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loriache · 1 month

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"I've been waiting for ages for somebody to unmask them."

This moment tends to elicit negative reactions in a first read through, and I've got some opinions about why where Kabru is coming from here actually makes a lot of logical sense. So I thought I'd elaborate on that.

I think people hear this and go, "He thinks they must be hiding something because they gave money to someone? What a cynic." Or "he dislikes them because they did charity?? What's wrong with this guy!". And obviously, a lot, a lot is wrong with him. But I think this makes more sense than it seems at first glance! What people evaluating this judgement miss is why Kabru is paying attention to Laios and co to begin with.

Kabru knows of the Touden siblings because (he's a little bit of a stalker-) he is keeping an eye on all the relevant parties in events developing on the island, in order to be able to guide them to his preferred outcome. This includes adventurers because they are the ones actually exploring the dungeon! He's well aware that something as minor as internal tensions between party members could be key to the historical events that are developing. (He would love the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.)

His desired outcome is that whatever the rewards are of breaking the dungeon's curse, whether that's kingship or the ancient elven secrets of dungeons, are claimed by:

A) a short lived person

B) Someone who will be a good, effective leader and/or use those secrets and the power they carry wisely, with foresight, and to establish a political bloc for short lived people.

The person he can best trust to do this is, of course, himself. But due to his PTSD regarding dungeons and monsters, he's not able to develop the necessary skills to conquer the dungeon. Once he realises this, he starts looking for someone else who he can support to that end.

But most of the adventurers don't have any intentions of conquering the dungeon, don't have the skills, or are unsuitable in other ways. In fact, it seems like some potentially suitable people are the Toudens. There are a lot of good rumours about them going around - they actually seem to have a very positive reputation! That's what Kabru means when he says "unmask".

So when Kabru is observing something like them giving money to an old comrade from their gold-peeling days, he doesn't consider it a problem because "they're giving money to this person who doesn't actually need it" or because they must have some dark secret if they act superficially nice. I think he actually understands this situation and what it implies about Laios (in particular) perfectly well.

Laios and Falin gave money to an old comrade who got injured and couldn't work. That person then healed up but kept taking their money. Then he used the money to start smuggling illicit goods to the island.

The key is that for Kabru, the problem here is the same as with the corpse retrievers - people using the dungeon's resources to fuel dangerous, selfish, or violent pursuits cause problems for the island, attract more criminals and people with motives other than breaking the curse, and increase the chances of the whole situation ending in tragedy.

Kabru is willing to work with the Shadow Lord of the island if it gets him to his goal - he isn't scrupulous - but the criminal element of the island increasing is something he sees as a major issue.

Also, when you're evaluating someone as a candidate for power, riches, secrets, potentially kingship - then being curious about how the money you give to people is going to be used is kind of a relevant trait!

Interpersonally, Kabru's actually very easygoing - I mean, Mickbell isn't exactly an upstanding guy, is he! But Kabru likes him and they get along well. These traits wouldn't be a problem at all in a friend, or a comrade, or someone Kabru was confident he could use. But he can't get a handle on Laios, and Laios is someone who has the potential to be a major player!

On Laios' end, this is the same as with the marriage seeker who joined their party. She kept asking for things and he gave them to her, because he tries to be nice to others. He even gives her money! It's the exact same thing.

That's fine, but it became a problem because he basically wasn't interested in her motives, didn't notice she was trying to manipulate him, and it also didn't occur to him that the other party members would notice or be affected. We can assume the situation with the gold peeler is the same. When Kabru says that "It's not that they're bad people, they just aren't interested in humans," he isn't wrong.

The extent to which this is true of Laios is linked to his autism imo, (because it isn't just disinterest - he genuinely isn't able to notice nonverbal cues that people are lying to him or have ulterior motives) but to a greater or lesser extent I think it's a very common trait. Most people aren't actually that interested in other people who aren't close to them. Kabru is the weird one here. It isn't an issue except as a leader - which is why we see an immediate comparison to the Island's Lord, because that's how Kabru is evaluating them.

And disinterest in/lack of ability with people to the extent Laios exhibits it, it does, actually, make him a worse leader... it's just that as we see in the story, people can help him out. The rest of the party tell him the marriage seeker is taking advantage of him so he tells her he can't give her special treatment anymore. They're pissed and it's a crisis point - he couldn't have recovered their trust without Marcille and Falin - but that's exactly the point. With Marcille and Falin, he was able to recover their trust.

And he has other good traits that make up for it, such as his intelligence, strategic knowledge, open-mindedness and sense of fairplay.

Kabru doesn't disqualify Laios as a candidate based on what he sees about him from afar, though - he still tries very hard to get close to him, obviously hoping that if he manages he can steer Laios to defeat the dungeon and make up for his lack of people-skills in the aftermath. (Which... he does eventually achieve that goal!) He completely fails until the events of the story, so... definitely I think "They just aren't interested in humans" could also partially be a stung reaction to Laios' complete disinterest in him.

Anyway, that's my read on what exactly Kabru's "issue" with Laios is. Obviously, once he does find out what Laios' true nature is like - about his love for monsters - he develops an entirely new set of fears about Laios' priorities. But since Laios kept that a secret until the start of the story, he has no idea of that yet.

Given all that, I think it's interesting that he says that he doesn't think that the Toudens are suitable to defeat the dungeon, and that he's hoping they'll turn out to be the thieves. As some of his few potential candidates, people who he thinks may play a big role in the island's future, you'd think he'd hope they would be good people!

I suppose it's better, in his eyes, because it means that he's involved in something "interesting". They haven't just had their stuff stolen by regular criminals (boring, puts them further away from his goal) - they've been caught up in the beginning stages of "a historic event". The desperate and dwindling group forgetting morals in their quest to retrieve their lost comrade probably appeals to his sense of melodrama. Because he also just... loves drama.

Despite it being "uglier than anything he was expecting", he still pursues Laios as the person he wants to conquer the dungeon pretty much as soon as it becomes clear that he won't be able to do it himself and they are out of time. That's because... well, to be fair, there aren't any other options. And he fits standard A: he's short-lived!

and Kabru still hopes he can fit standard B, too, and be persuaded to use the power he wins for good. No matter how many nightmares he has about Laios, or whether he thinks about killing him. He doubts him, but ultimately he puts his faith in him and seems happy after the manga's ending that he made the right decision.

#dungeon meshi #dungeon meshi manga spoilers #dungeon meshi meta #kabru of utaya #laios touden #labru #laios x kabru #dunmeshi #og post #kabru is such a big picture thinker. and he evaluates people more than he judges them imo #the hater jokes are funny but the people he judges most harshly arent laios and co. they're people like the island's lord.#but you don't see that as clearly because he isn't interested in the island's lord. he understands him. finds him contemptible but useful.#whereas laios lives in his brain rent free because he WANTS to understand him but doesnt quite.#even though he sees the elves as a major threat to his ultimate goals and dislikes the way they treat short lived races #he still understands and evaluates mithrun as an individual based on his own merits #he's one of the characters who is least judgemental in that sense because while he's always making judgements and evaluations #he's also constantly revising them whenever he gets more information #my beautiful machiavellian prince <3 #it's genuinely a really laudable way of understanding others imo.#the only problem is that because he's driven towards his goals by his PTSD and survivors guilt #he pushes himself into situations (the dungeon and also interpersonally) that trigger him or even just upset him #without regard for what he authentically wants or his own wellbeing.

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mjulmjul · 1 year

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Katya / Goncharov

#yeah ik ive posted them before sorry but i REALLY like how these look together #martin scorsese #goncharov #artists on tumblr #illustration #unreality #<— posters for a ‘movie’ that doesn’t actually exist but is a tumblr meme in which everyone pretends it does&makes content for it #fascinating how we’re immediately personable w katya by knowing her first name while only knowing goncharov’s surname keeps us at a distanc #combined with him being the only major character to go by a moniker it emphasizes just how much he's been consumed by the role he plays #who is goncharov? does he know and keep it secret? or has he too lost his sense of identity?#it's reflected in these posters as we SEE katya but goncharov remains elusive - yet clearly time is running out for them both #lakjdklf ok im done now i never post meta on here so im having fun with the fictional movie #btw I updated both of the illustrations compared to the original posts but will leave those as they were #woudl be cool if my post showed up. u can do it tumblr

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comradekatara · 2 months

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i feel like the reason aang isn’t as adored and beloved as he should be is because he’s the protagonist but he’s also not an archetypal western classical hero. i don’t agree with the entirety of that “avatar aang: feminist icon” essay because i think the role of patriarchy and gender in atla is more complex than what that essay posits, but he definitely complicates the masculine ideal of heroism and generally does not conform to patriarchal notions of masculinity. which is very deliberate, especially as contrasted with sokka and zuko’s explicit struggles with the imperialist/colonial standards of an aggressive, militaristic, and chauvinistic masculinity. aang is subversive because he represents an absence of war in a world ravaged by it. through his link to a (somewhat more) peaceful and harmonious past, he represents a better possible future. as katara would say, he brings people hope.

but people don’t like that he’s not visibly edgy or tormented like zuko is (even though he’s a far more tragic character than zuko is, just fyi), that he isn’t “cool” (even though he’s literally the coolest kid ever, just fyi), that he “gets the girl” (even though if anything, she gets him) despite being twelve and bald and nice (the horror!). katara is the more classical hero of the narrative, as its narrator and its catalyst, the adventurous revolutionary who gradually learns to control and use her powers and eventually becoming a force to be reckoned with. zuko is the classical anti-hero of the narrative, his “redemption arc” constantly hailed as one of the greatest character arcs in television. so people expect katara and zuko, as very obvious narrative foils who parallel each other every step of the way, to be the obvious couple, because based on every romance narrative we’ve been inundated with throughout our lives, within our patriarchal society, they “just make sense together.”

but as much as katara is a protagonist in her own right, aang is the show. the title quite literally represents the central thematic tension of the entire narrative, the colon illustrating the implicit divide between his duties to this brave new world in desperate need of justice and balance, or his duties to his extirpated culture as the last true voice among them. aang is the central figure because this tension represents the crucial ideological battle happening across the entire show. aang is the avatar because he is the only person in the entire world whose values have not been shaped by war.

people constantly laud zuko, in particular, for being the most interesting, complex character in avatar. but i personally don’t even think that’s true. which isn’t to say that zuko isn’t fascinating in his own right, of course, but rather that he’s certainly not the only complex character this show has to offer. he just happens to monologue about his anguish constantly. but aang wasn’t raised as an imperial prince, and so he approaches the world, and his own pain, in a very different manner. the reason he immediately goes to ride giant koi on kyoshi island, mailchutes in omashu, and otherwise goofs around after learning of the shocking ramifications of his people’s genocide is because that’s how he copes with his pain. unlike zuko, who never stops talking about his aches and yearnings, aang represses his trauma and hides his tears behind a mask of upbeat cheerful goofy twelve year old antics.

until he can’t anymore. until he snaps. both katara and zuko wear their hearts on their sleeves, and that includes their rage. but aang’s rage is dangerous specifically because it represents that he has been pushed past his limits, that the conditions of this world in which he is a perpetual stranger, temporally displaced and dispossessed, are intolerable. that peaceful reconciliation is impossible. and the fact that he persists beyond that breaking point, over and over again, to firmly and resoundingly establish his ideals even as they conflict with everything he has learned about this world, a world that is not his own even as he can never return to the world he once knew, is what makes him so unique, so powerful, so beautiful.

i know that aang isn’t the typical hero, neither narratively nor aesthetically, but really, that’s the entire point. the world, our world, needs something other than what we have now. we need someone who will not succumb to the ideals of domination and victory through violence to assert themselves. we need someone who stands firm in refusing to kill the firelord, even as everyone he knows tells him otherwise. we need someone who knows that darkness cannot be vanquished through more darkness, but can only truly yield to purifying light.

and sure, aang is a child, and often acts childishly. sure, he’s not conventionally handsome and alluring. but one thing i will never understand is how that somehow negates his appeal to the masses. because even if you don’t appreciate how crucial he is to the themes of this narrative you all seem to love so much, how can you not love his adorable little face? his precious little laugh, his zest for life, the infinite well of love and kindness he holds in his heart? people who hate aang are crazy to me. because you are, quite literally, hating the world’s most precious baby boy.

#aang #katara #zuko #analysis #hot takes #sorry this one is kind of all over the place #very stream of consciousness bc it’s loving aang hours #and he’s not only meaningful narratively #but he’s also just SOOOOO CUTE #I would literally pay money to babysit him #which I think defeats the point of babysitting but whatever #he’s just. so precious 😭😭😭#also fwiw I don’t really fw kataang either but like. it does make more narrative sense than the alternative #and if it had been executed better . well. who can say

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wasyago · 3 months

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squeaky_toy_sound_effect.mp4

#im gonna end up giving half the hermits these animal noses bc they're too cute and fun they'll all look like goofy movie cast #its a sacrifice im willing to make tho #i wanna try to implement more fun and magical details and traits into my designs and not only base them on realism #god knows if something comes out of it #like. you know how in ancient mythology they mashed all the cool animals together in insane ways that make no sense? i wanna do that #about scar: idk if im gonna keep drawing him with this nose tbh. still haven't decided if i like it more than the normal one #might also come up with something else entirely too. that's always an option lol #like. maybe a more kitty nose? or ooh a big round lilo and stitch nose damn... really i should be drawing this and not typing whoops #hermitcraft #goodtimeswithscar #my art #sketch

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clown-owo · 9 months

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I think that if Miles Edgeworth were to ever have a Tumblr blog it would be entirely Steel Samurai based with a carefully organized tagging system. He posts lengthy formally worded analysis about Steel Samurai and nothing else. He doesn't check his notes. He does check his asks, because they're kind of like emails. He has anon asks and dms turned off. Someone sends an ask about his interests outside of Steel Samurai and he immediately blocks them. He doesn't have pronouns or a name to be called by in his bio. The only hint about Edgeworth's personal life is that when he refers to the death of Jack Hammer or the conviction of Matt Engarde he only refers to Phoenix as "that man".

Maya definitely has a tumblr and it has a canon Pink Princess url. She actually hoarded a bunch of Pink Princess urls long before the character was officially announced because she knew she needed to have them. Her tumblr header is "the real pink princess ask sal manella". Her pinned post has these

[ID: Two blinkie banners. The first has a lesbian flag background and says "Pink Princess is canonically gay." The second is light pink and says "PinkSteel shippers dni". End ID] (thank you @princess-of-purple-prose)

Maya follows him and sends Edgeworth asks periodically. He thinks she's a wonderful conversationalist. He has no idea of her identity. Maya is fully aware he's Edgeworth.

#og post #highlight reel #Ace Attorney #AA #maya fey #miles edgeworth #steel samurai #Maya finds his blog and is imediately like 'oh this has to be Edgeworth'#like its mostly a hunch because he lets no personal info get out at all #but he's the only one insane enough to word Steel Samurai analysis like a legal document #or at least he makes comments that make a lot of sense from the perspective that it was written by a lawyer #she knows that if she tells him she found his blog he would deactivate immediately. she archives all his posts just in case #I don't know if he'd engage in the fandom I'm on the fence. on one hand it'd be funny and in character if he keeps entirely to himself.#on the other hand it would be really funny if he accidentally follows Maya.#y #hi. i made this post like a year ago and i am coming back to finish it #i don't know what that “y” was but im leaving it there #aasocmed

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potatobugz · 1 year

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ITS JUST. ALL CREEK

im glad we can all agree that Craig approaching Thomas in "Le Petit Tourette" and asking him if he could do his laundry was very gay

#south park #sp #craig tucker #tweek tweak #creek #sp creek #super craig #wonder tweek #sp thomas #thomas le petit tourette #thats just his last name to me #i have been using ao3 more lately and whenever ppl tag him they say 'Thomas (le petit tourette)'#cuz they dont tell us his last name & thats the only episode he appears in #but hes kinda funny #him teaming up w kyle to get back at cartman was very fun. underrated character #trying to make tweek more... skrunkly. in my art #hes like a wet rag to me #places him in the bathtub and he gets all crinkly like a sopping wet cat #does thag make sense.#im really getting better at form and shapes its maling me really happy #ALSO CONTINUING MY TRADITION OF DRAWING SHIP ART OF TWO CHARACTERS JUST STANDING ON TOP OF EACHOTHER #LIKE LEGO BRICKS #i do this for almodt everything i hyperfixate on its very important #potatart

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loserifer · 6 days

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i survived another week under capitalism's thumb. w me. anyway, here's some Tension >:)

Page 5/?

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reblogs are appreciated!!! 🕺🕺🕺

#hazbin hotel #lucifer morningstar #hazbin hotel sara #hazbin hotel fanart #fanart #hazbin hotel comic #comic #rays art #i noticed that sera doesnt really call charlie by her name... shes 'lucifer's misguided daughter' or "daughter of the morningstar'#her identity only seems to tie back to lucifer in sera's eyes #its very demeaning and although i dont think sera even realizes she's coming across that way... i do find it very interesting #i like to think she does the same thing to lilith #lilith isnt 'the queen' or 'the first woman'... shes 'lucifer's wife'#and thus lucifer's importance is exaggerated and those related to him are underrepresented #especially since both charlie and lilith care about demonkind and have radical ideas #and while lucifer USED to be the same way... his sense of self has been crushed (at this point in time)#thus making him easier to manipulate #again i dont think sera even realizes this is something she's doing or taking advantage of as her intentions are not 'evil'#but its still happening #thats the consequence of a 'the end justifies the means' mindset

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thejasontoddarchives · 8 months

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Catwoman (2018-) #57

Bruce is really swinging between extremes huh

#dc #jason todd #red hood #catwoman 57 #gotham war #last week it was ‘shouldn’t I kill you’ and now it’s ‘I’m gonna take back my son screw the plan for now’#some people are saying it’s inconsistency but tbh I think he’s supposed to be off the rails #even as he’s saying this he practically tossed said son into the middle of traffic #possibly drugged him too #For once the writers are probably telling you to take what Bruceman says with a grain of salt #like especially that last line makes absolutely no sense in the context of everything he’s done this issue lol #but tbh is this really anything new for him #the only new thing about it is the fact that it’s being framed honestly for once

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yokyoaaa · 7 months

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Slumber party!

#i really saw mk’s retro design and went ‘’HIM AND HIS BLANKIE’’#i think it make sense because most of my sleeping attires are just my old clothes #I also hc he usually sleeps with no mask on and only put it when there’s an emergency or something #meta knight #king dedede #bandee #bandana waddle dee #bandana dee #kirby #kirby fanart #dedede #my art #art

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runespoor7 · 6 months

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the fact that there was a perfectly gossipable and inappropriate closeness between WWX and JYL, peppered with WWX causing the break of her betrothal and WWX beating up her ex-fiance, culminating in WWX killing her husband and JYL shielding him with her body...

and the actual gossip in the Jianghu at the time of WWX's death was that JC had been the naive childhood sweetheart too gone on WWX.

#jc truly can't catch a break #the narrative looking at the YMJ situation: hmmm yeah JC is gonna be the ruined woman here #only way it makes sense is 1)ppl really loved to be mean to jc and 2)jc was THAT unsubtle #which is one reason why jc thinks wwx left because of him to run from that love jc cannot hide right #he's not entirely wrong #wwx does leave in part because the love between jc and him is too much. scary. that wwx has to deny because it chewed up his core already #chengxian

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arunneronthird · 1 year

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can I ask u … older timbo

u mean GUN BATMAN???

...u may

#its him #gun batman #genuinely the funniest name for a character i actually really like #like ofc tim would be the only one to survive the bad ending only end up crossing the line it makes perfect canon sense #tim drake #batman #my art #also im still learning to draw more mature faces im on it

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theoppositeofprofound · 5 days

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not to go off topic but i think that ideal post-canon dungeon meshi situation for kabru is for him to simultaneously have a slowburn domestic cozy noodles and rare escapes to go monster hunting and falling asleep in the same bed situation with mithrun AND some sort of high politics high stakes power dynamics they can't escape, manipulation equally matched by hopeless affection, glances shared over council tables, getting caught in the closet with the king again (explaining basic social protocols to him) thing with laios.

then just as he's coming to terms with his own feelings and the possibility that they might be romantic he learns that mithrun and laios have in fact been carrying on some sort of psychosexual no-strings affair the whole time (mithrun sits on the dresser and dispassionately explains horrific and bizarre monster situations from around the globe while laios gets off seven feet away)

#dungeon meshi #mithrun #laios touden #kabru of utaya #labrumisu #sometimes Mithrun tells Laois about how he would have mercy killed him #and laios tells Mithrun what it felt like to have the demon spasm and die under him #hashtag just boys night #before you ask me how kabru didn’t realize this was happening #he KNEW they were having little secret meeting he just thought it was therapeutic #which in a sense trying to make each other cry is but #they always looked like they’d had a really cathartic conversation when they came out of laios’ room! mithrun was so cheerful afterwards #in fairness it was good for them #they were both having fun and letting off steam #it’s only kabru who’s being weird about it per usual

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crybaby-bkg · 6 months

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Bakugou asks you to join him during one of his photoshoots for a pro hero campaign. he doesn’t understand the point of it, nor why he has to only be in his underwear, but he doesn’t mind it much when he gets to look over to your shy little face.

you’re propped up in a corner on an old couch, laptop perched in your lap, its glare bright despite the way you never really look at it. you’re supposed to be catching up on some work, but you’ve been distracted by the glorious sight that is the love of your life.

when he looks at you, do you duck down, eyes suddenly focused on your screen again. it only makes him smile a little, step away from the assistant of the photographer who comes up to him, calls out your name.

“Huh?” your head whips up with a quickness neither of you expect, goes to show just how invested you really were with your work. but Bakugou only grins at you now, jerking his chin over to you as he grabs the bottle of oil the assistant was trying to pour over him.

“C’mere and gimme a hand, won’t ya?” he asks you, boyish smile gracing his face as he tilts his head at you. immediately, your face warms as you put together the request that’s suddenly dropped in your lap. everyone in the studio looks at you, with both envious and excited gazes, and it only makes you shrink in on yourself.

“I hate you.” you mutter under your breath when you finally rise up from your place on the couch, which he somehow hears. but Bakugou only laughs at you, grabs you by the waist when you’re close enough to kiss you breathless in front of everybody, before he’s handing off the oil to you.

“Such an attention whore,” you whisper when you’re close, the air between the two of you thick. everyone tries to look away, give you guys a bit of privacy, but it’s hard when such a soft and amused look passes over the usually rough and hardened hero’s face.

“Only for your attention.” he grunts back to you, holding his arms out for you to start dripping the oil down his skin. it’s a sensual gesture, the softness between you two sliding into something more, something that you only ever reserve for the bedroom.

you tip the bottle over his shoulders until it drips down his chest, massaging it all in with your hands in crude, circular motions. you can see the way he bites his lip, ignore the way he looks at you down the bridge of his nose lest you two create a scene not meant for the public eye. you gather more oil, warm it between your palms, kneeling in front of him to help massage it into the defined muscles of his stomach.

you ignore the twitch in front of you, swallowing thickly, glancing up to Bakugou who hasn’t taken his eyes off of you yet. you mouth at him to behave, but he only grins, something feral.

“We only need it above the waistband.” the photographer suddenly calls out, snapping you back to attention. you stand on shaky knees, nodding with your eyes casted low, ashamed, that your freak of a man had you doing something so…so—

“Go wait in my dressing room, yeah?” Bakugou asks you, pulling you in close to peck at the corner of your mouth. “Gonna wrap this shit up.” he promises you, and you can only nod silently, mind going a mile a minute. but before you go, you remember to grab the oil. just in case.

#I hope this makes sense and sorry that it’s This.#I’m sleepy and having an allergic reaction and it’s HELL!!!!!!!#and I’m also coming on my cycle life just won’t stop beating my ass #on the other hand I really enjoyed my schoolwork this week which was a nice relief #I have a week left and I’m so happy bc I’ll finally have more time to write what I want again!!!#bakugou treats! 🍬#—new treat in the streets! 🍫#also I’ve talked about model bkg before but I can never get enough of him I fear #him as a model or even just modeling in general does something to me #mr pretty face with such a terrible attitude and such a brat bc he wants only you for everything #I need him terribly so

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