#this started as me wanting to draw a scene and figuring it��d be easier to just Know what the house looks like

[charcoaldustonmyfingers]

Kinda oddly embarrassed to send this but oh my god your art is so pleasing to look at for some reason

I think it's just the soft shapes you use and how amazingly 3D everything tends to look?? Like the angles and proportions are just so perfect that I find it easy to imagine most of what you draw as a 3D model or something

And like I don't think I could nail it like you (maybe with time!!) But I am definitely taking inspiration from it because it DOES get me thinking about how you use shapes and angles and wonder if I could practice that because oh my god I wish I could absorb your art

Do you have methods or techniques to make it look so 3D? if you know what I mean? I tend to use grids to try and map out the shapes in a vaguely 3D plane, so I was wondering if you had tips kinda like that to share with the class? or if you're just winging it and it's a lot of practice?

Thank you so much!!! It really means a lot to me when others take inspiration from my art, it reminds me of all the artists I used to look up to and emulate when I was first starting out on MSPaint with a broken trackpad for a pen, you don’t have to be embarrassed! You’ll definitely be able to harness 3D space and create fantastic work, you’re already well on your way! Having passion and a desire to learn will take you far :)

My biggest focus whenever I draw is to make the characters feel real, as though you could reach out and enter the space they’re in to sit next to them on the couch. I’m so glad that I’m able to pull it off! Thanks for the rose, I’ll be sure to cherish it :)

As for my methods and techniques…

Drawing on a 3D grid plane is definitely something I do! Its perfect for comic panels or storyboards, to set the scene and ground characters or props to their environment.

I did a lot of classical study, that is life drawing and still life drawing, but simply using reference for buildings and anatomy also helps a lot and is a lot easier to find. I’d also sketch my hands, plastic animals, and my surroundings, as well as people watch for inspiration for character mannerisms or fashion. It’s useful to know a little bit about the inner workings of anatomy, as there are places were bone makes a person inflexible, while places with more muscle or fat are affected by things like gravity or pressure that change their shape. Drawing a flour sac to act out different emotions is a great way to practice weight and character acting!

Having studied animation, I did a lot of turnarounds to get characters consistent and able to be rotated in 3D space. It can be pretty tedious for some people, but it really does help solidify the characters’ shapes and design, and serves as great reference to look back on if you need it! If you don’t want to do something so stiff as a turnaround, simply drawing expressions and poses from dynamic angles helps too. I’ve found that breaking a character down into basic shapes that are easy to draw in a 3D plane also can help my anatomy and foreshortening be more accurate.

Most importantly, find something that brings you joy to draw! Every “traditional” method of study can be applied to things you like, so don’t feel the need to burn out thinking you can only draw the Mona Lisa or whatever. I’ve done anatomy studies on the Rise turtles to figure out their skeletal structure, and friends of mine have painted some mind blowing concept art inspired by Sonic and D&D!

I hope this helps some? Best of luck, and have fun! :D

Below are a couple of examples of some of my studies:

[randomyuu]

i keep the warmest truth.

Well you look at that. Another comic hahahaha why did I do this to myself—

But I do enjoy drawing this comic! It was a different kind of challenge, where this one focuses a lot on close-ups, so I need to learn about the subtlety of expressions. Can’t say I learn a lot (I use lots of copy-pasting of the same position lmao), but I still learn... something!

This beautiful one-shot fic is titled i keep the warmest truth by Dehawny. If I have to summarise the fic, it’s basically Ace!Gojou and Adorable!Yuuji. It's more like gray ace but better keep the “A” going, haha. And as usual, the fic is NSFW, so please do read the tags before you decide to give it a read.

Ace!Gojou is something I don’t know I need. I think I love almost every kind of Gojou headcanons, but Ace!Gojou holds a special place in my heart. I could be biased as someone in the ace spectrum, but the way Dehawny wrote Gojou and Yuuji’s interaction is truly heartwarming. And also a bit possessive, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Possessive Gojou is my jam.

And Yuuji. Oh, dear lord where do I even start with this boy. I don’t have enough vocabularies to express how much I adore Yuuji. Him being his horny teen-self and constantly worrying about making the pleasure mutual is too much for my heart. And he’s still understanding of Gojou’s sexuality. Yuuji is kind, like that. Don’t mind me as I’m crying out happy tears in the corner.

Alrighty, below are my thoughts as I drew this, as usual haha:

After I got a taste with comic-making from my previous GoYuu comic, this one is a bit easier to plan once I narrowed down the scene I want to draw. I wanted the comic to start with Gojou positioning himself and Yuuji in the futon, bringing up Yuuji’s question weeks ago, but that means I have to draw 10+ pages and I was like, “haha nope”. I still love my hands, thank you very much. So I start with Yuuji’s reaction after Gojou explains a bit about his sexuality.

Panelling is still a struggle. In a way that I still feel that the layout can be improved, but I can’t for the life of me figured out what needs to be improved. I guess this kind of thing will come eventually, but not now.

During the sketching, I must say I got super hyped drawing Gojou’s eyes. That eye close-up? I really want to try making it as ethereal as possible in an achromatic setting. It’s intimidating, don’t get me wrong, but I have always loved drawing eyes since I was a kid and this is a fun thing to test my love for eyes.

If I have to complain… it would be the intimate position of them laying on the futon. I never really try drawing “couple-like” positions before, but it was really hard! Like, holy shit, can you guys stop being so awkward looking? Where the hell did I draw it wrong??? Thankfully references have helped me a lot with positioning.

The line art took sooo much time because I realise I want to make Gojou and Yuuji more… buff (kinda) so I need to re-sketch a bit :(( but the result is better than the previous one, so I’ll take what I can get haha. And I start to really like using screentones for shading—once I properly learn how to do manga layout, I think I might fall in love with drawing mangas!

But overall, this is a fun process to do, and I hope you enjoy the comic and this rambling of mine! :D

[fagboyfriend]

i rlly like ur composition, i wanna know about your process :D

thank uuu !! yeah so like. composing a scene for me generally begins with a vague idea that i want to get down as quickly as possible- and for me that usually starts with finding a setting. I knew that i wanted to draw a) a group of roomates gossiping in a crowded kitchen and i wanted there to be b) one figure in the extreme foreground and c) lots of plants. i do use some tools to figure out perspective, mainly the csp perspective ruler. Usually i start by finding a picture i like similar to the vibe im going for- but instead of referencing anything else- im purely interested in perspective. sorry to anyone who is shocked i dont generate all of my perspective purely by myself- i can draw in perspective fairly well but i struggle to make straight lines and this is easier to make grids with than the line tool lol ^_^ i try to use it kinda more like spellcheck on typos than like something to fully rely on. this is the video i learned this trick from:

i saw the left photo and realllly loved how the cabinets alligned with the wall- so i used my ruler tool to draw out my inital plotted points from the image- basically the linear movements i was most interested in and then i turned off the image layer and worked with those lines and the ruler tool to move on. eventually i had this:

which was enough for me to put my characters in for the inital round. if you notice- i made a looot of further adjustments as i go on. this sketch is not a final layout, its so my characters have somewhere to be! i cannot draw someone standing on a floor if theres no floor, nor leaning on a table that doesnt exist. i can’t draw my characters without a background, but i also cant finish my background without accounting for how my characters can comfortably exist in it!!

this was the like.. very basic start. i knew the positions of two characters- but i needed to change a lot not only to fit them better but to allow for the other two figures i had planned.

okay.. a little better. i widened the kitchen, closed the fridge door.. added a chair and fit in all the figures.. but this is waaay too dramatic. only two figures are actually interacting- and they are at wildly different energy levels!

this is where things started to make a little more sense characterwiss, so i was ready to refine backgrounds and figures and unite the two.

inital base sketch. much better layout.

okay- this is where im getting my footing but things seem.. really really off. You can see me working on my framing here- theres some good linear movement from left to right here- but not vertically. It’s hard to notice the figure in the far back, so i need to redirect the viewers eye to move upwards as well!

this is where i decided to zoom out, add an interesting vertical element to the left of the image and make it clearer whats happening in the foreground. i had to account for some stuff by adjusting the cropping, but i paid attention to that as well.

annnd- thats what a clean sketch looks for me! i have all the elements of my scene accounted for, and things are clean enough to read.

the next step for me would be transfer! essentially- I print the image of my sketch out, resizing and taping pages together so my sketch matches the size of the paper i want to paint on, and then i use a lightboard to transfer my sketch with pencil onto my paper. Then i refine the sketch a few times on paper before stretching my watercolor paper (essentially just prepping for painting) and inking with a brush and colored ink before going in with watercolor, gouache and ink, then usually finishing with marker, colored pencil, pastel and ink. it’s a lengthy process but a lot of fun lol. but sketches for me can be like.. 15 layers of different roughs until im happy with just the sketch. there were more images but im on mobile and theres a 10 image limit 😭😭 im a bit masochistic but i believe that if i dont have a good sketch i dont have a good painting!!

[sufferu]

hello figured i check on you while im still im working on chapter of Fool's odyssey and who ever suggested that "i love julius" scene is a demon. I just want to say 3 things number 1 if anyone's giving you to much trouble direct them to my fic. 2. do you have more thoughts on my fic pros or cons) it would be useful and here it is if you need a refresher The Fool's odyseey - Chapter 1 - kingace1546 - Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活 | Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World (Anime) [Archive of Our Own] 3. unrelated But its so funny to me how much wrathbaru would absolutely want to kill greedbaru. As greedbaru literally everything wrath hated and feared so i kinda wanted to share that

1. Lmao, one of the reasons I was actually really excited to see your fic is because apparently is EXACTLY what some people want from this premise. You’re gonna get a lot of fans, hopefully. They should find your fic pretty easily: by putting it in the [Inspired By] section on AO3, you actually managed to link it DIRECTLY to my current fic! Don’t think it gets any easier to find than that…

2. I think that the structure of the plot so far is very well done and also well-paced. My main criticism would probably be that there’s a bit of a lack of punctuation — namely commas and periods — as well as a couple minor grammatical errors, and I think that just trimming that up a bit would elevate everything you’ve written REALLY quickly. If you want more information about the specifics of that, message me privately and I’ll show you what kinds of changes I would suggest.

I can’t really give a lot of feedback about the premise itself because it’s so different from what I tend to write, lol, but I think it’s pretty good so far. My main suggestion just for using a setup like BTZ is to keep in mind that there are always two conversations going on at once: everyone thinks that they are saying and hearing something different from one another, and every train of thought that they’re following has to be believable from their point of view. It’s a bit of a tricky balancing act, because it relies a lot on how context shapes the meanings of words and phrases, but it’s basically the crux of the whole situation. I think what you’ve got works so far, though.

Also, you’ve mentioned before that you really like how immersive my writing style is (thanks btw :D). The trick to how to do that is actually deceptively simple: make heavy use of the five senses. Draw out what the POV character sees, smells, hears, feels, tastes, and it’ll automatically immerse the reader into your writing a lot faster than they might be otherwise.

3. You’re actually so right about that lmao, oh GOD—

[20elements]

Inspired by Ren’s original songs, I align my thoughts on them with the three Triforce components in the above artwork. In the following, I’ll not only describe my drawings, but focus more on how I interpret his songs before discussing what my links are between them and the Triforce.

What I will not do is claim I know his mind and music better than anyone else (let alone the guy himself), nor will I project anything… much…

TL;DR - I entertain all three songs cohering into a story about our former alien warlord seeking new meaning in his life, transitioning from  solitude and hostility to worthwhile connections on Earth, with music playing a major role in this. (Apologies in advance if I use the word ‘connection’ a lot.) 01) Wanderer

Elements Drawn: Fire, Darkness

I want to start with his latest song first, because the MV seems to touch on the earlier stages of his lore before his descent on Earth. In other words, it seems to be chronologically first in this yet-trilogy (apart from that ending scene with the rest of ILUNA). According to his lore video, Ren was weary of his race’s bloodthirsty history and left. In Wanderer, Ren seems to express loneliness, either from the lack of friends or love in his darker home planet, or from other planets’ antagonisms towards him. Lyrics such as “could you be alone with me?” may hint that one of the things he hopes to find on his journey is at least one meaningful connection who can accept and truly understand him, however complex or enigmatic he may be, as opposed to fearing and avoiding him.

Nevertheless, my artwork sees the Wanderer of galaxies with the Triforce of Power befitting both his own strengths and violent history. (Similarly, this Triforce would traditionally be blessed to Legend of Zelda’s dark lord Ganondorf.)

“Even if I had great power, I couldn’t get anything. I keep losing them. Everyone will get up from their seats and leave me. …There is no one to invite me anymore…” —Malleus Draconia, Twisted Wonderland 02) Blue Sugar

Elements Drawn: Water, Sound

This one’s easy; methinks Alien Dabi is addicted to jumbo blueberries :D …Jokes aside, I’ll start with Ren’s own explanation: He underwent a rough time and was stuck in his head, then wrote this song out of both self-criticism and a desire to “feel alive again”. For how therapeutic he finds music to be, I want to say this “sugar high” he pursues is simply music. Not very deep, I know, but it checks off many boxes: It’s his new newfound passion and one of the easier yet healthier “highs” or stimuli to experience. More importantly, it can be a way to communicate feelings and possibly even forge connections with.

To backtrack a bit, Blue Sugar was the first song Ren composed after arriving on Earth and discovering music for the first time. Like as not, his prior challenges would include adapting to life and culture on Earth, to say nothing of a continued solitude. Nevertheless, music can soothe his soul and help him carry though his ordeals. But if he wants a song that can truly “hit the spot” and better yet resonate with others as well, Ren may want to compose a song himself for the first time. Depending on how difficult all of that is, creative frustrations and feeling trapped in his thoughts sound plausible—but hey, long story short, he made it!

The most obvious link to the Triforce of Wisdom here is the color blue (water, Lanayru’s element, go figure). A popular fan theory I embrace is that the “Blue” in “Blue Sugar” alludes to planet Earth where Ren discovers music, with much of the color reflected in our oceans and seas. And while I’m stressing music, (1) water is a good conductor of sound, so I portray Ren in a literal sea of sound in my drawing; (2) in Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Link even learns specific songs from Zelda/Sheik, our “Wisdom” bearer. But more pertinent of Wisdom to Ren himself is that I’m seeing Blue Sugar as a mark of his “learning stages” on Earth in general.

“To me, a life without music is inconceivable. I never turn down the volume, even when I’m working on a case.” —Klavier Gavin, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney 03) Amplify

Elements Drawn: Flora, Light

After overcoming his personal ordeals and literally finding his own melody, it sounds like Ren has succeeded in getting his voice and presence across the world. The beat and melody of Amplify celebrate his successes, while his lyrics reach out to convey the same optimism and encouragement he has developed. Lines such as “Our connection is by design” not only tells me he has found his aforementioned “meaningful connections” (e.g. ILUNA enrollment), but a tremendous reward to his patience in general. The message I’m hearing is that whatever difficulties or odds we may experience, as long as we perservere and not drown in despair, a perfect timing will be there for us to fulfill our aspirations, just as he found his.

So I scarcely need to explain why Amplified Ren holds the Triforce of Courage; he sounds as encouraged as can be to take on the world and possibly the rest of the galaxy (and this time with less destruction in his wake, maybe).

“Your story may not have such a happy beginning, but that doesn’t make you who you are. It is the rest of your story, who you choose to be.” —Soothsayer, Kung Fu Panda 2

__ Nonetheless, Wanderer was released after Amplify, so I’m lead to believe either (a) Ren wrote his third song as a humble reminder of how or why he started this journey that led him to this meadow of magic, or (b) simply an expression that his earlier pursuits still continue, even with the… very mixed warmth of his genmates’ camaraderie. Speaking of which, that lower middle space between the three Triforce panels alludes to his inclusion in “Let’s Get It Started” with blessings from the Moon and Sky. Last Word

I arrange all of my ideas here with doors open to future songs from Ren Zotto that may either completely contradict what I have here or fit any of these Triforce virtues better. But to anyone who may see this in the future, I’m only working with the songs available at this current time while awaiting more bangers from the Alien Prince.

[floofrights]

Hi. As someone who hopes to one day start my own webcomic, I'm fascinated by how your deleted scenes archive features almost complete art that follows a widly different route that that of the final narrative. It's a bit mindblowing to me, honestly.

If I may ask, how does your process work? Do you follow the conventional script -> sketch -> final art workflow and just take "kill your darlings" to heart regardless of which step you're in, or do you use the art itself as part of your writing (and consequently rewriting) process?

My process is very unconventional and also very flawed in a lot of ways. But it's the process that works for me. Sometimes.

(This is gonna be really long by the way and also it's probably gonna be wonky and messy so be warned lol)

When it comes to making a chilli issue, and just most of my comics in general, I don't write scripts. Would making comics be a lot easier if I did? Probably. Certainly. Absolutely. But it's not my process. At some point I'd like to start writing scripts before I work on an issue, but it always just felt easier not to.

Instead of a script, I write a very rough outline in my sketchbook, with notes so illegible only I could read them. I often deviate from these notes as I'm making pages however. Sometimes I'm about to hit a story beat and I decide it can be done in a slightly different way, so I do that instead. But I don't differ too much from these notes. For the most part.

When it comes to dialogue, it's very on the fly. I may have specific character quotes in my head when I'm planning out an issue, but most of it is only written in the moment when I'm actually making the page.

In terms of art, Chilli has a very "simple" style, and that was on purpose. I used to draw final lineart in my webcomics, and I found it very tedious. What I'd often find is I'd like the undersketch of a panel more than the final art. So when I started making Chilli, I just used the undersketch AS the final lineart, and I developed and refined that style as time went on.

When actually making an issue, I start off by figuring out the panel layout of a page. Sometimes this can be edited as I work on a page, but this is where I visualize the panels ahead of time. Once the border is done, I begin to draw the lineart. Sometimes I make a rough undersketch for a panel if it's particularly complicated, but usually I don't do that.

Once the lineart's done, I go back and give a thick outline to all the characters, and any other elements in panel, to make them pop from the background. It also makes it easier to color the page. Because the coloring process in Chilli is so simple, I often just use the paint bucket tool.

Now for dialogue! Again, this is usually only written at this point in the process. Even if I know what HAS to be said, HOW I say it can be tricky to figure out. Once the dialogue's done, I create the speech bubbles, and then boom! Finished page.

On an average day, I can draw four pages of an issue, but this is far from my limit. If i really wanted to, I could make 5-6 pages a day, but my wrist would absolutely not like that lmao.

And so day by day, I work through an issue, four pages at a time, until eventually, I have a finished draft! Does this mean the issue is finished? Nope!

Once a draft is complete, I do a mini "round of edits," where go through and make little changes fit to my liking. This could range from editing dialogue to make it less clunky, to redoing an entire panel. Once this round is finished, I set the issue aside. I don't work on it. I don't even look at it. I need it fresh out of my mind.

Eventually, usually about a couple weeks before it's released, I go through the issue and do an even bigger "round of edits," rewriting even more dialogue and redrawing even more panels. I do at least a few more rounds of edits until I'm finally satisfied, and that's when the issue's released.

Sometimes however, things can go horribly wrong.

Issue 12 was supposed to be a completely different issue. It was supposed to be the start of a new arc, but as I was making the issue, I just found myself unsatisfied and not that confident in the story I was setting up. So I scrapped that attempt halfway through, and instead began work on the issue 12 that would eventually release.

"Red Meat" in particular was a very troubling arc to make. I made probably about 300+ pages for that arc, and I ended up scrapping over a third of that. I did not do a good job at planning out the story for that arc, and it ended up biting me in the ass later when I realized I didn't like where the arc was headed.

Issues 25 & 26 were both drafted at this point, and I didn't like either of them, issue 26 specifically. The problems they had couldn't really be fixed in rounds of edits either, they were fundamental problems. If I wanted to fix them, I'd have to scrap a lot of what I'd already made.

So I did.

I redid a lot of issue 25, and I scrapped that version of issue 26 entirely. It was for the best ultimately, but in the moment it felt very demoralizing having to scrap so many finished pages.

Issue 27 also ended up being way too long (like almost 70 pages) so I had to cut a lot of (finished) pages in that one too to keep the pacing up. I cut out a lot of good stuff from that issue, but it was for the best. Even after those cuts the issue's still tied with issue 12 as the longest chilli issue.

What happened in Red Meat was a worst case scenario though, and going forward, im gonna make sure that something like that never happens again. Because, fuck. It didn't feel good scrapping those finished pages lol.

My process is very messy and slightly taxing, but it's the process I'm familiar with. I would not recommend doing what I do, especially if you've never made a webcomic before, but instead to try and develop your own method that works for you! Different processes work for different people

Thank you for your ask! Good luck on your webcomic journey, wherever it takes ya!

[symbiotic-slime]

that's a lot, but still: for the fanfic ask game: ❤, 💥, ⏰️ , 👓 , 🦋 , 🦈, 💭, 🧪, 🔥, 💘,💡, 🔎, 🎨 .

SORRY, THAT'S A LOT!!! 😭

hi I’m so so sorry it took me a bit to get around to this 😭 also never apologize for sending too many, I am professional yapper and will take every opportunity to talk about my fics :D

❤️ What is your favorite line that you’ve written in a fic?

oooo this is tough! I have to go with this line from the fic I’m working on right now, which kinda goes too hard for a fanfiction that involves a man falling in love with mold

💥 What is one canon thing that you wish you could change?

Eddie Brock being the King in Black. I know there’s a lot of people who think it’s cool and like it, but to me it just feels out of place for him. like he should just be A Guy™️, not like the commander of all symbiotes and able to move through time or whatever the hell is going on right now in the current run.

⏰️ Do you like to post fics on a schedule or at random?

they’re definitely at random! it’s just whenever I get bursts of inspiration, I’m trying to be more regular (especially with VenomFest— I’m trying to keep up with it being weekly) but yeah, there’s no schedule 😅

👓 What helps you focus when you write?

this is gonna make me sound like an iPad baby but I love having videos I’ve already seen on in the background while I write! if Coffeezilla isn’t explaining a scam on my tv while I write on my phone/laptop than I am operating at like 50% efficiency 💀 It’s so bad 😭

🦋 Which character is your favorite to write?

I absolutely love writing the Venom Symbiote!! they’re such a goober it makes them so enjoyable to write! also it’s so fun to write about human things from the perspective of a guy who’s confused by them all the time.

🦈 Which character is the toughest to write?

Don’t know if he’s actually tough to write but part of the reason I haven’t written any symbiOT3 fics is because I’m scared of fucking up Flash 😭 I get like that with new characters, I get so petrified of writing them even though I find when i actually do write them it’s not as bad as I think. like it took me a while to build up to writing comics!Eddie, even though he’s not that hard to write (imo) and very fun to write!

💭 What inspires you and your writing?

LGBT delusions /j

my genuine answer is honestly not far off from that though— Venom and Eddie just exist in my brain all the time and writing about them helps me from just rotating them in my brain all day.

🧪 Do you research for your fics?

a bit? it depends on what I’m writing because most of it isn’t stuff that requires research, but if I ever get around to my Malevolent/Venom crossover I’m going to have to figure out how investigations actually work.

🔥 Have you included any sexy scenes in your fics? If yes, do you find them easy or difficult to write?

I have written them and I find them lowkey difficult to write 😭 I love writing them— all the ones I have published right now are x reader fics but the TMA au does get weirdly horny. listen okay im not crazy the corruption draws on sexual horror so it’s narratively compelling for Eddie to be horny for mold— [I am dragged out of the room by armed security guards]

💘 Is it easier to write angst or fluff?

fluff!! I find it hard to write angst— I just want all of them to be happy and gay and live happily ever after

💡How many WIPs do you currently have?

Currently I have two WIPs! I’ve got my Magnus archives AU, which has three WIP chapters, and I started writing a Eddie/Venom/Reader smut fic >:3

🔎 Does anyone beta read or edit your fics?

some of my irl friends beta read and edit my fics!! @fist-of-vengeance and @cyborg-empress are what keeps me from publishing fics with typos and just overall issues, I cannot thank them enough!!

📚 Is there a fanfic or fanfic writer you recommend?

OUGH there’s too many,,, I’ll try to narrow it down to just three of my favourites:

good old fashioned symbrock smut from Symby’s perspective:

symbiOT3 fic where Flash and Eddie are neighbours! it’s so adorable, I cannot wait for the next chapter:

and a fic where Venom is the monster under kid!Eddie’s bed! kinda heavy (it deals with Eddie being abused), but it’s so heartwarming to see kid!Eddie and Venom becoming friends and Venom protecting Eddie:

[aghhtdraws]

22!!

Thank you for this ask! What an interesting question :D

22. What's something you'd love to draw but haven't yet?

Hmm... I feel like of all things I haven't drawn, I'd definitely like to start on the ones I plan to draw! Like for one thing, all my unfinished and unstarted comics (both original and fancomics) but also, more generally, I'd like to draw more quiet scenes because I feel like those subtle and calm scenes can be really hard to do compared to action! I'm so used to practicing action that it would be interesting to practice more of the opposite as well haha :D

Also maybe talking scenes. Those are hard to picture for me in comics, but feel easier to imagine as animation (because of the one camera), so maybe I should practice more of those too.

These are old comics, but I'm reminded of these ancient fancomics from 2016. The sparring comic was fun to do (even if it looks old and unclear now) but in comparison, this talking-heads page from the same year feels more boring to look at, even if the planning was sorta the same (I was more focused on trying to figure out a good and easier way to letter and speechbubble the comic and left the layout really simple)

Maybe one thing I'd like to draw more, is just these looser and more energetic pages, like this newer comic from around 2020

more stuff like this, even if it's much sketchier, it feels more clear because the intention is stronger here than the older comics, where I often fumbled around with the lines a lot and redrew things as I kept looking for the "right line" instead of just going with the flow.

so i guess, lol, just more comics? more fancomics on day!!

uhhh, but these are all sorta things I've already tried drawing so.... of things I haven't drawn yet... yeah, maybe comics with non-human characters, like robots or aliens. or maybe something easier to draw, where the moments between the panels, the flow of the story become a bigger part than the drawings alone. that would be interesting to draw if I get there one day :P Maybe I should pick something more realistic haha! of general work, I'd definitely like to one day animate more animals. I actually have a dragon animation in the works right now that I'm still doodling along and thinking about.

of general fanart topics... I wanna draw Yamato from One Piece right now this past month!! I've been wanting draw him for a long time but just haven't found the moment to sit down yet, so I'm looking forward to it haha xD What a cool guy! I think he'll be fun to draw. I definitely put too many expectations on myself, even with fanart, so that's why I never finish or even start some drawings... I'm just imagining something bigger than I can draw at that moment!! but lol I'll definitely get over that hesitation now, I've been in the mood to draw much more as of late than before. I'll just think of the fun moments of drawing!!

What about you? you don't have to answer it, but I'm curious now xD

[inspiredrawaw]

Since myrvin is back, whats new for him? I really love his character.

I feel like everytime I comeback to drawing Myrvin from a break I develop and finalize his story more-

First the design! Pretty similar as to when I drew him last the changes I did make is: instead of a Galaxy on the inside of his cloak it’s just the draco constellation so the idea is that he can spread his cloak out like a vampire and a giant magic star dragon forms around him he can control. This is his most powerful spell that he must be careful with

His mask changed as well! I change the mask because the shape felt weird to me and didn’t really flowed when I drew him with it. So I did some research and currently going for a more masquerade mask this allows that space between his nose and mouth that can make it easier to have him emote! It also feels fitting for Myrvins aesthetic.

Still keeping his half blind eye, along with his scars as well. I added in a tuff of hair below his left ear based on how my hair works as well! Myrvins hairstyle is based on a pixie cut similar to my own hairstyle and when the sides get long they curl upwards! Which is what that tuff of hair is for Myrvin just a little growing tuff of hair from not cutting it short again in weeks plus it makes him look more fluffy

And his magic as well! Originally I had it so he draws the constellations in the air. The fact that I didn’t really drew this out much shoes that I wasn’t too invested in the idea. So cards were brought back! They’re a customized deck of cards Myrvin made himself that shows the star constellation, 2 small stars in opposite corners and a larger star that sits behind the constellation. Myrvin uses these cards to summon those constellations. I added in back the cards because it’s another element from the OG Marvin that made him fun to draw

And now onto the story! In the last version I had Myrvin as an established successful magician where he gets tangled up into dark magic nonsense. I felt like this took away Myrvin as the main character and it was hard for me to figure out story beats that made sense. So I scraped this to now Myrvin being a college sophomore where he meets Jackie in a math class they both have to take! This story focuses on a meet cute between Jackie and Myrvin, college classes shenanigans, Myrvin learning to let others in and be more him instead of this sarcastic sona he built up to protect himself.

Jackie is an engineer student and Myrvin is a theater student with a minor in mythology. They end up studying together to Jackie helping Myrvin with math homework that leads to friendships and eventually getting tangled up with dark forces (the death omens) to crutches and dating

I also have this scene in my head where they’re at a cafes coffee station and Jackie sees Myrvin with a cup thinking it’s coffee and asks Myrvin about it because he was told Myrvin doesn’t drink coffee. Until Myrvin tells him it’s hot chocolate and Jackie immediately throws his coffee away and goes back to the station to get hot chocolate because how on earth did he not know they had hot chocolate here

I know in previous versions for Jackie he was more of a himbo character but I really like the idea that because of his buff build from being a hero that people don’t tend to see him as a smart boy that lead to Jackie being a little more quiet and socially awkward.

So basically now the dynamic is sassy x awkward or >:D x :3

And the death omens are more back! With them getting corrupted!!!!!!!!! But this time it’s by a solar eclipse death omen. More specifically what Myrvin starts calling the void eclipse. When the void eclipse happens those with a connection to star magic starts getting targeted by death omens. I essentially want Myrvin and Jackie have to fight the moon that sounds so cool and funny to me

[daisy-dooodles]

About me :D

hi, hello! to start this blog off I think it would be nice to introduce myself a little, so here go a couple of basic questions about me...

What's your name? I go by Daisy in English (cause it's way cuter and easier than my original name in Polish lol and I really like flowers). But let's say my initials are MP, that's why I sign my artwork with it :D

What are your pronouns? She/Her

How old are you? I'm 22 years old, living that early 20s crisis lol

Do you have a degree in art? Nope, I went to uni for Romance Philology, cause I really enjoy languages, literature and different cultures too. But I've always liked art too as a side project!

So why this blog? Well, I don't really know what I want to do in life, so I decided to make this to start taking it more seriously as a possible actual job or just a way of having a place less chaotic than my insta to show the art I'm proud of sort of like a portfolio (and maybe even some behind the scenes I never shared...)

And what would you like to work in? I feel like a creative space would be cool. Maybe like editorial work, maybe designing stuff for books... idk, but I like the idea of being able to work on many different things instead of doing the same for years on end...

Do you do original art or fanart? Both. I have many ideas, sometimes I get obsessed with a show or something and want to try making fanart for it, but I have many original ideas too!

Is it traditional or digital art? Well, I enjoy both immensely. Because I sort of moved to Poland from Spain I don't have many of my supplies, so I'm resorting to digital more. I use the XP-Pen Deco 01 V2 tablet to draw. The program I use is Medibang Paint (and I am thinking of buying Clip Studio in the future when I have more resources at hand, cause I heard it's really good!) Unfortunately, my laptop is not great at colours, so I really like Medibang for letting me upload to the cloud and letting me deal with the colours on my phone :D (none of this is sponsored btw, I'm just sharing my experience)

How would you describe your art style? "I'm just trying" lol. I don't have one, I just try new and different things and supplies and programs as I feel like it. Many times it depends on what feeling I want the piece to have, so that makes me try and learn new techniques and I really enjoy doing that :D

Do you do commissions? Maybe a store? No, I don't. I'm not ready for something like that yet. Maybe down the line uploading stuff to pages like redbubble could be an option, I don't know much about how any of this works, I'll be figuring it out slowly

Can I message you? Please do, for anything! You wanna be mutuals and share with me silly posts or about a fandom we share? Go ahead! Do you need advice or vent to someone? DMs are open :D

What fandoms are you in? Well, I was in Sanders Sides for a long time, but I don't really go there anymore, maybe when we get more content I might just jump back in, though I still follow Thomas and check his content when I can cause I still enjoy it! I do enjoy figure skating and follow a bit on Yuzuru Hanyu, mostly Then we have my most recent fandoms I am kinda obsessed with: MDZS and BTS. Yeah, wild stuff. Have I drawn anything about them? Not yet really, I do have one MDZS sketch I'm working on, and a couple based on BTS songs, so maybe soon I'll share those here cause I feel quite proud of them so far :D I do enjoy many other series and films, but I don't think I'd be able to just list them cause it's so random. You can always ask if you need a friend to whom you get to be weird to, no judgement, we all be like that! I ranted about BTS to my bestie who knows basically nothing about them for almost a year now and they still love me nonetheless hahahah

(...yeah, so let's leave it at that for now, will update when new things pop in my head)

see you around 💜

[meruz]

once again i am answering asks in a big compilation post. included is... gotham, patrick stump, tips about drawing backgrounds, tips about drawing in general, links to my faq, and infinity train

like.... the tv series? No... I’ve drawn dc comics fanart before, though. But it’s been years since I’ve been really into it. I like jumped ship like 10 years ago when the New 52 happened LOL.

AFJHDSLKGH I’m sorry I (probably) won’t do it again??

Actually full disclosure I have a truly cringe amount of p stump drawings/photo studies in my sketchbook right now LOL. He’s just fun to draw... hats, glasses, guitar, a good shape... but I don’t think I’ll rly post those until I can hide them in another big sketchbook pdf.. probably Jan 2022. Stay tuned........ (ominous) 

(ominous preview)

These are all sort of related to backgrounds/painting so I grouped them together even though they’re pretty much entirely separate questions.... ANYWAYS

a) How is it working as a BG artist? Is it hard? What show are you drawing for?

I think you’re the first person to ever ask me about my job! Being a background artist is great. It’s definitely labor intensive but I think that could describe pretty much any art job (If something were rote or easy to automate, you wouldn’t hire an artist to do it) and I hesitate to say whether its harder or easier than any other role in the animation pipeline. Plus, so much of what truly makes a job difficult varies from one production to the next, schedule, working environment, co-workers etc. But I will say that I think while BGs are generally a lot of work on the upfront, I think they’re subject to less scrutiny/revisions than something like character/props/effects design and you don’t have to pitch them to a room like boards. So I guess it’s good if you don’t like to talk to people? LOL

A lot of my previous projects + the show I’ve worked on the longest aren’t public yet so I can’t talk about em (but I assure you if/when the news does break I won’t shut up about it). But I’m currently working on Archer Season 12 LOL. I’m like 90% sure I’m allowed to say that.

b) ~~~THANK YOU!! ~~~

c) What exactly do you like to draw most [in a background]?

@kaitomiury​ Lots of stuff! I really like to draw clutter! Because it’s a great opportunity for environmental storytelling and also you can be kind of messy with it because the sheer mass will supersede any details LOL. 

I like to draw clouds... I like to draw grass but not trees lol,,, I like to draw anything that sells perspective really easily like tiled floors and ceilings, shelves, lamp posts on a street etc.

d) Do you have any tips on how to paint (observational)?

god there’s so much to say. painting is really a whole ass discipline like someone can paint their whole life and still discover new things about it. I guess if you’re really just starting out my best advice is that habit is more important than product. especially with traditional plein air painting, I find that the procedure of going outside and setting up your paints is almost harder than the actual painting. There’s a lot of artists who say “I want to do plein air sometime!!” and then never actually get around to doing it. A lot of people just end up working from google streetview or photos on their computer.

But going outside to paint is a really good challenge because it forces you to make and commit to lighting and composition decisions really quickly. And to work through your mistakes instead of against them via undo button.

My last tip is to check out James Gurney’s youtube channel because hes probably the best and most consistent resource on observational painting out there rn. There’s lots other artists doing the same thing (off the top of my head I know a lot of the Warrior Painters group has people regularly posting plein air stuff and lightbox expo had a Jesse Schmidt lecture abt it last year) but Gurney’s probably the most prolific poster and one of the best at explaining the more technical stuff - his books are great too.

e) Do you have tips for drawing cleanly on heavypaint?

@marigoldfool​ UMM LOL I LIKE ONLY USE THE FILL TOOL so maybe use the fill tool? Fill and rectangle are good for edge control as opposed to the rest of the heavy paint tools which can get sort of muddles. And also I use a stylus so maybe if you’re using your finger, find a stylus that works with your device instead. That’s all I’ve got, frankly I don’t think my drawings are particularly clean lol.

f) Tips on improving backgrounds/scenes making them more dynamic practicing etc?

Ive given some tips about backgrounds/scenes before so I’m not gonna re-tread those but here’s another thing that might be helpful...

I think a good way to approach backgrounds is to think of the specific story or even mood you want to convey with the background first. Thinking “I just need to put something behind this character” is going to lead you to drawing like... a green screen tourist photo backdrop. But if you think “I need this bg to make the characters feel small” or “I need this bg to make the world feel colorful” then it gives you requirements and cues to work off of.

If I know a character needs to feel overwhelmed and small, then I know I need to create environment elements that will cage them in and corner them. If a character needs to feel triumphant/on top of the world then I know I need to let the environment open up around them. etc. If I know my focal point/ where I want to draw attention, I can build the background around that.

Also, backgrounds like figure compositions will have focal points of their own and you can draw attention to it/ the relationship the characters have with the bg element via scale or directionality or color, any number of cues. I think of it almost as a second/third character in a scene.

Not every composition is gonna have something so obvious like this but it helps me to think about these because then the characters feel connected and integrated with the environment.

Some more general art questions

a) Do you have any process/tips to start drawing character/bodies/heads?

I tried to kind of draw something to answer this but honestly this is difficult for me to answer because I don’t think I’m that great at drawing characters LOL. Ok, I think I have two tips.

1) flip your canvas often. A lot about what makes human bodies look correct and believable is symmetry and balance. Even if someone has asymmetrical features, the body will often pull and push in a way to counterbalance it. we often have inherent biases to one side or another like dominant hands dominant eyes etc. you know how right-handed artists will often favor drawing characters facing 45 degrees facing (the artist’s) left? that’s part of it. so viewing your drawing flipped even just to evaluate it helps compensate for that bias and makes you more aware of balance.

2) draw the whole figure often. I feel like a lot of beginner artists (myself included for a long time) defer to just drawing headshots or busts because it’s easier, you dont have to think about posing limbs etc. But drawing a full body allows you to better gauge proportion, perspective, body language, everything that makes a character look believable and grounded.

Like if you (me) have that issue where you draw the head too big and then have to resize it to fit the proportions of the rest of the body, it’s probably because you (I) drew the head first and are treating the body as an afterthought/attachment. Sketching out the whole figure first or even just quick drawing guides for it will help you think of it more holistically. I learned this figure drawing in charcoal at art school LOL.

oh. third mini tip - try to draw people from life often! its the best study. if you can get into a figure drawing/nude drawing class EVEN BETTER and if you have a local college/art space/museum that hosts those for free TREASURE IT AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT, that’s a huge boon that a lot of artists (me again) wish they had. though if youre not so lucky and youre sitting in a park trying to creeper draw people and they keep moving.. don’t let that stop you! that’s good practice because it’s forcing you to work fast to get the important stuff down LOL. its a challenge!

b) I’ve been pretty out of energy and have had no inspiration to draw but I have the desire to. Any advice?

Dude, take a walk or something.... Or a nap? Low energy is going to effect everything else so you gotta hit that problem at its source.

If you’re looking for inspiration though, I’d recommend stuff like watching a movie, reading a book, playing video games etc. Fill up your idea bank with content and then give yourself time/space to gestate it into new concepts. Sometimes looking at other art works but sometimes it can work against you because it’s too close. 

Also something that helps me is remembering that art doesn’t always have to be groundbreaking... like it’s okay to make something shitty and stupid that you don’t post online and only show to your friend. That’s all part of the process imo. If you want to hit a home run you gotta warm up first, right? Sports.

I should probably compile everytime i give tips on stuff like this but that’s getting dangerously close to being a social media artist who makes stupid boiled down art tutorials for clout which is the last thing i want to be... the thing I want to stress is that art is a whole visual language and there are widely agreed upon rules and customs but they exist in large part to be broken. Like there's an infinite number of ways to reach an infinite number of solutions and that’s actually what makes it really cool and personal for both the artist and the viewer. So when you make work you like or you find someone else’s work you like, take a step back and ask yourself what about it speaks for you, what about it works for you, what makes it effective, how to recreate that effect and how to break that effect completely, etc. And have a good time with it or else what’s the point.

for the first 2, I direct you to my FAQ

For the last one, I don’t actually believe I’ve ever addressed artwork as insp for stories/rp but I’ll say here and now yeah go ahead! As long as you’re not making profit or taking credit for my work then I’m normally ok with it. Especially anything thats private and purely recreational, that’s generally 100% green light go. I only ask that if you post it anywhere public that you please credit me.

(and I reserve the right to ask you to take it down if I see it and don’t approve of it’s use but I think that case is pretty rare.)

a) @lemuelzero101 Thank you!!! I haven’t played Life is Strange but actually  that series’ vis dev artist Edouard Caplain is one of my bigger art inspirations lately so that’s a really high compliment lol. And yeah I hope we get 5-8 too...!

b) Thank you for sticking around! I’ve been thinking about Digimon and Infinity Train in tandem lately, actually. They’re a little similar? Enter a dangerous alternate world and have wacky adventures with monsters/inanimate objects that have weird powers... there’s like weird engineers and mechanisms behind the scenes... also frontier literally starts with them getting on a train. Anyways if anyone else followed me for digimon... maybe you’d like Infinity Train? LOL

c) @king-wens-king I’M GLAD MY ART JUST HAS PINOY VIBES LOL I hope you are having a good day too :^)

a, b, c, d) yessss my Watch Infinity Train agenda is working....

e) aw thank you!! i think you should watch infinity train :)

[partnersatfazbear]

Fazbear Frights: What We Found Analysis

Here’s my analysis for What We Found, the third story in Gumdrop Angel. I wrote this as I read so it may be a little different than my previous analysis where I read the story first and went back.

If you’re a Michael Afton fan I highly recommend this. Also, there’s possibly some insight into William Afton, Mrs. Afton, and Henry too, so it’s worth a skim.

Pg 144 '...a place thirty-some years forgotten' Just reconfirming FNAF 3 is 30 years past *one* of the FNAF closings, presumably FNAF 2 location.

Pg 145 "The whole building was giving him [Hudson] a headache." FIX THE VENTILATION BRUH

Pg 148 '...they were able to use salvaged derelict equiptment original to the old pizzerias.' Another confirmation of something we heard from Phone Guy.

Pg 147 "How old are you?" "Twenty-three, same as you." I think this gives us Michael's age during FNAF 3.

EDIT: This kept me awake last night. Obviously this is impossible because he has to be alive for at least 10 years before 1983, BUT maybe its just reconfirming FNAF 3′s year? 2023?

Pg 149 "Hudsan's dad died and his mom married Lewis, a ridiculous balding man who wore plaid vests and smoked a pipe" Did... Did this book just seriously imply Mrs. Afton left William for Henry? Really? (Yes, there's differences; the husband is dead and the man wears plaid 'vests' but it seems very odd to include that detail. This could just have been the writer's own imagination, though.) I have seen this as a fan theory and 100% explains the jealousy aspect of William, but I can't help but kinda hate it. I think this is very important, though, and probably Scott's intention. "This horrible little man [Lewis]... would make Hudson's next ten years a living Hell" This REALLY intrigues me given the context I just went over. The text implies Lewis was fairly neglectful to our main character / Michael stand-in Hudson. Maybe I'm wrong and for some reason Mrs. Emily left and went to William? XD Haha, I'm reading too much into this page. Maybe I'll come back to this later. I figure it's more of Scott possibly including double-details (contradicting stuff with the same character that really applies to two, which has been something I heavily pointed out in previous anaylsis on this blog) Having said that, I'm going w/the former because I can't imagine Henry being abusive (neglectful yes, abusive no) and he's never been portrayed that way in official works like William has in the novels.

Pg 150 "Hudson began to screw up in class...a product of spending the night in fear that his stepfather [Lewis]... [would] beat him just for the fun of it." Ooof. Big confirm on William actually being abusive. Unless we stick with the Henry theory for Lewis (combined with Midnight Motorist Henry theory / alcoholic). "...near-daily beatings..." "his mom started taking pills to get through the day..." So, whoever Mrs. Afton is, she was definetly not paying attention. But then, most people married to serial killers either don't notice because of denial (like this) or because the killer is so manipulative / careful they can't notice.

"Barry, who had red hair and freckles..." Yo?! Is that a description of Fritz?! These friends in the story could be the other kids Michael knew's stand-in's, aka the two gravestones with names he used (Fritz and Jeremy), as shown in the checks for the games and FNAF 6. I've long figured Michael was probably friends with the victims--it makes them easier, although riskier, targets [for William]. The two friends are male, too, like Fritz and Jeremy. If you're curious about Duane's description (our stand in for Jeremy), it's "tight black shirt... muscles... black hair long enough for a glossy ponytail..." I'm not sure if this matches anything found in the novels or contradicts them, though. (The novels = TSE trilogy)

"And so it went... until the night of the fire." For context, this is before FF burns down. We're learning of Hudson's life from his close friends in childhood, his father's death, his mother remarrying, to his abusive stepfather, to his grades slipping to this line. This would be a new fire not seen/mentioned in the games...

Pg 151 "...go to Charlie's for a sundae..." Really. Really Scott. Just gonna use this name again. OK. I'm not even gonna discuss this because it's probably irrelevant. *This is confirmed on pg 158 to be an ice cream shop. No lore relevance aside the annoying name coincidences Scott loves to troll with.

"This is not... an advance into enemy territory, a fight with demons, or a descent into Hell..." Uh, what? What is Hudson talking about? XD I'm only noting it because it seems so out of place. He's probably talking about video games or something.

Another note, although I don't have a specific reference since it is mentioned off-hand many times, is that Hudson keeps referring to his "history" which is implied to have kept him from getting a well-paying job and a girl he's crushing on doesn't know this "history" which is good for him. Seems good old "Michael Stand-In" has done some jail time or something. Edit: On pg 154/155 the girl asks Hudson, "Did you do it?" Seems he may have killed his stepfather or been involved with something else just as bad. Edit 2: No, I was thinking too deep into it. This probably refers to Evan's death at Fredbear's. DUH.

Pg 156 describes an actual "prize corner" in FF! What am I even reading? IIRC this is in FNAF 3, too. So they just hand out these scary gift boxes to people that complete the attraction? (Hudson says he *would* have fun handing out the scary toys to kids when this location opens--kind of a bully thing to do, eh?)

"[Hudson] avoid[ed] glancing in any of the mirrors..." I'm only pointing this out because it could be reference to one of two things. 1) We know because of one of UCN's music tracks, William has a fear of his reflection. Michael probably shares this trait, especially since 2) after Ennard and all... and later on pg 157 it also says, "he never wanted to face: himself" Sounds like guilt, my guy.

Pg 157 "blonde hair... blue eyes..." Hudson shares an eye color with Michael. It's possible Michael had blonde hair as a child and it changed to brown (it's common, something I personally went through being technically blonde/ blue eyed myself)

"He [Hudson] knew from personal experience that toys could turn from fun...to torture ina heart-beat" Fairly self explanatory. Either Hudson's worked at a creepy location before or he doesn't like remembering Fredbear's.

*checks how much is left.* There's still 35 pages (not counting back/front) left of this... This is gonna be a lot of notes.

Pg 158 Hudson doesn't have a car. Poor Mike, probably having to walk everywhere. Especially as a corpse.

Pg 160 This page describes many physical issues Hudson has that prevents him from entering the Navy, all from the abuse of Lewis. Obvious paralell to Michael becoming an undead [because his father sent him to CBPR indirectly causing his condition]

Pg 161 "How's your granny, Hud?... ...Is she still alive?" "I don't think she can die." Does anyone in the Afton family really 'die'? XD

Pg 162 These few pages discuss Hudson's grandmother. She's described as "a seer who claimed to know the future... ...wore big men's plaid flannel shirts with baggy jeans" Um, more plaid / flannel? AGH. STAHP. Lowkey, I would totally headcanon my Aunt Jen like this, though.

Pg 163 "Hudson's mom... the way she was before Hudson's dad had died... never... particularly warm and fuzzy... but... effiencient and responsible..." More about Mrs. Afton, so that's kinda neat.

"Hudson's dad was fun and attentive." There's a good Dad in this series?

"Unfortunetly, he also struggled with mental illness." "invisible low points" (Pg 164) Kinda reminds me of how Henry is described after Charlotte's death in the books.

Pg 164 "When Steven got himself into a bad deal that cost him his small business... he'd taken his life." Oh, it is Henry! SMH. Way to use confusing paralells. So, from our understanding thus far, Hudson's real father, Steven, is our Henry stand-in. His step-father despite being described similar to Henry, is actually our William stand-in. Fair game, Scott.

Pg 164 "...he [Hudson] was locked into a supply closet..." Oh shit, you guys. So, let me go on a tangent here, because this IS important! I just watched a retrospective on Sister Location and FNAF 6 earlier and one theory for Midnight Motorist was the person in the chair was the mother and the kid was Michael. I think this little line may confirm that. In fact, the story may be the key to figuring things out. Obviously, the line is a paralell to FNAF 4's scene in which Crying Child was locked in the supply closet of Fredbear's. I know some people, including Matpat, believe[d] CC was Michael, and in this book's context, it sort of works. This does contradict Step Closer and 1000 other things that make Michael the older brother, but maybe it's hinting at MM? Abusive stepdad (possibly Henry... maybe William is gone at this point), checked out Mom (hey, grey couch lady with Foxybro's font). IDK, but its definetly something to think about.

Pg 165 Lewis is mentioned as calling Hudson "nothing" and saying "you're nothing" on several occasions on this page. Just more abuse, for those accurate fanfic writers like me. Also I kinda wanna watch Morel Orel again. Yall know my fav character is Clay. Yall know.

"You're smoke." <-- Lewis / The text later reads, "...there was some irony, given what eventually happened." BRUH. Why did your stepdad die in a fire? :V TELL ME.

"When his family's house burned down at the end of his senior year..." Huh. Is there a fire we don't know about in the game-verse? Could this explain what happened to the FNAF 4 house before MM house?!

"...it purged Hudson of Lewis and his mother." MRS. AFTON BURNED ALIVE, TOO? Bruh. I can't with this story.

The text later describes the fire is concluded to be man-made and Hudson was blamed for it. Can't say if this ties to Michael, but it IS interesting... TBF, there is a small paralell to draw between Henry in FNAF 6 and his history of suicide in the books, too.

Pg 166 "...this place's [FF] busted thermostat.." I just find this line funny.

Pg 167 "...after three weeks of keeping an eye on the place" Some more timeline context for FNAF 3. We know that Michael worked there a little while before we start playing the game thanks to one of the phone calls, IIRC, so this makes sense. If Michael was accused of [something] and also wanting to hunt down his father, then it makes perfect sense why he's working a dead end job at Freddy's over and over and over. Fun fun fun.

Pg 169 "He hated to think about a functional character [Foxy]" This line is in regards to Hudson not liking the set up of Pirate's Cove and Foxy's hook to scare people. Sounds familiar, don't it? (For Michael anyway.)

Pg 173 "Some big find is arriving tomorrow." SPRINGY BOI! COME ON BOOK, get on with the show?

Pg 176 "Granny was wearing a red-and-green plaid shirt and her baggy jeans." Nothing special, but it was specifically brought up twice. I'm kind of racking my brain trying to understand what the point of this character is outside of "woooo everything is haunted don't you know that" kind of character.

Pg 180 "...dropped the crate on the linoleum with a resounding thud." HEY. Poor Springtrap, just gettin' tossed around like the trash he is.

Pg 186 "If you weren't so stupid, I'd tell you more about it." Springtrap bringing the burn. =:)

"A voice with a burr-like rasp...hint of a Southern accent" I'm going to assume this is because it's Lewis probably in the suit in this story and not our old British lad.

"It's was Mr. Atkin's voice." THE MATH TEACHER? *goes back to check* 'The algebra teacher'. Okay...

Pg 190 Okay, so Hudson hear's Lewis' voice this time. Okay, I get it now. Springtrap in this kind of imbodies all of Hudson's old bullies, including the teacher. He also has PTSD, just FYI. IDK if anyone finds that important, but it's fairly obvious by the line "He wasn't in his bedroom. Lewis didn't just slam his head into a desk; his head had been slammed into the [arcade] game."

"Why did he hallucinate a scene from his childhood?" Oh, it's not PTSD, then. It's just the VENTILATION ERROR. lol Okay.

Just a note, as I'm reading through the more action-based stuff, I kind of feel bad for Michael if he had flashbacks like this guy. They're intense.

So, Lewis' voice finally comes out of Springtrap on Pg 213. There's that.

Pg 220 "You can just stay there [in his room]" Kind of a paralell to Midnight Motorist. Lewis is saying it to Hudson. I really feel like the kid in the MM game is Michael because of this story...

Pg 223 "Heat purges. Fire heals." I'm sure that's Henry's life motto.

The ending was stupid, but most in these stories are. Hudson is hallucinating and is implied to have burned himself alive in FF's oven. Meh? The first half of this one is A TRIP and a little insight into what I 100% believe is Michael's childhood. I think the saddest part of it all is that we never got Springtrap speaking to Michael in FNAF 3--and if it's ever remade I hope we get more of them interacting.

[birdsandspades]

Memories (A Todoroki Shoto Oneshot)

- What do you get when you mix a pressed daisy, a broken ceramic, a comic, and a soba receipt? A bunch of chaotic dates with Todoroki, and maybe a few memories along the way too!

-Word count- 11K

- Hi, this one is kinda long. But it took awhile to write and Todoroki makes me all giggly so I figured I would share this cute idea with you folks! It’s mostly chaotic Todoroki fluff! Let me know what you think, and thank you for reading!

—-

After three years of training, interning, and studying it was finally your last day at UA. The dorm was a buzz as everyone packed up their rooms for the last time, today was the day they graduated.

Sadly for you it was not in the conventional sense. Sure you were finished with UA, your time here on exchange had been to grow your power. But you were still an American citizen with one more year of schooling and licensing left. It had been gracious that they let you stay for an extra two years with the people you had grown to love and admire. But it was time to pack up and go home.

A soft knock sounded on your door, “I brought you more boxes, are you doing ok?” Todoroki pushed the door open with his foot, a pile of condensed boxes and tape in hand as he walked into your room. 

“Oh thank you, I was kinda wondering if I had enough.” You looked between him and the dwindling pile laying on your bed, he took it as a sign to set his pile beside it. “Are you finished already?” You brushed your hand over his own, a sweet gesture he was all too familiar with.

“I haven’t started, my father just brought me more boxes and I figured I would see if you needed more.” Todoroki looped a finger with your own, swinging your arm slightly as he pulled you closer. “Do you want me to stay and help you pack?”

“No, that’s ok. You should get started before your father tries to come help you.” You giggled as he tensed at the mention of the man still waiting in his bedroom. You reached up to cup his face, drawing him down just enough to place a soft kiss on his lips.

Todoroki smiled sweetly, staring at you for a moment before standing back up. “ Then i’ll hurry so I can help you. Then we can figure out what you want to do tonight.” He squeezed your hand once more before turning to leave. His heart heavy as he walked back to his room. 

You turned back to the disheveled state of your bedroom, reaching for another box with a long sigh. You knew you had to pack eventually, but part of you knew that as you packed up your belongings you were also packing up all the memories you had shared with Todoroki in this very room. The belongings that lined your shelves, hung on your walls, sat on your desk, they were all mementos of the years you had experienced together.

You set the box down at the base of your desk, sitting down in the chair. “I might as well start with all of this.” You sighed, fingering through the stacks of assignments and notebooks. A shiny red book peeking out from in between a few course books caught your attention. You pulled it out looking over the cover of the comic. “This is Shoto’s Spiderguy comic, how long has this been in here?” You brushed your fingers over the smooth cover, a blush creeping up the back of your neck. They had always been his favorite comics, the stack he had accumulated over the years was close to monumental. You smiled as a memory bubbled up from the back of your mind as you flipped through the colorful pictures on the pages.

—-

You had been looking everywhere for your math book that morning, the panic of having to buy a new one sending you spiraling. “Maybe I left it in Todoroki’s room, we were studying pretty late. I’m sure I just forgot it.” You grabbed your keys off the desk chair before making your way to the dorm elevators. You had a nice room on the second floor of the dorm building, the perfect distance for sneaking late night snacks from the kitchen below. But Todoroki had been lucky enough to get a top floor room, the view from his balcony breathtaking as it looked over the nearby park. 

You pushed the button for the 5th floor once you entered the elevator, trying to think of the last time you had the book in your possession. “ I went to Shoto’s room to study around 7:00 p.m, we called for food around 9:00 p.m. I closed my book at 9:30 when it came, and I….slid it under the table to eat. It’s under his table…” You wanted to smack yourself as the elevator opened, why didn’t you just check his room in the first place.

You knocked on his door, shifting nervously on your feet. You and Todoroki had been together for a little over three months now, but no matter how many times you came to his room alone the nerves never quit. 

“Come in”, his voice was soft from the other side.

You turned the knob of the door, opening it as you made your way inside. “Hey Shoto, I think I left my math book here last night. Can I get it…” Your mind trailed off as your eyes met with your upside down boyfriend, his feet glued to the ceiling with a sheet of ice. 

“I found it when I woke up. I set it on the desk.” He motioned towards the desk with his head, turning the page of his comic as he continued reading. 

“Ok, um Shoto what are you doing?” You questioned as you made your way around him towards the desk. You slid the book off the desk carefully, still staring at your upside down boyfriend.

“Reading.” He looked away from the comic, wiggling it slightly before turning his attention back to his favorite american hero. “It’s the new Spiderguy comic, you can borrow it once i’m done reading it if you would like.” He looked up at you over the edge of the comic, a soft smile pulling at his lips.

You were more shocked at how unfazed he was by what he was doing, and less the fact he was hanging upside down from the ceiling. “Oh, ok…thanks Shoto.” You figured it was best to leave your boyfriend to his own devices at this point, two was starting to feel like a crowd. You slipped past your boyfriend again, careful not to bump him as you made way for the door. 

“Wait F/N, can you stay and help me with something?” His brows were knitted together as he analyzed the page in front of him.

“Of course.” You were sure he needed help getting down, the ceiling he was dangling from a good way from the floor. You made your way over to your hanging boyfriend, standing in front of him as your face met his.

He turned the comic around, handing it over with a confused look. “I don’t get why they did this. Wouldn’t it be easier to just kiss normally?” 

You looked at the cluster of panels on the page, the rainy scene playing out as the protagonist hung off the railings, his love interest pressed against him in a romantic interaction. “I don’t know, Spiderguy said some of it was fake. I’m sure they didn’t have a romantic first kiss so the writer made something up.” You handed back the comic to your boyfriend, his eyes vacant.

He sat there for a moment, working out the scenario on the book. The gear grinding in his head as he struggled to understand why anyone would want to kiss someone upside down. “The lips wouldn’t line up correctly, the ratios would be off.” He mumbled to himself, trying to put himself in the mindset of the webbed superhero.

Your boyfriend often got confused by loving gestures, that was one thing you noticed early on in the relationship. He had never been on the receiving end of it as a child, and he had never been on the giving end of it as a young adult. 

You watched as the gears in his head grinded to a halt, his ah ha moment was upon him. “Would you be willing to try it? I think i’ll understand it better if I experience it.” He pointed to the panel in question, looking at you hopefully. 

You could feel the warmth spreading across your cheeks at the mention of sharing a kiss with Todoroki, your first kiss. You opened your mouth to protest, frantically waving your hands in front of you. 

Todoroki reached a hand up, sliding a finger under your jaw. His other hand on your hip, grasping at your shirt as he pulled you closer to him. He didn’t speak, instead he tilted his head to meet your flustered eyes. He couldn’t help but laugh as you looked around the room trying to find a way out of the situation. His mind was set, he was going to kiss you. 

You were frazzled trying to put together a sentence to explain that it was in fact your first kiss and you were unsure how any of it worked let alone a comic book rendition of it. You managed to get out a surprised noise as his thumb and finger gripped your chin, pulling you a mer inch away from his own face. 

He brushed his lips over yours, watching for your reaction. Once you relaxed into his touch he leaned up, his lips meeting yours for the first time. The kiss was delicate, his hands gripping the fabric on your waist to keep himself center. Your fingers tangled in his dangling locks, cradling his head as you lifted him up to deepen the kiss. 

You pulled away after a moment, unable to meet each other’s gaze as the bufferlies set into your stomach. “D-did that help?” You stuttered out, backing away from the equally flustered boy. 

“Yeah, I think i’m starting to understand why they did it…” Todoroki was trying to pull his hair over his eyes in an attempt to hide his growing blush, gravity pulling small pieces back to it’s upright position. 

You picked up your math book off the floor before giving your boyfriend an awkward wave. You rushed out of his room and down the emergency stair well in an attempt to get away from the thoughts flooding your mind. Once you made it back to your room you shut the door, throwing yourself on your bed.. You clutched your chest, a bubbly giggle escaping as you let the feelings take over.

 A permanent smile plastered your face that night, a faint blush creeping back up your neck every time you thought of the multi-toned boy somewhere above you. You wondered if he had felt the same way as you did. If he had the same feeling bouncing around his nervous stomach when he thought about doing it again. 

“I wonder if he ever got down, maybe I should go check on him…”, you sat up on your bed, swinging your legs over the edge. A few floors up a loud crash reverberated through the walls. You had gotten your answer.  

—-

The box sat on your chair was soon filled up, all your important documents placed neatly inside leaving the top of the desk empty. You sat the comic back on the table, making a mental note to give it back to your boyfriend before you left the following day. 

You reached for another box, setting it beside your bookshelves. They had filled up over the years, each one stuffed with training books, niknaks, and the occasional complete collection of romance manga. It was going to take a good number of boxes to safely transport all the items that littered the shelves. You sat down on the floor, pulled the empty box closer. You had to start somewhere and the bottom shelf seemed as good a place as any. You made short work of the first two sections, most of the books finding themselves packed and ready to be shipped. 

The third level of your shelve was mostly dedicated to the most delicate, breakable items you had. It seemed the safest place in the room, especially with Bakugou living next door. His temper tantrums had shaken a number of things off the walls over the years. 

You carefully picked out each item, wrapping it in newspaper before placing it inside the box. You reached towards the back of the shelve, finger grazing over a rough object hidden in the far recesses of the back corner. After a few attempts you finally got a good grip on it, dragging it to the front of the case before picking it up. “Huh, that’s where you’ve been.”

You turned the ceramic sandcastle over in your hands, the layer of dust rubbing off as you felt over the details. The top part of the highest tower had been broken off long ago, a pleasant reminder of the day you shared with Todoroki.

—-

You were walking hand in hand with your boyfriend along the beach, the festivities on the horizon as you approach the summer festival. It was you and Todoroki’s six month anniversary, a day you wouldn’t normally fuss over. But to him it was special. You had chosen to spend half a year with him, and he wanted to thank you.

“Where do you want to go first?” You looked over the day’s itinerary as he leaned over your shoulder. 

He had wanted to come early to experience everything the day had to offer. An entire day, completely uninterrupted and he got to spend it with you. “Are you hungry? We could go to the cooking competition first if you want to.” He ran a finger over the itinerary, highlighting the event. 

You nodded in agreement, folding the paper and placing it in your back pocket. “That sounds like fun.” You reached for his right hand, lacing your fingers with his as you walked with him towards the event. Your shoulder rubbed against his own, the chill of his skin seeping through his shirt onto your exposed arm. 

“Hey, look, it’s five weenies!” 

Todoroki turned his head at the sound, his eyes glued on a group of grade schoolers running towards the two of you. “ Hello again, are you all here for a school trip?” Todoroki leaned down, meeting the kids eye level as they stopped in front of you. 

“Yeah, we came for the sand building competition!” The kids chatted with Todoroki, telling him about the castle they had built for the day’s biggest event. “Will you come see it with…your girlfriend?” One of the children’s eyes bore into his hand, still holding on your own. He shifted his gaze up to you, giving you a small smile.

You returned it, waving at the group of students before you. 

“Of course.” Todoroki stood back up, smiling as the kids turned to run back off towards the rest of their class.

“Five weenies?” You questioned, giggling at the nickname your boyfriend had managed to get.

“I’ve told them my name is Shoto multiple times, I’ve just given up on them calling me anything else.” He sighed in defeat, the only kids he’s met so far that liked him and they can’t even get his name right. 

“Oh wow, look at all the people here!” You pointed towards the rows of vendors, shaking his shoulder. “It smells so good.” You inhaled, sighing as the aromas wafted your way. 

Todoroki nodded you on, smiling as you drug him towards the first vendor that caught your eye. It was no surprise your first stop was the nearest Taiyaki vendor, you lived for the sweet treat, some nights even begged him to walk you down to the convenient store off campus just to get one. 

You bounced up and down, excitedly looking over the menu as the line moved forward. Once it was your turn you were already fishing your money out of your purse, “One chocolate taiyaki please, and… Shoto, do you want anything?” You looked behind you where your boyfriend should have been, your eyes meeting with a strange pair. Your boyfriend was nowhere to be found, suddenly lost in the crowd of people. “Um that’s all…” You traded the man for your food, handing him the money owed before leaving to find your missing partner. 

You were walking up and down the stales, frantically searching for Todoroki when your eyes fixed on a mismatched pair. You pushed your way towards your boyfriend, cradling your taiyaki as you bumped shoulders with those around you. “Shoto!” You waved your free hand in the air, drawing his attention your way. “I thought I lost you…” You looked between him and the street vendor, offering them a soft smile. 

“I saw someone’s grill go out, so I offered to light it for them. A few others saw and asked for my help too.” Todoroki looked behind you, nodding at someone across the sea of people. “I think they need help too.” Todoroki offered the man he had previously helped a swift nodded before taking your hand. He pulled you along, guiding you over to the next vendor.

This continued for a while, everytime the wind picked up someone else would need your boyfriend’s help. He never refused, happy to lend a hand to anyone that required it. You followed close behind him, offering him bites of your taiyaki as he made his way around the rows of vendors. Soon enough he had made his way through most of the stalls, everyone happily chattering about the two-toned kid that had saved their cooking. 

“I’m sorry. I’m sure that wasn’t how you wanted to spend the last two hours.” Todoroki and you were now standing just outside the still bustling cooking competition, his mood souring. He had ment today to be for you two, but instead he had spent the majority of it with others. 

“I’m with you, there isn’t any other way I would spend the day.” You gave him a cheesy smile, pressing a quick kiss to his warm cheek. 

He had always tried his hardest to make everything perfect when you two were together. He never had a perfect image of what a healthy relationship looked like between two people, because of that he always over compensated whenever you and him were together. Any little inconvenience would dampen his mood, especially when it came to dates. He wanted everything to be perfect for the person he cared about most, and he would stop at nothing to accomplish that.

Todoroki looked around for a moment, eyes widening once he found what he was looking for. “Stay here please, i’ll be right back.” He pushed down on your shoulders, sitting you down on the bench behind you before running off back into the crowd of people. 

“He probably saw someone else who needed help.” You chuckled, shaking your head. You loved the fact that your boyfriend never hesitated to help those in need. You had told him the day he asked you out that you wanted his hero work to be number one, even if it meant putting you on the back burner. He had been confused at first by the request, all his relationship advice had come from the media and this was definitely not something the girls usually did. But over time he had come to realise that it was your way of telling him that you would be with him no matter what, so he didn’t have to put all his energy into making it work. He really appreciated it, even if he couldn’t help but try to make your time together perfect.

After a moment Todoroki emerged from the crowd again, two popsicles in hand as he made his way back to you. “I got you coconut. But if you don’t like it you can have mine, it’s cherry.” He offered both of the frozen treats to you, letting you pick whatever flavor peaked your interest.

You took the coconut flavored pop from him, looking over his soft features as he took a bite off the top of his own. He had always bit into his popsicles, the habit sending a shiver down your spine every time you saw it. But he was cute, and that was enough for you not to question him. 

He offered you his left arm, letting you loop your own through as he led you down to the beach. “We should go see the sand castles before the competition starts, it will be less crowded.” He had already finished his popsicle as you arrived at the first of the sand structures, throwing away the stick in a nearby trashcan as you passed by.

You walked with him, pointing out what ones you liked the best. The sun hot as it beat down on the two of you. You had been under it all day with little to no cover, the red tint starting to show on both of your exposed skins. 

“Oh, Shoto. I think you’re getting burnt already. I should have bought sunscreen…” You let go of his arm, digging in your bag for something to help stop any further damage. 

“F/N, your popsicles melting.” Todoroki pointed to the half eaten treat as a drip traveled down the base of the stick.

“Oh, I’ll finish it really quick.” You leaned in to lick the melting treat, stopping as Todoroki wrapped his right hand around the entirety of it, refreezing it. You looked between the icy pop and his hand, your eyes widening in shock. “Shoto…”

“Now you can take your time with it.” He gave you a sweet smile, taking your hand in his as he guided you to the next castle. He was completely oblivious to you staring down in slight disgust at your popsicle, thinking back to all the things you could recall your boyfriend touching throughout the day. 

Before long the sun was setting, the evening fast approaching as the festival wrapped up. “We should head back to the dorm before curfew Shoto.” You tugged on his sleeve, pulling his attention from the horizon. 

He nodded in agreement, turning around. “I bought something for you earlier.” He fished around his jacket pocket, pulling out a small ceramic sandcastle. “ I wanted to say thank you for being my girlfriend. You mean alot to me and I’m happy we’ve gotten to spend six months together.” He turned the gift over in his hands, smiling before handing it to you. 

“I’m happy too Shoto, I couldn’t have asked for a better boyfriend. I love you.” You reached for the gift, unaware of the words you had just told your boyfriend for the first time. 

His grip on the ceramic loosened as his eyes widened. He fumbled with it as it slipped between his fingers. You both watched in horror as it collided with the concrete, the tip of the tallest town breaking off. He leaned down, gingerly pickup up the broken castle. “F/N, i’m sorry. I’ll go get another one, I’m sure they are still open.” Todoroki turned to leave, cradling the sand castle.

“No, I want that one.” You reached a hand out, stopping him. You took the gift from him, clutching it to your chest. “ I don’t want a new one, I like this one.” Crimson painted it’s way across the bridge of your nose as you looked at the still shocked man in front of you. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that…I understand if it’s too soon.” Your heart clenched as the regret set in. 

“I love you too.” Todoroki took a deep breath, grabbing your shoulders. “I love you too, I’ve wanted to say it for a while but I never knew when the right time was.” He pulled you into his chest, holding you and the broken sandcastle. The contact ended too soon as he pulled away, looking over you with concern. “I can go get you a new present, I have my dad’s card so you can pick anything you want.”

You couldn’t help but laugh, shaking your head. “No, I like my sand castle.”

He shrugged, wrapping an arm around your waist. If you were happy, he was too. 

—-

 You wrapped the sand castle in a layer of newspaper, wedging it between a few shirts for an added layer of safety. It had made it three years surviving in your dorm room, you would be damned if it didn’t make it to America in one piece.

Your phone buzzing suddenly in your jacket pocket, the soft vibrations pulling you away from the now nearly empty book shelves. You pulled the phone out of your pocket, Todoroki’s name flashing across the screen.

“What’s up?” You giggled into the phone. Your boyfriend hardly called, always preferring to just walk the distance down the hallway to your room if he needed to see you. 

“If this overgrown campfire doesn’t leave my room in the next five seconds I will take this whole building with me.” Todoroki whispered harshly into the phone, clearly reaching his limit of Endeavor interactions for the day.

“Is family time not going so well Sho?” You laughed, phone resting between your cheek and shoulder as you packed away the last of your books. Todoroki was to most a very calm and collected person, many of his classmates and colleagues praised him for his cool head and leveled nature. You had believed the rouse at first, but slowly he relaxed around you, letting his true nature show. 

It started with small slip ups, moments that you hardly caught. But soon enough the soft spoken, calm man you had met in the courtyard of the school had disappeared. Left in it’s wake was a scatterbrained, snarky, chaotic mess of a human that you loved with every fiber of your being. You liked that most people didn’t know about this side of Todoroki, it made the moments you shared together all the funnier. 

“Oh, I think it’s going well. He’s only asked me about when I plan on having children of my own SEVEN TIMES. If I paid a share of rent could I come to America with you?”He was half serious, the slight pain in his heart proved that. Sure he was desperate to get out of this small room with his father, but he also wasn’t ready to see you leave.

“Did you finish packing yet?” You questioned, knowing full well what the answer was.

“No, I have not.” He huffed in reply.

“Finish packing and we can talk.” You laughed at the disgruntled noises coming from the other end of your phone before hanging up.

You set the phone down on the desk, sitting up to resume packing. You looked around the room, deciding what to tear apart next. The pictures that hung around your walls seemed as good a place as any. You walked over to the cluster above your bed, eyes avoiding the mess of a closet you would soon have to deal with.

You started by carefully pulling them off the wall, setting them each on your unmade bed as you made your way around the room. Most were pictures of your friends and family, a few some silly All Might posters you had framed after forcing him to sign them on the first day of school. 

You pulled down the last frame, the pressed daisy looking just as vibrant as the day you had gotten it. It had once belonged to a bouquet years ago, but it had outlasted the rest of it’s flowery friends. Even after a month it was standing tall and beautiful in the vase. You had decided to press it that day, a reward for it’s perseverance. It was a reminder of the one and only bouquet of flowers Todoroki had successfully gotten to you in one piece, a fond memory of the first few months you had interned for your first pro hero. 

—-

You were finishing up a long patrol with Fatgum, the day coming to a close as the sun started to set behind the tall buildings. The agency building came into view as you walked up the street beside Fatgum, the tension in your back finally dissipating at the thought of getting out of your hero uniform.

You waved a goodbye to your mentor, thanking him for a wonderful day before walking into the locker room. It was silent, everyone else had gone home hours ago. You pulled open your locker, taking out your phone. It had unplugged during the night leaving you with a whopping 20% to use for the day. Instead of risking it you left it at the agency to charge for the day. Anyone who could have possibly needed you had Fatgum’s personal number, there was really no reason to worry.

You opened the now fully charged phone, eyes widening. You had almost thirty missed calls from Todoroki in the last four hours. You quickly dialed your boyfriend, shifting nervously as you waited for the line to pick up. Nothing, the line went straight to voicemail, you would try again. After almost a dozen attempts you let out a shaky sigh. He had never called you this much, what if something happened? 

You threw on your civilian clothes, shirt clearly backwards as you ran out of the locker room and down the emergency stairs, phone in hand. The receptionist caught you on the way out the door, waving you down to stop.

“Oh, H/N I have a message for you. Someone called with an address, their phone cut out before I could get their name.” She gave you a soft smile, handing you the note.

You shakily took it from her, looking over the address. “What did they sound like, was it Todoroki by chance?”

She shrugged, giving you a confused look. “Maybe, the phone was kind of distorted so it was hard to make out what they were saying. But I think the address is for the park down the street, maybe whoever called is still there?” She offered you a warm smile, sitting back down in her office chair.

You thanked her, waving a goodbye as you ran out the front door of the building and down the street. Todoroki had never been the type to call unless it was urgent. Of course the day you leave your phone at the office he calls 28 times with no voicemail. You couldn’t help but think of the worst, the anxiety building as you rounded the street.

As if on cue you felt the first raindrop, the sky opening up before you. The forecast had called for light showers, but this was anything but. You could finally see the west opening of the park coming into view, groups of people running for cover as the rain beat down.

You started scanning the people walking by, looking for familiar tufts of peppermint hair. As the crowds opened up you caught sight of vibrant red. There he was, sitting on a bench a ways down the park trail, his coat resting on his lap. 

“Shoto!” You yelled, running towards him. “Shoto!” You tried again to gain his attention, his gaze set on his shoes. “Shoto!” You tried once more, his eyes finally landing on you as you pushed through a group trying to escape the rain.

“Are you ok?” You leaned over, resting your hands on your knees as you attempted to catch what breath you had left. Peeking up from between your wet bangs you caught sight of his soft smile as he unwrapped something from his coat.

“Happy one year anniversary F/N.” He pulled out from under his coat a small bouquet of daisies and baby’s breath, untouched by the rain. 

You stood up, looking over the soaked man in disbelief. “So you’re ok? Nothing happened?”

“Why wouldn’t I be ok?” His brows knitted together in confusion, “Do you not like the flowers?” 

You let out a small laugh, covering your mouth to mask the rest bubbling up. “Shoto, you called me twenty seven times, I was scared something happened to you.” You wrapped your arms around the man, pulling him into your embrace. 

“I called you twenty seven times?” He pulled his phone out of his back pocket, clicking the power button a few times.“ That’s probably why my phone died so fast.” He pulled away from you, chuckling lightly. “I called you to see when you would be off work, I must have redialed you when I sat down… alot. When I saw my phone was dying I tried to call your office, but I cut out before I could tell her my name. I’m sorry I worried you.”

That sounded like your ditzy boyfriend, not even knowing he had given you a panic attack.

He lifted the flowers again, tilting them towards you. Water dropped off the white petals, dripping onto his hands. 

“These are beautiful Shoto, did you keep them dry with your coat?” You looked over your boyfriend, completely soaked with his coat in his hand. 

“I tried too.” He huffed, looking up to glare at the clouds. “I just wanted to finally get a single flower to you in one piece.” He reached out, running a finger over a dampened petal.

This had been his fifth attempt at getting you a bouquet of flowers, each previous attempt ending in disaster. The first time had been a simple mistake, the delicate flowers dying in the heat of his locker before he could get them to you after school. The next two had been destroyed on the way to you, falling apart in his hands when you opened your bedroom door. The fourth had been crushed by Midoriya on the bus seat, a perfect imprint of his butt set into the wrapping. And the fifth, those were eaten by Koda’s misplaced pet rabbit before they even made it out of Todoroki’s room. It was his mission to get these to you in one piece and he was ready to kill anyone or anything that threatened that.

“Thank you, this is the best gift you could have given me.” You lifted the bouquet up, the fragrant flowers tickling your nose. “Happy anniversary Sho.”

He smiled, taking your hand in his. “Since your off work now are you hungry?”

You nodded, walking with him down the park path. “Let me buy you soba for being so sweet.” You smiled to yourself, shaking your head.  Your anniversary was in fact tomorrow, but he didn’t need to know that. 

“The lady who sold those to me told me to put them in sugar water when we get back to the dorm. She said they should last longer if we do. She also told me…” Todoroki repeated the instructions given to him by the florist as he walked with you to the soba shop, happy to have finally gotten a complete bouquet of flowers safely into your hands. 

—-

You closed the top of the box, taping it shut. Your room was close to finished, most of the items already packed and ready to move to the truck waiting downstairs. You had managed to put off your closet the entire time, hoping that it would manage to pack itself. But that wasn’t the case as you looked at the disheveled mess of shirts poking out of the semi organized mass. 

You pushed a few more boxes over to the mess, saying a few prayers for whatever was inside. 

It wouldn’t take you long to fold everything and stuff it in a box, if you had listened to Shoto months ago and sorted out what you really didn’t want or need. But that took time and effort, two things you really didn’t want to waste on a closet. You had instead wasted it away on other more important matters, like video games with Denki, and shopping with Uraraka. 

You started by pulling out all the clothing, laying it out on your bed as you slowly cleared out the multicolored mess. Each bundle uncovering secrets you had forgotten yourself. Why did you have so many blank tank tops? Where did you get this Shiketsu High jacket, and why did you have three of them? When did you steal Kirishima’s UA gym shirt (his name written messily along the inside collar), did he have yours you had been missing for most of the year? And most importantly why did you have the entirety of Shoto’s hoodie collection hidden amongst your own?

You knew the answer to the last question at least, those hoodies had been given to you by your perfectly temperature regulated boyfriend every time he saw you without a jacket of your own. He insisted that it was because you were always getting sick, and to his defence the dorm common room was always freezing. But you knew he just liked seeing you in his oversized clothes. He tried to hide, oh boy did he try to hide it.  But you could see the possessive gleam in his eye when you walked out in his far too large hoodies. It was like a big sigh on display to everyone around, “Todoroki’s girlfriend”, but he wouldn’t ever tell you that. 

You fingered through the vast majority of the borrowed clothing articles, pulling everything of his aside to take to him later. Your finger stopped on the plush black fabric of one, pulling it out to look at the cracked design on the front, paint faded and worn. You had brought it back from the states one holiday. His favorite manga had a limited run set of merchandise released in the states, and it was just your luck that you had gotten the last of the hoodies he had shown you months before when you saw it in the store window. 

“I should probably give this back to him soon, I bet he hasn’t even noticed it’s missing.” You chuckled to yourself, fully pulling it out of the pile. A small piece of white paper caught your eye, the corner sticking out of the connected pocket. You pulled it out, unfolding it. It was a receipt from your favorite soba shop dating back to last weekend. You thumbed over the printed words on the front, it was your last study date together before finals. Todoroki had insisted on buying that night, demanding it really as he hid your bag. 

—-

“You bought last time Y/N, that means it’s my turn to pay.” Todoroki shook his head at you, watching you shimmy out from under your bed.

“No Shoto, you bought last time, it’s my turn. Where is my bag, you’re not paying.” You glared his way, pushing him over to check under him.

“You won’t find it, i’m going to pay and you’re going to eat what I pay for.” He was stern, rolling back over to his original seated position. 

“Fine, but we’re doing dutch from now on! You’ve abused your boyfriend privileges!” You pouted in defeat, folding your arms over your chest. You sat down next to him on the bed, pushing your shoulder into his as you attempted to scoot him over. 

Todoroki looked at you curiously, he was already confused by the use of the word dutch, but now you were aggressively rubbing against him. Did you want him to move? He leaned back on his hands, watching as your shoulder slipped off his own. 

With your leverage gone you had nowhere to go but over, into the lap of your amused boyfriend. You looked up, the confused look shifting into a smile as his eyes met yours.

“Would you like Soba?” He chirped, hand resting on your head. He was completely oblivious to you melting at his touch, unable to stay mad at the sweet boy before you. 

“Do you want soba?” you asked, it was a dumb question honstley. He ALWAYS wanted soba, it was to him a major food group at this point.

He took that as a yes, phone already in hand as he typed in the order for the food delivery. “Would you like what you always get?” He peaked down at you long enough to see your nod before turning back to his screen. He had the order for all of your favorite restaurants memeriesed, everything from how you liked it cooked to what things you always took off. He felt it was just another way to show you how much he loved you, the ability to bring you home your favorite foods when you had a rough day being something he prided himself on. 

You shifted in his lap, getting comfortable as Todoroki’s fingers tangled with your hair. His other hand finishing the order before setting his phone down on the bed. “So, what subject do you want to work on first?”

You groaned, burying your face in his lower abdomen. Todoroki’s light chuckles softly bounced your head around in his lap, his hand running down your back. “Y/N, we need to study, or do you want to fail?” He teased, earning another groan. 

“Fine, we can start with math!” You moaned into his shirt, ready to just be done with your course work. It was your last weekend in the dorms with Todoroki, and even though you wanted to spend this time in other ways, you knew this had to be done first. 

You worked for a bit, Todorki leaning over your shoulder as he worked through your more difficult problems before turning back to his own. He had gotten attached to studying with you, almost yearning for it when you were away. He loved sitting at your small table, arms pressed against each other as you both fought for surface space to do your work. He had burned into his memory the feeling of your hand grazing his as you flipped the pages of your textbook. The way you would toy with the corner of your homework, folding it over and over when you got stuck on something. Even just the light glint in your eye when you got sleepy.

He liked the fact that he could lean over your shoulder, resting his head on your own as he guided you though the problem in the privacy of your own rooms. His fingers softly danced over the exposed skin of your legs as he calculated the numbers in his head, the pads of his fingers tracing each one out as he worked. 

“Sho, are you ok?” you questioned, looking over your spacy boyfriend.

“Mmm, yeah. Just thinking about something.” He smiled, he reached for your hand. Stopping as his phone began to vibrate on the table.

You picked up the device, turning it over to see the incoming message. “Oh, the delivery driver is here. It says he’s at the front door of the building.” You watched as Todorki pushed out his chair, standing up to pull his wallet from his back pocket. “Want me to go get it?” you asked, pushing your own chair out to follow him.

“No, keep working on your papers. I’ll be fast.” He smiled, sliding the door open to the balcony. 

“Let me come downstairs with you. You’re going to need someone to buzz you back in…” You watched in horror as your boyfriend swung a leg over the balcony ledge, sitting down on the side of the brick before dropping off of it. “Shoto?” You screamed, running to look over the edge. You watched as he landed, standing back up casually to walk over to the equally shocked man holding your food. “Shoto what are you doing?” You shout down to the dumbfounded boy. 

“I’m paying for the food.” he wiggled his wallet at you, the black square barely visible from your second story balcony. He pulled out a large bill, handing it to the awestruck man before taking the bags from his hands. 

The man dug around in his change bag, handing back the remaining money wrapped in the recipe for the order. His hands shook as he dropped it into Todoroki’s free hand.

“Thank you, have a good night.” He beamed, pushing the receipt bundle into his hoodie pocket before walking back up the steps to the dormitory doors. 

The delivery man gave Todoroki a small nod, backing up a bit before looking up at you. He offered you a small wave, watching as you returned it before sprinting back to the front gates. 

Todoroki pulled on the door handle with his free hand, the door firmly locked as he jiggled it a few times. He sighed, walking back down a few steps until he could see your face from the balcony. “Y/N, would you please open the door? I think it’s locked.” 

Your eyes widened as your boyfriend disappeared again up the stairs, your head turning in disbelief. You were too confused to utter words, the definition of everything seemed to slip away as you tried to compile enough reason to justify what you had just witnessed. You walked over to your door, turning the handle slightly. “God I hope he doesn’t do this from his room…”

—-

You laughed, tucking the receipt back into your own pocket. After all the years you had spent with Todoroki he never ceased to surprise you. He was chaotic to say the least, but you loved him. 

A soft knock pulled you away from your packing, the door opening slowly as Todoroki peaked his head inside. “I’m finished packing, do you need help?” he looked over the mess of clothing laid out on your bed, “You’ve made some progress…” He smiled slightly, his tone double sided as he picked up one of his hoodies out of the pile. 

“I think most of this stuff is yours actually, I got all of my stuff packed up.” You teased, pointing to the boxes of clothing you had just finished packing. 

“And how did all these get in here?” He laughed, pulling an empty box over to the side of your bed. 

You pushed him playfully, knowing full well how you had amassed such a large pile of Todoroki’s belongings. You helped him put them in a box, packing them up for him to take back to his own room. 

“We just need to get everything into the truck…” He trailed off looking at your now completely packed up room as you tapped the last box shut. He nudged one with his foot, sliding across the floor as he fought to ignore the lump forming in his throat. 

“Help me take them down?” You questioned, tilting your head to meet his sad gaze. You hadn’t openly discussed that would happen while you were away in America, the topic lightly danced around whenever it was brought up. You knew he was worried, you were after all going away for an undetermined amount of time. Sure you were planning on coming back to Japan one day, this was your home. But finishing your schooling, taking all your hero licensing exams in the states, and getting a visa to eventually come back permanently would take time.

“Of course.” Todoroki smiled softly, trying to hide the tears brimming his eyes. “What would you like me to take?” He questioned, looked around the room.

“Anything, it all needs to go.” You giggle, watching him pick up a box close to the door. “Let me get my bag and I can follow you down.” You reached over a few stacked boxes, pulling your purse off the desk. You looped it over your neck, situating it before leaning down to pick up a box full of books. 

Todoroki leaned up against the open door, holding it for you as you maneuvered your way out with the large box. He followed behind you, walking through the empty common room and out the door. 

Everyone had mostly left earlier that morning, excited to start their lives as pro heroes. Your goodbyes had been said the night before, everyone wishing you a safe trip before retiring for the night.

Todoroki watched as you carefully walked down the stairs in front of him, your head craned to peak out from the side of the box. His eyes followed down to your bag, swaying slightly as you took each step. He squinted at the small plushie the hung from the zipper, “Y/N why do you still have that stupid thing?” Todoroki compained, stopping you as you reached the end of the stairwell. 

“What, my Endeavor keychain?” You looked over your shoulder at the felt plushie that dangled from your bag. “Because you got it for me.” You looked back at Todoroki as he passed you out the door, shaking your head.

“I wish you would let me get you something else. I hate that thing.” He grumbled that last bit, pushing the box into the back of the moving truck. 

“I like it! It was a special day…” You frown at your boyfriend as he took the box from your hands, sliding it in next to the other one. 

It was like so many other things in your room a fond reminder of yet another special moment you had shared with Todoroki. The day seeming so long ago now that you thought about it. 

—-

You had been pacing around your room for a few hours, trying to walk off the nerves that sat in your stomach. They had been there since your encounter with Todoroki early that morning, the concrete weight starting to erase whatever lingering feelings of ease you had left.

It had been a normal morning, you got up early to run. Stopped at the convenience store on your way back to campus for a snack. You studied when you got back before everyone woke up and the dorms came alive. Once everyone woke up you ate breakfast with your friends, and after went back to your room. Well tried to at least.

You were met with a frantic Todoroki outside of your dorm room, lost in thought as he toyed with his finger. He looked your way as you rounded the corner, walking towards you at a dizzying pace.

“Todoroki-kun, are you ok?” You questioned, trying your best to hold eye contact with the boy before you. It was weird enough that a boy was stationed outside your door waiting for you, let alone your bestfriend  you had been quietly crushing over all year long.

He shook his head, “No, I don’t know how to do this…” He held your gaze for a moment, turning away abruptly when he saw the confusion knitting your brows together. 

“Todoroki-kun?” You took a step towards him, reaching out.

He clasped his hands around your extended hand, closing his eyes. “Y/N, I want to ask you on a date tonight!” He yelled out, his grip tightening. Everything was silent for what seemed like an eternity, his courage wavering at the consistent sound of his heart thumping in his ear. It had taken him months to work up to ask you that, the threat of rejection bitter in the back of his mind. You had been a wonderful friend to him since you started your exchange program at UA, possibly his best friend. You understood him in a way that others just couldn’t, and he couldn’t handle losing that because of some simple infatuation. He peeled an eye open, followed by another, worried by your lack of an answer.

Your eyes widened at the sudden outburst, all thoughts leaving you but the constant echo of his question. Months, you had liked Todoroki for months. At one point you wanted to act on it, but as time went on, and your days dwindled at UA you gave up on the idea. But now, here in your grasp was your chance, the inkling of hope that maybe this was worth the risks. You hadn’t realized the length of time you had been lost in the possibilities until you saw Todoroki open his eyes, hurt slowly tinting the multi colored hues. Everything at once came flooding back, the ability to process words coming to the forefront of your frazzled brain. 

“Y-yes!” You frantically nodded, leaning closer to the shell shocked boy. “Tonight?” You added, the one word answers being just enough to convey what you needed to get across. 

“Um, the pier carnival?” He was in the same boat as you, most of his proper vocabulary seeming to leave him when he needed it most. 

You nodded again, grinning from ear to ear.

Todoroki nodded in understanding, releasing your hand. He turned to walk away without another word, his feet carrying him fast down the hallway and out of your view as if nothing had ever happened. 

You watched his hasty retreat, the blood flow coming back to your numb digits as you started to giggle like an idiot. 

Now you were dressed, impatiently waiting for the knock on your door. You wanted the night to start, whenever that was. You had realized your mistake of not asking any important questions the second you closed your dorm door. You didn’t even know what you were doing tonight, let alone what time he was going to come get you. Was he going to come get you? Was he waiting outside for you, what if he had been waiting for hours?

A soft knock sounded from the other side of your door causing you to stumble over your feet and questions. You rushed over to the door, failing to unlock it a few times before throwing it open. 

“Hi Y/N…” He gathered himself from the surprise, “Are you ready to go…” He trailed off, the calm Todoroki you knew and loved showing itself. You nodded, pulling the door closed behind you. 

“All ready!” You beamed, turning around to lock the door. You turned the lock, giving it a test turn to make sure it was indeed locked before turning back around. Your nose grazed the fabric of his jacket as you looked up at the multi-toned eyes looking down at you. You attempted to back up, pressing your back flush against the door. 

Todoroki smiled down at you, taking a step back to give you room. “You look nice, that color suits you.” He always thought you looked nice, you had a way of making anything you wore look it’s best. He usually never said anything, keeping the admirations in the back of his mind. But today seemed as good as any to finally let them out. 

“Thank you, you look…handsome.” The word rolled off your lips, your hand coming up to smooth the navy jacket that seemed to fit him in all the right places. You took his complement as a sign to let loose, the things you always wanted to say finding light between the two of you. 

Todoroki choked on his breath, his heart tugging at you acting affectionately towards him for the first time. Sure as friends you had shared in the occasional kind words, maybe even a hug of two. But the look in your eyes was pure adoration, directed only at him. 

“Are we taking the bus to the pier?” You questioned, blushing at Todoroki’s heavy gaze. 

“Oh, yes! We should hurry or we might miss it.” Todoroki grabbed your hand, pulling you down the hallway with a new sense of urgency. That would be a terrible way to start the night, missing your only way to the actual date. His hand squeezed yours as you both made your way out of the dorm and down the stairs to the campus gates, the bus turning into view as it pulled into the stop. 

You looked down at the soft hand in yours as your feet dragged behind you. You had imagined what the feeling would be like to have his in yours, the touch, the temperature, the tenderness. It was all better then you had pictured, everything heightened past anything you could have imagined. Your skin buzzed against his, your hand vibrating in his at any slight change of contact. You loved it. 

You had stepped up to the bus just before the driver closed the door, thankful that the driver had made the decision to stay for the two of you. Todoroki thanked the man before guiding you to an empty seat near the middle of the bus. He let you slide in first, a gesture you found sweet. Todoroki always liked the window seat, it gave him something to focus his constant nervous attention on. But he had something far better to distract him today. 

He settled into his seat, scooting closer to you. He relaxed his hand, attempting to slide it out of your own. You grip tightened, giving him a displeased look as you pulled his hand into your lap. He blushed at your brash response, it was unexpected to say the least. But wonderful nonetheless, the action making him feel that much more confident in the contact. 

“Have you been to the pier before?” You questioned nonchalantly, unaware of the steady thumping you were causing in his chest. 

“No, today will be my first time…” He had stated it so simply, the same sad tint to his voice every time he correlated something to his traumatic childhood. 

You knew him well enough to know what he really meant, no real need to ask further. “Me either, I’m excited to experience it with you!” You beamed, squeezing his hand in yours. 

He smiled, the corners of his lips tugging up at the thought of having this memory with you. He would never say it outloud, but he had been planning this date for a while. Every aspect of the day color coded and time organized in his brain all hopefully leading up to a perfect date. 

You chatted the rest of the ride, the conversation easing into something so naturally comfortable it felt like every other day together, just with more hand holding. He could get used to this.

The bus pulled to a stop, the both of you coming back to the world around you as the passengers filed out of the bus. Todoroki stood up, pulling your hand slightly to follow him as he made his way into the line, you in tow. 

You tightened your grip on his hand as you made your way off the bus, the crowd of people thickening as you made your way towards the ticket booth. You pushed through people behind Todoroki, small apologies spilling out of your lips as you fought to keep up with your date. 

You were at the front of the line, standing in front of the booth before you even realised you had been in the line. Todoroki pulled out his wallet to pay the teller, he exchanged a few paper notes for bright wrist bands and a few ride tokens, thanking them before pulling you over to the entrance of the park. 

“We have to put these on to enter the park, do you want help with yours?” He flipped the thin plastic, holding out the white backing for you to place your wrist on. 

You extended your arm enough for him to wrap the admissions bracelet around, his long fingers clipping the end closed. He slid a finger under the band, pulling slightly to check if it was comfortably secure. 

He wrapped his own around his wrist, closing it just as he did yours. “ Ready?” He looked up at you, a small blush creeping up his cheeks. His heart picked up again, thumping loud in his ears. With where you were standing, the sunset hit the ocean water just right. The soft oranges and pinks, tinting your features. Each one highlighted in a way that possibly made you the most beautiful he’d ever seen you, but only possibly. He had thought the same things yesterday when he saw you reading on your balcony early in the morning, the sunrise reflecting off the glass doors behind you. He would probably think the same thing tomorrow as well. 

You waved a hand in front of his face, his eyes shifting as he came back to the present. “I’m ready.” You giggled, it wasn’t everyday you saw Todoroki out of his element like this, you liked it. 

He nodded, walking with you to the workers scanning everyone into the carnival. You both raised your wrists once it was your turn, smiling at the worker as you pushed past the spinning turnstile gates.

The pier opened up to you, bright lights and stalls as far as the eye could see. Every pick up of the breeze bringing a new smell from the food vendors in the distance. You tried to pick out each one, popcorn, cotton candy, chocolate, funnel cake…they were endless as you brain rattled on. 

“What do you want to do first?” Todoroki questioned, he knew what your answer would be. He had seen the twinkle in your eye when you first caught sight of them between the fence posts. 

“Carnival games!” You beamed, looking at the rows of prize lined activities. You had loved games since you were a kid, now you had hundreds to explore for the night. 

Todoroki nodded, letting you pull him towards the stalls as your eyes scanned for one to play. Todoroki had “borrowed” his father’s card for this occasion, you had no limit to the amount of games you wanted to play tonight.

Your eyes landed on a grid of glass bottles, a worker waving you over to give the game a try. “Want to try your hand at ring toss?” She shouted, flashing a few rings in his hand. 

Todoroki handed a few coins to the woman for a play, watching as she handed you a small stack of rings. 

“If you make all five you get a big prize, three for a medium, and one for a small. Go ahead!” She stepped back, giving you a clear view of the rows of clear bottles. 

You tossed your first ring, watching as it bounced off the rim of the bottles and down to the hard concrete. The next three followed suit, landing among the other attempts on the ground. You took a deep breath before tossing the last ring, your breath hitching in your throat as it rimmed the neck of the bottle before ultimately falling to the ground. You sighed in defeat, looking at the rows of large plushies that would remain just out of your grasp. “That one was hard.” You chuckled, turning back to Todoroki. 

“We can always try other games.” He smiled, nodding his head towards the rows of games before you. 

You nodded, picking out your next target. You started out hopeful, but each one dampened your mood slightly as you wracked up lose after lose. After your tenth game you had given up hope of taking home any prize, your attention turning to the rides on the other side of the boardwalk. “How about we go ride something instead…” You gave Todoroki a soft smile, tugging him towards the bright rides. 

Todoroki pulled you the opposite way, eyes fixed on a stack of bottles before him. “Let’s win you a prize first.” He was determined now, you were getting a damned prize. He had watched you walk away from everything you wanted all night, he was going to win you something. 

He stopped at the front of the stall, handing the older man a few coins in exchange for a single ball. It was the last of his pocket money, and with no ATM in sight maybe the last chance he had to win you something to take home. 

“It’s simple enough, knock down all the pins and get the big prize, knock down atleast one and you get one of these small ones.” The man shook a brown box full off small felt hero keychains before setting it down on the counter in front of him.

Todoroki nodded, rolling the ball over in his hand. He only had one chance, so he had better make it count. He reeled his left arm back, giving off just enough added quirk power to send the ball hurling towards the stack of bottles and all the way through them. The thick bottles toppled to the ground, clinking on the concrete as they rolled to a stop at the man’s feet. 

Todoroki looked back at you, a proud smile pulling at his lips as he caught sight of the surprised look adorning your face. 

“Hey no quirks, you lost, no prize!” The man yelled at the two of you.

Todoroki whipped his head around, glaring at the man. 

“That’s unfair, where does it say we can’t use quirks?” You angrily questioned, stepping up to the counter.

The worker hastily undid his pencap scribbling something out on the paper in front of him. “Right here.” He spat, flashing you a badly written “No quirks allowed.” sign

“You just wrote that!” You yelled, leaning towards the old man. 

Todoroki placed a hand on your shoulder, pulling you back. “No it says it right up there too Y/N…” Todoroki pointed to the wall behind the man, frowning.

The man turned around, scanning for the mentioned sign.

Todoroki quickly reached over the stall, plunging his hand into the box of small prizes. He pulled out one, grabbing your hand with his other before turning to run. 

You looked between Todoroki and the disgruntled man, his cries dying behind you as Todoroki ran towards the beach, his hand firmly closed around your own. 

Once you ran far enough, the carnival noise soft in the distance he let go. Hold his chest in an attempt to catch his breath.

You leaned over, hands on your knees. “Todoroki, y-you…” You couldn’t find enough breath for the rest of your sentence, panting at the burning in your lungs. 

“He was a dick…” Todoroki airly laughed, catching your gaze as you stood up. “I don’t know what one I grabbed…” He pulled his closed hand out from behind his back, opening it to examine his prize. 

His face contorted in annoyance as he turned the rough felt Endeavor plushie over in his hands. “Lets just take it back.”

You laughed, plucking the toy from his angry grasp. “You can’t return it Shoto, you stole it.” You turned the item over in your hands, feeling over the poorly made stitching. It was perfect. 

“Have it…” He waved, giving the toy one final dirty look. 

“So what now? I don’t think we can go back to the carnival.” You laugh, clipping the plushie to the zipper of your bag. 

Todoroki looked off into the horizon, reaching for your hand. “I wouldn’t mind some soba…” His mind trailed to the soft rumbling in his stomach, yours was soon to follow. 

He started to walk down the beach, beckoning for you to follow as he started the long walk back home. 

“So does this mean I can call you my boyfriend now?” You teased, matching his pace.

“I would like that.” He smiled over at you, wrapping his arm around your neck, fingers laced together. 

—-

You handed Todoroki the last box, watching him slide it into the back of the truck before closing the door. “Was that everything?”

You nodded, taking one last look at the dorm building. “Yeah, that’s it…” 

Todoroki wrapped an arm around your neck, kissing the top of your head. It was the end of you two being kids, the rest of your lives ahead of you. For most it was a happy day, you all graduated, you were all ready to become heroes. But adulthood came with it’s own new set of problems, and for the both of you it was something you have to figure out separate from each other, at least for now. 

He would be lying if he said he wasn’t scared of the next step, scared that everything would be too much for the both of you. He hated to think about the fact that in less than twenty four hours you would be on a plane, in forty two you would be a whole world apart. He didn’t want to think that this would be the end for the both of you, but his mind wandered to the worst of the what ifs. 

You turned towards him, “Shoto, stop worrying so much.” You giggled, pinching his cheek. 

He still hadn’t gotten used to you reading his mind like that, even after almost three years you knew what he was thinking, sometimes better than he did. He chewed at his lip, unsure what to say.

“I love you.” You smiled, cupping his cheeks. You leaned up, softly pressing your lips against his. 

He smiled into the kiss, but you always knew what to say.

You pulled away, settling down on the heels of your feet again. “So what do you want to do for our first date as UA graduates?” You beamed, walking down the courtyard to the school gates.

“I was thinking soba.” He called, picking up his pace to reach you. 

No one knew what would happen while you were away, if you two would even stay together. But he knew that whatever happened, wherever the two of you were. He would always love you. And if things got tough, or he really missed you. Well the open ended plane tickets in his back pocket would fix that. 

[mariamermaid]

The Queens Gambit

Ron Weasley x fem reader

Summary: Ron had been waiting for weeks for the upcoming chess tournament in London, but what if his title is endangered by a rookie…

Words: 4k

A/N: I think it´s pretty obvious where I got the inspo from, but in case you haven´t watched the show; I can highly recommend it! (That doesn´t mean you have to watch the show before reading though) I decided to add a few more characters from the HP fandom to make the story a little more entertaining. It´s basically like a little alternate universe story (but not really??)

  “Do you have a clock?”

You shook your head as you filled out the form with your name and other information. It was your first tournament and as much as you were excited on the inside, you kept a cool exterior. In reality, your heart was pounding against your chest. You had counted the days to this precious Saturday midmorning.

“If you´re opponent doesn´t have one, we´ll loan you one. Play starts in 20 minutes”, the boy in front of you nonchalantly explained. He was tall, but his slack figure was loosely positioned on the wooden chair. His teeth were a little crooked and he barely looked up to eye you any further. “What´s your rating?”

You glanced up from the paper in your hand, furrowing your brows. “My rating? I don´t have a rating.”

“Have you ever played in a tournament before?”

“No.” Your voice was steady, but a slight annoyance grew as the rules of the tournament seemed to have decided to play against you.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Starring directly at the boy, merely a man, in front of you, you nodded. Then you handed the paper back to him. “I´m sure.”

“Then I put you in beginners”, he sighed and shrugged.

“I´m not a beginner”, you argued, but apparently, that didn´t change anything. “Doesn´t matter, if you´re an unrated player, you go in beginners and people with ratings under 1600.”

A pause fell from your lips, clearly Merlin didn´t want you playing against actual contenders.

“Is it against any rule for me to play in the Open?” The boy with dark short hair seemed taken back by your sudden and quick answers, and he stuttered when answering. Maybe it was your confidence that startled him, maybe it was the pure attendance of a female.

“Not… Not exactly.”

“Then put me in the open.”

“There are three guys with over 1800 and Weasley might show up, you have no chance.”

You didn´t answer, leaving him sitting behind the desk. You weren´t sure, if he meant to spare you with good will, or simply feared that an irascible woman could ruin the tournament.

Neville Longbottom, looked at the paper handed to him and read out the name. “Y/n Y/L/N.”

When entering the hall, that was used for all kinds of events when booked, very few decorations fell into your eye. A few flags with symbols of schools or teams and a few goblets. Pieces of sports equipment were pushed to the sides for space. The tables, all fairly small with enough space for the chessboards, were placed induvial throughout the room. Boys, mostly around your age and older were talking to each other, while other´s sat down to study their strategies. At the back was a partitioning, that’s where the big players gamed.

 Another boy, he seemed to be around your age with dark hair and round glasses joined you in eyeing the scene.

“Are the matches played random?”, you asked him quietly without looking away from the tables. You hoped for no unwanted attention, which was easier said than done. Especially giving the fact, that you were one out of two girls.

“No, they match it by ratings on their first round. After that winner play winners and losers play losers.” The boy answered. He seemed calm about his presence as well as his answer. He had clearly played before in tournaments. You nodded understanding, before walking to the first table assigned to you.

The second girl other than you, was sitting to your opposite.

You starred at the clock at the side of the chess board, you had never played with a clock. It annoyed you deeply that it made you look like a beginner. You were good and you were planning to win. The girl, black shoulder length hair and almond shaped eyes, noticed your look and offered you a polite smile.

“I´m Cho Chang. Each player has 90 minutes, after you move, you press the button closest to you. Then it´s your opponent’s turn.”

You didn´t want to talk much, you were there to play, but you appreciated her explanation. Then your eyes traveled through the room, just to find Cho´s again.

“Why do they put the girls together?”

“They´re not supposed to, but if you win, they´ll move you up. Have you ever played in a tournament?”

You shook your head slightly. “No.”

But she simply shrugged. “I´m sure you´ll do fine.”

“What about Ron Weasley, is he coming today?” Oh, the king of chess, at least currently.

You had read about him, his matches from his first years at Hogwarts. Even Dumbledore himself had praised him and the daily prophet had written multiple articles about him. You had studied his games, over and over. It was him, who you wanted to play.

“Yeah, he has to defend his title.”

 After 20 minutes, Neville heard light steps approaching. Only seconds after, he found you standing in front of him again. “What do I do with this?” You hold up the paper from your match. It took every bit of effort to hide your happiness, the first game had taken a lot of weight off your shoulders. After beating Cho, you were more determined than ever.

“Is your match already over?”

“Yes, I won”, you shrugged.

“That was fast, circle your name and drop in the basket”, he muttered and you did as said. Neville starred at the spot where you had previously stood; something tingled in his senses. Maybe you would actually get a chance to prove yourself to the higher players.

 You snuck through the rows of players still starring at their boards until reaching the dividers. Clearly, you were fast, faster than most of them, which gave you time to study the room further. But the interesting part was happening behind the dividers. You paused for second, before deciding to enter. Around the table was a group of people watching, within the crowd, the boy from before with the round glasses. It was your turn to join his side and watch the two seated players. By the red hair, you could easily make out Ronald Weasley himself. His green eyes were pierced on the board as he chewed on his lips. You had seen several pictures of him in the newspaper, but seeing him in person? It was a new excitement rushing through your veins.

“Is he a Grandmaster?”, you asked the dark-haired boy to your left. Curiosity had always been in your nature, it even more so, got you into trouble.

“He´s working on it, it takes time. You have to play a grandmaster to become one.”

“How much time?”

“Do you mind?”, Ron turned from the game, eyeing you with caginess. His green eyes pierced right through yours and you pressed your lips to a thin line, looking to the floor with guilt. Internally, you cursed at yourself, but the smallest part showed a weird reaction; Ron Weasley had taken notice of you. Not in the way you wanted, but maybe he´d remember you. Slowly, they all focused back on the game.

Weasley´s opponent, Blaise Zabini, had his arms crossed in front of the board. “Draw?”

Ron shook his head, he wasn´t cruel. However, the victory was too close and too easy for him. “No.”

Zabini sighed, watching as Ron´s Queen moved on the board to shatter his king. The art of wizard chess remained aggressively; how queens and rooks smashed and destroyed kings and pawns. It was fascinating to you.

Weasley clapped at his own win, just like the crowd, a smirk back on his lips. “Yes!”

The group around you echoed in further applause and you couldn´t help but feel a smile. The two of them shook hands, before Zabini took off in defeat. He tried his best not to show his disappointment and anger. Ron watched his tall figure leave through the crowd, until his eyes landed back on you. You felt a blush rushing into your cheeks. Did you said he´d remember you? He probably despised you already.

Avoiding his glance again, knowing you had already attracted unwanted attention, you swallowed. Ron on the other hand just realized the pretty girl, who had watched him…

 The minutes and hours took by and one after one player was defeated by you. Oh, how you loved winning. Some might decline it as a weakness, but it was the drive that kept you going.

“That´s check”, you explained after successfully beating another man. He adjusted his hair, feeling clearly uncomfortable. You on the other hand, had found your safe zone.

“I know what it is”, he then replaced his Queen, which rose from her throne, before making her way to the newly assigned field. But you had already figured out his move and even more so, your own win.

“Draw?” He asked, nervously tapping with his pencil. You had placed your head on top of your hands, watching him closely. You shook your head.

“I resign”, he admitted.

 “Dinner break, then three more rounds. Final round on Sunday 11a.m.”; Neville explained, while the players had gathered outside the hall to either chitchat or look at the charts of the past games. You eyed the chart; you had won four games already. Two games were listed above you, the next one was against Harry Potter. You furrowed your brows. “You said there were three people with ratings higher than 1800!”

Neville, the boy of drossy posture and crocked teeth, looked up from the papers. He had already guessed that you would complain. “Yes, that´s right.”

“I thought I´d be playing one of them.” Neville sighed, his love for chess, organization of tournaments and the clear instructed rules, were a little thwarted by you. “You don´t have a rating, consider yourself lucky.”

“How do I get a rating?”

“You play 30 games in the USCF tournaments and then wait four months.”

“But that’s too long! I want to play Weasley”, you exclaimed. The calculations in your head were fast and no matter how you turned it, time was your enemy. “If you win your next three games and if he does the same…”

“I will.”

 Annoyed, you stepped back into the hall. You were ambitious to win. It was all you had and the potential price money lurked you even more. At home, nothing but your mother waited for you. Money had always been a big concern, she wasn´t even able to afford for you to go to Hogwarts. Everything you knew about magic; she had taught you.  She worked two jobs to make enough money for food and rent and while she cleaned motel rooms, one of the guests that often stayed at the motel, taught you to play wizard chess; Mr. Lupin was an amazing teacher…

 At the table of your next tournament, you found the dark-haired boy with round glasses. He awaited you and smiled as you finally sat down. “I´m Harry, Harry Potter.”

Besides your prior encounter, you had seen him talking to Ron Weasley and a small wave of exhilaration rose inside you. He and Weasley seemed close friends. “Y/n, Y/L/N.”

The game started with innocent moves from pawns. In between, Harry glanced up to you, checking. But you were sure of what you were doing. Minutes passed into the game and Harry started realizing that you were better than him, he didn´t show it yet, but he was well aware. Nevertheless, he was enjoying an exquisite game of chess.

You took his queen nonchalantly, which fell off the board in debris, and nervously licking his lips, he wrote down new notes on his notepad, before making his move. Your turn again, the rook.

Harry folded his hands, starring at the game. He pondered how to get out. After more minutes passing, a few people even started to watch you. They stood in the background, far enough to not make it conspicuous, but close enough for you to notice.

You moved your king and Harry sighed. “Merlin, Y/n, you´re humiliating my rook.”

“You won´t have to suffer much longer.”

Yes, you had it all played out in your head. Your win was safe and secure.

A smile was on your lips. Two further moves, and it was done.

He stretched out his hand in defeat and you took it. “Good game, you´re very talented.”

You shrugged as if it didn´t matter, but it did. To you it did. “You really are something.”

Saturday came to an end; you had won every single game. With your head tilted high, you stepped out the building. Fresh air flowed through your lunges and you took a deep breath. Suddenly voices echoed from your right; a few steps away Harry was talking to Ron Weasley. They chuckled in ease as they continued to make conversation. Ron´s back was turned into your direction, but Harry quickly noticed you.

“Hey Y/N! You played well today; do you want to grab a butterbeer with us?”

A bitter taste spread on your mouth; you had never even tried butterbeer. But all your savings had gone into the fee of the tournament and you already expected a long lecture when coming home. You shook your head with a polite smile on your lips. “Sorry, I have to get home.”

The two boys watched as you left, silence between them.

“She´s good, better than all the other girl´s I´ve seen”, Harry added and his friend rolled his eyes.

“Come on, Harry, just because she beat you, doesn´t mean she´s some kind of unknown genius. She doesn’t even have a rating.”

Harry shrugged innocently. “Whatever you say, but be careful, maybe she´ll even beat you.”

Ron echoed in laughter as he playfully punched his friend’s shoulder. “As if!”

 Sunday came, Ronald Weasley was late.

“Mom, have you seen my shoes?”

“Ronald, if you just once tidied up you might find them at the right place!”

Ron wasn´t nervous, but as so often, he was running late. With the annual tournament of wizard chess, he was ready to defend his title as current state champion.

Finally, the shoes had been next to the dishwasher (probably Fred´s and George´s play), he threw over his jacket and made his way to the fire place. “Mom, I´m leaving.”

Molly Weasley, who always knew where every single one of her children was, came hurrying down the stairs. With swift motions she brushed away dirt from Ron´s jacket and then started fidgeting around with his red hair. “Mom!”, Ron instructed his mother to stop and hurried towards the fireplace. He took the floo powder and rolled his eyes as Molly started wiping away a tear.

“There goes my champion!”

 You sat at the table, the same table where Ron had previously won against Zabini, waiting and growing impatiently. People around you waited as well. You couldn´t help but feel a deeper reluctance towards the conceited champion. Finally, you flinched as the door opened.

“Sorry, took a butterbeer on the go”, Ron added and held his cup high to show his evidence. You wanted to let out a sigh and roll your eyes, but you resisted to do so.

He took another sip before stretching out his hand.

“Ron Weasley, what´s your name?” Quickly, you shook his hand. Ron knew your name, Harry had told him, but he asked nevertheless. It was a rude tactic to make you feel smaller against him. You on the other hand wanted to begin, not waste more time. “Y/N, Y/L/N.”

He nodded acknowledging and the game started.

Five minutes into the game, he yawned.

It drove you insane. Did he do it on purpose? To make you lose focus? Or was he as underwhelmingly annoying?

He played confidential, not even thinking he could lose. It didn´t even take seconds for him to plant his moves. It intimated you and no matter how hard you tried not to show, the second yawn as you moved the pawn, did bring you to a slight stumble. Neville as well as Harry stood in the audience watching.

You felt sweat forming on your neck and cleavage, and strain pushed against your temples.

“I´ll be right back.” You jumped off your seat and hurried into the bathroom, leaving behind their confused faces.

Cold water ran down your hands and you placed the refreshing cool on your cheeks and neck.

Your eyes were pinned in the mirror, starring angrily at yourself. Running away from the game felt like an embarrassment enough, you weren´t ready to lose.

“Come on, you can beat him.”

Slowly, your stare wandered towards the ceiling. The chess board appeared out of your imagination and the figures stood tall, just like you had left them behind. Then, they started moving and each time you found yourself in an inescapable path, they pulled back into their initial position. Until…

 As you sat down, you were steadier as before. It surprised Ron a little and he watched as you moved your knight to take out one of his pawns. His rook then took your knight and you followed by replacing your pawn. On and on. The game continued. You were dangerously calm and as you placed the bishop down, you watched his face closely.

Ever so slightly, Ron shook his head and the glint in his eyes vanished. Harry in the crowd had the smallest hint of a smile.

“For Merlin´s sake”, Ron muttered and his hand pushed back his ginger hair.

“I think that´s it.” Your tranquil voice didn´t help him at all, but it gave you the confirmation you had hoped for.

“No, I can get out of this.”

“I don´t think so.” Then you tilted your head to side, completely deserted. “Maybe, if you had gotten here on time.”

Ron´s green eyes pierced into yours, then back on the board. Oh, time could be a cruel opponent and right now, he was losing. He took another move, not wanting to admit it yet, but you sighed sounding bored and exhausted.

“It doesn´t work, I don´t have to use the Queen.”

It didn´t matter to him. This was now more and ever about his ego. “I´ll just cover it with the bishop and-“

“Move.” His voice was low and unlike his usual character, deadly serious. Harry had never seen his friend in such a situation and even though he found it alarming, what a terrible loser Ron was, he was happy for you. You deserved it.

You did as said, covering your queen, while his rook took one of your pawns. It didn´t help, all it was, was a desperate cry. Your rook moved right next to his King, which he placed further away, but then your queen came along.

“Do you see it now? Or should we finish this on the board?”

In disbelief, he shook his head once again. But this time, his eyes found yours in an amazing gaze. “For Merlin´s sake.”

The King was destroyed by the Queen. You had won.

The people around you echoed with applause and Ron clapped as well, gentle smiling.

It was useless denying it further, you had beaten him fair and square. Harry had been right, you were good and better than Ron.

He lifted himself off his seat and shook hands with you, a reassuring smile on his lips.

For the first time on this day, you could smile as well. All the worries and the lecture that lasted till late in the evening, had been worth it.

You defeated the state champion and you won the prize money.

 “Y/n?”

You had planned to go home, your mother would be enthusiastic about the money, but Ron´s voice held you back. You were outside in the hall, hand already on the railing to the staircase leading outside.

“Do you want to grab a butterbeer with me now?” He sensed your hesitation and quickly spoke up again. “Don´t worry, I´ll pay. I guess I owe it to you”, Ron shrugged and pushed his hands nervously deeper into the pockets of his brown pants. He looked different than when seated behind the chess board, taller but less comfortable as well.

“I´m not sure…”

“Come on, you can´t leave me hanging like this after taking my title.”

A small chuckle escaped your lips and Ron noticed how well it suited your face. While playing chess and debating over strategies, there wasn´t much time to give away polite smiles or studying your opponent’s traits.

You couldn´t help, but feel how the reluctance towards Ron disappeared. He sighed relieved as you nodded agreeing.

The bar was only a few streets away, a side alley and the entrance to the magical ambience was hidden. The door opened as the front side to a large dumpster and lead a few steps down into the pub. It was cozy and due to the early time on a Sunday afternoon, still fairly empty. The bartender nodded towards Ron, they seemed to know each other.

“Two butterbeers, Dean.”

Together you sat down in niche to the side, a few plants hung from the ceiling and blankets and pillows laid on the armchairs in between. Chill jazz music played in the background and a house elf washed up used glasses. You imagined how the room was filled with people in the evenings.

“So, you never played in a tournament before and yet you beat the state champion?”

Ron was curious, which was understandable and you blushed at his question.

“A friend of my mom taught me how to play chess.”

“Really? He must know a lot about it, I imagine.”

“Yeah, and he gave me many books about openings and strategies.”

“I never saw you playing in the school tournaments, when did you start?”

You avoided his glance, starring down at the butterbeer Dean just brought to your table. The yellowish, sweet smelling liquid with soft foam on top.

“I don´t play for a school team”, you admitted quietly. The topic was hard to avoid, but you didn´t have many friends anyways to talk to.

“Well, I think you should maybe start then. They often travel together to other tournaments and-“

“I´m actually not going to a public school, I´m home taught.” You voice was louder now, but still shaking enough for Ron to realize your indisposition. He maybe was a genius on the board, but construing social interactions? Not his strength. Awkwardly, he scratched the back of his neck.

“Oh.”

 An uncomfortable silence settled between the two of you and you decided to take your first sip to take off your mind. He watched carefully, how your face enlightened with joy. “It´s really good!”

Ron kept his assumption, that it was your first butterbeer, to himself and smiled nodding.

“Dean knows how to make one of the bests around here”, he paused before continuing.

“I admire you.”

“Excuse me?”

“Everything I know about wizard chess, I learned in school from my teammates. Actually, everything I know, I was taught in Hogwarts. But now you come along and beat me, you´re brilliant Y/N.”

“I always liked chess, it´s a whole world on a simple board. I´m not as good in other things, trust me.” You admitted, but his compliment spread warmth around your heart.

“If you want, I could teach you a few things about magic.”

Maybe Ron Weasley wasn´t the best teacher, but he truly wanted to see you again. Something about you was so charismatic and mesmerizing, he couldn´t help himself. To his luck, excitement was shown in your face. “That sounds amazing!”

When you had finished your beers and left the pub, Ron faced you again. The two of you had talked for over an hour and he was beginning to like you more with each minute.

The thought of Ron teaching you more about magic, made you enthusiastic. Maybe it was also the fact, that seeing him again, brought a tickle in your stomach.

“Well, I see you next week, Queen.”

You chuckled at his new nickname for you, it was a pleasant flattery.

“We will see how good your gambit is when it comes to dueling.”

[salty-ironstrange-shipper]

Being Known Is Being Loved

being known is being loved

“i know your pizza order” “you have freckles on your ears” “you make this face when you’re tired” “you order green tea on a good day black on a bad day” “you always make that face before you try something” “the tips of your ears turn red when you’re angry” “i knew you’d say something” “you must be exhausted to miss the class” “your favorite pie is pumpkin, right?” “i know your phone number, don’t worry” “you miss me, i can tell” “you fiddle with your pens when you’re bored” “you don’t like converse unless they’re high tops” “your favorite cereal is cinnamon toast crunch and you first ate it when you were 8”

being known is being loved.

(@natasharxmanov) (post since deleted, see here and here)

(read on ao3)

“You do that thing with your tongue when you’re curious or excited.”

Tony stopped, feeling air brush against his stomach where his tank top had ridden up. His hands carefully caressed the new arc reactor model, even as the rest of him focused his attention on the man sitting on the workshop’s sole couch. “Huh?”

Stephen’s ears turned red, as though even he didn’t know why he’d spoken. “I said, you do that thing with your tongue when you’re curious or excited.” He gestured at Tony’s mouth, trying to replicate the little tongue-rolling gesture.

It didn’t really work, but Tony smiled anyway. “I never noticed.”

“Yeah, well . . .” Stephen shrugged before looking away almost snappishly, returning his attention to the research he had open on his laptop. “I noticed.”

*

“Because they’re your favorite flower.”

“You can’t blame me!” Tony insisted, trying to defend himself as Stephen wrestled the urge to laugh. “I thought it was a good idea!”

“How was sending me flowers that I’m allergic to a good idea in your head?”

They were standing against the railing on the Brooklyn Bridge, looking out on the East River. They’d finished their Chinese takeout as the sun set, and now they were enjoying the display of white and gold lights on the blackened water. Tony had his back to the river, speaking with grand, sweeping gestures of his hands as he tried to justify himself to a laughing Stephen, who was leaning over the metal bar as though daring the water to rise up and take him.

“Because, they’re your favorite flower.”

Stephen shook his head, brow scrunching. “What?”

Tony nodded insistently. “They are! Whenever we walk by a flower shop, or a store with flowers in it, you stop to look at the lilies.” He paused before adding. “I know remember that it was usually from a distance.”

Stephen tilted his head, trying to think. He guessed that was true. He’d always thought they were pretty, particularly the stargazers like the ones Tony had sent to his office at the hospital. And he wasn’t even the type to care for flowers or other naturey things like that. He definitely hadn’t thought Tony had cared to notice.

Tony had his head tilted back, looking up at the few stars that managed to shine in the light-flooded city. “Maybe I can get someone over at R&D to look into making a new strain . . .”

“Or you could just buy plastic ones,” Stephen suggested, smiling despite himself. “Instead of inventing a new flower.”

“Where’s the fun in that?”

Stephen chuckled. “My mistake.”

*

“You prefer a peppermint stick in your coffee in winter.”

Tony held his hand out, frowning when Stephen ignored him. “Doc? Coffee?”

“Hold on.” Stephen awkwardly held up the cardboard drink tray with one hand while the other fished around one of the pockets in his long, dark-blue wool coat. His eyes, grey today, lit up when he found what he was looking for. “Got it.” He held out a small paper bag. “Take one.”

Tony arched a brow. “There better not be something gross in there.”

“What gross thing would I be carrying around?”

“I don’t know. Brains? Figure they have to go somewhere after you take them out.”

“That’s not what my job is.”

“Sure.” Tony did, finally, reach into the bag, surprised when he pulled out a red-and-white striped candy. “Ooh. Have I earned a treat?”

Stephen rolled his eyes. “You prefer a peppermint stick in your coffee in winter. Thought it would be a good idea to stock up.”

“Man after my own heart,” Tony said blithely, ignoring the warm feeling that stirred in his stomach. He took two sticks, pulling the lid off of his cup when Stephen handed it to him and dropping both inside. It took a few minutes for the flavor to seep into the entire drink. When he finally took a sip, he couldn’t help the not-so-tiny moan that escaped his lips.

Stephen smirked. “Enjoying yourself.”

“Obviously.” He took another long drink before grabbing the front of Stephen’s coat and pulling him in for a kiss,  smiling when Stephen’s tongue ran over his. “Doc, if you wanted a taste, you could get your own candy.”

Stephen stepped forward and away from him as though nothing had happened, enjoying a draw if his own burning hot mocha. “Bold of you to assume I’m sharing again.”

“Oh, that’s just evil.”

*

“You always listen to this album when you’re thinking about your sister.”

“You always listen to this album when you’re thinking about your sister.”

Stephen didn’t bother to look at him, keeping his eyes steadily trained on the water pouring outside their window, the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance, not quite drowned out by the Nirvana soundtrack playing in the bedroom. Everyone now and then, lightning cut through the sky.

“I know.”

Tony nodded as though this was the answer he’d expected. Then he started walking across the room, shutting the door behind him, and crawled into the bed arms opening instinctively to wrap around Stephen’s shoulders as the doctor silently nuzzled his chest and neck.

*

“You always play with your phone so you don’t have to pay attention to this scene.”

“I do not get emotional—”

“Yes you do! You always play with your phone so you don’t have to pay attention to this scene!”

“It’s. SAD, STEPHEN!” Tony snapped back. “The mother whale tries so hard to save her baby, but in the end the goddamned . . . killer whales . . .” Okay, maybe he DID get a little bit emotional when they watched nature documentaries. It wasn’t his fault the circle of life was brutal.

Stephen sighed as Tony completely failed at not being emotional, shaking his head slightly before holding his arms open. “Come here.”

“Thank you,” Tony muttered later as Stephen dutifully fast-forwarded through the scene.

“Don’t worry about it.”

*

“Don’t worry, I know your order.”

“Goddamn—” Stephen pulled his ringing phone out before absently glancing at his fiancé. “It’s work. Do you mind?”

Tony shrugged absently, looking down at his menu. “Don’t worry, I know your order.” He looked up. “The special butternut squash ravioli, right?”

Stephen smiled before leaning forward to brush a kiss against his cheek. “You know me.”

*

“You’re always losing this, so I put a label on the drawer.”

“C’mon . . . where is it . . . I know I left it . . .” Actually, he had no idea where he left it. Giving up, he leaned back on his knees and away from the open compartment. “Jarvis, do you know where—”

“Here,” Stephen said, slipping down from his stool and walking over to a completely different set of drawers on the other side of the room from where Tony was searching. “I’ve got it.”

“You don’t even know what I’m looking for—”

He stopped as Stephen pulled out the exact thing he’d been looking for, a laser cutting tool he often used when making repairs to the armor. Stephen dropped it into his hand as he explained, “You’re always losing this, so I put a label on the drawer.”

Tony couldn’t help the amused expression that crested his lips. “That’s the nerdiest way to say ‘I love you’ I’ve ever heard.”

“Are you complaining?”

Tony scoffed before leaning forward to “innocently” nip at his ear. “No.”

*

“These gloves are easier on your hands, right?”

Stephen stared at the offering in Tony’s fingers, the soft black leather that he knew would be lined with devastatingly soft white fur repurposed from one of Maria Stark’s old wraps. His throat tightened.

“Steph?” Tony said cautiously. ��These gloves are easier on your hands, right?”

Forcing himself to move, Stephen nodded sharply before taking them, his own fingers shaking. “Right. Yes.” It took too long to pull them on, but once it was done, it was as though a burden had been lifted, his scarred hands stilling some as they adjusted to the comfortable warmth. “Thanks.”

Tony nodded once before starting to walk away. “Don’t worry about it.”

Stephen stopped him with a gentle hand on his elbow. Tony froze in place as Stephen stepped forward, leaning his forehead against the nape of Tony’s neck. “Thank you.”

Slowly, Tony reached back, pulling one of Stephen’s hands around so it was resting on his stomach then covered it with his own.

*

“You smell different.”

“You smell different.”

Tony paused, looking away from the small herd of children running around the lake house or playing on their phones to face his husband. “Is that a come-on or some kind of sick way to tell me to take a shower?”

Stephen shrugged. “Neither. You’re just . . . different.” He learned forward, being far too open with the fact that he was sniffing Tony’s neck in plain view of everyone. “Are you wearing a new cologne?”

It took Tony a moment to think, somewhat preoccupied by the (annoyingly innocent) feeling of Stephen’s lips brushing over his neck. “Um . . . yeah, actually. I, uh, started using a new one a few years ago. After you, you know.” It was perhaps not the most graceful way to refer to someone being dead for five years, but hoe was he supposed to think with Stephen practically draped over him like this?

Stephen nodded, sitting back slightly. Tony fought the urge to pull him right back. “That’s probably it.” Then he went right back to sitting a respectable inch away from him, watching the children to make sure they didn’t get too close to the water.

Tony hesitated, watching him. “I could . . . go back to using the old one.”

Stephen glanced at him from the side before allowing a small smile to grace his cupid-bow lips. “I’d like that.”

*

“I made sure to get the pens you like.”

“I made sure to get the pens you like,” Tony said casually, passing a paper shopping bag over to his husband, who looked through it with mild interest.

When Stephen looked up, his eyes were mildly amused. “Yeah? And which pens do I like?”

“The blue ones. Inky, so if you hold it still for too long you’ll make a huge mess all over the paper.”

“My favorite.”

“Told you.”

*

“Your arm must be giving you trouble after today.”

Tony winced as he sat down on the bed, head aching as surely as his shoulder. It took a few minutes for him to even start removing the metallic arm for the night.

“Do you want me to run you a bath?” Stephen asked, suddenly appearing on the other side of their bed, even though Tony was sure he hadn’t even been in the house a moment ago. “Robots in Toronto . . . your arm must be giving you trouble after today. The hot water will help.” His hands twitched at his side, as though reminding Tony how his husband knew that.

Tony smiled softly despite himself. “You always know just what I need.”

Stephen returned his gaze, pale eyes soft. “Do you want a bath bomb?”

“Vanilla and rose, please.”

Stephen shook his head good-naturedly. “Pampered little rich boy.”

“Gold digger.”

“You know it.”

“That tub’s big enough for two, right?”

*

“You’re always starving after a trip like that.”

“I’m late,” Stephen said, gritting his teeth as he stumbled through a portal into the dining room. “I know I’m late . . .”

It was immediately obvious that everyone else had gone to bed — but Tony was still there, hunched over the table as he read something on his starkphone. He looked up when he heard Stephen, smiling. “Hey.” The oven light was on. Tony stood, opening it and pulling out a still-warm lasagna, though only half of it left in the (frankly, huge) pan. “Made sure there was plenty left for you. You’re always starving after a trip like that.” He glanced over his shoulder, removing his oven mitts. “When you go all extra-dimensional and all.”

“That’s not really what it’s called.” But Stephen went ahead, feeling the Cloak of Levitation detach itself from his back as he sat down. He smiled as Tony set his plate in front of him. “Thank you. For waiting up.”

Tony smiled that too-bright smile of his, dark eyes almost glowing. “Wouldn’t miss it.”

*

“You have forty-eight freckles on your shoulder.”

Tony shifted in bed, not turning around, but just moving his head enough to catch sight of Stephen tracing lines along his back. “Come again?”

Stephen’s hand, tired and shaking, traced gentle constellation along Tony’s tired back and arms. “You have forty-eight freckles on your shoulders. I must have counted a hundred times by now, and it’s always the same, summer or winter.”

“It’s a universal constant,” Tony said thoughtlessly.

The corner of Stephen’s mouth edged up in a smile. “I hope so.”

*

“Your eyes are always blue in this light.”

Around them, the beach was nearly deserted, a tiny bubble of solitude. They could hear Pepper and Christine corralling the children in the distance. The sun was setting, drops of gold splashing upon the watery horizon. Tony leaned back on his metal red-and-gold arm, gazing at Stephen, who was meditating beside him. He spoke without thinking. “Your eyes are always blue in this light.”

Stephen looked over at him, eyes instinctively opening. Tony smiled. “Yeah. Like that.”

[clearsky]

My Top Comfort Characters/Kins and My Main HCs For Them

(Note, not all my kins/comfort characters are on here, just the ones I have more than 5 hcs for)

CW: Korekiyo Shinguji (DRV3), Himiko Yumeno (DRV3), Shinsou Hitoshi (BNHA), Kyoko Kirigiri (THH), Tsuyu Asui (BNHA), Entrapta (Spop), Ibuki Mioda (SDR2), Celestia Ludenberg (THH), Funtime Foxy (FNAF), Peril (WOF)

Korekiyo Shinguji (DRV3)

Nonbinary

He/They pronouns

Autistic

Chains and loose accessories are for stimming

Likes the feeling of silk and cotton

Can't stand the feeling of anything rough or bumpy

He likes collecting small trinkets and the bones of small mammals

Can't stand anything salty. He'll eat it but he certainly won't enjoy it

Dating Rantaro

Can flirt, but only if he doesn't try

Petnames are a hell yea

Gets sunburnt really easily

Group dates with Celesnaegiri and Ikuzono

Can't cook for s h i t

Had a scene kid phase in middle school

Went to the same middle school as Celeste and Maki

Knew them when Celeste went through her "I'm not like other girls" phase and Maki was a Band Kid™

Himiko Yumeno (DRV3)

Female

She/Her pronouns

Lesbian

Can force herself to fall asleep within seconds regardless of where she is

100% forces herself to fall asleep when she doesn't wanna listen/talk to someone

Himiko/Angie/Tenko relationship. I'm calling them the Traffic Light Trio

She likes taking naps in the forest

She prefers enclosed/tight spaces more than open ones

Has several hundred stress balls and squishies laying around

She overheats easy

Shinsou Hitoshi (BNHA)

Questioning his gender, but goes by any pronouns

Knows he's Asexual, at least

Has no clue what his romantic orientation is though

The kind of person to carry treats in his pocket just in case he runs into a cat

Will stop to pet literally every cat he comes across

Great at reading people

Doesn't talk unless it's 100% needed

Hangs with Tokoyami, Jirou, and Denki most often

Aizawa has 100% unofficially adopted him

Fosters kittens

Not a big fan of physical touch

He is 100% in the bakusquad. Anyone who says he's in the Dekusquad is a c o w a r d

He and Tsuyu vibe

Knows a bunch of random facts

Dark humour? Dark humour

*skates backwards into his therapist's room slowly sipping from an absurdly huge cup of coffee* Candice you're not gonna BELIEVE the shit I just went through

In case I forgot to mention it, he skates

Kyoko Kirigiri (THH)

Mtf

She/Her

Bi with female preference

Burns go up to her shoulders/collarbone/chest

Prefers to just listen as opposed to saying anything

Knows a ton of random trivia about everyone else in her class

She keeps a notebook she fills with all the trivia

Doesn't celebrate her birthday. She just doesn't see the point of it

Doesn't hate sugar/sweets, but if given the choice she would choose literally everything else

Cuts her own hair

A cat person

Permanent dark circles

T-Tall 😳

Like,,, 6'1 at LEAST

Only person taller than her is Yasuhiro (6'3)

Canon no longer exist

Ahahaha healthy life habits? What are those?

Can't handle horror games

She's the kind of person you'd go to if you needed to rant but didn't want any advice

Polyamourous yo

Celeste/Kyoko/Makoto

She's a dom yall are just scared to admit it

Tsuyu Asui (BNHA)

They go by They/Them

Lesbian

They and Ochaco are dating

They like to hang with Shinsou

Which mainly just means the two sitting in one of their dorms in near total silence doing whatever

Can speak English and French as well as Japanese

Learned English from cartoons

Picked up French bc they thought it'd be fun

Prefers to stay neutral in the whole Bakusquad / Dekusquad thing

They're invited to all outings/events by/for both squads

They like puns

They're a dumbass but willingly, and for fun

Like "someone says they like dark humour and they'll turn off the lights before telling a joke" kind dumbass for fun

Great at poker

Likes Disney Movies

Very touchy once you get close enough

Not in a sexual way, just likes physical contact

Especially fond of piggyback rides and cuddles

Extreme fear of needles

Entrapta (She-Ra)

She/Her or It/Its

Doesn't bother trying to figure out whether she's cis, trans, nonbinary, or what

Was AMAB though

Short as fuck (4'7)

Strong as fuck though

Cuddle game strong

Physical touch is a fuck yes

Cuddles

Piggyback rides

Hugs

Anything where she's touching someone is wonderful in her book

As long as she's the one that initiates it

Anyone else touching her without her permission makes her freak

Prefers being high up

Makes it harder for anyone to sneak up on her

An ace at video games

When it comes to sexuality she just says she's Questioning

Ibuki Mioda (SDR2)

Any pronouns + Pup/Pupself + It/Its

No idea what their gender is otherwise

Biromantic Asexual

Just likes sexual jokes

Gets distracted easily

Has severe hearing problems

She's plays her instruments as loud as possible, with the amp right next to her, without ANY ear protection

It's caused some damage

She talks so loud bc she has no idea how loud is considered acceptable

Wears hearings aids most of the time

Several piercings and tattoos

Likes hearing things jingle

She has a bracelet with a few bells hanging from it

She'll shake it whenever she's bored

LOVES hair accessories

Ribbons are a particular favourite

Occasionally she'll hang little charms from her hair "horns"

The kind of person who never takes any pills/medicine bc she keeps forgetting she has to

Frequently uses emojis

Skates everywhere but she isn't very good at it

She keeps crashing into everything

Has broken every bone in her body at least 3 times

Most of which was bc she keeps trying to kick in doors and skating down the stairs

Celestia Ludenberg (THH)

Nonbinary

Any pronouns, mainly goes by She/They

Bi, 70:30

Collects mini hand sanitizers and can tabs

Has single handedly gotten Mario Kart, Mario Party, Monopoly, Uno, and Clue banned a grand total of 17 times (and counting)

The kind of person to purposefully target someone regardless of what game was being played

Favourite victim is Byakuya (bc he gets so upset about it and she finds that hilarious)

Mains Waluigi

Celeste/Kyoko/Makoto

Has several banned Twitter accounts bc whenever she's bored she'll start discourse on purpose

Hangs with Korekiyo, Ibuki, Byakuya, Yasuhiro, and Leon most often

It's a weird friend group but everyone's sorta gotten used to it

She and Byakuya gamble together occasionally

She tries to avoid it bc he'll willingly blow his entire fortune in an attempt to beat her

Autustic

Can't stand the feeling of water

Mainly bc she can't swim for shit

Horror movies? Hates them

Gets flustered super easily

Taka is her twin brother

Kotoko, Kokichi, and Gundham are their half siblings (Same father)

Peko and Toko are their cousins

She sucks ass at go fish

Fuck canon she's 4'11 now

C h u b b y

Freckles

Once she gets comfortable enough with herself she dyes her hair in the peekaboo style

Either black and red or black and blonde

Haven't decided yet

I'll be doing Celesnaegiri hcs as a seperate post but I just feel it's important for you to know that she expresses her affection verbally and is a very touchy person

Went to middle school with Maki and Korekiyo

Has horrible eyesight

She wears contacts most of the time but she always puts off buying more

After the 5th or so time she ended up blindly stumbling around a week after her contacts ran out Kyoko convinced her to buy glasses as well

Religious accessories yo

Like chokers and dangly earrings with crosses and pentagrams and shit

Likes wearing wacky earrings

Can run and do all sorts of tricks in heels

She and Mukuro are exes yo

Keeps her hair short so it's easier to manage

Hair never gets longer than her shoulders if she can help it

She seems like the kind of person who'd keep her bangs grown past her eyes regardless of how frustrating or inconvenient it is

She's a sub yall just don't wanna admit it

Funtime Foxy (FNAF)

I'm going on the record to say this

Funtime Foxy is genderfluid and that is that

Goes by Funtime

Any pronouns, They/Them most commonly

Plays music (keyboard and guitar mainly)

They and Funtime Freddy (Freds) mainly play with the kids

Freds mainly tells stories with Bonbon while Funtime more so plays one-on-one

Has nicknames for everyone

Circus Baby - Ringleader

Ballora - Bells

Funtime Freddy - Partner

Bon Bon - Bun

Peril (WOF)

I like both Nonbinary She/They Peril and Mtf She/Her Peril

They're both such good concepts

She's a lesbian, Harold

She only had a crush on Clay bc he was pretty much everything she was supposed to like in a guy

Gimme a moment while I force all my mental disorders onto this poor child

Autistic, Anxiety (Social anxiety, mainly, but she has most types), Adhd, PTSD

I'd like to reiterate yet again that She's a lesbian

Sunny and Glory were her gay awakening

Peril in Book 1: Damn, Sunny and Glory sure are pretty. Anyone would be lucky to date them. Clay would probably go for them over me. He would be stupid if he didn't. I myself would willingly date them over someone like me. They're just so pretty :(

Peril waking up in a cold sweat in the middle of arc 2: WAIT-

Rarepair alert but Peril/Sora

Peril meeting Sora: "Hmmm She's attractive. I would love to date her. Too bad I'm straight and in love with her brother lmao :P"

Peril, a mere month later, waiting for Ruby to leave Jade Mountain, pacing in her cave, running face first into a wall: WAIT-

I remember reading this one amazing story where Sora taught Peril to read/write and Peril found out she set off the bomb and comforted her/convinced her her run so that's canon now

Btw if anyone can remember what that story was called/what platform it was on and could tell me I'd appreciate it very much

I'd even be willing to draw a character of your's or make you an icon or something

I usually don't accept requests bc I get burnt out easy but this is a special case

She runs into Sora again sometime between the beginning of TOP and the end

I like to imagine she just goes wandering around

Anyway she confesses like a mere few minutes after running into her again bc Peril is just subtle like that

The actual confession takes 15 minutes and the entire time Sora is just sitting here like "👁👄👁 sure"

Bam Peril/Sora

Peril plans to keep it a secret for a little while longer but she spends 3 seconds around Clay and pretty much blurts it out

Clay, who wasn't even aware that Peril was a lesbian, is just "👁👄👁"

I wanna say Clay doesn't know what a lesbian is but in my canon Sunny is a lesbian so Starflight has already told him

Anyway he's super supportive

From that point Peril is sorta open about her sexuality?

Like, she gives Clay permission to tell the rest of the D.O.D bc she isn't about to risk being in front of them when they hear the news

(When Sunny starts actively seeking her out as a hang out buddy and Tsunami, Glory, and Starflight appear to tolerate her presence just a bit more afterwards she pretends she isn't confused by the change)

She's pink, white, and blue bc I said so

If you look at a certain angle in the right lighting her eyes, mouth, fire, and under her scales all look purple

But her fire is normally white and blue bc I said so

Also she pale as fuck bc in my canon their fire just sorta burns their colour away

You know how you leave something outside for too long and it gets sunbleached? Where it gets all washed out?

Like that but more extreme

By the age of 10-12 firescale dragons are just white with pale eyes

That's right not even the eyes are safe

Ram horns :P

I'm also fond of Peril/Sunny

Or maybe Peril/Sora/Sunny

But Peril/Sora is the main thing

On the topic of that bringing in my hc that if one sib in a sib group is fire resistant all of them are

She,,, She can change her scale colour

But only slightly and only if her emotions are strong enough

Bc I don't give a fuck about Darkstalker's scroll we were robbed of hybrid Peril

Unfortunately all of Peril's emotions are strong

Rainwing ruff along her head and neck

It's like a hood

It's mainly smoothed to her sides but when she's startled it flares out

RAINWING PUPILS

Y'all will know what those look like as soon as I get off my ass :P

She,,, She can mimic bird cries

Hates the summer

She has more than enough body heat already and the outside is just hot enough to add on and make her feel sick

She can somewhat control her heat but most of the time it's based on her emotions

It can go from standing-in-the-middle-of-a-burning-building-cant-see-your-nose-smoke-is-so-thick heat (Strong emotion) to Hey-thats-a-nice-cozy-campfire heat (Calm/"weak" emotion/Sleeping)

I'm just gonna make a different post with all my Peril hcs cuz there isnt enough room for all of them here