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dilatorywriting · 1 year

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Valentine's Day Special: Let Them Fight

GN!Reader x Malleus Draconia vs. Azul Ashengrotto vs. Vil Schoenheit Word Count: 5.3k

Summary: Who knew that in a world of magic, and mayhem, and outright villainy, that it'd be something as stupid as Valentine's Day that would push these idiots over the edge. Or, Malleus, Azul, and Vil go to war over some chocolates

A/N: This MC/Plot takes place in the Heroes vs Villains universe -- specifically Post-Staff's route, rather than any of our other lovely idiot husbands.

There was always some sort of strange overlap of customs from your world to this one. Halloween seemed to have survived more or less intact (even if it was a bit more, uh, extreme than the subtle evening of giving out treats and dressing as ghosts that you remembered). Winter Holidays were still very much a Thing, even if all other connotations had been stripped from them. Moreover, it was like someone had taken your familiar Earthen calendar and just sort of… mirrored it. Distorted it a bit. Just a lil’ bit more chaos than would have been socially acceptable back home.

So when you made a sly little joke about stocking up on discount chocolates after the Valentine’s Day rush and no one laughed—not even a little chortle, or an irritable eyeroll—you initially thought it was maybe to do with the irrationality of Sam’s Shop ever having a sale to begin with. You had not assumed that, you know, there was no Valentine’s Day at all.

“It’s an important holiday, then? Where you’re from?” Azul mused, busy scribbling endless, chicken scratch, notes in the margins of some form that was probably very important.

“I mean, not really,” you frowned, tossing your Mostro-Branded apron onto its hook. “Maybe. Yes? I don’t really know, actually.”

He hummed and moved to push his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. “Well, whatever it is, I’m always looking for new events to host at the Lounge. What exactly is it?”

“It’s a sort of special day for couples. Romance. Lovey-dovey nonsense,” you shrugged, and watched Azul’s finger slip off the slick metal frame of his glasses and nearly take his eye out. You waved off his obvious disgust with a dramatic sigh (I mean, why else would he be so stiff and red?). “Yeah, yeah. I know. It’s ridiculous.”

“I—I never said that!” he spluttered, and then paused to cough into his fist and clear his throat. “It just—I just wasn’t expecting something like that to…”

“Exist?”

He grinned, wry. His cheeks were still a bit too pink. “Precisely.”

“You would have loved my world,” you said. “Very capitalistic. Lots of cash-grab holidays like that.”

Azul laughed.

“I’m sure I would be fond of any place you came from.” He paused, and his expression puckered up a bit miserably—like he really hadn’t intended to express such a sentiment aloud. But he managed to smooth the sharp line of his frown back into that usual, smarmy, smirk of his easily enough. “But either way! Tell me more!” he grinned, reaching forward to grab a stack of blank paper and a fresh pen. “I’d love to hear all about it.”

The next day you were supposed to help the Drama Club start building some stage scenery for their newest play. It was proper grunt work, which was perhaps the only sort of work you were actually qualified for. And Vil always made sure that there were plenty of disgustingly healthy but still quite tasty snacks available for the help to munch on. The food spread alone would have been worth the trip, but on top of that, Vil had made you promise. Practically a blood oath, binding you and your meager free time to the shitty supply closet in the corner of the Auditorium. And as sour as he could be sometimes, you really could never say no to him when he always looked so heart meltingly fond whenever you did agree to while away the hours at his side. That lovely face and even lovelier smile of his were fucking lethal. A war crime, surely, to use it against someone as plain and susceptible to bribery as you were.

But today you were now an idiot on a mission—an idiot determined to spread the joy of a trashy holiday that really probably shouldn’t exist in the first place, let alone in a world where people worshipped storybook villains as veritable deities. And you’d already bought all the molds, and the trays, and you really didn’t have a lot of spare pocket money to begin with, so letting this investment go to waste would not only be a shame, but a terrible business investment.

“What do you mean you’re not coming,” Vil sneered, glaring down his perfectly straight nose at you.

“I really am sorry,” you said, mostly genuine. “But I have something I need to do this afternoon.”

“You’ve made other plans?” he frowned, something a little too unsettled to fit with his usual regality twisting across his expression.

“I have to get ready for Valentine’s Day,” you explained, and his brow tugged down further. Though that earlier twinge of panic seemed to have vanished at least. You pointedly shook your grocery bag full of goodies. “I’m going to make chocolates for everyone.”

“Chocolates?” Vil echoed, confused.

You nodded. “It’s a tradition back home. You give stuff like candy and flowers to the people you care about. Normally it’s a holiday for couples, or whatever. But. Well…”

The ‘I Am Fully Aware That I’m Single as a Pringle, Please Just Let Me Have This One Thing’ was left unsaid, but it hung in the air around your head like a very persistent storm cloud nonetheless. Vil, magnanimously, seemed perfectly happy to ignore the Woe Is Me implications spewing from your mouth. Instead, he leaned forward until he was dipping precariously close into your personal space. His amethyst eyes had lit with blatant interest at your ramblings, and he hummed low in his throat.

“Is that so?” he mused, gaze lidded and warm. “That sounds… intriguing.”

You nodded past the heady scent of his cologne fogging your head. What was it with attractive people, huh? It was so unfair. You don’t get to look and smell good. Pick a lane. Save some dignity for the rest of us.

“So, I promise I’ll help another day. I just have a feeling making chocolates is going to wind up being a lot harder than I think it will.”

Because that’s how it always went in your stupid slice-of-life shows. The poor, harried, protagonist thinking they’re doing a good deed—painstakingly constructing their own, special, homemade goodies for all their important people. Making them with love. And then having it all blow up in their face like a goddamn, cocoa flavored, nuke. Nope. Not you, motherfucker. Your chocolates were going to be divine. You were going to take every, tropey, precaution in the book. And that of course included allotting yourself ample time to make mistakes your masterpiece.

“Of course,” Vil grinned. “How could I possibly begrudge you for wanting to spend your time on something so heartfelt?”

“Thank you,” you blurted, relived. Because at least he got it. Azul had been so ridiculously insistent that you should prepare all your Valentine’s Day wishes as a team. Which was not the point. He’d spent hours last night trying to wheedle his way into your plans—with endless platitudes about ‘business partners always being there for each other,’ and ‘how would he know if he was celebrating to your standards if he wasn’t given a model to work off of first?’ Utter bullshit. He’d probably just wanted free labor.

“Tomorrow, then?” Vil beamed and you nodded.

“Tomorrow,” you confirmed.

“Well, then,” he hummed. “I better get to work as well. I suppose the scenery can wait.”

You nodded in farewell and began the trek back to Ramshackle and its marginally functional kitchens. You hadn’t realized Vil was taking on any new projects, but if it was enough to have him putting off the Club’s activities as well then it must have been pretty important. Maybe he’d get you tickets to it whenever he finished—whatever it was. If there were tickets? How did any of the things he did actually work? Hell if you knew.

Making chocolates was, in fact, a laughably easy endeavor. And you found yourself cursing every goddamn Shoujo Bullshit Manga under the sun for leading you to think otherwise. The hardest part of the entire thing was fighting off Grim and his wandering paws.

You made up some basic truffles which were, again, stupidly simple. Just some messily chopped chocolate, cream, and a little splash of vanilla to make it Special. Once those were shaped into messy blobs, you dipped them into some more melted chocolate and bam. That was it. That was literally it. You felt like a genius—sitting there mushing up balls of cocoa like high-end playdough.

By 6PM, you had all your little darlings tucked into the refrigerator to harden, all the gauzy, red, boxes lined up on your counter and ready to be filled, and Grim had been placated with an offering of all your dirty mixing bowls. The tiny, demonic, beast was passed out at the dingy kitchen table—one of said bowls wedged onto his head like an astronaut’s helmet. Hopefully it was just a food coma and not, like, an actual coma-coma. Real cats couldn’t eat chocolate, but Grim never really seemed real at all. So hopefully he’d be fine.

You wiped down your cooking space once, twice. Paced up and down the narrow hallway until you were wearing away the already threadbare rugs, and spent way too long just standing in front of the fridge—staring in on your chocolates like a psychotic kidnapper scoping out their next victims.

Eventually you realized that you maybe needed to do something with your evening that wasn’t just creeping on your confections, and set out into the frosty, night, air for a stroll.

Which is, of course, where you ran into your familiar, horned, friend—staring up into the starry sky in a wistful manner that darkened his pale complexion into something nearly ominous. He always looked a bit like that, like something unearthly and detached from the rest of the world.

“Tsunotarou!” you chirped happily, and that adrift-at-sea expression of his melted right off his face.

“Child of Man,” he greeted, inclining his head politely. “I wasn’t expecting to see you this evening.” His brow furrowed, almost confused. “Is it not too cold for you?”

Your breath was, in fact, fogging in front of your face. And you couldn’t really feel your toes anymore. But the electric anticipation of tomorrow was keeping you warm enough. Even if only in spirit.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” you waved him off. And then, because you couldn’t help yourself, you leaned forward on your tippytoes and blurted out, “Happy Almost Valentine’s Day!”

“Valentine’s Day?” Malleus repeated back at you, looking like you’d just handed him an unsolvable differential equation.

“It’s a holiday from back home,” you explained for the umpteenth time that day. “And normally I’m not too fussed about it, but this year I’m really excited to give everyone their chocolates!” You grinned. “And you too, of course. I have to make sure I give them to all my important people.”

The furrow between his brows vanished, but the blatant, gaping, confusion remained. He looked like you’d nearly startled him into an early grave.

“I am one of your most important people?” he asked, slow as a tortoise making its way up an incline.

You nodded cheerfully, still bellied by your earlier culinary successes and excellent mood. “Of course you are! We’re friends, aren’t we? And besides. Valentine’s Day is for showing people how much you care about them.”

“What an interesting concept,” he mused, bringing a finger up to tap at his chin. “To think your world had such a heartfelt tradition—it’s quite a lovely surprise.”

You laughed. “If you think the chocolates are special, you should see what some couples do for each other. Rooms full of flowers, fancy date nights—I’m just managing the bare minimum.”

“Couples?” he echoed, and you felt the first teeny, hot, thread of chagrin work its way past your enthusiasm.

“Well, normally Valentine’s Day focuses on, like, romantic things,” you said, averting your gaze just in time to miss the tension lance through his shoulders. “But it can be for all sorts of affection!” you hastily added.

“Is that so…” the Prince hummed. He lifted his pensive gaze once more and stared you down with that weighted intensity that you’d only just recently learned how not to buckle beneath. “And you wish to celebrate this day. With me?”

“…you don’t mind, do you?” you asked, hesitant.

“Of course not, Child of Man,” he beamed, his lips curling up into a smile that put all his too-sharp teeth on display. “But you’ll have to excuse me now, I’m afraid. It seems I have some preparations to undertake this evening.”

“Oh,” you blinked. “Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

“Yes,” Malleus said. “You will.”

It was officially Valentine’s Day, and you were ready to begin your mission of forcing your sweets onto every, single, one of your reluctant friends. Let them be pissy and tsundere. You weren’t afraid to weep and proclaim your undying, shounen-talk-no-jutsu, levels of friendship. Okay. Maybe you were a little. But these grouchy bastards had very easily become your grouchy bastards, and so help you God, they would suffer under your affection and they would like it.

There were plenty of small boxes—all nice, neat, corners with little bows perched on top. But you had also prepared a singular, larger, tray. It was cleaner cut than the rest, with bold, contrasting, colors and a simple elegance. You stared it down with a strange sort of disquiet brewing in your gut. Maybe you were being presumptuous. Goodness knows you’d more than dealt with the searing, emotionally destructive, consequences of that before. But all the same…

You squared your shoulders and spent a moment convincing yourself that your spine was quite sturdy—a proper, titanium, support system—and then popped the Big Box into the bag with the others.

Your first stop was Heartslabyul, and you burst through the ornate, crimson, doors like a manic home invader.

“I come bearing gifts,” you proclaimed, merrily doling out the boxes to your favorite idiot duo. You set three more aside, with little labels for Riddle, Trey, and Cater respectively. Normally you wouldn’t trust a dorm full of teenage boys not to devour any scrap of unattended food in sight, but Riddle had long since struck the fear of God into these poor lads. So you figured it’d be safe.

Deuce’s face lit up and he accepted the chocolate with near starry-eyed enthusiasm.

“Are these your holiday presents? Like the Santa Claus?” he asked, looking very much like a bouncy golden retriever preparing itself for congratulatory head pats.

You leaned forward with an indulgent huff to give him his pats. “No. But close enough.”

You pawned off three boxes on Ruggie when he tried to duck past you in the hallway—one for him, one for Leona, and one extra as payment for making him do your dirty work of playing delivery boy to Mister Grump in the first place. You slipped Jack his on the way into Trein’s morning lecture, and managed to press a box into Jamil’s hands before he slunk off to the library. Kalim cheered so loudly when you handed him one that your ears started to ring.

And then trouble arrived in the form of two, slippery, eels draping themselves across your shoulders. Normally the destructive duo seemed to act on their own prerogative, but on this fortuitous morning their Lord and Master was surprisingly not too far behind.

“Shrimpy!~” Floyd trilled, dragging you into a one-armed hug that was really more of a slightly-less-aggressive headlock than anything else. “Azul says you came up with this stupid holiday! And he made us work all day yesterdayto put together stuff for the Lounge! It’s not fair!”

Your legs shook under the weight of the new tumor that had made its home on your back.

“Now, Floyd,” Jade chirped. All finely manicured cruelty. “If you’re to blame anyone for going overboard with this entire situation, you ought to lay the fault on our fearless leader.” His bi-colored eyes flashed, amused. “Isn’t that right, Azul?”

Said ‘fearless leader’ looked like he was sucking on a lemon. He glared bitterly at his subordinate, seeming to share an entire, silent, argument with him, before turning back on you with a heavy sigh and the barest hint of angry flush in his cheeks.

“Prefect,” he grinned past his obvious discomfort, all sparkling, white, teeth. “I have to thank you for sharing so much information about this ‘Valentine’s Day’ of yours. It’s such a unique event, and it seems like our preparations at the Lounge are already being received incredibly well.”

“That’s good,” you nodded, trying and failing to shrug the Leech off your shoulders. “I’m glad I could help.”

Azul hummed under his breath, his eyes darting away for a moment. His glasses reflected the muted light of the hall in an odd way—making it difficult to read his expression. He cleared his throat and when he looked back up at you, the tips of his ears had gone pink.

“You’re more than welcome to come by, of course,” he beamed, suave as could be.

“I mean,” you blinked. “I would hope so. I work there.”

Floyd let out a bark of laughter and Jade snickered into his glove. The pleasant pink tinting Azul’s skin was heating to a near sunburned red. He looked down and coughed into his fist.

“Yes…” he mumbled. “I—I’m aware. But what I meant is… What I meant—” He frowned. It was a tight, pouty, little thing that scrunched up his entire face. That mottled red had spread to the bridge of his nose.

“I do believe what Azul is trying to say,” Jade stepped in, clearly taking some sort of pity on his tongue-tied friend. Or perhaps pity was the wrong word for it, seeing how smug he looked, “is that he would like to invite you to the event personally. As an honored guest, not an employee.”

“Oh,” you blinked, startled. Then hesitated, cautious on instinct. There was always some sort of catch to the Octomer’s kindness. “I don’t know if I could afford whatever fancy thing you’ve thrown together.”

“You wouldn’t be paying for it,” Azul assured you, some of that sickly flush having finally started to recede from his cheeks. You hoped he was feeling alright. “You’ve contributed more than enough for the day. It would be on the house.”

Jade loudly cleared his throat and Azul huffed, eyes sliding away yet again.

“I would be paying,” he finally mumbled. And then, even quieter, “As I believe is the custom.”

Just as you were about to thank him for his startling bought of generosity (and also ask after his health, because between the weird, pink, tinge to his skin and the aforementioned generosity, clearly somethingwas out of sorts with him), you noticed a sneaky hand working its way into your bag of goodies, and you immediately were on the defensive.

“Hey!” you snapped, spinning out of Floyd’s stranglehold. “You only get one!”

“Then I want the really big one!” he demanded, making grabby motions at it.

“No!” you squeaked, and clutched it protectively to your chest. The trio looked at you with varying degrees of surprise and you cleared your throat awkwardly. “This one—This one is special.”

“Oh?” Jade cooed, eyes flickering back towards Azul, who seemed determined to look absolutely anywhere else. “Is it now?”

“Awww,” Floyd whined. “That’s no fair! Who’s it for, anyways?!”

You gripped the box tighter and now it was your turn to stiffly avert your eyes down to the ugly carpet. “It’s not—I’m not—” you cleared your throat and forced the jitter from your voice. “I’m not ready to give it to him yet.”

The silence that followed was absolutely the worst thing you’d experienced in a long, long, time. Overblots and all. You could practically hear your blood pounding in your ears. You were just about to turn and beat a hasty retreat when a familiar, snappish, voice called your name from the other side of the corridor.

“There you are, potato,” Vil huffed, coming to stand at your side and bodily inserting himself between you and your tormentors. He met Azul’s petulant sneer with a frankly terrifying one of his own. “What are you doing here? I thought we agreed you’d be eating lunch with me today.”

You remembered no such thing, but if it got you out of this verbal minefield of a conversation, you were more than willing to take the claim at face value.

“Apologies,” Azul cut in with all his usual, mafioso, flair. “But the Prefect will be taking their afternoon meal at the Mostro Lounge today.”

“Is that so?” Vil hummed, sounding positively venomous.

“Unless you think you can make an offer good enough to sway them otherwise,” Azul chirped, equally as unpleasant.

Vil laughed—cold and sharp as crystal. It was the most elegant display of blatant irritation you’d ever seen.

“Of course you’d only consider this entire situation on a transactional basis,” he drawled, entirely unimpressed. Azul flinched and his expression screwed up into something near petulant. “I would expect no less. Are you planning to lock them into a contact too, hmm? Sign away everything in formal, sterile, terms?” Vil crossed his arms, and you were reminded sharply once more how very, very lucky you were to not be on his bad side (even if you hadn’t realized before all this that Azul apparently was on said bad side. You had no idea they disliked each other so terribly). “I really hadn’t expected you to have a single, romantic, bone in your body, and yet somehow I’m still disappointed to be proved so entirely correct.”

Azul looked ready to explode, and even though Jade and Floyd and melted back into the shadows at the start of this entire encounter, the pair of them were starting to look a bit murderous too—like sharks lazily circling the dark, ocean, depths.

“Don’t you think you deserve better?” Vil asserted, turning back to face you with a soft cant of the head. You blinked back in shock.

“Uh,” you gaped, absolutely fucking lost.

And then, like a beacon of unrivaled, black-drenched, hope, you spotted Malleus making his way down the hallway. He was flanked by his trio of housemates-cum-pseudo-bodyguards. Normally you tried to leave him alone when his rabid, green-haired, guard dog was yipping at his heels, and on top of that, the idea of using your classmates’ ingrained fear of the Fae Prince to your own advantage upset your rather staunch sensibilities. But this was an emergency.

“Tsunotarou!” you called, and it absolutely sounded like the cry for help it was.

He perked up immediately and you watched him nearly crash to a standstill. And then his sharp, neon, gaze locked on the dueling Housewardens circling you like a pair of snapping wolves, and his merry expression shuttered into something positively glacial. Which was—Fuck. I mean. Come on. What the fuck was going on today—

“Child of Man,” he droned, crossing the short distance with all the grace of the near-mythical, arcane, master that he was. His posture was more collected and regal than you’d ever seen it, and he loomed all the taller for it.

Azul and Vil had gone tense at your side, one certainly more so than other. The Octomer looked incredibly unsettled at Malleus’s sudden arrival, but Vil just looked angrier. It was the sort of unpleasantness that bloomed whenever someone challenged him or his competencies over and over—inevitably pushing the normally composed beauty into an indignant rage.

“Happy Day of Valentine’s,” Malleus continued, slotting himself firmly into the veritable territory dispute going down. “Are you quite alright?”

No, you wanted to wail. No! I’m so confused! I have no idea what’s going on! I just wanted to give my friends chocolates!

But you never managed to get those words or any others past your lips, because Sebek Zigvolt shot to his master’s side with all the speed of the lightning for which he was so named, and immediately began to scream.

“HOW DARE YOU INTERRUPT THE YOUNG MASTER’S AFTERNOON ROUTINE!” he shrieked at the top of his very impressive lungs.

You weren’t sure if he was howling at you (very likely) or just anyone who wasn’t Malleus, but Jade took the opportunity to slink forward from the shadows with a sharp tut-tut.

“Perhaps none of you deserve the Prefect’s special attentions,” he piped in, sounding very much like someone intentionally throwing a cannister of gasoline onto an already roaring fire. “Or any chocolates at all—let alone the ones set aside for someone special.”

At this, silence once more rang through the corridor and you wanted to throttle that stupid eel.

“There is a special box?” Malleus asked first, brow shooting up as his expression tugged with… something.

“I—I mean, I made all of yours special!” you defended, holding the wrapped treasure tightly to your chest. “But… I guess. Yes. There’s one that’s a little bigger than the others.”

At this, all three Housewardens exchanged pointed looks.

Jade smiled serenely once more, and then continued his absolute massacre upon your person.

“Yes, indeed,” he nodded. “And our dearest Prefect only just mentioned that—hmm. How did you word it? Ah. That’s right. ‘I’m not ready to give it to him yet.’”

The trio tensed. All looking absolutely ready to pounce. At—at what, you had no idea.

“Perhaps,” the wretch mused, “it would be best for you all to temper your rage until the victor is decided, hmm?” He paused to tap at his chin for a moment, and then his lips split into a mean, jagged, grin. “Afterwards? Well, I suppose that whole cheery sentiment about ‘love and war’ still holds true.”

You gulped, feeling startlingly like Jade had just tried to serve you up on a silver platter.

But when neither Azul, Vil, or Malleus made any further moves to murder each other… well. As sacrificial as it all felt, at least it must have worked.

The rest of the day passed in a tense sort of fugue. You certainly hadn’t expected your attempts at bringing some holiday cheer to Night Raven to go so… Uh…

But either way, you managed to survive through the rest of the afternoon, and before you knew it, all that remained of all your tireless efforts and good will was the Special Box. The big one. The one that you’d put together with extra care and hopes for better things. You glared down at it for a moment, feeling sweat starting to bead over your palms. But you couldn’t chicken out now. Not after you’d come so far! Everyone was acting so strange, and it was all so weird. And as much as that unfamiliarity had your teeth on edge and your hackles raised, you didn’t want to regret not giving out the last of your well-made sweets.

Well, here goes nothing, you frowned. You took a deep breath, willed yourself to be brave, and smiled your biggest smile.

“Here,” you beamed, more than a little shy and still a bit horrified by whatever pissing match had been going down earlier in the day, and finally offered the grandest of your chocolate boxes to the man standing opposite you.

Divus Crewel accepted your offering daintily, plucking at the crisp, sharp, wrapping with his crimson gloves. He arched one of his thin brows at you and you fought the nervous heat rising in your cheeks.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” you blurted. “I know it’s not a thing here, but I thought it’d be nice.”

The second eyebrow joined the first—practically jumping all the way up into his fringe.

“I appreciate the gesture. Though from what I understand of all the garish advertising I’ve seen for Mostro Lounge’s new event, I assumed this was a holiday for romantic overtures,” he intoned, wry.

You spluttered and waved your hands furiously. “I mean! Normally! Yes! But also…” You trailed off, fighting the urge to fidget. “If you don’t have a—a, well, someone, then Valentine’s is just a nice excuse to give something to people you care about.” You averted your gaze and lost the battle to twist your fingers into your jacket sleeves. “My family used to give me chocolates every year. So. I thought I could… Well…” you trailed off on a grumble, embarrassed.

Crewel sighed and popped the lid off the box. He plucked two truffles from their casing—keeping one for himself and handing you the other.

“Well, then. A very happy Valentine’s to you, Prefect,” he droned and popped the chocolate into his mouth with a thoughtful hum.

You lit up like a Christmas tree and happily gobbled up your own treat. So distracted were you by the one-two-punch combo of the delicious sugar and even sweeter taste of your Professor’s approval that you almost entirely missed the pointed glare he shot over your shoulder.

“I appreciate your regard,” he said, loud. Sharp. And like he wasn’t talking to you at all. “And while I’m certain that if you do pick a ‘someone’ for yourself to celebrate with in the following years, they’ll have to work very hard to be worthy of such a gift, hmm?” His lip curled unpleasantly, in direct contrast to the indulgent warmth that had been tugging at his expression only a moment before. “I could hardly allow you to waste such a thoughtful gesture on someone unworthy.”

The Octavinelle Housewarden had the decency to look at least a little panicked—his face going pale and gaunt from where he was shrinking into his high collar. There was a frantic look about him, like he was trying to weigh the cost-benefit ratio of going up against his professor in his head, and realizing that he was stupidly, willfully, walking right into a lose-lose situation. And that, sadly—miserably—he was going to keep doing just that. The other two, however, looked entirely undeterred. Schoenheit curled his lip right back at him, more than ready to duke it out here and now, and Crewel fought the urge to remind the blonde that he was the adult in this situation, thank you very much. The adult who could very well revoke the Warden’s access to his Alchemy Labs as it suited him. The very alchemy labs that he knew Vil had been using to concoct all kinds of new, personalized, gifts for you. Draconia simply looked on with that unnervingly ancient, green, leer of his. Like he was staring down a particularly fascinating game. The Fae Prince was the most unsettling of the trio, if only because that while Crewel was more than confident enough in his abilities to subdue his other wayward students, fighting off an Immortal, All Powerful, Dragon was going to require at least a little bit of prep work.

Divus Crewel sighed, and it rattled all the way out from the marrow of his bones.

“Come, then,” he rumbled, directing you to follow him back into his office. “It’s not chocolates, but I probably have some of those ridiculous cookies of yours lying around somewhere.” Which he did. Boxes upon boxes of them. Tucked away special for whenever you came to visit. Not that he’d ever willingly admit that, even under the pain of death.

Your eyes went wide and warm as you positively beamed.

It was rotten work, certainly. He shot one, last, warning glare down the hall at the trio of infatuated interlopers as he firmly shut his office door behind you and your absolute oblivious idiocy. He’d do it. Of course he would. But, Christ alive. He was going to need a stronger drink.

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alijuan · 1 month

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Ascended Astarion is true unlike Spawn Astarion who pretends to be good for Tav

If i see that opinion again i will explode🫠

It's funny because Astarion will only approves if you persuade him not to perform the ritual.

A lot of people don't understand the concept of grey morality and it shows. Many people justify him but this type of AA fan thinks worse of him than he really is. He needs the ritual not because he's a power-hungry villain, but because he needs safety for himself and his lover. Depending on Tav/Durge's actions, he either stays with the feeling of fear (AA is still afraid deep inside, the game files confirm this) or he fights against it and becomes truly free of Cazador and fear (spawn ending). The dialogue with Durge about not being afraid is wonderful and shows difference between SA and AA.

Astarion: This little adventure of ours has taught me that we can't let our lives be ruled by fear. Or else we never really live. Astarion: I'm not afraid. Not of you, not of your darkness, and not of our future.

The point of the spawn ending is that Tav/Durge saw him as more than just an outward image of a power-hungry killer incapable of becoming a better person. But if you can't see beyond that image, he will think that he has no choice but to continue living in the world that Cazador has built for him. If you think that AA is his best ending because he is evil then you have failed to understand his whole personality.

I feel safe with you. Seen.

Despite of his love of killing (he is a vampire after all), he repeatedly showed compassion and guilt for luring people. Before the ritual, he literally convinced himself that he should kill spawn for power. Astarion rationalises this to protect his psyche, because he’s clearly not the type of guy who can sacrifice thousands of people to the devil and not feel anything about it.

Durge/Tav: This isn’t you, Astarion. Not really. Astarion: It should be.

I really like that the player technically makes the insight check and that there’s an advantage when they're romancing Astarion. Tav/Durge could see through the image Astarion was trying to create. They saw an elf whose fear prevented him from seeing all the possibilities.

Astarion: When I look at my future, anything and everything feels possible now.

Just as Astarion saw Durge not just as serial killer, but as someone who could defeat Urge and become a better person.

Durge: I am myself at last. You don't need to fear anything from me ever again. Astarion: I knew you had that sweat heart all along. I was alarmed by you sometimes, scandalised even, but somehow by your side, I still only ever saw you.

AA fans also often ignore the fact that the game has good and bad endings in the companion stories. And it's not about morality. All companion quests are literally about how the desired and obvious path leads to a bad ending. And Astarion is no exception. In a good ending, he gets the chance to heal and finally acceptes himself and his vampire nature, in a bad ending, he gives up and regresses as a person.

Spawn Astarion knows what he wants and says it. SA is ready for a relationship and sex. Ascended Astarion can’t answer the question of what he wants, so he acts as a vampire lord should. AA is literally back to the state of the first act and has started manipulating Tav/Durge through sex again (even repeating the same phrases). This is why he doesn’t really want sex (he approves if you choose the no sex option and he definitely dissociated during the sex scene) unlike Spawn Astarion who initiated it.

Spawn Astarion is the same Astarion who enjoys “murder and terror” and you can see that clearly in his “hero” ending (more like “antihero”). And this is the ending without romance, he chose it himself. And the whole idea of him pretending to be good for Tav is actually meaningless without romance.

Ascended Astarion is the same Astarion, but stuck in a black and white world of fear and domination.

SA scene ends with hope music (instrumental version of I want to live) AA scene ends with chains.

And there’s so much more. Larian specifically showed the difference between good and bad endings in the dialogues, scenes after ritual, recent updates and even the interview so people would definitely understand, but they didn't🙃 Some AA fans (especially on youtube and larian forum) are on a new level of delusion.

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #astarion #Narrative comprehension is dead #durgestarion #astarion x durge #astarion x tav #spawn astarion #ascended astarion #такого непонимания очевидного я не видела даже в геншин фандоме

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orange-orchard-system · 2 months

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One of my more minor gripes about the "serial killer alter" trope is that I think there is opportunity for genuine, well-made stories about a system that kills. You could potentially write some really interesting stories involving internal conflict over murder in a system – for instance, if a system killed once in self-defense, and one of the headmates is keeping that memory from the rest of them. Or if an alter came back from dormancy to find out the world's gone to shit and everyone knows "them" as the one willing to kill to protect their group of survivors. Hell, fuck it, have some kind of "no, I'm being literal when I say the version of me that you knew isn't present anymore, this isn't some metaphor for how I've become ~evil~" conflict! So long as it's done in a way that gives the system in question nuance and reason for their actions, I'd be willing to see where the story is going with this!

But nooooooo, it's all stock-standard "this one alter kills others for no good reason" shit with a dash of "don't look too long into the implications that this plural superhero/anti-hero just killed a bunch of people, just accept that they do this" hand-waving that makes people think we're going to stab them if they look away for too long. It's always "this imposter is pretending to be our loved one for nefarious reasons" angst and never "oh shit we treated this alter like shit for just being different than the host" angst. There's not even any originality smh smh. We've already gotten a thousand of these horror plots that use plurality as a one-size-fits-all villain cap; I'm sure horror, whump, and angst writers can do better if they really want to write about a system that kills others

#plurality #pluralgang #actuallyplural #plural system #front soup.txt #death #pluralprose

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frickingnerd · 2 months

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throw away your mask

pairing: ren amamiya / joker x gn!reader

summary: after finding out about the deal your boyfriend made with the god of control, you confront him! but ren has since changed...

tags: evil joker, kinda yandere joker too, established relationship, angst, spoilers for persona 5's bad ending, implied corruption

a/n: i replayed persona 5 and went for a bad ending this time! after seeing evil joker, i had to write this immediately! <3

“w-who are you…?”

the man in front of you wore your boyfriend's face, but there wasn't a single trace of the boy you once loved. ren amamiya was a good guy, who wanted to help people! never would he have made a deal with a god, that only brought suffering upon people!

“you know me.”

ren's eyes were covered by his glasses, making his expression impossible to read. only the hint of a smile on the corner of his lips was there to show any sort of emotion.

“you're not the boy i fell in love with! the ren amamiya that i know would've never sided with a god, much less the god of control! how could you betray everything the phantom thieves stood against!?”

ren took a step towards you, his lips parting, as he was ready to talk back at you. but you quickly stepped back and cried out:

“don't come any closer!”

ren adjusted his glasses, finally allowing you to get a glimpse of his eyes. they were staring at you uncomfortably from behind those glasses, almost as if they were piercing right through you. could this really be the same boy you once fell in love with? could those same kind eyes that made you feel all warm and fuzzy now scare you like this?

“i didn't betray the phantom thieves. i saved us! we can continue our work and finally get the recognition we deserve! the public loves us, just like they should! isn't that what we all wanted? we are heroes!”

he sounded insane! with each word that left his lips, you felt more disgusted with him. is this truly how he viewed the world? how he viewed the phantom thieves?

“heroes? don't make me laugh!” you yelled at ren. “you are not a hero! you are the villain of this story! you enslaved the whole world for your selfish wants! you are no better than those we took down! you are… just like them…”

for a split second, ren's face distorted. your words seemed to wound him, but the anger quickly faded from his face again. slowly, he stepped forward. even as you took steps backwards, it was impossible for you to escape him. soon, he had you cornered, his hand resting on your cheek.

“i am not like the palace rulers we disposed of. they were weak fools, but me? i am on the same level as a god now! the people worship and adore me! all of us, all phantom thieves, can be as gods! we can forever continue this way of life! we never have to change! we can simply live as heroes, worshiped like gods, for eternity!”

a twisted smile had spread over ren's face.

“why should we waste our time worrying about humans? humanity is enslaved by the god of control? well, this isn't our problem! you and i, we stand above them! so, join me! you and i, we can become as gods! you only have to join me and give up your foolish rebellion against me…”

ren took a step back, yet reached out his hand towards you. he didn't force you to take it, but whether you'd accept his hand or reject him would change your life forever. there were only two options; either you were with him or against him!

“what do you say, darling? will you choose humanity over me? or will you come to your senses and realize you belong by my side?”

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familyagrestefanblog · 7 months

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I find it... kinda irritating how saying that Hero Gabriel is still a failure of a father even if he's not a bad person is apparently somewhat of a hot take.

It is irrelevant at what extreme end of the moral spectrum Gabriel is - sadistic villain or heroic saint - fact still remains that you wouldn't notice either with Monarque or Hesperia that they are fathers at all, while simultaneously both Adriens are clearly depicted as teenagers who basically have to re-settle themselves into their lives after they were emotionally orphaned in every sense that matters.

It is irrelevant that Alt Gabriel is a hero, not a bad person or that he wasn't outright abusive like our Gabriel, nothing will change the fact that Griffe Noire Adrien's path to healing goes the same route as our Adrien's.

And that is AWAY from his father, not WITH him.

Griffe Noire at the end was roughly were our Adrien started off at the beginning of the show, just this time with a better path ahead Ladynoir wise since they know their identities.

He changed for the better when our Adrien gave him the self-acceptance, understanding and sympathy he didn't receive from Alt Gabriel or anyone else for the matter.

Helped him overcome the grief of loosing their mother and accepting that the self-harming behavior he's acting on (or both of them) is not something she would want for them.

There are 2 reasons why Alt Adrien couldn't get over his mother's death, and that's 1) because unlike our Adrien, Alt Adrien didn't try finding new happiness in friendship, and 2) because he too couldn't count on his remaining parent (Gabriel) which made him feel his mother's loss even worse.

Alt Gabriel could be the greatest hero of all time and he still would be a fucked up father because he was so busy being a saint that he apparently barely was a father. When alt Gabe cries in the sewer one would think he'd bring up his child as one of his main motivations, but no, he doesn't.

Because Hesperia is just as little characterized as a FATHER as Monarque.

That aspect of Gabriel didn't change.

Hesperia didn't even fucking know that his son is Griffe Noire either, how attentive to you think this man IS??

Alt Adrien goes on the same path as our Adrien and that's away from being emotionally dependent on his father - the way a 14 year old should normally ALLOWED TO BE bc thats NATURAL and how it's supposed to be - to make friends, but most importantly he sure as hell went on being emotionally dependend on HIS Maribug the way our Adrien was/is

Especially the last picture is extremely telling (and one would think our Marinette would finally start paying attention bc Griffe Noire's change right in front of her eyes is literally all she would need to help her fully understand HER Chat Noir's behavior and how that came to be. But apparently we can't ever have Marinette pick up on the most obvious stuff about Chat Noir's problems).

Unlike Toxinelle who is waving goodbye while holding Griffe's hand, HE is not acknowledging our dimension anymore even when he's the last one to enter the portal by a good bit, bc he's so fixated on his Maribug as his whole world bc just like our Adrien he's literally emotionally an orphan and needs an anchor like everyone else.

Good chance that Toxinelle thinks they're just normally holding hands and she's merely going in first, but no, he is letting her lead him out. He doesn't care whats behind or ahead of him, he's just seeing her.

Alt Gabriel is an awful father and you can tell because Alt Adrien literally has to re-settle in life similar to an orphan while his father is still alive and living in the same damn house!

THAT'S what decides if Alt Gabriel is an awful father, NOT him running around as a charming hero. The quality of parenthood is NOT measured by how "good of a person" the parent is, it's measured by the child's fucking well-being

And I don't know if you noticed it by now, but this is the same logic as our Gabriel being hailed a hero after his death. The special already elaborates on this new angle of Gabriel suddenly being a "hero" while he very clearly was a monstrous failure of a father (and person).

So what side are YOU gonna be on here?

Are you going to victim blame Adrien by just declaring Gabriel Agreste a great, blameless and loving father now because that's what you're being told at face-value while the narrative conveniently plays the case in Gabriel's favors by removing all of them from the dimension they are actually from so his faults are being mostly covered up, and Adrien's looks worse without its proper context of their home-dimension and father-son dynamic

Or are you going to fucking LOOK at the child this amazing hero is emotionally abandoning on a daily in way too many ways and ask yourself if that's the result of a competent and attentive parent?

#ml spoilers #miraculous ladybug #miraculous #ml paris spoilers #keeping up with the agrestes #The way people take Gabriel's side in a heartbeat in this and s5 is one disgusting spectacle to behold guys #Keeping it classy with abuse apologia just bc the abuser now has a shiny coat and is being called a hero

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tearskillstardust · 5 months

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; WHICH CHARACTER ARCHETYPE DO THESE GENSHIN CHARACTERS EMBODY?

albedo, ganyu, raiden shogun, kazuha, lyney, neuvillette, venti

— no tw. reader gender irrelevant.

✧ ALBEDO

— "the shadow self", "the outlaw". he would represent the archetypal character that almost every reader adores for their originality but they cannot replace the hero because they lack the ambition or just the ego or push. he would be the character that comes to peace with their dark sides and manages to live, adjusting to the fact that they are a ticking time bomb. the comfort character for the lost or misguided, one can say.

— his personality is focused on themes of self-realization. mainly he was created by rheindottr to fulfill her own ends at the times, though, arguably, he ended up being so much more than an experiment. his own fate or history even, is quite close to that of kunikuzishi's, except that he found right guidance since the start in life so he knew what was right and wrong, what had to be done, what could be left.

— while wanderer represents the villainous side of the spectrum because of his inability to come to peace with his true identity, albedo represents our ability, our strength, our courage to be able to grow fully into ourselves, in spite of our flaws and accepting them as a part of our complex tapestry of a life.

— albedo would be best fit in stories that aim at either— self realization/finding a purpose in life or adventure. he'd be the character that indirectly puts the hero back on track when they're lost or the one that stands beside them when they are alone or feeling hatred/disgust for themselves.

✧ GANYU

— "the mother", "the lover", "the herald". the main focus of ganyu's persona is around themes of protection, nurturing and guidance. she represents the mother, or guardian figure of our childhoods whom we often looked up to as a safe figure to be guided by. she represents the link with childhood we all have, or in this particular case, the hero of the story.

— perhaps what dumbledore was to harry potter, or sally jackson to percy jackson. these are figures that are ultimately lost or forgotten in the long run as the hero is exposed more to their goals, but their teachings and actions play a significant role in shaping their personality and moral compass, often times, even as the only ray of hope in situations of hopelessness. she guides us forward, the kind mother, and encourages us to find ourselves in the world.

— ganyu shared an almost common past with xiao but they both turned out to be completely different individuals. this is, again, the manifestation of ganyu's motherly, kindred yet guiding spirit. while xiao gave in to karma and temptations of sin and duty, ganyu managed to keep sane. she represents our ability to find ourselves when we are lost. the childhood friend whom we really adored, or a past lover who taught us life, even an autumn leaf that taught us of life in death.

— ganyu would best fit in stories that revolve around themes of— growth/metamorphosis or achieving a goal/fulfilling a dream through a lot of struggle or just romanticization.

✧ RAIDEN SHOGUN

— "the guardian", "the herald". raiden shogun embodies struggle and discipline. her principles, her teachings revolve around saturnian themes of discipline, delay and patience. in fact, she is much like ganyu in the sense that she could represent an elder figure we really looked up to when we were younger except that the warmth and emotion is much lacking. she fascinates, and guides as well— but unlike ganyu's 'kind mother' persona, she traps us like mother nature and stops, resists change and evolution.

— in order to overcome her traps, we have to evolve in ways that are foreign to us. like a butterfly, perhaps, when it is coming out of the chrysalis. nature tries to stop it, but the butterfly has to struggle against it and spread its wings for the first time and fight its way out. and those who can't fight, fall right to the ground.

— she personifies the part of our lives that are bitter-sweet by nature yet beneficial. take kazuha's struggle with her as an example. kazuha could have very well thought of the shogun as a deity, a figure that represents the huge change in his path in life. she does something, which affects him indirectly, but hugely.

— her action puts him on his life path, that is self-realization and the quest for knowledge, but there was a struggle initially out of which he had to emerge. he will not judge her kindly, but she played an important role in making him what he is. she put him, the hero of his story, on the path to his true life goal by being the herald of sorrow and grief in his life which forces him to re-evaluate everything and face the harsher aspects of life.

— she is much like the sphinx. she puts us on our paths and kickstarts everything, which is the huge difference between her character and the villian's— the villian brings change that is harmful by nature whereas she brings change that is necessary to evolve, no matter how you see it. she fits and is necessary in every story.

✧ KAZUHA

— "the hero", "the wise". kazuha is a manifestation of an evolved hero. a hero who has achieved their target, their goal and is in the search of the lesson they now seek the most. he represents the noble side of our personality, our morality, our ability to find our path in life through every struggle. he is representative of our light side, our jupiter, our teacher.

— [please also refer to raiden's paras, i have explained kazuha's life very well there] kazuha is metamorphosis, growth through struggle and sorrow. it is arguable whether or not his personal goal will be seen as a goal for all, but one can observe that the change he goes through after his exodus from inazuma is a change every hero has to go through at some point in time.

— apart from that, he is also perceptive, wise and sage like. he offers insight and knowledge very kindly when one may be lost. unlike a character that simply dumps information, he filters it a lot and gives the seeker precisely what they are looking for. and yet, the main essence of the wisdom is never quite lost or overlooked.

— he guides the traveller when they come to dead ends. he shows the path forward gently. he doesn't hold our hand through it, yes, but he is the ray of light when everything is following. perhaps a small clue, a gesture, an action or even a signal. like how zeus guided thalia in pjo, if anyone here has read the books. he didn't hold her hand through it, he simply showed her where she ought to go next when all seemed lost.

— kazuha would best fit in stories that revolve around themes of— truth/epiphany or struggle/sorrow or simply a life based on ambitions and targets that ultimately morphs into a life lived for others.

✧ LYNEY

— "the lover", "the sidekick", "the trickster". lyney embodies fun and love in a very kind manner. you could say that he is like the character we would all admire for their optimism and hope even in the worst of situations. they help the hero through ups and downs in a more practical way than "the mother" or "the wise", and represent ideals of peace, serenity and a love for life that are usually lacking in the hero.

— characters like him generally include— will solace from pjo, ronald weasley from harry potter, john watson from sherlock holmes, the last one, though, to a lesser extent. these characters are generally ignored for most of the time unless a calamity strikes which the hero can't deal with on their own and these characters shine all of a sudden, with their peace-making attitudes and harmonious persona, and often times, even common sense.

— although, unfortunately, these characters lack the assertiveness or even the dedication and devotion to fulfill an endeavour to the end through paths littered with sacrifice and sorrow. this is why they cannot replace the hero although they do a very good job in say, comic relief, introducing love and life, and even help the hero out of their trauma when all is said and done. they are usually emotional and kind.

— lyney would best fit in stories that revolve around themes of— childhood connections/stories that start from the very beginning of someone's life. he would fit in every story line as long as his personality does not conflict on an ideology basis with the hero.

✧ NEUVILLETTE

— "the hero", "the mother", "the wise". neuvillette is the most reliable figure in all of fontaine, as is emphasized continuously. he is the reincarnation of the hydro dragon and is born amongst his own people in his second life. his depth of emotion and empathy is such that even the skies weep when he is sorrowful. he is kind by nature and embraces the harsher aspects of life with a wise approach.

— he embodies the fulfillment of goals through struggles and with continuous sacrifice and patience. his character can be compared to somewhat that of yudhishthira from the hindu epic mahabharata. he was the son of the hindu god of justice and balance which is why he lived a life of righteousness and penance despite being continually belittled. he was deprived of his birth rights but still maintained his patience and lived and treated others with nothing but kindness. he does achieve his goal in the end, albeit with a lot of sorrow due to the loss of family in the war, that is the throne of the aryan nation, which later comes to be known as 'bharat'/ india.

— neuvillette too, keeps his string of patience through millennia of suffering. he does not give up for the sake of his people and emerges what someone looking from the front of the curtains would call successful, though he himself barely looks at it that way. he feels sorrow at the loss of focalors/furina and cannot entirely accept it emotionally, though he fulfills his responsibilities as the ludex with utmost devotion.

— he is the vessel of the noblest of human traits and embodies kindness in a way that is rarely ever seen, even treating melusines with kindness and respect. he is the kind of hero who always achieves his targets in the end because of his complete devotion to righteousness. not in the traditional sense—but entirely in the morality and wisdom sense.

— neuvillette would best fit in stories that revolve around themes of— morality/wisdom or sacrifice/dharma.

✧ VENTI

— "the trickster", "the rebel", "the wise". venti is much like lyney actually, but he is much more enduring and wise. venti is our rebellious side, that demands us to seek what we deserve irrespective of what others think we do. he fulfills his own goals quite cleverly, never quite clearly and by intertwining them with others plans and ambitions. in spite of that, he is still led by his wisdom and patience, and he does not use others for his means, the theme of which is quite apparent with tricksters.

— he is coy and lighthearted. he leads us forward with subtle hints and clues, never being precise or direct with it. but his own input is always there when needed, without the presence of which, things will not be able to progress. he rebels against what is wrong and easily breaks through society's perception of right and wrong. his presence is the kind of presence that usually motivates the hero to be wild and unrestrained with passion and freedom. he represents freedom in its purest form—kind, liberating and patient.

— in spite of all of this however, he is not moral. he is inspiring ideed, but his ideals can be dubious and self-centered and not entirely trusted. he is wise though his own knowledge is usually for his own good.

— his character can be described as being close to that of the weasley twins in harry potter, chiron from pjo, odysseus from tsoa. a mix of all of them perhaps, into a very chaotic and morally grey personality.

— venti would best fit in stories that revolve around themes of— mischief/cleverness at play or best friends to lover tropes, except that he plays match maker.

more a character analysis than anything else lol, still, i really enjoyed this one!

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tackletofset · 7 months

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If I had to choose one word to describe "Dark Heir," it would be 'OTHERWORLDLY.'

[There will be NO SPOILERS in this Review, only vague hints]

“Critiquing the idea of a classic hero and a reclaiming of the queer villain”

These words are written under the blurb of the very ARC. Sadly, most people are still missing the point.

Dark Rise is my true love in the form of a book series.

As a queer person who grew up sympathizing with villains (who are often queer-coded), this book series undoubtedly serves as a great form of escapism. I feel seen and understood. I found a home here.

Reading Dark Heir was a surreal experience, almost like a sudden storm hitting me all at once. It was like being pulled into a whirlwind. It is everything I could ever wish for!!!

I devoured this book in just TWO DAYS, which is unexpected given my typically SLOW reading pace. It's worth noting that Dark Heir is considerably longer than Dark Rise (with Dark Rise comprising 34 chapters and Dark Heir containing 51). It is also fueled by my eagerness to continue the story after a two-year wait, particularly following that cliffhanger!

Will has always been my favourite character since "Dark Rise," and this sequel only amplifies it. I perceive his struggles with the truth of his identity, as a metaphor for internalized queerphobia. Many queer youth, including myself, have been told that our queerness is evil and abhorrent, leading us to hide and deny our true selves in the pursuit of acceptance from others. Will's yearning for his friends' acceptance, especially from Violet, his best friend.

Many of us would be delighted to see that James has POV chapters in this book! It's great to see his perspective on not only his feelings about Will or Sarcean but also about his family history.

I'm equally excited about introducing the new character, Visander, and I'm thrilled that he can be interpreted as trans. Knowing that CS Pacat identifies as genderqueer/non-binary, I would like to see him writing more trans-coded characters. Visander is a character who fascinates me, as there are times when he can be both lovable and yet totally frustrates me.

Praise Pacat (again), who has been so generous to give us the “Surprise POVs” which made me scream and jump up and down at 2 a.m.

I seriously love the parts where we got to explore more of the Old World. The twists within them are both surprising and, in a way, expected. I've always held the belief that history was written by the victors, and as a result, the truth about the Dark King and the Betrayer was also lost in time. It was also very gratifying to see that the characters that were once hailed as the paragons of virtue were not so saint-like after all.

I hate classic heroes. I despise them and I won't even try to hide it.

Doubtlessly, the Old World chapters are my favourites. And I yearn to have even more of them in Book 3 because I want to know more details about how Sarcean came to power- and his downfall, and the full truth about his relationship with Anharion! I wouldn't mind the book stretching to 60+ chapters to accommodate it.

Pacat has indeed delivered on his promises to infuse this sequel with even more "on-page gay" content, so readers need not fret about the shortage of romance. They are plentiful, to say the least.

Now, returning to my initial point:

!!!Dark Rise is not a story about escaping an abusive male partner!!!

While numerous stories tackle this theme, and it is worth telling, this is not one of them.

This is a story about queer people reclaiming their identities. It speaks to those who have been vilified, demonized, alienated, and even disowned from a young age by the very individuals who should have shielded them—their parents and guardians.

They are continuously taught that their queerness is immoral, abhorrent, and despicable, leading them to believe they must conceal and deny their true selves, often feeling as though they are harbingers of evil and thus destined for condemnation. It sheds light on how queer youths grapple with internalized queerphobia due to an environment that refuses to accept them for who they are.

The accusations hurled at the "villainous figures" within this story mirror the stigma that the bigoted society frequently directs at queer individuals: that we’re lewd, vulgar degenerates, disease-spreaders and a danger to children.

Dark Rise and Dark Heir underscores our society’s twisted morality that the only available paths for queer individuals are either to deny their queerness or face the gravest consequences. In other words: be converted or unalived.

For those of us who have been demonized and alienated by the people who were supposed to protect us—we are not evil. We do not deserve the abuse directed at us, and it is not our fault. There is nothing wrong with us. We deserve happiness, love, safety, and acceptance.

We should all be unapologetic and unafraid of our true selves, like James.

And oH MY GOD. THAT ENDING!!! You think the prologue was crazy??? You wouldn’t LIVE to see that ending.

I have fantasized about *that* final line before, but I thought it was cheesy and that it might be something more like Prince Gambit's "The King! Damianos! He lives!" but it was not like that at all 🤣🤣🤣

It's my dream cheesy line 💜💜💜

#dark rise #dark heir #cs pacat #will kempen #james st clair #sarcean #anharion #violet ballard #cyprian #visander #captive prince #laurent of vere #damianos of akielos #dr theory #mine

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ash-says · 1 month

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I think your page speaks volumes about the way you’ve perceived and endured life and I’m sorry you haven’t had the time or opportunity to soak up the good things that are all around you, I hope you develop skills that allow your success to be built off of things that are good and pure and not cheap manipulation tactics and lies

Devil may care: A guide on being unbothered.

Okay, and??

Sweetheart, I really appreciate your unwanted sympathies and illusionary sensitivity directed towards me. In our culture when someone is being sweet, kind and helpful (even if fake) we make sure that we pay them back with something valuable. Here's a small guide curated for you that will help you in being self secure so you won't feel threatened by other people's success and opinions.

1) Have a life:

Nothing screams idle to me more than this. Like you have time to be offended by someone's post and comments which you might just scroll by and ignore?? On top of that going above and beyond to let that person know. Okay, Sushma. Now log off and do the pending coursework.

2) Build genuine confidence:

Ladies, fake it till you make it can only go this far. You have to work on your underlying issues and address them. If you don't you are susceptible to triggering even by a mere stranger. Confident people don't need to go above and beyond to prove other people. They embody it.

3) Self awareness:

It's tiring to explain this. Just Google it at this point. This word is thrown like a football everywhere. You know it. Do the homework.

4) Practice self compassion and boundaries:

Negative feedback is part and parcel of life. Accept it, analyse and if it applies adopt or otherwise ignore. Boundaries are important to understand the difference between constructive criticism and disrespect.

If disrespected don't be afraid to put a bitch in place. Until then shut your mouth and concentrate on your goals.

5) Opinions are subjective:

Everyone has their own life experiences and opinions are formed based on those. Your Roman Empire might be different from your friends but does it mean it's invalid? No. Develop empathy and open-mindedness. Not everyone has the same views. It's okay.

6) Develop a thick skin:

You can't survive in this world if you are triggered by the tiniest of things. You have to be comfortable in being painted both as a hero and as a villain. Don't let others opinion get to your head. Owe to yourself that I will stand in my truth thou glory or disgrace.

7) Reflect a rbf stance:

When someone tries to belittle you, try to put you down, talk shit about you. Your body language should be cold and reserved with a rbf that screams intimidation but all you are going to say is Okay, and??

8) Master Sarcasm:

I have said this before and I will say it again. Revenge is a dish best served cold. Sarcasm is the ice in it. Ladies learn sarcasm. It's the one way ticket to put people in their place in a humorous way.

9) Be classy. Be polite. BE UNTOUCHABLE.

Who do you think will be named as the crazy one? The one who is screaming and belittling someone or the one who is still being polite but discreetly showing the person where they belong. Never resort to screaming and shouting. That's dumb. Second never go out of your way to prove how you are relevant. Take it or leave it mentality.

10) Seek professional help:

Even after all of this you are not able to practice being unbothered. I think a therapist is the best solution for you.

P.S. :Ladies, this is what I mean when I say leverage the fuck out of your connections and opportunities. This is how you turn a negative into a positive.

Plus I am petty enough to not let this disrespect slide but thought it would be a good content idea for my posts, isn't it??

That's all for today's show on ash-says. Stay tuned for more illegal tricks and explosive opinions.

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bibibbon · 4 months

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UA teachers suck and UA sucks as a school

UA literally just sucks. Honestly this school has failed so many people especially izuku in particular.

Maybe it wouldn't of actually earned this title if we got more academia arcs but from the canon stuff we have so far it sucks!

No bullying policy?

So you see a student outright bullying another student and you decide to do nothing?!?!?! The student then doesn't even get any concequences for his actions?!!!!?!?!

Exposing students to the whole world after a villain attack?

So right after usj you have the sports festival and you don't even decide to delay it because UA's security measures have to look like their on top and apparently that's the logic behind it. Also, reminder that the UA sports festival is MORE POPULAR THAN THE OLYMPICS. So watching 15-18 year olds use their quirks to harm eachother is alright???! Like aren't you basically using minors for other people's entertainment?!?!

I mean realistically speaking you could of tried to delay the festival or just make the first years not do it that year. Just have them do tournaments with only heros present so you actually protect students safety and don't have people and villains watching/witnessing their weakness

Lying to the public about students being psychologically fine?

We never saw the phycological evaluation that the students did after the training camp incident and saying all students were psychologically fine was such A big lie considering you had a GROUP of students go and try and rescue another student because they couldn't trust the teachers enough to handle the situation which idk about you but that says A LOT.

Chaining up bakugo?

Look I hate bakugo I really really do but muzzling a whole student and making him a whole public disgrace has to be illegal? ...Right. like if bakugo wasn't going to cooperate then just disqualify him and make todoroki the winner and save yourself from attracting villains to kidnapping the kid.

Acknowledging that your entrance exams are badly done but then not changing them?

Seriously, we get aizawa talking and talking about how useless and illogical the entrance exams are but then nedzu does nothing... ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT IT. aizawa had a point about the exams favouring people with offensive quirks but can he really talk about that when all he does to teach his class is just play sick and twisted logical ruses on them? Also shouldn't the exams focus on different aspects of heroism instead of defeating villains?

Aizawa and his teachings being accepted?

I don't know about you but aizawa being a teacher is wild to me. Like this is the guy who actively does NOTHING to help his students but trains a student that's not even in his OWN CLASS!! He then goes on to not even read his students files which contain some very important information that could explain some or majority of his students behaviours that he isn't bothered to understand!!!! Also the amount of expulsions he has even if they are on paper they are literally a death sentence to students as it permanently destroys their records and ruins their chances in finding any normal job let alone becoming heros. He also only points out the problems with his students and then does nothing to help LITERALLY NOTHING!!

Is therapy a thing in UA?

No like this is actually a serious question because if you're telling me that hound dog is a therapist then I might as well leave because how is he a therapist when he offers nothing and is cannonically seen as threatening by all the students?!?!? Also were 1A or 1B even offered therapy after what they went through?!?! Like some of 1A literally showed some clear trauma responses and UA does nothing about it. Oh and this isn't even mentioning what hound dog done to izuku ( izuku is a gag and so is his pain) oh and what about mirio did he get any support after nighteyes death

Midnight in the anime?

We all have our own problems with midnight but her in the anime is totally different then the midnight in the manga. In the anime she continually flirts with students and you get it she does stuff she isn't supposed to. In the manga its a bit different but there are some scenes like the final exam arc where it's a bit weird

#mha critical #bnha critical #hori is a bad writer #horikoshi critical #mha #ua critical

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save-the-villainous-cat · 1 year

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Hii, I'm here to drop a request~

Okay so, i have a thing for self-distrustive characters. Here's the idea: give me a self-harming hero who is too weak to act on it alone and willingly surrenders themselves to villain assuming (hoping maybe) they would torture them for information. Villain tho reluctant, doesn't hesitate to hurt the hero not too seriously tho. But for our self distrustive hero whatever the villain is doing is not enough to make them feel the relief they're seeking so~ let it slip out. Let them thoughtlessly cry out for more. And then give me a shocked villain. A concerned, regretful and lastly caring enough to treat their wounds villain. Give me an unresponsive to the villain's treatment hero. If you'd like to ass anything feel free <3

Much love to you friend, stay hydrated, we love you ~<33

It wasn’t like it didn’t hurt.

It just didn’t hurt enough. That’s why the hoarse please had slipped from their tongue. And it was why the weak more followed. Judging from their actions, the villain hadn��t heard it right away but when the hero cried harder, the villain’s hands came to a stop.

They’d broken three fingers, not to mention the shattered ankle. What had happened to their ankle had felt just but once the villain had moved on to their fingers, the hero had secretly begging them to break harder bones, like their collarbone or maybe even their ulna. It was sick, they knew it in their heart. It was maniacal and disturbing to feel like this.

Heroes were supposed to save people, even if their own well-being came in last. Saving themselves counted too.

The villain let go of their hand, eyes darting between the hero’s.

“What did you just say to me?” The villain’s hands went through the hero’s hair, getting a full grip of them, pulling them up.

The hero thought about their broken ankle. About how they wouldn’t be able to walk for weeks, maybe even a few months…? They always concentrated on the pain, rather than the period it took place in. By the time old pain faded, the hero always managed to get themselves into new trouble.

Letting injuries heal had never been an option. The villain let go of them.

It was hard. It was hard to lie there and accept their defeat, the fact that the villain had found out about their secret and more importantly, that they had stopped bruising the hero.

“Please,” the hero sobbed. “I can’t do this anymore.”

Their nose was running and their tears gathered together, falling down their cheeks like raindrops from the sky. Breathing was hard, their lungs felt frail from these past months and the world came crashing down around them.

When their sobs echoed from the walls, they felt truly defeated, humiliated, and the pain wasn’t enough to forget that.

For a moment, nothing happened. Neither of them said anything. All that was left in the room were the villain’s questions and the quiet sobs the hero made. Feeling overwhelmed by the horribleness of it all, the hero rolled themselves into a little ball, crying into their torn sleeve. They were ready for everything. Ready to die, ready to be bled, to be beaten, anything.

“Hey, easy there.” Once again, the villain combed their fingers through the hero’s hair but this time it was much more gentle and softer, leaving the hero with the taste of bile on their tongue. They braced themselves for new pain, impatiently waiting for the lashing out and the violent actions but nothing of that sort came. Quite the opposite: the villain scratched their scalp softly.

“Darling, what happened to you?” Their nails scraped across the hero’s skin, taking their time. It was oddly comfortable. Even though their muscles ached, they looked up at the villain crouching above them.

“Please,” the hero begged again. “Please hurt me.”

The villain was silent, biting their inner cheek as if they were considering it. But when they answered with a tender “no,” all hopes the hero had were crushed.

“Please.”

“You’re a mess. Hurting you seems to be what you want. I don’t want to give you what you want,” they explained. They wiped away a tear. “Don’t mistake this for compassion. This is me controlling your desires. This is me taunting you.”

They pulled the hero who had exhausted themselves and was completely defenceless into their arms.

“And this is me wanting information. Why did you say that?” They held them close and embarrassingly enough, it dawned on the hero how touch-starved they were.

“I am so alone,” they whispered. They mumbled the words, not even believing their own mouth for saying it. No one was supposed to hear this. “I am so alone.”

They started sobbing again. It was hopeless. The villain was the only comfort they had — even now that they weren’t hurting them.

“You will never be alone with me,” the villain said carefully. “I’ll make sure of that. Now, come on. Let’s treat your wounds.”

In all honesty, the hero had never done that. They weren’t sure if there were rules to it.

“If this is you taunting me,” the hero said, “then why do you want to treat my wounds?”

The villain gave them a grim look that didn’t leave room for protest.

“I’m asking the questions, not you.”

#I assume you meant destructive darling #have you ever watched beauty and the beast and seen the end titles where they thank Howard ashman for his work and have you ever called #your boyfriend after that and you were crying and he was like what happened so you told him that youre sad because Howard started the whole #disney renaissance with his lyrics and he died so young because of aids and his lyrics got a fucking Oscar but at that point he had died #already so he didnt even know that beauty and the beast had become the best Disney movie of all time past present and future and your #boyfriend just has to bite back his laugh because you didnt even know this guy and youre crying over him like #guys the Disney lore is too deep I could go on like this forever #writing snippet #heroxvillain prompt #heroxvillain snippet #heroes and villains #hero #villain #hero x villain #heroxvillain #an answer for an ask #request #whump

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bestworstcase · 1 month

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…ozma uses fairytales to make sense of himself and the world around him. as beacon’s headmaster he published a collection of fairytales, every one of them about himself or salem, somehow or another. “what is ozpin hiding from us”—the answer is told as a tragic fairytale. ozma heeded light’s warning for years, but everywhere he went, “he heard the same frightened whispers that spoke of a terrifying sorceress who commanded dark powers in the wilds among the beasts and monsters.” it was these stories that led him to her, because he “needed to see what she had become,” and because of these stories he could never bring himself to trust her.

this is how he thinks. how he understands himself and the world. through stories.

We have many questions, and never all the answers we would like. But we do have stories. Whether they’re true stories passed down through the ages or myths defying time itself, our stories help explain who we are and why we’re here. They give us solace when we need it, advice if we seek it, and connections that bind us together as one people. If you don’t believe in stories, if you can’t accept their truths, then you will always seek and never find.

salem knows this. it’s the first thing she says to and about him: legends. stories scattered through time… mankind has grown quite fond of recounting the exploits of heroes and villains, forgetting so easily that we are remnants, byproducts of a forgotten past.

she does not, herself, seem to care particularly for fairytales. certainly she considers ozma’s use of them to be deceitful: “legends and fairytales/scattered in time/maidens and kingdoms/wrapped up in a lie/these children you mislead/you’ll watch them all bleed/strength will not bring victory” & “show them gods and deities/blind and keep the people on their knees/pierce the sky, escape your fate/the more you try, the more you’ll just breed hate/and lies.”

but.

when he told her the truth about what the god of light sent him to remnant to do, she quoted from a faunus myth to articulate her refusal: “and the descendants of our god’s great gift have always carried envy in their hearts. to this day, they resent us for reminding them of what they are not and what they never can be.” -> “don’t you see? none of that matters anymore! why spend our lives trying to redeem these humans when we could replace them with what they could never be?”

and she means that the god of light is resentful and envious and undeserving, that remnant is better off as it is now, that there is nothing to redeem and nothing the god of light told him matters at all—but like.

she expresses this idea by quoting a legend.

one he must have been familiar with, at least in passing, because thousands of years later when he published an anthology of fairytales he went out of his way to include that story (and suggests in his commentary that it is important, that it deserves to be remembered, that it contains deep truths).

salem—who is not, in general, a skillful communicator—upon hearing his explanation of the divine mandate, upon being asked to join him in serving a god she hates after learning that her marriage was built on lies, tried her level best to communicate her objection in his language. by quoting a story.

that isn’t something we’ve seen her do in any other context—in her v1 soliloquy and songs she speaks disdainfully of his legends and fairytales but, in contrast to ozpin and his circle’s habitual use of fairytales to introduce people to the truth, salem never refers to stories to explain herself other than this one time in the lost fable when she asked ozma to reject the mandate light gave him.

i’m upset

#she wanted so badly for him to understand what she was trying to say #and he didn’t! and now she’s given up even trying to be understood by anyone!#i’m upset!!

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theetwinkleboy · 2 months

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this is really obvious and well laid out in the manga, but i just really like the way that all might and bakugou's final fights both center around closure for the things they said to izuku in chapter 1. and both of those fights are clearly a culmination of multi-faceted character arcs for both characters, but i still find it really interesting that the centerpiece for those fights is the way that they are both forced to confront, one more time, the incorrect things they told izuku in chapter fucking one.

All Might in chapter 1 tells Izuku that quirkless people can't be heroes. Even in chapter 1, we can see how this statement is almost as much about him and his own anxieties about his limitations as it is about Izuku. And that's expanded on in his character arc throughout the series, which focuses on power and powerlessness as he gives up his quirk and has to figure out how he fits into the world as a quirkless person. And here in the end, we see repeated flashbacks to that first conversation on the rooftop as he fights all for one quirkless, despite tsukauchi telling him he can't do it without a quirk.

Other things in that final fight act as culminations of his character development--All Might, once a pretty bad teacher, using support equipment that showcases the quirks of the students he's come to love; All Might, who spent so much of the series with the expectation that he would sacrifice both his body and his life to heroism, instead surviving the fight because he wanted to live. But the clear central theme of the fight was All Might, experiencing the powerlessness he once saw in Izuku, and being a hero in spite of that perceived powerlessness (the same way he saw izuku step up that afternoon).

Like All Might's fight, there are many culminating themes in Bakugou's fights with Shigaraki and All for One--the boy who viewed himself as All Might's end getting to save his hero, the boy who was once left to die in the hands of a sludge villain brought back to life by a new trio of heroes (that was a point someone else made, link me the post if you can find it because I sure can't).

But the central theme in that fight is clearly tied to his words in chapter 1, when he tells Izuku how worthless he is, tells everyone else in his class that they're just secondary characters in his story, and notably tells izuku to kill himself if he wants to have a quirk (wants to be worthy) so bad.

So then! Of course! In his fight with Shigaraki, Shigaraki tells him that he's worth nothing outside of who he is to izuku, basically calls him a supporting character in somebody else's story. And then! Bakugou walks back into the fight, knowing he's gonna die, and his last thoughts are if he will ever reach izuku (will he be worthy?).

And like. Then he comes back to life, accepts izuku's hand, accepts help from all might, says a sincere thank you to edgeshot, says, 'this is our tale!' and 'i'm the guy that steps in when the nerd can't handle it on his own!' and 'yeah i never coulda hoped to beat that, at least not alone.' because he's not the only character in the story, but that doesn't mean that he's weak or worthless. and, just like all might, at the culmination of bakugou's fight, we get the flashback to chapter 1 izuku, and bakugou changing his answer to izuku:

anyway, people have talked all this to death but i just! really really like the way that these fights bring everything back to the beginning of the whole story, the way they turn the words that both characters spoke to izuku back on themselves, and the way that they both answer the 'original sins' of bakugou and all might, and showcase just how much both characters have grown and developed over the course of the series. it's just. so well done!

#like! it really elegantly throws even the caricature of chapter 1 into a new light!#so i kind of wonder. izuku's the only other character who was there in chapter 1 #so i wonder what he's going to refute? what's his culminating flashback going to be?#bakugou katsuki #yagi toshinori #this is a lot of stuff that a lot of people have said but! just thought i'd share anyway!#tt reads bnha #tt post #bnha meta

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lovely-showtimes · 7 months

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soft moments . . . ♡ (part two.)

characters - tsukasa, mafuyu.

type - scenario.

warnings - reader is referred to as handsome once (tsukasa), i wrote all of these in reader's pov but mafuyu's is mostly from her pov just for a bit of fun

a/n - part two, featuring the last two characters i didn't include. i hope you enjoy ~ and here's part one for everyone who missed it and wants to read it!

"Enough, villain scum!" Tsukasa declares, pointing at you with a stern expression. "I shall not let your reign of terror affect this land any longer!"

You let out a low chuckle, smirking in (what you hoped) was a suitably evil way. "Foolish hero... You really.... uh... you really think you can stop me?!"

You point your weapon at him (which was just a spare pencil of Tsukasa's). "You're far too, um, determined! You should've known when to quit! But now, I shall show no mercy!"

Tsukasa shakes his head, pointing his own sword (a.k.a pen) at you in response. "Then neither shall I! Enguarde!"

Tsukasa drops his arm and grins at you, putting his hands on his hips. "That was perfect!! Thank you so much for helping me with that scene, my dear partner!"

You chuckle awkwardly. "Aw, I'm glad I could help... Although, I felt a little out of place next to you. You're basically a professional actor, and I kept forgetting my lines, ehe..."

"Oh, it's fine, really." Tsukasa shakes his head, laughing. "It was enough to help me practice the lines I needed. Also, I'm not sure if I'd say I was professional yet, you know? We only just became freelancers."

"Ah, right," your cheeks heat up in embarrassment. "Sorry! It's just that I forget you're not professional yet sometimes. To me, you're the greatest actor in the whole world!"

Tsukasa suddenly loudly coughs and turns away, covering his face with his hand. That didn't stop you from seeing the red hue overtaking his face.

"I-I mean, um, of course I am! I, ah, I'm certainly the most brilliant star in the world...!" He says, face turned away from you and not making eye contact - definitely not for any reason! Definitely not because the utter sincerity in your eyes you have when complimenting him is what makes him feel so embarrassed in the first place.

You catch onto this and can't help feeling gleeful about making Tsukasa go so red. You love him, of course, but you also love seeing him like this. His reactions are just... cute.

"Of course you are!" You continue on, grinning innocently. "Not only that, but the prettiest star in the whooooole galaxy!"

"Ack-!" The way Tsukasa responds makes it sounds like your words alone have injured him. You wonder how he manages to be so unintentionally dramatic sometimes.

"Well, ah, I think you're incredibly handsome yourself." He finally manages to say, lowering his hand and looking at you again.

You bound over and hug him, resting your head on him. "You're too sweet! I love you!"

Tsukasa takes a deep sigh as he calms himself down again, before he puts his arms around you and smiles softly.

"I love you too, my dear co-star. Now! Shall we continue with our practice?!"

It's that time of year again, when her classmates complain about how cold it is and she can see her own breath in front of her outside.

She wraps her jacket around herself a little more tightly as she walks beside you through the park. According to you, it was the quickest way to your home from school. Mafuyu usually just walked through the city, though.

Her gaze drifts to you, who is shivering beside her as she walks. It's curious to her - you look so cold, but you never accept the scarf she tries to give you, even though Mafuyu doesn't feel that cold. And yet, despite being cold, you're still looking around in wonder at the colorful scenery in the park. The oranges, reds and browns of the leaves in the trees were very pleasing to the eye.

And yet, you looked at them like they were the prettiest thing in the world. Mafuyu wonders how someone could have so much joy for something they've likely seen many times by now.

"Oh, Mafuyu! Look!" You suddenly race forward and pick a leaf off the ground. It's a beautiful shade of red.

"I've never seen a leaf so colorful!" You exclaim brightly, holding it out to Mafuyu. "Here, you should keep it."

"Why?" She asks, turning her attention back to you. "It's just a leaf, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but it's pretty!" You pout. "Please?"

If you were so insistent, then Mafuyu thought she might as well. She takes the leaf from you, studying it for a few moments before putting it in her shirt pocket so she won't forget about it.

"Yay! Thank you, Mafuyu~!" You cheer, before taking her hand and hurrying off. "Now, c'mon! I wanna get home already, it's super cold out."

Mafuyu makes sure to follow you at the same pace to not drag behind. Even though you're cold, your hands still feel warm.

The two of you make it back home safely. You visibly relax the minute you step into the home as you regain heat in your body again. You rush into the kitchen, calling behind you - "I'm gonna make us hot chocolate! You go wait in the living room, okay?"

Mafuyu watches you go for a few moments, before walking into your living room and sitting as you told her to. She pulls a pillow into her lap and leans on it as she waits for your return.

When you come back, you're holding two mugs of hot chocolate, topped in whipped cream and marshmallows. Mafuyu hadn't ever had something like this before, her mother thought it was too sweet and would be bad for her.

"Here!" You set down the mug on the table in front of Mafuyu and sit down beside her, drinking it happily.

Mafuyu takes a sip. It's warm - on her tongue, and on her hands, where she holds the mug.

Warm. Just like you.

#♡ ~ love letter sent!#project sekai x reader #imagines #tsukasa tenma x reader #tenma tsukasa x reader #mafuyu asahina x reader #asahina mafuyu x reader

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haleigh-sloth · 1 year

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Toga, she doesn't love anymore :(

That title is bullshit, just as what Toga said in chapter 376 is also bullshit.

I mean, we all know Toga by now. Her entire character has been about love, and feelings toward other people, and relationships. And no, I don't mean reducing her down to her surface level crush on Deku, because it's far from that.

We talk a lot about Tomura's unreliable narrating, but not enough about Toga's. So I'm going to take it back to MVA when we got her backstory, and use everything up until current chapters to explain why THIS PANEL--

--is very negative development for our dear Toga. (No worries, she’ll be aight)

Sorry, in this instance, a young girl letting go of her obsessive, unrequited love is not quite the freedom it would usually be accompanied by.

Toga, the girl who just wants to become the people she loves. Totally normal, right? RIGHT?

Or is it?

Toga, the girl who is happy with everything as it is, as she is. Happy with who she is:

Or is she?

Yeah, so happy with herself.

I mean, idk why it's not touched on more. Toga defending her want and desire to literally drink the blood and turn into people she loves is not a good thing we as readers should be rooting for her to be able to do lol. Her traumatic past explains it away, but man we shouldn't have to debate on whether or not that's a life she really should be living.

She defends her actions, but even Toga herself knows that “blood” is not what she wants.

What exactly is Toga's issue? Much like the rest of the League, she's got this small issue of self-hatred that she can't really get rid of. She's been berated her entire life, told to be "normal", told to stop being...who she was born as. So what do her normal feelings toward people--normal feelings that everyone experiences (i.e. innocent crushes)--turn into?

Intense feelings of just wanting to disappear into the person she loves.

THIS is also negative. It's not great, and it's exactly what led to her needing someone to help her in the first place.

So why is it negative for her to say she’s “no longer a girl in love” in 376?

Well, as long as Toga was still seeking out love (connection, relationships, friendships), she was still seeking out an understanding, a listening ear:

What separates Toga's path of self-annihilation from say, Tomura's and Touya's, is that while she lies to herself even in her own head during MVA (when she's being forced to face her ugly truth unpreparedly), she shows us through her actions that she already knows her own truth--which is why throughout the manga we see her trying to get that understanding and acceptance from Ochacko and Deku, on quite a few occasions.

Toga knows what her "love" means. She knows that "love" is just an exaggeration of normal feelings everyone experiences. Which is why she was so resistant to Curious's confrontation:

We know Toga knows the truth. That was the entire point behind her confronting Ochacko during the first war:

She tells the truth here. It's hard for her to live the way she is. She shuts everything away and it just grows inside, the more people reject her and outcast her, the more intense her feelings grow because they are never reciprocated and she is never treated like a person with normal feelings. And it’s a vicious cycle of reaching out, rejection, snapping and hurting, rinse repeat.

But as long as she was trying to find “love” in the world around her, she was still reaching out, and trying to pull herself up and out of her own misery.

That’s why Toga’s shift in 376 is negative. Her “love” is not simply an unhealthy one-sided crush. Her “love” is just basic connections to other people, which she is denied over and over again.

Her development being preceded by becoming a “full fledged villain” and giving up on help and just annihilating all of the heroes is the most obvious, glaring signal that this is a downward spiral for her.

She isn’t liberating herself from an unhealthy unrequited love, she’s giving up on being happy. Toga’s end game is not a boyfriend. It’s love as in—acceptance and friendships she gains and maintains.

So, my point is that nah, this isn’t good. And it’s absolutely a farce. It’s the same “giving up” as Tomura during the dichotomy speech, only to find out 60 some odd chapters later that he hasn’t given up and that sliver of hope is keeping him from disappearing.

Ochacko being stubborn is exactly what Toga needs (and wants), and I’m so ready to see it.

#bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha 376 #toga himiko #bnha meta #uraraka ochacko

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paladin-of-nerd-fandom65 · 29 days

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Cool questions!

1: when playing, does the duo re-act stuff from movies? Like anakin vs obi wan or when Shrek is escaping from the dragon?

2: what’s one thing that one does shocks the other? Like Chris disliking bananas on pancakes? (Read that from an earlier post of yours)

3: for the superfamily, what’s one story you would write for them?

4: what’s one story you would write for Chris for his own book?

5: same as Jake?

Phew! Took me a good while but I finally was able to get to answering this one @pin-crusher2000 . Thanks for the ask

1) Oh most definitely Chris and Jake would reenact so many Star Wars duels, especially Obi Wan vs Anakin as they can float around which make doing those fancy acrobatics all the easier. Bonus points if they utilize those cardboard tubes and paint them to their lightsaber colors and Jake using his speaker’s speakers to play the music in the background

Otherwise, they certainly would also do the Dragon Escape but most tellingly if Meredith was watching them, reenact kaiju battles

2) Oh, Jake putting Milk Before Cereal which horrifies not just Chris but also Mar’i and Dick

Also, Chris not minding the dumb fun of the Bayformers films as much as Jake does

3) I think I can have Clark, Lois, Kara, Conner, Chris and Jon get blasted across space and time, across multiple time periods, alternate histories or possible futures of Metropolis during a big battle against the Time Trapper. For example, Lois winds up in Metropolis in 1889 during the height of the Gilded Age, her mini adventure being to expose a corrupt all powerful banker while Conner is sent into a Metropolis that’s controlled by Germany in a scenario should they had won the Second World War. The finale for the arc would see the Superman Family reunite at the End of Time itself coming face to face with the Trapper, but it won’t be just the family as many of their new friends they met all across their little adventures assemble to help as well.

4) Less of an entire story and more a one to two issue arc involving Nightwing Phantom taking on a cosmic being in a game of wits and intelligence rather than fisticuffs, all for the sake of saving reality itself. Think this being akin to say A 4th Dimension Imp like Mr Mxyzptlk or more overtly the Celestial Toymaker from Doctor Who. The real meat though is whatever thoughts and emotions are transpiring inside of Chris’ mind space as I place this after he has his reaffirmation from Dad Clark of him belonging to Earth in light of Zod’s invasion. He thinks about this planet he’s trying to truly accept as his home in spite of his origins and how much he must defend it from this entity while also trying to reaffirm himself that he belongs with his real family the Kents despite Zod’s words permeating his thinking space.

5) Here, I take some inspiration from the Batman TAS episode “The Underdwellers” in which like in that episode, Jake would be investigating some recent pickpocketing going on across the Bludhaven streets, all of them being committed by street urchins and runaways, a lot of them around his age range doing such under the tyrannical rule of a supposed caretaker who treats them rather horribly. After running into one of the urchins and rescuing them from an incoming subway train, Jake and the kid become friendly with each other to where the kid can lead our hero to the whereabouts of his comrades. Coming along for the ride is one of Jake’s rouges, long time best frenemy Cody Cunningham aka Lion Master, who also had caught wind of the pickpocketing so he comes along with Skybird in this investigation, forming something of an alliance between them. This proves handy as like the Sewer King in “The Underdwellers”, the villain has vicious sewer gators that serve him which Cody’s lions are able to fend off while Skybird persues and eventually captures the villain. With that, the orphans are finally freed from his reign, taken in by the Services and able to see the light outside once again. Throughout this story, we not only can get glimpses into Jake’s head as this in a way is deja vu with his history of failing to save street orphans from a supervillain once before but also once Lion Master enters the picture, the two can have talks about each other’s deal and how Lion Master in many ways just wants a place to call a home after surviving in the streets for so long and his sympathies for Jake’s situation in light of this case.

As the two were successful working together and Cody realizes he feels much better doing some actual good rather than remaining a small time thief with a gimmick, he finally takes up Jake’s offer to renounce his old life as a rouge, first turning himself in to the authorities and spending some time in Juvie to make up for his robberies (his lions we’re thankfully tamed enough for the authorities to keep in that meantime) then once he gets out of his sentence for good behavior, moves into the Grayson Apartment complex with a place of his own. A new fresh start for him, especially when his new landlord, Dick Grayson, drops by and hearing of his skills as a lion tamer offers him and his feline companions a job at Haly Circus.

#chris kent #jake grayson #starburst duo #clark kent #lois lane #kara zor el #jonathan samuel kent #Cody Cunningham #OC #batman tas #mention #sfw

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havecourage-darling · 11 months

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hey i have a request for eddie munson x reader where the reader is dustin's cousin and comes from a very rich family and her father is a lawyer. She has always been friends with Steve and was just as mean and arrogant as her and never liked Eddie because he kept picking on her (because he was in love with her since middle school) and she nicknamed him Eddie "The freak" Munson and just like Steve knows about demogorgons etc and while in Upside down Eddie saved the reader from the demobat that attacked her and then the reader and Eddie walk side by side in silence until the reader apologizes to Eddie for how she was towards him and they finally reconcile

A/N: This was very quickly written, not proofread, and did not have as much romance as I thought it would lmao I twisted this request around a bit – I’m not the best at writing bully romances or any type of bully main characters lol but I tried my best to adhere to the request! Hope you enjoy it anyway anon! and also, Eddie always lives in all my fics so yes, in this world they make it all alive kicking and screaming bcos denial is the town I live in and I’m the mayor.

wc: 5K

DISINGENUITY, you decided, was the most unattractive trait the human race had.

“We’d be so happy to see you next summer!” The blonde in front of you said, smile an easily spotted ruse.

A sharp elbow to your ribs spurred your own fake smile. “Of course, fingers crossed!” You beamed, discretely bringing your other hand up to your side to help the sharp pain. As you slowly slid away from the conversation, eyes on the refreshments table, you smiled at the few gazes you caught. Your own fakeness disgusted you. Glancing up at your parents, you watched their own smiles – ones that hadn’t seen a side of sincerity in decades.

Your cousin’s voice echoed throughout your mind, bouncing around the walls. You either die the hero or live long enough to become the villain. As you reached for a stupidly ornate glass of lemonade, you sipped at it and mentally cheered yourself. Love live the evil queen, you thought, smiling into your glass. Maybe Steve had been right. Maybe the struggle of your lifetimes wouldn’t be the Upside Down but to fight against the fact that you could both easily turn out to be your parents.

Eyes slipping towards them, you saw your mother draped over your father’s arm. He squeezed her hand, eyes on the couple in front of them. Despite being out of earshot you knew what he was saying, the same thing he’d been saying all night. Expression smug, as if he’d gotten the acceptance letter himself, you could see his lips form the words.

Harvard.

Our little princess got into Harvard. We’ll have a new lawyer to take over Henderson & Harrington Law within a few years.

The other acceptance letters had fallen away once he’d seen that maroon logo. It didn’t matter what you wanted. The echoes of a paintbrush in your hand and the scent of acrylics swirled around you. What you wanted was never part of the deciding factor. Not when you begged to go to Hawkins High with your friends, public school? Absolutely not, and definitely not now.

Pride, was the second most infuriating trait one could possess, you thought to yourself. Dropping the half empty glass back down onto the table. You glanced around the room and suddenly couldn’t stand it any longer. The laughter, the peacocking, even the feeling of the stupid dress around your body. You hated it. Everything.

Willing to deal with the fallout later, you hurried over to the coat check and thanked the bored teenager for your things. Hands gripping your car keys, you were glad you’d insisted on driving.

The sound of your engine turning was enough to ease some of the tension in your shoulders. Hands clenched at the wheel, you drove without much thought and tried to ease the knot in your chest. Despite the drive, you weren’t shocked to find yourself at the end of a familiar driveway. The sight of the one-story home carved out enough space in your lungs to exhale. The tension of the night going with it, dissipating into the night air.

Your heels clacked against the brick pathway, your hand pressing the doorbell once before a short-curly haired head appeared as the door was yanked open.

Dustin didn’t even look confused at your appearance, you hadn’t planned on visiting tonight, his smile bright and wide. “Hey! We’re watching He-Man, my mom’s out with her friends or something, want some popcorn?” He asked, already walking back into his living room.

Lucas and Mike waved, both also unsurprised, and you nodded. “Sure, thanks.”

As he disappeared through the kitchen, he shouted, “Your stuff is in the duffel where you left it in my closet!” The sweatshirt and pair of sweatpants you kept here sounded heavenly. The expensive pink monstrosity on your body could burn for all you cared.

With a smile, you ducked your head and kicked off your painful shoes. Wiggling your toes against the shag carpet, you let them adjust to being free for a moment. Numbness waning, you glanced around at the wood paneling and it felt like more like home than anything ever did.

//////

You stopped being afraid of wandering back into Hawkins a few weeks into the new semester. Robin had all but blackmailed you into visiting more often – despite the fact that you reminded her every time you could, that you lived literally one town over – and was trying to convince you to apply for a job at Family Video.

“Aren’t you bored?” She asked, pleading her case. “Most of your friends are off at school, right?”

Steve cleared his throat, a pathetic attempt at covering up his laughter, “Maybe bringing up the fact that she took a year off from college and none of her friends are around, isn’t the best way to convince her?”

Robin’s cheeks went pink. “That’s not what I meant! She graduated like first in her class!” She spun around to you, almost toppling a precarious tape tower in the process. “You know that right? I’m just saying, we’re your friends! Sure, the Byers up and left but most of us are still here!”

“How’s your dad taking it?” Steve asked, pulling himself up on the counter. You scrunched your nose, twirling in the chair by the computer. “Still unamused?”

A year off? Deferring Harvard? For what? What could you possibly need time for? You useless child!

Used to ignoring the echoes of your parents, you waved away the memory that followed you everywhere now. “How’s your dad taking this new job?” You countered and smiled when he snorted.

“Touché,” he muttered, “all I ever hear about is how Henderson managed to get his daughter into Harvard. It’s starting to get old.”

“How do you think I feel?” You muttered. “I don’t even know if I want to go yet.”

Robin whistled. “Have you mentioned that to them?”

Steve laughed outright this time. “If she did, she’d really need a job here because her dad would have an aneurysm.” You nodded, taking another bite out of the red vines, the tidal wave of anxiety lapping at your feet.

“So, what? You’re just going to go through life according to your parents’ plan?” Robin asked, hands going to her hips.

You exchanged glances with Steve and the both of you nodded. “Yeah, pretty much,” you said, voice sounding morose even to you. “That’s what Harrington would’ve done if he used the brains he had instead of chasing after Wheeler.”

“Hey!”

This time, Robin snickered. “You guys are weird,” she muttered, going back to shelving tapes. Steve, however, dropped a hand over yours and squeezed. Smiling gratefully up at him, you knew he understood. You and Steve had been roped together from before either of you could walk. Collateral damage of having parents that shared a law practice together. Steve and you had gotten lost there for a few years but it had been hard, at least it had been for you.

There were only so many times people could put you up on a pedestal, awing at you, before you started believing you deserved it. It wasn’t until Dustin kicked it out from under you that you humbled yourself. Steve got there eventually – and despite their criticism of him, you understood. There were too many nights that saw one of you at the other’s empty big house, stares blank and hands desperate for an escape from reality.

“I’ve got a year and hey, at least Harvard is far away enough from them,” you said, fingers trying to brush against the bright side that always seemed just out of reach.

“Yeah,” Steve snorted, his own sarcasm bleeding through, “because them being not around is such a problem.”

And what a pair you two made. The abandoned trophy children of parents who couldn’t care less despite how much either of you tried.

Eyes dancing across the wall, you almost choked on your mouthful of candy. “Shit, is that the time?” You asked, hopping off the stool and almost snapping your ankle in the process.

“What, got a hot date with a senator’s son this cold Friday afternoon?” Steve asked, snickering as he dodged the red vine you chucked at him. Hurrying towards the doors you shot him a glare that would have any normal human cowering. In your tenure, you’d gotten good at those. People avoided you in your town, and that’s the way you liked it.

“We promised never to speak of that again,” you hissed, almost baring your teeth of the reminder of that disastrous blind date. “I promised Dustin I’d start picking him up from school Fridays. He’s got some club this year? I don’t know but I don’t want him riding a bike in the dark.”

Steve nodded, understanding, and you waved goodbye to Robin. All of you knew how deep Hawkins’ underbelly went and the things that hid in it. You didn’t want to take any chances, not with Dustin.

Hawkins High’s parking lot was mostly deserted by the time you pulled in, the winter grey sky forcing you to turn your heating up. You glanced around the mostly empty school and frowned. You were ten minutes late and he wouldn’t have left for a least a good chunk of time. If anyone worried more about you than Steve, it was Dustin.

Right as you were contemplating hopping out the car and into the school, the side door at the far left slammed open. The loud, chattering voices cut through the looming darkness and you smiled when you heard Dustin’s voice.

You stepped out the car, leaning against your door, and almost laughed when one of the guys that looked closer to your age glanced at you. “Uh, guys, no one freak out but there’s some hot girl staring at us right now.”

A few pairs of eyes darted over to you and you saw Dustin gag. “That’s my cousin, asshole!”

“She’s also way out of your league,” Mike said, loud enough for you to laugh. The other guy looked both insulted and embarrassed.

Grinning, you lifted your hand up, already stepping towards a scowling Dustin when a seventh person joined them. Freezing in your tracks, you felt like you’d swallowed your tongue.

“What the hell are you guys laughing at?” Eddie asked, shoving his arms through his leather jacket.

The world, for a brief moment, stopped spinning.

“Gareth’s drooling over Dustin’s cousin,” Lucas joked, dodging the hand that came out to swipe at him.

Brown eyes darted up and landed on you. His lips parted and the surprised puff of air that escaped was visible in the cold. Both of you blinked at each other, the others muttering around him.

“Come on Four Eyes,” Eddie teased, malice dripping from his voice, “walk a little faster, will you?” His shoulder smacked into yours, tipping you into the lockers and you lost the grip of your books. Eddie disappeared around the corner but you were on your knees – scrambling to grab all your things from the floor.

“Move it Four Eyes!” A voice to your left said, foot knocking into your side. You wheezed, scrambling faster, but another foot slammed down onto your fingers. Tears blurred in your eyes as you stood, aching fingers pulled to your chest. “Even Munson hates her,” another voice said, “what a loser.”

“What?” You said, blinking away the memories from middle school. Realizing Dustin had walked up to you, you smiled faintly down at him. “Hey kid.” You shoved the memories back into their cave, bending their will to your own. That girl didn’t exist anymore, you told yourself, trying not to panic. She was gone.

Brows furrowed and mouth twisted into his infamous suspicious expression, he brought a hand up to your arm. “What’s wrong?” He asked quietly, eyes on you.

“Nothing,” you said, glancing over his shoulder and towards the group that was walking over.

He’d grown his hair out, you realized. Clearly leaning into the look, you weren’t surprised to see the Dio denim vest over the jacket. “Well, I’ll be damned, I didn’t realize that the Henderson I went to school with was this Henderson’s cousin.”

You hummed, clenching your hand and grounding yourself as your nails dug into your palm. “Why would you know? I didn’t think you even knew my name,” you said, tone bored. Dustin’s eyes darted between you two. Eddie’s eyes widened a little, startled, at the hostile undertone of your voice.

Lucas smothered his laughter poorly and Mike elbowed him. “You two know each other?” Dustin asked, crossing his arms.

“No,” you answered before Eddie could, “not really.”

Hurt flashed across his face and you don’t know why. You didn’t know him. All he’d ever done was make all of middle school a nightmare for you. He didn’t know you then and he certainly didn’t know you now.

“Well, considering I owe my moniker to your cousin, I’d say we know each other a little bit,” Eddie said, a pink flush crawling up his neck when everyone’s eyes snapped to his.

“What?” Mike and Lucas said in unison but Eddie’s eyes were steady on you.

Guilt crept up your spine.

“Hey, Henderson!” You whirled around, eyes widening a little as someone stumbled into your line of vision.

Two of your friends giggled, their laughter pulling a smile from you. Carefully manicured nails reached out to steady the gangly stranger. “Sorry, do I know you?” You asked, voice dying when a pair of familiar eyes glanced up at you as he straightened. “Oh. Eddie.”

Panic clawed at your chest, anxiety ricocheting inside you like a firework. Painfully aware of where your new friends were waiting a few steps away, their gazes on you. You’d only just clawed your way back up from the bottom, you couldn’t afford to make a mistake. Gianna’s dad, her stare heaviest, was your dad’s biggest client. Sweat prickling at the small of your back, you crossed your arms.

“I haven’t seen you since you moved away,” he said, eyes lighting up like he was excited to see you. Which you didn’t doubt – there were a good amount of people around to humiliate you. He always did like a crowd.

“Right, can I help you with anything?” You snapped, your gum popping. Claire, next to Gianna snorted, her own cruel streak a mile long. Eddie’s expression faltered and you quirked your brow. “Hello? Jesus, can you even speak?”

“I-uh…”

Rolling your eyes, you tried not to freeze when Claire stepped up to your side. “Everything okay here?” She asked, one perfectly plucked eyebrow rose. Her arm slipped through yours and you hated yourself for how relieved you were. “Oh my God, look at what he’s wearing,” she whispered loudly and you hated the flush of pink you saw on his neck. “What a freak.”

Without giving you another moment, Claire’s nails dug into your skin and yanked you back towards the group. “Come on, let’s go get something to eat.”

Payback felt a lot like a heavy rock in your gut but you ignored it.

Wanting to leave this entire scene behind, you turned to Dustin. “Ready?” You asked, knowing that he could read the anxiety in your voice. His eyes darted between you two and nodded slowly.

“We’re still going for burgers, right?” He asked and you grinned at him. If anyone could compartmentalize, it was Dustin.

“Yeah, dude, of course,” you said, ruffling his hair and smiling when he glared at you. “Wanna tag along?” You asked Mike and Lucas, who were already following behind you like lost ducks.

With a bit of distance between the two of you, your lungs finally sputtered back to life. Turning around, you glanced at Eddie. “I’d say it was nice to see you but…” you shrugged, hoping the remark hit any mark.

Eddie, however, grinned and you hated yourself for wanting to smile back. “You can’t ignore me forever sweetheart!” He shouted, clearly unselfconscious. He waved, turning towards the far end of the parking lot and you watched him.

Jealousy swirled in your chest. He was so carefree, his eccentricity something he clearly didn’t care about anymore. We want that, your heart murmured, we want to be free too.

“Ready?” Dustin called out from the passenger seat. You shook off the small voice inside you.

We don’t get to have that, you told it, beating it back into submission. Cambridge, Massachusetts awaited, nothing else. The faster you accepted it, the easier it’d become.

“Yeah,” you said, hating how your voice wavered, “let’s go.”

////

You watched Eddie chug Yoohoo and tossed him some cereal. He shot you a smile but you ignored it and opted to rub your temples. It’d been a day since Dustin had called you, voice high-pitched and scared, and you still hadn’t managed to wrap your mind around it all.

How the hell was this happening? Again? You fought the pressure behind your eyes and pinched the soft skin at your inner elbow. Breathe, just breathe. You glanced at Eddie as he sat in the raised boat, listening intently to the others as they spoke. Max’s hand came up to squeeze yours and you smiled at her.

If you could’ve kept anyone out of this, she would’ve been your choice. You knew she wasn’t dealing with the aftermath of Starcourt well, none of you deserve to go through this again. Eyes drifting over to Eddie again, you fought the panic in your gut. If what Max said about Chrissy’s body was true…he would’ve had front row tickets to that show and you couldn’t blame him for running. You had the first time you saw that thing in Byers’ house.

“Hunt the freak right?” Eddie said, voice twisting around the words, and your eyes slipped closed. You knew how relentless this town could get; you were proof of that. Eddie wasn’t a saint but he didn’t deserve this. None of you did.

Especially since, like the idiot you were, you’d started to grow a soft spot for him. It was bound to happen, you tried to rationalize, you’d been picking Dustin up from school after Hellfire, every Friday for three months. It took weeks for you to actually respond with full sentences, Dustin’s hovering protective glare not helping. But Eddie was anything if not determined.

He’d actually surprised you last week, he’d gotten you your own figurine. A sorceress with a pet dragon. “In case you want to actually join us one day,” he said, stupidly endearing smile on his face.

A choking sound brought you back to the moment. “Listen, there’s nothing to worry about,” Dustin said, voice too high-pitched for him to sound even remotely believable.

Steve walked over to you as the three of them bickered. “Hey, are you okay?” He asked, pulling the knuckle rubbing your eye away from your face.

“My contacts are killing me,” you admitted, not having changed them in the last day since after you’d found Eddie – you, Steve, and Robin had all crashed in his bed – a mess of tangled limbs. You’d woken up to a mouthful of Robin’s hair and with Steve’s knee in the middle of your spine.

“Do you want to stop by your house to get more?” He asked quietly – but clearly not quietly enough.

Eddie’s voice pierced through the conversation. “I always thought you looked better with your glasses,” Eddie said, eyes bouncing around your face, “before you moved away.”

“Move it four eyes!” The taunt bounced around your head before landing at your feet and rolling off into the lake water.

Flinching like he’d struck you across the face, you felt your walls slam back down into place. Was he mocking you? Now of all times? Jesus fucking Christ, how many times was it going to take before you learned that lesson? How many times would you stand there and let people hurt you?

The eerie silence felt like a tornado around you. Sneering, you knew your face was twisting into your most comfortable facade.

“Right, like we’d ever be a thing – freak,” you snapped, turning around so quickly your hair whipped through the air. “I’ll be in the car.”

Chest heaving, you waited a moment outside the door and felt your chest crumble as your heart raced.

“What the hell just happened?” Eddie said.

“Dude, are you serious?” Dustin asked, tone defensive.

“What? Me? She’s the one who’s always coming after me!”

“You started it! What did you expect?”

“What?”

“How do you not know? You’re…you’re the reason she hates her glasses,” Dustin said quietly and you let your eyes slip closed.

Fuck.

“What?” Eddie’s voice was barely audible.

Steve’s voice was serious, the tone protective even from out here. “Yeah, man. That stupid song you used to sing? About her being a four-eyes? That followed her to her new school. Her dad had to pull major strings because she punched some dude who followed her around for weeks messing with her. I’m pretty sure she snapped her glasses in two after that.”

“She won’t even wear her glasses around me,” Dustin said, tone defensive, “and I’ve never made fun of her for it.”

“I wasn’t – that wasn’t-”

“She might be a mean girl to a lot of people,” Dustin said, “but you don’t know what it’s like, her life. She’s…it’s a lot to deal with. I know her, I really know her, and she’s never been mean to around me.”

Steve’s sigh was audible from where you stood. “This…just got a little more complicated.”

As if knowing that he needed the emphasis, you threw yourself onto the floor as a line of police cars shot past the road up ahead of you. What the hell?

///

For the first time, in a long time, you eyed Steve Harrington. He eyed you back with equal fervor.

“Keep glaring, we were both potty trained at the same time. You don’t scare me, Henderson,” Steve said, crossing his arms.

You bared your teeth at him and he flinched a little.

“That didn’t count. You used to be a biter, that was a natural reaction!”

Deciding to go with kindness, you placed your hands on his forearms. “I’m the better swimmer. Steve, I taught you how to swim.”

“I was a lifeguard!”

“I taught you how to swim. I turned down a swimming scholarship to Princeton.”

Nancy sighed, hand coming to her temple. “Just let her do it Steve, she’s the better swimmer. Trust her.” You shot her a grateful look.

“I mean, if we’re voting here – I vote Harrington,” Eddie piped up and you almost snapped your snipe at the speed of which you whirled around to glare at him. He threw his hands up and smiled sheepishly at you.

Steve, however, threw his hand out. “You see!”

“Yeah, we all know it’s because he’d rather lose you than Henderson, don’t flatter yourself,” Robin snorted. Ignoring that quip, you decided to use the sudden bickering to your advantage.

Slipping your jacket from your shoulders, you dropped it into Robin’s lap. You yanked your shoes off and considered taking your jeans off but stopped yourself. The lake couldn’t be too deep.

“Here,” Robin said, handing you the flashlight, keeping a tight grip on Steve’s arm. “You get a minute before I unleash the hounds and he goes looking for you.”

“Three minutes.”

“Two.”

“Deal.”

Eddie peeked over the edge of the boat and winced. “Are we sure this is a good idea?”

“Oh, shut up,” you snapped, executing a perfect dive into the water. Without much effort, you found the glowing red gate and stared at it for a moment. Fuck. It really was back. As if in a trance, you watched your finger reach out for it when a large shadow startled you. Shaking your head, you pushed off the floor and surfaced with a loud inhale.

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ, how long does it take to check for a glowing red gate?” Steve snapped, hands scrambling for you.

Shaking him off, you sputtered, anchoring yourself to the edge of the boat. “It’s there, guys – it’s at the bottom. It’s more of a small sized gate than the ones we’re used to but…” you stopped, feeling sudden pressure at your calf. Your eyes caught Eddie’s and you brought your hand out to his arm instinctually. Water shot up your nose painfully and you struggled against what was pulling you under. Eyes stinging, you tried to orient yourself but could only focus on the burn in your lungs. You hadn’t taken a proper inhale before you went under and you were almost out of air.

Suddenly the world around you went right side up and you gasped, lungs trying to expel the water that had lodged in your chest. The ragged ground cut you, the pain barely noticeable as you dug your nails into the vine around your leg. It stopped dragging you once you managed to pierce through half of it, your nail beds destroyed. Adrenaline rushed through you as you scrambled to stand, blood trailing down your sides.

Loud screaming had you searching the dark sky above you. What the hell? Were you…shit. Glancing around for a weapon, you grabbed a discarded and rotting oar before you lifted it in the air. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” You shouted, swinging it so hard that your bones rattled. The sound of wings had your heart jump into your throat. Shit, you were outnumbered.

The first sharp cut into your arm had you dropping the oar, pain radiating down your limb. You tried to swat at it with your other hand, the feeling of flesh slapping against it. The bat screeched at you, its stupid claws scraping against your face. The third’s tail reached for your neck and you ducked, only narrowly avoiding it.

“Get the fuck away from her!” A voice screamed, echoing in the empty – wherever you were. Eddie launched himself at the third one, splitting in two easily.

“Eddie,” you gasped, arm still hanging limply. The world around you spun but you forced your eyes to focus. You couldn’t fall apart, not now.

A warm hand wrapped around your wrist and he shoved you behind him. “Don’t worry,” he said, teeth gritting, “I’ve got you.”

Both of you swat at the remaining bats, desperate, and Eddie only narrowly avoided another when Steve came running full speed. Nancy and Robin, drenched, followed.

You all stared at the baby gate, your body leaning entirely too much against Eddie’s. “We gotta go,” Nancy said, “come on, into the forest!”

Steve walked along your other side, shouldering your weight so that you could walk faster. You could feel Eddie’s eyes on you, his palm searing against your waist. “This is Lover’s Lake, come on – we can hide under Skull Rock!”

Eddie tucked you under the rock first, his hands careful as you panted – trying to catch your breath. God, your shoulder really hurt. Eddie’s face was twisted into worry as he peered at the gashes, his fingers coated in your blood. “I think it stopped bleeding. I’m going to wrap something around it to help keep it covered from…whatever the fuck this is in the air.” He ripped the bottom of his shirt and winced as he started wrapping it around your arm.

“I can’t believe you jumped in after me,” you said, watching Steve, Robin, and Nancy argue over what to do next.

Robin quipped up. “He dove in faster than Harrington.”

Eddie glared at her, not at all intimidating, and you blinked. “Why?”

The vein, lavender under his skin, throbbed and that seemed to be the breaking point for him. You watched, fascinated, as he stood up and paced in front of you. “Because I’ve been in love with you since like, middle school!”

Everyone quieted and you could feel Steve and Robin’s eyes on you.

“Right,” you said flatly, struggling to stand and put distance between you two.

His arm jutted out like he was going to pull you back but seemed to remember your arm at the last minute. “No, wait, please let me explain!” He pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t…I was just teasing you…I didn’t think it was – that you thought-”

“This is painful,” Robin whispered loudly to Nancy and you watched Eddie flush bright red.

“I didn’t know how to properly express my emotions, obviously, and I thought you knew. I thought that’s why you were always so…”

“Mean?” You finished for him, shocked. “I didn’t know! Eddie what, - why would you - what.”

He ducked his head, hand coming up to the back of his neck, and sighed. “I don’t know, okay? I thought it’d get your attention.”

“By being an asshole?”

“Hey, you weren’t a ray of sunshine yourself.”

Anger flashing through you, Steve stepped between you two and put up his hands. “Everyone calm down. You’re both children. You,” he turned to Eddie, “learn how to communicate effectively and how not to be a bully.”

“-but-”

“And you,” Steve said, turning to you, “I know sometimes it feels like only we understand each other but, you’ve got to learn to let other people in. You did with Robin and look.”

Eyes darting over to Robin’s, she grinned and wiggled her fingers into the air. Biting back your laughter, you turned back to Steve and nodded. “Yeah, alright, whatever.”

“That’s as good as you’re going to get,” Steve told Eddie, turning back to Nancy. “Okay, now let’s get walking.”

Groaning as you stood, Eddie’s hand shot out tentatively and you nodded at him. “Thanks,” you said, using his arm to help steady you. “I need shoes.”

“Oh shit,” Eddie said, glancing down at your feet. Without hesitating, he pulled his off and bent down to help you into them. “They smell like dirty lake water but, you won’t cut yourself.”

“Wait, no, it’s okay-” you said, struggling for your balance as Eddie forcibly picked up one of your feet. Your hand shot out to his shoulder before you toppled into him and let him tie the white Reebok’s onto your foot. “Eddie, you’re going to cut your feet now.”

He shrugged, eyes looking up at you from the ground. “I’m pretty sure you’re missing chunks out of your shoulder, Henderson. And your feet are already bleeding. I can take the hit, you can’t.”

“I can do it,” you started, initial stubbornness bursting out the gate. It quickly dwindled after he shot you a look and you groaned. “Alright, thank you.”

Eddie continued tightening the laces and his hair brushed against your hand. You couldn’t help but reach out and trail a finger over the frizz. Had he really liked you for so long? Even after…after – everything? Not one to easily forget a grudge, the knot in your stomach tightened. He’d caused – no matter how inadvertently – a lot of shit for you. But…he’d apologized. And middle school had been years ago now.

“I’m sorry,” you said quietly, “I know I didn’t necessarily start the – the nickname but I didn’t stop it either.”

His eyes darted up, still half kneeling in front of you, fingers frozen at the last loop. “Oh.”

“I don’t think you’re a freak,” you started to ramble, anxiety suddenly bubbling up, “I shouldn’t have spread it around. I was just so hurt by how mean to me you always seemed to be and I’ve always thought you were kinda cool because you didn’t seem to give a shit what anyone thought of you. Besides, Dustin worships the ground you walk on and as much as it kills me, he’s a good judge of character.”

The silence after was painful and you winced.

“Thanks for diving in after me,” you added after a beat, “you didn’t have to.”

A slow, steady, smile grew on Eddie’s face as he stood up. “I did, have to,” he said, his hand brushing against yours. “You may not have liked me but my heart has always stubborn. It’s always been you.”

You ducked your head, flustered. Why did it feel like something within you had yawned awake?

“I’m sorry for being a dick,” he said, “these past few months, I…I’ve really looked forward to seeing you every Friday. I always thought we’d be good friends.”

Steve’s voice echoed through the decrepit trees. “What the hell are you two doing? Keep up!” His hands went to his hips and you flipped him off, smiling when he huffed audibly. You started walking towards him, feet feeling a million times better, and you inhaled.

You were never the brave one. Not with the Upside Down, or the demogorgons, or when Billy had tried to kidnap you. You’d never, not once, spoke up to your parents. You wore the dresses they wanted, went to the parties they needed you to, made friends with the right people, and did everything you were supposed to.

A dream, one that not even Steve or Dustin knew, swirled within your ribcage – a secret you’d kept only to yourself. You wanted to rip the Harvard letter to shreds and never step foot in Cambridge. The letter you’d hidden under your mattress, the one that called your name every time you laid down to sleep, that was your secret.

Dear Ms. Henderson,

On behalf of the Rhode Island School of Design, we are pleased to offer you admission for the fall semester of 1986.

Fingers twitching, like you could feel the paintbrush in your hand, you exhaled. You wanted to stop feeling like you couldn’t breathe every second of every day because it felt like you had an elephant sitting on your chest.

Eyes turning to Eddie, who was walking carefully over the slithering vines, you realized you wanted to be brave. For once.

“I think we’d make good friends too,” you told Eddie, pretending to introduce yourself – like he was a stranger…and maybe he was. “Do you often find yourself in an alternate dimension with your friends?”

The blinding smile that he shot your way felt a little bit like healing.

“I’m Eddie Munson,” he played along, shaking your hand, “and yeah, a normal Sunday for me, you know? Some people go the beach for spring break, me? Livin’ on the wild side.”

A laugh escaped you and you shook your head at him but Eddie’s dopey smile had you surging forward to press a kiss to his smudged cheek. Skin tingling, you almost laughed again at his dazed look. “Not that I’m complaining, but do you go around kissing all your friends? Because if I would’ve known that I would have made a better effort.”

Flustered, you looked down at the vines and shook your head. “No, only the ones who dive into a lake and climb through a gate into another world to try and save me.”

“That seems incredibly specific,” he joked, offering his hand to help you climb over a pile of vines. You intertwined your fingers, his small smile igniting something in your chest.

“It is,” you said, smiling back at him, an understanding settling between you two. Maybe you’d be brave again, after you’d made it out on the other side of all this. Once you’d learned more about him, after some time, maybe…maybe you could be brave together.

#eddie munson x you #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson

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