kind of blackmailed him into that…”

Viktor and Jefferson came to a sudden halt, whirling their heads in her direction. Even David was openmouthed, and he had to swallow before he could speak again. “Blackmail?”

Belle thought quickly. “I threatened to expose the group,” she told them, feeling lousy for deceiving them with the truth. A promise, however, was a promise. Gold’s family was his secret to keep. “I’m sorry.”

The men didn’t look offended at all. After the last couple of months, Belle knew that they were used to similar threats on a constant basis.

“Well, fuck me sideways,” Viktor said, eyebrows high with shock, “Gold must really like you. I mean, I knew he wanted to— ouch, Charming! I was going to say, scratch an itch. Honest.”

“There isn’t an honest bone in you, Doctor. Not when you’re talking to a woman.” David relaxed his grip on Viktor’s shoulder anyway, though a last squeeze reminded the other man not to say more. “He’s right, though,” he told Belle, lips curving into a good-humored smile. “Gold likes you.”

“Doubtful.”

“You know, lovely girl. There’s an easy way to test our theory.” Jefferson grinned, just as he did when he uncovered the information that would serve as a fulcrum upon which to lever an operation. “Jump the guy, and see what happens.”

Belle squeaked, tripping over her own tongue to refuse such insane advice.

“We can bet on it,” piped in Viktor, looking eager at the chance.

Her silence, apparently, was being taken as agreement.

Even David looked thoughtful. “Important matters deserve a frontal approach, he always says,” he reminded her. “Don’t you think this is important enough?”

“Yes!” she snapped. “And he already told me he’s not interested, okay.” When they looked doubtful, Belle sighed and told all, “I wanted to be friends, he said no. Emphatically.”

The guys were wincing. But not in sympathy with her.

“Friends?” Jefferson shook his head. “That’s cold, Beauty.”

“I’d be a wreck, too,” Viktor agreed.

David twisted his mouth as if he’d bitten into something unpleasant. “I’m sure you meant well,” he told her, “but put yourself in his shoes for a minute. You meet someone interesting-”

“And hot,” Viktor added.

“-and attractive,” David said, glaring at the other blond, “and you let them into your life, and your secrets; and you open your house to them, and give them a reason to come back - and this person just wants to be friends?”

Belle huffed. “I didn’t just—” She thought back to that conversation. Had she ever implied that she was looking for a springboard into a more serious relationship, or just played it safe? “Oh, crap.”

“It’s all right,” David told her, giving a reassuring smile. “You’ll make it better.”

Belle also remembered the aftermath of the conversation - no, it hadn’t been a conversation by the end; it had been an argument, and Gold had been a nasty beast. “Oh no,” she told his friends, confident that they’d pass on the message, “this ball is not in my court. As soon as Gold apologizes, well, we’ll see.”

The End 29/04/17

[tea-and-cardigans]

Do You Notice Me - Bughead Canon AU Oneshot.

This is a one-shot fill for the @bughead-fanfic-wishlist submitted by the always lovely @raptorlily . I can only hope that I have done this prompt justice for you. I have not written Canon is so long it was strange to go back to it. But I cannot wait until new episodes with new canon springboards to launch off!!

Ao3 Link Here.

(Apologies for the Keep Reading cut for mobile users)

Canon AU - What if Jughead wasn't the one who initiated their first kiss? What if it were Betty? Write me a story exploring Betty's growing feelings for Juggie and her deciding what to do with those feelings. Bonus Consideration: she put herself out there and got rejected by Archie, and Jughead isn't exactly an open book. He's also her childhood friend, just like Archie. Perhaps the rewards outweigh the risks?

Do You Notice Me

Betty Cooper had a problem.

Jughead Jones.

He hadn’t started out as a problem. Quite the opposite to be exact but he had fast become one. Betty, after the disaster that was admitting her feelings for Archie had wanted something uncomplicated. She wasn’t looking for romance, or longing looks or fantasies about removing a certain crown shaped beanie and running her fingers through what she imagined were soft, dark waves.

No.

She wanted to solve a murder, find her sister, maybe reconnect with an old friend. Not… this.

She found herself watching him without meaning to. It was almost like she was seeing him again for the first time. They had been friends for so long it was almost like she had missed him growing up. But she was noticing him now.

But now instead of simply accepting that Jughead was a boy with a beanie she began to wonder what was underneath. Ever since she had known him he had worn that beanie, a security blanket of types. She knew what it was like to put up a barrier between yourself and the rest of the world.

That's what her pastel pink sweaters and perfectly curled pony tail was. Something that she presented to the rest of the world a careful concealment of a part of her that was becoming more and more dominant. As if the darkness that was now consuming the small town had taken her down with it.

She had started to notice him, really notice him, that night at Pop’s. After once again managing to subdue that darker, wilder part of herself in her confrontation with Cheryl she had made up with Veronica as they headed to Pop’s. She noted how different he looked her first time really seeing him since the summer break and he looked ‘older’. He was no longer that scrawny kid that they hung out with in Archie’s tree house sipping lemonade made by Mrs Andrews. He had grown up. She had smiled shyly at him when he hopped into the booth opposite her and he returned her smile with a subtle raise of his eyebrows as he stole a sip of her milkshake. Something that he had always done since they were kids. His eyes challenged her to stop him but she just leant back in her seat, allowing him to take what he wanted.

It became abundantly clear to everyone in that booth that night how enamoured Archie Andrews was with new girl Veronica Lodge. Betty knew that the pain that she felt now would lessen. Stepping back now she could see how her ‘crush’ on Archie, and it was just that, had been a long held childhood fantasy of hers. She had seen them as that power couple. The high school jock and the girl next door looked so good on paper. But in reality Archie had only eyes for Veronica.

The little looks that Jughead sent her did not go unnoticed by her. Small, shy smiles. Kind eyes. And for a brief and fleeting moment she found herself wishing that she was on the other side of the booth next to him, sharing their own private jokes together as they had when they were children. As they had before she went away for the summer.

“I can wait out here until your mom gets here.” Jughead said from behind her as they had stood out the front of Pop’s watching Archie and Veronica leave together. His hands were shoved in his jacket pockets as he glanced at her, kicking some stones at his feet. She thought about the expression on her mom’s face if she turned up to pick her up at Pop’s to find her with Jughead Jones. Alice had made no secret of her disdain for the Jones family as soon as Betty started hanging out with Jughead. She wondered which her mother would be more disapproving of, Jughead or Archie.

“It’s okay Juggie, she’ll be here soon.” He gave her a quick nod before he returned inside to the booth that they had been sitting at. She watched him pull out his laptop and begin to type, the waitress already putting down another cup of steaming hot coffee. A loud beep tore her away from her observations as her mom leaned over to the passenger side’s window telling her to hurry up and get in the car. She stole one more glance before she made her way to the old station wagon.

In reality she hadn’t expected him to say yes when she asked him to help her resurrect the Blue and Gold. He was right, writing for the school paper wasn’t really his scene. So she had batted her eyelashes and pouted her lips slightly. It wasn’t the first and it probably wouldn’t be the last time that she used this tactic on him. She knew by his heavy sigh and slumping of his shoulders that she had won and eagerly agreed to his conditions.

It felt somewhat familiar being the sleuthing duo of Riverdale High. It reminded her of the time the summer before last where Archie had gone off to football camp and the three musketeers had become a reluctant two. They spent their days at Pop’s Betty reading her book on one side of the booth while Jughead furiously typed on his laptop while Betty occasionally would try to steal a look. Jughead would quickly turn the screen away from her prying eyes not yet ready to share what he was working on. Betty would hmph and then skip to the counter to get them another round of milkshakes ignoring the voices in her head of Alice Cooper and Cheryl Blossom that she shoud make better choices if she wanted to succeed. Jughead never said anything.

She hadn’t expected him to say yes to finding Polly. She reasoned that it was because he was committed to finding out who killed Jason and Polly was a key part to the mystery. She had expected him to turn and run when she suggested that he came to breakfast so that she could get a good look at her mum’s checkbook. No-one voluntarily put themselves in the same room as her mother. But he had. Giving her a final pleading look as Alice Cooper led him from the breakfast table, his eyes lingering on the cooked breakfast he was leaving behind.

He had offered to travel with her to see Polly. She could have gone on her own, even Archie offered to go with her and she had turned him away. The Betty of a few weeks ago wouldn’t have even given Archie’s offer a second thought accepting immediately. Betty liked to think that she had changed since that night at the dance. She had grown up.

Her eyes continued to drift over to him during the bus ride to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. He stared out the window, his eyes flicking between the trees and buildings as they passed them. Her heart stopped as they set foot off the bus and the building came into view. A home for wayward teens, it looked more like an insane asylum. She could feel the tears already beginning to well. Shutting her eyes to try and keep them at bay. She felt his hands on her shoulders turning him to face her. She opened her eyes and was met by the intensity of his own green ones.

“We are going to get her out of here Betts.” She nodded. His eyes narrowed waiting for her more convicted response.

“We are going to get her out.” She repeated as he gave her shoulders a final squeeze and Betty thought that maybe he was going to pull her into an embrace, before he let go. She took a deep sigh, straightened her shoulders and pulled her ponytail that much tighter as they stepped towards the building.

She needed to see him. After the events of the day before and her conversation with her parents she needed to talk to someone and where her mind would previously have thought of Kevin or Archie there was now a new name coming to mind Jughead. She waited until her mom and dad left the home for the register. Before she snuck out. She had texted him already asking to meet her at the Blue and Gold.

Her hand was shaking a little as she turned the handle and was relieved to see him already there. She was reminded of the way that he had tried to reach out to her and her sister at the Sister’s, held back by one of the porters. It had been an unpleasant car ride back to Riverdale to say the least. Betty sitting in the front passenger seat her mother stopping her from getting in the back of the car with him. A pointed look telling her not to test her any further and Betty knew that she would be wise to heed her mother’s warning.

“Betts.” He breathed out as he saw her and Betty paused briefly at the door before she shut it behind her. He was by her side by the time the door had shut his hand on her arm in what she took as a gesture of concern and nothing more.

“Jug, I’m sorry about yesterday. I shouldn’t have dragged you into this.” She removed herself from his grip and sat up on one of the old desks.

Jughead followed her across the room, leaning against her perch. “I volunteered.” He reminded her. She looked down his hand was resting against the desk so close to her own hand. She thought about moving the last few inches to touch her fingers against his own to see if he would pull back. Whether he would look at her in confusion at her actions or jerk his hand away. She had been burned once this school year and was not so sure she was keen to be burned again.

“I shouldn’t have told her about Jason.” She pulled her hand to her lap removing it from temptation. Jughead jumped up to sit beside her on the desk. Eliminating the distance that she had just put between them.

“You needed to Betts. Otherwise you wouldn’t be any better than your parents. She deserved to know especially because -”

“Of the baby.” Betty whispered. She was still in shock that her sister was pregnant. That she was going to be an auntie. That new life growing inside her sister had already lost their father. She wouldn’t let her parents take away their mother as well.

“Yeah.”

“I asked my dad.” She looked up from her lap to meet his eyes. “About whether he killed Jason.”

“And?”

“He didn’t. But they’re crazy Juggie, both of them. And Polly, the way she was talking. She sounded crazy. Maybe I’m-”

“Hey.” His hand was on her shoulder, a soothing rubbing motion. Not unlike how he had back at the Sister’s. “All our parents are crazy.” A small smile across his lips brought a little comfort to her and she realised she was now staring at his lips.

It wasn’t the first time she had found herself in this position in the Blue and Gold office since they had started their investigation into the murder of Jason Blossom. She had imagined closing the distance between them as he leant over her shoulder watching her as she would carefully edit one of his articles or as they sat together on the old desk both looking at the ‘murder board’ as if there was something there that they were both missing. He would stare at the board and Betty would sneak glances at him as he pulled his bottom lip in concentration. Or occasionally twisted that one curl that always managed to find it’s way out of the confines of the gray woollen beanie on top of his head.

There was that voice in her head holding her back. Telling her that it was all in her head. Those gestures of comfort, those shy smiles, the private jokes, all of it was just her imagination. They were friends was it really something that she wanted to jeopardise just like she had her friendship with Archie because she couldn’t keep her emotions in check. She had been trying to analyse him. See if there was something there, whether he was feeling anything for her. She had run through his comment about her and Trevor’s date a million times.

‘You just called it a date.’ Was he jealous? Curious? Perhaps concerned that she was putting herself out there again after just having her heart stomped all over by their friend. He had said it so casually that she couldn’t read into it further. She looked for signs and yet Jughead Jones was a closed book that she desperately wanted to read.

“Juggie.” She whispered. Her hand moved to his arm and she felt him still slightly under her touch and she thought about pulling back, backing out completely. “Thank you.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek. She pulled herself back to examine his reaction as he turned to face her. His eyes searching hers his expression as always unreadable to her.

She leant in again, this time pressing her lips against his. They were warm and soft against her own. She heard his breath hitch as she moved her lips against his waiting for him to respond. She thought for a moment that she had messed up. She had altered another friendship through the complications of her own emotions. She went to pull back from the kiss, but his hand on the back of her head stopped her as he kept her in place as he finally began to return her kiss in earnest.

She sighed into the kiss as their mouths explored one another. This kiss was different to the one she had shared with Archie when they were still kids playing. Different to the one she had shared with Brad during her internship in Los Angeles at the carnival. It was as if every part of her body was on edge, every sense was heightened and she could only think of him. Her heart was thundering in her ears as she felt his hand moved from her head to her neck, his thumb brushing against her pulse point as her own hands moved from his arms to his jacket pulling him towards her so that he was closer to her as they both shifted on the desk. She pulled back smiling at him, her grin widening as she noticed that he shared her expression. Was this what her sister had felt when she had first kissed Jason? Before their families had torn them apart, when they were planning their secret get away to -

“The car!” She exclaimed her eyes widening in realisation as her mind tried to catch up to it’s own thought while still trapped in the feeling of her kiss with Jughead.

“And I thought we were having a moment here.” She met his eyes and thought that she could see a hint of disappointment.

“We were, we are, but Polly said that her and Jason had stashed a car on route 44. Maybe if we can find that car.”

“Then we can find some concrete evidence.”

“That Polly isn't crazy.” Her hands were either side if his face as she kissed his lips again. “To be continued?”

“Most definitely.” He replied taking her hand in hers as he pulled her from the desk as they left the Blue and Gold together.

Off to solve a murder, and maybe something more.