#if anyone wants to use this as a header go right ahead!

[myoonmii]

My frame for let there be frames project!⭐️

#frame470 #let there be frames #good omens #good omens s2 #good omens fanart #ineffable husbands #ineffable husbands fanart #crowley #aziraphale #goodomens project #it was so cool seeing this come together #check it out on YouTube Twitter or TikTok #so happy I got to be a part of this #if anyone wants to use this as a header go right ahead! #I’d love to see it

[brucebocchi]

Winter 2024 anime, Pt. 2: Mixed reactions, the bench, and the gems

hey y'all, this is also up on my ko-fi! it's free to read both here and there, but i'm struggling financially rn so i could appreciate if you'd throw a few bucks my way if you liked it! part 1 can be found here.

And we're back for part 2! Here's all the new stuff I finished this season, and one more I'll get back to later. As with before, these are sorted alphabetically within each category and are not ranked as of yet.

Also as before, the OP for each series is linked in the title. Check them all out if the header images aren't giving you the right feel for each show, but also check them out because most of them were actually pretty damn good this season.

[Solo Leveling OP voice] LET'S GET IT!

Mixed Bags:

Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable!

Your standard, quasi-harem “easily flustered Regular Guy wins over hot girls just by being really nice” shonen romcom. I really don’t have much to say about this one other than if you’ve seen My Dress-Up Darling, you’ve basically seen this already. The only thing that really sets it apart is the setting.

Tsubasa (voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki, in a FAR cry from his turn as Mahito in Jujutsu Kaisen) is a straight-laced Tokyoite whose family situation lands him in a small city in the frozen boonies of Hokkaido. While looking for the bus to his new house, he runs into a gyaru in the snowy wild, the underdressed, hilariously-proportioned Minami, and they hit it off. It turns out they go to the same school, there are other cute girls there who take a shine to him as well, it’s nothing new.

I ultimately don’t have much to say about Hokkaido Gals, but I do have a soft spot for series like this, and after reading ahead in the manga I felt obligated to see it through. This is all junk food, but it’s all stuff you’ve seen done better in other series. I also have a soft spot for gyaru in anime and manga, and while I do like Minami just fine, she isn’t Marin Kitagawa or Rumiko Manbagi. I don’t really have it in me to recommend this show to many, though, at least not until another season rolls around, if that ever happens. The manga genuinely does get a lot better as it goes on, but the really worthwhile stuff may not happen until a third season, and I just don’t see that happening. 

The manga has issues that the anime isn’t willing or able to solve, chief of which being the visuals. The art style of the manga is wildly inconsistent, and getting a mediocre animation team on this didn’t help matters at all. While the colors often pop nicely against the pretty, snowy backdrops, nobody looks all that great overall. The characters are recognizable, but they just plain don’t look great a lot of the time, nor do they look consistent from one cut to the next; I said that Minami’s proportions are hilarious, but just as hilarious is how wildly they vacillate from one scene to the next for the sake of trying to titillate the viewer.

My biggest takeaway from both the manga and anime was everything I learned about Hokkaido in the process, and if the series is taking subsidies from the island’s tourism bureau, then it’s a job well done. I want some goddamn jingisukan now. The OP is a great time, though. I’m shocked it took over a decade for us to get a proper “Uptown Funk” knockoff in an anime.

Metallic Rouge

I’ll be upfront in saying that this was my biggest disappointment of the season by far. This show had so much going for it, and what we got was… ugh.

There was an unbelievable amount of promise from the outset: This was Studio Bones’ commemorative 25th anniversary production, and coming from the studio that gave us all-timer adaptations like Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and Mob Psycho 100, not to mention later works from Cowboy Bebop creator Shinichiro Watanabe (including the Cowboy Bebop movie), you can’t fault anyone for having high expectations. It looked to be a fitting production as well: Watanabe’s influence shines through immediately in the gorgeous, lived-in cyberpunk off-world locales and racially diverse cast. Action takes the form of dope robo-tokusatsu transformation fisticuffs, and it’s entirely in 2D animation to boot. The first couple of episodes were killer, too; everything looked and sounded amazing, and there were just enough plot threads teased out that I just had to see how they’d unravel.

It brings me no joy, then, to say that Metallic Rouge collapses into a jumbled mess. I don’t even want to bother talking about what happens in the show because I don’t fucking care anymore. There are few media experiences more sobering than to have it dawn on you over a span of several weeks that “oh… this isn’t actually all that good, is it?” Episode after episode piles on with sloppy lore, weak worldbuilding, warring factions whose names you immediately forget, pointless double-crosses, and the most predictable twist you’ve ever seen. For a while I was willing to accept the fact that I didn’t know what was going on half the time and expected things to become clearer, but now I’m not entirely sure the writers knew either. The stakes apparently kept rising and everything just kept getting more claustrophobic. I’m glad it’s over, if only because if I had to hear “Clair de Lune” one more fucking time, I was going to go ballistic. 

There are several attempts at emotional beats, as the story is rife with tragedy and sacrifice, and every single one lands with a wet thud. Nobody gets enough time, motivation, or characterization for any of these things to feel like they actually matter, and that’s especially a shame because the finale might have been able to stick the landing if the previous episodes were less dense and better paced. Emphasis on “almost,” though, because just before the season ends, we get the absolute most pointless fakeout I’ve seen since The Rise of Skywalker, which is the lowest point of comparison you can make for any work of sci-fi.

This is especially frustrating because on paper, there is so much to like here. Rouge and Naomi are likable-enough deuteragonists with a fun dynamic, and they’d make easy yuri bait in a better show. The characters are all pretty and uniquely designed across the board, and the overall aesthetic, almost a pastiche of late-90’s anime futurism, is undeniable. The toku suit designs are neat and several of the action scenes are gorgeous. The score and soundtrack are outstanding (except for the aforementioned Debussy indulgence). I have few complaints about how the show looks and sounds; the style is great! All of my issues lie with the substance.

Metallic Rouge may have had all the ingredients, but it just needed more time to cook; whether that would have been by doubling the episode count or by more carefully planning the pacing and trimming some of the fat from the lore, I’m still not sure. Probably both. It probably needed better writers, too. Maybe it just isn’t as smart as it acts and there was no way to satisfyingly resolve the clumsy civil rights allegories that bring it uncomfortably close to the likes of Detroit: Become Human. So all of the above, I guess. I tend to adore stories that involve artificially-intelligent beings developing their own wills and emotions and learning to cut their own strings (the likes of Blade Runner, Nier Automata, even a couple of character arcs in the Persona series), but this ain’t it. I’m not even mad anymore. I’m just disappointed.

If there are two positives that will stick with me, though, they would be the absolute banger of an OP and, of course, Naomi Orthmann herself (pictured above, left). Outstanding character design. I’m mildly obsessed. She deserved a better show.

The Unwanted Undead Adventurer

This one isn’t even worth talking about, so here’s a brief synopsis, then I’ll add some commentary, and then we’ll all move on with our lives. 

Rentt, a beloved but mediocre adventurer in a fantasy town, gets lost in the mysterious labyrinth that all adventurers explore for personal gain, gets waxed by a dragon, and awakens as a shitty-looking CGI skeleton. He notices, though, that he’s able to level up better as a skeleton than he did as a human, and with the more monsters he defeats, the more he evolves into something closer to human. The rest isn’t really worth discussing.

If I’m being honest, I should’ve dropped this show much sooner. It looks kinda lousy most of the time, the plot (inasmuch as there even is one) is boring, character designs are forgettable (except for Rentt’s closest ally, Lorraine, holy hell) and it seems wholly uninterested in actually building its own setting. If it returns for a second season, I won’t be there, nor will I feel like I’m missing anything. Each episode felt like a chore to watch. I probably only saw it through because 1) I liked looking at Lorraine, I know what I’m about, and 2) I didn’t want to lump it in with the shows I did drop. The Unwanted Undead Adventurer isn’t as patently upsetting or frustrating as those three, but it just plain isn’t a very good show.

The Witch and the Beast

This show could have been so much more. I was drawn in by the gorgeous character designs and intriguing blend of Victorian gothic aesthetics and architecture with modern infrastructure, and very quickly disappointed by just about everything else. The first episode is an exceptional proof of concept, and almost everything that follows is an upsetting showcase of what could have been.

The story centers around Ashaf, a languid, chain-smoking agent of the governing church with a big-ass coffin strapped to his back, and his partner Guideau, a snarling hyena in a young woman’s body, as they investigate abuses of magic across the continent in search of nefarious witches. Guideau in particular has a bone to pick with witches, as the body they presently inhabit is the result of a witch’s curse, and they remain in furious pursuit of the one who cursed them. The curse can be temporarily undone by a kiss with a witch, allowing Guideau’s true body, a hulking brute confined to the coffin, to escape and wreak havoc. Meaning that on a few occasions we get a girl-on-girl kiss followed by a big dude wrecking shit. There’s also other investigations of serial killings, necromancy, and a cursed sword, and here’s hoping you like those, because the coffin breaks are few and far between.

This wasn’t great! By the third episode I had the sneaking suspicion that the animation talent on hand just wasn’t enough to support the aesthetic. While the character designs are exceptional, almost everyone looks awful in any shot that isn’t completely focused on them. This is especially true of Guideau, who looks so inconsistently off-model from one shot to the next that I’m still not entirely sure what they’re supposed to look like, and that’s kind of unforgivable when we’re talking about a main character. Everything looks too dim and too shiny at the same time, and action scenes look like shit more often than they look interesting. I can see so many flickers of something excellent (or at least really good-looking) in Witch and the Beast, and everything else that keeps those flickers from actually igniting makes it so much more frustrating to watch. Maybe just read the manga instead; the panels I've seen from it were uniformly gorgeous.

Actually, yeah, you should probably just read the manga, because for a season of anime, the pacing is atrocious too. It’s clearly trying to angle for a monster-of-the-week format, but each of these mini-arcs is a little too dense for a single episode, so multiple episodes are dedicated to these one-off curiosities, most of which do nothing to advance the plot or show off what the show does best. And if one of them isn’t particularly interesting, you’re saddled with it for the next two weeks like you've been stuck munching on a mealy apple. And I know you can only adapt so much in a 12-episode season, but the decision to end the season on a flashback arc and a lore dump was baffling. That’s not world-building, that’s lazy, and it made the show’s existing pacing issues feel that much more inane.

I feel like I was sold a false bill of goods. I can only imagine how the mangaka feels about this. Dull and uninspiring all around. What a waste.

The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

Isekai, unassuming high school boy gains a unique power, impending war with the Demon Lord, yadda yadda yadda. The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic isn’t anything new or special by any means, nor is it particularly well-animated or -paced, but at its best it’s silly and charming enough that it made a nice, brainless palate cleanser on Fridays.

Usato, your standard quiet high schooler, ends up walking home on a rainy evening with the popular, attractive student council president and VP, when an isekai portal happens. It turns out that it was just the seito-kai that was invited along for the ride (and President Suzune, as it turns out, is fucking psyched to get to be in an isekai), and Usato got caught along with them. When tested for magical aptitude, Suzune and VP Kazuki hit the jackpot with electric and light affinities, respectively, but things go awry when Usato’s reading turns up with healing magic. Terror strikes the palace as the intimidating dommy-mommy Captain Rose barges in to spirit Usato away from his new friends and into her squadron of goons to train him as a combat medic.

As character comedy goes, this one is actually pretty solid at times. Shogo Sakata is plenty of fun as the put-upon, lippy Usato (a much louder role than Chainsaw Man’s Aki Hayakawa), and Atsuko Tanaka (Major Kusanagi herself!) is a blast as the uncompromising Rose, a terrifying slave driver of a drill sergeant with a secret soft side. The dynamic between them is great, too; Usato is over Rose’s shit from the beginning and isn’t afraid to talk back to her, but before you know it, this transforms into friendly banter as Rose clearly takes a shine to Usato and knows he can handle any punishment she doles out. Suzune’s also a bunch of fun now that she’s broken away from having to be the competent, popular girl at school and gets to fully lean into being a complete dork.

Wrong Way also works decently as an isekai, because it makes an effort to stay rooted in high fantasy rather than fall back on JRPG mechanics, meaning there are no stat screens! It also avoids the trappings of wish-fulfillment isekai series by having Usato start out as a regular-ass guy; he’s not a Kirito type, just someone Rose sees as a rough gem in need of cutting. There are no cheat skills or OP weapons or anything, just a kid training every day to get stronger so he can protect the people close to him, and that’s the kind of anime protagonist you should want to be.

For better and for worse, I get serious mid-00s vibes from this one; watch the OP if you don’t believe me. Some of the colors pop uncannily in that early-digipaint-era way, and the animation is pretty middling; the most fluid animation we see is whenever Suzune is acting like a creep. Much like those mid-00s anime, though, Wrong Way may have benefited from being weekly (or twice as long) rather than seasonal. There’s a ton of planting with very little payoff, and it doesn’t feel like the actual scope of the story has even been addressed yet. We don’t even learn why the series has the name it does until someone literally says it aloud in the 11th episode. I may have to reevaluate this season after a possible second, if we ever get one, because this doesn’t stand too well on its own.

Of the anime in this “mixed bags” segment, I’d say I enjoyed Wrong Way the most, but it still had enough problems for me to keep it here. It’s not a particularly bad anime, but it’s not especially good either. I guess we can slot it into what Hazel refers to as “good mid.”

On Hold: 

Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! (three episodes watched)

Man, what a title. That was the main draw for this BL series, which on paper is basically a gay version of the Mel Gibson vehicle What Women Want. 

Adachi (a surname that will always make me laugh thanks to Persona 4), a gloomy salaryman, has hit the big 3-0 without getting any, and now he can somehow read anyone’s thoughts just by making physical contact with them. Just as he laments that this is his life now, he accidentally bumps into his handsome, popular coworker, Kurosawa, whom he learns has been harboring a massive crush on Adachi this whole time. Well dang, what now? Kurosawa’s a really nice, thoughtful dude, but Adachi’s never even thought about being with a man before! And isn’t there something wrong with already knowing this secret? How can he even go into the office and look Kurosawa in those big, handsome eyes… every single day…

What I’ve seen so far has been pretty solid, if not particularly well animated. The visuals are really my only gripe here; I just put it off for way too long and didn’t have it in me to finish it on time to actually get this thing written and published. Yaoi isn’t my forte, which feels like a shortcoming on my end as a fledgling bisexual, and I’ve already remarked on the solid LGBT representation this past season, so I do plan on hopping back on this one.

I gotta say, the co-leading voice actors put in serious work this season. Adachi is voiced by Chiaki Kobayashi, who continued his role as Stark in Frieren, returned to Mashle as Mash Burnedead, and contributed to Metallic Rouge’s cluttered cast as Noid. Kurosawa’s seiyuu, Ryota Suzuki (of whom I’ll always be a fan for his masterful turn as Yu Ishigami in Kaguya-sama), also held down leading roles in Bang Brave Bang Bravern and The Unwanted Undead Adventurer. They’ve been great in the few episodes of Cherry Magic! that I’ve seen so far, and they’ll be a huge part of what brings me back.

The Gems:

Bang Brave Bang Bravern

I feel like the mark of a perfectly audacious piece of media is in the moments where I find myself incredulously shouting “WHAT THE FUCK AM I WATCHING” at the screen, and Bravern made me do that at least once per episode. I have so many things to say about what makes this show great but all of it can be summed up as “it fucks so goddamn hard.”

A joint military exercise in Hawaii between Japanese and American mech pilots goes south as a sudden invasion by metalloid aliens portends certain doom for humanity. Just in the nick of time, though, a bombastic, autonomous mech named Bravern arrives from space and insists that ace pilot Isami Ao take his reins. Isami reluctantly agrees, and to his consternation, Bravern goes full tokusatsu on everyone’s asses, complete with fully-diegetic theme music, and keeps the threat at bay. With Bravern continuing to pester him to act as a pilot, Isami is forced to take up the mantle of a reluctant hero as everyone rallies around Bravern to save Earth. Tagging along is blond-haired, blue-eyed American pilot Lewis Smith, who gets to live out all of his Top Gun fantasies, right down to the latent homosexuality.

That last point isn’t a projection or anything: This show is legitimately gay as hell, and it rules. Bravern’s feelings towards Isami feel far more romantic than what you’d expect from a literal robot, and his description of how it felt to have Isami pilot him for the first time, as relayed to a grim-faced military council, is riddled with hilarious innuendo. Isami struggles not only with shouldering the burden of needing to be a hero to all of humanity, but also being beset on both sides by a loud, insistent mecha and a dewy-eyed gaijin, both of whom very well seem to want to get in his pants. Intricate rituals punctuate Isami and Lewis’ angsty relationship as these broad-shouldered, muscular men grow ever closer. It’s also worth reiterating that Isami is voiced by Ryota Suzuki, who also voiced Kurosawa in Cherry Magic!, and that may not have even been his gayest role this season. I’m not super well-versed in mecha as a genre, but I do know that there’s a lot of Warrior’s Bond-type stuff in these series, and Bravern lays it on thick. And hard.

This show looks killer, by the way. CGI implementation in 2D anime is still a touchy subject, but Bravern features some of the best I’ve ever seen. Simple cel-shading goes a long way to the point where, outside of some uncanny motion, Bravern himself feels perfectly blended into the hand-drawn animation. Mecha designs range from realistic military-style tech to otherworldly sentient robots, and battle sequences run the same gamut as the stakes rise. As goofy as all of the above may sound, it’s committed to being a grandiose, big-time mecha showcase.

This is as good as camp gets in anime; Bravern does for the mecha genre what Akiba Maid War did for yakuza film pastiche (I have also heard positive comparisons to Samurai Flamenco, which I’ll have to get on ASAP). It’s an excellent mecha show in its own right, and wildly hilarious to boot. Bravern himself is very genre-savvy and seemingly a bit of an otaku himself; he loves acting like a mecha hero, to everyone else’s chagrin. Several of the villains (also mechanical beings, voiced by an all-star seiyuu roster that includes Kenjiro Tsuda, the aforementioned Atsuko Tanaka, and Rie Kugimiya) are total dorks themselves. A CIA interrogator tries to waterboard a mecha at one point. Bravern is a deeply silly show, but the heart is as firmly on the sleeve as the tongue is in the cheek: For as wacky as it can get, the story still unfolds with a straight face and excellent emotional beats. 

This show also has the most unskippable ED of any anime since Chainsaw Man dropped a new one every week. I will not say what happens. You cannot predict what it is. Just watch it. One of the top YouTube comments on that video says “When I saw this ending after episode 2, I thought I was going crazy.” That’s a ringing endorsement.

Chained Soldier

On the heels of 100 Girlfriends completely rewiring my brain, I was raring for some more good old-fashioned anime trash. I was told that there would be plenty this season, but you can consult the “dropped” section to see how well that worked out for me. Chained Soldier came with some significant hype, and soon enough into the first episode I realized that I’d actually skimmed through this manga before (don’t ask why), so I was on board immediately. Now here’s some nice trashy fun.

The world is in peril thanks to creatures called Shuuki that can advance on our world via portals from another dimension. Women primarily lead the charge against these monsters, as this dimension produces a special fruit that can lend them (and not men) otherworldly powers to help them in the fight. Yuuki, a perfectly normal young man, ends up in grave danger as he stumbles into a portal, where he is saved by the beautiful Kyouka, a commander who is able to subjugate Shuuki at will and use them to fight others. In a bind, she asks Yuuki if she can subjugate him, which he agrees to by licking her finger and transforming into a monster himself, at her beck and call. Because of his utility in battle, Yuuki is enlisted into her squad of baddies (and also an 11-year-old), living in their home as a caretaker and answering directly to Kyouka as her “slave.”

I know, I know, but let's settle down for a second. I put “slave” in scare quotes because Chained Soldier fortunately isn’t going full Shield Hero on us; this arrangement has a give-and-take baked in. See, every time Yuuki completes his service, Kyouka (or whomever else takes advantage of this anomaly) is compelled to carry out whatever suitable “reward” springs from his unconscious, and this is where the ecchi kicks in. Sometimes it’s a kiss, and sometimes it’s something a little more; the reward corresponds to the length and intensity of Yuuki’s contributions to battle, so the heat can turn up in the form of, say, clothed face-sitting, a good scrubbing in the bath, or some nice, casual CBT. All of this is to say that “slave” is a bit of a buzzword here: It’s more of a dom/sub situationship with a lot of extra steps.

Yes, just about everything that isn’t an action setup is full-on harem trash, and Chained Soldier lays it on thick, right down to full-on nudity. Nothing about this show resembles high art, but I can’t help but admire such a high level of commitment to its aesthetic, including the sleaze. It fully commits to the bit and doesn’t even bother lampshading its own trashiness. Chained Soldier knows what it’s about, and I respect that. It also has the good sense not to sexualize the youngest girl, which is a point in its favor that I can’t award a couple other shows previously discussed.

And while this show is plenty fun, the action sequences often excellent, and the character designs usually delightful, there’s not actually a whole lot going on here. As I said with Mashle, I know that battle manga like this can take a minute to really get cooking, and as I said with Witch and the Beast, 12 episodes may not always be a sufficient runtime to adapt enough to break ground, but the debut season feels more like a proof of concept than anything else. That being said, Chained Soldier’s manga has a very effusive audience, and its praises don’t seem to entirely be about the boobs and butts, so I’ll wait patiently for the second season. I think it’s earned that much.

Delicious in Dungeon

This is the one I’m having the hardest time writing about because it so confidently and so completely speaks for itself that anything I could add would feel like scattering sawdust at the beach. Dungeon Meshi (I refuse to call it by its official English name) is a widely beloved manga among those who’ve read it, and for Studio Trigger to do an honest-to-goodness manga adaptation for the first time might as well be front page news among anime fans. 

The story follows Laios, the deeply weird human hero, as he delves back into a bizarre and mysterious dungeon to rescue his sister Falin from the belly of a dragon, along with his misfit party: the neurotic half-elven mage Marcille, the temperamental halfling rogue Chilchuck, and the dwarven warrior-slash-chef Senshi. The party is frequently low on supplies, so to survive the trip they’ll need to subsist on the most abundant resource in the dungeon: Monsters. Senshi’s aptitude in the kitchen helps ensure that everything is edible and sufficiently tasty, regardless of how nasty the monster it came from may have been. With monster obstructions out of the way and their bellies filled, our party delves deeper into the dungeon as the mysteries deepen in kind.

I love the character dynamics in this so goddamn much. Marcille and Chilchuck are frequently put off by the food presented to them, but their consternation is worsened by the fact that Laios’ fascination with monsters annoys the shit out of them. I referred to him as “deeply weird,” but that doesn’t begin to describe his absolute galaxy brain, and I mean it as a term of endearment. Laios is deeply knowledgeable and curious about the fauna in the dungeon, and not just how they taste: He is vocally curious about how certain monster attacks may feel, sings along with siren songs, and even keeps a hardcover bestiary inside his breastplate. He’s one of those people you turn to if you have a question on a hyperspecific subject, but you have to be careful how you ask it or else you’re trapped for the next two hours. And I love him for it.

Even putting the comedy aside, there is a fascinating human element at play in Dungeon Meshi, and I can tell that that surface has barely even been scratched yet. Marcille is just as dogged in her pursuit of saving Falin as Laios is, maybe even moreso (remember what I keep saying about LGBT representation this season?). Chilchuck continues to convince himself that he’s only in the job for his own personal gain, but you can see that mask slipping. And I still wanna know what Senshi’s deal is. Even with the five major players I listed, there’s an increasingly deep roster surrounding them—showcasing a broad spectrum of races and ethnicities, both real and fantastical—each with their own histories and motivations, and I cannot wait to see how they play out and interact with one another. There seem to be much deeper themes at play here as well as we learn more about perceptions and grudges between differing races, oppositional magics, clashing ideologies, and the monetary incentives that drive both the dungeon’s exploration and its very existence. I’m here for it.

I’ve been holding off on reading the manga until the season is up in June (though I could crack any day), but I know a loving adaptation when I see one. Not that Trigger ever slacks off in the animation department, but they absolutely brought their A-game here. As with Frieren, the action sequences aren’t frequent, nor are they entirely what the show is about, but they look incredible every single time. Everyone looks bouncy and cartoony in the way only Trigger can pull off while still looking as close as possible to Ryoko Kui’s source material (as far as I can tell). And the food, of course, looks incredible, no matter how weird. This is practically a cooking anime and a fantasy dungeon anime at the same time, and both aspects are visually on point at all times.

I’m obviously speaking from my own bubble as one of the six people who still uses Tumblr in 2024, but I rarely see new anime make a splash like this on social media every single week, and the ones that I do are usually the monster shonen hits like Chainsaw Man or Jujutsu Kaisen. Dungeon Meshi deserves the exposure and success it’s attained, and I’m excited to see it continue. I’d easily slot this right up there with Bravern as one of the best new anime of the season.

A Sign of Affection

I’ve seen a hell of a lot of shonen slice-of-life romances in the past year and change, so a nice fluffy shoujo like this was an excellent palate cleanser. There were a hell of a lot of Big Action Setpieces and panicky teens and grim dungeon crawlers this season, and at the end of the week I wanted to unwind with a bunch of pretty twenty-somethings falling in love with each other.

The show centers on Yuki, a college student living with congenital hearing loss, making do at a public college after growing up at a school for the deaf. Though she’s able to get by with LINE messages and lip reading, she’s unprepared when a foreigner asks for help, but she’s saved by a handsome and mysterious young man named Itsuomi. He’s able to help out, and takes an interest in her when he realizes his fellow undergrad is deaf, and Yuki takes an interest in kind because he’s really goddamn hot. It turns out that he’s a polyglot and an avid world-traveler, but sign language is not in his purview. This mutual interest sparks the concern of her childhood friend, Oushi, one of the few people in her life who already use sign language, who wants to be sure that nothing untoward is happening. And it isn’t, because this is just a really lovely, low-stakes romance story.

This is pure, unfiltered shoujo at its best. Yuki’s internal monologue is peppered with flowery prose, and everything and everyone looks soft and beautiful. Fashionable, doe-eyed women and pillowy-lipped ikemen abound (seriously, holy shit, the lips on these boys) as the scope widens and the main love interests’ friends explore their own possible love stories. Itsuomi is very much of the “mysterious boy” archetype you’ll find in romance stories in this demographic, but he’s not hiding any sort of dark past like you’d typically expect; he’s just an interesting guy who keeps his personal life close to the vest. He’s a self-appointed world citizen who loves learning about how people of all cultures live their lives, and in Yuki he sees someone within his home turf who happens to live in her own world entirely. And it’s easy to see his forward behavior with Yuki as infantilizing at first (Oushi sure does, and I’ll get back to him in a second), but as they grow closer he quickly becomes much more considerate of her boundaries and learns to accommodate her as he studies sign language and gestures that help ensure her comfort. This is a story about Yuki’s horizons broadening just as much as it is about Itsuomi wanting to be let into Yuki’s narrow world, and that sort of synergy makes for some exceptional romance.

A Sign of Affection deserves some credit for refusing to shy away from Yuki’s disability and making a point of depicting her world as one that does little to accommodate her. Very few people in her daily life ever bothered to learn sign language, she relies on a friend to take notes during lectures, and work is hard to come by. It’s an honest depiction that makes an effort not to be exploitative, which is a breath of fresh air. Not only that, but there’s some interesting meta-commentary in there: The only major conflict in the story stems from Oushi’s jealousy, and his reservations about Itsuomi possibly “taking advantage of” Yuki almost feel like he believes that he’s the only one who knows what’s best for her just because he’s done the bare minimum to accommodate her. He thinks he’s coming from a good place, but he winds up accidentally infantilizing her in exactly the way he thinks Itsuomi might. That’s a particularly interesting bit of irony!

I’ve seen enough shonen-oriented romcoms where an unassuming Regular Guy gets flustered as a way-too-casual girl pushes his boundaries (hell, I’ve already reviewed two of those this season), so it’s nice to see the formula flipped for a shoujo as Yuki and her best friend Rin blush and squee over Itsuomi and his coworker Kyouya, respectively. A Sign of Affection isn’t afraid to get a little silly with it, either; plenty of these moments are punctuated by characters’ faces going low-detail or full chibi, and they are cute as shit every single time.

This one was just cozy as hell. If you’re into this sort of thing, swaddle yourself in it and bask.

Solo Leveling

I let this one collect dust after the third episode and didn’t pick it back up until the season was almost up, and honestly, I was kinda dreading it: The trailers didn’t look too promising, the show was slow to start, and it looked like yet another derivative JRPG-style dungeon crawler that managed to get popular. Turns out, nah, this show actually kinda fucks and the web novel series and webtoon it’s based on are popular for a reason. The story is nothing special, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a perfectly serviceable turn-your-brain-off action spectacle with a bit more lying beneath the surface.

In a modern-day South Korea where portals to mysterious dungeons open up and threaten the populace, those who can brave the dungeons, known as hunters, are an invaluable human resource. Once someone is assigned a grade as a hunter, they have that grade for life, barring some rare occurrences. Sung Jinwoo is at the lowest rung on that ladder as an E-rank, incapable of improvement, assigned the epithet “the weakest hunter of all mankind.” He mostly shows up to portal raids as a warm body to fill a quota, and one such job goes haywire as a secondary dungeon within a portal brutally slaughters most of the raid party, Jinwoo included. He somehow wakes up in a hospital, unharmed, and able to access a digital menu before his eyes that exhorts him to do the One Punch Man workout every day, lest he incur punishment. He gets hilariously chadly in the span of a few days in the hospital, including an inexplicable haircut, and finds access to dungeons only he can enter and levels up within this new system.

This one gets off to a slow start and may have benefited from a longer premiere like Oshi no Ko or Frieren, but once the table is fully set, Solo Leveling really starts to cook. Jinwoo’s titular leveling process is a blast from one fight to the next, and as he moves to work in the dungeons that other hunters can access, it turns out he’s been training with the weights on. He’s suddenly fighting way above his pay grade, and after staving off attacks from hunters taking advantage of portals for nefarious ends, he is recruited by an ambitious corporate scion to make some real coin and establish an independent association of hunters.

While it can feel like there’s a whole bunch of table-setting between portal sequences, it’s some smart worldbuilding on Solo Leveling’s end to establish how portal hunting became a central pillar of this society, and doubly so how political and capitalist interests can leave a wide berth for corruption and bad actors. If there’s money to be made in hunting, of course people will find ways to make even more at the expense of others, both at the corporate and personal levels. There’s a lot of talk in there about “survival of the fittest” and “natural selection” and that… makes me nervous.

Those are terms that can be used to justify immoral actions in the name of money, sure, but Jinwoo also uses them to justify his own actions. To what end is he constantly improving himself? Sure, he's doing what he can to provide for his younger sister and their ailing mother, but I see less and less humanity in him as this goes on. There are constant hints at something far more sinister at play than just a dude getting stronger for himself, not the least of which being “the system,” the UI that implores him to keep taking on these “quests.” Someone, or something, seems to be guiding him. Whenever another hunter turns on Jinwoo, of course his self-defense instincts kick in, but system pop-ups instruct him to defeat X number of hostiles like it’s a normal video game scenario. There’s something eerily depersonalized about these encounters, despite them being full-on mortal combat, that gives me serious Ender’s Game vibes. Consider me intrigued.

I’d heard that the Solo Leveling manhwa’s main draw was its visuals, and though I had my doubts early on, I'm sold now. This is a pretty solid presentation! Hiroyuki Sawano turned in yet another banger soundtrack to punctuate all the action setpieces, helping to stitch together a fairly complete package. Said setpieces are exhilarating and almost impressively bloody, and while the animation is nothing impressive in the day-to-day, it goes absolutely batshit when the gloves come off. Movement is inhumanly fluid and the visuals can go into the same psychedelic territories we’ve seen in the likes of Mob Psycho and Jujutsu Kaisen. If this is the new meta for shonen action, I’m not complaining.

By all rights, this is a pretty decent show, but if I’m being honest, this one just hasn’t stuck with me much. And that’s fine! Sometimes I just wanna see some nutty action stuff and move on with my day. Solo Leveling hits that spot perfectly, and I'll be right back there when it returns for its next season.

‘Tis Time for “Torture,” Princess

I was surprised to learn that the gag manga this is based on, with such a seemingly simple premise, has been running for well over 200 chapters and counting. As the anime progressed, I was far more pleasantly surprised to learn that it actually works.

In a standard anime fantasy world where the forces of good are fighting the demonic Hellhorde, an unnamed warrior princess and her talking enchanted sword are taken prisoner and subjected to torture as they’re squeezed for intel. Said “torture,” as the title’s scare quotes would suggest, is mildly unconventional, as the demon baddie inquisitor, aptly named Torture Tortura, attempts to ply the princess by presenting her with tantalizingly delicious-looking food that she can only partake in if she coughs up some info. Naturally, the princess caves every single time, but her intel is often inane and useless, so the “torture” continues. It’s not all food, though: The princess is soon held out of arm’s reach of adorable baby animals by a gyaru beastgirl, pampered into submission by a spa-loving giantess, and is faced with a tsundere vampire faildaughter, who… tries. 

And you’d think that would be it; the joke wears thin and you move onto something else. Before you realize it, though, something’s changed: The princess and her captors are quickly becoming friends. The premise almost feels perfunctory: These inquisitors are actual people just doing their jobs, and whatever happens after the princess’ myriad confessions is fair game. There’s no malice or animosity, even during the “torture” sessions themselves: Everyone will have a blast and grow closer as friends, and then the princess will voluntarily go back to her bedless cell. It’s like Sam and Ralph after they clock out, except they’re almost always off the clock. Everyone is genuinely looking out for each other in all directions, and the only thing that keeps the torture going is the need for a status quo to return to, even as it grows more elastic. If anything, Time for "Torture" is a good example of committing to the bit without having to necessarily rely on it.

The real irony in all of this is that it becomes increasingly apparent that the princess is having her needs met in captivity far better than she ever did back home. In her proud proclamations about how she’ll never cave to the temptations before her (shortly before she does just that), the princess often talks about her upbringing and her time as the head of an imperial legion, but these stories often betray her lack of friendship or any of the little things that make life worth living. Her life as royalty was one of isolation and deprivation, to the point where she finds more freedom and fulfillment as a prisoner. She truly lives in a society.

Hellholm, on the other hand, has a surprisingly healthy approach to things like work-life balance, food, and leisure, and its most valuable prisoner is no exception. The Hell-Lord himself is a surprising exemplar of this; for as much as he looks and talks like your standard terrifying JRPG demon king, he’s a surprisingly good dude! He looks after his family, employees, and even the captive princess as if they are all one and the same; he exhibits strong principles and an aversion to conflict, sees to his employees' needs and wants alike, and is a supportive, loving father to his unbelievably precious little daughter (who also serves as a “torturer,” to the princess’ delight). He’s also a big time anime dork, and even bonds with a knight attempting to rescue the princess over their shared otakudom before sending him off peacefully. As “villains” go, he’s top tier.

Time for "Torture" is nothing groundbreaking by any stretch, but it’s a cute, silly time and it plays with anime fantasy tropes in the same way a six-month-old German shepherd “plays” with a cheap stuffed toy. How long the premise holds up is entirely up to you, but I had a lot of fun with it. I have no idea how this ended up being one of the better shows this season, but I guess it just scratched the right itch for me.

#anime reviews

[legitalicat]

Out of Time

Chapter 4 - "Eldest Son to Eldest Daughter"

an: I am so glad people are enjoying this story! I've been playing with this concept for nearly a year now. I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much! I want to go ahead and put this out there. I have borderline personality disorder and quite a few other mental illnesses, so all of that influences relationships in my life, which is reflected a lot in this story. Also this is not canon Aegon. This is a version of Aegon that lives permanently in my head.

If you love this header go check out zaldritzosrose for more amazing work! She is tagged on the series masterlist and on my welcome post!

Find the series Master list here!

Summary: Being the eldest child of the Queen or King is a weight many did not understand. It is a weight that dictates her every choice, ruling her heart and mind. Aegon, understanding the feeling, gives her the gift of a connection she could not have with another person.

TW: Very blatant mental health struggles, Substance Use (I added 🍃 into this world cause it not being in there is unrealistic), talks of alcoholism, religious talk, mentions of injury, self image issues, bad parents, divorced parents, moon tea, Aegon is so in love with reader it makes me ache

Relationships: Aegon Targaryen ii x Velaryon!Reader, past Aegon Targaryen ii x Helaena Targaryen

Word count: 3.7k

When I woke up this morning, only to find Jace gone from my bed and a cup of moon tea on the table, all I wanted was to hide away from the world. But there was more to my life than just Jace and Aemond. I had others who loved me, who had missed me this entire time. With that in mind, I dressed for the day in a simple lilac colored dress, drank the tea in one quick gulp, and had Ser Erryk escort me to Helaena’s chambers.

Her and Aegon’s children were with him for the morning. With both of them still happily in the Red Keep, I suppose it made sharing their children’s time easier. Though I don’t believe there has been a situation such as this ever. Most marriages that ended in annulment happened because there weren’t children from my understanding. Though until now I had not known of anyone who had gotten an annulment.

“How did my mother grant the end of your marriage?” I couldn’t help but ask Helaena. We were working on our cross stitching together. It was an activity that soothed her and I was all the happier to make sure she was calm. “Doesn’t the Faith typically have to be in agreement? And I mean, you two had three children together, wouldn’t they just deny it?”

Helaena chuckled. “I often times forget how little you and your brothers paid mind to the teachings of the Seven,” she said to me.

Fair enough, I suppose. Technically speaking, we are followers of the Seven. Yet anyone with eyes knew that we only did it because we kind of had to. I don’t believe Mother or Laenor had any vested interest in their teachings. They certainly never passed anything on to us outside of the bare minimum. I know my father’s family believed in the Seven, but since he was never allowed to claim us, he had no right to teach us his beliefs. In truth I only knew anything about them from Alicent.

“So explain it to me as though I’m five,” I said, shrugging a bit.

“It is unholy to hold one in a marriage against their will. Aegon and I were so young when we were married, and it was done under the misguided notion that your mother and family may seek to squash any competition for the Throne, so it was not difficult to make a case for it to be an unlawful marriage. Though I do feel that Rhaenyra may have reminded the Septon that he can be and would be a delicious snack for Syrax should he not see reason,” she told me. The smile that played at her lips as she thought of it was enough to make me smile.

“And what is it you wish to do now?” I asked her.

“I am perfectly content to live my life here. I love my family, I love my home. Though I do wish my mother had bothered to ever understand me,” she explained.

My smile fell from my lips. Time changed many things but Helaena’s distance from Alicent didn’t seem to be one. It was unfortunate, truly, as Helaena was wonderful. She may be more into bugs than most people, she may have her dreams and episodes, but she was not mad. In fact when actually making an effort to know her, one could find she was the opposite.

I had always wished I could see the world Helaena does. The world that I live in is dark and dreary, a place where one loses any semblance of a father before they even understand how great they are. It is a place where most everyone prefers men over women, despite the women being capable and strong in their own right. The world I live in? It is not a place built for Helaena.

Yet the one she lives in? People are praised for what they have done. There is no consideration other than who truly is right and just. Even in the darkest moments in which her mother tried to keep her from being who she is, my mother always gave safe passage to her sweet sister. Helaena paid no mind to those who were insignificant unless they hurt her family or her bugs.

It Is not to say she is naïve. In fact, I would think she sees more truth than any of us. But being the third child, born after an eldest daughter and eldest son, is very different than being the eldest. She did not have to fight to prove she was worthy like Mother did. And she does not have to step away because she knows she would not be accepted over her brother as I do…

I was born approximately two hours before Jacaerys. A long time between twins as I’ve been told, but enough time there was no doubt about who came first. Truthfully to my mother I don’t think it mattered which of us was born before the other. We are twins and therefore she always gave us the choice.

She explained to me that her father had named her heir before he had any other living children and never looked back. Once Aegon was born, most expected Viserys to change his mind. But he remained steadfast in his decision, never caring if Mother still wanted it. To this day I don’t know if she did. As such, she wanted to make sure we always had a choice.

“You’re doing it again,” Helaena said softly.

When I looked to her, she nodded her head to my hands. I had been so completely lost in thought that I didn’t notice I had repeatedly pricked my fingers with the needle I was using. Blood seeped through the fabric in several dots scattered around.

“Sorry,” I muttered before sitting the cross stitch down. Standing, I walked over to the bowl of water that was kept for washing her hands and dunked my fingers in it a few times.

“Our mothers are planning a feast to celebrate your return,” she told me as I turned back around. “I think it will happen week’s end.”

Naturally. It seemed they always found a reason to celebrate me. On my name day, it was always me who got doted on. Jace got put in the shadows, not that he seemed to mind much though. When I claimed Vhaela, only a few weeks before I disappeared, it was a much brighter occasion than Aemond claiming Vhagar. When I returned to King’s Landing, it overshadowed the tourney being held for Aegon to celebrate his own name day.

It was never my Intention, truly. Those around me just deemed me important. I had never wanted to be the center of attention. All I wanted was to do right by my family. Never have I sought out great fortune or the throne for myself, though technically it should be mine by birth order. All I craved was love.

“Are you happy?” I asked her, trying to change the subject.

“Yes. Aegon is a wonderful father, but he could never love me. And I do not love him,” she told me.

Before I was given the chance to respond, the chamber doors opened. Helaena’s children ran to her. The twins, Jaehaera and Jaehaerys, were nearing twelve at this point. They looked it, too. If you were to ask me, Jaehaera looked like Alicent but with the typical Targaryen silver hair and violet eyes. Jaehaerys and Maelor, who was nearing eight, were carbon copies of Helaena. They had the same curl to their hair as she did, their noses equally as small and rounded.

As the three children excitedly talked about their morning, I quietly excused myself from the room. While she would never say anything, there was not a place for me with Helaena and her children by myself. Those kids don’t remember me, though I remember Helaena’s every letter describing them in their early years. For both pregnancies, there was not a movement they made inside her that did not warrant a letter to me. But that was then.

In the corridor, Aegon stood and spoke with Ser Erryk. Erryk had a twin too, named Arryk. From what I remembered, Arryk and Aegon were quite close, the former taking on the watching over of the latter once Aegon hit puberty.

“Beautiful kids,” I said to him, offering a small smile. When he looked to me and smiled, I couldn’t help but blush a deep red.

“Thankfully they take more after Helaena,” he said to me. He stepped closer to me, extending a hand to rest under my chin. I swallowed hard as he tilted my face around in the light. “You should perhaps be more careful.”

“I shall keep that in mind,” I said, unable to hide my chuckle.

“Where are you headed to? I could join you,” he suggested as he offered his arm to me to take, dropping his hand from my chin.

“I was just going to head back to my room. Truly, Aegon, there is no need to bother yourself,” I told him.

“My darling, there is never a bother when it comes to you.” His voice was light and airy, as though the words he spoke were just the most casual thing in the world. But there was a firmness to them that I truly believe only he could accomplish.

It wasn’t so much a demand. He was not like Aemond, demanding and sure of himself. He was not like Jace, either, in being soft and guiding always. Aegon was something entirely different.

He had always seemed arrogant. He was the first born son so it was natural that he grew into believing he deserved everything he wanted. But only when you spoke to him when everything else was quiet did you ever get the truth.

He had never been much more than a scared little boy. There were frequent talks of what he feared would happen when Viserys had died. He had always been scared his mother would try to force him to take the Throne. When he was betrothed to Helaena, he was scared he wouldn’t be good enough for her. He was scared that I would grow to hate him, completely ignoring that I could never hate him.

The closeness I shared with Aegon was something that bordered on secretive. While it wasn’t that we felt the need to hide, as there truly was never anything to hide, it was what made him comfortable. He would come to me late at night when he could not sleep. I think it is when he felt safest. Even when we were children he preferred the night.

It was in the night that he saw beauty in his life. He didn’t struggle as much then to resist drinking, which had always seemed backwards to me but he swore it. The pressures that were placed upon him from Otto and Alicent didn’t exist at night. The person he truly is was enough for the shadows of darkness.

Perhaps it is my own cockiness but I like to think I see a side to him that others don’t. When we were alone I got to hear him sing. I don’t think anyone else knew he liked to sing let alone how good he was at it. The first time he ever sang me a song that he had picked up in a tavern, tears sprang to my eyes. And when he isn’t drunk, he is quite smart. He knows politics even better than Aemond. He knows how to get people to like him and trust him, a rare commodity in this world.

And if Helaena says he is a wonderful father, I have no doubt about it. I remember him writing to me the first time Helaena was pregnant. He was so happy and excited, determined to be better to his children than Viserys ever had been to him. When I had come back to King’s Landing, while he still struggled with the drink, he was so devoted to making sure they didn’t see it.

“I would be glad to have you along,” I said, smiling at him. Though I didn’t take his arm. He merely nodded at me and followed me, allowing me to set the pace in which we walked.

As we walked, we walked in silence. Our footsteps echoed off the stone walls, the small ching and squeak of Ser Erryk’s armor followed behind us. I was perfectly comfortable.

We got to my room in just a few minutes as it wasn’t far from Helaena’s. Ser Erryk took his place beside my door. I gave him a small smile and nod before leading Aegon into my room.

He took a seat in a chair in front of the fireplace. He seemed like maybe he ran cold, always choosing to sit close to fires or walking around wrapped in a blanket. I was like that too, of course, much to the hatred of Jace when we shared a room still.

“I am happy to see you home, have you need of anything?” he asked me when I sat in the chair next to his.

“I merely wish there was something I could take for the pain that wasn’t milk of the poppy. The way it muddled your father’s mind has made me certain I will never use it,” I told him simply.

He nodded softly and reached his right hand up his left sleeve. “In case you have not been told, I want you to know I am sober now. Have not had a sip of wine since the night you disappeared,” he told me.

“Aeg, that’s amazing. I am so proud of you,” I said as my heart felt like it was going to burst.

Truly I don’t think he had ever stood a chance against being a drunkard. Mother told me a long time ago how Viserys was giving Aegon wine by his second nameday. I never could understand why Alicent was so okay with that, especially because for my entire life she had yelled at him for being drunk. Like the night Aemond lost his eye, Aegon got blamed for not protecting him because even at thirteen he went and got so drunk he passed out on the steps. How on earth did she go from so passively allowing him to drink when he was a baby to being so vile about his problem?

He looked at me, his face saddened for a split second before he grinned and pulled out a pouch. “The Grand Maester told me to use this. It’s hemp. Mostly used for creating things, building and whatnot. But someone at the Citadel found if you consume it, it gives you what they call a high. But it is gentler on the health than being drunk. I’m not sure the process but they cook it into butter and then can bake it into things.”

He opened the pouch and pulled out a biscuit the size of his palm. He split it in two and offered me half. It didn’t look abnormal or smell any different. The biscuit looked very appetizing though.

“Do I just eat it?” I asked him, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes. But start slow. Too much at once and you’ll be completely incapacitated. Just a small bit should help your anguish, both physically and mentally,” he explained. “It will not be immediate like milk of the poppy. But it will be effective.”

Cautiously, I took a bite, eating on a quarter of my half. This was something I would never have done on my own. Yet Aegon had never truly steered me wrong, always seeming to have my best interests at heart.

After he took his own bite, eating a little more than I did, a silence fell between us as he just watched the flames. Aegon sometimes seemed like he wished that the world would open and swallow him whole. The way he would avoid looking at me, or anyone for that matter, spoke volumes about how uncomfortable he was even if nobody else realized it.

I remember once he told me that if he didn’t look at people he could convince himself they weren’t looking at him. When I tried to point out that wasn’t right he just put his hand over my mouth so that I couldn’t. It was that moment I realized how alike he and I are.

I escaped the duties of being Mother’s eldest child by pretending I wasn’t. Stepping aside so that Jace could be heir and acting as though I was okay with it was the biggest way I accomplished this. If I were honest, I wanted to be Queen, not Queen Consort. Hiding that fact from everyone, including my twin, repeatedly affirming his place as the next King essentially robbed me of a piece of my identity and forced me into a new one. One in which I was meant to stand by his side and have his children.

Aegon liked to hide from being the eldest son by pretending he didn’t exist. He didn’t just refuse those duties. He simply treated them as though they weren’t real. He used to disappear rather frequently for a few days at a time, only to be found in a tavern or a brothel and dragged back to the Keep. He had always been so drunk he never remembered his time there.

“I missed you,” he said quietly. “I know you never felt for me the way you did Jacaerys, or even Aemond. But you are probably the only woman I’ve ever loved.”

He didn’t look at me when he said it which made me wonder why he did. It seemed silly to me how badly I wanted him to look at me. My entire life I felt like I had been begging Aegon to look at me.

He was right, I never felt for him the way I did Jace or Aemond. But he was the first person that ever made me blush. He was the first person who I considered marrying for any reason. He was my first crush and I think that for a lot of people that was a pretty sacred role.

I wanted a dragon so badly because of his relationship to his own dragon, Sunfyre. I don’t remember exactly when they came together, only that Aegon claimed Sunfyre just as I claimed Vhaela. And they were a sight to see together, having potentially the strongest bond of any dragon and rider. I swear Aegon could be hundreds of leagues from Sunfyre, merely think of needing him, and Sunfyre would go there without a second thought.

There was also the fact that they were very beautiful together. Sunfyre was perhaps the most beautiful dragon to ever exist. His scales were a dazzling, glittering gold while his belly and wing membranes for a soft pink. When he stood tall, he looked like a perfect golden statue.

Aegon was the epitome of Targaryen beauty. His silver blonde hair was not as long as Aemond’s, but was chin length and began curling near the end. He had the classic Valyrian lilac eyes that sparkled in the firelight. He had a square jawline and lips fuller than Aemond’s. He was about five inches taller than me, and therefore Jace since he was my height, at about five foot ten, and just two inches shorter than Aemond.

He truly was a beautiful mixture of Jace and Aemond. His eyes, hair, and eyes were soft in such a way they drew me in. Yet his jawline was sharp like he was chiseled in stone. One could argue all the gods in the universe came together to create the perfect man in him.

I became very aware I was staring at his lips. My cheeks became hot as the blood rushed to them. He turned to look at me, a small goofy smile on his face when he saw me looking. It caused my cheeks to become even hotter.

“You’ve been staring for quite a while, how are you feeling?” he asked me.

“Fine,” I said as I shrugged.

My feet didn’t quite feel right though. Like they didn’t really exist but they do exist. He chuckled at something, I’m guessing my face, and I could feel a giggle bubbling up in my chest.

“Oh you feel it,” he told me, grinning.

“You’re pretty,” I whispered, leaning towards him. “Have I ever told you that?”

“Pretty?” he asked.

Slowly, I nodded. He was pretty. But not the way Mother or Helaena was pretty in an elegant and sophisticated way. He was the type of pretty like fire. One that was dangerous and wild, where I couldn’t quite guarantee I would make it out alive.

“You’re pretty, too,” he told me quietly.

I think he was the only one to ever call me pretty. Aemond called me beautiful and Jace called me perfect, yet never pretty. Except the times they called me pretty during sex, that is. Being pretty in the mundane was something special to me. It was like I was a flower or even a star.

He reached out and took my hand. We sat in silence for a while. There was no way I could tell how long we sat there, just looking at each other while saying nothing. It felt nice in a way I could not explain.

“My darling pretty girl,” he whispered, rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb. “How is your pain?”

“Better, thank you, Aegon,” I whispered.

My heart was light in my chest. It fluttered rapidly, my cheeks heating up once again. He was looking at me like I was precious to him.

He stood from the chair, moving to stand in front of me. The flutters turned to a steady pounding. It was beating in my ears loudly. Aegon didn’t say anything before he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to the tip of my nose, something that he had done when we were kids.

“I will ask the Maesters to prepare you the same biscuits. I do not like to think of you in pain,” he whispered to me. “And it may help if your thoughts get to be too much.”

Without saying another word, he took his leave. He walked out of the room, leaving me to sit alone with only my thoughts of him.

#dividers by benkeibear #aegon targaryen ii #aegon targaryen x reader #helaena targaryen #mental illness in fiction #out of time

[m1dori-eyes]

Be wary of linguistics rant, Elden Ring ahead

Ok so I just made a different post about this but I need to elaborate: The Elden Ring messaging system is legitimately such an interesting microcosm about how language is used as a tool and shaped to suit the needs it's being used for. I could actually make an entire study about how this can be used to better understand the formation of pidgin languages in the same way that epidemiologists studied the Corrupted Blood Incident in World of Warcraft to better understand the mechanics of how disease affects human behavior. Video games as an academic lens into peoples' minds has always been a fascinating topic to me, and by the end of this, you'll see why.

First off, message.

So for those not indoctrinated into the series/game, Elden Ring is a big open world game made by From Software, which won game of the year 2022 among some other awards (if you've played it or know anything about it, just skip to the next header). Each player plays as a Tarnished and explores this massive environment called The Lands Between individually, but if another player is walking in the same area that you are, you can see their "ghost" moving through the world, and you can "invade" or "be summoned" into another player's iteration of the world in order to briefly interact with it before returning to your own iteration. This occupies a weird space in between singleplayer and multiplayer, with these heavily limited and kind of random methods of interaction between players, but that's not the most interesting way of communicating with your fellow Tarnished; that title goes to the messages system. You can write a message onto a small stone, and leave it on the ground, and then that little stone with the message on it will have a random chance to appear in any player's iteration of the world for them to read. This is a tradition which has been going in From Software's games long since before the inception of Elden Ring, although I'm mostly going to be focusing on the message system of that title, because documenting the history of the 13+ years running Soulsbourne franchise is way too much, even for a nerd like me. The point is that messages are a lot more likely to be seen than any other method of player-to-player interaction, and you can even leave little "gestures" to go with them, where the reader can see your character striking a pose while they read the message. What a neat little mechanic, which definitely doesn't have any hidden layers of depth, and certainly wouldn't spawn an entire emergent system of pseudolinguistics, right?

No message ahead, be wary of mimicry

Well, when I said that messages are written by other players, that was a lie. To make a message, you don't type it out with your keyboard, you select what you want to say, from a big list of preset phrases. It works that way for a lot of reasons, foremost of all as a profanity filter, but also to prevent too many spoilers and maintain atmosphere. The sets of phrases are incredibly limiting, famously requiring players to use weird fake old-english diction in order to express a simple thought (Strong foe ahead, be weary of death. Look carefully ahead, visions of item. Suffering, o suffering, why is it always bad luck? etc). This seems like a limitation which would put a serious damper on anyone trying to actually communicate their thoughts, but gamers are a persistent sort, and have a lot of trouble taking no for an answer. They also have way too much time on their hands, and like to solve puzzles, a terrifying combination of traits, and the perfect one to accidentally create a conlang. With the unexpectedly massive audience that this game picked up on launch, millions of people left messages desperately trying to get something across, and if the game's preset vocabulary didn't contain the phrases to express it, they would forge their own path. Any big fans of linguistic history can already tell the direction that this might be going, as we move on into the next chapter:

Teacher, Liar, Lovable Sort

When the game released, there was chaos. The Lands Between are fraught with hidden passages, deception, and blatant bullshit, and the first kind of players leaving messages tried to helpfully communicate what you could trust, and what you couldn't. This is what the message system was intended for after all, giving advice to your peers, and what many people still use it for today. The second kind of players tried to do the opposite, deliberately leading people to their doom, just because they could. The third, and most numerous sort, were simply awestruck at everything the game had to offer, and left a series of remarks on the beauty and humor of the world. The messages left by each group are pretty easy to differentiate to the trained eye, which is the main feature causing me to point out this division of players. Let's call these groups the teachers, the liars, and the lovable sorts. A teacher can be recognized if their messages suggest something within reason, and being backed up by the peer-review of nearby messages to the same effect. If three messages are all sitting on the ground next to eachother, each saying something along the lines of "seek up, look carefully ahead", then a local collage of teachers are trying to let you know about a secret path ahead leading you up towards a hidden objective. However, a single message next to a bloodstained cliff-edge stating "jumping required ahead" is almost certainly a liar, trying to deceive an unsuspecting player into making a dubious leap. Liars sometimes use slightly simpler grammar than teachers do, being less committed to getting their point across. Wait a minute, linguistic variance based on intent? No no, this is just a video game about fighting monsters, surely such an interesting emergent system wouldn't arise from something like that. Lastly, the lovable sorts have the most ranging grammar, spanning from a simple word such as "dog" (a word used colloquially to describe all creatures, from turtles to dragons), to complex sentences requiring the combination of many phrases. However, a lovable sort can be differentiated by the fact that they merely remark upon the world as it is, instead of trying to offer advice to other players, as a teacher or liar might. Some of their most iconic phrases are "Elden ring ahead", used to sarcastically denote a dead end where a player might have been expecting treasure, "you don't have the right, o, you don't have the right" which indicates a locked door, or the world-famous "try finger, but hole", a phrase which explains itself. The most incredible thing about the words of the lovable sort, is that they all require a little bit of thinking to understand their actual meaning, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes like a second language to you! Wait a minute, a second language?

Message? Wasn't expecting introspection

As time went on, the three main groups of message-writers still kept chugging along, creating new works of writing every day, but advancements in understanding of the game's inner workings allowed these messages to become more and more complex. Compound words started to be formed to represent concepts outside of the preset vocabulary, like "skeleton, house" for coffin, "dung, key" to describe the donkeys accompanying traveling merchants, and "edge, lord" being used to refer to the NPC Ensha, a man wearing flamboyant armor made out of bones who takes himself way too seriously. It's worth noting in this section that for a specific period of time, The Lands Between were overtaken by a horde of messages stating only the words "fort, night". Despite the crude and humorous nature of the entire thing, it was clear to see that the linguistic patterns of the Elden Ring community were evolving into their own beast, far beyond the usages that the developers had intended. Words had shed their original meaning, to instead take up contextual meanings based on how players used them, effectively becoming different words entirely. Depending on how you define this, it's either a microcosm of incredibly fast and severe linguistic drift, or the emergence of a new pidgin or conlang entirely. If you really stretch things, you could almost call the message system of Elden Ring an entirely new language in and of itself.

Well done, victory ahead!

I think that video games are an excellent way to observe human behavior under conditions which are controlled, accelerated, and completely recordable, and this is the closest that we've ever seen to an entire language growing completely from scratch. People are always the same, whether you want to call it instinct or just cyclical tendencies, but normally the formation of a new language can take incredible periods of time, hastened only by tragic events like diaspora or massive losses of cultural knowledge (research what's been happening to Gaelic as a spoken language for more info about this sort of thing, it's kind of depressing but is also important to learn about, and there's a lot of people on this site talking about it who can do the topic way more justice than I can). Even for other topics which either require great passage of time, or great tragedy in order to research (I.E. geology or epidemiology, respectively), there are a lot of simulations and predictive models which can tell us how these systems behave without actually experiencing them. Linguistics has never had this sort of thing...until now, perhaps. Obviously there won't be any academic breakthroughs based on a bunch of people online all writing "rump ahead", but it's an incredibly interesting thing to see happening for a field which is so hard to actively advance, and it could lead to actual scientific methods of generating new languages via human interaction for research purposes. Of course, there's always the sizable chance that this goes nowhere and I just wrote this insane rant because I like to type, but if nothing else, I at the very least exposed some of my mutuals to "try finger, but hole".

#elden ring #linguistics #elden ring ahead #behold dog #dung key #pidgin language #pidgin #language #old english #linguistic studies #language history #conlangs

[vongulli]

Hello, I just discovered your art and...

HELP I AM SO IN LOVE BY THE WAY YOU DRAW FRYE AAAAAH-

I love her since her first appearance but with your art style, I am like 😳😳😳😳😳😳

And I was just wondering... May I use one of your Frye Art as an icon, please?

I will credit you for sure and if you don't want, that's alright I would understand!

In all cases, keep up with your art, whatever it's about Frye or not!!! 💖💖💖

WOAA I DIDNT KNOW YOU COULD FORMAT ASKS LIKE THAT

yeah go right ahead!! anyone can use my art as an icon/header as long as there is visable credit back to me on it! Thank you for enjoying my stuff!! AND THANK YOU I LOVE FRYE my love for her in my soul is abundant, she brings me so much joy!

#ask #ask reply #vonchatty #HOW DO YOU MAKE STUFF BOLD LIKE THAT #so fun!!

[avaantares]

(yet another) rant: Please stop with the frivolous Trigger Warnings

(Note: If you want to skip the recipe blog intro and get to the actual important stuff, scroll down to the header that says, "Which Warning to Use on Your Post")

Sooo I made a text post that had a few words in capital letters mixed in for effect (the rest of the text was in standard formatting). Someone reblogged it with the tags "tw: all caps" and "tw: capital letters."

The existence of these tags, specifically in the form of a trigger warning, struck me as weird. I mean, I can see why someone might be uncomfortable with an all-caps text block, if they've dealt with abusive/angry capslocked emails or something, and I can see how large blocks of capitalized text could be difficult to read, and some users might prefer to avoid them. But...

Limited capitalization as emphasis (e.g. dropping OH WAIT in the middle of otherwise lower-case text to indicate a shift in tone) does not present the same issues as a solid block of capslocked text;

I have not encountered this tag in the plethora of posts that employ the meme/joke format of subverting standard case usage or alternating case (yes, the SpongeBob meme is a thing with an actual academic definition, and it also predates the existence of SpongeBob by some decades); and

Most importantly, while formatting definitely affects user experience and can be worth tagging for that reason, I wouldn't have escalated it to the level of a trigger, which is a term with a pretty specific definition:

The concept of ‘triggering’ describes the re-experiencing of unpleasant PTSD symptoms such as intrusive thoughts being evoked by exposure to materials which spark traumatic memories. Hence, content warnings have a long presence in psychiatric literature. [source: Typology of content warnings and trigger warnings: Systematic review]

(Full disclosure for anyone who hasn't already learned from reading my rants: I have a background in behavior science, so I'm all about scientific definitions and correct application of same.)

But I thought that maybe I was misinterpreting what was being tagged, and I like learning what I should tag in future posts, so I thought I'd look deeper into those tags and see if I was missing something.

Welp. It sure was educational.

Turns out there are established "trigger warnings" on Tumblr for all of the following (not a comprehensive list; these are just the ones I also saw when scrolling through the caps tags, since many of those posts had more than one thing tagged):

any text with two or more capital letters in sequence

any text in italics

any text underlined

any text in boldface

any text in a font other than the default

any text in a color other than the default (as well as tags for each individual color)

images in black and white

images in color (how dare color exist)

images with... subjectively brighter? colors

images without ALT text

posts containing emoji

and my favorite entry, which for obvious reasons I can't describe by the content it's supposedly protecting us from:

"tw just in case"

O_o

So... where to even begin.

I guess I'll get the promised rant out of the way (for those of you who prefer to stay positive, skip ahead two paragraphs): It's no wonder that much of society mocks the very concept of trigger warnings, when they're used this... I have to come right out and say frivolously. Heck, even I'm having trouble taking the greater Tumblr community seriously right in this moment, and I've been part of it for *mumble* years and practically live here. Who in the academic/corporate/entertainment/quote-unquote real world is going to honor a request for content warnings when they see that the """kids these days""" consider italicized text a psychological trigger they need to be protected from? And you can just imagine some dudebro saying, "Wow, these special snowflakes are so fragile they're even traumatized by seeing color, lulz. We should see what really freaks them out!" ...and that won't end well.

The obvious rebuttal to that point is to argue that these tags aren't intended for use by the outside world, most of which already thinks Tumblr died years ago. Not that this has ever stopped Twitter and Reddit and Facebook users from screenshotting Tumblr posts to claim ownership of mock before, but honestly the extra-Tumblr world is the less important concern here, so I won't labor that point. The more immediate issue is how this affects Tumblr users, the Tumblr community, and the experience we're all so proud of being able to curate for ourselves.

The critical point is this: Tags exist for Tumblr users to find things of interest and avoid things they don't want to see. Warnings exist for Tumblr users to protect themselves. Conflating the two can cause not only confusion, but the opposite of the desired effect of being able to curate your experience.

Please note that it is not wrong to tag any of the things listed above. By all means, tag everything in your post! Tag away! Tag your text formatting and images and colors! Use that whole tag space so people can find/not find your content as desired! But none of these things should be categorized as trigger warnings. Trigger warnings, content warnings, and tags are all separate things, and should be used appropriately so people know what to look for/avoid in a post.

Now, you may well ask: Why do the semantics matter? If something's tagged, why does it matter how it's tagged? Isn't it better to warn people about anything and everything that they might possibly not like?

For those affected by PTSD, trauma, phobias, anxiety, psychosis, optically-sensitive medical conditions, etc., being able to trust tags -- and the community's overall reliability where they are concerned -- can be critical to their health and well-being. When the community's tags become imprecise, sloppy, or unspecified -- for example, when people start throwing tags like "tw just in case" on their posts instead of actually describing what is in the post -- it becomes unpleasant or even dangerous for those people to exist in that community. And although doubtless well-intentioned, the kind of overzealous helicopter tagging that labels things like text formatting or the presence of emoji as a trigger does two things: First, it can confuse filters and sandbag search results (for search purposes, tags are treated like a word bank, rather than individual line items). Second, it fosters a general lack of regard for real, life-threatening triggers. If Tumblr users get used to seeing every tiny little thing called out as a "trigger" -- trigger warning, there's a picture of a bird in this post! trigger warning, I can't spell so there's probably a word misspelled in this post! trigger warning, someone used a heart emoji in this post! trigger warning, here's a photo with the color orange in it! trigger warning, there's a banana in this post! Self image trigger warning, I'm having the worst hair day, lol! j/k! -- then subconsciously, "trigger warning" becomes synonymous with "lots of things random people find mildly annoying, so tag stuff if you happen to think of it" instead of "a few important things we should be diligent about tagging because someone's life might quite literally depend on it."

I know categorizing tags can be confusing, and in recent years there hasn't been much consistency in usage on Tumblr, so here's a cheat sheet to help you decide what warnings to use (and to be clear, I didn't make these up; these are sourced from academic literature and teaching guides, and were -- back in the Olden Days -- also more widely used on Tumblr.)

For a more thorough description of the most common types of content to post warnings about, see this PDF.

Which Warning to Use on Your Post:

Trigger warning (TW): Used to denote content that may trigger a PTSD episode, a severe psychological reaction, or a physiological reaction due to a medical condition (e.g. epilepsy). Broadly speaking, this warning is intended to mitigate risks that may exist because of a viewer's personal experience and/or medical status. Examples of things that should be tagged TW: sexual violence; child abuse; flashing gifs

Content warning (CW): Used to denote sensitive material that may make viewers uncomfortable or upset, or that some viewers may prefer not to see, but not necessarily invoke a traumatic personal experience. Broadly speaking, this warning is concerned with a viewer's comfort level. This can include general concepts (e.g. discussion of homophobia) as well as specific instances (e.g. use of homophobic language). Examples of things that should be tagged CW: racism; nudity; death

Descriptive tags (not warnings): Used to describe the content of a post, without value judgment, so that it is searchable and/or avoidable. (And also to write rambling comma-free essays, because Tumblr is just Like That. But that's a whole separate thing.) Examples of things that can be (generally) tagged: the themes or topics being discussed; black and white images; capitalized text; insects; the color green; memes; rainbows; digital art; literally anything else that appears in your post

Can people still dislike/be upset by things that aren't on a broadly-accepted TW/CW list? Absolutely. But that's not quite the same as a trigger, and that's why we also have general tags.

Here's an example of the difference between disliking or being triggered by content (source: "The right way to use a Trigger Warning," emphasis mine):

Trigger Warnings are here to prevent people who have experienced traumatic experiences to be exposed to something that might trigger a physical and/or mental reaction. Trigger is the key word here. “Trigger*” is used to talk about PTSD and mental illness. “Triggered” and “offended/upset” are not the same concept. I can be upset if I see a picture of a beautiful cake because I cannot bake, but it won’t trigger a post-traumatic reaction. 

You aren't going to be able to anticipate every single person's likes and dislikes, phobias, emotional associations, and so on. There's a temptation to try to cover every base imaginable, but that's actually... less than helpful. Actively unhelpful, in some cases. In addition to the reasons I cited earlier, here's an example of how "I'll tag it just in case someone doesn't like a thing" warnings can be confusing:

Let's say I have two followers: WingHater96 has a deep phobia of butterflies, while ButterSuperFly78 adores butterflies. Tagging a post "butterflies" helps them both navigate my feed more efficiently: WingHater96 can block the entire "butterfly" tag, while ButterSuperFly78 can search for it.

However, let's say I tagged that post in the form of a warning like "tw: butterflies" and hid it below a Read More just in case someone following me didn't like butterflies. WingHater96 would still have that post blocked, because it contains the word "butterfly" in the tag. It would also still appear in ButterSuperFly78's search results for the same reason -- the presence of the warning doesn't affect search results at all. But when ButterSuperFly78 sees the warning tag, they might now be confused about whether the post is full of pretty butterfly photography (which they would like to see), or if maybe the reason I put a warning on it is because it's about butterflies being harmed, because why else would you warn someone about butterflies when they're the best things ever? But wait, does OP know that they're the best things ever? Is the warning there because OP secretly hates butterflies?? Do they need to unfollow OP now because they're a butterfly-hater??? and ButterSuperFly78 would not know whether to view the post or scroll past until they psychoanalyze me to determine my personal feelings on butterflies.

Adding the warning provided zero additional benefit for the person who already had the tagged thing blocked, but it caused additional problems for the person actively seeking out that thing.

Obviously this is a bit exaggerated (...though, speaking from experience, only a bit), but it's a lot more efficient to just list the things that are in a post in the tags without framing them as warnings. That way, people with different likes and dislikes can curate their own experience more easily, and know to take trigger and content warnings more seriously when they DO appear.

-

TL;DR Trigger warnings exist to help people avoid PTSD or adverse psychological/physiological reactions. Casually throwing the word "trigger" in front of things that are not triggers makes people stop taking the need for warnings seriously, and can confuse people trying to curate their Tumblr experience. Reserve TW and CW for actual triggers/sensitive content and use standard tags for other things.

#long post #tumblr tutorial #trigger warnings vs content warnings vs tags #frivolous use is one reason people are dismissive of the need for trigger/content warnings #tags already let people filter things they just don't like #not everything has to be a warning #ava rants about things #tumblr culture #(also this post contains all caps boldface italics colored text and font size changes if anyone is concerned with such things)

[alpaca-clouds]

Why Capitalism is Racist, Sexist and Queerphobic

Let me talk about one thing that a lot of folks do grapple with. I went with the easy header here, instead of the more revolutionary one (which would have been: Why capitalism invites fascism?)

Everyone who pays attention to the news and to political donations might have noticed, that a lot of big companies actually pay the most vile of politicians. Who will outwards maybe signal to some support for minorities, but who will actually push for some stuff that is sexist, racist, ableist and queerphobic. And a lot of folks are wondering: Why?

See... Here is the thing: In most countries most people are actually kinda somewhat progressive. Not in all fields and not all people. But in general people as a whole are against the most open forms of racism, sexism and so on. Sure, they kinda will still be not really supportive of those minorities. But they will at least not like open discrimination.

Heck, even among fucking Republican Voters in the US, you will find that most of them actually do not like the vile anti-minority rethoric. They want the discrimination to be more... discreate.

So, given that capitalism is supposed to be all about making a number go up, which in general happens more if people like you more... Why does capitalism and a lot of capitalist still push for those anti-minority rhethorics and try their utmost best to paint a picture of vile minorities?

The answer is simple: Because 1) capitalism as a whole needs an exploitable underclass - and 2) it cannot have class solidarity develop.

See, capitalism has put itself into a little pickle right now, when it comes to sexism. Because traditionally in capitalism built a lot on the free care work of women.

Care work by itself does not make anyone any profit. As such, to capitalism, it is worthless. Which is also, why to this day care workers are horribly underpaid. They do not generate any sort of profit and as such there is no value in paying them.

Traditionally those are jobs were done by women, as I said. For free. Which is why it is so important for capitalism to uphold the traditional gender norms. Because it needs women as an exploitable labor force, who do not need to get paid (fairly). Which is why you see a lot of capitalist stuff still promoting the idea of the stay-at-home wife.

But, of course, capitalism did the thing where it went all oroboros on itself and bit its own tail. By underpaying workers in general, while also price hiking everything, it forced a scenario where women had to work to survive.

Hence it kinda shifted the idea and just said: "See those brown and disabled folks? Yeah, their work is basically worthless, don't you think? So it is totally okay if we go and exploit them." Hence capitalism actually can profit from a system, where it can exploit minorities, because it has thaught the majority that the minority is basically worthless and hence it should be okay to pay them a pitance.

But of course there is the even bigger thing: Capitalism cannot under any circumstance have class solidarity occur. Because of there was any class solidarity among the workers, there might be a chance that those workers rose up and overthrew the capitalist system. And that would be a bad thing - from the capitalist point of view.

So capitalism as a system has to make sure, that the workers are in constant struggle with each other. Not allowing them to turn against the owners. It will pitch the white folks against the non-white folks. It will pitch men against women. It will pitch the cishet folks against LGBTQ. And the abled folks against the disabled.

And while everyone is arguing among themselves, the capitalist system can just go ahead and exploit their work further.

At university I had a very, very anarchist professor in geography. And he kept saying: "The exploited worker in Germany has more in common with the exploited worker in Bangladesh, than he has with any German billionaire." Which is something that I absolutely agree with.

And it is something we need to realize. Because right now we are not only exploited, but we are slowly dying and the world is dying with us.

#anti capitalism #anti racism #anti sexism #anti patriarchy #communism #revolution #anarchism #politics #class solidarity

[horanghaejamjam]

Calico: Chapter 5

Story Summary: Now that he is a successful business owner and financially stable, Yoongi felt it was finally time to welcome a hybrid into his home. What he didn’t expect, was a chance meeting with the young calico that would steal his heart.

Chapter Summary: An uncomfortable discussion with Mika about boundaries causes Yoongi to rethink the way he’s doing things. 

Pairing: CEO Yoongi x Calico hybrid OC.  

Rating: PG

Genre: Angst, Slight Fluff

Word Count: 5.5k

Warnings/Notes: Mostly feels, lots of miscommunication and Mika not really understanding boundaries. 

Disclaimer: Images used in header are not mine. All written work is 100% my own, editors and beta readers will be credited as needed. Do not copy, translate, or repost my work onto other sites without my permission.

Previous Chapter . . . Next Chapter (TBA)

Calico Masterlist

By the end of the workday, it had completely slipped Yoongi's mind to actually speak to Mika about boundaries. He was so exhausted with paperwork and last-second meetings that he almost forgot she had come to work with him. In fact, he only remembered when he passed by Taehyung's office to say good evening and saw her curled up on the spare chair asleep, Jungkook was in a similar state on the floor, his head resting against the leg of the chair. Yoongi smiled softly at the sight before nodding in acknowledgment to his friend and carefully shaking the hybrid awake. 

“Mika,” he whispered as her eyes fluttered open, “come on it’s time to go home.” A soft groan left her as she stretched before carefully sitting up. Mika yawned softly and rubbed at her eyes as she stood up and nodded. It was very clear that she was still half asleep and would likely pass out as soon as they got to the car, but first, she had to get there. As bad as he felt about waking her up, Yoongi couldn’t risk being seen carrying her around, it was unprofessional. Yoongi said a final goodnight to Taehyung before walking out of the office, slowing his pace so the tired girl behind him could follow. With the building being as large as it was he wouldn’t put it past her to wander off and get lost somehow and he didn’t want to deal with that. Thankfully that didn’t happen, and he only had to grab her hand once they were outside in order to keep her from wandering into the road. “Are you hungry?” he asked when they finally got to the car, “I don’t really have time to make anything but I can stop and grab us takeout on the way home.” A sleepy whine was the response he got as Mika curled up in the backseat. 

“M’ not hungry,” she mumbled after a minute. Yoongi sighed and started the car, knowing that he would be getting her something anyway in case she changed her mind. As he pulled away from the company building Mika began to stir again which caused him to glance at her through the mirror. “Can we still cuddle when we get home?” she asked which caused Yoongi to stiffen. Oh right, now he remembered the conversation from earlier. In his rush to get her off of him before anyone saw he had promised her he would cuddle when they got home, but he was hoping she would have forgotten about that. It wasn’t that he didn’t like cuddles, he just liked his personal space and Mika seemed to test that every time she was within a few feet of him. That was not going to cut it in the future, especially if she wanted to keep coming to work with him. Still, she was clearly too tired to have that conversation right now so he would have to put it off for another time. 

“We’ll see,” he replied in hopes she wouldn’t look too much into it, “go ahead and go back to sleep, I’ll wake you up when we get home.” The calico whined but did as she was told, leaning against the car door and closing her eyes. Yoongi sighed when he glanced back again to confirm that she was asleep before shaking his head and finishing the drive home. True to his word, he did stop at a takeout place a few blocks from their apartment to grab dinner for the both of them before finishing the drive home. Mikas he would just put in the fridge and reheat later that evening when she inevitably woke up. Yoongi was careful with closing the car door when he got out to make sure she wasn’t startled awake before rounding the car to the passenger’s side. Even when he opened the door and had to reach his hand out to keep her from falling out, she didn’t even flinch. For such a light sleeper, she did not want to wake up right now. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he muttered to himself, leaning down to grip her shoulder and try shaking her awake. “Mika,” he called, “come on Kitten, we’re home.” The catgirl stirred for a second, ears twitching slightly, but she still didn’t wake up. A groan left the businessman as he gave up, setting the takeout bag down on the floor of the car before unbuckling Mika and carefully pulling her into his arms. The sudden weight of the female caused him to grunt but she was light enough for him to carry without issue. Yoongi shifted so she was laying against his chest with one arm securely under her thighs as he grabbed the takeout bag with his now free hand. It was a bit of a challenge to balance everything he was carrying and he was worried he would drop something, or her, but he made his way up to his apartment as carefully and slowly as possible. His kind neighbor offering to carry the food to his place so he could focus on the catgirl was definitely a lifesaver as well. 

Bowing his head to the woman who helped, he got the door open before taking the food from her and closing the door. Yoongi kicked off his shoes and placed the bag of food on the counter before walking to Mikas room. He laid her down and tucked her in softly before closing the door and walking back into the kitchen so he could have his dinner. The house was silent save for the sounds Yoongi was making as he shuffled around and ate. Mika was fast asleep in her room and he didn’t bother distracting himself with useless noise like the TV or his phone. He had a lot to think about and took advantage of the time to be alone with his thoughts. Normally this was the time he would use to think about work, any upcoming projects or meetings he had to think about but right now his mind was elsewhere. 

He had known owning a hybrid would be tricky with his job, but he felt he was finally ready to take on that burden. Though now he was realizing that he never really considered how Mika would feel about the whole ordeal. Yoongi was always told that cats usually liked to keep to themselves and were independent, much like himself actually, but his cat definitely didn’t fit that description. All she ever wanted was Yoongi's attention and would sit there and pout about it when he didn’t have time to give it to her. At first her dependence on him was cute but at this point it was starting to get on his nerves a bit, she was acting like a child. Any time she was near him it was like they were suddenly strapped to magnets as she would latch onto him immediately and not let go until he pried her off or convinced her to leave him alone for a bit. Yeah he felt bad about disappointing her and sending her away but he didn’t understand why she needed to cling onto him every second. It wasn’t like he never gave her any attention, he didn’t mind cuddling every so often or letting her sit next to him while he worked, but there was a limit. Yoongi had a job to do and an image to keep up so he couldn’t stop what he was doing just because his hybrid needed attention. Not to mention he wasn’t always a touchy person to begin with, he didn’t mind affection in moderation but he also enjoyed his space. 

At the same time though, Yoongi couldn’t help but feel a little bit guilty for his annoyance. He knew he couldn’t help his feelings but he couldn’t expect Mika to do so either. It wasn’t like she understood how important his work was and he hadn’t really found a way to explain it to her. She was a very sheltered kitten who still didn’t understand much about how things worked because she had never gotten the chance to experience them. Even now hybrids still didn’t have very much freedom and what they did get was up to their owners. He knew this and knew he didn’t have a reason to blame her for how she was acting, but that also meant he had to take the time to explain everything to her. Easier said than done since Yoongi wasn’t the best with words and Mika would probably end up confused until he figured out what to say. Not to mention the fact that she was sensitive and there was a chance anything he said would be taken the wrong way. 

“Damn,” he hissed as he buried his head in his hands. Why did everything in his life have to be so complicated? Why couldn’t Hoseok have given him a handbook or something that would explain how to go about this without causing more issues? He had to figure this out soon though, since the pressure from all of this was going to steal his focus from his work matters. Yoongi really didn’t think he could afford to get distracted like this, not when so much was relying on him. 

“Yoongi, are you okay?” Mikas soft voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he quickly turned to look at her. She was rubbing at her eyes and her fur was going all over the place which told him she had just woken up. He glanced down at his now cold food before looking back up at her and blinking softly, had he really been distracted for that long? It had only felt like a few minutes at most but a quick glance at the clock on the microwave told him that he had been lost in thought for at least a good 20 minutes. He sighed and shook his head before glancing back at his now concerned companion. Mikas' expression got more worried the longer he stared at her so he quickly cleared his throat and straightened up. 

“I’m fine, just thinking,” he muttered as he stood up, “are you hungry? I have your food in the fridge so I can heat it up for you.” He was already moving to get the container out as he was talking so it was more of a statement than a question. Mika seemed to realize this as she quickly took a seat next to where his stuff was. From the corner of his eye Yoongi watched her fidget in her seat. It was clear that she had something on her mind that she wasn’t able to voice, or she was scared to. “What are you thinking about, hm?” he prompted, carefully pulling the now hot container from the microwave and stirring the contents around to make sure it was all warm before setting it down in front of the calico. Mika poked at it for a second, her ears folding back against her head before she hesitantly took a bite. Yoongi returned to his spot next to her, resting his elbow on the table and his chin on his palm as he glanced at her expectantly. She didn’t say anything at first, not even looking at him as her gaze was cast onto the bowl of rice and vegetables in front of her. It worried Yoongi a bit, thinking that something was wrong, but he bit his tongue and waited for her to answer. 

“You,” the response was so quiet and so sudden that he almost didn’t hear it. Yoongi raised an eyebrow at her to see if he could prompt an explanation but she was still refusing to look at him. 

“Me?” he asked once he realized she wasn’t going to answer, all Mika did was nod which made him sigh, “what about me?” Mika made a noise that was similar to a whine or sigh, pushing her food away with the end of her chopsticks before setting them aside. 

“You changed,” she confessed, “ever since you started working again that’s all you ever do. You’re always busy and stressed and you never want to spend time with me anymore.” Just like that, the topic he had been trying to avoid had come back up and now there was no way for him to escape from it. Whatever luck he had was clearly not on his side at the moment because everything that he didn’t want to happen seemed to play out in front of him like a cursed film he couldn’t escape from. He had really hoped Mika wouldn’t notice anything and that he would have more time to think about how he wanted to approach her about the work discussion but clearly he had underestimated her. It was his own fault really for stalling and undermining how observant the girl could be but that didn’t make him feel at ease. Yoongi groaned a bit and moved to run his hands over his face, one moving up to tug at his hair as the other returned to rest on the table. The positions had switched as now Mika was the one looking at him expectantly and he refused to even glance in her direction. Well, he supposed there was no getting out of this, may as well bite the bullet and get it over with. 

“Look Mika,” he started with a sigh, “it’s not that I’ve changed, I’ve always been like this but you’re not used to it. I have a very important job and I need to focus on that job so I’m very busy and that’s why I work all the time. If I didn’t then my business would be in a lot of trouble and I would lose a lot of money, we wouldn’t be able to live the way we do if that happened, does that make sense?” He finally turned to look at her but only got a head tilt in return, obviously she didn’t understand what he was saying and he had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. It felt like he was trying to explain these things to a toddler. “Think about it this way, you need money to buy things right?” he asked, to which she nodded, “so in order to get money I have to work. However, as I told you before, I am the boss of the company. That means that I am in charge of everyone and making sure that everything is going well which also means that I have more work to do than everyone else. If I don’t do the work then the company gets in a lot of trouble and we lose money. That’s why I have to work a lot and can’t spend a lot of time with you, does that make sense?” Mika stared at him for a moment like he was speaking an unknown language before slowly nodding. Part of Yoongi knew that she still didn’t fully understand but there was no use pushing the matter and confusing her more. Mika hummed softly and tapped at the table before looking back at Yoongi. 

“Is that why you’re mean all the time? Because you work so much?” she asked the question so innocently and yet Yoongi felt the force of the words as if she had directly insulted him. In a way it was insulting, being called mean by someone so close to you, but he knew she didn’t mean it that way. Still, it took all his will power not to slam his head into the table. 

“Why do you think I’m mean?” he asked, through slightly gritted teeth. Though he really hoped she couldn’t sense his annoyance or they would have another issue on their hands. 

“You’re annoyed all the time,” Mika explained, “ever since you went back to work you’ve been really snappy and you push everyone away. You never show affection and you don’t seem to even want me around anymore. You keep pushing me away and I never get your attention.” She was whining by the end of her statement and Yoongi couldn’t help but feel his heart break at how sad she looked. It wasn’t like he was trying to push her away, though he supposed he could see why she would think that. 

“I’m not mean Mika I just,” he paused for a moment to take a deep breath before he got riled up, “my work is very important okay? I also have an image I have to keep up as the leader. It would make me look bad if they saw me act all soft or get distracted because all my attention is on my hybrid right?” She nodded again, albeit a bit too quickly which was a giveaway that she was basically tuned out of this conversation. It was clear Mika was trying to understand but her emotions were getting the best of her so all she was hearing was excuses leading up to the fact Yoongi didn’t want her around. This was not the case at all but he was grasping at straws to figure out how to explain this to her, “You’re allowed to come to work with me still and all of that I don’t mind, but I just can’t have you latching onto me all the time. You don’t normally cuddle people in public, okay?”

“You don’t cuddle with me at home either!” Mika argued. This time he couldn’t help the audible groan that rumbled in the back of his throat, causing the female to shy away from him a bit. 

“I just don’t like cuddling that much, I’m not a touchy or affectionate person,” he sounded much snappier than intended but there was no going back now. Mika physically deflated which made Yoongi sigh in response, this was not how he wanted his night to go. 

“But that day at the shelter…” Mika whispered though Yoongi could pick up the sadness in her tone. It sounded like she was about to cry and now he wanted to end this conversation as soon as possible. 

“Look Mika,” he snapped, “I’m just busy with work and don’t have a lot of time to spend cuddling and giving you attention so I’m sorry that upsets you but you’ll have to get used to it.” Before she could have a chance to react he stood up and made his way to his room without another word. The door slammed behind him and Yoongi huffed as he dropped onto his bed, not caring about wrinkling his suit at the moment. Honestly he just wanted this night to be over and hopefully in the morning this would all be a bad dream. He could hear Mika shuffling around outside of his door before she eventually went into her room, the soft clicking of the door echoing in his ears before the apartment went silent again. Yoongi knew that he had let his frustration get the best of him and Mika was probably beyond upset with him but he didn’t know what to do. He was too tired to try fixing it tonight but in the back of his mind he knew that he wouldn’t be able to focus tomorrow because he’d be worrying about her. Tomorrow was going to be hell he already knew, but he decided he would worry about it then instead of staying up all night stressing about it. Yoongi forced himself up so he could get ready for bed before curling up and staring at the ceiling for what felt like hours before he finally felt himself doze off. 

Yoongi didn’t sleep much that night, if at all, tossing around and unable to clear his mind enough to fall asleep properly. Needless to say he was cursing his alarm when it started blaring in his ear two hours before he had to be at work. He got ready in silence, not hearing anything from Mikas room or outside so he assumed that she was probably still asleep. He considered waking her up and asking if she wanted to go to work with him again but the argument from the night before replayed in his mind and he hesitated. It wasn’t like they could just pretend nothing happened and Mika being at work with him may make things awkward. With these thoughts in mind he decided that it probably wasn’t the best idea and he would just have to talk everything out with her when he got home. That didn’t stop him from peaking into her room though to make sure she was okay. If he didn’t know her by now he probably would have lost her under the pile of blankets she had burrowed under, making him sigh as he carefully walked into the room. Mika was sensitive and he didn’t want to wake her, just check up on her before leaving. Once he got closer he could see her ears poking out ever so slightly which made him smile a bit, resting his hand on where he assumed her shoulder would be for a moment before quietly sneaking out of the room and making his way to work. 

It was obvious from the moment he stepped foot in the office that something was wrong. He kept his gaze on the ground and refused to acknowledge anyone before locking himself in his office and burying himself in his work as he tried dealing with his thoughts. His own emotions were a mess of annoyance, frustration, and guilt as he tried to think about how the night would go when he had to face Mika. Everyone knew that he was off but the only one who was willing to confront him about it was Jin, the older not bothering to knock as he welcomed himself into Yoongi's office. 

“Okay what happened?” he asked, closing the door and taking a seat. Yoongi huffed and didn’t even bother to look up at him, focusing intently on the contract in front of him. 

“Good morning to you as well Mr. Kim,” Yoongi muttered, scribbling his signature at the bottom of the paper before setting it aside and grabbing another. 

“Cut the formalities Yoongi,” Jin huffed, “no ones going to walk into the office right now you can drop the tough guy act.” Yoongi sighed and leaned back in his chair, finally looking up to meet the other gaze. 

“What do you want? I’m busy,” he said flatly. 

“Yeah so busy you read over the same paper three times since I walked in here,” Jin pointed out, “so are you going to tell your hyung what’s wrong with you or no?” The older male leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms as he mirrored Yoongi's expression, a telltale sign that he wasn’t planning on leaving until he got an answer he was satisfied with. 

“What makes you think something’s wrong?” Yoongi blew him off as he returned his attention to the paper on his desk. 

“You walked in without as much as a hello or nod, and you’re glaring at everything. Also given you came in alone when yesterday you had a calico cat clinging to you it’s obvious something happened.” Yoongi wanted to curse Jin for how observant he was, tapping his pen against his desk as he glanced up at him. 

“There was a bit of a misunderstanding with Mika last night, that’s all,” he explained flatly. 

“If you’re this worked up it has to be more than a simple misunderstanding,” Jin argued, “so tell me, what happened?” He leaned forward to rest his elbows on the desk and his chin on his hands as he looked at Yoongi expectantly. 

“Why are you getting so involved in my personal life?” Yoongi whined, though they both knew there was no point answering that question. The two had been close since before Yoongi took over the company, Jin knew the younger better than Yoongi knew himself at times. With a defeated sigh, Yoongi pushed back in his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose, “She was upset that I wasn’t giving her enough attention and I got annoyed because she wasn’t respecting my work. I pretty much told her that I hate affection and that she needed to get used to that because I don’t have time to spend with her. That upset her and well here we are.” It was silent for a moment as Yoongi looked at Jin expectantly. Instead of a verbal reply though, the older leaned forward and flicked him hard on the forehead. 

“Idiot, why would you say that!” Jin scolded, “Mika’s a kitten and still getting used to being with you of course she’s not going to understand your work right away!” Yoongi whined softly and rubbed at his head. 

“I guess I deserve that,” he whispered as he fixed his hair. 

“Yes you do!” Jin confirmed, “look Yoongi I know you get flustered with physical affection and you think your image means everything but things are changing and you are the one that needs to get used to that. You brought your new hybrid to work once and you expect her to understand all the rules right away? Do you realize how foolish that sounds? You need to be patient with her and calmly explain why you don’t like things and what you expect. Also public affection I can understand but don’t you dare say you don’t like affection because you and I both know that’s not true! What’s so wrong with letting her sit with you or cuddle against you when you guys are alone and you’re working? She’s not a dog hybrid so I’m positive she’ll stay still and let you work as long as you’re near her.” Yoongi wanted to argue, but he knew that Jin was right. He let his annoyance get the best of him and ended up saying everything wrong while trying to get his point across. Jin raised an eyebrow at him once the younger had been silent for more than a few minutes, further proving that there was no arguing his way out of this. 

“Fine you’re right,” he confessed, “but what’s said is done so what am I supposed to do now?”

“Fix it!” Jin exclaimed, so loudly that Yoongi was worried someone outside would hear them. The male only rolled his eyes when told to quiet down though, “You are going to go home tonight, apologize to Mika for snapping at her, and calmly explain what you meant. Then you are going to work together to get to a point that's comfortable for both of you instead of dancing around until one of you is pushed over their limit.” Yoongi only nodded but Jin seemed to accept that as an answer, standing up and making his way to the door. “Oh and if I don’t see her here with you tomorrow I’m going to drag you back to your apartment to get her myself,” he warned before opening the door and making his way out, “have a good day Mr. Min.”

Yoongi bit his lip and threw his head back against his chair once the elder left, whatever leftover focus he had for work now gone as the conversation replayed in his mind. He hated that Jin was right, but he knew that he needed to follow his hyungs advice if he wanted to fix this. It was times like this that he really wished there was a guide book for how to deal with these situations but there wasn’t, he had to figure everything out on his own once again. 

Yoongi ended up calling it an early day, rescheduling his later meetings knowing he wasn’t going to be able to focus and making his way home. The whole drive he was preparing himself for what he wanted to say and how Mika would react, praying that it would go easier than the previous night. Though his hope was quickly fading as he walked inside to find the apartment oddly quiet. He felt a knot in his throat as he took off his shoes and set his bag to the side of the door while calling out, “I’m home.” Yoongi waited a few minutes but didn’t hear any sign of Mika moving to greet him which made him sigh. Maybe she was just resting, but the thought of her avoiding him weighed heavy on his mind. “Mika?” he called out as he made his way through the apartment, checking her normal spots, “Kitten where are you?” He gently peeked into her room and almost sighed again when he saw her curled up in bed. She had a blanket wrapped around her small frame and her attention was on a cartoon she had decided to invest herself in. If she sensed his presence, she didn’t make it known as her focus stayed on the small TV set on her dresser. 

“Mika,” he called softly, knocking on the door to get her attention. She didn’t jump, which told him she knew he had been there, simply turning her head to glance at him. Great, she was still upset with him so this was not going to be easy. “Can I talk to you real quick?” he asked, getting another nod in return. Yoongi hummed softly as he stepped into the room, taking a seat on the bed next to her and taking note of how she tensed up, “What are you watching?”

“Tobot,” she answered quietly, keeping her attention on the show. Yoongi took a deep breath and nodded as he glanced at the TV. 

“Can we pause it for a minute? I need to talk to you about something so you can watch it more after.” She didn’t say anything so he took that as his cue to grab the remote and pause the show, forcing her attention onto him. “Look I need to talk to you about last night, I don’t think I said everything properly so I want to make sure you don’t misunderstand me,” he started, “I don’t mind your affection okay? I’m just not used to having someone constantly want my attention and that’s my fault not yours. I also understand you don’t like that I’m not always able to give you attention but my work is important and I need to get everything done before we can relax. We can’t be overly affectionate in public but if you let me get my work done then I promise I will make time where we can cuddle or go out and do whatever you want okay? Are you understanding?” Mika blinked up at him as she processed everything he just said, lowering her gaze back to the ground and shaking her head. 

“I don’t get it,” she whimpered, “yesterday you said…”

“I know what I said yesterday but that’s not what I meant,” he cut her off, “focus on what I’m saying now.”

“So you do want affection?” Mika asked, clearly still confused. 

“In moderation we can be affectionate okay? Just not when I’m working,” Yoongi clarified. 

“You’re always working though,” she reminded, “so I would never get your attention anyways.” Yoongi's lips pulled back into a straight line and he closed his eyes as he took a moment to compose his thoughts. He had to remind himself to be patient and not get annoyed again or this would get worse. 

“Let’s make a deal then,” he said after he collected himself, “you accompany me and when I’m free to give you attention I will tell you okay? If you want something and I’m not too busy we can do that as well. However, if I tell you that I can’t do something because I’m busy, you have to listen and let me finish my work with no complaining, okay?” Mika was quiet for a while, looking at the paused cartoon and he could see her tail sway from under the blanket. “We need to communicate what we want so we don’t fight, I can give you what you want but you also have to give me what I want,” he explained further in hopes of lessening her confusion. 

“Promise we can spend time together?” she asked after another moment, making Yoongi smile a bit.

“I promise,” he assured. That seemed to be enough for Mika as she smiled softly and nodded.

“Okay deal,” she agreed softly. Yoongi felt like a weight was lifted off his chest at those words, letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Almost hesitantly, he reached out and patted her head softly, only lasting for a moment before she pulled away. 

“Good,” he said, “I’ll let you go back to your show now. Dinner will be in a few hours but I’ll be in the living room if you need me before then.” With that he excused himself and left her alone, hearing the show start up again the second he closed the door. He huffed softly and ran his hand through his bleached hair as he walked to the living room, grabbing his laptop from his bag and settling on the couch. Yoongi knew there was still a long way to go for him and Mika to be fully comfortable with each other, especially after he lost his patience, but hopefully this was a start. 

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[thetrashywritingwitch]

“Be Still, Just for Me” Bakugo x Fem!Reader, Ch. 45

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

(all chapters are available in my masterlist!)

Summary: Bakugo Katsuki, a Pro Hero in Japan, is used to the routine: wake up, kick villain ass, rinse and repeat. He’s living his dream, soaking in all he’s ever wanted and worked for.

During the brief moment he lets his guard down, everything changes.

Tossed into a world without quirks with nothing but the clothes on his back, he’s forced to accept the help of someone who knows exactly who he is: a manga character who should definitely not exist.

Chapter length: 12k

Warnings: T+ for language, no warnings

Reminder that the A03, Wattpad, and Quotev links will be in a reblog so this post shows up in search results! They’re also in my profile header! <3

Co-written and plot mapped by @rose-sparks13

thanks to all my beta readers!!! <3 @birinboom, @bananabossbitch, @jems-all-in-a-wood, and a few others who prefer to remain anonymous. NOTE: please ignore and forgive anytime i might've misspelled "Yaoyorozu" because I swear I spelled it three different ways throughout the chapter and @birinboom bonked me on the head for every single one

Chapter Title: The Night We Met

__________________________________________

"Oooh, I feel like I'm gonna barf." Your hands never felt so jittery before, shaking like a leaf in the wind; well, no, that probably wasn't entirely true, but it damn sure felt like it was in the top five potential nervous breakdown moments in your life so far. Just to be safe, you hurried to the bathroom with the toilet seat up and paced on the cold tile. Despite your stomach's twisting unease, nothing came up. 

Waiting for someone to whisk you away to the world of My Hero Academia so that you could reconnect one last time with Bakugo Katsuki would no doubt give anyone brain fog at the plausibility of it all.

You should've been excited - you were excited - but the stress of committing such a risky leap into turbulent waters was nerve wracking to say the least. If things turned out well and Katsuki didn’t outright reject seeing you as his surprise birthday gift after six months, then you’d not only get to spend valuable time with him again, but you’d get to meet his friends, see Japan, and experience the world of My Hero Academia with your own eyes; an opportunity singular to you and only you in the entire world as far as you were aware. 

On the other hand, what if your sudden reappearance instigated Katsuki into another angry outburst to mirror that awful night after the theme park date? What if waiting months after Uraraka arrived with her gift at a second chance was the wrong thing to do? Rejection tasted like glass shards, sharp and bloody and nearly impossible to pick out every tiny piece. Hearing it from him the first time was bad enough even though he took it back and apologized less than an hour later… but you weren't sure if you could take having all of his friends watching as he potentially rebuffed your arrival at his own birthday celebration. 

Catching yourself in the bathroom mirror, you frowned at the stress evident from the shadows under your eyes; sleeping last night proved nearly impossible with anticipation twisting in your stomach. Nevertheless, you tried to rest as best you could considering the incredibly busy day ahead of you if things went according to… well, whatever plan Katsuki's friends had in store.

You'd been anticipating this moment ever since Uraraka left your apartment months ago. The realization of what exactly you agreed to didn't set in until that evening when panic slowly crept in as you went through a mental checklist of what you needed to do in preparation and what could possibly happen to derail all of it once you arrived. You asked for time off from work for the week of April 20th right after the holidays. To keep your parents from worrying if they tried to contact you, you told your parents that you were going on a week-long trip with some friends where you wouldn’t have close access to cellphone towers. 

Most unexpectedly of all was the fact that you and Livia from the ramen shop had actually become friends. Though she was younger than you and things had obviously been awkward at first, you found her energetic and optimistic personality a welcome gift in your dejection as it slowly waned with time. And because she had actually met Katsuki, you told her that you were planning on going to Japan to try and visit him for a week. It wasn't a lie… your trip was taking you to Japan… just in a different universe. 

"Oooh, that's straight out of a romance book my mom would read I swear," she'd said after you explained. "You nervous?" 

"I mean, yeah," you joked with a dry laugh as the two of you sat at a small café after work for warm drinks and pastries. "I've never been to Japan, but I've always wanted to go… "

"I meant about seeing your man again." Livia picked a crumb off her plate and stared at you with raised brows. 

You fidgeted with your mug and avoided her scrutiny. "Oh… um, yeah. Just unsure of how things will go, I guess. Since he doesn't know that I'm coming as far as I'm aware-" 

"Hold up." She blinked, obviously disbelieving your words. "He doesn't know you're planning this trip? Um, explain that one to me?!" Face scrunched and twisted in a way that anyone who wasn't being interrogated by her would find funny, Livia held her palms up facing the ceiling to pass the conversation back to you. 

Scraping your teeth across your top lip, you thought about how to spin this so she would buy it. She was smart enough to get into law school, which meant she was smart enough to pinpoint your bullshit. "So, like, his friends found out about what happened and contacted me saying that he wished he could see me again… sooo, we're kinda planning to surprise him… which wasn't my idea! I said they should tell him what they were gonna do, but they're his friends, not mine, and they wanna keep it a secret in case I can't make it or something…" 

She sat across from you, chin in her palm, lips pursed before she let her tongue click against the roof of her mouth. "You're gonna get kidnapped."

"What?! No-" 

"This is like, stranger danger 101. Now. I'm totally into traveling and experiencing new things and chasing what you want, but this sounds sketchy as hell." 

To anyone that didn't know the true context of the entire situation, yeah, it did sound like a dumb and audacious idea to travel to an unfamiliar country to find a guy you knew for a month. However, Katsuki and Uraraka and all of their friends were trustworthy Heroes who only wanted to bring the two of you together again. They'd never bring you there if it would put you in danger; if anything, being around top Heroes would be the safest possible option. 

You tapped a fingernail on the side of your cup and sighed. "It does sound reckless, yeah. But it's still four months away and I've talked to his friends. You and my parents know I'll be away. Like, I get it and this whole plan sounds like a bad Lifetime movie plot… but just-" The tea in your mug almost sloshed out onto the table as you slid it to the side and leaned forward into Livia’s personal space, eyes determined, and mouth pulled into a thin line. “Just know that I wouldn’t do this if I thought something bad would happen or I didn’t trust Kat’s friends. And even if our meeting doesn’t go as planned… well, I’ll just explore Japan on my own, then. Which is why… I’m wondering if you couldhelpteachmeJapanese!” 

The last words - a plea towards your new friend - slurred together as you sank lower into your seat. One of the biggest obstacles you knew you’d face being in a different country was that you knew next to zero Japanese aside from the easy phrases Katsuki helped you with. There was no way your phone was going to work there since Uraraka’s didn’t work here, so learning as much as you could in as little time as possible was your best chance at having some mild independence while there; plus, it was a huge bonus if you were able to talk to Katsuki without having an annoying robotic voice to translate every little thing. 

Livia's face morphed into the most shiteating, smug expression that would even give Katsuki a run for his money. "Aaah, I see what's going on here. You want me to give you Japanese lessons so you can talk to your hottie boy toy easier. OK, I might indulge you… but what do I get?" 

"I'll pay you money."

"Deal." Her response was so immediate, you couldn't help but snicker. "Plus, if you know the basics, then I’ll feel better about you going… but if they do kidnap you and you escape, I’ll totally be your defense lawyer.”

All you could do was shake your head limply trying to hold in your laughter while picking at the last crumbs of pastry on your plate. It wasn’t as though you were leaving your whole life behind for a guy, now that would’ve been dumb, even if the guy in question was Bakugo Katsuki. He was the one from the shounen manga story, not you. 

Now, months later as you double-checked your bag to make sure you had everything safely packed away while replaying Japanese phrases in your head. Clothes to last for a week, plus extra socks and underwear, hygiene products, makeup, styling tools for your hair, a phone charger that you probably wouldn’t even need… and Katsuki's orange hoodie. 

His scent had long since faded from the comfy fabric even though you tried not to wear or hold it too often. Sometimes, you just wanted to press into whatever was left of him as a source of comfort, even if it left you with mournful nostalgia. Maybe if things went well, he'd toss it in with his laundry or wear it so you could bring it back… or maybe that was a bad idea considering this would really be the final time the two of you could be together. Just delaying the inevitable. 

And finally, sitting on top of everything else was the red dress that had been gathering dust in your closet. 

You planned on wearing it for this birthday party of his. Hopefully, he’d think it looked as good on you as it did on the hanger. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be upset at seeing you again after all this time…

At that very moment, you jumped up from the couch and stared at the center of your living room as an iridescent shimmer began to appear and swirl around the air. Recalling when Uraraka left six months ago, this had to be-

“Oof!” The simmer quickly formed into the shape of a person before materializing fully. A familiar-looking man in plaid, sun-faded jeans, dirty boots, and a beard that nearly engulfed his entire face landed with a hard thud on your floor. 

“Fuck, shit, are you OK?!” You remembered how tired he was last time and thought you were prepared, but having someone manifest out of glitter in your living room was still kind of shocking. Bending down, you helped him onto the couch before grabbing him a glass of water. “Um, Devin?”

Clearing his throat, he finally looked at you and nodded. You knew it was him, but your nerves frazzled the rational part of your brain because you were about to travel to a different fucking universe! 

Devin’s strength began to return about ten minutes later as he took a deep breath as if sucking in clean mountain air before sitting up and letting it all out again. “Wa- ah, chotto matte,” he said with a thick American accent before he dug into his pants pocket and pulled out two things: a small device you didn’t recognize, and the champagne cork that looked just like it did six months ago; true to his word, he’d taken good care of it. 

You watched as Devin fiddled around with the device before holding it up between the two of you. “This thing workin’?” A small light on top flickered on before a robotic-but-pleasant voice came out of a speaker on the bottom. It seemed to translate Devin’s words into your own language… except it was much faster and more accurate than your phone app. 

“If you’re asking if I can understand you, then yes? It works." Well, this was something you didn't expect. "Is this a translator of some kind? Why didn't Uraraka bring it with her last time?" 

He took another long sip of water and relaxed into your couch. "Yep, it's a translator thingy. And it seems to work a lot better than whatever you used; still weird, but ah well. As for why we didn't have it before, well it didn't exist. Uraraka apparently thought ahead and asked someone in Support to make it with the excuse that it could help with their Hero work or something." 

"Support? Oh, you mean like someone who makes support items for Heroes?" Devin barely knew you and vice versa, so you weren't scared of accidentally saying something that Katsuki possibly didn't mention. The underappreciated department gave all Heroes their edge with specialized equipment and gadgets; it made you wonder if Hatsume was still around. 

"That's right," he confirmed while carefully placing the cork back in his pocket. "They'd already been workin' on this thing for a while since rescuing tourists could get messy if you're trying to tell 'em something important. But don't ask me how it works because I don't have a clue. I chop wood and fix stuff; Hero tech isn't my area." 

All of that made sense, and you felt lucky that they'd use a fancy gadget like this to help you out. "Ha, I'd been practicing Japanese since you and Uraraka left in preparation, but four months isn't long enough to know a whole lot. This is appreciated. Thanks, Devin." 

He shrugged. "Thank Uraraka. I'm just the messenger. Also a taxi, I guess… so uh, you ready to go or…?" 

"Oh, right. Umm… just one question, I guess. What's the weather there like right now? To make sure I packed appropriate stuff." Sure, a logical question, but maybe you were also stalling out of fear of what would happen once you got there. This was what you wanted - something Uraraka claimed Katsuki wanted, too - so all you could do was hope for the best. 

Devin found your question simple enough to answer. "I know about comin' prepared for a trip, though my pack is usually full of provisions and survival gear. Weather's nice in Japan right now. Cold's mostly moved on and a light jacket should be plenty." 

OK, yeah, that worked. You'd looked up the weather in Tokyo here but weren’t sure if it would be exactly the same there. Anything extra just meant you were stalling. "Then… y-yeah, I guess I'm ready." 

He waited for you to turn off all the lights and make sure you left nothing plugged in like most people would do when preparing for a vacation. You also sent texts to your mom and the few friends who knew you'd be gone before turning off your phone. If they tried to call and got some kind of disconnected message, it could cause unnecessary worry that you would hate to deal with when you came back home. 

"Does it hurt? Teleporting, I mean." 

"Nah," he assured as he stretched his thick arms towards your ceiling. He'd given you the fancy translator to hold along with your bags. "You'll feel a tug behind your belly button, but it happens in a flash. Probably be kinda disoriented and tired, but it'll affect me more than you." 

If it wasn't for Devin and the dedicated effort of Katsuki's friends, none of this would even be possible. "Thank you for all of this, Devin. Without-" 

"Nah, no, none of that." Holding up his hands as if you were sick, he sucked in his lips until they were completely hidden behind his beard. "I'm doin' all this as a favor to someone. But you better make this little journey count and snag that guy of yours, got it?"

Heat pooled in your cheeks as you shuffled your feet. Even this stranger was rooting for you and Katsuki to try and make it work… temporarily, at least. "Half of it is up to him, but I'll do my best. Now, let's go before I do something dumb." 

Devin cracked his neck before extending his elbow out for you to hold onto. Terrified that a vital part of you would somehow get left behind despite Devin’s reassurance, you gripped his sleeve and dug your fingers into his arm while your other hand shakily held onto your suitcase. Please let this work, please let this work, please let me not barf as soon as I get there…

You screwed your eyes shut while Devin pulled out the old All Might keychain Melissa gave him. All of these small, ordinary items held so much emotional significance to their owners… the world really was a crazy, beautiful place behind it all, huh?

The tug behind your stomach was immediate, like a vacuum trying to suck you into a powerful whirlwind that gave you no time to escape. Your vision swirled and meshed like a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes shoved into a blender. There was no time to process dematerialization or what you imagined taking LSD might be like, as everything turned blindingly white before something hard and flat came up to meet your palms and knees.

I'd much rather fall out of bed than deal with that. Thoughts disoriented and blurry, you groaned as you tried to figure out what happened, where you were, and if all of your limbs were still attached. Although nothing hurt, your eyes felt as though you’d stared straight at the sun for a second too long and struggled to open them. Unrecognizable voices talked around you in Japanese as you tried to sit up before a painful twisting in your chest had you doubling over in discomfort. 

Meanwhile, halfway across the city, Katsuki and Mar were talking to authorities after just apprehending a rowdy group of wannabe villains trying to start trouble at a bank. 

"Mm, that's right," Katsuki said to one of the cops on the scene. "They- hhrg!" Out of nowhere, a sharp jolt struck him right through the chest and nearly took his breath away, causing him to stagger and lean against a nearby building for support. 

"Dynamight?! What happened? What's wrong?" The officer followed Katsuki’s glare as he whipped his head around trying to find the source of the pain, paranoid that a hidden villain had somehow managed a sneak attack on him again… but just as quickly as it began, the pain subsided. Also, for some unexplainable reason, the ache that had plagued him since first returning home six months ago, the light tug of invisible thread wrapped rigidly around his heart… lessened. The thread was given slack like a jump rope resting on the ground while two points still held the handles. 

A bead of sweat ran down the side of his face at feeling the paradox of simultaneous worry and relief. Mar's voice came into focus as they jogged up behind him. 

"Dynamight-senpai? I saw you double over and-"

"You secured the perimeter, right? All the villains are in custody?" He avoided Mar's worried expression and instead stared across the horizon of the city trying to mentally piece together what just occurred. 

"Um, yes. I double-checked and everything's in order and accounted for. Did something happen…?" 

Katsuki remained silent, his lips pulled into a thin line. Just let me get through my fucking birthday without any bullshit. 

Back at the Midoriya household, you were dealing with similar confusing feelings muddying your thoughts compounded by the daze of landing in a stranger’s house with people who looked familiar. You almost couldn’t believe it despite knowing they were just as real as Bakugo Katsuki. 

A tall woman with long black hair pulled into a neat ponytail trailing over her shoulder and dark granite eyes was tending to Devin laying limply on a nearby couch with a damp cloth. She looked exasperated while trying to keep polite composure as she spoke in hushed Japanese. 

Another person, this one with pale pink skin, matching hair, yellow horns, and dressed in loud but chic clothing waved her arms dramatically while giving an earful to- 

“Oh my god,” you mumbled to yourself as you immediately identified the mop of forest green hair, freckles, and long-healed scars covering his hands and forearms as he nervously attempted to assuage the pink-skinned woman who was now karate chopping him on the head. Though they were older, taller, and noticeably more muscular - Midoriya, especially - you were clear headed enough to put names to their faces.

Yaoyorozu Momo, Ashido Mina, and Midoriya Izuku currently surrounded you while you recalled what the hell happened over the last five minutes. You landed on the floor, distressed voices in alarm, your chest hurt as though someone had smacked your sternum hard enough to knock the breath out of your lungs, someone helped you sit against the edge of a chair…

Your murmuring must’ve drawn Midoriya’s attention away from the frustrated Ashido as he swiftly walked forward with panicked eyes, glued his arms to his sides, and bowed generously while repeating what you could only make out as a string of apologies in rushed Japanese as you sat dumbfounded on the floor with your knees pulled into your chest. The translator Devin gave you lay off to the side since you dropped it while trying to break your fall. 

"Umm… " While you slowly reached for the translator while staring awkwardly at the man apologizing to you, Ashido gently pushed him to the side with a roll of her large black eyes before kneeling in front of you as her expression softened.

"Ogenki desu ka?" Ok, you could finally put some of your studying to good use…

"Uh, hai, genki desu," you answered easily. This mild disorientation was finally wearing off. For whatever reason, that made her giggle which reassured you that nothing had gone catastrophically wrong with this part of whatever their surprise birthday plan entailed. 

Just as your hand was about to close around the translator, Ashido noticed and snatched it up with quick reflexes before holding it up curiously. "Nanda korya?" 

"G-gomen! Hai," Midoriya stammered while grabbing the device out of her hand and handing it back to you. Pressing the "power" button that Devin showed you earlier, a green light flickered on while Ashido pouted. 

"Thank you," you said as the pleasant voice reverberated out of the bottom. "I don't really know what's going on… I mean, I sort of do, but-" 

"Please tell me you're (y/n)-san?" Midoriya looked as though he'd barely slept in days, so the least you could do was pacify him even though you desperately wanted to know where Katsuki was. 

You nodded and he deflated in relief. "Thank goodness… so, it really worked-" 

"Excuse me, Midoriya-san." The woman you assumed to be Yaoyorozu stood up from her place next to Devin, her perfect posture and disciplined visage almost imposing despite knowing her kind personality from canon. Hopefully, she hadn't changed drastically in that regard since being a teenager. "Can you please fill Ashido-san and I in on what exactly is going on? You asked us to come and help you with an important favor for Bakugo-san's party tonight, but have been evasive on the details. Who are these people," she said, gesturing to both you and Devin, "and how did they get here?" 

Knowing Midoriya hadn't actually told them who you were and what you were doing here made you want to curl up into a ball to catch up on missed sleep. Did that also mean they didn't know where Katsuki had been all that time he was gone? You knew his friends were as impulsive as they were strong, but there was no way this would go off without a hitch. What a mess and I've barely been here ten minutes… 

Chancing a look at the couch to your left, you asked, "Is Devin alright? He said he would be tired afterwards…" 

Yaoyorozu followed your line of sight and sighed. "Yes. He's asleep, but fine. Apologies for my rude outburst. I'm Yaoyorozu Momo and this is Ashido Mina. It seems like you already know Midoriya-san and that you are not fluent in Japanese judging by your accent and use of the device in your hand…” 

With fidgeting fingers, Midoriya stood up and again bowed in apology, this time towards Yaoyoruzu. “Sorry, sorry… I know this all must be confusing, but you and Ashido-san were who I thought of first to help with our, um, plan. Also, if we could try and keep it down… Ochaco is resting right now, but she’ll wake up soon to help with tonight since I know she wants it all to go well…” 

“That doesn’t tell us much.” Ashido stood up and brushed invisible dirt from her thighs. “I mean, I like surprises and all as much as the next girl, but we really need more to go on than that… why are you staring at me?” 

Her sudden inquiry made you realize that your eyes were glued to her appearance, which made you feel incredibly embarrassed. “Crap, that’s rude, sorry,” you apologized while standing up yourself to make sure the dizziness was finally gone. Introducing yourself properly even though they heard your name through Midoriya a moment ago, you explained, “It’s just… no one has pink skin or horns in my universe. But I still shouldn’t stare! You’re very pretty and it’s a lovely shade of bubblegum pink.”

Cupping her cheeks demurely, Ashido fluttered her lashes and gleamed. “Oh, well, thank you- wait. What’d you just say? What do you mean in your universe?!?”

You looked to Midoriya for silent advice on what to say since that answered a few questions regarding what they knew or didn’t know, but luckily he stepped between you and the other two bewildered women. “I-I know that must sound weird, haha! Like I said, it’s hard to explain… but um, hopefully (y/n)-san can fill you in because I have a lot to do before seven o’clock tonight.” Silently balking at Midoriya shoving the responsibility of telling perfect strangers your history with Katsuki on your own shoulders, you frowned as he continued to plead his case. “Just help her get ready? I guess??”

Ashido and Yaoyorozu shared a look that spoke volumes. “Midoriya-san, ready for-” 

A familiar but tired voice echoed from somewhere down a hallway on the opposite side of the room. “We were too loud! I swear, Kirishima-kun, Todoroki-kun, and I will make it up to you two! Devin-san can stay here for now, but if you all could leave and just come back later tonight, I think that will work best." 

Rather than wait for an answer, Midoriya quickly but politely shooed all three of you towards the front door while you dragged your single bag of luggage and purse behind you. Ashido and Yaoyorozu huffed while they slipped on their shoes, Midoriya continuing his trait of apologizing profusely before he opened the door, waited until his guests were fully outside, and waved goodbye before leaving you standing with your back to Yaoyorozu and Ashido while silently panicking. This wasn’t exactly how you expected to be welcomed by Katsuki’s friends…

On the other side of the door, Midoriya came close to banging his head against the frame from his own frustrations. “Why’d I do that?! Kacchan’s going to blow a hole in my chest if he finds out I pushed his girlfriend out of my house because I can’t handle everything myself-”

“Izuku? What’s going on?”

He turned around to find his wife, now almost seven months pregnant, holding her stomach while tiredly pointing at Devin still asleep on the couch. Her drowsy face and messy hair from waking up were adorable to Izuku; he wanted to keep her as relaxed and stress-free as possible as the pregnancy progressed, which was why he’d attempted to handle all of the party planning, communications, favors, and Kacchan’s extra special surprise gift all on his own despite Ochaco’s insistence that she was still perfectly capable of helping. 

Back outside, you stood by awkwardly as Yaoyorozu and Ashido discussed what to do about, well, you. 

“Look,” you interjected while wheeling your suitcase behind you like a lost tourist in a foreign airport. “I’ll explain what I know and why I’m here and all of that if you give me a chance. But it’s kind of a long story… I just don’t have anywhere to go and don’t really know anyone here besides Uraraka and Katsuki.” 

At using his given name, Ashido’s eyebrows shot up and the warm sun above sparkled off her sheer lip gloss with a silent “ooh…” while Yaoyorozu, ever the prim and proper lady, brought a hand up to her mouth as struck by your presumed social faux pas. Black eyes glistening curiously, Ashido reached over and tugged you by the elbow towards a very nice and expensive-looking car parked nearby. 

“I think you really do have a lot of explaining to do, missy… YaoMomo!” She called over her shoulder with a wave of her free hand. “You mind driving to your place?”

Knowing she wouldn’t get any answers as to what in the world was going on without agreeing, Yaoyorozu nodded with a sigh while pulling out her keys and mentally noting which tea blend would help with her inevitable headache. 

It proved difficult keeping your attention on Ashido and Yaoyorozu as you sat in the back seat studying the architecture, signs, and people - oh, the people - who differed so drastically from the familiar. Even though it looked like a normal residential neighborhood, it reminded you of the picturesque animation styles from classic slice of life anime with kids running to school with toast hanging out of their mouths. But what truly caught your attention were the people going about their day. Someone had more arms than Shoji while another seemed to have hair that twirled like lavender flames. 

It really hit you that you were the odd one out here. Not just as someone from outside their world, obviously, but you were also quirkless. Considering that only a quarter of people were quirkless in the canon timeline, that percentage had most likely shrunk even more over the past decade. Feeling so out of place, it reminded you of Katsuki's initial arrival. Well, with several key differences.

"Helloooooo, anyone in there?" Ashido's sing-song voice snapped you away from the car window as you held tight to your purse in your lap. She looked at you quizzically over the headrest while Yaoyorozu kept her eyes trained to the road ahead. 

"Sorry. This is just a lot to take in… but you want to know what all this is about, right? And who I am and why I'm here and all that?" 

"Bingo," she affirmed. "We're Heroes so our whole job is to help people, but all this is like, giving me weird vibes. And what you said earlier about people not having pink skin where you're from? What's that about?" Her tone was pleasant laced with skepticism, but her large black eyes seemed to regard you with slight mistrust. You really couldn't blame her and were honestly frustrated with Midoriya for leaving this part of their "plan" in your own hands when you were more out of the loop than anyone; well, except for Katsuki if they'd managed to keep this whole situation a secret since December. 

"Yeah," you breathed out with your head heavy on the back of the seat. "You both deserve to know what's going on since you were dragged into this… I'll try to summarize but it, uh, might be a long story…" 

The car rolled to a smooth stop at a red light as Yaoyorozu said, "We have six hours until the party tonight. That should be enough time, right?" 

Wrapping up six months worth worth of time in as many hours would've been doable if you were able to get through it all without questions or interruptions, but less than five minutes after nervously recounting the first day he arrived so many months ago, Ashido nearly made Yaoyoruzu lose control of the car with her yelling. 

"NOW HOLD ON!" 

"Ashido-san, please don't make sudden movements while I'm-

"You mean to tell me," she continued while halfway turned around in her seat to face you, face smeared with incredulity as Yaoyorozu returned her focus to the road. "That aaaaaaall this time, Bakugo was just fine and dandy while all his friends thought he was in trouble? And that you come from a different universe that’s similar to ours, but everyone’s quirkless?!”

Gnawing on the inside of your cheek, you avoided eye contact and gave a short nod. Ashido opened her mouth while the device in your hand translated, then shut it again as Yaoyorozu interjected. 

“I can understand Ashido-san’s… hesitance to accept such a tale,” she admitted, fixing her slick black hair in the rearview mirror while waiting for some pedestrians to cross the street. “But I trust Midoriya-san and assume he is aware of what happened since you are here because of his help, I assume. Kirishima-san and Todoroki-san must also know where Bakugo-san was since he mentioned them as well…”

Ashido huffed and slumped against her seat. “I knew Kirishima was keeping secrets. He’s such a bad liar. Best bro friend privileges, I guess. OK, OK, so like, he crash-landed in your house, so what-”

“We’re here.” You peered through the gap in the front seats as Ashido turned around to see a set of large and intricate iron gates swing open to reveal a long, winding driveway leading up to a beautiful house big enough to fit at least ten of your apartments inside. Right, Yaoyorozu is rich… I feel too poor to be here.

It felt similar to walking into a ritzy hotel, wheeling your suitcase behind you as you followed Yaoyorozu and Ashido inside. Following their example, you removed your shoes and slid on a pair of indoor house slippers that you knew were customary in Japanese homes to avoid tracking dirt everywhere. Again, you felt incredibly out of place: a tourist in a new place with no real direction, resources, or friends - well, except for Katsuki and Uraraka - relying on the kindness of strangers; the situation really was parallel to Katsuki’s. The sooner evening came and you found out if this whole ordeal was worth it or not, the better. 

Yaoyorozu led the two of you through a sprawling entryway and into a dining area that could’ve easily seated twenty people. Along the way, you spotted photos hung up on the walls of Yaoyorozu and her supposed parents since they were never shown in canon. The pictures that gripped your attention, though, were the poses of her standing next to a shorter woman with dark violet hair and long earlobes that ended in earphone jacks. Holding hands. Smiling… oh man, does this mean MomoJirou is canon?! 

A pink hand gripped your sleeve and tugged you further into the house. "C'mon, missy. YaoMomo can tell you about herself and her girlfriend after we get some more answers. Man, that translation thingy is annoying… " 

"Not as annoying as using an app on my phone that's only about seventy percent accurate," you admitted before someone you didn't recognize appeared from around a corner and held out a gloved hand as if wanting to take your suitcase. "Um…" 

"Don't worry." Looking up, you saw Yaoyorozu seated gracefully at a table as another unidentified person waited patiently at her elbow. "Kageyama-san will keep your things safe while we talk. Are you hungry? Some tea will be out for us shortly." 

OK, this was a little more overwhelming than you expected, but things could've been worse. "I'd like to keep my bags with me if you don't mind." There were too many sentimental things stuffed behind the zippers and letting them leave your sight, even if they would be secure in trusted hands, made you uneasy. "And I don't want to impose or anything… but I guess I was too anxious to eat breakfast this morning, so I wouldn't mind a snack." 

Ashido echoed your desire for some food, albeit in a more relaxed and amicable way, before sitting down herself with her chin resting in the palms of her hands while Yaoyorozu waved off who you now assumed to be hired help. Feeling black and grey eyes staring you down expectantly, you sat down with your things at the table, Yaoyorozu at the head and Ashido seated at your opposite.

Clearing her throat as if to begin a speech, Yaoyorozu cut the silence. "Now that we are comfortable, I'd like you to continue explaining who you are, why you're here, and what happened with Bakugo-san while he was missing."

None of this was going how you expected it to play out. These two heroes were familiar to you from canon, but they were essentially complete strangers who were trying to understand your motivations; yet another parallel with Katsuki's stressful vacation away from home. Maybe once you gave them enough diary-esque word vomit to satisfy their curiosity, the stiffness embedded in your spine and fidgeting fingers could finally relax. It'd be nice to be friends with Katsuki's friends… 

So, with a deep breath to steady yourself, you began. 

Your confusion and his anger. Your generosity and his needs. Your flustered inelegance and his effortless poise. As you talked, Yaoyorozu and Ashido slowly began to understand. The warm tea and appetizing spread of food placed in front of you went untouched as you recalled that first week and a half with Bakugo Katsuki. It was as simple as tying your shoes or brushing your teeth, tasks ingrained and completed without effort. After all, you'd lost count of how many times you replayed his visit from beginning to end over the last six months. Rewinding the tape to remember and sadly smile with nostalgia and yearning before pressing the button worn down from the oil of your fingers right before the credits rolled to bring it back to the beginning once more. Day 1. Day 2…

The two women sat in wide-eyed silence, a teacup hovering in Yaoyorozu's manicured hand while Ashido curled a section of hair around her finger while  gradually scraping off her lip gloss with her teeth. The latter snapped first. “Oh. My. God. Oh my god,” she repeated with increasing volume. “So you and Bakugo were like, DATING?!” You answered with an endorsing nod, which made Ashido slump in her chair like bubblegum ice cream melting in the sun. “I owe Sero soooo much money…” 

In contrast, the ever-composed Yaoyorozu carefully set down her teacup and met your stare with her own. “I see. Well, that certainly does answer some things. In all honesty, I’m as surprised as I am happy for Bakugo-san. He was in a dire situation and you offered him help when he normally refuses such things if he cannot reciprocate in some way. Forgive me, but he never struck me as the… dating type.” 

You managed to let out a small laugh for the first time since arriving. “I mean, I was as surprised as you are when I wasn’t outright rejected. All I did was tell him how I felt and left the rest up to him. It’s not like I’d rescind my offer of letting him stay with me if nothing happened.” 

Skipping over that whole bit of conversation, Ashido chimed back in. “And you’re sure this is the same Bakugo Katsuki that we know? And not like… an imposter?”

While her exaggerated reactions to every new bit of information you revealed was funny at first, her reluctance to accept your relationship of all things ground on your nerves. Was it truly so unbelievable? 

“Ashido-san! Don’t be rude.” 

“I’m joking, I’m joking!” She turned to your unamused face and managed to look repentant. “Sorry. Bakugo isn’t the type to do something without putting 110% into it. And he’s such a workaholic…he never made time for stuff like that. But…!” Reaching her hands towards you across the table, Ashido winced and said, “If you and him were together that whole time, and then he had to leave, that’s so sad! No wonder he was so moody when he came back home…” 

It was then you realized that this was the first time you were able to be completely honest about Katsuki and who he was with other people. There was Uraraka, sure, but she already knew most of what happened. You were telling Ashido and Yaoyorozu what you couldn’t back home. Lying to your parents, your friends, coworkers, your therapist about who Katsuki truly was and why keeping in touch wasn’t as easy as just calling or texting. He was unreachable, and though you’d tried so fucking hard to accept that reality and move on… here you were one last time. 

You only realized you were crying when Yaoyorozu jumped up from her chair in a rush to grab a box of tissues. 

While you were sipping lukewarm tea in her mansion-like house, Katsuki was finishing up the day’s paperwork after returning to the agency with Mar. No other bizarre incidents happened after that invisible sucker punch to the chest, but it still put him on edge for the rest of his patrol. Something just felt… off, and it had nothing to do with his birthday. At least, he hoped it didn't, considering he wasn’t sure exactly what those idiot friends of his had planned. 

“Knock knooooock!” Katsuki didn’t bother looking up, knowing Kirishima’s sing-song voice as he waltzed into his office as if he didn’t have one of his own right down the hall. "How's the birthday boy-" 

"Shut the hell up," he hissed with a glare. "Announce it to the whole damn city, why don't you? I've already gotten enough annoying texts to last me through all of next year." 

Kirishima didn't falter at the sass and instead walked calmly up to the large wooden desk in the center of the room with a knowing grin. "C'mon, don't be a sourpuss on your birthday of all days; you got 364 other days to turn up that dial as high as you want." 

Even though he knew Kirishima was right, Katsuki just clicked his tongue and leaned back in his chair with crossed arms. "Mar already called us old, the little brat… if you really want me to relax, the fewer people know about today, the better." As far as he knew, Kirishima had no idea that Todoroki opened his mouth about their little surprise party tonight. Might as well fuck with him a bit to teach him a lesson about secrets…

Laughing, Kirishima said, "Yeah, well, I already had a brief quarter-life crisis for about an hour. Then I got over it. We're just gettin'  better with age!" Katsuki stared at him blankly. "You got any plans later? And why are you still working? Reports can wait a day," he insisted with a wave of his hand. 

"Lucky you; I just finished," he replied. Well, he was ninety-nine percent finished, the remainder being reading it over for mistakes… but Kirishima was right, it wasn't anything that couldn't wait until tomorrow. "As for plans, I'm going home. Maybe pick up a pastry or something on the way. Make sure my cat hasn't destroyed anything. Order out for dinner. Go to bed." 

The red head grimaced as if his imaginary plans let out a foul odor of their own. "Uh… that's it? No, no, unacceptable. What if I said-" 

"No." 

"...No? But I didn't say anything yet." 

Kirishima's sad, puppy-faced dejection almost made him feel bad. Almost. "Isn't everyone saying I'm a workaholic? Well, I'm going to relax on my own damn birthday." Packing up his things, Katsuki stood up as if getting ready to leave, sliding in his hearing aid kept in the small case on his desk. It had taken him a while to adjust to the damn thing after a villain with annoyingly precise aim got him right on the left ear. Things were just slightly… fuzzier out of that side, now. Doctors recommended he upgrade his ear protection and invest in a hearing aid. Plenty of heroes used prosthetics or support items to help them back on their feet after a rough fight; no shame in that. 

"I mean, true! The relaxing part." The slight urgency in Kirishima's voice was evident now as he followed Katsuki out into the main office, still talking as he locked the door. "But I totally think it would be good to, y'know, get out for a night and celebrate!" 

Quickening his pace towards the elevator, Katsuki didn't let his facade slip through Kirishima's nervous chuckling. "I already told you my plans. Isn't what I want the most important thing here?" 

"Just! Trust me on this; it'll be great." 

"What will? You dragging me across town to get drunk?" 

"No, something better." 

The elevator dinged.

"What'd I just say?" 

"We spent ages planning this party for you, and I'm gonna make sure you make it there!" 

Finally. The confession brought a sly grin to the surface while Kirishima deflated, assuming he spilled the beans. However, his raised voice caught the attention of several office staff minding their own business, Mar included as they walked in from the restroom to see their senpai dragging Red Riot by the arm around a corner at the other side of the room. 

He stammered, trying to backpedal his blunder, but knew it was too late. “Dammit… I was supposed to come up with an excuse to get you to come over to Midoriya’s tonight.” 

“I know,” Katsuki admitted coolly. “Or rather, I’ve known for a few months about whatever surprise party bullshit you and the other two members of the Nosy Friend gang have been planning for me.” 

“Y-you knew?! But how-”

“Blame Todoroki. He’s good at bullshitting, but didn’t seem bothered telling me over noodles. I just wanted to see how you’d get me to go along with it if I claimed to have different plans; you need to work on your script.” 

Judging that his friend wasn’t promptly freaking out, Kirishima assumed that Todoroki only told him about the party and not about the second part of their plan. He just needed to keep it that way for a little while longer…

As the two men bickered, Mar stood just out of sight around the corner, eavesdropping on their little conversation. Celebrate? Party? Specifically for Bakugo…? Then it clicked. Flaring their nostrils, Mar whipped around the corner, causing Kirishima and Bakugo to turn and stare at them. 

Deep breath in, deep breath out. “"ES TU CUMPLEAÑOS POR QUE TU NO ME LO DIJISTES?!?” (Why didn’t you tell me it’s your birthday?!?) 

“Uh… what?” Kirishima never was one for learning new languages, so he met the Spanish yelling with startled confusion. Katsuki, however, actually put some effort into learning some of the basics from Mar; living with you and engrossing himself in a completely unfamiliar country might’ve had an effect on that. 

So, he got the gist of why Mar was a fuming teenager. Cursing to himself, Katsuki glared at Kirishima’s fat, shark-toothed mouth before turning on his heel, bolting down the hallway, and kicking open the door to the stairwell leading downstairs. 

That whole relaxation idea seemed better and better by the second. 

Back at Yaoyorozu's home, things went much smoother and the discomfort slowly evaporated as the three of you talked and opened up to each other. Yaoyorozu confirmed that she and Jirou were dating, still flustered over it despite being together for almost two years. But it only got to that point after both laughter and tears were shed on all fronts. 

Ashido freaked out over the bear attack story - months of therapy made talking about it a hundred times easier - and insisted that she would've run away, too. In addition, Yaoyorozu reminisced on her childhood when you talked about the amusement park, and how her parents would take her to similar places; neither of them had been to one in years, though, and were in agreement that they would attempt to make time for plans like that in the future. 

It took a while, but your appetite finally returned once you felt comfortable enough to unwind from your initial reserved stiffness. True to what you remembered, Yaoyorozu’s persnickety options of fancy tea blends offered you warmth and relief. 

Once the two of them were in agreement on what exactly to help you with - Ashido would fix your hair while Yaoyorozu decided to paint your nails and help with makeup. At first, you insisted that they didn’t have to help and that you could get ready on your own just fine since you packed a week's worth of stuff in your bag, but they claimed they needed to complete the task Midoriya had given them. 

Maybe being pampered… wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world? Just for a few hours…

“I swear I’ll drip acid on Bakugo’s shoes if he says something stupid after all you went through to get here,” Ashido vowed while running her fingers through your hair after you described how you wanted it styled. “He’s smart, but he’s also dumb.”

“I agree that, while Bakugo-san is very knowledgeable with battle tactics and quick to react while in a combat situation, it would be callous of him to dismiss your efforts.” Yaoyorozu straightened out your red dress hung up on a door hook after insisting it needed to be pressed and steamed once she asked what you planned to wear in order to coordinate a proper nail color. It had wrinkled a bit while folded up in your suitcase, but she’d whisked it away before you could argue. 

Groaning to yourself, you wondered if he’d understand why you waited so long to see him again rather than coming here as soon as Uraraka handed you the invitation. “It’s been six months… what if he’s already moved on and is with someone else, now?”

Ashido sputtered behind you. “Pfft! Trust me, he’s not. Kirishima used to try and help him meet new people and even set up a few dates for him, but they never went anywhere. Actually… Do you have, like, lists of well-known people in your world where they’re ranked as hot or not or something like that?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah, I see those kinds of things on magazines and clickbait websites about celebrities… why?”

“Well,” she began as Yaoyorozu raised a meticulous eyebrow up at her colleague. “I’ve seen where people rank us Heroes and-”

“You can’t be serious, Ashido-san,” Yaoyorozu challenged as she held a jelly red nail polish in her hand. 

“I totally am. Anyway, Bakugo is usually on those lists, but there’s usually a little note next to his picture that complains about his personality or something mean like that; you know how those types of fanmade things are. Kami showed Bakugo the list one time thinking it’d be funny, but actually, Bakugo didn’t really care at all. Nothing and no one can make that man change who he is. We’re used to it,” she continued, pointing at Yaoyorozu as her other hand accidentally tugged your hair a little too hard. “And know that’s just how he is. For you to come aaaaaall the way here just to see Bakugo again tells me you’re one of a kind.” 

You sat stunned at Ashido’s unexpected speech that ended in defense of not only Katsuki, but your own feelings for him as well. It was definitely true that he never held back with anything he did or said and usually got straight to the point, taking the shortest route in favor of a longer, more scenic experience. 

Yaoyorozu nodded along in apparent agreement as she sat diagonally from you. “Ashido-san is right. Besides, would Midoriya-san have brought you here if Bakugo-san was dating someone else? That would be an awkward and uncomfortable meeting.” 

“I… yeah, that’s true.” While you knew that Katsuki favored keeping his personal life behind a privacy wall, with how much attention his friends were giving him, keeping a new date under wraps would’ve been difficult. Not to mention his insistence that if he were with someone, he wouldn’t be ashamed or hide them from the world. Their words set you at ease despite the lingering worry of what would happen when you finally came face-to-face again. 

This back and forth continued for a while with questions and light banter, both of them sharing about themselves alongside your own personal stories. Yaoyorozu was actually intrigued when you told them about your job since she has no real experience doing work outside of her Hero career. However, Ashido seemed more interested in digging up romantic dirt between yourself and Katsuki to quench her thirst for gossip.

Leaning over your shoulder as she finished up with your hair, Ashido hummed curiously. “Hmm… I have a very important question for you, (y/n).” 

You adjusted yourself in the chair to gain back some feeling in your butt after sitting in it for so long. “Yes?”

“Do you looooooooove Bakugo? And if you do, does he know?”

“Ashido-san! That is a very personal thing to ask,” Yaoyorozu chided, pausing with a fresh cup of tea in her hand and a frown. You stiffened in your seat as you chewed the inside of your cheek at Ashido’s prodding. 

How many times had you rewound the tape of that final tearful morning? How many times did you plead for an answer in return, even if it meant heartbreak? “Yes,” you said flatly, eyes transfixed on your fingers gripping the translator device in your lap. “Yes… I do love Katsuki. I did six months ago, and I still do now. And he knows… I told him… right before he left…” 

Ashido gasped and squealed like a teenager while Yaoyorozu placed a delicate hand over her mouth as a flush spread across her cheeks. Only when you revealed that you weren’t sure if Katsuki fully reciprocated your feelings did they both understand the final puzzle piece of your worry for the night to come. 

Halfway across town in the heart of Tokyo, Katsuki stood with his back against the bathroom counter, a mirror in one hand and a tar-black eyeliner pen in the other. 

After escaping Mar’s pitiful wrath and coming home, he gave his apartment a decent once-over to make sure his devil-in-cat’s-clothing hadn’t broken or wrecked anything. True to the warning he was given at the adoption agency, Princess Explosion Murder was an absolute terror… well, to anyone who wasn’t Katsuki, at least. 

That first week in his apartment, she’d secured some favorite hiding spots, including: under his bed, under the couch, squeezed between the wall and the fridge, and the dark seat of a rarely-used chair covered by the edge of a tablecloth. The first time he came home after a long patrol and found her perched atop his wall-mounted TV wobbling precariously on its hinges was also when she gave him some of the worst kitty scratches across his arm. 

She turned her whiskers up at half the cat food brands he bought until he attempted to make his own with the help of some online recipes and a bone grinder that he already owned for making his own stocks. That way, he knew exactly what was in it and she seemed to approve as well. 

She hissed if he got too close, but meowed if she didn’t get the correct amount of attention at exactly the right time. He’d written off the arms of his couch as a lost cause in addition to trying to cut her pin-sharp nails; at least she used the scratching posts… sometimes. 

However, when he eventually figured out the balance between giving her space and recognition, things slowly but surely improved. If he sat on one side of the couch, she’d inch closer from the opposite end day-by-day until she was almost against his knee. The furball even allowed Katsuki to pet her briefly, but only in specific spots and for the perfect amount of time before she tried to gnaw his fingers off. At least it was progress. 

While he and Princess were building up this cohabiting relationship, Kirishima had come by one day after seeing Katsuki carrying a bag of cat litter on his shoulder and practically begged to meet his new pet. 

“Do not make any sudden moves… at least your quirk is good for this,” he warned before opening his apartment door. 

Kirishima beamed at the beautiful white cat with the black rhinestone collar perched neatly on the back of the couch staring at them, orange eyes surrounding pinprick slits of black. 

"Oooh, she's so fluffy and pretty! Who's a good-" 

That's all he managed to say before Princess leapt off the furniture like a pouncing lion right towards Kirishima. He was hesitant to come and visit after that, escaping with a few scratches to avoid possibly hurting her with his hardened skin. 

Now, that spoiled and snarky fluffball sat in the doorway of Katsuki's bathroom staring up at him expectantly since it was almost her dinner time; apparently, cats understood routines very well when it came to food. If he was five minutes late, she wouldn't let him forget it. 

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Stop meowing like you're starving," he huffed before returning to the mirror to finish the perfectly crisp wing of his eyeliner. He didn't do this kind of thing often - dress up in a nice pair of dark wash jeans, a deep indigo blue button-up shirt rolled up to the elbows with a gray tank top underneath, his hair actually styled for once, etc. - but if everyone else was going to make a big deal out of his birthday, he might as well put in his own effort, too. 

Finally satisfied with his appearance, Katsuki tried not to trip over Princess, who tried to weave between his legs with angry meows while leading him to the kitchen. He made enough food to last a few weeks and just put them in pre-portioned refrigerated containers for ease. "You got your attention earlier, so entertain yourself while I'm gone tonight… do not break anything." 

He might as well have been mute and invisible to the damn cat who attacked the food bowl ravenously. Rolling his eyes, Katsuki did his rounds to make sure he grabbed everything and turned off most of the lights before leaving his apartment. 

Checking the time on his phone as he stepped off the elevator, Katsuki headed towards the door leading out to a private garage for residents when the security guard Takahata called out to him. 

"Don't usually see you heading out so late, Dynamight." Takahata knew exactly who came in and who left every single day, so a change in routine would never get past him. Plus, it was obvious by how he was dressed that this outing was for leisure and not work for once. 

With his elbow pressed against the door handle, Katsuki turned back and said, "Yeah, well, maybe it'll do me some good." Takahata probably knew the birthdays of every Hero resident by heart, but he was smart enough to keep his lips sealed for certain people. 

The garage was warm from the spring air outside as he walked under the ceiling lights towards a back corner with only a few cars sparsely parked nearby. Unlocking the chain around his bike, he let it fall against the pillar before sliding on his customized helmet with a grenade detailed on the back, stretched a pair of gloves over his calloused hands, and situated himself atop the second spontaneous personal addition he bought: a flashy motorcycle painted in gradients of black and burnt orange. 

After adopting Princess, he continued his moderately impulsive streak with the bike purchase after looking up reviews and maintenance costs of various models made within the last couple of years. Paying for it made him want to puke, but Katsuki considered it an investment in anonymity and privacy. With the slick black helmet and gloves, no one knew who he was on the road; maybe a few assumed he was a Dynamight fan from the subtle coloring and decals, but with his face hidden, he didn't have to deal with crowded public transit. 

He still rode the train if the weather was ugly and generally didn't take his bike to the agency. For errands or getting around town on less busy days, though? The motorcycle scratched his speed demon itch in a completely different way… plus, Katsuki was right: he did look hot zooming around Tokyo - and occasionally the mountainous city outskirts if time allowed. 

All of this to say that for the first time in months, the weight of every stressor and obligation just… disappeared as he focused on the lamp-lit streets leading out to the Midoriya household. And as much of a fussy show as he put on for Kirishima earlier, he really did feel excited about this stupid party. Maybe having a drink and eating cake and catching up with the people who put in an effort to come - the people who probably cared about him the most - wouldn’t be so terrible. 

Pulling up into the driveway, Katsuki took note of the cars lining the streets. He recognized some, but not others. The motorcycle kickstand moved easily under the toe of his boot as he took off his helmet and ruffled his hair; so much for putting in the effort to style it.

The lights were out and the neighborhood was quiet when, not bothering to knock, Katsuki opened the front door. 

“SURPRISE!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!” The lights flickered on simultaneously as the entryway flooded with hollers and laughter. Katsuki’s face remained as impassive as stone as his eyes roamed across familiar faces that seemed puzzled as to why he wasn’t reacting. 

“Um… did we get the day wrong?” Kaminari, wearing a cliché party hat with glittery polka dots all over it, whispered to Tokoyami who then looked to Midoriya who appeared to have barely slept for at least two days. 

In response, Katsuki scoffed and pointed a lazy finger at Todoroki and Kirishima. “Oh, right,” Todoroki recalled. “I told him about the party months ago.” 

While this revelation generated dramatic groans and sighs, a woman with dirty blonde hair and a plastic cup in her hand stepped into the center of the room and smiled at Katsuki who was about two seconds from walking right back out the front door. “Like, about time the birthday boy got here. This party was mega lame, but I bet we can totes save it.” 

“WOOO YEAH!” Kaminari enthusiastically agreed as Camie raised a half-empty cup that smelled strongly of alcohol. 

While everyone said their hellos and embarrassing birthday wishes to Katsuki who grumbled about how he just had to come so that all their effort wouldn’t be a giant waste - Kirishima blocked the door so he couldn’t escape - Midoriya sent a quick text to Yaoyorozu letting them know that they could arrive soon. He and his other two cohorts in super secret birthday present crime figured that it would be best to try and get the two of you together after he’d settled in and loosened up first. 

“Are you ready, (y/n)-san?” Yaoyorozu and Ashido stood waiting by the car as you stood under the porch light, your purse in one hand and translator in the other. They’d already put your suitcase in the back seat despite being unsure what would happen and where you’d go at the end of the night. 

With a lump in your throat and an overhang of worry shadowing you like an eclipse, you nodded. 

Being the enthusiastic person she was, Ashido tried to keep things positive and assuage your worry as the car drove through illuminated neighborhood roads. "You look so cute! We did a good job, huh Yaomomo?" 

She hummed while you watched the houses go by from the back seat window. "I should be more excited, right? And I mean, I am! It's just crazy that I'm actually here, but Kat doesn't… nevermind. Whatever happens, happens. No regrets…" 

Ashido frowned and glanced at Yaoyorozu who gave her a silent "I hope this works" look. They hadn't known you for long, but they did know Bakugo; you both deserved to be happy with each other again, even if just for a single week. 

Pulling back up to Midoriya's house, you counted the new, unfamiliar cars lining the street and drivewa while trying to think of what you were going to say once you came face to face with him again. Why are you doing this to yourself? Don’t be dumb. It’ll be fine… We’ll be fine. Yaoyorozu opening your door for you as the air outside ruffled the hem of your dress forced you to swallow your insecurities and troubles. 

Your heels clicked against the pavement, your eyes darting to the dark motorcycle parked close to the house; if Tokoyami was here, maybe it was his? He seemed like the motorcycle type. “Whose bike is that?”

“Hm?” Ashido spun around, walking backwards as she looked between you and the motorcycle. “Oh, hehe, that’s Bakugo’s! It’s pretty new, I think. Probably makes him feel badass or something.”

Eyes going wide at her answer, you almost tripped on your own heel, but caught yourself at the last second. God, if Katsuki called you Clumsy-chan in front of his friends, he might just find himself with smushed birthday cake in his face. 

Shifting weight between your feet and needlessly patting out nonexistent wrinkles from your dress, you stood behind Ashido and Yaoyorozu as they knocked on the door. A few seconds later, it creaked open a hair as if the person on the other side was guarding the entrance to an underground club. Everything seemed to be in order when the door finally swung open, revealing a man - more like a mountain in the shape of a human - with a long and spiky red ponytail who quickly and quietly ushered the three of you inside. 

Oh my god, that’s totally Kirishima and he’s even taller than Katsuki! And- why is everyone here so fucking attractive?! There was little time to try and introduce yourself to the fan-favorite and resident Good Boy Kirishima, though, as he ignored you for the moment and whispered something to Yaoyorozu and Ashido, the latter of which stuck her pink finger in his face to seemingly berate him for keeping so many secrets. 

As you followed their example and slid off your heels in favor of a pair of house slippers that weren’t as fancy as Yaoyorozu’s, the anxiety in your stomach attempted to bubble up again while you attempted to understand and recognize everything and everyone further into the house. 

Low music played from an unknown source while people stood and talked, a few of whom you identified almost immediately. Kaminari’s signature lighting bolt hair was unmistakable. So was… oh god, don’t make the same mistake of staring at Tokoyami’s bird head that you did with Ashido’s pink skin. And that’s-

Kirishima suddenly stepped to block your view, clapping his hands together and muttering something you couldn’t understand since you’d turned the translator device off with the assumption that it would be a mess surrounded by so many voices. Although you didn’t normally feel claustrophobic, being bombarded with unfamiliarity made you take a reflexive step back towards the front door. Where was Katsuki?

The green-haired man you knew as Midoriya skidded around the corner looking exasperated and relieved to see you again. Moving too quick for you to see, he suddenly appeared behind you and encouraged you forward with his scarred hands on your shoulders. In any other circumstance, you would’ve wheeled around and demanded to know where Katsuki was, but being surrounded by strangers without anyone to really lean on made you silently compliant. What the hell was going on?!

Kirishima followed Midoriya and Todoroki wasn’t far behind. Ashido gave him a brief scolding for not telling them what was going on, but you three managed to arrive at the literal perfect time, which meant they needed to get you to Bakugo as quickly as possible so the two of you could talk without prying eyes. 

“Is Kacchan still out back?”

“Yeah, said he wanted a breather from everything for a minute,” Kirishima answered before an arm swung around his neck and Kaminari sloppily pointed at your back, nearly spilling some of the alcohol in his cup in the process. 

“Heeey Kiri! Who is that? Didn’t tell me you were bringing pretty ladies to the party-”

The red head lightly headbutted his shorter friend. “Dummy, that’s Bakugo’s girlfriend! I told you we had a plan to bring her here, and tonight’s the night!” The tipsy grin on Kaminari’s face remained for a good five seconds before he yelped in disbelief. Or tried to, anyway, since Kirishima clamped a hand around his mouth to avoid Bakugo coming back inside a moment too early. 

Weaving between guests, a few of whom tried to stop and chat, Midoriya remained focused on guiding you through his house towards the back door leading out to their small covered porch and garden. He was so focused, in fact, that neither he nor the others noticed how rigid and strained you appeared. On the way, he passed by his wife who did a double-take while holding a tray of snacks. 

"Izuku! You didn't tell me (y/n)-san was here," she chided while attempting to give you a friendly and familiar wave, but you just stared straight ahead until you stood in front of the sliding glass door at the other end of the house. 

There, in your peripheral vision at the very edge of the porch stood the unmistakable silhouette of Katsuki. Like a phantom lit by the ghostly glow of the moon overhead, he remained statue still with his back to you as though closed off from the rest of the world in his own little bubble. 

The tightness in your chest swelled and your nails dug indents into your palm, unable to take your eyes off of him. 

Even for someone like Katsuki, there sometimes came a point when the quiet called out and drew him away from the raucous and rowdy turbulence of high energy situations. The porch was a respite away from Kaminari’s drunken shenanigans and Kirishima’s toothy laughter and the half-decent music that Jirou picked out. 

Condensation from the drink in his hand coated his calloused fingers as he leaned on the banister and stared up at the moon, bright and glowing in the cloudless black. The idea of you crossed his mind - as you often did during these serene escapes - and he wondered briefly how you were, what you were doing, if you were happy, and if you sometimes stared up at the sky in wonder like you did back at the cabin all those months ago. 

… But his moon wasn’t your moon, and his stars weren’t your stars. There was no cliché stargazing shared from opposite ends of the earth that could exist for him. Maybe the lingering fumes of alcohol brought out this fruitless romantic nostalgia; or maybe it was-

“Katsuki…”

Time stood still. The gentle breeze faded as if suspended. He’d heard the click of the glass door behind him and assumed it was someone about to drag him back inside. But no one called him “Katsuki.” Not in that voice, that tone, that painfully familiar lilt that he’d fought to remember and forget and remember and forget… and remember… 

“... Katsuki?”

Neck stiff and mouth dry, he looked down at the melting ice in his glass and silently cursed at the cruel tricks played on vulnerable hearts. He misheard. You weren’t here. You’d never be here. Haven’t you haunted me enough?

Turning with a frown to stare down reality and blink away the taunting mirage, Katsuki froze, struck wide-eyed and off-balance by Medusa’s gaze staring mournfully at him just a few meters away. 

Eyes locked on each other as everything and everyone else faded away. Two apparitions brought together once more to rekindle old love before finally being laid to rest. 

____________________________

... please do not hate me for this cliffhanger it's been planned for literal years and the next chapter will be SO fucking long so ummmm worth the wait??

again of course, so sorry for the wait lkajsdlkjaf i shold NOT have given myself "oh yeah next chapter by his birthday haha totaly doable" and here we are two fucking months later almost to the DAY. just... just tell me i'm a good girl and pat me on the head 😭

so heeeeh yeah. they come face to face for the first time in six months. it'll be satisfying i SWEAR so don't @ me but also you're allowed to strangle me affectionately for this cliffhanger :)))) love u all!

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#bnha x reader #mha x reader #bakugou x reader #bakugou x fem!reader #bakugo x reader #be still just for me #bsjfm #pro hero bakugou #bnha fanfiction #mha fanfic #my hero academia x reader #bnha imagines #mha fanfiction #Youtube

[marshmallowgoop]

I started compiling yearly writing reviews in 2017.

"I’ve seen people do month-by-month yearly compilations for drawing," I wrote in that first post, beneath a Goop's Creative Writing in 2017 header and various isolated paragraphs, "and I know it’s way harder to see progress with writing, but I thought I’d try anyway?"

In 2018, I crossed out the Creative part.

"I’m including all kinds of writing I’ve done this time around," I said. "My non-fiction work is important to me, too."

By 2019, the header was simply Goop's Writing in 2019. No red X. No sign that there had ever been anything else.

I skipped 2020. 2021 removed headers and isolated paragraphs altogether—a tradition I'll keep for 2022.

But I can't help thinking about that crossed-out Creative from 2018.

What a 2022 mood.

See, there's this essay that's been swirling around in my head for a while. Well, more than swirling around—there are maybe the makings of it somewhere deep in my Tumblr drafts, scrawled out and abandoned way back in 2020.

You Don't Deserve to Be a Good Artist. That's what I've thought about calling it.

Because I'm a Libra, right? (On the cusp, but still!) I'm all about fairness and balance, about earning what you get. And, as I realized in horrible clarity in 2022, despite my Creative Writing degree, I don't deserve to be a good (creative) writer.

But maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.

So, here's a clumsy metaphor: I learned how to swim as a young child, through lessons held at a local high school. There were two pools there, one for swimming and one for diving, and this year, I feel like I skipped the shallower swimming pool and leapt right into the deeper, scarier diving pool of creativity. I wrote fiction beyond November's National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge of penning 50,000 words within 30 days—a challenge I've participated in since 2006—completing two short fanfictions, more than I've done in years. 2022 also got me interested in a new hobby of video editing; I've shared 10 AMVs since April.

I surrounded myself with artists, and they welcomed me with open arms, treating me with far more kindness than I felt I deserved. And that's the theme with me, so I do want to stress that it's not the fault of anyone else—not at all, not ever!—that a sense of out-of-placeness filled me.

I got my degree in Creative Writing, I must have said, multiple times, over and over.

But I never voiced, not directly, the reason I ever mentioned it at all. That I'm an artist, too. That I belong here. That I can also write creatively, not just essays! I swear!

Yeah. My need to justify my existence was probably pretty blatant.

In many ways, 2022 felt like a repeat of realizations made in 2021. "I can’t get invested in my own stories," I said in last year's review. And yet, "[S]omething simply feels… lesser, about throwing fiction behind and writing about other people’s fiction instead." So, I tried to write fiction. And it hurt, and it ached, and I cried. (And vomited from anxiety.) I vibed so much with MUNA's "Winterbreak" that I used it in an ask game this year, but it wasn't 'til the closing months of 2022 that I understood that I do actually relate to the song, in a way; my relationship with creative writing feels like a love I'll never get right, but "I'll always have one more try."

Like 2021, I also don't know where I'm going next year. But 2022 got me thinking, for the first time, "So what if I have a Creative Writing degree?" It's been a source of shame ever since I earned it—a painful, haunting reminder that I genuinely went to school for fiction writing and still write pieces that reek of amateur—but in the grand scheme of things, what does that matter, really?

So I wrote some literary fiction for school, studied movie scripts, penned a few plays, handed in one novel. (And the novel was for my Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies minor!) So I've participated in NaNoWriMo since 2006 and have over a million words on NaNo projects.

So what?

Writers around me have done so much more than that. Why do I deserve to be good? For studying writing in school for a few years? For mainly only writing fiction one month a year, which I then never polish or show anyone?

Of course, the world doesn't work like I would maybe like it to. It doesn't necessarily matter if I "deserve" to be good or not. But how can I get upset over my skills when I've spent so little time honing them?

Well, I kind of like my NaNo projects from 2022. "I'll always have one more try," I think.

Anyway, my struggles with creativity aside, I am proud of what I accomplished this year. Here are my favorite written pieces from each month!

January: Ai Haibara: Will She Choose to Remain a Child in the End?

February: Shinichi Kudo: Hiding His Trauma

March: Episodes 406-408: Toning Down the Tsundere

April: HeiShin Masterpost: Things I Love About Heiji and Shinichi

May: HeiShinRan

June: OVA 9: Shinichi’s Conception of Heiji’s Future (And How He Thinks Heiji’s So Attractive That He’ll be Called “The Lady-Killer of Naniwa”)

July: Opening 56: The Focus on Heiji’s Alcohol

August: HeiShin: Is It Really Onesided?

September: "They Only Murdered Him Once"

October: The only thing in my "ramblings" tag for this month is this post about recommended Conan English dub releases...

November: "Demon Get Out, Luck Come In"

December: Heishin: "Don't Fall in Love"

Yeah, this is, like, all Heishin related 😳

That's all for now. Happy New Year, y'all. Thank you so much for your continued support and kindness.

#ramblings #writing #happy new year! #riiiight before midnight here ^^; #goop makes a personal post

[always-andromeda]

hi meda !!

vanity fair put out an article with paul today where he talks about the fabelmans (and theres an audio version of the whole interview on there too and augh his voice <3 hehe), but they used this picture as the header photo and i’m going completely feral— so obviously i needed to share it with my fav fic author :D

here’s the interview: With The Batman and The Fabelmans, Paul Dano Reaches a New Milestone

also i hope i don’t annoy you with my asks :’3

AHHHH, I NEED to listen to that audio the next time I have a free hour because sgshdhsjjss scientific purposes… 😳

I just adore how he talks about his work. This man just submerged himself in his work and goes so full on with his characters. And the way that Burt is described…ugh it’s so accurate to how I picture him (even though I haven’t even seen the movie yet 😤). I love that man. So much. 🥹💞✨

Also, no you absolutely don’t annoy me with your asks!! 🥺 This is a message to anyone who wants to send me asks, go right ahead, i don’t care if it’s just silly or whatever!! I don’t bite and I love interacting with all of you folks!! 💗

#askmeda✨ #ry🪲 #lmao i’m just really bad at checking my inbox sometimes <3

[anatomical-puppet]

wanted to ask if its ok to use your art as a phone background? I want to make sure that it's ok with you before I use it :3

oh gosh yea, go right ahead!!! that's really cool actually :'0

#i'm very curious as to which one u want to use.......... #but yeah if anyone wants to use my art as background go right ahead! #same goes for pfps and headers as long as u give credit ^^

[formulavilla7]

Max Verstappen x Horner daughter reader

This is the third chapter of my Max story. Hope you enjoy it! Hope it’s ok that I’m using the same gif btw, it’s just to make my story identifiable as I don’t have a proper name for it yet (If anyone wants to help with that then I’d love that)

The Styrian Grand Prix was upon them, the first of the GPs at the Red Bull Ring in the stunning Austrian mountains surrounding the city of Spielberg. To say Max wanted to win here was an understatement. As a Red Bull driver to win at his team’s home race was always special. He’d done it before in previous seasons but of course he wouldn’t complain about doing it again. Any race was crucial to his championship fight.

Going into the weekend he felt relatively calm as he’d come off the back of a win in France and managed to put the pain of Baku behind him. He hoped that the success of France would continue in the next few races so that he could create a gap to Lewis.

He was looking forward to seeing Y/N again. As promised, they’d kept in contact throughout the week that they’d been separated with Max in Monaco and her in the UK. They texted each other almost daily and Max knew that he was falling for her and falling for her hard.

They’d managed to see each other briefly on Thursday and Friday sharing secret smiles as they both remembered their time in France. Max wasn’t sure what he classed that as. He hoped that it could be considered a date but neither of them had made that clear and he wasn’t going to bring it up. He didn’t even know if she liked him like that.

He shook those thoughts from his mind and tried to focus as qualifying was fast approaching. He couldn’t afford to mess up in qualifying because he’d been preoccupied with thinking about Y/N. If she knew, she wouldn’t thank him for it.

He remembered her words of encouragement, telling him that he was going to smash it in Austria. He smiled to himself about it as he lowered himself into the car and pulled down the visor to shield his eyes. Eyes that were probably shaped like hearts at the moment. He thought of the tingling in his cheek from her kiss last week and smiled harder. He was glad that no one could see his face at the moment.

With that last thought, he readied himself for qualifying, starting the car and waiting for the permission from his mechanic to leave the garage. Wish me luck, he thought as the smiling British woman invaded his mind once again before he shifted concentration to the task at hand and exited the garage, gliding up the pit lane and beginning his laps.

It was a successful session for him and he left the third qualifying session with pole position secured in his grasp for the race. It couldn’t have gone better. He clambered out of the car, pulling off his helmet and balaclava and wiping his sweaty skin with a towel. He knew he couldn’t get complacent as pole wasn’t a guarantee of a win but it was a good start and for that he was happy. He was even happier to do it for his team and hoped that the race would go in his favour.

The next day, Max was fully in race mode, ready to bring home his second win of the triple header. Y/N had sent him a good luck text that morning and told him that he could do it. He took that into the race, his heart warming that she thought of him.

He dominated the race. There was no other way to put it. He was 30 seconds ahead of the other 19 drivers including both Mercedes and his position had not really been challenged. It was an easy race for him, not that he was complaining. He cruised to a third career victory at the Red Bull Ring and slowed down to take the flag and revel in the moment. Two wins out of three in the triple header, maybe Y/N was right.

He stood proudly on the top step, the two Mercedes drivers beside him. He wished that he could have gotten fastest lap and that Checo could be alongside him on the podium and hadn’t had a slow pit stop but he knew that there was no time for what ifs. He’d still won and he had to be grateful for what he’d got. He lifted the trophy high in the air and uncorked his champagne as was tradition, feeling the cold, sticky liquid hit his skin.

Red Bull were impressed with the emphatic win and he thanked the staff for their hard work in making the car so much better than the rest of the grid this weekend. He grinned at Y/N, mouthing ‘you were right’ when he was sure that no one was watching, which she giggled at mouthing back ‘it’s all you’.

When the second Austrian Grand Prix rolled around a week later, Max felt more confident. He’d had success a week prior and whilst he knew he couldn’t get ahead of himself it possible to get the same result

He did just that, qualifying on pole again. He’d faced a surprising threat from the British McLaren driver, Lando Norris, who he knew to be incredibly talented so he remained on his guard. He’d felt tense in the closing stages of qualifying but he’d pushed it down, knowing that the Red Bull had the pace advantage. The slight guilt he felt for denying his friend a first pole in his F1 career vanished when he realised that Sergio had qualified P3. Hamilton was fourth and Bottas fifth, which played into his hands perfectly. If Sergio could hold them off then they’d be onto a winner.

Max had done it again. The triple header had been a huge success for him in his championship battle. He stood on the top step yet again. He’d finished 17 seconds ahead of Bottas in second. Hamilton had finished fourth. He grinned, for two weeks he’d been the king of the Red Bull Ring as their star driver and he’d won dominantly at that. No one had been able to catch up with him

There was a knock on the door of his driver’s room.

He opened it, seeing Y/N and stood aside to let her in. She beamed at him “You did it! Three wins in a row. I knew you could do it, Max.”

“It’s all thanks to you. You encouraged me, told me that Baku was just a one off and you’ve supported me”

“No, it was you. Your talent and resilience. You worked so hard for this Max. I’m so happy for you. I’m proud of you. You deserve this” Her eyes were sincere

Proud. He wasn’t used to hearing that word often. She was proud of him. Impulsively he hugged her, just like she’d done in Baku, drawing her warm body close to his and resting his head in the crook of her neck. Her hand gently stroked his hair.

He pulled back a little from the hug. He looked deeply into her eyes and she looked intensely into his own blue ones. Instinctively they both leaned closer, edging forward slowly until they were inches away. Then Max pressed his lips to her’s softly, his hands moving from her waist to settle in her hair. She began to respond, leaning up on her tiptoes and smiling into it, her arms winding around his neck. They pulled back. Max smiled at her, his hand resting on her cheek and lifting her head so that her eyes would meet his. Their cheeks were flushed red and their hair was mussed.

“I have something to confess” Max said, the nerves rising. It was an unusual feeling, he never got nervous. He took fear in his stride but this was different. “I like you. A lot. As more than a friend. If you feel the same then I’d really like to see how this could progress.”

Her eyes widened, her cheeks flushing a deeper red. She looked lost for words. He took her silence as a rejection and visibly deflated. It stung. He’d hoped she’d feel the same. He opened his mouth but had no idea what he could say. Please ground, he begged, swallow me up. He closed his eyes, sighing

What he didn’t expect was for a pair of soft lips to touch his. His eyes flew open briefly to check that he wasn’t dreaming but closed once more when he realised it was reality. Her hand rested on his bearded cheek, cupping his face as the other rested on his chest.

“So I take it this means you feel the same way?” He asked cheekily, winking.

“Where did you get that idea? Do you think I just go around kissing people Max?” She replied rolling her eyes fondly and shaking her head. She returned to seriousness though “I like you too Max. A lot. I’d love to see where this goes.”

That was it, this eclipsed all race weekends and he’d had some brilliant ones in his career. He was so happy

He kissed her again, unable to resist and she giggled. She felt content, like nothing would ruin her happiness. Her home race was next, Silverstone, and from what her dad said and what she’d seen, it was always an amazing event. She couldn’t wait to see for herself in two weeks time and she hoped that Red Bull, particularly Max, got good results there. Those were thoughts for another day though and so she pushed them from her mind, basking in the comfort of Max’s arms.

“What will dad say?” She laughed, the thought popping into her head.

Max shuddered slightly, paling. Ordinarily he wasn’t scared of Christian and the two men got along very well but he was beginning a relationship with the man’s daughter and he wasn’t certain that his driving abilities would save him from a certain death at the Brit’s hands if he ever found out. People saw him as Red Bull and Christian’s starboy, the favourite, but things could change.

“Maybe we should keep it on the lowdown for a bit. I quite like being alive at the moment.”

“That’s probably for the best” she agreed. Her dad didn’t have to know yet, they’d only just gotten together and who knew how he’d react. If they stayed together for a while then they’d have to tell him but certainly not yet. She could only imagine his reaction.

They spent the rest of the evening at the hotel, a film playing on the screen and quiet conversation between the two of them filling the room as they relaxed from the day. The bubble would be burst when they both had to fly home but they would cross that bridge when they came to it.

It was done though. They didn’t have to hide their feelings for each other anymore and they were excited to see the new challenges they lay ahead with this dynamic.

They felt like a weight had been lifted from their shoulders and they slept with smiles on their faces.

A new chapter of their tale had begun. All it needed was the events to fill it.

#f1 imagines #f1 imagine #formula 1 #max verstappen x reader #max verstappen #max verstappen imagine #f1 x reader #f1 fanfic #red bull racing

[scarlettriot]

Mina Ashido Headcanons!

@jewel116 requested some headcanons of our Alien Queen and I am here to deliver!

Some of these also could be considered BakuSquad HCs, hope that's alright.

I also went ahead and included some Adult Mina and 18+ Mina Headcanons too. Both are below the cut and clearly stated. Warnings are posted at each header mark.

If anyone has any other requests, lemme know!

Basic Mina Headcanons

Warnings: It's as fluffy as her dang hair! (Swearing)

. Most definitely has ADHD! In class, she is constantly tapping her foot on bouncing her leg as a means of trying her best to keep focused.

. Has a collection of shirts that she has designated for sleep and loungewear because she's burned acid holes in them by accident. Sometimes she'll wear them to concerts and shows if the design is cool enough.

. Loves piggyback rides! Frequently will run and jump on the backs of the guys in the BakuSquad. Even Katsuki himself puts up with it after a while.

. While Katsuki is the 'mom' of the squad, Mina is the one everyone goes to when they need comfort. Denki will curl up in her lap after a long day, Eijiro frequently goes to her when his insecurities creep back in, Hanta shows up late at night and they talk in her room about nothing just because he doesn't want to be alone, and Katsuki, well, he shows up to her room, slams the door and complains for a solid half-hour after reading a particularly heartbreaking scene in a manga while she listens to every word and validates his feelings.

. Mina worries far more than people believe she does. Her bubbly, loud, personality usually masks it but she knows when people are lying to her about what's going on in their heads.

. Sitting properly in a chair physically bothers her. She'd much rather be hanging upside down off it.

. She lowkey likes that the boys get protective over her.

. Mina is the type of person who gets A LOT of random thoughts that pop up in her head and one of the few people who actually will engage with the sheer randomness of the ideas is Shoto. Not only does he engage, he comes up with his own! The two can talk for hours.

. Loves hosting 'spa parties' in the common area of the dorms, everyone is welcome to join.

. When road trips happen, she's making the playlists (technically, she and Kyoka switch off).

. Tries teaching Tenya, Izuku, and Shoto how to flirt. After a very embarrassing first hour, Shoto didn't learn a single thing, Izuku was only good at it when paired with Shoto and Tenya... Tenya had her SHOOK! Man has game and she made sure everyone knew!

. Has weekly meetings with Yuga where they drink tea and spill the tea.

. She is so damn ticklish. Hanta was teasing her one day, she warned him to stop, he received an elbow to the face for not listening.

. Tried to grow her hair out once but it didn't grow down... it grew OUT. Mina thought she rocked it, and she totally did but ended up having it cut back down so poor Tsyu could see in class.

. Wakes up early three days a week to practice her hand-to-hand combat with Eijiro. Mina wants to improve her technique and Eijiro needed to work on his mobility, it benefits them both.

. Just Dance is her favorite game, she dominates.

. Easily forms new interests.

. Won't admit it but she gets jealous super easily.

. Will be the first to attempt to throw hands for a friend! I HC she was picked on as a child for looking so different but it never really phased her too badly, she likes looking different but understands that not everyone thinks like she does. So, if someone were to say something about Mezo's facemask, she's stepping in to defend the guy without hesitation.

. Knows every TikTok dance EVER. If a new one comes out, she's mastered it by end of the day and her account is always up to date.

. (Popular idea but important to reinforce) Mina and Eijiro co-founded a club, Horn Buddies, specifically to make Eri feel more welcome. They take her on trips and group outings. The only horned person who's not allowed to join is Pony because she was rude as heck to Mezo.

. Mina gets extra competitive over board games.

. She can ice skate and roller skate like a champ.

. Mina is resilient, dedicated, and passionate. She has goals and the girl will achieve them.

Pro Hero - Adult Mina Headcanons

Warnings - Mentions of alcohol use and swearing

. Gets several tattoos and piercings.

. Starts a roller derby club with most of the girls from 1A.

. Loves going out to the hottest dance clubs just as much as she enjoys staying in and munching on take-out food with friends.

. The Horn Buddies club she formed with Eijiro has now expanded into regular society and both young heroes couldn't be more proud. Together they've formed a foundation that strives to help those with non-flashy, unconventional, or misunderstood quirks feel welcomed and loved.

. Does her best to shop small whenever she can. Mina wants to help her community in as many different ways as possible.

. Becomes a fashion icon for many small, just starting out, alternative clothing lines. They love her look and the standard she sets.

. Goes to fashion and runway shows with Momo on the regular. While Momo prefers buying right off the rack, Mina goes to thrift stores and buys items that are coming back into style.

. Does her best to stay in touch with her classmates. She really cherished the friendships she made and goes the extra mile to make sure everyone stays connected.

. Has told off Shoto's father. Sent the man an anonymous bag of flaming dog shit as well for making his son so damn stressed. Sorry, not sorry.

. As long as she isn't in the middle of a fight, Mina will always stop to take a photo with a fan or sign an autograph. In or out of costume, she doesn't care.

. In high school, Mina's room was always decked out for the holidays. She goes decoration crazy and it is always done well. But, now that she's an adult with that pro hero money and her own place, she's the best house on the block decorated for each and every holiday! Inside and out! Also throws holiday-themed parties.

. Got absolutely trashed with the BakuSquad one night and taught them all how to twerk. By the end of the lesson, she deemed Katsuki was the best of her students.

. Loves to drink. Is a lightweight. Katsuki and Eijiro have carried her home more times than they can count.

NSFW 18+ Mina HC Below - Minors DNI

Warnings: Drinking, rough sex, mentions of orgies, handcuffs, impact play, and praise kinks. Subtle sexual relations with BakuSquad, Jiro, Todoroki, and Ochaco.

. The Queen of stripteases and lap dances.

. If any of her friends are at a party or some event and they need a fake date, Mina is their go-to person. She's handsy. She's flirty. And has no problem with platonic make-outs.

. Always encourages kissing-themed games at parties. Seven Minutes in Heaven, Spin the Bottle, those sorts of games. Mina also loves to play cupid and has rigged a game or two to get people together.

. Has made out with every member of the BakuSquad at least once as well as Kyoka, Shoto, and Ochaco simply because she was curious.

. Has attempted to start an orgy with the BakuSquad before when intoxicated. Still mentions it in passing just in case they change their minds.

. Has gone further with Katsuki and Eijiro though. Maybe both at the same time once or twice or several times...

. Wonderfully filthy dirty talk. Can even make Katsuki blush.

. (A personal favorite of mine that was in a previous post) When they were first years, Eijiro asked innocently enough, to touch her horns. He was gentle but that didn't matter. Our poor girl was so damn flustered! Her face turned red bright, she felt hot, and she had to go take a very cold shower!

. Ei felt terrible about it. It took them both maturing for her to explain exactly why she reacted that way... and then asked him to do it again.

. Is likely to send NSFW texts and photos while people are indeed at work. She is a Pro Hero though so only certain people are allowed to have those photos. A scandal is the last thing she wants.

. Very good at communication and is not afraid to speak her mind about what she wants and needs out of a relationship and her sex life.

. Loud, very loud, very needy.

. Fuzzy handcuffs in every color she can think of and adores impact play.

. Let her know she's doing a good job, Mina responds well to praise.

. Big cuddler after sex. Wants to snuggle into you and more than likely take a nap.

#mha headcanons #bnha headcanons #mha #mina ashido #mina ashido headcanons #mina ashido fluff #bakusquad #bakusquad headcanons #mina ashido smut #katsuki bakugo smut #eijiro kirishima smut #kirishima #bakugo #denki kaminari #hanta sero #shoto todoroki #bakukirimina

[drakenology]

Arguments - feat Bakugo, Todoroki, Kirishima and Tamaki Amajiki

author’s note: i’m feeling angsty today. so this is gonna be about arguing with some of the bnha characters. anyone else feel off today? just me?

warnings: swearing, angst, fluff 🥺, and suggestive themes not full on smut. characters aged up! some of these are long.. i was feeling dramatic

headers from @annicon

Bakugo

as much as i love this man i can admit he would be SOO stubborn

would get frustrated easily

yells 🥺

he knows when to walk away when the conversation isn’t getting anywhere which is good

would NEVER hurt you (i’ve seen ppl write that this mf hits you... girl...domestic violence is not an aesthetic.)

he isn’t the best with words so it’ll take him a little while to admit he’s wrong because he can’t verbalize how sorry he is sometimes

when he does he’ll hug and kiss you and apologize like a million times after he’s done being a stubborn little prick.

gives you the best “i’m sorry “ dick imaginable holy shit

Bakugo done did it. He pissed you off. You were already having a terrible day and then you come home to this motherfucker with a bunch of people over after you told him that you weren’t in the mood for company. So for the rest of the night when everyone left, you gave him the silent treatment knowing that he HATES when you ignore him on purpose.

“Y/N?”

You say nothing, continuing scrolling through your phone to look like you were preoccupied.

“Y/N, what’s your problem? I know you hear me.” Bakugo persists.

You ignore him, turning your back to face him. He grunts and grabs your shoulder, turning you back around to face him.

“Y/N if you’re pissed at me just say that. But ignoring me is fucking immature and it’s pissing me off!” He yells. Translation: “What did I do? 🥺”

“I’M pissing YOU off!? That’s funny. Because it’s not like you didn’t completely ignore my fucking feelings tonight. Why did you invite Kirishima and Denki over after I specifically said I didn’t feel like playing fucking HOSTESS!” You shout back, throwing your phone somewhere.

“Are you serious!? I never told them to come here they just showed up. What was I supposed to do tell them to piss off!?” Katsuki asked.

“YES!” You scream, annoyed that he’s not getting the reason why you’re upset. You never minded having Bakugo’s friends over but you just wanted to have a calm night with just the two of you. You were exhausted and fixing dinner for you and 3 other people and listening to loud chatter about sports and video games was not on your to-do list.

“This is so fucking petty! I don’t get why you’re so mad that they came over.” Katsuki said shrugging his shoulders.

“That’s the problem, idiot! You don’t fucking get it! I worked all day today. I just wanted us to relax but no, you wanted to have a fucking guys night in my living room! It’s the complete disregard for my feelings that’s pissing me off not the fact that they came. I told you I was tired and you having them come over anyways was like a big fuck you to me!” You explain, your face pulled into a face Katsuki knows is your angry face. Bakugo sighs, not ready to admit that he was wrong.

“Tch. Whatever. I’m gonna go sleep on the fucking couch. Let me know when you’re done being fucking frigid.” He shouts, clearly out of anger.

“Fine.”

“Fine!”

Katsuki leaves your shared room and slammed the door, you throwing yourself onto the bed. You feel tears sting your eyes as you sob into your pillow. You hated fighting with Bakugo, and you knew he hated it too. He has a hard time expressing himself without getting defensive sometimes. But you knew he felt bad. You sigh and close your eyes and go to sleep.

The next morning you get up from bed and get ready to start your day. You shower and brush your teeth, you and Bakugo strategically avoiding each other all morning to go and do your daily routines. You didn’t utter a word to each other. Just questions and short answers.

“Got work?”

“Yup.”

“When?”

“7:30.”

The silence killed you both as you sat at the table and ate breakfast, Bakugo’s face pulled into a frown as he ate. You roll your eyes and go to put your dishes in the sink and grab his once he’s done. You can hear him get up from his chair as you wash both your plates and dry them. You had assumed he was leaving so you just wash all the rest of the dishes without turning your back. Suddenly you felt familiar arms wrap around your waist.

“Let me go.” You say, tearing up at the sudden touch. He was trying to make up with you and you were so ready to forgive him. The tension was almost too much to bear. This fight was small and it turned into something way bigger than need be.

“Not until you listen to me. I’m sorry, ok? I should have never yelled at you the way I did. And calling you frigid wasn’t ok either. I shoulda just told everyone to go home. We have those dumbasses over all the time. One night wouldn’t have killed me. I’m sorry. Can we just forget this shit ever happened? I hate it when you’re mad at me.” He pleaded, burrowing his face into the crook of your neck. You smile and turn around to look at his face, cupping his cheeks in both your hands as you stand on you tip toes to kiss him. He kisses you back eagerly, happy that you and him are back on good terms. He pulled away from the heated kiss and looks at the clock on the microwave.

“6:30...we still have an hour to kill. If you’re late I’ll drop you off.” Katsuki says, his eyes turning dark with feral lust.

“Late? What are yo-“ you’re interrupted by Bakugo pulling you into your bedroom with determination to make things right.. his way.

Tamaki (🥺 my new found love)

Tamaki is NOT a confrontational person so arguing with you is really hard. He hates raising his voice or even getting to a point to where he’s angry because he doesn’t want to think about hurting you in anyway.

He’ll shut down and turn cold or try and act nonchalant.

he might even avoid conflict by changing the subject

if he’s riled up enough though he’ll cuss you out.. to his dismay

doesn’t like being mad at you and vice versa

hates arguments.. like honestly can you just get over it so he can eat you out now?

speaking of eating you out, he gives apology head and he won’t stop until you say you forgive him.

Tamaki didn’t like to admit it but he was really jealous. Like really really jealous like YANDERE type jealous. You and him were out to dinner with Mirio so you were all chatting about mindless nothing, catching up like you always do. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary for you but to Tamaki it appeared that Mirio was a little too playful at dinner with you. He was cracking jokes and poking fun and Tamaki took it as him flirting with you; which Mirio would never disrespect your relationship like that. Rage sat in the pit of Tamaki’s chest as you laugh at all his jokes. He was furious but hid it pretty well for the night.

“And then Tamaki wet himself in front of the whole class when I scared him with my quirk in middle school. Can you believe it?” Mirio laughs, causing you to laugh at the thought.

“Oh leave him alone, Togata.” You giggle, waving your hand in front of your face to stop the tears from laughter. He had been making you laugh all night all to Tamaki’s disliking. He was quiet all dinner, which you noticed immediately after Togata’s last joke.

“Hey Tamaki, is everything ok?” You ask, concerned that he might not want to be out anymore.

“Yeah.” He said coldly. “Actually I’m just gonna go to the car. I feel kinda sick.” He stands from his seat and walks to the exit, absolutely fucking furious that you were “flirting” with his childhood friend right in front of him.

“Awkward. What’s up with him?” Mirio asks, completely dumb founded by Tamaki’s sudden disappearance.

“I dunno. I’m gonna go to the car and see what’s wrong. Do you mind?” You ask, standing from your seat.

“Nah that’s cool. I’m actually gonna head out. You go on ahead, Y/N. I’ll take care of the tab.. this time.” Mirio jokes. You giggle and thank him, walking towards the exit. You walk through the parking lot and find the car, seeing Tamaki sitting in the passenger side with his arms crossed across his chest. What was his deal? You open the car door and sit in the driver’s side to meet a thick tension.

“What’s wrong Tamaki? Do you really feel sick or are you upset with me?” You ask.

“Why don’t you ask Mirio? I’m sure he’ll be able to answer since he’s the only guy you talked to all night. It was like I wasn’t even there.” Tamaki says, calm but obviously pestered.

“Is that was this is about? Tama you know it wasn’t like that. Mirio has always been a jokester what’s the difference now?” You ask, getting a little upset at his accusation.

“The difference is that he was trying to make a pass at you. He was so obviously flirting with you.” He says, his tone becoming stern. You’re shocked at how he was getting, frowning at how unreasonable he was being.

“No he wasn’t, Tamaki.” You say, looking him dead in his eyes.

“Yes he was. I’m not about to fight with you about this he was clearly fucking flirting with you. He joked with you all night and you laughed at every single thing he said. You must want to fuck him, don’t you?” He asked, looking at you with some sort of betrayal in his eyes. This infuriates you.

“What are you talking about!? You know I would never cheat on you Tamaki. Especially not with your best friend. What’s with you!?” You ask sternly, not amused or pleased in the slightest.

“Whatever, Y/N.” Tamaki says, looking out the car window while turning the other way so he’s not facing your side of the car. He knew this was stupid and he knew your loyalty was never to be questioned but he couldn’t shake this feeling of jealousy.

“No. You don’t get to start a fight and then blow me off when you’re through arguing! Talk to me!” You yell, furious at this point. Tamaki shrugs, avoiding the situation entirely now.

“Just drive. I wanna go home.” He says, not taking his eyes off the view from his window. You roll your eyes and start the car, pulling out of the parking lot to start your way home. The drive home was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. You were so angry that you didn’t talk to Tamaki the whole way home, knowing you’d probably cuss him out if he said the wrong thing. Tamaki immediately felt bad after picking that fight. He didn’t know what came over him, he knew he had to make it up to you before you two go to bed angry with each other. You approach your shared apartment and park the car, silence still riddling the car. The tension between you both was intense and it scared you. You’ve never seen Tamaki this upset. Jealousy was always an issue for him but he’s never reacted this strongly.

“Y/N?” Tamaki says breaking the silence. You look at him, a little relieved that he’s talking to you again.

“I-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that to you. I know you’d never cheat on me, of course. But I was just so jealous. It felt like you and Mirio were on a date and I was just the third wheel. The thought of him taking you from me drove me crazy. I wasn’t thinking. Can you forgive me?” He says, placing his hand on top of yours on the steering wheel. You sniffle, tearing up at his apology.

“Tamaki, I’m sorry I made you feel like that. I love you so much. No one could ever take your place, not even Mirio. I’d never betray you like that, ever.” You sob, tears flowing down your face. Tamaki questioning your loyalty really hurt your feelings and he hated seeing you cry.

“I know that. Please don’t cry. I’m so sorry, Y/N. It was so stupid of me to even assume.” He says, taking his hand and wiping your tears away. He took your hand and gave it a sweet kiss to soothe you, rubbing circles with his thumb on it as he consoled you. You giggle and wipe your tears, happy that you guys made up after that silly fight.

“Let’s go inside.”

Todoroki

arguments between you two get heated. It gets to a point where sometimes you don’t speak to each other for days. he’ll definitely give small reminders that he still loves you to butter you up to alleviate some of the tension.

raises his voice

just as stubborn as bakugo

to a fault of his upbringing facing his emotions was hard for him sometimes, causing him to be cold when you fight

when it’s time to get over it and make up he’ll make it a huge event; flowers, chocolates and lots of freaky apology sex

cant stand arguing with you just like tamaki but wont back down in the slightest

is sure he doesn’t say anything harsh to make the situation worse.

“Why are you being so stubborn?!” You shout at your bi-colored haired boyfriend. The two of you have been fighting all day to your surprise. Shoto was usually easy going and you two hardly fought. But today, a bug seemed to have crawled up Todoroki’s ass and he’s been picking fights all day. You’ve been arguing about small things like who left the bathroom light on or who ate the last hot pocket. Right now it was an argument about when you’re going to meet his father Endeavor. It’s been almost a year since you two have been together and you don’t even think his father knows you exist.

“For the last time Y/N we’re not going to my dad’s house. That’s final! You can argue with yourself about this. End of discussion.” Shoto says, very annoyed at the thought of being near his father. He still couldn’t stand him, even as an adult. He can’t bring himself to bring you around him because he knows how he can be. If he even says something slightly rude to you he’ll flip the fuck out. You groan in frustration, wishing he’d at least consider.

“He doesn’t know we’re together does he!? What am I to you some secret? Why did you stay with me all this time if your family doesn’t even know I exist !?” You shout, tearing up with seering anger.

“It’s not that. Of course he knows we’re together; my whole family knows! Why do you want to involve him so badly?!” Shoto yells.

“Why wouldn’t I want to meet my fucking boyfriend’s father!? You’re not making any sense.” You say, getting more and more frustrated as Shoto makes excuses.

“You know what? Fine. We’ll go meet him tomorrow. But as soon as he treats you like you’re not good enough for me don’t be surprised when I tell you I fucking told you so. God you can be so stubborn sometimes.” Shoto shouts, rolling his eyes at you.

“Oh I’M stubborn!? That’s rich coming from you. You’re being so unreasonable right now. I know you and your father-“

“YOU DONT KNOW SHIT ABOUT MY FATHER. Stop speaking on things you haven’t the first idea about!” Shoto yells, punching a nearby wall. (Oop.) You flinch, shocked at how angry he got so quickly. You tear up and run off to your bedroom, Todoroki immediately regretting getting so upset with you. He scared you and that’s something he never wanted to do to you under any circumstances. You cried yourself to sleep that night, angry that things got so heated. Why did he react like that? And why was he treating you as if you knew nothing about him and his father. He would vent to you about him all the time and you gave him advice when you could. But tonight you felt like you were nothing but an outsider. Shoto didn’t even bother coming into the room. He couldn’t face you after making you cry. Right now, he hated himself for treating you like that. He was just so afraid of his father’s judgement he didn’t want him to hurt your feelings with how crass he was. If Endeavor found the slightest thing wrong with you he’d never let you or him forget it. He could hear him now calling you unworthy of the Todoroki name. The thought alone enraged him. In his own cryptic way, he was trying to protect you from him but this was no way to do it nor did he have the right. Todoroki slept on the couch, missing your warmth against him in your bed.

The next morning the two of you drove to the Todoroki estates in silence. You were still pissed at him and Shoto didn’t want to say anything to further upset you. He was annoyed he was making this trip in the first place but he knew he had to man up for your sake. It was unfair of him to try and keep you away from his family especially since you would one day take on his name and be a part of the family when he married you. He knew he couldn’t keep you away forever, but god couldn’t he have had a little more time? He dreaded this day.

“Ready?” Shoto asks coldly, trying to hide his remorse from his tone. You nod, getting out of the car before he could walk over and open the door for you. Shoto is surprised and gets out with you, guiding you to his old home. He can’t lie, he’s so fucking nervous. What if he hates you? Not that he cares what he thinks, he’ll marry you anyway but still. He at least wants his blessing. You walk with Shoto to the main room of the home and wait for Endeavor to come downstairs. Suddenly you hear footsteps from across the room. It was him. He was tall and his aura was so dark and intimidating.

“You must be Y/N.” Endeavor says, looking down at your small frame. You nod, a wave of nervousness shooting through your body.

“N-Nice to meet you sir.” You bow respectfully.

“No need for that. Please, have a seat.” Endeavor says gesturing to the couch. You and Shoto sit down next to each other, Endeavor following suit by sitting across from you two.

“So.. how long have you two been together?” Endeavor asks, his booming voice almost sending an echo throughout the empty room. You gulp and look towards Shoto.

“10 months.” He answers for you, taking your hand to calm you. You’re still mad at him but god you’re glad he’s doing his best to ease your anxiety.

“And you just now arrange a meeting? Hm.” Endeavor questions, looking at you as if he was scanning you to find something irredeemable about you. You look down at your lap, unable to keep eye contact with the intimidating man.

“I-I wanted to meet with you sooner. Me and Shoto fought about coming here last night but I convinced him.” You say nervously.

“I see. You seem like an ok girl. Shoto has had his fair share of.. inadequate women in his life so, you’re a step up from the rest.” Endeavor says, motioning for a maid to make you all some tea. You laugh nervously, Shoto squeezing your hand in annoyance. Was that a compliment?

“You two seem like you’ve been fighting.” Endeavor says suddenly, observing both your body language. You’re both shocked as you turn to look at each other. How’d he know that?

“What’s it to you?” Shoto asks, glaring at his father.

“Oh nothing. But if you’re planning on marrying this girl it’s probably best to not argue too much with her. Hell, she might up and leave.”

Shoto looks at you, pain in his eyes. The look on his face alone said “I’m sorry.” Shoto hated to admit it but his father was right. Fighting as much as you have been, especially the fight you had last night was toxic and could take a toll on your relationship.

You smile at him and turn to Endeavor

“I’d never leave him.” You say, snuggling closer to Shoto as he blushed. He was embarrassed that he was being so vulnerable around his father but he knew that only you could make this happen.

After a long conversation with Endeavor and Shoto, you leave with a feeling that you might have won him over. You think? He was hard to read, just like Shoto. He was more like his father than he likes to admit. Shoto opens the car door for you to get inside and then walks to the drivers side to come in. You sit in the car for a while, silent until Shoto grabs you and leans over to kiss you. You kiss him back, tearing up into the kiss.

“I’m sorry, snowflake. I can’t believe I raised my voice at you like that. I was just so scared that he was gonna hate you and say something disrespectful. I should have just told you that instead of being defensive. I’m so so sorry I scared you. Please forgive me. ” He pleaded, peppering kissing on your face.

“I know. And I forgive you.” You giggle, pulling Todoroki closer to you to kiss him again.

Kirishima

Out of all the boys he’s the least stubborn when it comes to fighting. But don’t be fooled, he’ll argue you down. he’s very good at managing his temper when it comes to you.

Regrets starting a fight in the first place

Just wants to cuddle and go back to normal

But when he’s angry hooo boy

doesn’t even yell, he’s like a calm angry which is terrifying

tries talking over you, trying to plead his case

will not rest until the situation is resolved and over with so you guys can move on

like all the others... apology sex

will try not to lose his patience

You and Kirishima had been together for a while now so it was only inevitable that you two have your first fight. You were always a vigilant person and wanted to help others even though you were quirkless like Deku was at one point. Kirishima is protective of you to a fault and the thought of you getting hurt or worse didn’t sit well with him at all. You assured him that you were capable of taking care of yourself and protecting yourself but he wasn’t having any of it. You spent years perfecting your martial arts skills, training your ass off for countless hours everyday and he knew that. But he didn’t want you to one day meet your match without him there to protect you.

“Y/N, drop it. You’re not going on missions with me and that’s final. It’s too dangerous.” Eijiro said, his brows furrowed. He was trying not to lose his patience with you but you kept insisting. He just wished you’d forget about this whole thing; for your safety.

“You don’t have the right to tell me what I can and can’t do! I’m fully capable for taking care of myself and you know that.” You yell, irritated at your boyfriend underestimating your abilities. Eijiro sighs and stands up from the couch to stand in front of you, inching so close you could almost kiss.

“I’ll die before I let you go out there. Do you know what would happen to me; to your friends and family if something happened to you!? We’d be crushed. Please just drop this.” Kirishima says, wanting to avoid this conversation all together. But alas, nothing was changing your mind. You were very head strong and stubborn to no avail so you weren’t going down without a fight.

“You can’t stop me!” You yell

“Oh I can’t?” Eijiro challenged.

“No. You can’t. You can’t treat me like a child, Eijiro.” You say. “How can you say I’m not ready if you don’t give me a chance to prove I am!?”

“Because you just aren’t! Okay!? You say you’re not a child but you’re acting like one and a petulant one at that. Just drop it! God, you can be so stubborn sometimes. Don’t you see I’m just trying to keep you safe!?” Kirishima yells, instantly regretting raising his voice at you and losing his cool. You tear up, furious that he’s treating you like some kid. You grab your stuff and prepare to leave his apartment.

“Where are you going?” Kirishima sighs

“Fuck you, Eijiro.” You say, walking away from him and going outside to cool off. Kirishima tries to grab you before you leave but you snatch your arm away from him and walk outside with a huff and a slam of the door. You wipe your hot tears away and start aimlessly walking down the street to go home. Hell, you don’t even know your way home from Eijiro’s place but you’ll be damned if you go back there. As you walk you see Kirishima’s car pull up to the side of you, driving slowly to keep up with your walking pace.

“Y/N please get in the car.” He says out the car window

“No! I don’t wanna talk to you so just go away!” You yell, continuing to walk as the brisk wind assaults your bare skin. Dammit you forgot your coat.

“Y/N! You’re being ridiculous just please get in the car. You left your jacket; it’s freezing out here!” Eijiro shouts, getting out of the car and grabbing you to pull you inside. You groan, obviously being overpowered by your strong boyfriend. Kirishima slams the door and gets back inside, drives back to his apartment and parks in the driveway. He sighs and leans his head on the steering wheel.

“I’m sorry I got so heated with you. But can you blame me? I’m worried about you. Sure we’ll be on these missions together but what if something happens? What if I’m not there to protect you when something goes wrong? These missions are unpredictable; anything could happen and I’d literally die if even a scratch is put on you.” Eijiro pleads. You start crying, sniffling at his words. He was right to be worried.

“I love you, Eijiro and I appreciate you being so concerned about me. But that doesn’t give you the right to shelter me. You can’t just force me to not follow my dream.” You sob, wiping your tears away. Eijiro grabs your hand and kisses it.

“I know. I just can’t bear the thought of you being hurt. But if this is what you really want, I have no choice but to at least see this through.” Kirishima says, holding your small hand in his two massive ones. You smile, putting your other hand on top of his.

“Thank you. Also, I’m sorry for saying fuck you to you. That was mean.” You say pouting.

“It was. Hurt my feelings.” Eijiro said faking sadness, immediately laughing as he watched your face frown up again at the thought of hurting his feelings.

“Oh shut up.”

#bnha fanfiction #bnha x reader #bnha smut #bnha bakugo x reader #bnha midoriya x reader #bnha imagines #bnha #bnha todoroki x reader #bnha bakugou #bnha bakugo katsuki #bnha headcanons #bnha kirishima #bnha denki #bnha tamaki #bnha amajiki #bnha angst #bnha fluff

[buttybarnes1917]

Innocence

Word Count: 2,089

Okay. First smut fic in a very long time. It might suck, but I’m going to try really hard to make it not suck.  

Ft. fem reader and rockstar!bucky. I feel like this is absolutely going to become an AU, so it’ll get it’s own header on my masterlist!!

Warnings: dirty talk, nickname (kitten), grinding, oral (f receiving), fingering, praise kink, somehow also a degradation kink, Bucky is obsessed with Readers innocence, minors dni

You rolled your eyes in disgust as you heard moaning coming from Bucky’s dressing room.  

Again.

God, he was literally insatiable.  It seemed like every show, he was pulling some girl backstage, kissing messily in the hallway as the rest of the crew worked around him and then inevitably the girl would end up in his dressing room or his bunk in the bus, which, literally made no sense considering how muscular he was.  Those bunks were so small.  But the girls would never stay for long, and then you would get the fun job of escorting her back to the audience, with her calling “call me!” to Bucky and Bucky already forgetting her name.

You leaned on the wall, sighing a little as you heard her moaning again and Bucky’s short grunts.  God. If he wasn’t so infuriating, he might even be hot.  

Oh, who were you kidding.  He was hot. Six foot three, at least, insane arm muscles from the hours upon hours of playing drums, long curly brown hair and tattoos that curled around his body, Bucky Barnes was everyone’s ideal bad boy.  On top of the fact that you had heard from the people on the crew that he had been with that he was… very well endowed.  

Natasha from lighting told you that he was more skilled with his fingers than a drummer should be, and that she was having trouble walking for days after her encounter with him.  Loki from rigging told you the way he used his tongue on them was “magical” and that they had trouble finding someone who could live up to that.  Steve from audio told you that he could find your weaknesses almost immediately and that he had “never been with someone who made him cum so many times”.  Which would have grossed you out, honestly, if you weren’t so impressed.  

The door opened and you pushed yourself off the wall, as the girl pulled her jacket over her shoulders, blushing as she saw you.  Bucky leaned on the doorframe and smirked at her.  

“You’ll call me next time you’re in town, right?”  She asked, giggling at him a little.  Your nose wrinkled a little as you smelled the weed on her, and you rolled your eyes.  

“Sure thing, doll.” He nodded.  You cleared your throat.  

“This way, hon, the show’s about to start,” you said softly and walked off with her. You gently pushed her through the curtain and security walked her to her seat.  You turned and sighed softly and bumped into Bucky. “Oh, I’m sorry.” You said quickly pushing yourself off him.  He grinned down at you.

“Not a problem, kitten,” he said.  You made a face.

“My name is y/n. Not kitten.” You corrected him, and he slowly smirked at you.

“Apologies, kitten.” He said again and you rolled your eyes, walking back toward the side stage.  He trailed along behind you.

“You’re the assistant tour manager or something, right?” he asked. “You’re always here late, setting shit up.”

“Yep.” You responded, your eyes on your clipboard as you walked.

“Don’t you ever do anything other than work?” he asked, snatching your clipboard away from you. You turned immediately and he held the clipboard over your head, laughing as you tried to grab it.  You punched him in the stomach, thinking he would bend over, and he just laughed more. “You call that a punch?”

“You’re an asshole.” You said, punching your fists to your hips.

“And you’re short.  Didn’t know we were saying obvious things,” he responded.  You both glanced over at the stage as you heard the stage manager call out that there were five minutes left until show time.  Bucky brought down the clipboard and you snatched it from his hand.

“Break a leg.” You said to him.  “Literally.” You turned walking away, shivering as you felt Bucky’s gaze on you.

 ******

 You sighed softly as you walked through the venue later that night, after the show was finished.  The band had only one more show in this building, but there had been consistent problems with the haze machines setting off the fire detectors.  Which by definition was not supposed to happen, since the haze mix was water based.  You assumed that the haze tech had just ordered whatever was cheapest and you wanted to double check that the machines were working properly.  As you pushed the door open, you heard drums from the stage and swore to yourself.  Of course, Bucky was here.  This night couldn’t get worse.  

You walked backstage and fiddled around with the machines, sighing as you did. The haze tech had ended up screwing up one of the machines with a mix of different hazes, so of course it was your job to fix it now.  The tour manager didn’t want to spend extra money, and you had been touring since you were a kid, your parents both a huge part of the industry.  

“Didn’t know you were here,” you heard and looked up as Bucky walked backstage, twirling his drumsticks, grinning at you.  You rolled your eyes.

“Someone has to clean up after everyone’s messes.” You responded.

“Mmm.” He grinned and leaned on the road case next to you.  “You’re the one that helps with the girls, aren’t you?” he asked, and your cheeks flushed red as you worked.  You didn’t look up at him, refusing to let him see you blush.  

“Yeah.”

“Thanks for that.” Bucky said.  “They get clingy after a while.”

“You’re an asshole.”

“Yes, we’ve established that.” Bucky grinned.  

“I don’t want to hear about your fucking sex addiction right now, Barnes.  I’m trying to fix this haze machine.” You said finally looking up at him.  

“Oh, I’ll be real, its not an addiction.  I’m just very into sex, and I enjoy it.”  He grinned. “Don’t you enjoy it?”

“I’m not talking about sex with you.” You said and looked down at the machine.

“Oh, come on.  That’s gonna make me think you’re a virgin.”  He chuckled and you didn’t reply. “Wait… no way.  You’re actually a virgin?” he asked.  You rolled your eyes.

“My sex life is none of your business.”  You said, your voice shaking a little nervously.  

“So, you are a virgin.” He responded, grinning.  He hopped onto the road case, swinging his legs.  “How have you been on the road this long without at the very least getting head?”

“Oh my God.” You mumbled, your face blushing bright red. “You’re such an—”

“Asshole, yeah, it’s on my resume,” Bucky smirked.  “You’ve got to have thought about it.  I mean.  It can’t be easy, hearing me fuck nearly everyone on this tour—”

“You’re such an arrogant asshole, not everyone wants to—”

“Yeah, but you do,” Bucky cut you off.  “I’ve seen how you look at the girls that leave my room.  You’re jealous, aren’t you, kitten?”

“Don’t call me that.”  You said, shivering just a little.  Unfortunately, Bucky noticed.  

“You are jealous,” he said grinning and sliding off the road case, moving toward you.  “You’ve probably touched yourself to hearing me with those other people, haven’t you kitten?” You backed away, shaking a little.

“Bucky--“

“Now don’t lie to me kitten,” he said smirking as you bumped into another road case. He placed a hand on either side of you and grinned down at you. “How long have you wanted to kiss me, kitten?” he asked, and you whimpered a little at the nickname.

“I…” you stammered out as you felt his calloused fingers drift down the skin of your arm. “Bucky…”

“So, a while,” he chuckled softly, leaning so his lips brushed across your neck. “If you don’t want this, tell me.  I’m an asshole, not a jerk.” He said grinning a little.  You bit your lip, looking up at him.  In truth, he was right.  You had wanted this for so long.  You had held off, not wanting to be that girl that slept with the drummer, that slept with people to get ahead.  But let’s be real—Bucky had slept with half the crew already—not just women, but men too, and non-binary people.  You wouldn’t get looked down on at all, and if anyone did, they’d be looking down on themselves as well.  

“Kiss me,” you said softly and a second later you felt Bucky’s lips crash against yours in a fevered kiss as he lifted you effortlessly onto the road case.  Your legs wrapped around his hips automatically as he gripped your hips tightly.  You slipped your fingers through his hair, shivering as you heard a groan fall from his lips as you tugged gently.  He pulled away from your mouth, kissing down your neck, worshiping the area where your jaw met your neck. “Don’t leave a mark—” you gasped out, your face burning and he smirked at you.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” he growled, and you felt a wetness pool between your thighs as he growled at you.  You whimpered as you felt his teeth work at your skin, your fingers gripping his hair tightly as you moaned, pushing your hips into his.  “God, you’re so needy for me, aren’t you, kitten?” he purred into your ear, one of his hands finding its way up your shirt and pushing it up, exposing your breasts to the cold air.  You gasped out his name breathlessly as he pinched and pulled at your nipple.  “Such a good, responsive girl, hmm?” he whispered into your ear.  “Never had anyone touch you like this, have you?  Never had anyone make you feel this good, have you, kitten?”

“No, Bucky, no one,” you breathed out whimpering and arching your back.  He slipped his hands down your body, unbuttoning your pants.

“I’m going to take my time with you, kitten,” he smirked, kneeling in front of you as he pulled your pants down past your knees.  

“What… What are you…” you panted, watching him, then falling back onto your elbows with a gasp as he flicked his tongue against your clit.  “Holy shit” you cried out as he sucked your clit into his mouth, rubbing his finger around your entrance, collecting your slick on his fingers. He slowly pulled away, smirking up at you as he slipped his fingers into his mouth, tasting you.

“God, kitten, you’re nearly dripping for me,” he whispered.  “You’re so wet for me, kitten, and I’ve barely even done anything.”

“Bucky, please—” you begged.

“I’ll be nice to you this once, kitten, because it’s your first,” he grinned.  “Remember that.”  He leaned forward again, slipping his tongue into you as you moaned almost immediately, your head falling back as your chest heaved with your heavy breaths. He slipped a finger into you, pumping in and out as you arched up into his hand.  “Where is it, kitten, where’s your spot—” he whispered and suddenly you felt a burst of pleasure and you cried out, your hips bucking up.

“Jesus Christ—”

“Just Bucky is fine,” he smirked, and any other time you would have punched him in the arm, but he added another finger and oh fuck he was hitting that spot again, and everything was feeling so good, and he was moaning and sucking on your clit and…and…and…

“Bucky, holy fuck!” you cried out, your back arching as you clenched around his fingers, cumming harder than you ever had before by your own hand or vibrator. He slowly pumped his fingers in and out, rising from his knees to kiss you deeply through it as your legs shook. You pulled away, gasping as he slowly pulled his fingers from you.  You moaned softly as he licked his fingers, grinning at you.

“God, kitten, you taste so good for me,” he smirked softly and kissed you.  You shivered as you tasted yourself on his lips, and he pulled away, tilting your head up, his finger hooked under your chin. “Meet me in my dressing room tomorrow, after load out,” he smirked. “There’s so much more I want to teach you.”

#bisexual!bucky #bucky barnes #bucky x female reader #rockstar!bucky #drummer!bucky #who gave sebastian stan the right to be this hot #i swear im not usually into drummers but sebastian stan #Bucky and kitten au #innocence kink