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Me: Starts this new job, thinking it'll work out.

Also me: Up at 11:42 pm, realizing I'm only going to be paid about $10 for painstakingly transcribing 18 minutes of audio that was garbled to shit by AI transcription.

...So, I don't think this job is gonna work out.

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The Shens twins no matter their relationship, Shen Yuan would fixate on harassing and bullying Airplane and Shen Jiu would pop up behind him like "what you got there?" And start joining in

Especially because Shen Yuan is usually at least outwardly polite to people around them while Shen Jiu is actively antagonistic. So to see Shen Yuan tripping Shang Qinghua so he face plants and seeking him out to pick fights and threaten him is like catnip to Shen Jiu. He has to get in on this

Shen Jiu forgets to fight with Yue Qingyuan and Liu Qingge because he and Shen Yuan are too busy batting Shang Qinghua back and forth

Liu Qingge tries to stand up for Shang Qinghua once but Mu Qingfang is like "no wait. It's enrichment for him" and sure enough Shang Qinghua is seen grinning when the Shens can't see and also actively baiting the Shens

If they leave him alone for too long he does something that gets them showing up at An Ding to chase him around the peak

Yue Qingyuan is just glad Shen Jiu is having fun

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I'm undooming the Yuri and you can't stop me

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*does a lil jig*

Guess who did great on their intervieeeeew~

I might be able to work a new job (cross your fingers for me; pray to God, the spirits, your ancestors, plz) and stop having to ask y'all for comms money hehehe.

Like, I do like to do them! Don't get me wrong, comms are very fun to write. But the amount of publicity and work needed to make my name more well-known and to obtain the audience to sustain myself with writing fan works? It's a lil too stressful, tbh, and I feel like I spread that stress a bit.

I want this place to stay fun, and so, I hope that I can just use Ko-fi and Patreon as a place to gather savings from people who have some spare money and wanna give me some as thanks.

Thank you all so much for your support all this time (இωஇ )❤️

We don't, like, know each other, but from what I've seen from y'all, you're all such cool people.

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Many thanks to @a-vast-horizon, here's some Venom Deku for u.

I'm revamping things a lil bit, and this is the start of that.

Prev Masterpost

(I haven't updated all the posts to have the "prev, next" markers and I probably won't, but all the new ones will have them)

---

Inky sets up several dens in abandoned buildings around Mustafar and nearby cities.

There's actually quite a few of them, with empty floors no one really goes to. So, for the times they feel like being out on the town rather than in their bedroom, they set up several dens.

It usually includes some stash of potato-based snacks, chocolate drinks, a mattress, and some old clothes or sheets. It's infinitely better if the place has electricity they can use. Then, that opens up the opportunity to find, repair, and keep mini fridges, microwaves, or toaster ovens.

Perfect for tater tots. They fuckin love tater tots.

They enjoy the independence of having a quiet place just for themselves, not having to worry too much about school or bullies (the number of which have been decreasing the more they simply fade into the background), giving their mom time to chill out while they go off and be a creature. Though, because they had, like, three to four dens at a time, they would sometimes lose track of what was there and have to clean it up. Other times, they'd return to the den, only to find someone else had shacked up in it.

That's what has led to their current predicament, with them crouching in the doorway and a girl facing them as she wields her knives in their direction.

Her hair is a mess, and she's dressed in some school's uniform, blood speckled and splotched all over her. Meanwhile, they're cloaked and currently holding a bag of frozen tater tots in their mouth like a fresh kill from the Serengeti. They blink at each other, one waiting for the other to move.

Inky moves first, dropping the bag from their mouth so they could speak. The girl flinches--

Then she's running at them, knife forward.

Inky jumps up to the ceiling and digs their claws in. But she doesn't seem to be sticking around. Instead, she turns down the hall and makes a break for it.

"Ah, wait--"

But she doesn't. She keeps running. And there's a ping in the back of Inky's mind that says chase chase chase, and while they do indeed chase her, it's less for the thrill and more because, well...

She looked like she needed help.

So, they drop down from the ceiling and, on all fours, they run after her, quickly catching up. Even though she throws knives back at them, they easily bounce off their skin, just like bullets would.

The girl makes it to the stairwell and throws the door open, prepared to use the railing to skip and hop her way down. But Inky, fast and agile, is right on her feet.

Just as she goes for another jump to skip a few steps, she trips on her feet, slipping. She raises her arms and prepares to roll down the rest of the stairs--

But Inky reaches out, their flesh stretching, catching, and sinking into the fibers of her clothes.

The girl notices this a moment later and starts trying to slip out of her clothes--

"Do you wanna eat with me?"

She pauses. Then, she turns around and stares at them incredulously, her hands clenched on the bottom of her blood-stained sweater.

Inky tries not to taste any of the blood, but they are tasting it, and it is, indeed, gross. Like cottage cheese mixed with shoe dirt. However, they've eaten guts and sinew at this point, so it's not the worst thing ever. Less a travesty and more just mildly unpleasant.

"...What?"

Inky pulls her up a little so she's not teetering precariously toward falling on her face. They then let go of her clothes as they both stand in the stairwell.

"We brought tater tots. Better with company. Want some?"

After few minutes of cautiously waltzing around each other, both people are sitting in front of the little toaster oven as the tater tots within it have just started to brown. The girl's dressed in their replacement clothes--just some sweatpants and a long-sleeved tee that says "sleepwear"--freshly clean after they showed her where they get water. Even so, she still smells like iron and copper, and she's more often gazing at them than watching the tots cook.

"What's your name?" she asks, her eyes sharp and inquisitive.

"We are Inky. How about you?"

"I'm Toga Himiko."

She smiles. It's toothy, a blush on her cheeks.

Inky smiles back, their maw full of fangs much sharper than her own.

"Nice to meet you. We have ketchup for the tots."

"Mm. Aren't you gonna ask?"

"Hmm?"

"About the blood," she says, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Mmnah. Unless you want us to. It's your business."

"Don't I have to tell you about it to stay here?"

"Not really."

The girl chuckles then. "What if I've killed people?"

Inky's opalesque eyes narrow in distant humor and resignation.

"You wouldn't be the only one in the room with blood on your hands."

They see her eyes widen from the corner of theirs, so they turn their head to look at her, so she knows where they're looking.

"What matters most is how it got there, we suppose."

Instead of scaring her, this assertion seems to deepen the color of the blush on her cheeks. And, without prompting, she blurts it out--

"I cut up my crush and drank his blood."

Inky blinks.

"Why?"

She looks down and starts fiddling with the sleeve of their shirt.

"Because I love him. Loved him... I think I still do love him, but I know he wouldn't think I'm cute."

"Did you kill him?"

"No," she sighs, leaning back from her crouch. "I just wanted to taste him a little. If I taste him, I can be like him, and I can truly love him. But, he wouldn't return my love, because everyone says the way I love is wrong."

Inky checks the timer on the toaster oven. There's still a few minutes left, so they turn away from watching it to watch her instead.

"How do you love?"

She gazes at them for a moment, like she's unsure of why they're asking. But there's a glitter in her eyes, a little shine, that seems like she really wants to answer it.

"I love by becoming those I love. I can truly encapsulate them. If I drink their blood, I become like them. I become them. And then, when our hearts beat, it's like we're one." A wavering smile spreads on her face. "Isn't that beautiful?"

Inky hums, tilting their head in thought.

"...Hm. We understand."

Himiko's smile drops, though not from despair. From shock.

"It is like us. We are two, but we are one. There is no one without the other. You want the same for yourself."

"...Yes," she murmurs breathlessly. "Yes."

"So, to become close with someone else, you want their blood."

Had Izuku been fully human, he maybe would've been disgusted. He, raised with the common morals of societal nature, would probably have labeled her to be a vagrant, an aberration. Raised in the world full of heroes, he likely would not have understood why it was so important to her.

But Izuku isn't just Izuku. Izuku is Venom, and Venom is Izuku. They are Inky.

And Inky understands the desire for blood. For delicious chemicals that only few things can provide. They understand smelling their mother and finding her delicious, refusing to injure her because of their love. The same for their love for Dr. Oniyoshi, the only doctor who has ever tried to understand them within their means and limits.

They channeled their love to their food, to eating, to being with others and enjoying a meal. If eating alone, then, at the very least, to expressing a quiet thanks to whatever they're consuming.

Inky wanted to eat with Himiko because she smelled scared. She smelled much better now, and the more she talked about love and how she loved, the better she smelt. It's mainly the reminder of the disgusting taste of blood that keeps them from wanting a bite.

And...maybe they're a bit lonely, too. Surrounded by people who judge them, who they can never truly impress. Only having their mother and doctor on their side has been a very lonely experience. Even going around and playing vigilante only produces some fun, but they cannot truly connect with anyone while helping others in those cases.

Of course, they are never truly alone. Izuku has Venom, and Venom has Izuku. Even so, they do like meeting new people.

They smelled her fear. Her desire. Her loneliness, just like their own.

"...Would you like our blood?"

It's because they can smell the oxytocin from her skin that they don't panic when she begins to cry, nodding her head.

So, Inky works hard. They know their blood always tries to return to their body. They don't want to hurt her, just in case.

They distill their blood in their arm as much as they can, removing as much of Venom's influence as possible. Though, they can't pull it back completely. More symbiote than human, Izuku very likely cannot live without the other. That goes for their blood as well. So, there's still some of the alien construct's essence in the blood they're able to present.

When they reveal their wrist, it's unnaturally pale. Deathly so.

Even so, they offer it to her.

"We are unsure of the taste. But, we hope you like it."

They don't flinch when she takes a hold of their arm and bites into their wrist. They watch as she tearfully licks and sucks the wounds they leave open so she can consume what she'd like.

Without saying anything to each other, they remain like that for a good while.

*ding*

"Ah, the tater tots~"

She lets them go so they can open the toaster oven, and they pull out the small pan, not needing any oven mitts to hold onto it with their covered hands. When they turn back, the pause in surprise.

Izuku is looking back at them.

A pale, sickly-looking boy whose freckles are barely visible. His hair is shorter than it truly is, and his eyes are a paler color than they really are. Boney cheekbones with dark circles and a thin, thin body that seems as though it will collapse with a clacking sound.

This version of him looks painfully incomplete. Little more than skin stretched over a skeleton.

"Oh, we look ill."

Himiko looks down at herself with all the joy in the world.

"Really? I don't think you look bad at all!"

Himiko herself is not ill, so despite her worn, wane appearance, she moves around just fine. She uses her ability to move to hug them around the neck gleefully, just as they move the hot pan out of the way.

"Are you sick without your quirk active?"

"You could say that."

They don't want to lie to her outright. So, lying via omission would have to do. After all, how can they explain it? How can they tell her exactly how intrinsic they are to each other's existence? Is it alright for her to know?

It probably is--they feel they can trust her, she feels trustworthy--but they've lived the last 10 years telling the world a lie. It's difficult to decide someone other than the only other two people they know are worthy of the truth.

"It must be nice to run around with your quirk. Though, I suppose you can't have it on all the time. Unless... Do you live out here, like me?"

"We don't. We live with our mom."

She stiffens a bit.

"What's she like?"

"She is nice. Smells sweet. Makes tasty food for us all the time. She accepts us."

"...She does?"

"Yes. We don't think she truly understands, but she understands as much as she can. We appreciate it."

Himiko quiets in thought.

"...Could I meet her one day?"

Inky tilts their head, considering. They can smell fear again, with discomfort. Maybe a little hope.

They pop a hot tater tot into their maw, chewing quietly.

"We think that would be fun. When everyone's ready." They then hold out a tater tot for her to take.

"Hehehe...yeah, I'd like that." Himiko smiles widely with his face, all bones and teeth. And it's a very lovely smile.

"Ah-ouch."

"Oh. Still hot. Sorry."

--

When they go to sleep later that night, it's with Inky curled up like a dog and Himiko, back in her real body after her quirk wore off, laying against his back.

She stares at the back of their neck for a long while, taking in how much her life has changed in just a few short hours.

Just a few days before, she was on the run after cutting up and drinking the blood from her beloved. She was finally, finally able to love as she always felt was right. And she was immediately ridiculed for it.

She hadn't bothered running back home, slipping out into the streets that very night, crying in equal parts joy and sorrow. Her parents had told her to be normal. They told her time and time again, but she just...couldn't do it. She didn't understand why she couldn't, but she couldn't.

But now, here she was. Lying on a futon with a stranger unlike any before them.

The first few nights on her own, she'd found people to stay with. Men and women who lived in the darkness she was only just now introducing herself to.

They leered over her. Tried to control her. Wanted to take advantage of her.

She only realized that a little too late at times. But by the time she noticed, she'd already drank their blood and bled them dry of it. She wasn't used to her love just yet. So, she would cut too deep. Too much. In the wrong places. And those people she thought she could love kept dying, one after another.

But this person...

She wasn't sure why she trusted them. They were one person, so why did they call themselves "we"? She didn't understand, not yet. But she didn't have to.

Because Inky was kind. Inky shared their food with her, shared their clothes with her. And despite their clear physical superiority, they never once made her feel caged. She could leave whenever she wanted, they made that much clear... Even more than that, she could tell them to leave whenever she wanted.

She wanted to know who this person was, so she asked about their name. And then, somehow, it turned into her talking about how she loved. Her method of loving, something she hadn't told the others.

And they...

Accepted her.

Offered their blood, their friendship, their love to her.

"Inky..." she murmurs, her hand reaching up and curling in the cool, slick hair along the back of their neck.

They lean into her touch with a little, sleepy huff.

Oh...

So this is what real love feels like.

She leans in closer and cuddles up to them, trying to mesh their bodies together so they could, perhaps, sink into each other. Tears stream from her eyes again, soaking into the slime that covers Inky's body before disappearing as though they were never there.

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Some old Amy sketches i found and colored yesterday

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Lil Chuhuahua dog cuddling into her neck is feeling All The Love

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GOAL MET, JESUS CHRIST

Thank you so much omg (இwஇ )

Art comms are still open, but it's not, like, drastic now. Which, BIG thanks, peace and love on the planet earth.

Current Goal: $40

My account is at $0 and charges are eating my savings, so I would like to make $40 to at least replenish some of that. I currently don't work and can't make much from disability, so while I'm still job searching (and have been for literal months now), I'm doing what I can.

Anyway, if you'd like to see an update to any of the threads and AUs I've started but haven't updated yet, please consider buying me a Ko-fi. It's $5 for 250+ words on a drabble, 500+ words on a writing commission, and for an uncolored, waist-up drawing of one character. For more details, check out the Ko-fi Shop.

You can also do one-time payments on Patreon for Drabble Posts, though since I'm not sure it has a tipping function, it's a flat-rate $5 no matter how long it is, guaranteed at least 250 words. I'm still figuring that stuff out.

Please let me know if there's something you'd like to see updated. There's a few things I want to update in general, but eh...difficult to organize it all.

Also, if you just kinda wanna drop dollars, that's cool, too.

Thank you all for enjoying what I write, and I hope to keep creating regardless of payment.

In the meantime, if you can, please consider the options above.

Current Amount: $0/$40

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Current Goal: $40

My account is at $0 and charges are eating my savings, so I would like to make $40 to at least replenish some of that. I currently don't work and can't make much from disability, so while I'm still job searching (and have been for literal months now), I'm doing what I can.

Anyway, if you'd like to see an update to any of the threads and AUs I've started but haven't updated yet, please consider buying me a Ko-fi. It's $5 for 250+ words on a drabble, 500+ words on a writing commission, and for an uncolored, waist-up drawing of one character. For more details, check out the Ko-fi Shop.

You can also do one-time payments on Patreon for Drabble Posts, though since I'm not sure it has a tipping function, it's a flat-rate $5 no matter how long it is, guaranteed at least 250 words. I'm still figuring that stuff out.

Please let me know if there's something you'd like to see updated. There's a few things I want to update in general, but eh...difficult to organize it all.

Also, if you just kinda wanna drop dollars, that's cool, too.

Thank you all for enjoying what I write, and I hope to keep creating regardless of payment.

In the meantime, if you can, please consider the options above.

Current Amount: $0/$40

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I have a friend going through some stuff, and she really likes Chouko, so here we go.

This may be more drabble-y cause it's been almost...sheesh three years or so since I last wrote for this? That, and I'm getting a bit tired of doing full narrative writing. (spoilers, I still write it in a narrative fashion for a heavy chunk of it, because fuck me, I guess) Anyway, here's a few scenes that have been collecting dust in my brain since I first started writing about this AU.

More Hacker AU Izuku, Kobayashi Chouko-chan.

Masterpost

---

After all the physical tests were done, Kobayashi told them that she'd meet with them again one-on-one in the next few days. In that time, she seemed to quietly disappear, barely seen anywhere on campus, right up until it's time for the meetings.

Kobayashi has her own little office. She has it decorated with fairy lights, gauzy curtains, and little succulents. The pinboard behind her desk has scribbled phrases and photos, different colored strings connecting different parts. A whiteboard sits against the wall near the door, off to the side.

She also has another, smaller desk, on which sits a kettle and fresh water dispenser. There's various teas, spices, and small snacks, causing the room to smell quite fragrant.

The first person she sees is Shinsou Hitoshi.

Although he's officially a Class 1-B student, Aizawa shares responsibility in teaching him, particularly because he requested to learn the martial arts the underground hero uses in conjunction with his capture weapon. He's new, but he's been training for weeks, especially since the Sports Festival highlighted his abilities.

He sits in the chair on the other side of her desk with a slight slump, holding a warm cup of chai in his hands as he waits patiently for her to start.

Kobayashi's still allowed to wear clothes other than the school uniform when doing her non-school work, so she has on a brown, high-waisted skirt with a thin black belt, a thin olive-green Dolman sweater loosely tucked into the waistband, resting over her short-sleeved dress shirt and red necktie. They pair well with her cream-colored leg warmers and tidy brown loafers with thicker heels.

She has her fingers steepled, a glossy-lipped smile on her face. Her long bangs are distinct from the rest of her hair with a black headband, lightly laced cream accents sewn into it.

"First and foremost, I think you've been misdiagnosed."

Shinsou blinks. "...What do you mean?"

"I mean, I don't think your quirk is brainwashing."

She reaches over to an organized stack of folders, pulling his from them and opening it. She then starts putting various pictures of different texts and photos she's used for reference to study what his quirk does.

"Dr. A. Muzayeva noted a generally positive correlation between a person's quirk and other traits about themselves. For a few examples, Tokoyami-kun and his gothic aesthetic, or Jirou-chan and her interest in music. Of course, these traits do not always overlap in such obvious ways, but the idea is that, growing up with quirks affects your personality and traits in both a nature and nurture way. That quirks are intrinsically tied to a part of who you are.

"So, I have been looking at what I see from you and what other people have said about you. Do you know what the most common trait mentioned was?"

"Creepy?" he asks sardonically.

"Haha, no! It was sleepy. And that got me thinking about how it felt under the control of your quirk."

Because of course she'd asked him to put her under. And, admittedly, he hadn't expected her to come out of the experience with much of anything.

But what had both startled and intrigued him was that she came out of it on her own.

Usually, they had to be bumped or something for them to snap out of it. However, after a minute or two of being under his quirk and being given simple directions, Mineta had said something about the situation being "hot", and her eyelids fluttered. Right then, he'd felt the very new and unusual sensation of the hold he had on her slipping instead of the usual pop sensation.

She came out of it just in time to glare at him and demand, with a calm but obviously irritated tone, that he not be gross.

Not that he would've done it, but still. It had been funny (and relieving to not be on the receiving end of her open frustration), so he couldn't help but let out a surprised laugh.

"So, this isn't necessary for you to know, but I have the tendency to have lucid dreams. Had them since I was young, so at this point, I can control them to a certain extent. When I was under the control of your quirk, it felt more to me like I was asleep than I was being brainwashed.

"After all, the orders you gave me did not feel as though they were trying to change anything about me or what I thought. Instead, it was more like dreaming. Sort of like how, when lucid dreaming, I am aware of the dream but not able to control my body unless I put actual force and intent into doing so."

"...So you think my quirk is making people sleepwalk instead."

"Yes! I feel that's a more accurate description of it. You aren't altering anyone's mind. I have not, thus far, seen any indication that you can make someone believe something they don't already believe. Your quirk works more like cordyceps than cult activity."

Shinsou is quiet for a good moment, staring at his chai. He then takes a long sip of it.

"...I thought cordyceps was, like, a brain control fungus for ants."

"Oh, no, it doesn't control the brain. It bypasses the neural pathways entirely to control the muscles themselves. Cordyceps has more in common with sleepwalking than mind control. And your quirk has more in common with sleepwalking and cordyceps than brainwashing and mind control."

"Somehow, that's more horrifying."

"Only if you make it so!" she replies cheerily. "The good thing is that this quirk is your muscle, not someone else's. And from what I understand about you, you'd much prefer helping people than hurting them. If you can make villains sleepwalk themselves into letting hostages go rather than beating people up, well, that's quite the win, isn't it?"

He gives her a considering hum. Although his expression is fairly muted, looking tired as ever, there's a light in his eyes that wasn't there before.

Sleepwalking, huh...

That sounded much nicer than what anyone else has ever said about his quirk.

"Oh, and here. I assume the quirk maybe makes it difficult for you to get a fulfilling sleep. Sleepwalking, like lucid dreaming, tends to interrupt common sleeping patterns, making it difficult to be well-rested. Too much brain activity and the sort."

Chouko reaches behind her desk, then hands him a box of lemon chamomile tea.

"I like loose-leaf tea more, but I can't expect everyone to be the same. This brand is the best of the bagged versions I can find. Drink this maybe 30 minutes before you plan to sleep and kinda meditate on the feeling of the warm cup in your hands. The tea alone isn't a fix-all, but having a consistent routine for making it can help."

He raises an eyebrow at the suggestion.

"You have sleeping problems?"

Chouko chuckles a little, then slightly parts her bangs. Both his eyebrows rise up at the sight of her eye, the darkening beneath them even darker than his own. Even so, she places her other hand on her chest and sits up with a flourish.

"I'll have you know, my eyebags are Givenchy."

They share cattish grins before they end up giggling.

--

"Tokoyami-kun, did you have one or more siblings in the womb?"

"Hmm?"

Chouko leans closer, her lips pursed lightly.

"I'm sorry if this question is too invasive. It's just that, it's really not common for quirks to have any level of consciousness. You can generally think of quirks like muscles—you exercise them, growing and improving your efficiency with using them. They lack consciousness because it would be like your arm muscles telling you what to do instead of the other way around.

"However, there have been cases of that happening—quirks with some consciousness, I mean. The most common times are when one of two or more partially developed fetuses absorbs the other or others. Multiples can end up as singulars, with about 30% of twin pregnancies ending up with one baby, anyway."

He stares at her with a level of concern, so she continues, getting up and heading over to her tea setup.

"So, basically, the idea is that you possibly absorbed your sibling or siblings while growing, which usually happens during the first trimester. However, it can also happen around the second, which usually presents some complications, much more than during the first.

"The brain develops fairly quickly during the first trimester, but it's only during the second one that motor activity really starts. The brain has developed enough by that time to lead to purposeful swallowing, practice breathing, and maybe some kicking. They also start to hear around then.

"Though, it's still very possible for the fetus to still fail due to complications, leaving one or multiple dead. And bodies are efficient—it tries to use up any energy or resources available. So, one twin may absorb another. This absorption can alter anything, from skin cells to organ development."

She turns on the mini stove to boil water in a little kettle. After a little consideration, she takes out a container with loose leaf black tea. She continues going through the motions as she speaks.

"Cellular differences happen more than we think. Obvious cases, like Todoroki-kun's mosaicism, don't usually express themselves as readily. They tend to be much more subtle. For example, if you show some people under a UV light, you'll see stripes and patterns where the different cells meshed with each other.

"I could go on forever about general mosaicism, but let's focus on the chimerism subset. Anyway. Where quirks come into play is that, just like cells that were developing in one twin instead being absorbed into another, so too can quirk factors. In most 'conscious quirk' cases, of which there are exceptionally few, one fetus absorbed the cells and possibly the quirk factor of another.

"Depending on the strength of the quirk and the prominence of the naturalized genotype, this can lead to anything from involuntary activation to behavioral changes caused by the vestiges of the unborn fetus. The prevailing theory is that, the more the unborn fetus had developed, the more likely the remaining child's quirk will have some form of consciousness.

"If one twin died, then it's possible for you to have absorbed the dying or dead fetus' cells through a shared umbilical cord. And, well, Tokoyami-kun, Dark Shadow tends to come from your navel, does it not?"

She turns around as she asks the question, a smile on her lips.

Tokoyami, meanwhile, stares at her with his beak dropped open. Perhaps involuntarily, Dark Shadow has also made an appearance, its head tilted like a dog's.

Her lips straighten into an awkward line.

"...What a mad banquet of darkness. Care for some oolong?"

--

"Why wouldn't my quirk be invisibility?" Hagakure asks, having already drank her strawberry herbal tea.

"Well, I was thinking about it, and, well. When you eat, the food doesn't show through your throat, right?"

"Huh...yeah." She looks down at her teacup. "That's true."

Chouko leans back in her seat. Today, she's in a jean skirt and short-sleeved dress shirt with a swallow-tailed bottom hem and green embroidery depicting a lily. She wears gauzy knee-high socks with red, thick-soled sneakers. Her tie is red, but her hairband is green with little white flowers and cream beads sewn to it.

"So, I think your quirk has less to do with you being truly invisible on a cellular level and more to do with how your cells process and interact with light. It makes you look invisible, but you aren't truly invisible.

"Your cells, and I mean all your cells, seem to be reflecting light depending on what's around you. Your back shows what's in front of you, and your frontside shows what's behind you. Same with your sides.

"That being said, have you ever had an endoscopy? I'm asking since I'm not sure if your internal organs work the same way."

"Ah, no." She lets out a little laugh. "Actually, I don't really go to the doctor."

Chouko quiets. "...Would you like to talk about it?"

"Eh, it's not really much to talk about~"

"Are you sure? I'm open to chatting."

"Ahah..." Although Chouko can't see her hands, she senses that Hagakure is fiddling around. "I guess so. It's not something anyone's asked me about, so it could be kind of interesting!"

"Besides, it's quirk-relevant."

"True, true~"

There's a few beats of silence before Hagakure starts.

"It's just, well... Both my mom and dad have invisibility...put 'invisibility' in quotation marks. But all three of us have 'invisibility' quirks. And, unless we see a specialist or something, it's very hard for us to get medical care. The doctor has to have, like, X-ray or heat vision or something similar. Or someone on their staff has to."

Chouko nods, and she continues.

"And, that's just kinda, like, hard? Because they often don't. So we don't really go to the doctor. Instead, we try to be really careful, you know? We know general health stuff and we have a fairly good idea of where parts of our bodies are."

"'Fairly good'?"

"I mean, I was born with my quirk active. Dad wasn't, since he started going invisible when he was four. Mom...she actually hasn't talked about it. But because of that, Mom and Dad taught me how to feel my body and identify what is where.

"That way, if I get hurt, I can help myself. I can brush my teeth and things like that because of practice. And I have to work really hard, y'know?! Dental care is hard when you can't see your own teeth!"

"For sure, for sure. You floss?"

"Religiously."

"And you know anatomy very well, I suppose?"

"Mmhm! Though, it's a bit easier to brush my teeth since, if I smile in the mirror, I can see where all the little food specks are. It's kinda gross, so it's brush, floss, brush again, and swish! Though, I also read you can cause your gums to recede if you brush too hard, so a soft-bristle toothbrush is a must, y'know?"

Chouko nods with a smile.

"So, it's kind of up to us to take care of ourselves..."

Hagakure quiets for a moment.

"...It's, ah... Kinda why my parents didn't really want me to be a hero. Like, I get it, y'know? And I've thought about it a lot, too. If I get hurt, then... Then who can help me? How will they know how I'm injured? Would they be able to find me if I can't respond?

"I worried about that. And, uhm. I still do. Worry about that. It's why I like being loud and chatty! Reminds people that I'm there, even if they can't see me. And I don't mind if the boys get nervous about me being naked or say pervy stuff. Because they're mindful of me, right? They're hyperaware of the fact I'm there.

"Besides, clothes are a drag sometimes. I was almost never naked as a baby. And they had these face masks they put on me so they could see where my lips were so they didn't poke me in the eye when bottle-feeding me. And I had to wear those masks for sooooo long. It was super creepy, and I got hot being covered up all the time!"

"Mmh, I can imagine."

"Right? And despite all of that, my parents still didn't let me do much. Cause I could get hurt, and if I broke a bone or something, well, even my blood is invisible, so how would they see any injuries?"

Chouko stiffens. "Have you gotten hurt while working?"

"Oh, several times. A few cuts and whatever. But I'm always careful, so I patch up really well! Besides, Recovery Girl works here, so if I get hurt a bit too much, she can kiss me to make it better. She's the only reason my parents let me try heroics, so I'm really thankful to her!"

"I see..."

They lapse into silence. Chouko pulls over a notepad and starts writing, eventually pinching her bottom lip between her fingers as she thinks.

Hagakure sighs.

"...You think I should stop being a hero now, don't you?"

"Mm? No," she murmurs, still writing.

"Eh? Really??"

"Yeah, really. If it's something you want to do, then I think you should be able to do it with proper support. Your abilities can be instrumental for covert work. But if you have to be hyperaware of possible injuries and keep moving, knowing you possibly can't get medical care, then the system is not supporting you enough.

"Also, as much as you may not mind it, I think you're more at risk being naked while being a hero. Skin-to-concrete contact is always possible, and the sort."

"That's...truuuue..."

"None of the other students have to worry about their injuries being unseen, and either should you. So, I'm thinking of a few avenues to help. What you can do on your end is not just train your body, but also train your quirk. How to do that, though..."

Chouko goes back to mumbling, little phrases trailing in streams of thought from her mouth.

Hagakure's used to being loud and boisterous, but she's also used to being quiet. So, she comfortably fades into the background for a while, watching Chouko work, writing up ways to address concerns few have ever asked her about before.

And although her eyes, nose, and chest burn with the urge to cry grateful tears, she keeps it in.

"Ah, may I get some more tea?"

"Mmof course. I have some shiroi koibito cookies in the lower cabinet, too."

"Hehe~"

--

"Todoroki-kun, do you want to be a hero?"

Todoroki hadn't wanted any particular tea, so he has a cup of water. He gazes up at her after a sip.

"Yes. I'm here."

"That's not what I mean. I asked if you want to be a hero."

He frowns.

Chouko has her hands clasped, sitting up straight behind her desk. And although he can't see through her bangs, he can feel her stare. It's not unkind, but it's not particularly warm either.

He can feel her judgment.

"What do you mean, then? I'm here to be a hero, so I want to be a hero."

"You say that..." Her head tilts. "But that's not the kind of behavior I see from you. That's why I'm asking."

"What is someone who wants to be a hero supposed to behave like?"

"Well, there's no patented way a hero should behave. However, I do think the most genuine ones share a particular trait. That is, to do everything they can to protect and save the people around them. Sometimes that means fighting people. Sometimes that means detaining them. Sometimes that means providing reassurance.

"Every hero isn't good at everything, of course. But they still do everything within their power. Todoroki-kun..."

She pauses for a moment, then sits up straighter.

"Can you say to me, honestly, that you've been putting everything you have into your training?"

"Yes," he replies immediately.

Silence.

"Tch."

Todoroki's eyes widen just a bit as she leans forward, an eye peering from behind her bangs.

"You really think that, huh? When you have a whole side to your quirk you refuse to use."

He grits his teeth behind his closed mouth.

"I think you can see where I'm having trouble believing that."

"You don't know me. No matter whatever you've looked up, you don't know who I am or why I am. So, what makes you so confident, to say I'm not trying?"

"I'll be willing to answer that. But first, I would very much like to hear who or why you are. In case there's something I'm missing."

"..."

Chouko huffs, a wry smile spreading on her face.

"C'mon, now. You were just talking so big a moment ago. Cat got your tongue?"

"Shut up."

"I'd love for you to make me, but you haven't started telling me who you are yet, Endeavor's son."

The scowl she gets in return is full of chilling pressure. She meets it with a casual smile.

"That bastard isn't all I am. He's only half of me."

"And the other half?"

"...My mom. The one he bought."

Chouko doesn't say anything, so he continues.

"You know about quirk marriages, right? Since you've looked up so much stuff, you should know. That's what I'm from. My dad paid my mom's family for her quirk, and he got as much out of her as he could before throwing her away. Once it all became too much for her.

"Because of him, the pressure he put on her, she's always crying in my memories. And she came to fear him. Became so afraid that, one day, she couldn't help herself."

Todoroki covers his left side, fingers lightly pressing his scar.

"'I can't stand seeing that left side of yours,' she said. Then she poured scalding hot water on me."

"...Hm. Is there a reason he went about the marriage that way?"

He starts relaxing a little, feeling her finally start to understand.

"Yeah. It's because he couldn't beat All Might. No matter how hard he tried with his own quirk, he couldn't become No. 1. He only thinks of power, and he was so dissatisfied that he couldn't win on his own. So, he decided he'd create the All Might killer—the one who would finally remove All Might from his pedestal.

"He tormented me. Trained me with everything he had, until I threw up and beyond. He's always, always pushed and pushed and pushed, to the point I couldn't even play with my siblings. I'm just a tool to him. That's why I'm so much stronger than everyone else. But, I don't want everything to go his way. I don't want him to win.

"That's why, I refuse everything from that bastard. I refuse his power, his quirk, all of it. You think I don't want to be a hero? I do. And I'll be the best at it. But I'm going to do it my way. Without the quirk he worked so hard to create. Without him. Because, when I become the best without his quirk, that'll hurt him most."

Silence. Chouko's finger taps her desk, seeming lost in thought. Then, she picks up her pen and starts writing on the paper in front of her. Looking down, Todoroki realizes she'd been writing quite a lot, even while he was speaking.

"...So you get it now, right?"

She doesn't answer immediately, finishing a sentence. Then, she sighs, looking at him with a slight slouch to her body.

"Nope."

Todoroki blinks. Her lips twist into some facsimile of a smile.

"I'm afraid I don't get it at all." She then looks back down and continues writing.

"...I see."

The glare he gives her is hateful as he pushes his chair back and stands. But before he can get to the door, she speaks.

"What I don't get is why you are bringing innocent civilians into what is, in the end, a family matter."

"What," he spits back, not turning around.

"I do understand the lack of ownership you may feel over your own body. Being raised that way sounds like a bitch and a half. If you didn't have anyone around you to stand up for you, then of course you feel that pain. And despite my cavalier way of referring to it, I don't intend to undermine your suffering."

Her pen clicks, and she sets it down. Then, she leans her head on her right hand, elbow on the desk.

"What I don't understand is why you intend to make that literally everyone else's problem."

That gets him to turn, but before he can growl a response, she continues.

"Is this a story you're going to tell each person you try to save?"

He stops.

"Imagine this: a situation where fire would've been more appropriate than ice. Someone sees a member of their family die...let's say, a child witnessing their father's death. But the situation could've been resolved faster had you used your flames instead of your ice.

"When you walk up to that child and they see half of your body covered in ice, when they watch you use the heat you'd been hiding all this time to melt the ice away, is that a story you're going to tell them? Do you expect them to understand?"

Todoroki's eyelids flutter, baffled.

"Then, let's consider another scenario. You're fighting a dangerous villain in a situation that causes lots of damage if you don't handle it carefully. The battle is dragging on longer than you'd like. However, you've been using your ice so much, you're getting sluggish. You're stiffening up. Freezing.

"And the villain notices this. Lets out an attack that maims some people, kills others. And you, clammed up by your own quirk, are unable to do anything except watch as it happens. What do you say to the people left alive after that? If you explain your past to them, do you think they'll say, 'Oh, well, that makes sense,'?"

His jaw clenches tightly, visibly this time. Even so, Chouko leans forward, glaring through her bangs.

"Pro heroes have lives in their hands. Innocent civilians. People who have nothing to do with why you grew up the way you did. And if you want to join the ranks of a pro, you have to leave some of that shit at the door, because you can't pick and choose which job you'll find yourself in.

"The actions you take as a pro hero will have irreversible consequences, not only for yourself, but for the people you claim to want to help. And yet, you're willing to half-ass the job, to neglect half of your quirk for, what? A one-up on a man who decided to play with genetics because he's a sore loser?"

When Chouko smiles this time, it's much more an ugly, wolfish sneer than anything else.

"Tell me, Todoroki-kun, how the fuck is that a hero?"

His fists are balled up so tightly, his palms hurt. Even so, he can't think of a way to respond to her.

A few moments later, she turns away. Shifts her head to her other hand to pick up her pen and keep writing notes.

"I'm not going to approve of you, and I'm going to make my dissent clear. That is, unless you can use the entire muscle you have. Half Cold, Half Hot. That's yours. So, all of you, even that side of you. That quirk—"

She glances at him, pointing her pen at his chest.

"—is yours. So, take responsibility for your effort. No excuses, no half-assing it. Use your whole ass, or move your whole ass outta heroics."

They stare at each other until she looks away, returning to writing.

"...As far as that bastard sperm donor of yours, you're literally surrounded by heroes. Try one. Maybe your homeroom teacher, even. It's their job to address this, too. ...And I know it's hard to rely on adults, especially when the ones closest to you betrayed you. But try again. At least one more time."

Silence. Todoroki's gaze shifts to the ground.

"You can leave if you want."

"...Mm."

It isn't until after he leaves that she leans back in her chair and rubs her hands down her face.

"...Oh noooo..."

--

She knew that was bad.

She really could've handled it better than she did. But she was stressing out and took it out on him, kinda. And that wasn't right, even if she meant everything she said. But, dammit, she's usually much more tactful than that!

It's just...

...no. No.

She'll have to apologize. Preferably soon. Because even if she was being quite real about her thoughts on the matter, she shouldn't have snarked at him like that. It was unnecessarily cruel, especially to an abuse victim.

Yes, 'cool motive, still potential murder by negligence'', but tact is important, too.

Just as the self-deprecation settles into her body, the door suddenly slides open, smacking loudly against the inner border.

She startles and looks up.

...Agh...

"...Right. Welcome, Bakugou-san."

[scribblestatic]

The struggle is real out here.

No pressure if you can't, but if you'd like to buy a $5 writing commission, I'd appreciate it.

( ´ー`)b

Just a heads up, I don't have a lot of money left this month, so I may advertise my Kofi. Medical is kicking my ass lol.

Most things are $5.

[scribblestatic]

So, I had a Dark Magical Girl Izuku moment yesterday.

And, like, I kinda want to change the narrative. That the dark is not evil, that the cold can be inviting, that the cruel can be kind. That he's not a victim, and his unrelenting will overcomes even death.

So, when Izuku dies and comes back, he's not entirely himself, but he's not someone else either. And, despite being a dark magical girl, he's not evil or turning people into gray men or titans. He's cleaning up the residue, as the universe wills.

But he's honest. He's angry. He can be cruel. All the things he didn't let himself be when he was fully alive, and that includes wearing dresses like he always wanted. But he's also a young teenager with access to the insight of beings much older than anything else, and he's not completely sane from that. Gazing into the abyss and all that.

Instead of a lagomorph theme, he has an arachnid theme. He doesn't work with the heroes or villains, but he is often around villains, because their access to the dirtiest part of the underground world needs the most cleaning. And if he kills or torments some people in the process, well, that's just part of the clean-up, isn't it?

Much less tortured soul, much more Demon Homura.

With a face that is both disarming and unnerving. A kind smile with cold eyes. But always genuine, not interested in lies. The manifestation of otherworldly energy and will that could have become the very cesspool AFO would've loved to have nurtured himself. But Izuku, in the end, is still a sweet boy who wants to save others.

He's just no longer interested in saving some things or people, that's all. Embracing selfishness and his own goals, even if it means hurting the ones he loves to make them better in the aftermath. He knows he's not always "right" or justified, but what does that matter?

He's doing what he pleases and doing his duties efficiently. In the end, he's still dead anyway.

[scribblestatic]

Rent firing gunshots:

I love dark and problematic themes in fiction

Somebody’s taste in fiction says nothing about them morally

There is no wrong reason to enjoy dark fiction, and a person’s reasons for liking dark fiction is their business, not yours, mine, or anyone else’s

Requiring someone to show their trauma card before you can absolve them of their alleged thought crimes is cop behavior

[scribblestatic]

"IS THIS THE DEATH OF ART?" Well art has died before. Art died in both the 1980s and 1940s. Art died in the industrial revolution. Art died when they invented the printing press. Art died when we stopped painting on cave walls. Art died when you, personally, stopped finger painting. You can absolutely be a hater though that's part of it

[scribblestatic]

Got an au where Luo BingGe meets transmigrated Shen Yuan and thinks hes a woman.

Its not only Binghe actually! Many people he's talked to think he is as well. This is probably because he dresses like a woman.

How this happened, it goes like this;

Shen Yuan wakes up on a forest path with some nicely dressed lady by him, she found him on her walk and was concerned that he might be dead, but luckily he woke up!

The woman after assessing Shen Yuan's well being takes him back to where she lives, her workplace! An entertainment hall! (technically not a brothel but some do still take bed clients)

So Shen Yuan with nothing else to do and no idea where he is, gets a job there.

He starts off with helping with cleaning and such things before someone gets the idea to get him to cover for another in the front room, chatting up some clients.

To do this he'll need to borrow clothes, and only women work there.

And thus begins some mischief;

The people Shen Yuan talks to dont know hes a man, and Shen Yuan doesn't realize this. The other ladys decide to make this a game, seeing how long it takes for any of Shen Yuan's regular clients to notice hes not a woman. The ladys get really into it, playing up his quality's and "tragic past" to spice things up a bit.

(He accidentally was super vague about where he came from made peoples imaginations run wild.)

But its all fun and games until Shen Yuan gets kidnapped. Not to fear though! Luo BingHe has heard the rumors of this mysterious fairy beauty and has arrived just in time to save "her".

Shen Yuan: ??????

Shen Yuan is relived he didnt have to fight his way out on his own but WHY LUO BINGHE????

And thus begins Binghe's many failing attempts to woo this lady, he is desperate.

[scribblestatic]

I would like you to know that "elf DiCaprio" had me wheezing, thanks.

I've seen "elves bemoan the shortness of human lives because the person they love will die too soon".

I've seen "elves celebrate the shortness of human lives because it leaves humans full of vitality and the desire to live life to the fullest".

I haven't yet seen "human realizing their elf lover is actually a creep who loves the shortness of human lives because we "don't grow up FOR REAL" and oh no they're way too into the fact that I'm 23."

[scribblestatic]

Binggeyuan coded.

Enough of these men in "dark" romances that are like "oh no, I've done horrible things, I don't deserve this perfect woman. I can't corrupt her with my darkness!"

And more "I don't give a fuck if I deserve her, she's mine and I'm taking her. Fuck the consequences."