#thank you for letting me draw her and for running such a fun project....... she is everything to me.

[gravehound]

my karnaca nights art for @10yearsofdishonoredzine 🌹 today is the last day for leftover sales!

[pottersmiracle]

Did you draw me?

Sean Diaz x Fem! Reader

warnings: fluff-daniel annoying sean but reader finding it cute-estaban being a stereotypical dad-flustered sean-sean calls reader amor (love)-use of y/n-i think thats it

summary: its a normal Saturday afternoon at your boyfriends house, you would go over there most weekends and his family loved you. This time while your hanging out with his brother and dad you catch him drawing you.

a/n: finally writing for the loml - sean listens to the smiths fight me on that - not proofread don’t kill me

Masterlist

“Come on! I wanna show you what i made!” Daniel pulled your hand to drag you to his room and your boyfriend sitting next to you rolled his eyes, “dude leave her alone! She doesn’t want to see your project.” You gently smacked his arm, “yes i do actually.” And you followed Daniel to his room.

Seans dad laughed at him, “you’re lucky she puts up with you.” Sean shook his head and mumbled, “it’s shocking isnt it.” Sean got off the stool he was sitting on and went to the couch as he dad laughed again, he laid on it with his sketchbook in hand.

After a few minutes you and Daniel came out of his room and back to where Sean and his dad still were, “have fun?” His dad asked. “Yeah! Y/n thought it was cool.” Daniel said excitedly as he say on one of the stools. I nodded in response. His dad laughed, “thats good.”

You listened and watched Daniel and Esteban joke around about his school and other things for about 10 minutes before you decided to check on your boyfriend. You walked around the couch so you were behind him, you were gonna scare him but then you looked closer at his sketchbook. You watched him add more details and you smiled when you notcied it was a drawing of you, Daniel, and Esteban but the main focus of the drawing was you, you had the most details.

“Did you draw me?” You asked him making him jump and sit up, “w-what? What are you talking about?” He asked, a blush spreading on his cheeks. You smiled wider, “let me see your sketchbook.” He closed it quickly and held it to his chest, “no.” You both didnt notice Esteban laughing and watching you guys.

“Please?” You practically begged him with the sweetest voice you could give him. He didnt budge though as much as he wanted to, but you eventually grabbed it from him and he jumped off the couch to chase you, you ran into the the kitchen and stood behind Esteban and he helped hold back sean as you flipped through the pages to find the drawing.

“Hey! Dad- let me go! Give it back!” Sean struggled in his dads arms and Daniel laughed watching the chaos. Sean saw as you flipped to the page and he groaned and stopped struggling, his dad stepped closer to you so he could see it too.

“Aww Sean.” You said looking at the drawing. He didnt respond, he just hung his head in embarrassment. “Aww.” His dad teased him poking Sean in the sides. You leaned against the counter and flipped through other pages of his sketchbook, that wasnt the only drawing he’s done of you.

“Alright kids its time for me to get back to it. You know where ill be if you need me.” Esteban said squeezing you and seans shoulder softly and ruffling daniels hair as he walked past him on the way to the garage. “I have to finish my project in my room any way.” Daniel said running to his room.

“Oh don’t hurry back!” Sean said to daniel and walked towards you. You closed the book and looked at him, he was closer to you now and you couldnt help but recognize how tall he was compared to you.

“They’re amazing Sean.” You said softly and wrapped your arms around his torso and hugged him. He hugged you back, “thank you amor.” When you pulled away he kissed you softly, lifting your chin up towards him.

“Make sure you guys are keeping it pg in here yeah? You are in a public slace.” You heard from his dad making you both pull away, “dad..” Sean groaned shaking his head as you both looked towards the garage and saw esteban walking towards the counter and picking up a tool, “forgot this. Have fun you two,” he joked, “but not too much! Don’t do anything i wouldn’t do.” He winked at the both of you making Sean groan and you laugh.

He walked back down to the garage and you heard the door shut and Sean sighed, “my room?” “Sure.” You said still laughing. He grabbed his sketchbook off the counter and took your hand with his empty hand and you both walked to his room.

You two ended up taking an amazing nap together.

[jujutsukgojo]

The Baby Project Chapter 4

Izuku Midoriya x reader

Chapter One, chapter two, chapter three

Summary: The Sports Festival is here! Unfortunately, so is the principal. tw: angst, violence, fluff, neglect(?), stress, hate, anxiety(?)

 “Alright, alright, number six, seven, and-oh now this isn’t cute at all. Six, seven, eight, nine, ten? So lame.” The table laughs and urges you to. “It’s a good one!” 

“It’s stupid. Here.” You begin to lay out the dishes in front of them. The back of Noa’s head lays on your chest. You’re careful not to hurt him.

 “You’re doing great, love. It’s okay!” 

  You thank them and when you have successfully managed to lay them out without bothering the baby, they clap gently. “Thank you, thank you.” You wave the circular tray and head back to the counter. 

  “Honey love, I was thinking,” Ken appears through the window. The spatula that was in his hand is placed beside him. “How about you stay behind the counter? Let Yona take on the waiting.” 

  “Ken…” He puts the towel down that was on his broad shoulder. His messy black hair is put in a half bun today. He still needs a haircut though. 

“I’m serious. It’d be better to do that than jeopardize him and more importantly, yourself. You could get hurt.” You don’t see how, but the father in Ken apparently can.

  “My tips, Ken.” He sighs. “I’ll work on that, okay? Stay behind the counter. You look cute like that.”

“Pfft!” You laugh and unsurprisingly, so does Noa. He’s been doing that a lot lately. Ken smiles at you and Noa. “Yo, Yona! Switch with her!” Ken yells.

  “Boo!” 

“Shut up, Aoi!” Aoi Sato huffs at Ken and crosses his arms in protest. Yona comes close to the two of you. “Fine, fine, she can take it. Her and Noa’ll be good for business anyway. A pretty girl and a cute baby at the counter may draw people in.”

You snort and the bell above the door rings. “Welc-oh my God.” He comes in and stands there wide eyed. In his hand is an All Might wallet and his body has various mechanical devices. On both of his wrists, around his hips to look like a belt. His shoes are clunky and the red fabric peaks through in some spots. Other than that, it looks like a steel toed heavyweight shoe. 

 Your mouth drops and your heart stops.

Fucking Deku.

  And Noa, the little brat, giggles and reaches for him while saying his first word: papa.

-

The two of you sit down with Noa in a wooden highchair. The tension is palpable as the two of you stare at each other. Even though this doesn’t involve him, you feel guilty. Like you lied to him personally even though he doesn’t really know you. Yes, he has helped with Noa and has even gained claim to Noa’s milestone of his first word. However, you don’t know each other. 

  “You gonna snitch?” Your eyes focus on him. He shifts in his seat and tilts his head to get a good look at you. “This is against the rules. Can I know why you’re doing this?” 

  “I’m broke.” His green eyes soften. “I get that. I have a friend whose finances aren’t the best so I can understand to that degree.”

  Good.

“But this is against the rules. Do you think you’re going to get away with it?” you take a deep breath. “I will if you keep your mouth shut. This isn’t for fun. This is important to me.”

  “I’m just saying. Lying is wrong, it’s better in the long run to be honest. Maybe U.A. will understand. It’s better to let them know now than it is to let it spring up on them.”

“This is from the man who can do anything. Didn't you lie to literally everyone?” If he wants to go the holier-than-thou route, you can take it there by dragging him by his ear.

He sucks his teeth and looks down at the table. “I'm speaking from experience. Lying damages everything in the long run. That's why I’m encouraging honesty.”

There’s a sudden wash of guilt when you look at his eyes that quickly try to cover up what seems like hurt. However, your pride has always been an issue. 

“No.” You say quickly. He licks his lips and gives a cheerless smile. You don't like it. You are not liking how you're snapping at someone who has only been kind to you. “Well, I won't tell.”

Good.

He taps on the table. “Food any good here?” You shake your head no. “Awful, terrible.”

He looks at you warmly. “I'm sure I'll love it. Maybe we can finish that meal we never got to?”

Fucking Deku felt bad about it and came back to pay. The damn goodie goodie. Noa wipes the table. Izuku points to him. “Ah, no wonder where he got it from.” 

You scoff and try to fight the smile on your face as the two of you watch Noa. “Yeah, he helps me wait on tables and stuff.”

“Well, at least he’s not in the kitchen.” You suck in your lips. “Right, (Y/n)?”

Izuku leans in. “Right?”

“He’s fine!” You point to a distracted Noa. Izuku’s face is fit for a comic book. He grips the edge of the table. “Why would you do that?!”

You smack the table. “Stop screaming at me!” Noa starts to cry and calls for papa again. The two of you freeze. “Is that what he said? He said-”

“He said mama first!” Noa said dada when Izuku walked in, but Izuku must not have heard him. You have been working with this little punk all this time just for him to say papa? You’re shooting daggers at your robo-son. The audacity, the gall, the disrespect. Disgusting! 

Yona pokes her head out. “Lie. Yes, our favorite broccoli boy, you’re daddy.” 

Izuku stands and picks Noa up. “Yay, big boy! Say it again!” Noa gives him a kiss. Not a bite like he does you. He repeats his first word. Repulsive!

Izuku rubs his face against Noa’s. Yona, the new retirement home victim, records it then gets close to your face. “Aw, one day the baby boy will say mommy. He just happens to not like you.”

“I have an entire drawer filled with brochures. For you.” You have been collecting nursing home brochures to scare her with and even give them to her kids. 

“I am nowhere near retirement age!” Her wings slightly flutter then pin themselves on her back.

“Then why are you scared?” She goes to hit you with the towel.

“Girls, girls, now is not the time to do that. It’s time for a refill, seriously, get off your asses.” Yona shushes one of the customers, Aoi, who waves a cup around.

You go back to studying Izuku and Noa. Both look your way. Noa with a cheesy grin and Izuku with a curious look that settles into one of knowing. “You wouldn’t happen to be jealous, would you?”

“No.” 

  He does a sharp intake of air and slowly makes his way to you. “Ah, because he really does like me, no?” He slowly makes his way to you. “Noa, say, mama.” Noa doesn’t speak. 

“Nope, doesn’t bother me.”

You tap your foot, trying to ignore the inching Izuku who looks disgustingly mischievous. Noa rests on his hip naturally. Izuku leans down with a smirk. “Y’know, I could help you. I’ll teach you on how to speak in ‘Noa language .’” 

  Your bottom lip sticks out, your leg bouncing. “I speak Noa language just fine, thank you.”

“Say mama!” Noa shakes his head no. You smack the table again. “I don’t deserve this disrespect!” Izuku laughs and places his hand on the back of your neck gently and says, “It’ll happen eventually, my dearest. Or maybe he really doesn’t like you.”

What he called you goes over your head.

---------------

A week later, it’s time for the Sports Festival. It’s been so awkward and warm between you and Izuku since he found out. For some reason, there is a lightness to it all. It’s that dark cloud hanging over your head that won’t leave that’s making you fail to trust the situation. This cloud has formed over the course of your life. You can't just get rid of it because of one nice person.

 Anyway, you promised you’d be there cheering. You sit next to your friends on the stands. Everyone is up and bouncing despite the hard days of studying. Lately, tests and homework have been a challenge since Noa turned one. He’s been even more curious and adventurous. Whenever you try to calm him so you can work, he gets even louder and becomes disruptive. You don’t know how many times you’ve apologized.

Right now, you’re focused on the Sports Festival. It’s the first since Shigaraki. It is one of the things he didn’t ruin. It’s all going good, going smooth. Your mood is upbeat until you spot Kaibara with a smile. He waves at the spectators, spots you then looks away. 

Concerning Kaibara, you’ve given up on him. You were lenient to a fault because of him being your partner, but he has shown you that he doesn’t deserve anything. The only thing you include him in is the progress report. You can pat yourself on the back and say that you tried. That you were the one that didn’t fail, it was him.

Halfway into the Sports Festival, Noa squeals in excitement as Izuku is on the screen. He’s allowed to wear only parts of his suit for this. Was there concern about it? During Izuku’s first year, support items were allowed and his suit is a support item too. Then again, it gives him back the power of a god. People may view it as cheating. That alone is reasonable, but it is also a spit in the face for the students. It is as if the people are calling them weak. It has the same quirks he has in the first run, so what’s the difference? Perhaps it is fear more than anything.

Izuku hasn’t explained it but doesn’t he still have some of the quirk left? Maybe that’s a reason too. He has shown superior speed and strength than his peers who don’t have a quirk to aid them in those areas. Would it be fair if he had that and still used a suit? It goes above your head.

After every trial, Izuku finds you and Noa in the stands. He waves at you with a flush to his cheeks every time he does so. At first, your stupid brain made you think it’s because of you and not because of the physical exertion. Thankfully, common sense won out.

  He’s doing really well with the scraps of his suit. Carefully planning while he goes around or through his friends’ quirks. Izuku’s speed and strength is still incredible. Not as fast as Iida but definitely second place. 

 Overall, the hero course is truly something. These two classes alone show promise and there are so many schools that probably hold just as much talent. If another Tomura were to happen, the world will have a better time with it than the first go around.

Noa wiggles on your lap when Izuku stands in the arena. Noa leans forward and tries to reach Izuku. You notice that the green haired boy hasn’t looked up at the two of you this time. 

  “And back from the dead, Izuku Midoriya! Who will win? Who, who, wh-” Present Mic bounces in his seat. 

“Shut up.” Aizawa cuts him off and tells Snipe to start the match since Mic is getting on his nerves again. 

  The crowd cheers and shouts their names. The babies all have those clunky headphones on to cancel out the noise. Noa has decided that he hates his and keeps trying to take them off. And just when your eyes are off of him so you can stop Noa, Izuku wins this round. You look back up and see class B’s Kendo, flat on the ground. “Damn it.”

  Up next is Todoroki and Tetsutetsu. Naturally, you know who to cheer for. You stand up but Riko pulls you down quickly.

 “Let’s do it, Tetsu! You got this!” 

“You are so obvious, I swear.” Riko rolls her eyes then stands. With loud claps to go with it, she shouts, “Win, Tetsu!” 

“I’m obvious but you join in?” Noa frowns and points at her. “I know, Auntie Riko is a mess.”

She gestures to herself. “It’s better when I do it.” 

  It’s an interesting fight. Apparently, they went against each other in their first year. He had trained his body to withstand extreme temperatures and was able to deliver amazing blows. It ended in a draw but without Tetsu, class B would have lost. 

  “Whoop his ass, Tetsu!” You and another person shout. You look over and see a girl passionately screaming against Todoroki. In her hands is an infant with her features but familiar dual-colored eyes.

Tetsu punches Todoroki in the face, sending him back. Todoroki catches himself from falling over. “Deadbeat motherfucker!”

 Tetsutestu lands another punch. Todoroki shoots out his flames directly at the steel boy. Despite the terrible heat, Real Steel takes it all on.

"Endeavor lover!" Jule screams with his baby on his hip mimicking his hand waves. You’re jumping up and down, completely entertained by the fight. With every hit Tetsu gets in, the general studies shout, “Yes!”

Tetsu dodges one of Todoroki’s hits and lands a kick of his own. What was that Mirko said? Those with long range quirks are usually weak in combat? She definitely hit it on the head. Todoroki is great, but Tetsu is fierce. Each hit is clearly doing some damage. Every punch seems to knock the wind out of Todoroki. If this were anyone else, they'd be flat on their asses.

“You got this, Real Steel!” He’s relentless. Even though he’s stark red from the terrible heat, he doesn’t stop. You know nothing about the heroes' training or fighting, but it looks like his movements are getting more fluid, looser in a good way.  

In a strange turn of events, right after Todoroki shoots out a powerful blast, he freezes the stadium, barely missing the onlookers. It immediately stops the cheering for Tetsutestu. You scream as you fall back to your seat. The ice is dangerously close to the audience. Noa shivers and sniffles from the frost. Immediately, you rub him to get some heat. 

  “Um, Tetsutestu is out! Todoroki wins!”

“Boo!” 

-

 Next is, you can’t believe your eyes, Kaibara versus Yaoyorozu. Both stand proudly on the opposite sides. They are ignoring the crowd and focusing on the task.

“Y'all both suck ass!” 

“Boo!” 

  “Deadbeat motherfuckers!” Again, you don’t know who that came from. What you do know is that everyone in general studies are against those who have shown their true colors. 

  “It’s a death match! Yes!” You scream. Snipe shakes his head and points to you. The camera goes to you. You tense up at the camera and lower yourself. 

“Anyway, as you can see, these two are not popular. The majority of the heroes don’t have many fans Eraser…”

“Popularity isn’t necessary. Heroics should have nothing to do with a popularity contest.” Aizawa says sternly. You roll your eyes. With hollowing your hands, you shout, “Boo! You two in the booth suck!”

Riko touches your shoulder. “Sh, let the violence relax you.”

“Begin!” 

  You see Benio intently watching. He shields Kobeni from the fight. Right then, Kaibara runs to Yaoyorozu who immediately blocks his attack. It’s the same mistake she made in the first year. She got nervous during the one on one and got pushed out. Now, she seems to be doing the same thing. Clearly, she’s more of a support hero than a fighter.

  Kaibara drills right through her shield. Surprisingly, she had a gift for him in the shape of a gun with non lethal bullets. Your eyes are glued to the fight. There’s no way he’ll be able to dodge them, right? 

  Suddenly, as she fires them with excellent precision, he manages to drill his body to protect himself, spinning round and round until the bullets fly away. Whatever the hero course is teaching these students, it is absolutely working because both of them slide and run from the other, one trying to close the distance, the other tries to create it.

  Yaoyorozu comes through with a baton that sparks electricity. She charges at him and duels. With every drilling twirl of his, goes through her electric baton, only to be met with another. Finally, Kaibara stops holding back, apparently. 

  He’s a monster. She’s creating shields and tries to come up with weapons, but in terms of martial arts, he is a savage that Yaoyorozu can’t keep up with. It takes one hit to the face, and she’s thrown back and outside the lines.

 That…was exciting. She wasn’t scared or nervous like she was in her first year. Now, she faced her opponent head on. Yaoyorozu seems to need more training in fighting, though. Other than that, Benio's baby mama was amazing.

You peer at Benio who fights a smile then takes a deep breath. He kisses Kobeni’s head and leans back. Is he trying not to be happy?

  There are more fights that earn several boos. One had a purple haired boy, Shinsou, that was surprisingly really good. It was quick for him. He went against the antagonistic blond boy, Monoma, and won. You’d think that since Monoma knows about Shinsou's quirk, he'd shut up but no. It’s too much for him. You shake your head and watch as other matches go down. Finally, there is one that catches your attention by far.

“We have Izuku Midoriya, with only parts of his suit, and Sen Kaibara!”

  Noa calls out ‘papa’. Izuku looks up and sees Noa shaking his hand at him. “You can do it!” You shout. Kaibara turns around and sees the two of you. The camera zooms up on Izuku who is still excitedly waving, making Noa do the same. Lost in the moment of you cheering, you blow a kiss to him. It goes right over your head. Doing it came naturally.

You don’t look at Kaibara until you for sure feel his eyes on you. You make eye contact and instantly regret it. The more he stares, the more anxious you feel. His expression goes from indifference, annoyance, confusion, and finally to anger. All of these in the span of a few seconds. 

   You stop cheering and tense up. Noa continues to call Izuku papa, not realizing that the man in front of Izuku is his real father. He is totally unaffected by the look in Kaibara’s eyes. Kaibara moves his jaw and flares his nostrils. He turns around and faces Izuku who does not look happy. Izuku has totally changed his demeanor. You kiss Noa’s face and lower his standing form. 

  “Are you okay?” Riko asks. You turn to her. “Yeah, yeah, I’m just a little tired.”

What do you say to her? What was that anyway and why did you feel it? He wasn’t near you. “You sure?”

  You shake your head at Riko. “I must be feeling off.” It’s the truth. You weren't scared or anything, just unnerved. No way would you ever tell anyone this, though.

  Riko hums. Right as she does, Snipe yells, “Begin!”

In an instant, Izuku is on Kaibara without giving the latter a second to drill or block. Kaibara’s face is taking hit after hit. Next, Izuku lowers Kaibara so he can kick him in the chest. Kaibara takes this and flips Izuku over.

“Sweep the leg!” You yell. Following you, Izuku sweeps his leg to hit Kaibara’s knee, leaving a crunch noise behind. You cover Noa’s eyes so he doesn’t see that. Kaibara miraculously fights without thinking about it. How long has that taken him? How much training did he have to do in order to swirl his leg back to its original place with his quirk to keep it still?

  Kaibara isn’t done and Izuku’s just getting started. The fight is fast and messy, yet each hit is deliberate and trained. Both are bleeding, from Izuku’s nose to Kaibara’s mouth and cheek. He has a gash that Recovery Girl will need to handle. Kaibara is displaying master artistry in martial arts. Even without using his quirk, he’d be deadly to villains. 

  Izuku hasn’t used his suit once, though.

Finally, somehow, Izuku gives a powerful kick upward, sending his opponent up. With complete savagery, you see Izuku fling Kaibara around in the air to drop him. They both land with a shake of the ground. Kaibara barely manages to stand while Izuku does it perfectly with power. 

With mighty punches and kicks, Kaibara isn’t able to even defend. Izuku hasn’t even used his suit yet. Izuku right hooks Kaibara and is met with cheers with every swing. The crowd shouts his name and his alias, Deku. The energy from the fight is so intense, you can almost see it flow into the air for the audience to absorb it. 

“Get it, Deku!” Ema pumps her fist in the air.

“Deadbeat motherfucker!” 

You stand and shout, “Grab the bag, rob his wallet, hit the bank, and beat his ass! Yes!” 

  Riko pats your thigh. “Where did you get that?!”

Izuku grabs Kaibara’s hand. Kaibara uses his quirk in retaliation, making Izuku's skin raw by the rapid spinning. Yet, there’s a smile on Izuku's face. With one squeeze, Izuku completely crushes Kaibara's hand. Immediately, blood gushes out. You are on the edge of your seat when Izuku is flung back in a circle. Kaibara is something else. He hasn’t slowed down and manages to keep his weight off his broken knee.

  “He isn’t using it…” You whisper as the fight goes on. Izuku has a suit that could be used against Kaibara’s quirk. Looking at the fight and knowing what Izuku is used to doing, it’s like he’s playing with his food. 

“It’s a fist fight for him. The parts of the suit are still incredibly strong and fit to use against those with an offensive quirk,” Riko leans in, “This isn’t a competition for him. It’s an all out brawl.”

  Finally, Izuku moves his arms. Immediately, everyone recognizes Gear Shift. Kaibara, for the first time, takes a step back. That is all Izuku needs to land three hits. One punch to the nose, one to the gut, and a kick to send him back. The epic sounds are thunderous seconds after Kaibara is sent flying through the stadium’s wall. The impact affects the entire arena. The vibration is right under your feet and the blast of wind pushes you back into your seat. All of this happened and Kaibara didn't land near you.

 Your jaw drops. You’ve never seen Izuku in action. And this is what Shigaraki was dealing with? And Izuku only used the suit for one thing. He has a bruise on his jaw and his hand is bleeding. He’s lowered in a hunched position, ready to strike if Kaibara comes back. 

The arena is silent. 

Everyone knows that Izuku’s suit is fit for him only. What he has on are his usual arm compressions and shin guards. Each of these give him the ability to use some of his suit’s quirks. And yet, he didn’t need it. In fact, he could have done without the Gear Shift. Riko was right. This was a straight up brawl. If you aren’t mistaken, it looked personal.

  “The winner is Izuku Midoriya!”

He straightens up and looks at you, already knowing where you are. You smile warmly, standing again to cheer for the man who can do anything. Noa, of course, has to be the loudest and call for his papa. You stand back up and blow him a kiss. Izuku's eyes shine.

The Sports Festival is an intense event. People you didn’t expect to get far got the farthest, for instance, Jirou absolutely dominated her opponents until she came across Kaminari, whose electricity had knocked her down. At least she tore him up before she got out. Uraraka’s awakening helped tremendously. Honestly, she’s scary as hell. It was amazing to see her and Bakugou go against each other again. It was incredibly close. Bakugou had barely made it. Present Mic of course, the president of her fan club, wasn’t thrilled and made it known. He even wanted a rematch. 

  Then it came down to Todoroki, Bakugou, and Izuku. This is the fights that people have been waiting to see. Both Bakugou and Todoroki have shown how brutal they are compared to their first year. And no one thought that Izuku would be able to make it this far with or without his suit, yet here he is proving them wrong left and right. His technique, intelligence and natural physical prowess are immaculate. And with his suit, he still bears a striking resemblance to the boy with everything.

Unfortunately, Noa decided to be a boob and knock his headphones off right when Bakugou’s quirk exploded at Todoroki. The sound irritated him so badly, you had to leave and go into the hallway. In true Noa fashion, he stopped and fell asleep with his usual ding, then would wake up with a bird’s hum, then go right back down. Right when the Sports Festival was over. You had missed it.

-------------------------

You enter Recovery Girl’s office to find Izuku on the bed. He perks up when he sees you and Noa, who is no longer sleeping.

  “How’re you doing?”

“Pretty good! I thought I wasn't going to get far without the suit.” He smiles widely and sits up, still tucked under the covers. You wonder if he's actually okay. Izuku, for the short time you've known him, hides himself away.

You feel so guilty. “I wanted to see-”

“I understand. It’s probably better that way. Kacchan’s quirk is loud so I don’t know if Noa could handle that.”

  You sigh and sit on the foot of his bed. “He couldn’t. Right when Kacchan used his quirk, Noa freaked.”

“Kacchan?”  He raises his eyebrows in shock.

“That’s his name, right?” Noa rocks himself back and forth in excitement. “It’s my name for him-”

“Are you jealous?” You ask in the same tone he did back at the restaurant. He scoffs. “No. I’m worried for you, that’s all. He might get mad.”

  “I do as I please.” He chuckles and leans back. “He’s definitely going to be mad.”

You shrug. “Whatever,” You play with Noa’s face. “Did you win?”

After a moment, Izuku sucks on his teeth and looks at you through his lashes. “We can watch it together some time instead of me telling you. If you want too!”

“I guess? Yeah, keep the suspense up so I’ll be on my toes around you?”

“No!”

“I don’t know Izuku, you’re a brutal fighter.” You smirk and sit on the foot of the bed. “I didn’t think they’d let you use the suit to be honest.” You set Noa down who then crawls to his favorite. Hmph.

You scratch your cheek. Your eyes dart away from his, not really wanting to say what’s to come. It’s surely vain. Quietly, you ask, “Did you know you’d face him?”

“No.”

You haven't looked at him yet. “Um, thanks for punching him in the face then. I know it’s a competition so it can’t be ah, that-”

“For what?” He kisses Noa on the head. You take a deep breath. “I know it wasn’t for me. It’s just nice to see him get hit.”

  Izuku gives a closed mouth smile. Even without teeth it’s genuine. “It was both. Yeah, it’s a competition but he deserved it.” He sits up. “I saw how scared you got. (Y/n),” 

  You’re facing the window, only seeing him from the corner of your eye. “I won't let you be scared. I was happy to beat him for you.”

  You turn your face fully to him. “I wasn’t scared.”

“I know.” He says, after a few seconds of staring at you. Even though he agrees, you aren’t dumb enough to believe he meant it. You weren’t scared. Unnerved, yes. But not scared. Sen Kaibara won’t hurt you again. Not when his reputation is still slightly on the rocks. It was the hostility when he looked at you that was unnerving.

You mess with the soft, white cotton blanket. It is warm and comforting. Something to hold you down in this conversation with a boy who is making your heart flutter despite him being annoying. To change the topic, you decide to tease him. “Noa was mimicking you. I don’t know if I like that. You may not be a good influence, Deku.”

You barely know him, but he is someone you’ve come to start welcoming inside your built walls. Even though you hate heroes, this one may be the only one in your grace.

  “I think Noa likes me just fine. He’s turning out okay, too.” He shrugs. You squint your eyes and hum. “Mm, it’s me you have to worry about Deku.”

He’s a little flushed. “Well, I’ll just have to win you over, won’t I?”

   There’s no way that meant anything, so stop.

 You sigh and watch Noa stand up and mess with Izuku’s face. “Y’know, you could teach him some of your moves. For self defense and all.”

“Eh?! That’s too dangerous!” He holds Noa close to him. Izuku bounces the boy a little and asks, “You don’t want to do that, Noa.”

You lean in, ready to antagonize Izuku who is desperately telling Noa to never do it. “Yes you do, buddy! You want to be just like daddy, huh?” Noa squeals and says yes. Izuku gasps. “Where’s my phone? We gotta get this!”

 You take out yours and hit record. “Noa, say hi daddy!”

“Hi, daddy.” For the first time, he’s able to pronounce daddy, rather than papa. “Noa, say mama!”

Silence.

“Call me mommy!” He remains silent and just stares at the camera then to you. “Oh my God.”

Izuku bursts out laughing. Noa goes along with him, the little asshole. You sigh and are about to put the camera away until he looks directly at you and says, “Love ya.”

Your breath stops. These robots are said not to have souls and yet he said that with a brightness in his eyes. He said it smoothly like music. You hope Izuku doesn’t notice how you are frozen and warm. You pray that this feeling of fondness and care for Noa goes away. That somehow, you'll be sensible enough to not love him. You won't, no matter how much Noa says he loves you. And how much it sounds like he means it.

“Good job, Noa! Say it for me, please? Say I love you.” Izuku urges. Noa doesn’t do it. It’s your turn to laugh at Izuku’s expense. He tries and tries to get Noa to say it, to the point of tears.

----------------------

You scratch your head at your notes. Recently, Snipe decided that his students weren’t able to do major tests like before. No one could get a hold of studying at the same time, even Ema. So, he decided to give more time to prepare and a study guide everyone went through in class.

  However, Noa, in all his wisdom, decided that having a fit that involved throwing himself around was necessary. Snipe was annoyed so rather than listen to him bitch and complain, you excused yourself to the bathroom to calm him. 

  When you went back, class was over. 

Your heart dropped. None of your friends had the energy or hands to do two papers. Snipe stopped you from leaving and gave you a set of them. They were all over the place and sloppy. They were the teacher’s notes. He didn’t say anything other than how cute Noa is in the videos. Without another word, you knew what that meant. So, you left the classroom and went about your day with a smile. Now, here you sit with Noa in front of you playing with Riko’s gifted toys and snacking on banana puffs. He feels the need to show you everything he has in his hand and if you don’t look, he growls. He’s cute but distracting. 

Suddenly, a familiar voice calls out, “(Y/n), Noa! I’m here!” Izuku jogs to you with a heavy looking backpack and another bag. At first glance you see more snacks and books. 

  “I thought he’d like these. It’s the same I grew up with.” He puts the cereal on the table. “I remember those. Not too many, Izuku. That’s a lot of sugar.”

  He nods. “Not all of these are for him.” He pops several in his mouth. After swallowing, he asks, “What’re you doing?”

“Remember that test? He gave us a study guide and I’m trying to look at.”

Izuku perks up. “I’ll help! Noa and I both. Ain’t that right bub? We’re gonna help mama?” Noa responds with the awful word, papa.

  “Um, can you watch Noa while I study instead? I won’t be long, I promise.”

“That’s a good idea. It’s been a long time since Noa and I bonded.” He ruffles Noa's hair. You blink once then twice. “You just saw him two hours ago.”

“Yeah, I saw him. We didn’t hang out, (Y/n)!” 

You rub your eyes. “Alright, then. I’ll be in my room. Call if you need me, okay?” He shoos you away and eats the cereal with Noa, who is equally obsessed with it.

-

You look around for your boy who was just playing with the colorful blocks that he's obsessed with. Worry starts to creep inside you. You left Izuku and Noa in front of the coffee table in the commons. Now an hour later, the boys are gone. The only thing there on the table is Noa's colorful plate of what looks like sweet potatoes and Izuku's cereal right next to it. 

“Have you seen Noa?” Jule shakes his head no.

“Have you seen Noa?” Sakura says no and adds like the little bitch she is, “Lost him already?”

On her hip is Mira, an exact replica of Kacchan but with her mother’s hair color. It isn't as spiked as his either. She is a cute little thing but is so bratty. Even now her arms are crossed and glaring. It is a little scary how much she acts like him for an eight-month-old.

  “Have Mira for the first time ever? Actually being useful? Big happenings for both of us.” Sakura gasps and in Mira fashion, the baby laughs at her mother.

  Have you seen Noa? Is repeatedly asked in your dorm and every time it is answered with the same word: no. It's practically an echo by now.

 “Noa! Noa?” You run through the halls. You call Izuku with no answer. Finally, you run across a large room which was decided by your class to be the movie room. You hear noises in it. Slowly opening it, you gently call out Noa’s name. A weight is lifted off of your chest when you see Izuku laying down on the orange sofa with Noa on his chest. A gory zombie movie plays on the screen which goes ignored with snores.

  You walk up to the boys and see that they’re totally fine. It seems that both of them played hard. You poke Izuku several times. He wakes up with a jump, nearly knocking off Noa. “Hey!” You quickly grab the baby before he falls.

“Oh no! No, no, no, is he okay?” You hold Noa protectively while Izuku jumps up and puts his hands out. “He’s fine.”

“I-I’m sorry. I have trouble waking up like that.” Ah, that’s right. The wars. You stop tensing up and slowly release. You totally forgot about them and the effects it might’ve had on him.

“Um, Izuku,” You pat Noa’s back. “I really appreciate you and all but, please don’t take off with him like that. It scared the hell out of me.”

He looks confused for a second then gasps. “Shit-excuse me-I’m sorry for that. I didn’t think about it.”

 You smile as the future hero looks panicky. The movie continues to play and gets progressively scarier. “I, ah, want to go outside. You coming with?” Izuku looks around then at the ground. “You sure?”

“Positive. Anything to get away from this movie.” He looks taken back then defends it. “It’s a classic!”

“It’s nasty!” You leave the room and head to yours to get Noa’s bag. Izuku follows you closely. “Zombie movies are imperative to cinema. They’re great monster movies.”

  You struggle to get your key from your pocket. As he defends the movie, he takes it from you and opens the door for you. “Whatever. It’s an excuse to watch gory porn.”

“What?!” You can’t help but laugh at his face. He’s growing increasingly offended. “I said what I said. How can anyone watch a movie where people are being eaten if someone isn’t into that kind of stuff?”

“Well, you like slasher films!” 

“Barely. Another thing, people are interesting. Why do they kill? Why is the dumb blonde in the woods? Why are they going up the stairs? Not dead humans who eat brains.” He takes Noa’s bag and when you leave your room, he locks it for you. “That is an old stereotype. Zombies eat people, not just brains. And slasher films are not psychological thrillers. They’re just as gory as zombie movies.”

“Agree to disagree. Even though I’m right.” He scoffs and opens the door to the dorms. The sun is bright, and the breeze is perfect. He lets you walk out first. “Whatever! It is not gory porn.”

“I knew you were freaky. What is that saying? Save a horse, ride a zombie.”

“What? Now who’s the freak-” His voice starts to raise to protect his nasty movies. You don't bother to hide your smile. “You watch bloody porn. I don't think you have the right to insult me.”

“I do not watch bloody porn!” A teacher stops and stares. The great hero Deku’s breathing stops. His eyes are blank and unfocused. You don't even try to hold in your laugh. With a proper voice, the hero in purple tights says, “Do what you want on your own time, Deku. But please don't say it out loud.”

The hero walks away. Izuku has yet to get life back in his eyes. Meanwhile, you have the ugliest laugh at his devastation.

-

The three of you sit on the grass. In Noa’s bag were some toys and his banana puffs. You laid everything out for him to get his hands on. He sits in front of you two and after he picks each of them up, he shows you what it is. Izuku acts incredibly interested. You lie on your back against Izuku’s jacket and rest in the sun. He insisted on you and Noa sitting on it.

  “Deku!” The loud and raspy voice annoys the hell out of you. The source stomps along the pavement, heading towards you and Noa, the unsuspecting victims of his voice. Izuku smiles widely and holds Noa up. “Kacchan, he said his first word!”

The spikey haired blonde holds his twin on his hip. Sakura must've tossed Mira to him again. Mira sports the same expression as her dad when she sees Noa, who is totally oblivious. 

“Mine’s already done that!” For some reason, perhaps out of sheer possession of evil, he makes this gremlin face. Mira smiles at her dad, clearly amused by it. 

“Noa said papa! Isn't he cute?”

“Ain't this drill boy’s kid? And that's his first word?” Kacchan stares down at you. His red eyes aren't judgmental, but genuinely curious. Mira’s identical red eyes however, are totally rude. 

“He calls me papa!” Izuku says proudly. Then, with the same smugness as before, he adds, “What was Mira’s first word?”

Kacchan glares at Izuku. Through his gritted teeth he says, “Bitch.”

At first you think he’s insulting Izuku until it sinks in. Mira’s first word is actually bitch. You cover your mouth in an attempt to stop the laughter. Finally, you fall back. “Oh my God!” 

Izuku, as you suspected, knew what her first word was. You were upset that Noa has yet to say mama, though after hearing this, you’re happy with what you got. Better that than being called a ‘bitch’.

“Fucking Deku!” 

Izuku sets Noa down. “I’ll be right back.”

Some of class A stand at the side next to the tall and healthy trees. A few of them have their dolls, including Kaminari and Todoroki. You rubbed your eyes when you saw them. Your hands turn to fists on the grass as you look at those two in particular. Apparently, Todoroki has been pathetic in this project. And it’s his fault!

Before you can get up to give him a piece of your mind, Noa stands up, gives you a sloppy kiss, and says, “papa.”

Noa, for the first time, starts to walk. “Izuku!” 

He turns around and quickly gets his camera. “That’s my boy! Look at him go-here record this!” He hands it to Todoroki and gets on the ground with his arms open. Noa makes a wobbly run for it. You cross your arms. You’re happy Noa’s doing this, but this is some bullshit. 

Ema comes up to you without Hana. She points her thumb behind her. “Uh, Nezu and co. want to see you.”

“Alright, after-”

“No, they mean now. Either I went to get you or a teacher.” You freeze then look at Izuku who doesn’t see this. Did he snitch on you? 

  You get up and call out, “I have to go somewhere.” You don’t look at him again when Ema walks with you to the principal’s office. Your heart is practically coming out of your chest. Wait, who’s to say it’s because of your secret? It could be one of your many outbursts that's finally gotten you in trouble! It could be something different. 

  Your heart starts to calm down. Thankfully, your knees stop shaking so much. This anxiety could be leading you to something completely false. Izuku knows and said he wouldn’t tell, Kaibara has known for a while and hasn’t said anything either and there were tons of times he could have. So, you’re in the clear. Snipe is probably just mad again. 

  You open the door and a teacher, what’s her face, thanks Ema and excuses her. All of the general studies teachers are here. Nezu sits at his desk. The movement at your side makes you look over and lo and behold, Kaibara.

 Nezu, in a lighthearted voice says, “We have been told that you are working, (L/n).” 

Son of a bitch. You stare at Nezu, not breathing. “Don’t deny it, we’ve seen proof. We just want to go over the rules with you.”

“What evide-”

The door opens and Izuku comes in. “Principal Nezu?” 

“We’ll keep this short with you Midoriya. Did you know that (L/n) is working at a restaurant?” Since when is he involved? And where's Noa?

  Izuku opens his mouth. “Before you lie, know that this is just confirmation that she was seen there.”

Izuku says nothing. His teacher sighs and Nezu excuses him. Izuku doesn’t leave and instead stands between you and Kaibara. “Midor-”

“With all due respect, but this requires more than the insight of the teachers and a bitter partner.”

  “Bitter?” Kaibara scoffs. “She stole-”

“It’s not stealing if you participated in the project.” Eraserhead flicks his eyes over to Kaibara. Dracula speaks, “Kaibara, there’s nothing wrong with her asking you to participate financially. What’s wrong is that you kept this from us.”

“How is it his business? Or any of yours?” Your heart rate is racing right now. At the beginning, you were afraid Kaibara would say something. After your talk in the yard, you don't remember if he mentioned it. Part of you, a naive and senseless part, thought he forgot, that maybe he let it slip from his mind.

Of course, he was just waiting to strike. Why? After all of these months he chooses now. Noa is a year old, talking and walking, and you’re doing all of the work! You haven’t asked him for a thing since then. The only request you have for him is to participate in the report and like Benio and Yaoyorzoru, he’s copying your homework. Plus, it’s only once a month!

  So, what happened? Why?

Izuku stays by your side even when he is repeatedly dismissed. “(L/n), this job you have, no matter how mundane, has to end.”

Your throat is tight. “This isn’t fair.”

“It doesn’t seem like it, but your scholarship requires your full attention, and your grades are already slippi-”

“Because of this stupid project! You heroes are the laziest sack of shits I’ve ever met.”

Snipe stands up and hisses out your name. “No, no! My stipend is less than others because I’m a scholarship kid. And he-” You point to Kaibara. “Hasn’t done anything! I have to force him to meet up once a month to do the progress report. That’s it! He hasn’t even held Noa!”

“That’s not tr-”

You cut Kaibara off. “Did you know Noa said his first word? He walks? That he likes banana puffs and mashed potatoes? How about rice and Izuku’s katsudon? How about the fact he thinks Izuku Midoriya is his daddy! Because you aren’t there!”

  Everyone remains silent. “Yes, I work. I have bills to pay and Noa to provide for. That stipend is just a few bucks that barely covers anything. And Kaibara literally gave me twenty dollars that one time. I paid for the rest and went without.”

“We know-” You interrupt Nezu. “You don’t know. Yes, I work. My job prevents me going from without and now that Noa is added on, I need it more than ever. The project is hurting us except for the future pros. Who not only get paid by you but also by people’s taxes. And I’m in trouble for what? Actually doing something? Managing a job, school, Noa, and that thing right there?” Kaibara scoffs when you point at him. “Where’s Tomura when you need him, oh my God.”

Izuku touches your arm. You move it away. “Nah, this is why the people don’t and never will, trust your asses. I trust Sir Dusty over you people any day of the week.”

Nezu stands on the table with his hands behind his back. Kaibara clears his throat. “With that being said and the slander against me and her clear support of the League, I think it should be noted that she hangs out with villains regularly.”

  You turn your head to him so fast. “Kenji Hara is a villain who was a known serial killer a few years back. I'm worried for Noa and even her safety. That’s why I brought this whole thing up.”

“Thank you for bringing it to our attention even though you should’ve said she was violating the rules of the scholarship sooner. If you truly were concerned for her safety, we should've been notified immediately.” Dracula gestures to you.

  Your eyes are bulging. He did not just bring Ken into this. “Lord forbid the man had a hobby!"

"Murder is not okay!"

"I never said it was. And he paid his debt!" Kaibara opens his stupid mouth. "He ripped people's bones-"

"He now gets them ethically."

Eraserhead inhales deeply. “Fraternizing with villains isn’t a proper thing to do, (L/n). Especially one of such violence.” 

“But killing them is? Need I remind you of the countless human beings you have killed?”

Izuku tenses next to you. Snipe rubs his face under his mask. You take the stage since no one says anything. “I said what I said. This whole thing isn’t fair and for you to judge me for rubbing elbows with someone who made his own choices in life is bullshit. How much sense does that make? He’s killed people and so have you! What’s the difference?”

Eraserhead sighs for the millionth time. He's wearing a facade of indifference, but you can tell you're chiseling it away. “There is a difference. Heroes don’t agree with-”

“Damn, at least Ken takes care of his kids. Can you say the same for yourselves? Not even just the kids. What about us?”

 Nezu answers you in his usual annoyingly chipper voice. “I know this is hard. The baby project has its reasons. Although you should be kicked out for violating the rules of your scholarship that was specifically clear and endangering yourself and others by associating with bad influences," You swear your heart stopped. "I won't punish you for it. You made your point, and we'll give you another chance. Don't slip up like this again. You're very bright, (L/n). It'd be a waste to lose you." Nezu always has such a jolly face.

You want to stab everyone’s eyes out. “Thank you for proving me and the League right. You and the fakes you teach have yet to beat the allegations.”

All of them flinch as your words begin to settle. Those words are held with such conviction and anger that could only be called righteous with the promise of wrath.

--------------

You walk out with your head held high. Izuku stayed behind for some reason and Kaibara has left to the other side of the hallway, not looking back at you. Your breathing is shallow, and your head is spinning. Even still, you march on. You have to find Noa and go to your room. You’ve had enough for today.

 Izuku comes up and touches your arm. “Where’s Noa?” 

“I’ll get him, I’ll be right back.” Once he leaves, you say to yourself, “I need to call Yona.” 

You go to the random chair in the hall. It sits next to the large window and gives a terrible view of the building. No one knows why the window is there or the chair. It’s usually used for when people need to tie their shoes or for phone calls.

  “Hey, Yona? Um, they found out.” She’s dead quiet. “What does that mean?”

“I quit, ma’am.” You’ve been around Yona and Ken since the wars. You were one of the ones that weren’t able to get into a shelter. Ken found you and Yona who stayed close to her restaurant. Heroes have done nothing but disappoint you time and time again.

  “This is a short notice, bug.” You want to be lighthearted and laugh; find joy in her teasing. “Ma’am, it’s been wonderful and an honor to work for you and Ken.” Your voice starts to shake, warning her that you’re about to cry. You hear her ladybug wings flap in the background. They do that when she's nervous.

Izuku comes up and squats to your level. “I have to go.”

“Not go. We’ll see each other soon, little bug.” Her wings are flapping more. You hang up and put your phone in your pocket. You blink a couple of times and look up into his green eyes. He's holding Noa. He stretches out his hand that you don’t take.

You get up and walk back into your room. “Thanks for helping me back there. It won’t happen again.” You take Noa from him and go to set him in his crib that he’s about to outgrow. You have to look into getting another one. Maybe just get a big kid's bed and hope for the best? Perhaps he can just sleep with you now. These are decisions for later.

  Izuku stops you from closing the door. “Wait-”

“I need to do anything that doesn’t involve what happened today, thanks.” He pushes it open anyway. “It’s not good to hold things like this in, (Y/n). Let me help.”

 “And I’m sure you’ve dealt with everything right?” In response, he wraps his arms around you. “I hate this, Izuku. Stop hugging me, I don’t need it.”

You understand he wants to comfort you. Why? What does he get out of it? It’s probably to play the hero. The hero that put you through that mess and he’s best friends with the hero that’s putting you through your current predicament. You can’t really blame him for something All Might brought or that Todoroki started. But God, you’re so mad.

 “Get away from me.” You push him away; his body is like a brick wall, and he doesn’t stumble. He doesn’t look hurt at all. Why is this? Why do you want him to feel pain? He corrected his mistake back then and took Tomura's fine ass out. Izuku’s quirkless now but God, isn’t this a martyr complex he has? Hero complex? Or just straight up annoying?

That's what this is, isn't it? He views you as a project and something to save. You hate them, all of them. “Leave me and Noa alone.” You finally yank him away. He stumbles to the doorway. It’s only right. The heroes have left you alone with this project. Your doll “son” is going to drive you mad. And you can’t afford to fail, or you’ll lose your scholarship and everything you have ever worked for. And for some reason, this all hurts your heart. Pushing him away hurts too, God, do you hate him. All of them. 

  You slam your dorm door in his face. You try to keep it quiet. You try to stiffen up your bottom lip and smile instead before you turn around to face Noa. It will be too familiar if you don’t. You’re trying, you’re trying! So, why are you failing? There must be something you’re doing wrong. Your hands are against the door and the tears fall. These damn tears are happening a lot lately and you hate it. You hate them as much as you do everyone else.

Stop it, stop it!

You’re just so angry, disappointed and disgusted. Sen, why? If this is about the stupid Sports Festival, you had nothing to do with it. Did you cheer him on? Hell no. But you were impressed despite everything. If Izuku’s fight triggered this then oh my God. You had nothing to do with that.

  Noa gurgles and you turn around with puffy eyes and a forced smile. You rub your face and smack your cheeks. “Hey, Noa.”

  He sits up in his crib. His eyes that look full of life and wonder peer up at you, studying. Noa stands up and reaches for you. “Nah, I don’t think that’s a good idea. You’re getting too used to being held.”

  For literally one second he accepts this then takes it all back with a scream. Despite the noise, you’re firm. “You need to learn to be by yourself, y’know.”

  His round eyes look up at you. You wonder what he’d say other than papa. Then again, when they start to talk, they become even more annoying. You just stand in front of him, watching his reaction. He’s technically fine and definitely not real.

 There is a knock on the door again that goes unanswered. Then again and again. Someone’s probably complaining about the noise again or how Noa’s started a chain reaction and now they’re pissed. It’s always the same, it’s always angry here. And you are fully aware you’re the main contributor.

Another knock and another. Noa cries for papa even though Kaibara got off the hook again. You lost, again. War of words has always been considered your forte, so suffering a loss for the nth time because of heroes breaks your heart. You can’t win here.

 Noa is still crying for some reason. How can you comfort him before comforting yourself? 

“(Y/n)!” Izuku’s arms sweep Noa up. The doll rubs his face along his shoulder. “I’m here, I’m here.”

How many times have heroes said that and lied? Every time. They’ve never shown a lick of care. Here one is pretending to care about anyone but himself. A boy with everything at his fingertips and has used it to make you miserable. Him and that peppermint thing in his class. If you were to ever see that asshole, you’re punching him in the face. 

“Are you ok-” Izuku sees you side eye Noa with a blank expression. Izuku places Noa back in his crib. Your eyes go to Izuku. “Get out.”

  “I know you’re upset; I am on your side. Please, don’t take it out on Noa.”

“He’s not real, Midoriya,” With a smirk on your face and malicious intent, you face him. “So don’t worry your green boy scout head. You can’t disappoint him. Unfortunately, you also can’t gain praise. He's just another thing you heroes use to punish us with.”

  Izuku glares and walks towards you. “Because of your kind…” You take a deep breath. “I’m stuck here, and I have to deal with this shit. No job, a child, and a venomous boy who bit me for no reason.”

  You poke his chest. “What are the worst parts? I get pitied by the boy that did all of this and the thing he’s friends with is still here, sleeping happily. Living and relaxing while the rest of us go through the wringer.” Izuku grabs your offending hand that repeatedly pushes on him. “And that thing in the crib isn’t even real, yet I suffer for it. You heroes should’ve crumbled years ago.” You hear Noa sniffle.

Rather than fight back like you craved for, as you expected, he pulls you in and wraps his arms around you. “You think you don’t want it, that you don’t want my help. But dearest, take it anyway. You will take it."

  Why does he keep hugging you? Everything is happening at once. There’s no way you can support Noa with what you get. The only thing left is to give him to Kaibara since he can support him. That means you will be basing your grade, your scholarship, into the hands of someone who hates you. Someone who is spiteful. And the one who is holding you is someone who doesn’t even know you, who pities you, the scholarship kid.

“Let me go.” You growl. He shakes his head no. You growl, struggling to get out of his hold. “I don’t need your pity.”

“I’m not giving it. That’s for people who could have done better and chose not to. You don’t deserve it.” His voice is low in your ear. It feels like vibrations. “You’re too young to be a mother, this is just an assignment, and yet you have a mother’s tears, and I hate it. So, I’ve decided not to pity you. I will help you because I care and understand. I know someone who had the same tears, and I hated it then, too. Do you understand? I will help you whether you like it or not because I care.”

  Your breath is shaky. He cradles your body with one arm and his other hand goes to your head, bringing it to him and placing a kiss on it that neither of you will talk about. You pause, no longer crying.

“You want to help, Deku?” 

He tenses for a second. “Yes?” He separates himself from you to look at your small smile. “Can you watch Noa for a second? I just need some air. I’ll be back soon, promise.”

--------------------------

You charge through the library on a mission. For years, the people have had to play by the heroes' rules and millions of people get left behind. Look at League, who just needed help and when they opened their mouth, it was smacked. Then heroes stomped on them to their death.

  You put several old and weathered books in Noa’s stroller that you’re using as a cart. “Bad influence? Ken’s a bad influence? What the hell are you a saint?”

Books fall into the stroller. The librarian comes around and tells you to calm down. You cry out, “You are the bad influence! How many people have to suffer for you to realize that!”

  You come across a tall shelf and raise your hand to the person on the ladder. “That one! All of them! Give me the U.A. rule books!” U.A prides itself on innovation and progression. The technology used is state of the art and fits any and all heroes and support. However, they are still traditional and play by the old rules as much as society does.

“To protect a sexual deviant and another who puts his hands on his partner, hell no. A villain is a villain, right? What the fuck does that make you!” 

You continue gathering as many books as you can. You struggle to push the stroller to an empty table. “Why’d you call us?” Benio comes in with Kobeni, of course. Because no way is Yaoyorozu helping him. 

As you slam books on the table, you ask, “Do you trust me?” 

“What?” The rest of your class come in. All of them in various conditions. All of Jule’s eyes have bags under them and Sakura’s usually perfect hair is mussed. 

“I’m not going down like this. I lost to these assholes twice, maybe even more, because I wasn’t prepared. This is their turf. You can’t go to someone’s home field without being prepared.” You set books down on the table. “So, do you trust me?”

 Benio is the first to realize what you're doing, what you're going to do. “I trust you.”

“I’m not a fucking punk. And none of you are either. I need you to trust me and the move I’ll make for us. I just need your help.”

  “With what?” Ema comes forward without Hana. 

“I am going to go head to head with them and show them that they are wrong for this. The project, their expectations, the inequality, all of it. But I need proof to do it because our conditions aren’t enough.”

  “What do you need?” Benio lifts one brow. “I need eyes, I need study partners who will read with me, I need support. Jule,” You point to the four eyed boy. “I need your camera to document this and the confrontation. The people are going to see every bit of this.”

  “Won’t we get in trouble?” 

“For what? Posting on social media? As long as you don’t tag the school, we’ll be fine. It’ll spread on its own. Jule, I need you to be in charge of recording and Sakura,” She looks at you with a hint of sadness in her eyes.

“Bakugou does everything with Mira. But this has to be getting in your way and bothering you. You gave up arguing because you knew we couldn’t oppose it at the time. Sakura, you have to be angry too, right?” She nods. “Then I need you to help Jule with posting it. You and Jule will handle the media. Hansuke, when it’s time, you’ll invite the school to the assembly so everyone can see it.”

  Hansuke, normally a social butterfly, is naturally charismatic. It’s so crazy that he could charm anyone. He’s the perfect guy to convince people. Without another second of delay, Hansuke smiles and nods. He waves his manicured hand. “Anything for you, pretty.”

 “What about me?” Riko’s voice is quiet. She rubs her arm and stares down at her feet. “Do you trust me too, Riko?”

As far as you know, she is going to counseling with the dog hero and has made some progress. However, there are times when she retreats. Now looks like one of those moments. Sometime later you need to see if she’s doing okay. You want to give her space but not so much she gets lost. You don’t know what he did to her, all you can see are the results of it. 

She bites her lip. “I have nothing to do with this project.” 

“No, but because of this and their negligence, Mineta harassed you. They only got rid of him when it came to your expense. There has to be rules against what they did and if there isn’t, let the people decide.”

  Her eyes peer up at you. They’re glossy and scared. “I trust you.”

“Understand, this will take months for justice. We’re taking this to the top, not the principal, not the teachers. No, we’re taking it up with their boss.”

  Jule asks, “Hawks? The commissioner, Hawks?”

“Yep. Going to Nezu does fucking nothing. But Hawks? We need ammo, we need all types of shit. Most of all, I need you to trust me to go in front of this man, the most powerful man in this country with everything I got. It will take months. This isn’t something to just throw at the big guy. No,”

You lean in with the most serious expression. “Even if the project ends before I can begin, I am going to burn this school to the ground.”

“Let’s do this.” Benio smiles and sets Kobeni down on the chair and picks up one of the hero law books.

a/n: the library scene is like Bernadine's from Waiting to Exhale. It fit the moment.

tags:

@js-favnanadoongi , @imas1mpp, @bigchungusdrinksspritecranberry, @luvrluvrr

@moodyhuesworld

[ninadove]

For any fandom(s): 12, 15, 16, 19, 23! 💌

As always, you spoil me! 💌

12. Compliment someone else in your fandom

GOD I HAVE TOO MANY FRIENDS TO COMPLIMENT

@beezonia comes up with the coolest AUs and designs. I’m always blown away by their Pokémon team compositions — they’re spot on to the point I consider it its own form of character analysis!

@purplecatghostposts is the genius who showed up out of the blue and took us all by surprise with their amazing prose. Soap, reminder that the reference to Copycat in consider the spare legally binds you to pay for my therapy.

@trishacollins is single-handedly remediating to the lack of platonic bedsharing between the cousins and I can’t thank her enough! She’s also one of the chillest and most approachable people I know.

@luckychatons is our favourite entrepunpurr and constantly lifts our mood with the cutest, most joy-filled sketches! Patting her OCs on the back because they sure need it.

@graythegreyt is such an awesome artist you’d almost forget they’re also one hell of a poet who wields mythological references like Odysseus wields his bow. Did you know they wrote me a poem inspired by God Games? I think everyone should know they wrote me a poem inspired by God Games.

@hartwign is a talented translator and draws hair like no one else. Seriously. I want to run my hands through the cousins’ hair and nestle in there forever.

@phieillydinyia is the picture of dedication! Can’t recommend Candle In The Wind enough, it’s a roleswap rewrite of the Miraculous movie that includes the songs. How cool is that. Thank you for your regular comments on my fics, they always make my day!

@alexandriaellisart words cannot express how much I love your depiction of Feligami. Your writing has made me tear up so many times! AND YOUR ART LOOKS SO SOFT AND COLOURFUL. What a double threat!

@faiirygrahamdevanily we need more fics about the Sentiplot as a metaphor for othering experiences and you’re doing God’s… I mean, Duusu’s work with yours!

@bbutterflies did you know your piece for Sentitwin Week is the best characterisation I’ve ever seen of Felix? This is what people mean when they say a picture is worth a thousand words. And of course your Adrino is always brilliant!

@bittersweetresilience not only are you an extraordinary writer, but you’re constantly looking for new ways to express your love. Always GIFing and weaving and canonising tags and making AMVs and running zines… I can’t wait to see what you do next!

And there’s so many more people I’m forgetting! To say nothing of my friends outside the Miraculous bubble! People are amazing!!! 💖

15. The character that always makes you smile

At the end of the day, it’s all about Clive. He’s been my muse for nearly 15 years! 💙🕊️

16 was answered here! 💖

19. Your current fandom(s)

Professor Layton, forever and always. I can’t wait to share my Big Bang fic and the amazing art that I was blessed with! 💙💛

RWBY, even if I’m lurking more than participating… I love love love love RWBY, yet it doesn’t strike my creative and analytical chords the way Miraculous does. Sometimes you just need to let yourself be swept into a story, you know? Although, it did teach me a couple of writing tricks I’ve used for other fandoms!

EPIC! Wisdom Saga coming soon! 🩵🦉 It makes my little mythology nerd heart supremely happy. The music is a banger and you can feel the knowledge and passion of all the people involved in this project. Jorge in particular is always so excited to share his progress, engaging with creators, explaining his musical choices in a fun and pedagogical way… And the lyrics! It’s free real estate for a fanfic author looking for inspiration and/or titles!

I’d love to start Monte-Cristoposting like I’ve been Cyranoposting and Draculaposting, but I’m afraid of spoilers so for now I’m just screaming in your DMs. As you know. I’m also slowly getting into Honkai: Star Rail, and I’d like to pick up Pokémon Black and White again because a N character study would look great on my AO3 resume.

And of course, Miraculous! 💚💜❤️ It’s the most creative I’ve been in years and it’s all thanks to these sad beautiful silly genius kids. Heart emoji, peacock emoji, sob emoji, etc.

23 was answered here!

Thanks for the ask! 🖤🪶

[rapha-reads]

Things from Interview With The Vampire s02e04 (ep11) I noticed:

[Edit 1: Actually this turned into a live-commenting, sorry]

[Edit 2: Keep in mind, I haven't read the books, so all of these observations are born from the show itself and the few (lots of) spoilers and narrative plot points I've gleaned here and there.]

Both Claudia and Louis are so bored with the coven. Or maybe bored isn't the word, but... Done? Frustrated and annoyed? Restless? Louis because he never intended to join and so cares not all for all their internal affairs. Claudia because she thought she'd finally have the life she wanted and instead is being forced to relive the tragedy of her life day after day.

And Armand rejoices in drawing them further apart, scolding and punishing Claudia while begging scraps from Louis.

And he's soooo jealous. The face he makes when Louis starts explaining what Dreamstat feels like is priceless.

Also, personal theory: either Louis is indeed suffering psychotic breaks after psychotic breaks, or just manifesting his own version of Lestat because he doesn't want to let go. Or Lestat can astral project and has been stalking Louis from the moment they left New Orleans.

The coven is tearing itself apart. And normally I'd add "and Armand isn't even seeing it/taking it seriously yet" but given that the whole of them are unreliable narrators and that Armand is a shady ass bitch whose only agenda is himself, I'd say he's well aware and purposefully making it worse.

I can't make sense of Santiago yet, though. Is he jealous? Ambitious? Is he fond of Claudia? Does he hate her? He definitely hates Louis, but is it just jealousy or real antipathy? Oh, but Louis is still my precious special kitten and that speech about Paris, art and modernity, as a contemporary culture student, made me vibrate a little out of my chair, and Santiago clowning him makes me want to claw his face. We get it, you hate him and you think he's pretentious, now can you shut up and let us talk a bit more about the art scene in Paris post-WW2 and why Louis is absolutely right, Picasso isn't all that impressive in the end? Thanks. Bacon tho, Bacon is interesting. My contemporary art teacher last year was excruciatingly boring, but he had a boner for both Louise Bourgeois and Bacon and we spent several hours on them (and not nearly enough about Mapplethorne, alas). Anyway. I feel ya, Lou. I have been called pretentious too for simply getting excited about art, culture and folkore.

I'm rooting for Louis and Claudia to kill them all off and run away to Italy. I know it won't happen, but one can dream, eh.

Is Armand messing up with both Daniel by getting into his mind and Louis by switching the photos? Interesting. Two people who have a shitton of issues stuck with a sadistic, insecure and bitter control freak who's been pulling the threads since way before anyone realises. And Louis is so lost in his trauma and grief and anger, he trusts Armand and doesn't see what's happening and been happening to him for 70 years, while Daniel is just a sad, sick old man who thinks he knows his life and what his future entails. Armand is definitely having fun.

"Je n'aime pas fenêtre quand fermée" is NOT FRENCH, MY EARS. I will be picky, I don't care for artistic licence. Correct sentence would be "je n'aime pas les fenêtres quand elles sont fermées". Admittedly, if it goes into a song, you'd have to respect the length of the line and all those musical measures. But still. You could shorten the numbers of syllables by dropping the language register: "j'aime pas les f'nêtres quand elles sont fermées" ; from 12 or 13 to 9, the original line being 8 or 9. Depending on whether you say "je-n'ai-me-pas" or "je-n'aim-pas" and "fe-nê-tres" or "fe-nêtres". Anyway. I'm sure the writers had those discussions (I hope; hey, AMC, hire me, I'm a good proofreader and I speak 5 languages).

Me: oh, Louis isn't even bothering now, he's directly talking to... Wait, is Lestat eating that photo? If it's Dreamstat: the hell is going on in your head, Louis? If it's Astral Lestat: that is certainly a choice, my friend.

"Barely Balthasar", LMAO, Lestat I fucking love you. Poor Balthasar always gets forgotten in adaptations. Nope, we're not here to talk R&J, moving on.

Armand: "this is my tragic backstory. Feel pity for me. I'm the good guy." Me: yeaaah, how much of this is actually real? And, uh, no, like Lestat said: ha! You're a storyteller and a conman, Armand. You weave your story to pluck at the heart's threads of your audience, modulating it to their sensibilities to better serve your own interests and your plans. What are those interests, these plans? Hell if I know. But I absolutely do not trust you at all.

HANDS OFF CLAUDIA OR I'LL BITE

"The wilderness that is our daughter" have I said lately how much I love Lestat.

Oh, hello, the Loustat scene on the bench just broke my heart, which is funny if you consider that that's just Louis breaking up with himself. Also, do we consider Louis knew about the initials in the pocket, and Dreamstat is saying what Louis wants him to say, or is it another unreliable narrator Louis, or is it Lestat himself...?

Aw, going from the Loumand scene on the bench to "toxic gay divorce with body count" sure is a tonal shift. Lmao. You're losing your touch, Armand. Louis' awakening. Daniel's awakening... San Francisco next, that will be fun. Excited to see how they've changed that part, knowing it's the red thread of the first book.

...

Oooh, that got long. Apologies. I really need to sit and read those books.

[justsomestoicguy]

The Red Means I Love You

It's been a week since my ill-fated slip-up with Stain. 

He left things off on a "let's continue this another time" note. But it's the kind where he purposefully tries to steer away from the topic.

And honestly? I'm grateful we haven't resumed that convo, because I am far from ready yet.

But on a lighter note, I managed to escape my group's wrath with the 'ol "family emergency" excuse. 

Well… mostly.

Tanaka gave me hell for ditching the project and my work. I had to play the sympathy card hard, claiming, "Family's complicated, you know?", knowing damn well she wouldn't buy it for one bit. But hey, it was enough to keep her off my back.

So now, I've settled into a routine: Ops on Tuesdays and Thursdays—schoolwork and friends the rest of the week. 

Oh, and keeping in touch with Stain through a burner phone. Very secret agent-y, if I do say so myself.

Today, I'm back at the 2nd Training Corps, which apparently only consists of Toga and me for now. 

I had some suspicions about why Stain placed me here with her, and they were immediately confirmed when Stain mentioned Scourge left him a list of people to take in in case of a worst-case scenario (shrewd as always, Scourge).

He thought that, by extension, that also meant getting me close with said people, and so he did what he did and put me here.

It left me wondering, though, what other names are on that list? Dabi? Twice? Other "salvageable" members from the League of Villains?

Unfortunately, I couldn't ask Stain about it since he's too busy running the Ops. Dude's surprisingly competent. 

And as for Toga, well…

"Ran-kun!" she calls out, her voice bright and bubbly. "You done sweeping over there?"

I finish up the last bit of dust and lean on my broom, glancing at her. "Yeah, just about. Sensei'll have our heads if she finds a speck of dirt left."

Why are we on cleaning duty, you may ask? Well, because according to our very wise and very pretty mentor, Onibi-sensei (or just Sensei as we call her), "Discipline is the key to success."

Not quite what I imagined when I signed up for secret vigilante work, but hey, I'll take what I can get for now.

Toga skips over to me, her smile widening. "It's kinda fun, y'know? Doing this with you."

"Sure," I say, forcing a chuckle. "As long as it doesn't involve getting yelled at, I'm game."

We've been getting along pretty well, all things considered. 

Unlike me, Toga has happily left her old life behind. And while I know her reasons (thanks, MHA fandom), I'm waiting for her to tell me herself. Building rapport and all that.

But, of course, it's never that simple. 

Toga has a... unique way of expressing affection. 

Case in point: she pulls out a knife, eyes twinkling with that signature, unsettling glee. "Ran-kun…" she addresses sweetly, almost innocently.

Great. Just great. I sigh, trying to keep my cool.

"No, Toga-chan," I say firmly, holding up a hand. 

Her smile falters, eyes darkening with a hint of hurt. I quickly add, "You shouldn't just rush into people like that. It's not polite. You should ask nicely first if you want something from them."

She blinks, caught off guard. For a moment, I think I've made a terrible mistake. But then her face lights up with pure unadulterated joy. 

"Oh! Okay! Er, Ran-kun, can I taste your blood, please? Pretty please?"

Don't be so blunt about it!

Still, I reluctantly (though I tried not to show it) nod. "I—sure. But let me do the dirty work myself. And no drinking directly from me, okay?" I motion for her to give me the knife.

She pouts, clearly not thrilled with the stipulations, but agrees, handing me the blade.

I scream internally, grabbing a cup from a nearby counter and mentally preparing to make a small incision on my hand. 

C'mon, Ran. Just get this over with.

Angling the knife, I slice swiftly, drawing blood from the back of my hand over the cup.

Y'ouch.

It hurts, but I'm thankfully able to keep a neutral face. Toga watches with rapt attention, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. 

As the cup fills to about a centimeter, I pull my hand back and press some tissues against the cut. 

Toga snatches the cup and downs it all in one go, her face glowing with satisfaction as her eyes fluttered shut in apparent ecstasy. 

Shivers. Everywhere. 

Yeesh.

"So sweet," she murmurs. "God, you're so sweet, Ran-kun." Toga grins and clings to my arm with a dreamy look. 

"I love you sooo, so much!"

Ah, the "L" word. Here we go.

Gotta shut this down, fast.

"I don't like girls," I blurted out. If there's anything that can get her to back off, it's this.

She blinks in surprise before beaming again. "That's okay! I can turn into a boy for you!"

"No," I said instantly, "that wouldn't be true to yourself, now wouldn't it?"

That finally gives her pause, and she sulks. "Oh..."

"But," I continue, searching for the right words, "you have the cutest smile a girl could ever have, y'know? And your love for people is... intense, to say the least. Which I deeply admire."

Her face lights up again. "You really think so?"

"Absolutely," I say, patting her on the shoulder. "But you deserve someone who'll love you the way you love them. And that someone just isn't me."

She looks down, clearly disheartened, but I emphasize, "Don't worry, I'll still be here for you as a friend, okay? We're friends, right?"

Her face brightens once more. "Yeah! Friends!"

I chuckle weakly, inwardly sighing in relief. 

It's hard work being in good graces with Toga, but I'll put up with it.

She was one of my favorite characters in MHA, for one.

For another…

Having someone with her quirk—perfect for infiltration and espionage—on my side could be invaluable. 

Especially with the goal I have in mind.

Just then, I hear the door creak.

Geh—Sensei's back.

"Boss Stendhal!" 

…Now that catches my attention. 

I turn around and see Stain approaching us.

"Boss Stendhal!" Toga repeats, waving at Stain excitedly. "Ran-kun and I were just finishing up our cleaning duties!"

Stain nods. "Good. Discipline is important."

He then turns his gaze toward me. "Akako Ran, I'd like to have a word with you."

My eyes widen, and a smile begins to blossom.

"Are we finally gonna talk about it?" I ask, skipping as I walk toward Stain.

He nods again. "Yes."

"Talk? About what?" Toga chimes in, gaze flicking back and forth between Stain and me.

"It's confidential, Toga Himiko," he replies.

This makes her pout. "Fiiine," she drawls, huffing her way away from us.

I watch her leave with a chuckle. It's good that she didn't protest, at least.

"Akako Ran."

I glance at Stain.

"Let's go somewhere private," he states.

My nerves and excitement become almost too much for me to handle.

"So you'll hear me out on my plan?" I whisper, wanting to make sure.

Stain studies my face.

"Since it concerns the Hero Public Safety Commission, after all."

Heh.

My grin broadens.

—

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

Chapter 1

[pine-niidles]

I'd love to hear about OCs 2, 14, and 27!

That's Malte (2), Eclipse (14), and Nebula (27) 💗🖤💜

Malte is I think my newest oc? It's hard to keep track lately. I made him for a dnd based rp my friend is running (though I've been ghosting them the last few months aaaa. I need to find an rp group that's active in a non-us timezone)

He's a dungeon researcher in theory but he's spent the last century or two essentially being a secretary for a local guild. He's the kind of person who needs everything to be organized and set up just right before starting and he's an elf with a bad sense of time so he keeps getting sidetracked from the things he wants to do by the things he feels he needs to do... he was trying to change that habit with this newly discovered dungeon the rp is taking place at but unfortunately for him I ended up not being able to be active for a while. I'm thinking about what reason he has for leaving his dream project for two months but whatever it is I'll find a way to work it into his character arc when my wrists feel better and I can be active again. :>

In my wip folder for Malte I have this chibi and emote I'll finish one day

Eclipse I feel like I've talked a bit about on this account recently? So I won't go too deep into her introduction.

Lately I've been really into characters trapped in situations they have no control over and how they learn to live with and work around said situation.

Eclispe is trapped in a loop of multiple lifetimes that all end the same way - her having to make a choice between saving the world she's grown to love by killing the goddess she used to love or taking the goddess's deal and letting the world crumble away around her to pave the way for a new one. She kills the goddess every time and lives out the rest of her life, only for the cycle to start again in the next one as the goddess's death is always only temporary and as long as she lives she will not let Eclipse die permanently either.

I have a lot of Eclipse in my wip folder but the one I'm most excited about is this comic I want to draw for her sometime this year

Nebula I talked about in the last ask and I don't have any wips I can share of them... so I'll drop another piece of lore:

Nebula frequents the same arcade as Carina and the two of them meet in their civilian identities without realizing who other person is.

Thanks so much for asking! 💖💗💞And that goes to everyone who did send in an ask - it was a lot of fun to ramble about my ocs, thank you for indulging me

[themswritinwords]

Songs and Ships

Tagged by @athenswrites (many thanks!) and tagging @stesierra, @silvertalonwritblr, and @arigalefantasynovels (if you want, no pressure)

rules: write two to five songs that represent a ship between your ocs (it can be platonic or romantic or a secret third thing). then add a quote from said wip (if possible!) underneath it.

I know you shouldn't play favorites with your (brain)children, but I'm going with my all-time favs, Evan and Rowan, from The Rockbridge Experiment.

I Guess I'm In Love by Clinton Kane

I mean, the title says it all. He fell first, she fell harder, a little obliviously mutual pining (and everyone around them rolling their eyes) later, they're the embodiment of "this might as well happen." But make it romance.

Have Rowan's "oops! Feelings!" moment.

If she’d been anyone else, he might have just done it. Acted on impulse and kissed her right then, two-weeks-acquaintance be damned. But if there was a way to ruin everything, that would have been it. You didn’t just accept having a crush on your brand new coworker, let alone act on it. Is that why he was so hung up on her? He saw a pretty girl, but she was automatically off limits, so his brain threw a fit and refused to let the idea go without closure. That was then misinterpreted as attraction. Desire. Whatever this was. Was that really it? The thought gave him a peculiar, distasteful feeling in the pit of his stomach and he frowned to himself, turning another corner. He… didn’t want it to be just some fleeting attraction. And it wasn’t, was it? Yeah, sure, that came with it, but… Oh gods, he liked her. As in, ‘I want to kiss you because I really like you,’ not ‘I like you because I really want to kiss you.’ He stopped midstep, heart pounding with both joy and terror at the realization that this wasn’t a cut and dry case of having the hots for his coworker. “Well,” he said, putting his hands on his hips, “shit.” What did he do now?

Pas Peur by L.E.J.

Is it cheating if it's in a different language? Not if the character speaks said language. A song for the spicy Cajun girl who built a huge chunk of her identity on being Not Scared Of Anything, but is deeply terrified of the fact that she's crushing on someone for the first time in her life. (Bonus points because she literally didn't realize it for 3/4 of the manuscript. I'm not getting over that.)

Have the Terror of Realization.

She glanced surreptitiously to the side, scanning Rowan for any hint of how he was interpreting it. He had his hair down, running his fingers through the ends as he watched the alley ahead of them with a residual smile. Evan’s stomach did that weird twisting thing again, and a tiny jolt went through her as something shifted into place in her mind. Something totally foreign to her, a murky, terrifying unknown slowly fading into focus as her eyes traced the angles of his face.

Falling, by Florence + the Machine

What can I say? I'm a sucker for the scared-of-vulnerability and helpless-descent-into-madness vibes. This one applies to both of them. They're both terrified in different ways and for different reasons-- Rowan because he's usually the smooth talking player who dates around and is always chill, and now he's totally off his game with the facade stripped away. Evan because she's never actually cared for anyone like this, and she also doesn't know how to be the vulnerable, needy one.

Alas, there's not a ton of other quotes I could draw from because Major Spoilers, but have a snippet of a lil heart-to-heart that was particularly fun to write.

“You know,” she said after a moment, “a while back you told me that if the detective thing didn’t work out, I had a future as a therapist.” She looked up with a smirk. “I didn’t realize you were projecting.” “Side effect of your mom having a doctorate in psychology,” Rowan said with a smile. “The analysis, anyway. The awkwardly saying it out loud uncalled for is all me, unfortunately.” “Hey now, you don’t get to give a speech like that and then go calling yourself unfortunate.” With no witty comeback to be had, he just chuckled quietly. “Thank you,” Evan said, quickly and quietly. “I… I think I kind of needed that.” “I meant it,” Rowan said. “You really are incredible.” Their eyes met and lingered in a warm, fragile silence.  “I don’t know why this feels like the time to say it,” Evan said after a moment, “but for all the insanity and general screwed-up-ness of this whole situation… if nothing else, I’m glad it means I got to know you.” “The feeling’s mutual,” Rowan said quietly.

.

Maybe it's time to get back to focusing on rewrites and shortening this one. I forgot how much fun I had writing these kids.

[neko-naruto]

wrong place (wrong time)

Summary: wherein Quackity is there when Tilìn dies and he can't do anything about it, having Phil and Missa catch him in his fall doesn't help much

Warnings: Blood, break downs, major death, canon rewrite (as in, different people are there), bad ending, check Ao3 port for full tags

Authors Note: So, QSMP, I miss Tilìn, so I wrote a fic about her dying, to cope, kind of counter intuitive now that I'm thinking about it. @h3xt0r heybro, come check this shit out. anyways! hope ya'll enjoy and if you do consider dropping a reblog or checking out the Ao3 port.

Tilìn felt this sense of glee when Quackity got her, this belonging when he hoisted her up with shocking ease and held her tight like she'd been his daughter forever. Her brothers and sisters also got parents after watching their mother flee the nest, but they all got two.

And she only got one.

Her siblings teased her over it, Quackity always crouched down and gave her the most comforting smile he could muster before trying to cheer her up. He always managed to have her giggling at the end of one of his long pep talks. And sure, dinner felt lonely without a second parent but she didn't really think that mattered much.

"Papa?" She can feel her blood sink into the fabric of her clothing, bright blue like her hero's.

Not when he was always at her side and taking care of her. He did the job of both mother and father, he took care of her with ease. He was the best and she's sure of it! Even if Bobby and Dapper say otherwise.

"No. No. No. Baby, don't die. Tilìn, stay with me! Look at your papa, okay? Focus on me, it's gonna be okay- Bad! Bad?!" Hands press at the wound desperately to hold in the blood and he screams for the one healer he knows. The only one who sort of gets how the eggs even work medically wise, the one demon who could save her. And he didn't hear Quackity's screams.

She didn't blame him much for her first death, accidents happen, that's what she was taught. She said it was okay when she came back and Quackity sobbed on her shoulder and refused to let go for a long time. He didn't let go of her now, he held on so very closely no matter the hour because Tilìn is his daughter and he needs to protect her.

That's what a good dad does. He protects. He doesn't let harm come anywhere near his kid. And maybe he goes overboard with it, just a bit, but he can't bear to lose her again. Unlike the rest of them, he doesn't have someone to lean on if she does die. He's pretty sure he'll go out in the woods and starve to death if she dies, he'd have failed his one job. A pathetic self-exile would be a fitting punishment for letting his daughter die at age twelve.

Tilìn doesn't get how much she means to her dad, she doesn't really get that she'll be gone forever when she dies the next time. She just knows it wasn't fun, and she'll avoid not fun things like her life depends on it because she's a kid. That's what kids do, and Quackity's gonna try and let her be a kid even if he's afraid she'll die.

"Thanks for having us over, Phil," Quackity said quietly as his avian friend preened a spread of golden feathers.

"It's fine by me, the more the merrier," Phil answered with as he rearranged a whole sheaf of feathers left out of order for some reason. Quackity gives an abrupt chirp at the slight sting, "Say, when did you last preen yourself?"

No answer. Why should he respond? Phil already knows exactly what the answer is so why does he need to say it?

"Quackity," The blonde presses, running a hand along the arch of a wing.

"Before, before my daughter died," The words are brimming with shame, and he can't stop the disappointed sigh rolling through him.

"Mate… You gotta take better care of yourself," Phil said, voice soft as he moved to plucking broken feathers from Quackity's other wing.

Quackity shrugged, drawing wings higher reflexively, "No, I don't, I have to keep Tilìn safe. How would you feel if Tallulah died?"

Phil pauses, "That question is unfair."

"And unlike you, I don't have someone to console me if she does die! This single parenting shit is hard," Quackity snapped before dropping back onto the Elytrians lap and Phil refrains from saying something stupid.

"I can imagine,"

"Can I just- can you take care of Tilìn for me?"

"What?"

"Please, I know that you won't let anything so much as touch her. I need to know that she's safe, I can't do everything all at once; I just want her to not die. She's my daughter man, and I'm messing this up,"

Phil just doesn't answer, tactfully preening the inner side of Quackity's wings. Prodding feathers back into place as Quackity waited patiently for an answer he knew he wouldn't get. He rolls onto his side, curling into the avian and giving a heavy sigh as he wraps his wings around himself.

"I'm not taking care of your egg, Missa would kill me if I decided raising two kids would be a good idea," Phil said, carding through the feathers as he spoke.

Quackity gives an amused hum, "Yeah, he would."

"You can drop her off sometimes," Phil offered, "Just not, all day every day."

And then there's the sound of the door slamming open. Quackity snapped up, feathers flying about as Phil joined the estranged panic. They found Missa with Chayanne at his side and Tilìn in his arms, blood spilling down her shirt. Missa was heaving breaths, and Chayanne looked ruined, he was crying a little bit.

And then Quackity was storming over, flaring out his wings as he stole his daughter from Missa's arms and clutched her close. She was fading, she was fading fast and Quackity didn't know what to do.

"It was some assholes!" Chayanne practically screamed, "They ran as soon as it happened! I swear I'm gonna kill them!"

Missa placed a hand atop his sons head, and the angrily lashing of a leathery tail halted, "Más despacio, Chayanne."

He just huffed, he did quiet down as Quackity slowly unraveled.

He was dropping to the floor before he realized it, clutching onto the almost dead child because she was all he had. A hand, he didn't know who it belonged to, gently reached for Tilìn and he lashed out. He gripped tighter and blood gushed from the wound as his wings flared up in a weak attempt at a protective casing. There's weak coughing and he knows it's Tilìn, blood pools at the corner of her lips- she looks so much weaker than he thought she was.

"Calm down mate!"

"Let him breath, Phil!"

His hands wrap into Tilìns hair and her wings drop limp in his grasp, she's gone.

"Don't go," It's whispered, it's begging, he can't lose her. He presses a smattering of kisses to her forehead, "Wake up," He smudges aside the blood with his hand, "Please wake up, Tilìn."

Slowly, very, very slowly his wings drop down as the pulse stops entirely. He's holding onto a dead body now, this dead body isn't his daughter because his daughter isn't supposed to be a dead body. He let's go slowly and before Missa or Phil can stop Chayanne he's right beside Quackity, holding onto Tilìn and butting their heads together because she always responded to that. And when she doesn't, the finality of the matter sets in for Chayanne.

The body is set down gently on the carpeted floor, and Quackity edges way from it, so does Chayanne. Phil takes a seat beside Quackity, fanning out a wing for him to lean as he stared at the blood on his form. His daughter's blood, his amazing, young, happy daughter's blood and she lay dead not even two feet away from him.

"Where's Cucurucho?" Was all Quackity managed on a strained voice.

"Whatever you're planning, don't," Phil said sternly, watching as Chayanne clutched to Quackity's side. He pressed the top of his head against the avian despite the nubs of horns.

Missa sat down on the other side of Phil, "I didn't see them, Quackity," He stares at the wound on Tilìn, "It doesn't look like it was on purpose."

"It doesn't matter! Tilìn is dead and I have no one, Missa!" Quackity snapped, and that was the final straw before the tears started flowing. He was bawling in mere moments, body shaking as he stared, unable to say anything else aside from a few broken syllables. He leaned further into Phil and held onto the older avian who bracketed him in with a wing, keeping him secure like a weighted blanket.

Missa stayed quiet, unaware of what else he could say to try and comfort Quackity. He fell back on the classic fail safe, "We could have dinner tonight, so you don't have to worry about cooking, no?"

"I think that sounds great," Phil answered with because everyone knew Quackity wouldn't be able to do so in his current state, "Chayanne, can you and Missa go and start some soup for us?"

Chayanne nodded, a little bit more stiffly than usual. He stood up and brushed down his pants, "C'mon papá, let's go make some soup."

[kiatheinsomniac]

𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏𝐒 | 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐒

Thank you so much for accepting my Castlevania ship request! I’m bi/pan and use she/her pronouns. I’m pretty short (about 5’1”/154 cm), with short (like, pixie cut) dark brown hair, green eyes, and freckles. I’ve been told I have a nice smile, a nice voice, and a good sense of (casual, feminine) style. On first impressions I generally come across as polite, responsible, and “sweet,” a bit of a goody-two-shoes type. That’s not a front, exactly, but around people I feel fully comfortable with I’m a lot more spontaneous and playful, and even kind of a tease - always for fun, though, never to the point of being actually cruel. I’m also very stubborn, opinionated, and ambitious, which tends to surprise some people because of my soft demeanour. My best qualities as a partner are adventurousness and thoughtfulness. I’m good at noticing little things my partner likes or needs and really shine at planning dates and giving sentimental but useful gifts. Some negative qualities are that I can get lost in my head sometimes, especially when I’m stressed (or really interested in a new project or study topic), and since I’m both very headstrong and VERY conflict averse, I can be quite passive aggressive when we have conflicts or disagreements. Qualities I find attractive in a partner are sincerity, drive, and sense of humour. I really, really don’t do well with a partner who’s overly jealous or controlling. To me it signifies a lack of trust - and if they don’t trust me, why are we even together, you know? Some of my likes/hobbies are surprises and new experiences, games, reading (mostly horror, science fiction, science history, and nonfiction books about travel and nature), drawing, camping/hiking, and animals. I dislike hot weather, feeling confined (physically or emotionally), impatience/being rushed, and sweet foods (more of a salty/sour kind of girl).

I ship you with Striga! 

Striga likes how you’ve got two sides to you! It makes her feel really special and like she’s doing a good job as your girlfriend to be able to see the side of you that’s more teasing and playful. She quite likes when you tease her about things because it serves as a reminder to her that she’s made you feel comfortable enough to come out of your shell around her like this. Striga’s a warrior, a protector - she wants to always make you feel safe and seeing you show this other side of yourself that she’s come to notice you only show around people that you’re comfortable with makes her feel like she’s doing a good job of making sure you feel safe. 

Striga also likes how much shorter you are than her! I’d put Striga as being 6'-6'3 so the fact that you’re 5’1 means that she towers over you. She thinks you’re really cute! She likes to lean down and kiss the top of your head while the tips of her fingers run through your pixie cut. She also likes giving you head pats as a form of affection. You’re so much shorter than her that it’s easy so it just comes naturally to her. She really likes that you enjoy things like reading and drawing! It makes her happy to see you learning things because she finds intelligence really attractive in a partner! She also really likes how you avoid conflict – as a warrior and the head of Styria’s army, conflict is something she sees far too often in her life. She wants to keep that away from her relationship with you and she’s happy that the two of you will only ever really just bicker and then talk out your differences until things are resolved. 

♡ When Striga first sees this other side to you, she’s really intrigued! She thought she knew you already but now she gets to see this whole other side of you! She loves it! She’ll always let you think that you’ve got the upper hand when you’re teasing her just so that she can keep on seeing this playful side of you. It feels so personal and she feels quite honoured to know that you’ve chosen her as one of the people that gets to see this more private side of you. 

♡ She likes camping with you! Sometimes life as one of the four Queens of Styria can become draining so her ideal way of recharging with you is just by going out into the woods and camping together. I suppose your dislike of hot weather will be very handy here as camping in Styria always involves a lot of snow. She’ll hike through the night with you, telling you all about the land she rules over with her sisters. She’ll set up a tent and the two of you will spend the day sleeping and cuddling up in each other's arms against the cold. If you’re human, Striga will pay extra attention to your body temperature and will bundle you up in warm clothes, blankets and sleeping bags. 

♡ Striga thinks that you really bring out a more feminine side to her. She’s not exactly built all delicately as the world expects women to be and she’s quite hardened from war too. But it’s the little things you do with her that make her feel like you’re really bringing out her femininity: braiding her hair for her, lending her bits of your makeup, painting her nails for her, doing skincare before bed. Just soft, simple, feminine things that she’s grown used to overlooking as there is never time for them in war which she spends much of her time participating in. 

♡ Striga likes spending time with you, no matter what the two of you are doing. One of her favourite, simplest things to do with you is to have your head resting in her lap while you’re reading and she’s going over battle plans that are laid out beside her. With one hand, she’ll be scribbling out numbers, necessary supply quantities and how the local terrain will influence the battle while with her other hand she’s combing her fingers gently through your short hair. 

♡ Striga never tries to control you. She finds your independent streak to be very attractive. She likes feeling as though she’s your protector, yes, but she’ll tone it down a little if you ever ask you to. She really enjoys watching you do your own things, your own capability is something that she really admires in you. You’re observant and intelligent in her eyes and it always makes her heart flutter when you plan something for her or gift something to her that she only mentioned in passing and thought you wouldn’t pick up on. She really loves you with her immortal life. 

☾ ⋆ ﾟlike my work? why not: ∘ buy me a coffee? ∘ commission me? ∘ join my taglist ∘ consider following/reblogging

[reversedpsync]

Challenger's path drabble word count: 1166

“So this thing is like a maze, right?” Tama looked around at the challenger event that they’d settled on, her spiramon resting on her shoulder. “Are you ready for it, Ryuki? Might be tough, and I’d rather not have to dote on you if you start crying like a baby~”

“Would you be serious for once?” Rolling his eyes, Ryuki let out a sigh. He should’ve known better than to expect Tama could get through this without making some sort of dig at him, but he’d still thought it was possible. His partner just enjoyed teasing him too much to let it go. “We’ve only got two hours, so we’ll need to make it count.”

“Hmpf. You’re no fun sometimes.” She stretched out her arms, letting her spiramon float away from her and returning to Ryuki’s AI-Ball. It was a strange thing that she could be physical in this place, but neither of them were complaining- though in cases like this, it was certainly more convenient for them to work as a team with her in his eye socket. They were more used to that anyways. “Alright, I’m ready to go. How about you?”

“Ready. Let’s get started then.”

As he stepped forward into the maze, his and Tama’s spiramon quickly disappeared as the landscape shifted around them. A booming voice signalled the start of the challenge, and Ryuki took off running.

‘Tama, X-Ray mode.’

“On it.”

Even with the overlay in his vision, it wasn’t helping too much. They at least could better tell where the dead ends were, but that was about it… with a sigh he asked her to turn it off, slowing down slightly to look more closely at the walls surrounding them. There wasn’t much to them either- just blank walls.

“Well, we should keep heading roughly north if we want to reach the center. From there, it’ll be easier to meet up with them if they aren’t there already.”

“I guess that makes sense, huh?” Nodding his head, Ryuki followed Tama’s directions. “Do you… know where we’re going, or something?”

“Well, not exactly. But I can tell which way is north, and calculate out a most likely ‘center’ based on where we entered from.” She’d projected her hologram into his vision, strolling along beside him as they explored the maze. “So you’d better thank me, considering I’m doing all the hard work here!”

“Thank you, oh lady Tama.” He offered a mock bow, enough to hide the wry grin on his face. “It’s weird though… I feel like things are looking… different?”

“Huh… you’re right, actually.”

The hallways had slowly changed altogether, now resembling something like rough concrete, rather than the smooth walls there’d been before. The floor under his feet had become a bit bumpier as well, but that wasn’t the most interesting part. The walls seemed more decorated now, bits and pieces of rough drawings reminding him of days gone by at home.

“What’s this supposed to mean…?”

He shook his head, continuing to walk forward. There wasn’t too much point in dwelling on anything right now- it would only distract him, when they were here for a reason. He wanted to complete this task, and they didn’t have that much time.

“Oh Ryuki, that one looks extra familiar!” Tama’s hologram pointed to a drawing that looked a lot like Boss’s office, Ryuki and Date each holding a cup of coffee. A small smile made its way onto Ryuki’s face at the memory. “Feeling nostalgic, hmm~”

“Mr. Date always knows what to say. He’d probably know exactly where to go, don’t you think?”

“I think you’re vastly overestimating him, as always.” She giggled, a sly grin on her face. “That old pervert wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Shaking his head, Ryuki continued onwards through the maze. He stopped at a split path, pausing for a moment- then turned a sharp left, a strange feeling in his chest urging him that direction.

“Why are you headed that way, Ryuki?”

“It just… feels like this is the right path.” He knew acting on a gut feeling was hardly reliable in the long term, but it felt like this would take them closer to their spiramon. And Tama wasn’t teasing him about it this time, quiet and thoughtful while he walked onward. “Yeah, I definitely think we’re getting closer.”

“Actually, I think you’re right. It’s hard to tell, but I think I just saw a flash of them in x-ray mode?”

That was enough to motivate Ryuki to start running again, pressing onward through the maze. Tama’s instructions and his gut feelings were in sync, getting them closer and closer to the center, all the while his eyes lingering on the changing shapes of the walls, and the strange drawings along them that kept reminding him of home.

This place was strange, that much was certain. He’d try not to dwell on it too much- not when so many of them seemed to serve as reminders for his own mistakes, happy memories tied up with memories of failure.

“Ryuki, over there! I just got a thermal signature!”

He made a sharp turn at Tama’s insistence, speeding up at the sight of dark fur and a strange jelly tendril. The maze was shifting again, about to pull them further apart once more, and he wasn’t going to let it. He threw himself forward in a dive, rolling to a stop in front of their spiramon- the both of whom immediately tackled him onto his back, cuddling up as close as they could.

“H-Hey, easy there! Easy!”

“Aww, you’re so good with pets, Ryuki!” Tama had returned to her physical form, squatting down beside him. Her own spiramon was still on Ryuki, its jelly tendrils wrapped around his arm in some sort of hug while Yomi had gotten plenty comfortable on his chest. “You look pretty comfortable.”

“Well, I’m not.” He rolled his eyes as a congratulatory sound rang out, signalling the end of the challenge. They’d done better than he’d expected- they hadn’t taken the entire time, at the very least. “Could you help me get up?”

“Okay, okay. Jelli, let him go, alright?”

Her spiramon floated over to her shoulder, and gave Ryuki a proper chance to push Yomi to the side. Back on his feet, he stretched out his arms.

“That was a good warmup. I feel like I could go a little longer, honestly.”

“Then find something else to do, you adrenaline junkie.” She snickered, flicking his forehead. “Honestly, I wouldn’t put it past you to throw yourself into that hole.”

“Well, actually…”

“Oh. My. God. And you call yourself responsible? You’ve got no impulse control without me!” She was fully laughing now, almost doubled over on herself. “But that’s why I’m here- to keep you out of trouble!”

“Yeah, yeah… are you sure you don’t cause more trouble?”

“Nope. You should show me more respect.”

He just groaned, but it wasn’t enough to hide the smile from his face.

[breathless-songbird]

Little bit of a drabble I wrote for my friend, @dreadful-shroud

>.> There is another part I'm working on

Prey/chase kink Canon sacrifice

Certain moods were dangerous, but that would never stop them from happening. Kate had learned ages ago to stop trying to subdue it. After all, it was better to have fun in trials than not to, and this particular Ghostface seemed playful -- though that could just be her projecting onto him. Yet it appeared as though he would let the chase go on for longer than needed, drawing it out.

Maybe, she hoped, this one liked chasing as much as she loved being chased. Perhaps he could be persuaded into indulging in something more if that were the case.

Kate had to suppress a fine shiver at that thought – she needed to focus on the here and now. She wanted this chase to go on as long as possible, being as she was the last one and all. Each person had been hunted down and sacrificed fairly quickly. That let her know that this Ghosface was experienced.

Perfectly fine by her.

A glance over her shoulder let the songbird know how close he was, but she had a plan up her sleeve for this. Her hand grasped one of those unfinished walls, using that as a pivot, so her momentum carried her around it. Just in time! She could feel the hiss in the air as the blade missed. Instead of crying out in terror, Kate actually laughed as she looked back at him. "Gettin' close there, slick," she purred.

He had managed to find her earlier because she'd gotten a bit too focused on the last generator. When that familiar chill went down her spine, Kate knew she'd been spotted, and had been on the run ever since.

At some point, however, Kate thought she had lost him. Ooh, did she ever think wrong. The little songbird had turned to look over her shoulder as she climbed through a window, only to feel a strong arm curl around her, pulling her flush against him for a heartbeat. Two.

She didn't cry out or scream, but instead gave him a half smirk. Before she could even utter a word, she felt herself lifted and placed onto this Ghostface's shoulder. Pure amusement bubbled out of her in a laugh before she opted to just catch her breath instead of struggle.

"Ooh, that was far too much fun there, darlin'," she breathed, her hand reaching down to toy with one of those straps. "I might just let you chase me for fun if it's like this every time." Long fingers tugged at it curiously, but didn't pull it off this time.

Soon enough, she found herself being shifted, and Kate knew the hook was coming. As she was the last survivor, she also knew it would be a one way trip to feed the Entity. The blonde found that she did not mind.

As his mask came into view, she let her fingertips trail just under the eye. Here he paused, studying her for a moment. Maybe he hadn't realized how the chase had affected her until now, or had thought some of it a ruse until this moment.

"Thanks for the fun, sweetheart. Let's do this again real soon, alright?" Blue eyes sparkle mischievously, and her face was flushed from more than just exertion.

The pain from the hook didn't last long, as the Entity came down to claim its meal. But it would find no despair, not from the thrill she still felt from that chase.

Kate hoped she got to meet this one again.

[infinitestarsdev]

Devlog 2023-04-14

It's Friday.

I'm working from a coffee shop today because of reasons.

We're at that weird development stage where lots is happening, without being able to share anything interesting about it. So today will focus briefly on what I've been busy with, and then we'll look at a few upcoming things that I'm excited about!

We've made some progress with enhancing the story controller running in the background. I honestly can't thank Trix enough for all of her help. She's been amazing. So has Tae with the character artwork, and Stoffies with the backgrounds.

I've been working on several scenes at once. The new story controller is going to pay off in spades! Some scenes you can look forward to down the line: (Spoilers ahead so maybe just skip over the italicised paragraph if you prefer surprises.)

I've been working on some dinner dates with Lebeny (plural) and I also started writing a second intimate scene between your Mah'Abeu and Lebeny. Raymond reads some children stories for the camera recorder so Lunar Command can use it for propaganda back home. There's a scene where your Mah'Abeu walks in on Matthias while he is busy painting his starship figurines, and another scene with Matthias where he draws your Mah'Abeu (either your portrait as friends, or nude as more than friends.) There are several other scenes also in various stages of completion ranging from idea to first draft.

Spoilers are done from here. Yay.

Now, for some of the stuff that I'm excited about! Tae has increased her availability to me, and we're working on a few surprises, mostly related to animations during the intimate scenes. I know, but wait– I don't want to oversell/overhype all of you, so rather don't expect too much! I'd much prefer to exceed your expectations, so if they're low, you'll be helping me out!

There was a Discord poll about the possibility of having your portrait picture show up during dialogue when your Mah'Abeu talks. The portrait will be static without changing facial expressions for technical reasons, but even so, it seems like the majority of you would like this, so I'm working on that. I'll also try to include an option where your Mah'Abeu's portrait doesn't show while talking for those of you who like the current implementation.

While my focus has been on the dynamic story content, Tae and Stoffies have been working hard to bring more minor animations into the game (Like the moving stars background with the Observatory and the Corridor redraw.) The biggest constraint is still budget, but I feel I've been able to stretch the available monthly funds quite responsibly. (As a side note, 100% of the Patreon funds have been going straight back into tools and assets to further improve Infinite Stars. I'm no longer using my savings to fund the project which is fantastic, all thanks to my patrons! Even those on the smallest tier help tremendously!)

On that note, the header image is a teaser of two new characters your Mah'Abeu will meet further down the line, with a full version here for all Patrons as a thank you! I wasn't planning on sharing them yet, but I wanted to show all of you where your money goes!

There are a few other surprises planned, but I don't want to reveal them all at once.

I'm also considering hosting a live workshop for those of you that are interested in creating your own stories for Infinite Stars, where we'll work on our mods together on a live stream, and you can ask any questions and get help with the implementation. If you're keen on this, let me know in the comments/Discord, and we'll look at some time slots.

Have a fantastic weekend, practise gratitude and be kind to those around you! Oh, and don't forget to have some fun! <3

>>> Get the visual novel free on Steam or Itchio <<<

[andydre4m]

Ursula - DevLog: Day 01

Welcome one and all to what I like to call my descent into madness, also known as

✨ My Bachelor’s Project ✨

For those of you who don’t know me, which I assume is all of you, please sit back and enjoy the show. As for those who do know me and stumbled upon this mess by some miracle of god, this is your warning to click off before your last ounce of respect for me dissipates into dust and is scattered into the vastness of the empty void that is my cranium at the point of writing this.

This idea has been tormenting both my waking and sleeping hours since my second semester of university, and let me tell you, dear reader, how good it feels to finally be able to give myself a metaphorical lobotomy and let this black ooze of a curse upon my (sub)conscious flow into this lawless world. Should you find yourself an enjoyer of the torment of artists, particularly animators, Disney-like short films, or stories of girl power from the 15th century, feel free to join me on this journey of RedBulls, sleepless nights, and sweat and tears shed over my drawing tablet.

Now, without further ado, onto the story:

This is a legend from Saxon Transylvania and is widely considered in my home town to be the origin of a yearly tradition called the Urzellauf (eng. the run of the Urzel; ro. fuga lolelor), although historical records present us with a less fantastical and empowering story about the “fairer sex”, but where’s the fun in animating that? The story tells of a peasant Saxon girl named Ursula who in her bravery, dressed up in rags, covered her face in a burlap sack painted to resemble the face of a demon, attached a cowbell to her waist, climbed up on the walls of the local fortified church and proceeded to crack a whip so loudly, it is said to have scared away the Ottoman invaders who were pillaging Transylvanian villages at the time.

The historical origin of the tradition is far less exciting in fairness. It resembles an old German tradition of dressing in similar terrifying suits, and chasing away winter and evil spirits. My theory is that it was brought over by German colonists in the 12th or 13th century (don’t quote me on that), though after time it adopted different meanings and traditions. One such example is the “Ladenforttragen” (eng. carrying of the load) where the local guild’s drawer was ceremonially removed from the old guild master and brought to the newly elected one. As per my understanding (again, I may be entirely off base here), the masked individuals accompanying the men carrying the chests were the predecessors to our current “Urzel”.

Alright, obscure history lesson over.

My project started as any sensible creative process would: with a moodboard, joined in tandem by visual development, i.e. defining the art style, setting, and overall look of the piece. My friend, who incidentally was writing a story about the same topic independent of my ideas, was kind enough to share her manuscript with me, thus saving me the agony of having to write the screenplay myself from scratch. Thank you Ania, you quite possibly saved me more hours of torture than you can fathom. Also, if you’re reading this, I see you did not heed my warning.

Below, dear reader, you will find some of the first sketches (perhaps also boldly called “concept art”) of the monstrosity that might very well send me into an early grave.

This is possibly the earliest piece of serious concept art I can show. At first I couldn’t decide whether I wanted Ursula to wear a more typically (read: western) medieval peasant outfit, or a more traditional Romanian garb (I know she is technically Saxon, but as of writing this I haven’t been able to find any reliable records of Transylvanian Saxon peasant garb, but rest assure, dear reader, that once my search proves fruitful, I will make sure she is dressed accordingly). My intention with the second concept was that her status would be more recognizable to the average viewer, though after much deliberation I decided “lol nah”.

This was done right after the revelation that my friend and I were possessed by the same creative demon that had us work on the same story, though, granted, in different ways. Here I tried to incorporate some of her ideas of how she imagined Ursula to look. The wild hair was her suggestion, which I found to be most fitting and I would personally love to carry through to the final design, though I can’t make any promises at the moment, both to myself or anyone else.

The final spread of today is also the most recent. Having been hit by a particularly aggressive bout of inspiration at one in the morning, I started sketching my initial ideas for some of the secondary characters. Any and all of these sketches are subject to change, and scenes featuring them might be added or cut. I shall grant more attention to each character as we progress further into development.

It is here that I should probably mention that, unless I bide my beloved sleep farewell for the next four months, it is quite unlikely that I will be able to realize my full vision for this project, which in an ideal world would be a five minute short (which might also be subject to change, seeing as I haven’t written the screenplay yet). I have made peace with that, somewhat. I still intend to finish it, but realistically, and so that I don’t completely go off the deep end, I have resigned to doing a 30 second trailer and using that to promote the short. Note to self, I need to bring this up with my professor, who suggested a 2.5 minute short. Ha! I barely sacrificed a one minute intro sequence to him for a different project and I thought the Devil was going to take me by the end of it. I would be most grateful if I escaped with my life this time.

I told myself I wouldn’t officially kick off the project until February 15th. Since we’re all here now, you can see my plan has been foiled by the hole in my heart left by the lack of artistic endeavors. Having said that, I will continue my (perhaps futile) attempt of detaching myself from work until D-Day, therefore further updates may be small and sparse until then.

If you’ve somehow put up with this insanity and read until here, you have my eternal gratitude. And should you be intrigued by this project and want to stay up to date, consider following this blog, I will attempt to keep my crazy ramblings to a minimum. Questions are more than welcome, dare I say encouraged, as I fear I may have lost touch with reality a bit during my time in this madhouse they call Art School, so I’m afraid I cannot distinguish between the gibberish of an animator and the language of the sane anymore.

Until we meet again, dear reader,

Toodaloo ✨

[dvarapala]

the known heroine has come to udyati as a warning, and though it took a good deal of effort to find the young girl, whitney stands tall. hands upon her waist, nearly a disappointed mother. “you may not want to listen to me, but… be careful around ashton. you don’t know what he’s capable of.”

askbox fun // @temporarywiin (whitney english)

the bell rings and ankita pauses the movie - gangubai kathiawadi - while udyati gets up. “were you expecting anyone?” she asks her daughter, and udyati shakes her head.

when she opens the door, she’s in for the surprise of her life: whitney english is standing in the doorway. whitney freaking english! what even is her life right now?

“yaya, who’s at the door?!”

“amma, you’re never gonna believe me,” udyati calls back, “but it’s whitney english. you can continue the movie, i’ll be there in a minute!”

truthfully, udyati’s got half a mind to invite miss english in. it’s cold outside. but then she thinks of her mom, sitting in the living room, finally allowing herself to relax after everything she’s been through - after everything udyati’s put her through.

no.

she’ll step out.

the younger of the two closes the narrow hallway door and it is then and only then that she listens to whatever it is that miss english has come to tell her. she must’ve gone to great lengths. it’s not easy to find udyati. not when she doesn’t want to be found.

the blonde heroine stands tall, yes, but she almost looks like a disappointed mother, udyati thinks to herself. she would draw comparisons between miss english and her mom, but there aren’t any. not really, not quite.

she doubts that miss english would go for a chappal. 

“first of all, if i didn’t want to listen to you, ma’am, i would’ve slammed the door in your face. proverbially. because doing that for real is impolite and my mom raised me better than that. secondly, you’re putting words in my mouth. you’re projecting your feelings onto me. respectfully, but why are you here, if you’re gonna lead with ‘you may not want to listen to me’? ‘cause that’s kind of a self fulfilling prophecy right there. you start with that and, yeah, i don’t want to listen, which then proves your own assumption.”

“you’re right, i don’t know what ash is capable of. just like he doesn’t know what i’m capable of. just like i don’t know what you’re capable of and vice versa. but that isn’t a reason to treat him with kid gloves all of a sudden. if something’s wrong, i trust him to let me know. just like i’d let him know if something’s up with me.”

udyati runs a hand through her hair, half confused, half agitated. “so, uh, thank you, i suppose, for the warning. i appreciate it. but i’d appreciate it more if you were honest with me. playing six dimensional chess tends to get exhausting after a while.”

she’s leaning against the doorframe now, arms crossed. “are you here to tell me that ash is a threat? that he has the potential to be a threat? well, guess what, so am i. so are you. so is everyone. it’s what people do that matters. it’s their intention that matters. ash has chosen kindness. he wakes up and he chooses kindness day after day after day.”

udyati holds up a hand. she turns and vanishes down the hallway. after a couple of minutes, she comes back with a small box of indian sweets, which she then pushes into whitney’s hands.

“i do too. get home safely, miss english. oh, and happy almost new year.”

[merlotdom]

Just because i need to document this idea:

First - Aria and Ali??? Why?

well. let's go over WHY everyone was picked by Alison in the first place. Because despite Emison being canon, I do think that if Alison would have been in love with any of the girls way back in s1, it would have been Aria.

Alison picked Spencer, because Spencer is also rich and beautiful, and super smart - in other words, she's a threat. It's very much a "keep your enemies" close kind of situation, or more accurately, make them think they're one step below you, second in command. The fact that they're neighbors and their families are close definitely also contributed to their friendship and them - particularly Spencer I think - being forced to play nice. Anyway, Alison would never be able to relax around Spencer or be able to develop feelings for her because she either needs to be on her toes around Spencer, or she's resenting her. In this aspect I think they're more like sisters than friends - also thanks to their families being close. (and them literally sharing a brother but that doesn't really matter in s1 or 2)

Meanwhile, Hanna and Emily area quite literally the opposite of this. She clearly befriends Hanna as an attempt at having a project, making a mini-me. It's pity disguised as sympathy, and a way to make herself look and feel benevolent. Hanna is also easily controllable for this reason, because she's insecure and looks at Ali like a god. (another reason why Ali wants Hanna around).

Emily on the other hand, is meek and clearly into her. She gives Alison credit with the sporty crowd, and is, again, easily manipulated through her crush on Ali.

The reason she didn't pick Mona is because even though she's as much of a "loser" as Hanna at this point, she's the smart kind of loser, which means she could potentially become a threat if she were to help her like she did Hanna. She could potentially turn into another Spencer, except with more of a spine and bridges to burn (which Spencer can't as easily due to their longer history and family ties).

But why befriend Aria?

Aria's main characteristics is that she's alternative and cool. And though her looks and that edge might constitute a threat to Ali, where Aria could run a platform of going against the grain, Aria isn't actually the kind of person to be in the spotlight at all. She's perfectly content existing in her own small circles and not disrupting the status quo as long as she can still do her own thing. She's not the kind of girl to attract Ali's attention in this way - aka she's not a strategic choice of friends. If anything, adding Aria to the group weakens Ali's platform, because Aria is different and stands out, which could draw attention away from Ali herself - unlike Spencer, Hanna, and Emily who either dress like Ali and/or worse than Ali.

So why Aria?

Well, clearly Ali saw something in Aria that she actually liked. I think going off of the season 1 flashbacks, Aria and Alison might have been the only ones that were actually friends.

Sure, there's Emily and Ali, but even then those scenes are highly manipulative and Ali seems to be entertaining Emily more than she's actually into it. It's clear in the flashbacks that Ali barely respects Hanna or Emily.

More-so, I just don't think Ali would have ever gone for someone like Emily - I think at that point in life, she'd think Emily is too bland or safe for her. Even if she did have feelings for Emily, she wouldn't have wanted to act on it.

But in the flashbacks where they bump into Byron, it A, showcases that Aria and Ali are hanging out on their own - just the two of them - and B, that the both of them are genuinely having fun, and C, that when Ali tells Aria to talk to her mom about Byron, it's not manipulative or cruel, she's genuinely trying to give her advice.

I think Aria in general is just an interesting choice for Alison because of the more cruel edge we see of her throughout the series, the edge that spawned the "Aria is A"-theories in the first place. It's a good choice because Aria having had a secret relationship with Ali throughout the summer and never having told any of the girls even after the A shit starts, is a great indicator that she could very well be A and keep it under wraps all this time.

Also; the fact that when Ali cosplays another girl she specifically matches her hair to Aria's - I think that's very lesbian of her.

So what would the story be?

Let's start with Halloween Freshman year; Jenna is new to town, and she clearly caught Alison's attention. Aria gets jealous, so she writes the first -A notes. At the same time Mona starts her threatening messages, not signed -A, but Alison assumes they're from the same person.

Over the following summer, the -A messages get worse, because Ali is running around with all these older men and Aria is jealous as fuck.

It all gets to a head during the Barn night, when they drug the other girls so they can hook up, but it goes south when Ali keep having to meet up with all these other people - Toby, Ezra, Ian, etc - (to figure out who A is) and Aria ends up bashing Ali's head in and burying her alive.

Obviously, Aria gets pulled out of her grave, she bumps into Mona, who she tells about the -A messages and Mona tells her to fake her death and leave town. Alison does - including switching clothes with some other blonde girl and killing her the way Aria killed her.

All this time, Aria thought she killed Alison.

When she returns to Rosewood a year later, and bumps into Ezra, she starts hooking up with him as A, a way to be closer to Ali, and B, revenge plot to get him caught sleeping with a minor.

When she receives her first -A message the day after, she knows it's Alison being jealous.

So Aria starts writing the -A messages to the other girls, because obviously Alison told her everyone else's business as her only real (girl)friend, so they can all become friends again and they can try to find Alison together.

The rest of the 2 seasons is just Aria messing with the girls, recruiting Mona once Mona figures out Aria is A, and Alison sending the -A messages addressed to Aria.

She also keeps Ezra as a boytoy because he can come in handy - and because obviously it gets a rise out of Alison.

Basically Aria and Alison are playing 4D chess with the other girls as pawns. and it gets bloodier and hornier as time goes on.

In the S2 finale Mona is revealed as A and takes the fall (literally) for Aria. Aria is dressed in the red coat and goes visit her (both her and Alison used to dress up in red coats - Ali in a black wig to match Aria and Aria in a blond wig to match Ali - as an inside joke and to sneak around so they could do hot girl shit) and that's when Mona tells her "I did everything you asked".

Also why Eddie Lamb recognised Aria (though she was wearing a blond wig when visiting Mona so he doesn't make the connection) and why Mona says "Miss Aria You're A Killer Not Ezra's Wife" - which is actually a message sent by Alison through Mona. (but easily played off as "Maya knew" even though it was meant literally)

Season 3 is just Ali getting closer and closer and Aria doing crazier and crazier shit to get her attention. Aria with her A team - Mona, Toby, Spencer, etc - and Ali with her New York crew - Cece, Shana, Noel.

The finally have sex again while the lodge burns down around them with everyone inside.

The way Pretty Little Liars could have slayed if Aria was A and she and Alison had something toxic and lesbian going on between them and that's why they were Doing All That