#All the teachers are fucked up weirdoes they’re just all of different types

[dont-hug-me-its-yuri]

I think people should let the teachers be assholes more. Both to each other and to other puppets

[homoose]

omg your teacher!spencer HC got me thinking and imagine a school AU where all the characters are different teachers

hotch is the principal

spencer could be a high school chemistry teacher or an elementary teacher (honestly he could teach anything he wants lol)

jj is an elementary teacher

derek is a coach

emily is a languages teacher

and so on...

OOOH YAH (teacher!spencer hc here) were gonna say this is like a K-12 school just because...

Hotch: total principal, are you kidding? no other character has ever principaled quite as hard; comes off very boring and stern, but has a huge soft spot for the trouble makers and is lowkey an amazing mentor; runs one of those young gentlemen’s groups where he teaches them how to tie their ties and shit; coaches the debate team; travels to all the classrooms throughout the year as a guest reader and is surprisingly great at story voices

Gideon: chaotic AP that actually doesn’t really help at all— half the time Hotch isn’t even sure where he is; usually letting kids get away with shit because he thought it was pretty clever; helps with the senior prank

Rossi: replaces Gideon as AP when he retires and doesn’t do much better; always in his office; when kids get in trouble they have to come to him first— only the most severe offenses go to Hotch— so he deals with a lot of kids who get caught with like cigs or other contraband and always “confiscates” it; the kids love him bc he’s hilarious and also bc he knows a lot of pop culture that they’re into

Derek: could go either way for me— either he’s the gym teacher who takes it a little too seriously, OR he’s the English teacher who uses Nas and Tupac in his poetry unit; either way, definitely coaches after school; he’s a favorite among the kids for sure— he jokes around constantly, has a secret handshake for every kid; talks to them on their level, and always lets them play games at the end of the day (around the world, heads up seven up, etc)

Spencer: already talked about this in my hc but he’s just the best teacher; not afraid to be a total weirdo/goofball; very conscious and supportive of different learning styles and preferences; has the most ambient classroom; his students are always the smartest in the whole damn building because he reads up on every single teaching strategy and knows how to utilize them to best support his kids

JJ: elementary teacher for sure; she’s a Pinterest/IG teacher thru and thru— like her classroom is aesthetically perfect (organized, labeled, color-coded) and she probably has an essential oil diffuser or something; she definitely plays with the kids at recess— either kicking the soccer ball around, playing tag, jumping rope, or just laying in the grass and chatting in the sunshine

Penelope: she replaces the stuffy old tech teacher who spent 5 weeks forcing everyone to learn intermediate excel; at first the kids are like 👀 because Penny G is bright— but on the first day she has them all design their own websites and everyone immediately loves her; teaches them to code; runs an after school “tech club” which is literally just hacking skills 101

Emily: absolutely the languages teacher; also, a hot mess; the complete opposite of JJ— her classroom is literally just the furniture that was provided by the school and like three posters that JJ forced her to hang up bc “jesus Em it looks like a prison in here.” the kids don’t really care— they love her bc she just gets them and she’s always got snacks; also regales them with stories and pictures from all of her travel and years abroad; definitely organizes and chaperones various Europe trips and exchange student programs

Tara: the teacher that does not give a single fuck about what anyone thinks about her style abd methods; teaches some type of social science, maybe sociology; loves her kids and knows they can handle tough/weighty conversations; facilitates many debates and mostly manages to stay neutral; kids hang out in her classroom after school; definitely teaches older kids; very sarcastic with them and they love it

Luke: socially a himbo, academically a nerd; teaches chemistry and makes it super accessible and easy to grasp; always eating in the lab even though it’s against his own rules; his favorite day of the year is the ice cream in a bag day; brings Roxy to work with him occasionally and the kids are obsessed

Matt: definitely teaches some type of history or social studies; always has coffee (he has five kids of his own, he’s exhausted); he’s really into the presidents for some reason and knows like all kinds of random facts about them (like the Taft bathtub fiasco and that Zachary Taylor shat himself to death); coaches cross country or swimming and won’t shut up about it

Stephen: the guidance counselor; literally just the nicest human on the planet; will let you sit in his office and cry any time; writes extremely heartfelt recommendation letters for college apps; has a candy drawer and a collection of stress balls

Blake: definitely everyone’s teacher mom; genuinely loves and cares for every student and they keep in touch with her after they graduate; also teaches English and she and Derek are BFF; they run a literary magazine club after school and do a slam poetry night in the cafeteria; gets a lot of “you changed the course of my life” letters

Kate: the cool teacher; she’s an adult, but she’s still in the know about everything the kids like; has a fun teacher Tik Tok account; uses her clout with the kids to influence their decision making aka gets all the gossip so that she can surreptitiously counsel and educate her kids about being safe and advocating for themselves— in online/social media spaces and beyond

[imissjoongsmullet]

Something Better (1/2)

Pairing: Bang Chan x reader

Genre: fluff/angst (will lead to smut eventually because hi hello it’s me writing about Chan)

Summary: You and Chan have been best friends since before you can remember but now that you’re in college, things start to feel strange, especially with the way he acts when it comes to your boyfriend.

Read part 2

Warnings: part 1 of 2 (probably), cutesy friendship stuff, lots of stupid banter, bit of suggestive conversations, a good dash of angst, Changbin as your boyfriend (do you need a warning for that lol), oh and though this one is pretty clean, there will be smut in later chapters.

Word Count: 2k

Author’s Note: Ok so I’m going to try to keep this to 2 chapters but I can’t promise anything. Anyone who follows me knows I tend to get carried away it’s a thing... Also, yes, this is such a cliché trope but BOY DO I LOVE IT! Thanks again for the request. I had a great time writing this!

► 

Five minutes to four. Almost there. The old man at the front of the auditorium had been droning on about the history of bleebidiblah wherever for the past two hours and you were very much ready for it all to end and for the weekend to begin. You heard a pencil drop beside you and turned to see your friend pick it back up and place it between his upper lip and nose.

“Looking great,” you whispered, fighting back a smile.

“I know,” he snickered, making the thing drop into his lap for the dozenth time that class.

Chan was kind of an idiot. But he was also kind of your best friend. You’d grown up in the same neighborhood and had been inseparable since kindergarten. He was the first person you’d went to when you’d found out Santa wasn’t real, the first person you’d ever sneaked out of the house to go to a party with and the first person you’d ever gotten blackout drunk with; not to mention he was the only one who knew about your irrational fear of oven toasters. He knew everything about you and you knew everything about him. You were a team, tied together so much so, that you’d even decided to follow each other to the same college.

“Hey,” he nudged your shoulder, “how about we go downtown tonight and celebrate the weekend? I heard it’s prolonged happy hour at GB’s.”

The twinkle in his eyes made you want to say yes; it was a very tempting offer. “Can’t,” you replied eventually, scrunching up your nose at him.

“Come on, why not?” said Chan, leaning in and shaking your thigh, “we can go to karaoke after and you can crash at my place. I bought so many Doritos and they’re not gonna eat themselves.”

You bit your lip. “I kind of promised Changbin I’d go over tonight.” You already knew what was coming.

“Again?” he exclaimed a bit too loudly, drawing the attention of some of the other students, “you stayed over like three times this week already.” He sagged in his chair, rolling his eyes at you.

“Don’t be a child,” you retorted shoving him lightly.

That put some of his smile back in place. “You know, I think this Changbin guy isn’t the one for you,” said Chan, pretending to look pensive, “he’s got shifty looking eyes… and his nose is too big.”

You couldn’t keep from chuckling. Dipping down in your chair out of sight of your teacher, you turned to your friend. “You’re so full of shit, what does that even mean?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged, “maybe he’s having evil, shifty, big-nosed plans and you don’t even know it.”

“Your nose is big too, you know?” you said, pinching his nose.

He slapped your hand away and pinched you back, which made you cry out so loud the teacher went silent, eyes in your direction. Your cheeks flushed hot but just as you were about to apologize to the entire auditorium, the bell rang, pushing everyone around you into motion.

“Oops,” said Chan, eyes full of mischief as he rose from his chair along with everyone else.

You packed your things and followed him, kicking at his heels pettily.

“Seriously though, all the staying over,” Chan went on once you were out in the packed hallway, “sure he isn’t tiring you out?” The wicked grin on his face told you exactly what he meant.

“Chan, I swear if you don’t shut up,” you started but he interrupted fast.

“I just mean, you’re a studious girl,” he explained, grabbing your shoulders and rubbing them, “you can’t have a shifty-eyed boy like him distract you from your super important studies with sexy times.”

“And you taking me out to GB’s is helping me with my studies how exactly?”

“At least I’m not trying to put my dick in you every single night.”

“Chan!” you yelled out, looking around frantically at all the other students within earshot of your conversation.

“Aww,” Chan chuckled, hugging you closer, putting his lips near your ear, “you’re so cute when you’re all flustered.”

You were extremely happy he was behind you and couldn’t see the look on your face because you were even redder than before, staring eyes-wide into space. For as close and you and Chan were, you couldn’t help but feel shy whenever he mentioned sexual stuff around you. Not that you weren’t a sexual person; you just didn’t really know how to act around him when it came to those things. It didn’t help that you felt him all over you now, making the hairs on the back of your neck stand right up.

“Listen,” you said, shrugging out of his grip and trying to compose yourself, “how about we hang out tomorrow night? I’m sure the drinks will be just as toxic and delicious then.”

He came up next to you. “Fine, but you’re buying,” he said, “you’ve been leaving me lonely far too much. I demand compensation.”

You smiled and shook your head. “Fine.”

[I’ll be there in 10]

You hurriedly typed as you left Changbin’s place. You were meeting Chan for coffee. You were supposed to work on an assignment together that afternoon but you felt more than a little distracted after the previous night hadn’t ended up as fun as you’d hoped. You didn’t even really remember how it had started but you and Changbin had gotten into an argument that had lasted for most of the night. It wasn’t anything heartbreaking; it was just frustrating that your relationship wasn’t going the way you’d imagined it. And now you’d have to face Chan and pretend everything was okay because you were far too prideful to give him the satisfaction of saying ‘I told you so’.

He was waiting at your typical spot in the back of the café, his notebook ready on the table. You were happily surprised to find him jotting things down as you walked up. When you sat down, however, you realized he’d just been doodling obscenities in the margins of his book.

“Good afternoon,” you said, closing his book and grabbing the coffee he’d ordered for you.

You felt his eyes on you as you sipped the burning hot drink. You were just waiting for it at this point.

“So,” he started, amusement dripping down his face, “how was last night?”

“Shut up,” you countered, opening up your own book and looking anywhere but at him.

You and Chan were used to working together. Chan always had problems focusing and you were always there to give him the kick in the ass he needed to get the work done. On the other hand, Chan was the one coming up with the most creative ideas for your projects so, despite your differences, you worked quite well off of each other. 

For a while, things were fine: Chan was on his second coffee and the ideas flowed generously; you just had to write them down and turn them into usable content. Things were nice and light as they should be. You took a break and ordered waffles, enjoying them without any mention of Changbin; it was great. You talked about concerts you were excited to go to together in the coming months, showed each other movie trailers of stuff you really wanted to watch together and you laughed at the absolute dumbest things. You thought perhaps it was the caffeine that was making you both so silly.

Unfortunately, after that initial boost of energy, came the inevitable crash.

By the time Chan was picking at the ice at the bottom of his empty third coffee, things were started to shift. You were trying to finish up the assignment but it was clear Chan was starting to get burnt out. Gradually, conversation trickled away from the project at hand and into less productive territory.

“What is it you like about him?” he asked, staring zombie-like into his cup.

“Not now, Chan,” you sighed, eyes on your laptop screen. You felt his fingers at your side, poking lazily.

“No, come on,” he said, voice sleepy, “I wanna know.”

You stopped typing and took a deep breath.

“He’s—” you started, trying to think of something while your head replayed how you’d argued the night before.

Chan let out a chuckle. “Yeah, he sounds great.”

“Oh, fuck off,” you groaned, a little harsher than you’d meant it, “let’s just get this done.”

But Chan didn’t let up. Your inability to define your love for Changbin had apparently made him very eager to tease you and it was getting harder and harder to ignore him.

“I bet he sleeps with his socks on,” he said, sipping his empty drink loudly, “weirdo.”

“Chan please.”

“Tell me he doesn’t.”

“Chan.”

“He totally does, doesn’t he!”

“Chan I swear if you don’t shut up I’m gonna kick you where it really hurts!”

“Fine,” he said, still laughing, putting up his hands in defense, “jeez, I was just having fun.” Then he came closer and, entirely oblivious, wrapped his arms around you tight. “No more coffee for you, it makes you mean.” He gave your temple a quick kiss and, chuckling, got up from his seat.

“Gotta pee, this coffee is going right through me, be right back.” 

It occurred to you, as you watched him walk off, how odd your relationship with Chan was. Or maybe Chan was just an odd person? Or maybe he was simply acting oddly recently? You tried to shrug off the confusing thoughts and instead opened up your phone. The last text from Changbin was right at the top. You clicked it and smiled, rereading the sweet message he’d sent you the day before. You should probably make up with him soon, you decided.

After another half hour of half-assed adjustments, you and Chan finally called it a day.

“If you could input your slides right after mine, I’ll do the touch ups and bring it all to class,” you said, staring at your laptop screen, “we should probably go over it together the day before though.”

Chan’s face was in his arms on the table, looking drowsy. “Yeah, sounds good,” he mumbled, “I’ll type them out by Monday, we’ve got most of the stuff down already, it shouldn’t be hard.”

“Good,” you nodded, finally letting yourself sit back and relax. You closed your eyes in a long yawn as you stretched out your arms. When you opened them again Chan was looking at you.

“Tired huh?” he said, his lips curling up into a knowing smirk.

You stared back at your friend blankly. “You know what? Yes, I am actually. I stayed up most of the night.”

His eyebrows rose up in surprise but he didn’t speak.

“And that’s all I’m gonna say on the matter so can we please wrap this up now?” you added, “I think I should go see Changbin later tonight cause— well, we just have some things to discuss.”

“Wait, hold up,” said Chan, straightening up beside you and, finally, all laughter was wiped from his face, “I thought we were going out tonight.”

The memory of your promise hit you, throwing a small dose of guilt over your head. “I’m sorry, Chan, really. I just got some things to do—”

“Some things to do?” he interrupted, now definitely irritated, “you’re gonna ditch your best friend for some mediocre sex?”

“Chan that’s not what this is,” you started but you knew you’d set him off and there was no going back.

“Whatever,” he snapped, “it’s fine I’ll call some people who actually wanna hang out—”

“Chan—” you tried, shocked at the rapidity with which his mood had switched.

“—instead of someone who’ll leave me for the first boy to give her the least bit of attention—”

“Hey!” you said, getting up from your seat, heating up from the sting of his words.

Chan got up as well, the look in his eyes pained. “I said it’s fine,” he repeated, placing some money on the table and walking out.

(part 2)

[smallblip]

LeviHan/JeanKasa go on a double date? :D

HEEEEE! My babies! I think I hijacked it and wrote levihan meet cute because I can’t get this out of my mind! I hope this was cute for you💖

Child’s play

“But mommm!” Mikasa whines, her mother snaps her a look before she can think of stamping her feet.

“Levi is going with you or you’re not going at all! It’s not safe when it’s late! You know that!”

Levi is past protesting. He tries to be as compliant as possible, after all, his brother and his wife have agreed to let him stay in their house rent free after he got a new job in the city. He’s a thirty year old man about to accompany his fifteen old niece on a date. The word he’s looking for here is ‘chaperone’, but he hasn’t been around kids enough to know.

Mikasa huffs one more time for emphasis before she heads out for school. “We’ll meet you at the diner at five after cram classes...” Mikasa says to Levi, utterly defeated. And Levi feels bad for her really.

When Levi heads to the diner he’s surprised to see how tall Jean actually is. What’s even more surprising, is someone else bounding behind them. Another thirty year old by the looks of it. Mikasa waves Levi over sheepishly.

“Uh... Levi... Uncle Levi, this is Jean and um... Ms Hanji... She’s our biology teacher...”

Hanji extends a hand towards him and he considers for a second before shaking it. What’s this? Another thirty year old accompanying a fifteen year old on a date?

“You mean chaperone?” Hanji says, eyes blinking, and as she processes Levi’s words, a hushed “wait... This is a date?” Levi gestures for her to sit with him at another booth.

“What did you think this was?”

Levi can see the panic swimming in her eyes. “I... I don’t know? It was after cram class and I was starving and they were talking about a diner and I-“ she freezes, “oh my god... I crashed my students’ date...”

“Welcome to the fucking club...” Levi mutters.

“Thank god you’re here... Or I might have just shared a booth with them...”

Levi raises a brow, “and you would’ve stuck a third straw in their milkshake too I suppose?”

At that, Hanji guffaws. Levi smiles. And they say he has no sense of humour. They order food because Hanji is literally minutes from dropping dead.

She peers over to Jean and Mikasa when the waiter leaves with their orders.

Even from where they’re seated, they can clearly see that Jean is nervous. Poor boy is chuckling dryly at everything and tripping over what little words he manages. But Mikasa is looking at him with all the patience in the world, and she’s blushing behind her milkshake.

“Aww... They’re cute...” Hanji coos, “Jean’s a good kid...” she says.

Levi knows, sort of. Mikasa has been telling him bits and pieces about her love life and truth be told, he doesn’t know why she does it? It’s not like he offered good advice, or any advice at all. And Mikasa sure was taken aback when he had said “he sounds like a jerk...” when she had told him about a certain boy named Eren she had a crush on. But he also listens when she tells him about this new boy- Jean. Someone she’s been friends with for a while but has never really got round to paying enough attention to see that he has a massive crush on her.

“I never would’ve thought... Mikasa used to like...” Hanji trailed off, taking a furtive glance at Levi. Maybe she’s said too much.

“Eren?”

“You know?” Hanji’s eyes widen with interest.

“You know? Do teachers gossip about their students?”

She laughs, “oh you have no idea... Things get boring around the staff office most times... The other alternative would be to watch Dita scroll through thousands upon thousands of pictures of his dog... Granted it’s a cute dog but still...”

“Tell me about it... My colleague just had a baby and guess what everyone in the office has been talking about for weeks...”

“Ooof...” Hanji says. She understands. Nanaba’s just had a baby and she still doesn’t know what possessed her to show pictures of Nanaba’s baby to everyone at school. It’s just a really cute, really neat baby.

“I won’t tell anyone about this date though...” Hanji crosses her heart.

“Because if you do you’d have to tell them you crashed it?” Levi says.

“Exactly.”

—

“What do you think they’re talking about?” Hanji asks between mouths of her burger. She has abandoned the knife and fork that was given to her.

Levi shrugs. He doesn’t really want to know what his niece is talking about with what could be her boyfriend if this date goes well. “They’re playing footsie...” Levi supplies, gesturing over to where Jean and Mikasa have their ankles pressed together under the table. Jean’s saying something and Mikasa laughs. Now they’re both blushing like idiots.

They see Mikasa politely ask to pause the conversation and she whips out her phone to type something. Levi feels his phone vibrate in his pocket-

“We know you’re staring...”

—

“I think my uncle has a thing for Ms Hanji...” Mikasa says. If there’s one benefit of this entire situation, it’s that it makes for good dinner conversation.

“What?” Jean says, he doesn’t want to sound dismissive but- “with the way he’s glowering at her?”

“Oh that’s just how his face is... He’s also staring at her...”

Jean looks over to where Hanji and Levi are seated. Levi is indeed staring, there’s this look on his face that can only be described as constipated.

When Jean turns his attention back to his table, there’s an extra bit of steak on his plate.

“You don’t want it?” He asks.

“I want you to have it.” Mikasa is smiling at him and he thinks she’s his dream girl. He plucks the Maraschino cherry from his milkshake and places it in Mikasa’s.

“But... That’s the best part!” She says, confused. Jean knows. Mikasa does have a fondness for cherries.

He smiles, sure his face has gone red by now, “I want you to have it.”

—

“So why are you chaperoning anyway?” Hanji asks. Jean lives two streets away from them so they’re walking towards home. Hanji tags along for the conversation. Somewhere between the diner and home Jean has plucked up the courage to hold Mikasa’s hand.

“There’s been sightings of a weirdo in a hoodie in these areas crouching in the bushes... My brother and his wife decided it wouldn’t be safe for Mikasa to be out at night...”

They’re walking on the street across Jean and Mikasa to give them some space, and Hanji lets loose a laugh that startles everyone in the vicinity. “I think that weirdo would be me...”

“Huh?”

“I’ve been going around collecting mushroom samples. There’s a great variety growing around the different neighbourhoods.”

“And you do that in the middle of the fucking night because?”

“Because... I can’t sleep?” She smiles, and Levi is determined that she’s absolutely crazy.

“But... Maybe it would be best not to tell Mikasa’s parents that... I mean... I wouldn’t mind... You know... Tonight was nice...”

“Hanji... We can hang out without chaperoning... Besides... I think Mikasa and Jean would prefer if we didn’t tag along.”

They pause a distance from the house and avert their gazes when Mikasa gives Jean a kiss on his cheek.

“I think that’s our cue to leave them alone... Wanna walk me?” Hanji says and they only turn back to look when the door shuts and Jean stands in the corner of the street and whoops. He does a little private jig and Levi is smiling, “I think it went well...”

Levi realises the walk isn’t “just a walk”, and is actually a fifteen minute bus ride away. Hanji offers to part ways at the bus stop but the night is still young, and there’s a breeze kicking up. There’s no harm in walking. They are at Hanji’s apartment block and she’s toeing the gravel, “so... This went well...”

“It did...” Levi says, “maybe we could do this again some time...” because he’s new to this city and it would be nice to have friends. Also he had received a text from Mikasa in the middle of dinner telling him to just go for it, and maybe his niece does give pretty good advice.

Hanji is grinning, there’s a dust of pink high on her cheeks and Levi thinks maybe it’s the light. “You wanna come in? We could be a couple of thirty year olds watching reruns of Friends...”

Levi feels his heart race, he thinks it’s a little ridiculous for a thirty year old to be standing under a street lamp panicking over what may be a crush, but here he is, doing just that.

“I hate Friends...” he says, very eloquently, “but I’d like that...”

[dekus-afro-pic]

The Girl that fell From the Sky

Shoto Todoroki x Reader

Summary: You fell from the sky. Literally

Warnings::: Profanity, abusive mother, throwing of glass bottles, cigar burns

You closed the door to your moms beat down apartment. The scent of booze and smoke thick in the air. You quietly made your way to your room hoping that your mother was not in the living room. But to your dismay, there she was, hunched over with a cigarette in her hand.

“Y/n” She spoke. “Look at what you’ve done to me”

You rolled your eyes and tried to escape before she could continue. But with a grip to your arm, you were stopped.

“Let me go” you struggled.

“You’re the reason your father left me. 16 years later and your still here instead of him. I should’ve aborted you” The middle-aged woman spat.

“He left because your batshit crazy”you cried as you tried to loosen her grip on your arm.

She inhaled her cigarette and presses it against your arm. You hiss in response to the burn. You finally tug your arm away and quickly walked to your room. Ignoring the insults your mother spewed.

“Same shit” you huffed closing your room door “different day”.

You inhaled the aroma of vanilla that heavily scented your room. Your plugin air freshener doing the job it was intended to do. Which is to keep the smell of your mother out.

You made your way to your bed, which is covered in unfinished manga books. You absentmindedly picked up the closest one to you and start reading. You smiled at the illustration of All Might and Midoriya. Your smile dropped into a confused frown as the illustration started glowing a bright light.

You run your fingers against the glow, only to make the light shine brighter.

“What the hell?” You cursed. You watched as the light spread throughout the pieces of paper. Your sight blurred as the light shun brighter. And then everything went black.

You woke up to a bright light shining in your eyes. You rapidly blinked and held your hand up to shield yourself from its rays.

“Good” a voice spoke. “You’re awake”

You sat up on the bed you were in and rubbed at your eyes.

Where were you? And what happened to the book?

“Can I please have your first and last name” the voice spoke again.

You turned to see where the voice was coming from. You were met with an old lady. Not just a normal old lady. THE Recovery Girl. You opened and closed your mouth like a fish out of water. You were speechless!

How could this be? Were you transported into their world? Are you dreaming?

“Um miss? Your name?” Recovery Girl asked again.

“Oh shit” you mumbled. “My apologies. I’m Y/N L/N”

The woman nodded her head and typed away on her computer. “Well Ms. L/N. There’s no record of you existing anywhere Japan.”

“Well you see” you started. “I’m not even sure how I got to Japan ma’am.”

“She came from a reality rip. Of course she’s not in the system” another voice spoke.

You turned to see Principal Nezu on an irritated looking Aizawa Sensei’s shoulders. Your eyes widened at the two and you were speechless for the second time today.

Wait. Did he just say reality rip?

“We must keep her here in case she manifested a quirk on her trip down.” The principal spoke again. He then turned to you and smiled. “I’m Principal Nezu. And this is Shouta Aizawa. He will be your sensei”

“I-I’m Y-Y-Y/N L/N” you struggled to get out. “I’m sorry did you say reality rip?”

“Yes. A rip was seen in the sky yesterday” the middle aged hero spoke “Then we saw you fall from it. It’s a good thing that Todoroki saw you and acted fast. Otherwise..”

“I’d be dead” you finished. “Well it’s an Honor to finally meet you Aizawa Sensei”

“What do you mean ‘Finally’?”

———

“Class this is L/N Y/N. She will be staying with us for while as her quirk manifests.” Aizawa introduced. You stood at his side as you looked around the common area.

“Sensei, is this the girl that fell out of the sky” Yaoyorozu asked, raising her hand slightly.

The class looked at Todoroki as the man nodded his head.

“Dude. You saved her life” Denki exclaimed.

“That’s so manly” Kirishima whispered.

“Oi stop fangirling over icy hot” Bakugo yelled at his best friend.

“Silence” the teacher yelled while activating his quirk. “I think L/N has something to say”

It was your turn to be stared at by the famous class 1-A. You nervously smiled at the hero. “Well um... first, you can call me Y/N. Second, Thank you Todoroki-kun for saving me.”

The boy nodded in your direction as if telling you “you’re welcome”.

“Also” you started again. “I think I should tell you why I was falling out of the sky to begin with. I’m sure some of you were wondering.”

The class all mumbled in response. You looked at Aizawa Sensei, who only nodded his head for you to continue.

“I came from a reality rip. Meaning, I’m not from this time”

“So you’re a time traveler” Denki asked.

“No Kaminari. Not quiet. Where I’m from, there’s no quirks. They’re fictional” You stated. “Just like you all”

The class was both shocked and confused. They were flabbergasted. What did you mean they were fictional?

“Hey dumbass what do you mean that we’re fictional?” Bakugo screamed.

“Well dumbass” you mocked the blonde. “I mean that you are all characters in a manga I read. Well a manga I read before being teleported into it.”

“Wow. That’s so cool. And kind of disturbing” Midoriya stuttered.

“Since we’re ‘characters’ in your world” Shoji spoke “does that mean you know our backgrounds, favorite food, and all of that stuff?”

Your face flushed at the question. If you told them yes then you’d look like a stalker.

“Well um... kinda?” You winced. You groaned and squeezed your cheeks together out of habit. Your anxiety was reaching its peak and you felt like you were going to burst into tears at any moment.

“The book goes into detail about a lot of things I’m sure you guys don’t want anyone to know” you glanced at Midoriya and Bakugo. Both had a shocked expression on their face.

They know you knew about OFA.

“Fuck” you mumbled “ I’m sorry that makes me sound like a weirdo. I have no ill intentions to use the information I know against you guys in a negative way. I only know ABOUT you. I don’t necessarily KNOW you.”

The students faces were unreadable. Besides Midoriya who was shaking like a salt shaker in his spot on the couch.

“Well since your quirk is bound to manifest at some point.” Todoroki spoke for the first time today. “I can help you adjust to the new environment”

“Yea me too” Uraraka joined in with a smile.

“As will I” Iida chopped through the air.

One by one, the class vowed to help you adjust to your new life and you couldn’t be more happier. You looked up at Aizawa with teary eyes.

He put his hand on your head and said “you’ll fit in kid”

——————————————

After sleeping in a bed that wasn’t decades old, you woke up to the sound of knocking on your room door. You straighten the pajamas yaoyomomo lent you and your hair before opening the door.

“Goodmorning Aizawa Sensei. Is something wrong?” You asked sleepily.

“No. Here are your uniforms, bath necessities, and some extra clothes. Class begins in 30” He responded. He handed you your items and rolled away in his sleeping bag.

“Never gonna get tired of seeing that” you laughed to yourself. You made your way to the women’s shower to prepare your self for the day. The center of your forehead throbbed but you chose to ignore it.

“Goodmorning y/n-Chan” Mina squealed “you look so cute in your pajamas”

“Thank you Mina” you smiled.

You did your morning routine witch consisted of showering, brushing your teeth, and talking to the girls.

You smoothed the skirt to your uniform as you walked behind the group of girls...struggled with tying your tie. You’ve never worn one before so of course you didn’t know how to tie it! In the midst of throwing a tantrum, you bump into something hard. Before you could fall backwards, you felt arms wrap around your back stopping you from hitting the ground.

“I’m so sorry. I was trying to tie this damn tie. Are you alright?” You rambled. You look up at the stranger and was met with a dual colored stare.

“I can help you with that if you’d like” he suggested.

“Yes please” you sighed.

You watched as his large fingers worked at the tie. He held a focused expression as he finished tying the piece of fabric.

“Too tight?”

“No. Thank you Todoroki.” You smiled as the two of walked into home room together.

You spot your assigned desk, which was covered in cards and balloons, and made your way to it. You sat in between Midoriya and Mineta, who was unsurprisingly checking you out. You turned to face him with a faux smile. “You know it’s really ugly being a pervert. Everyone in my reality hates you”

The grape boy’s face fell. His eyes followed the buttons on your jacket and fell on your breast. You flicked the perverted boy’s forehead out of disgust. You faced foreword in your desk and listened to whatever Aizawa had to say.

“Today you’ll be sparring against eachother. Quirks are allowed. Y/N will be monitoring you and adding necessary comments” The hero instructed. “Go get changed and meet in gym gamma. You too Y/N”

——————

You stood in the middle of the gym with a clipboard in your hands. It was the latch match of class and it was the most anticipated one of the day.

Todoroki V. Bakugo.

“DIE HALF AND HALF” The blonde screamed.

You watched in horror as Todoroki’s right side slowly covered in frost.

“DAMN ICYHOT. USE YOUR LEFT SIDE DAMNIT”

“Bakugo” the poor boy huffed a puff of cold air from his lungs.

“I’m gonna call it” you told the middle aged man beside you.

“No. Let them fight”

“But his right side-”

“Just watch”

Todoroki trapped Bakugo in another sheet of ice, which the blonde blasted out of. Without hesitation, the young Todoroki set his left fist aflame and punched the angry teenager.

“Oh damn” you gasped.

“Todoroki wins. Now Y/n” Aizawa called looking down on you. “Spar with Todoroki”

Your eyes almost fell out of their sockets. He wants you to do what? You don’t even have a quirk! The teacher pried the clipboard out of your hand and nudged you towards the mat.

“No quirks obviously”

“nO qUiRkS oBvIouSlY” you mimicked as you walk towards the center of the mat. Todoroki looked at you with a shit eating smirk, which faded into a focused stare.

“Ready?” Aizawa yelled. “Start”

The boy charged at you with his fist cocked back. You dodged left and jabbed him in the chest. Todoroki stumbled back at the hit with his eyes widened. “You’re strong”

“Now you don’t have to go easy on me” you smirked.

The two of you exchanged a number of hits before the match was over. The match ended with Todoroki sending a kick to your side, which caused you to fall to the mat.

“Todoroki wins”

“Fucking shit” you huffed. Todoroki offered you a hand, which you graciously took.

“You’re a better sparring partner than Bakugo” the dual hair colored boy spoke.

“I heard that you bastard” the blonde yelled behind you. “You. I want to spar with you after school”

“Yes sir Mr. Boom boom man” you salute. He growled at the nickname and stormed off. You turned on your heel with your arms crossed and walked to the locker rooms.

—————-——————»

You sat in the common area while everybody else were either in their room or out training. Everyone except Todoroki, who was currently sitting in front of you with a bowl of cold soba, starring right at you.

“Can I help you Todo?” You asked looking up from the book you were reading.

“I find you fascinating. You fell from the sky and you’re adjusting well” He stated. Slurping on his noodles.

“This is a better life than my old one. So I’m satisfied” you shrugged.

Todoroki scrunched his eyebrows together. Confusion visible on his face. “What do you mean a better life?”

You sighed as you closed the hard covered book. “Well, my life before any of this happened was complete–excuse my language– shit”

The boy nodded his head as you spoke.

“My father left right after I was born. He’s the lucky one in this story” you joked. A small smile formed on Todoroki’s face. “He left because when I was born my mom got abusive. She drank and drank and took out all of her anger on us. Cigarette burns here and there. Beer bottles thrown, wine bottles on a good day. My whole life story is bull”

“Wow. And I thought my dad was a dick” He laughed. You chuckled at his joke. “I’m sure you already know...”

“Like I said before, I know about your story. You’ve never told me”. You made your way to his side of sofa as he placed the empty bowl on the table in front of you.

“Well it’s really no different from what you’ve probably read. The way he used to breed my mother like she was some show dog.” His face scrunched in disgust. “The way he drove her crazy. It’s really a shitshow. I barely see either of my siblings anymore due to the fact that the thought of them resenting me plagues my mind.”

You looked into eachother eyes as he spoke. The trauma and anger that his bicolored eyes held as he spoke tempted you to hug him right then and there. You arms hesitantly wrapped around his neck.

You felt his tense shoulders relax in your hold as his arms wrap around your waist. He buried his face in between your neck and your shoulder.

“It’s always that one parent who has to be a bitch. That’s why son’s of bitches are a thing” you joked, trying to lighten the mood. Todoroki’s shoulders jumped as he laughed at your corny joke.

You pulled away from the boy and smiled. The two of you wished eachother a goodnight and went your separate ways. On your way to your room you see Midoriya and Bakugo outside of your door, waiting.

“Um…hi guys?” You smiled nervously.

“So you know?” Deku hesitated. His hands visibly shook with anxiety.

“I guess I do. I won’t tell anyone. I know you’ll get in a whole lot of shit if I do”

“Like hell you won’t” Bakugo growled “I’ll blow your ass into oblivion”

“That’s a big word for a asshat like you. I just said I’m not going to tell anyone” you growled back playfully crossing your arms with a smirk. You turned back to the baby broccoli with a smile “Your secret is safe with me. Have a goodnight. Both of you”

You walked into your room and fell backwards onto your bed. You moaned at how good it felt to finally lay down and go to sleep.

————————————————

Todoroki was woken out of his sleep by light knocks on his door. He rubbed the sleep away from his eyes as he opened the door to reveal a h/c haired girl with an unreadable expression.

“Y/n? It’s 4 in the morning. Why are you-“ his question was cut off by you grabbing his hand and dragging his half asleep body towards your room.

“Ask questions after I show you” you said. Expression still unreadable. Once you entered your room and made sure the door was locked, you pushed the heterochromatic eyed boy down on your bed.

He looked at you with worry. We’re you hurt? Should he take you to see Aizawa? Or recovery girl? His thoughts went blank as he watched you closed your eyes as a third one opened in the middle of your forehead. He watched in awe as you created a void of darkness in the space between your two hands. Everything in your room began to float as the void got bigger. Even the bed Todoroki was sitting on. His eyes widened as you then ball your fists which caused everything to remain still while they were still afloat. You dropped everything back to their original placements by clapping your hands together with a toothy smile plastered on your face.

“Look Todoroki. I manifested a quirk.” You squealed happily. The boy smiled at how excited you were about your quirk. He’s only known you 2 days but he couldn’t stop thinking about the girl that fell out of the sky and her smile.

“That was really cool y/n” he clapped. You jumped into his arms causing the both of you to fall backwards on the bed. The position you two landed in had both of your faces beet red.

“Uh...sorry. I got a little too excited” you laughed nervously. You stood again brushing off you pajama bottoms with a smile.

“It’s fine. I’d be excited too if I’d just manifest my quirk” he chuckled. “What’s your hero name going to be?”

“I have no idea” you yawned. “We should probably go back to sleep”

“Goodnight Y/n”

“Goodnight Todoroki” You watched as he closed your door silently not wanting to wake up your classmates.

The teenage boy smiled hard on the other side of the door. His thoughts swarmed with vivid pictures of you as he walked back to his room. Maybe Midoriya was right. Maybe he did have a crush on the girl that fell from the sky.

————————

You skipped into the common area mentally preparing yourself for your “presentation”. It was Saturday evening meaning that almost everybody would be there.

“Hey y/n-chan. You look happier than usual” Denki chirped, causing everyone to look in your direction. They watched as you walked into the middle of the room with a toothy smile.

“I am. I want to show you guys something” Everybody watched as you closed your eyes. They didn’t expect a third one to open in the middle of your forehead. They all gasped as everything around them covered in black goo and began to float. Everybody except Todoroki. He was just as happy as you were.

Once you disabled your quirk everyone screamed in joy.

“WHEN DID IT MANIFEST!?” Mina asked

“WHAT DO YOU CALL IT?” Izuku chimed in.

“Guys give her some space” Todoroki sighed pushing through the crowd. “You’re going to be an awesome hero y/n”

———————————————————

You held the bouquet of red and white roses tightly as Aizawa walked you down the aisle. All of your friends were fawning over how beautiful you looked. Even Bakugo was speechless.

When you reached the alter, you hugged Aizawa and whispered a faint “Thank you”. When you pulled away the man wiped a stray tear that had fallen on your cheek.

“Does Y/n have her family’s blessing to marry Shoto?” The officiant spoke.

“Yes. Yes she does” Aizawa smiled. He took his seat in the front row as the ceremony continued.

You wiped at the stray tears that fell from your eyes and smiled at your soon to be husband.

“The couple will now recite their written vows”

Shoto looked you deeply in your eyes and spoke. “Y/n ever since you fell from the sky 5 years ago you’ve always found your way into my thoughts. From the smile you sent me on your first day to the tears you shed when Aizawa adopted you I’ve always been star struck by your beauty. You fought by my side during all my battles. Mentally and physically. I’m no good at words but I mean it when I say I love you”

You didn’t even bother to wipe the tears that were flowing. You just smiled at the man before you. You tried to compose when it was your turn to recite your vows.

“Shoto” you said softly “it’s no secret that I’m not from here. But you and all of our friends made me feel at home. I cherish every last memory we have made. From our late night talks in each other’s rooms to teaching me how to make your cold soba. I can’t wait to make more.”

The both of you were teary eyed as you both slipped each other’s rings on your fingers.

“ I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now-“

Todoroki’s lips were on yours before the officiant had the chance to finish. Everybody cheered and threw flower petals your way.

“Y/n Todoroki” Shoto smiled at you.

“I love the sound of that”

[binniedeactivated]

saint. || soobin🌪(3)

🖤┊𝔰𝔞𝔦𝔫𝔱 . ೄྀ࿐ 𝖕𝖆𝖎𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖌: 𝖘𝖔𝖔𝖇𝖎𝖓 𝖝 𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖗 𝖌𝖊𝖓𝖗𝖊: 𝖘𝖒𝖚𝖙/𝖆𝖚  𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖉 𝖈𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖙; 1893.

the both of you halt and open your eyes swiftly. Soobin’s eyes widen at the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. He lifts you off of him and carries you to his closet, telling you to shh before locking you in there. As soon as the closet door shuts his room door opens, and it happened to be his mother. she looks around his room for any proof that he was studying. 

“soobin-ah did you hear me? What have you studied?”. 

soobin awkwardly clutches the handle of the closet door trying to stand as normal as possible. 

“well hello to you too mom. yes I had a good day today. yes i ate today”. 

she narrows her eyes at him. 

“don’t disrespect me choi soobin”. 

“I’m not. But you haven’t asked me those things for as long as I can remember. What does it matter if I studied? Don’t you care if I’m okay?”.

“You know I care about you soobin I’m your mother after all”. 

“so why do you treat me like i’m one of your church goers?”. 

“soobin ah! You will not talk to your mother like that do you understand me?”. 

His father’s booming voice was overly audible down the hall. you bit your lips nervously trying to keep still before you knocked anything over. 

“We’re not doing this again soobin. We had this talk already. you need to be prepared for the sin outside of this house and since I’m your mother I’m going to make sure you’re well armored”.

soobin scoffs rolling his eyes. 

“All you care about is sin”. he mumbles not expecting his mother to hear it but she did, and she heard it clearly. 

“Excuse me what was that?”. 

“Mom when’s the last time you actually really checked on me instead of checking on this biblical catholic shit?”. 

she gasped. and so did you, quietly of course. there he was. that was the Choi soobin you knew. 

“This is my house soobin do you hear me?! mine! and as long as you’re living under this roof you will not use any type of profanity are you hearing me clear?”.

“maybe I wouldn’t have to use profanity if you would treat me like your fucking child for once! For once!”.  he repeats becoming angry. 

“soobin get in here right now”. your father called overhearing the both of them. He brushes past his mother down the hall to his parents bedroom. His father was currently undressing, taking his suit jacket off and hanging it up in his closet. He keeps a stern look on his face. It was cold. harsh. mean. And that’s how it stayed for as long as soobin could remember. It was the look he always gave him when he misbehaved in school or failed tests. 

“you know what I’m about to say to you soobin”. his father addresses. Soobin raises his eyebrows in distress. “But dad! It’s true and you know it”. his father glares at him. “Why are you still going and why are you raising your voice and cursing at any adult in this house? That’s 20 licks”. 

“dad!”. 

“25 shall we raise it any higher?”. 

soobin sighs in defeat. he hated this. He removes his shirt tossing it on a chair next to his father’s bed. He gave his father a deathly glare before he places his two hands on the bed. His father reaches in his drawer and grabs the flogger. He looked at soobin’s bare back one more time before slamming the flogger down on it, to which soobin winces at how hard he did so. “Count!”. he demanded before taking the flogger and whipping it across soobin’s back again, watching his skin welt red. 

“2″. soobin says breathlessly, trying to keep himself together so he could withstand the pain. He should’ve been used to it by now but he wasn’t. It had the same burning and stinging sensation it did every single time. Merciless, his father whips him again and again while his mother watches from the doorway. Soobin could feel his arms shaking as he struggled to hold himself up. He felt the skin on his back grow redder and redder with each hit, and whenever his father whipped the same place (which he often did) it left aching bruises for weeks. 

“15″. soobin uttered feeling his eyes well with tears. You overhear everything, you didn’t know when would be the proper time for you to go or how. You knew his mother had left the room though, and this was the chance to make your grand escape. You open the closet door slowly and shut it softly enough for no one to hear. Not that they’d be able to hear anyways over the sound of soobin’s cries. 

soobin’s cries. you would love to say the jackass deserved it. that you hope he felt every lick with deep pain and sorrow. but you wouldn’t wish abuse on your worst enemy. Not even Choi soobin. It broke your heart the way he was crying, his dark voice getting choked up as he counted. you eye the rest of your surroundings making sure the coast was clear before you stroll down the stairs and exit out the front door as silent as you possibly could. 

“now that this is out of the way, i want you to apologize to your mother and I don’t want to see you come out that room until you’ve finished studying. Do you hear me?”. 

with his face red from his crying soobin nods, painfully trying to stretch his arms to put his shirt back on. He grimaces at the feeling of the wool touching his wounds. 

“i’m sorry”. soobin stated while looking in her eyes with the sincerest look he could give. She nods her head and accepts it, dismissing him. He goes to his room and shut his door. He forgot you were in the closet and dashed to open the door. Only you were gone. He was relieved that you got out on your own. He also couldn’t help but to wonder what you heard. 

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

It was a rainy day at the Academy of St. Joseph and the fourth years had mass in the morning. The bell on top of the temple rung obnoxiously. You had been in your biology class finishing up work. you hurried to scrawl your name across the top of the page before pushing it into the completed work bin. All of your classmates gathered at the door while sister Agatha stands in front of them all urging them to be quiet. As if they’d listen. These children barely prayed when they’re told and you expect them to be quiet? You collect your books and swing your bag over your shoulder. 

“I have a date with Choi soobin friday night”. you overhear your classmate Mia say. She was chewing her gum way too wildly and curling her blonde dead ends with her finer. Mia was pretty. She had these big glassy blue eyes and long eyelashes that were to die for. She was also considerably well dressed, making her a target of many guys. You didn’t hate her. She was just one of those arrogant girls that you paid no mind to. Her friends scoff in complete disbelief.

“No you do not!”. they laugh. “I do! he’s going to take me to a fancy restaurant in his metallic mercedes benz. We’re going to look like barbie and ken in human form i can’t wait I’ll take pictures to show you guys”. you had to admit even if she was lying she was selling it pretty well. But you had this small conflicted feeling each time she said it and you didn’t know why. 

you enter the church and sister agatha is guiding your class to fill up the pews. you would be the less fortunate one to not be able to sit with your class but to have to squeeze into a pew with a different one. You hated that. At least you could tolerate your biology class. You didn’t want to have to tolerate some other. She directs you to a different pew. You weren’t surprised at all that you were seated next to soobin. you knew you’d run into him sooner or later. you were all directed to pray. everyone slides off their seats and gets on their knees, pushing their hands together to really sell the idea. you know most would be secretly sleep anyway.

you push your hands together. you always prayed for real even when no one else did. Soobin prepares to pray too. Only he spent most of his time watching you pray rather than doing any praying himself. Feeling his eyes burning holes through your face you flutter them open to meet his gaze. His face was closer to yours than you thought.

“can you stop staring at me like a weirdo?”. you whisper, looking around making sure none of the sisters heard. he swiftly looks at your lips and then fixes his eyes on you again. 

“did you hear anything yesterday?”. he whispers back. 

you swallow, giving him a sorrowful look. 

“Is your back okay?”. 

“yes jesus healed me overnight”.

“I’m sorry soobin”. you whisper. you really were sorry though. 

“Don’t be. My parents are assholes”. 

“makes sense”. you nod, trying to make it look like you were praying at least before you got in trouble. 

“do you want to come over again? my parents are going to be gone for a conference until the end of the weekend”. 

“are they ever home soobin?”. you ask curiously. he shakes his head. 

“no they aren’t”. you felt sorry for him. honestly you did. i mean, your parents weren’t the best people either but at they least stayed around.

“I guess. What time?”. 

“we can go after school”. 

“alright. I’ll tell my mom I’m going to study group again”. soobin chuckles silently. It was refreshing to see a smile on his face after what he endured. 

“what’s so funny?”. 

“you’re cute. telling your mommy where you’re going”. 

“is that bad?”. you asked curiously. He shook his head and just smiles, laying his head back onto his folded hands. 

Before you went over soobin’s house it was normal to see his mischief in your everyday life. but while you went from classroom to classroom it was weird seeing him with his friends skipping class or teasing some kid. It was hard to believe this was the same soobin that asked you if you were hungry and was willing to feed you if you were. He’d just got finished putting laxatives in the coffee grounds in the teacher’s lounge before he approached you. You were taking your books out of your locker. 

“are you ready?”. he questions holding his backpack strap. you jump, startled at his voice and he laughs. “Do you ever announce yourself?”.

“hey soobin!”. mia calls from across the hallway. he turns around waiting for her to say something. 

“what? are you going to continue talking to some unknown weirdo or are you going to hug me goodbye?”. she says loud enough for everyone to hear. Loud enough for everyone to laugh. 

“seriously soobin who is that and where did you find her?”. His friend Jacob called out joining in the party. His group of friends laughed from across the hall. soobin glances down at you. you were embarassed to say the least. All eyes were on you now. And couldn’t help but to think about how stupid you looked next to him. seriously who did you think you were? 

you’d never fit in with Choi soobin. 

“I--”. 

“just go soobin”. you wave him off. 

“what?”.

“hello! are you going to keep me waiting? I’m pretty sure church girl has nothing relevant to say”. Mia calls again. 

“just go to her. I’ll be fine”. you mumbled shoving your books in your bag. Soobin sighs, he jogs his way over to Mia. You glare at them both. Maybe they were Barbie and Ken together. maybe you actually did look like a fool next to him. 

you swing your bag over your shoulder and started your walk home. 

“I’ll see you this weekend”. Mia flirts, kissing him on his cheek. It was an unexpected kiss that made soobin uncomfortable. It made her friends squeal though. He gives her a head nod and rolls his eyes once he turns around. he looked across the hall to see you gone. 

you were halfway down the hill once you saw a car driving slowly beside you. At first you thought it was a predator until the driver’s window rolled down and you saw soobin’s face. you should’ve known that it was soobin driving such an expensive car. 

“what are you doing?”. he yells so you could hear him. “I’m walking home. What does it look like?”. you retort. 

“I thought you were going to come to my house? I was going to drive the both of us”.

“no i’ll just go home soobin. besides, mia is probably tracking your every move as we speak”. 

“so?”. 

“so I’d rather not get humiliated by the whole school because of some guy that I kissed”.

soobin smiles as your cuteness. he knew it was a serious moment but he couldn’t help it. 

“we did more than kiss”. 

“shut up soobin”. 

“come on why are you being such a downer now?”. 

“why do you care now?”. 

soobin shakes his head smiling, muttering a ‘pfft’. 

“can you just get in the car? i’ll drive you home”.

“no thank you. I’ll walk. my house is only around the corner. I need the exercise anyway”.

“Walking around the corner isn’t much exercise. No serious calories are being burned”. 

“oh yeah? since when did you get so smart?”. 

soobin drives his car in the middle of the sidewalk right in front of you to stop you from walking the rest of the way. He gets out of the front seat and approaches you. you didn’t want to hear anything he had say, if we’re being honest. 

“listen i’m sorry about mia today. she’s a real bitch and that’s pretty much the type of girls I attract I can’t help it. she shouldn’t have said that stuff to you. it isn’t true anyways”.

you fold your arms. Choi soobin? apologizing to anyone? Was the world ending?

“oh yeah? and what about your friends?”.

“they’re all jackasses and you know that. Why do you care about what they say anyways and why are you mad at me for it? it isn’t like I said it”. 

“whatever soobin”.

“so? are you going to get in the car now? because I’m hungry and I want Mcdonalds”. he pouts. you wrinkle your nose to keep from laughing. he was a big baby. 

“fine”. you agree, walking to the other side of the car. He slides in the driver’s seat as do you in the passenger’s, and the both of you buckle up. The inside of his car was very well kept and expensive looking of course. His parents probably hire people to clean his car for him. 

lucky jerk. 

“what’s a millionaire like you doing eating Mcdonalds anyway?”. 

“I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich yesterday. Mcdonalds is like a five star meal compared to that”. you laugh. 

“what? you think I just sit around eating filet mignon?”. he questions again eyeing you before looking back at the road. 

“yes pretty much”. 

“no. I’d rather waste my money on food I enjoy. Rich people food is gross and it comes in small portions”.

“at least you’ve had that experience”.

“do you want to experience it?”. 

“what?”. 

“I can buy you some if you want to dip your feet into that lifestyle. negative 1/5 would not recommend though”. 

“you don’t have to do that soobin”.

“you sure?”.

“yes i’m sure”.

“I’m glad. you wouldn’t want that food anyways”. soobin expresses before he pulls into the mcdonalds drive thru and practically orders the whole menu. To your surprise the workers knew him very well and brought his food out quickly. He parked his car in a random parking spot. 

“wait you’re going to EAT in here?”. you ask looking around at the clean interior. Soobin pulls the lever to his seat to recline it a bit. he had no space with all those bags in his hand. 

“yeah why not?”. 

“you’re not worried about getting it dirty?”.

“no because I don’t clean it myself”. 

you knew it.

he digs into the bag and hands you a huge wrapped burger and fries. He lifted the tray beneath him and puts a milkshake inside of your cup holder. 

“soobin seriously i’m not hungry”. he looked at you while chewing on a fry. 

“just try it. it’s good i promise. I think that’s a peanut butter banana smoothie you have”. 

“wait really?”. you mumble picking it up. you sip it. it was sweet yet delicious. the flavors were blended so perfectly together, you haven’t tasted anything like it. You never had time to go out to eat often.

“Is it good? I’m getting jealous”. soobin chuckles before biting into his burger and making the biggest mess ever. 

“it’s amazing”. 

“really? let me try it”. soobin opens his mouth waiting for you to put the straw to his lips. you turned it away from him. 

“don’t you have another straw? I don’t know where your lips been”. 

“on you”. he mumbles before biting into his burger again. you smack his chest and he laughs. 

“what! it’s true”. 

“whatever soobin. you’re making a mess again”.  you fish through the bags to find some napkins. You swipe his lips and pick the contents off his shirt. it didn’t make sense how messy he was. he practically had pickles and onions all over his lap.  you used another napkin to pick them up, trying to make sure he was as clean as possible. 

He watches you while he chews, waiting for your eyes to meet his. and to your dismay they did. And there was that stare again. It was even more awkward this time around for you at least, considering the fact that you were bent over in his lap. Soobin never thought it was awkward though. He admired you. 

“You know, I’d kiss you if I didn’t have an onion slice halfway down my throat”.

you reach up and pluck his nose. 

“you’re a dork, soobin”. he scrunches his nose and smiles like the baby he was.

[smol-and-grumpy]

Something Just Like This - CH29

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Summary: Dean Winchester, mobster boss. He’s a little cocky, a lot ruthless and more often than not, short tempered. But he’s also, Dean Winchester, a war veteran and hero who suffers under a shit ton of PTS. He met her in a bar and thinks it’s fate that brought her to him. Little does he know why she’s really here.

Warnings: NSFW, of course there’s fluff (at this point, I’m just taking all the relationship fluff and throw it at you)

WC: 3374

SERIES MASTERLIST

They’re having a slow week where nothing much is happening and Dean didn’t need to go away as often as he did the week before in preparation of Operation Freedom. 

Ash’s working with the new guy Chuck, and Ash’s actually doing the majority of work since Chuck is kind of a weirdo. Dean just hopes that Ash will be able to pull it all off. Crowley’s plotting with his men and pulling his strings to get CEO’s on board as not to raise too much suspicion around the trucks and so far, it’s looking incredibly good. 

Y/N comes back from her art class, her hands full and a backpack almost as big as herself. Dean just finished preparing food when he sees her, rushes in to help. “Jesus, why didn’t you call me when you got out of the car. I could have come help. You're still not back to your full health!”

She laughs, drops both her bags at the entrance and takes off her backpack, “Relax, I’m good, I would have called when I knew I couldn’t manage. But I already walked a block to my car like that, I’m okay, don’t worry.”

“I’m sorry, have you met me?” He growls, but bends down to kiss her, his hand on her waist.

“I know, I’m sorry.” 

“That’s okay, food’s almost ready.” 

“I’m just gonna take a quick shower, alright?” 

Dean already picks up her bags and backpack, “The fuck do you have in there? A dead body?” 

She laughs as Dean walks to her art room, drops the bags all in there and goes around his task on setting the table. 

Y/N walks out when food’s ready and he places the dish into her plate. Chicken linguine with a side of greenery. He doesn’t like the greens but she does, so he kind of puts more of it on her plate, hoping she doesn’t notice.

Of course she does, grins like an idiot to which Dean only shrugs.  

They eat while she talks about her day, it’s rare that he’s the one staying at home and she goes out to face the world. There’s a teacher, Mr. Walker, who’s apparently a dick to her, but she said that Dean shouldn’t be worried because she’s been a dick to him too. So there’s that. 

The people in her class are mostly younger but apparently she gets along with the girls. They even invited her to go out partying with them and even Dean urged her to go but she doesn’t. Dean has met the girls before. Sees the bunch of them sometimes when he picks her up. When they see him, they always start to blush and giggle. 

“So,” She says, stabbing around in her food with her fork. “I went to have lunch with the girls.”

“And?” Dean swallows the chicken.

“Well, they talk a lot.”

Dean lets out a chuckle, “I can imagine.”

“And I’ve been thinking, you know, what would you say if I call you daddy?”

Dean almost drops the wine glass onto the table, the little wine he has left in his mouth went down the wrong pipe and he’s having a coughing fit. 

She grins, all cocky and he hates that.

“What?”

“I mean, in bed, obviously.”

“Well, I know what you mean but why that word?” He can’t tell her that it turns him on. Already imagines her below him, begging for him with her sweet voice, hears it in his mind. Daddy, please.

“I don’t know. The girls talked about it and I was curious. It’s new and like, we’re trying new things too sometimes, and you want me to be honest with you and tell you what I want, and I was wondering if that would be something you’d like to explore? With me?”

“Jesus,” Dean empties his glass and walks around, scoops her up from her seat and she laughs, drops the fork into her plate with a loud clatter. 

“Now?” She shrieks out.

“Duh,” He’s already halfway through the bedroom door. He had thought about pushing the plates away and taking her there but he’s not in the mood to clean up the mess after. “You can’t drop that word and then not want me to act it out now.” 

That’s true, his dick went from soft to hard in seconds while she still tried to explain why she wanted to use the word.

He drops her on the bed, pulls at her sweat pants and she helps him, taking off her shirt while he pulls at her underwear. She leans back as Dean’s trying to get rid of his own clothing and he takes a break to look at her. What a fucking beautiful sight. She’s spread on the bed, blushing a little but she grins and says, “Daddy, I’m ready.” 

  It’s a week later when Y/N’s on the couch, tending to Bubbles while Dean scrubs down the couch. Bubbles has had trouble digesting and food that’s going in, doesn’t really stay in. So she’s on the couch, comforting bubbles, wraps the cat up in a fluffy blanket and strokes the cat’s head.

“Bubbles is your cat, why am I doing this again?” Dean groans, walks back to the trash can and gets another roll of paper towels from the pantry.

“Do you wanna trade places?” She asks him, knowing that Dean is really not the cuddly type. Not with cats. It’s a whole different story with her, though. 

“She wouldn’t want to be in my arms anyway,” Dean mumbles, proceeds to spray some cleaning spray on the leather sofa. 

That’s true. Bubbles doesn’t like Dean that much. Y/N thinks it’s something psychological. Maybe Bubbles had been mistreated by big grumpy men. 

They called the vet but he said that they should wait another night to see if Bubbles might get better on its own. So far, no luck.

“‘Kay,” Dean says, stands up and walks over to the kitchen, drops things into the trash. “I need to take a shower and I’ll be out. Will you guys be okay?” 

He’s standing at the back of the couch, hovering above her now and she looks up, sees him upside down in her vision. “Are you asking me or the cats?”

“Both,” He says, leans down and kisses her forehead. “If you want, I can stay.” 

She laughs, “You’re only saying it because you don’t wanna go.”

Dean lowers himself on his knees, braces his arms on the sofa next to her head. “I really don’t wanna.”

“You’ll be fine.”

“Come with me. I’ll call Cas to take care of the cats.” 

The thought of Cas taking care of cats while he sneezes is indeed a funny image, but no, she’s not leaving Bubbles alone. What if something happens. “You’re a big grumpy boy that everyone fears. It’s not your first social gathering, Dean.”

He’s been invited to another social function by Crowley and she was invited too, but since Bubbles’ not feeling well, she decided to stay home. 

“No,” He says, “But it’s the first one in weeks without you. Who will I finger under the table? Who can I escape to the bathroom to have a quickie with?” Dean drops his head and she threads her hand through his hair, leaning her forehead against his scruff. 

“Awe, poor you. I’m sure you’ll find someone. Just, refrain from fingering Crowley, please.”

Dean chuckles, looks up and kisses her temple before he pushes himself up completely. “I can’t promise that.”

 *

 Dean finishes showering and comes out of the bedroom looking like a full course meal which, in retrospect, makes her regret not going with him. 

“That’s not fair,” She lays Bubbles down on the sofa and walks over, she’s still dressed in her sleep shirt and underwear, it’s been a long night and after showering she just slipped the shirt back on. They didn’t do anything other than lounging around today anyway.

He’s standing there, perplexed and then proceeds to crouch down to lace up his shoes. Getting back up again he raises an eyebrow. “What’s not fair?”

She fists his suit jacket and looks up at him while he strokes her arm. “That you look so yummy and I have to stay here.”

“Yummy?” He laughs.

“Like a meal, I could eat you alive.”

Dean turns her around, pushes her against the wall, their noses touch and she grabs his biceps. They’re hard and firm under his suit jacket. His hands roam around, touch her thighs, her ass. “It’s not fucking fair to me either. You always look yummy in my shirt.”

He kisses her then while his hands knead her flesh. My god, she forgets how quick it can build up between them. She’s wet already and he knows because he’s rubbing her through her panties. 

“Fuck, come on,” Dean parts from her, crouches down and pulls her underwear down. “Just a taste before I have to go.” 

“Dean, no.” 

“Dean, yes.” He grins, all bravado and fucking cocky and how can she say no to that?

He noses at her folds, his hands on her thighs, spreading them wider before throwing one leg over his shoulder. And there it is, his talented tongue that can tickle and push at all the right buttons at the right time. One of his hands comes up, slips underneath her shirt and toys with her tits, squeezing and kneading, twisting her nipples, making her arch her back and push her pussy against his face. Her hands found his head, and she tries, really tries not to make a mess of his hair but she just can’t hold herself back. 

“Shit, Dean, yeah right there, right there, don’t stop,” She’s panting by now, can let herself fall so easily when she’s with him. 

He takes it as a clue, sucks and nibbles harder and he pulls him closer, grinding herself on his face as he pushes her over the edge. 

Dean’s still licking at her lazily, slurps up her cum before he places one last soft kiss on the hood of her clit and stands up. He kisses her after, letting her taste herself on his tongue. 

“You always come so quick, it baffles me every time.” 

“Only because it’s you.” She smiles and her hands go down, palms his dick through his pants, realizes that it’s hard. 

“Baby, I really need to go.” He whines, but it’s not like he wants to go at all.

“How long til you really have to leave?” She asks, still stroking at him through the thin fabric and his breathing picks up. 

“I should have left ten minutes ago.”

“Good, what’s a couple of minutes more, right?” She shrugs and winks before she lowers herself, her hands working on his belt buckle. 

“Baby,” Dean tries to say but didn’t get any further, it’s like he’s given up on being the reasonable one around here. Instead, he bites on his lips and watches her pull down his zipper and pushes his pants past his knees.

Y/N places open mouthed kisses on his bulge through his underwear, makes him groan out and closes his eyes briefly. She hooks her fingers into his underwear, pulling them down, making his hard cock spring free, and it almost hits her cheeks in the process and she grins, her mouth is watering at the sight.

She pushes his underwear past his knees too, looks up again and places a kiss on the tip of his cock. It’s already leaking. Then, she holds his hard dick in her hand, pushes it out of the way to lick and suck at his balls. Dean braces one hand on the wall. 

Coming up again, she holds his cock firm in her hands now. It’s hot and heavy in her grip. She wraps her mouth around the tip, hollows out her mouth to suck while she goes deeper, and she strokes the rest of him in the same motion her face makes. 

“Look up, baby, look at me.” His breathing is heavy and she can sense that he’s holding himself back from fucking her face. She doesn’t know why because she wouldn’t mind and she told him that already but still, he wouldn’t do it. 

“So fucking pretty.” Dean growls above her. 

Y/N lets herself come up for air, strokes his now wet dick when she looks up at him. “I want you to help me get it deeper, Dean.” 

“No.” It comes out too quick, he doesn’t even need to think about it.

“Please?” She begs, it comes out whiny, she doesn’t care. “You don’t have to fuck my face, just help me get it deeper.”

“God dammit,” Dean curses but places the hand that’s not bracing himself on the wall on the back of her head, “Ok, but tap out, alright?” 

She nods as she opens her mouth to take him in, braces her hand on both his thighs. 

“Look at me.”

She does, at least at the beginning. When she can’t take him any further, Dean’s pulling her closer by the back of her head. 

“Open up a little more,” He says and she tries, stretching out her mouth as far as it can go. 

“That’s good, now, try to relax your throat, stick your tongue out a little too.” 

It’s hard to do it, she gags a little but it’s still tolerable. 

Dean’s hand pulls her in, and she flinches as his cock goes deeper.

“Jesus,” His voice sounds strained. “More?”

She looks up at him with a look that says so much as How the fuck can I answer you?

“You didn’t tap so I take it as a yes. Hard to talk with your mouth full of my cock, isn’t it?” He’s grinning at his own comment, “Breathe baby, don’t forget to breathe. My god, you looks so fucking good. Such a good girl.” 

He applies more pressure at the back of her head, making her take him a little more and it goes in until she feels him at the back of her throat, a place he’s never been before and there’s the gagging and she feels like she’s running out of air. 

Dean let’s go of her head, lets her come up and there’s a string of thick saliva that attaches her mouth to the tip of his dick. She massages it in, strokes him with both her hands as she looks up at him with teary eyes and a smile on her face. 

“Keep on stroking, baby.” He says and she knows by the way he’s panting and the way his dick twitches slightly in her grip, that he’s close. “Open that mouth of yours, show me your tongue.”

Y/N does, rests the tip of his cock on her tongue and strokes the rest of him. 

“Christ,” Dean breathes in, holding his breath as he comes. It’s warm and it feels heavy on her tongue. “Look at me, stick that tongue out.” He thumbs at her tongue, whispers “Beautiful,” before he pushes his cum to the back of her mouth with that thumb and she seals her lips around it, swallowing his cum in the process. 

She smiles after, licking and sucking at his spent cock, cleans him up so he would be ready to go before she brushes at her own mouth with the back of her hand. 

Dean pulls his underwear and pants back up, dresses himself properly again and she stands up. He kisses her then, tasting himself on her, which makes him moan out. “You’re unbelievable.” 

“You too.” 

“How do I look?” He asks, and there’s a perfect mirror next to them but he doesn’t even want to look in there, would believe everything she says. 

Her hands go up to his hair, brushes some strands and lays them down perfectly in place. “You look great.”

“So do you,” He smiles, steals a kiss before he walks to the door. “Will you be awake when I get back?”

“I can try.”

“Try harder. Okay, be good.”

“Always.”

 *

 After she showered off the stickiness and laid herself back on the couch to look after Bubbles, her phone vibrates. It’s a text from an unknown number.

AK: Hi, I’m Ketch. I got your number from Linda. Can I call you? 

She rolls her eyes at that. 

Y/N: It’s not a good time to talk.

She lies. Mostly because she’s not in the mood to talk to that guy.

AK: No problem. Can we meet? I’m in town. Tomorrow 2PM at the café on the 7th Street okay for you?

How can someone be so blunt?

Y/N: I’m being watched. I don’t think I can come up with something to meet you.

AK: I’m your cousin from England. Just a little talk. See how things are going. Catching up. No strings attached. 

Y/N: Did Linda set you up with this?

AK: She didn’t. I’m just bored since we can’t get me into it, so I might as well listen to you talk about it. It doesn’t have to be long. An hour? Please?

Y/N: Fine. Don’t contact me again. I’m deleting and blocking your number.

AK: Deal.

She does. Deletes the conversation and blocks his number. How dare Linda. She’s gonna hear from Y/N for sure.

  Dean gets into the apartment quietly. He slips out of his shoes, walks in on socked feet and sees the screen on the TV asking if the viewer is still watching. Apparently, she is not. 

He walks closer, peeks over the edge of the sofa to find Y/N curled up on her side, the blanket with Bubbles next to her and she has a protective arm around the fur baby. Cuddles is lying at her feet. The older cat sees Dean, acknowledges him, but doesn’t really pay Dean any attention like he always does. Cuddle’s probably worried about his new friend and his mommy. Because that’s it. She’s Cuddles mommy now and Dean thinks that the cat accepts her better than he ever did accept him. For all Dean knows, Cuddles just tolerates Dean because Dean is mommy’s friend. Even though Dean’s been here first.

For reasons unknown to him, she gave the new cat its new name and Dean couldn’t even say anything, even though Bubbles wouldn’t have been his first choice. If it would have ever been his choice at all. Yeah, no, it definitely wouldn’t. 

He goes into the bedroom, showers off the night and slips into his favorite pj pants. He now has several of them. All courtesy to her. His favorite though, is still the first one she bought him. It has ugly cats on it and Dean first said that he wouldn’t wear them but here he is. 

Walking out, he goes to the fridge and empties a bottle of water. He didn’t drink that much but he’s better safe than sorry. That’s also a thing from the past. The need for him to drink has declined significantly since she’s living with him. He doesn’t miss it at all. 

Dean walks over to the sofa after, scoops her up in his arms and walks her over to their bedroom. She wakes up, “Whatchu doin’?”

He couldn’t help but chuckle. “Getting you to bed.”

“But Bubbles,”

“Don’t worry, I’ll get her next.”

“And Cuddles,”

“He can join too.”

“Good,” She says and is almost slipping away already.

Dean makes his rounds, picks up the two cats and places them on the bed next to her and climbs in on the other side, spooning her from behind and breathes in her scent from the crook of her neck. 

She turns around a little and Dean lays his head on her chest, it’s her left side, her right one still hurts sometimes. 

“How was it?” She whispers, but her voice is full of sleep. 

“Boring,” 

“You fingered anyone?” 

“I sat between Crowley and Cas.”

“Ah, poor you.”

“Yeah,”

“Good night, Dean.” It’s barely a whisper.

“Night, baby.” 

He lies there, listening.

It’s a faint thud. A beat that slows down with every breath she takes. 

Sometimes, Dean thinks, sometimes, home has a heartbeat.

CH30

[cowboypossume]

so i reread keeper of the lost cities and here’s my fresh input:

a note before we begin: you know how people fake throw up at things on tik tok? this book is the reason i now unironically do that.

dex and fitz really have the enemies to lovers troupe going for them and i’m ok with it. i really am.

so do sophie and biana at the beginning but it fizzes out so a better description is enimies to friends to lovers

marhella and stina give me such power top energy i cannot express how much i think that contributes to people not liking them

speaking of stina i wish sophie didn’t just immediately hop onto the bandwagon of “oh she’s evil” without investing further, especially with how much she is written as a ‘good’ person (which i can and will defend to the day i die that good people don’t exist but that’s for a different day).

there’s way too much heteronormativity and Patriarchical Ideas mushed into the book. like three hole pages of a 488 page book of teenagers being like “oooooo girls like guys and guys like girls” only for della to join in. not to mention the amount of times keefe is the reason for those ideas because he’s teasing like “oh fitz has a girlfriend”

keefe and fitz didn’t have as many bonding moments™️ in this book as i remember, but they stil know each other really well, have comfortability around each other, and would make a 10/10 best friends to lovers troupe.

oh my god s o many crushes i swear. like two teenagers of the opposite gender really can’t not like each other apperantly

i miss read a line and really thought there was cannon sexism for me to do a whole ass rant about in the notes part of my analyzation but n o p e

but we do have classism, sexist stereotypes, and the fact that there’s been SO many characters who’ve spoken and ✨🌺far too many of them are white🌺✨

oh also: no ones disabled. which annoys me because their society is described as ‘euptopic’ almost implying that it’s something that makes people problematic, which,,,, no

ok a side note on the society, i understand that the story’s message (kinda) is that things that seem perfect are probably deeply flawed, but something tergan said stuck with me. on a page i can’t remember at the moment he says something like “[the black swan exists] in a society that doesn’t have rebels”, which it suck with me bc that’s boarderline dystopic if it’s not there already. it’s one thing for laws not to be broken, but when you think your society is so perfect despite it having obvious flaws and you think that no one rebels, then i really hate to break it to you, you have a massive rebellion about to occur; it’s just scented as foul under your resplendent nose.

please stop flirting. i get its part of teenagers being teens but i swear if i read “s/he realeased a breath” or “their heart fluttered” or literally ANYTHING like that god no.

yall. i missed dex. he actually has more role in this book than ‘you can gadget and we need one’ and oh boy i really missed him. he’s a BEAN and deserves better.

hole’s said everyone deserves better and i absolutely agree so we’re adding that note here.

if you do what i did and read this book out loud to one of your best friends who has no clue anything about this weird fandom and give fitz a really deep voice for no reason it’s comdy GOLD.

i really think i’m reading too much into this point but iggy seems,,,, symbolic to me?

like ok with humans, sophie didn’t ‘fit in’, right? like she grew up hearing things like “why can’t you be normal like your sister” (which i can do a whole other rant about how that will affect her for the rest of her life just a s k)

not to mention looking really different from her family and graduating high school at age twelve 

but you know who never judged her?

m a r t y

so anyway sophie meets this teal-eyed, movie star smiled wonder boy who takes away her entire knowledge of everything she’s known while taking away her family too

and it turns out even in a place of weirdos she still manages to be the exception to everything

and she doesn’t have the comfort to hear what people are really thinking about her anymore (which as i said before say the word and i’ll deadass write a whole speech about how everything she heard will completely fuck up every relationship she has) which unfortunately means that she grew used to confirming people didn’t like her but now she doesn’t have that

she has to adapt to this new space and feel like she’s always felt, like an outcast in a place that was accepting, but yet again, she the exception to everything

but about halfway through the book she starts to become more comfortable around grady and edaline and that’s when iggy comes in

she finds him while cleaning garbage, and grady compliments her. they have a bonding moment and it’s because of this t h i n g. and then sophie actually feels proud not only does she take up a room, but she did something

and her new parents are proud of her

so she finally feels like she BELONGS because she helped out at the place where she lives/they work

to me it seems iggy is kinda a manifesto of the world building and character development that happens in this book

i think the plot/character arc is fixated a little too much on how different sophie is. like, i get it, she’s exception to everything, but the plot really didn’t need her to be that quirky. yes, she’s different, but there’s a lot more to the plot and her character than how different she is.

also, i had to reread pages a lot bc i needed an exact paragraph number and,,,, it’s really paced like a fanfic

some questions i have about the society is:

it’s established that they use books, physical papers, etc., and the only thing i remember about trees is the speech alden gave her about how she doesn’t know the name of their most popular tree, and the fact that people become trees when they die. even then i don’t think the second one is in this book. never o n c e do i remember something about planting trees that aren’t dead elf’s, so do they feel the affects of deforestation and that jazz?? like if they use trees, will they run out of them? can they??? and do they use the coffins of elf’s for paper??

this is more of a rant than a question, but here it goes anyway. in foxfire, students have a testing system very similar to the one in america: a huge test at the end of the year determines the future of a student. that in of itself doesn’t sound too drastic, right? well,,,,, not necessarily. several studies have shown that tests in general, but especially these types, don’t work. despite how good or bad of a teacher i think my past and current teachers have been, every single one of them hates this system that we have in place. they know it’s an unfair assessment that does it’s damnist to make you fail, and they’re trying so hard to denounce it. however, that doesn’t happen at all in the lost cities. in fact, most of the teachers pride themselves on failing students. so if elf’s are in such an advanced society, why do tests still exist? especially in an environment where the consequences are far greater than just staying back a grade. 

so sophie’s figuring out that major problems exist in the world the elf’s created, right? i wonder if more society structured problems exist more than ‘oh bad people do things and the law justifies which is what’. like, as i’ve previously stated, there’s sexist stereotypes presented (like girls like dresses and guys don’t), but does sexism still exist? does racism exist? it’s established that poverty isn’t a thing because of the fund elf’s have at birth and their limited usage of money (which if you understand please explain bc i don’t really get how they buy stuff but still don’t use money) but if someone gets shipped off to exile, do they lose their money? is it possible for elf’s to starve to death because they can’t afford food? do they pay for food?? if they did starve who would they call? because someone on this website, who’s post i tried to find but i couldn’t so if y’all know what i’m talking about please link it, brought up a good point that elwin is a school physician, he shouldn’t be dealing with the near-death experiences sophie has, so who would they turn to? especially if they don’t have access to foxfire because they got exciled??

is therapy a thing in this world? sophie and dex could really benefit from it, yet mental health has only been brought up when someone went insane, which REALLY shows how little they think about it.

that perfectly transitions into my next point: sophie and dex’s trauma. i really don’t get the vibe that there was much thought going into their kidnapping, other than sophie needed something to trigger her inflecting ability and establish the black swan are on the good side, which really sucks because wow trauma doesn’t happen lightly. and the fact that it happened seems rushed to me, but i’ll come back to that. but anyway, their trauma doesn’t get developed that deeply in this book because it wasn’t given the space to. they were beaten, tortured, starved, gagged, and who even knows what else for t e n d a y s, only for them to find them again, repeat the process, but someone saves them and dumps them into an illegal city and they both nearly die from dehydration, coldness, and lack of concentration, and you’re telling me after three days of conscious of bed rest sophie wants to get her failing out of school over with? ma’am, it takes more time than that to adjust to THAT alone, not to mention the realization that “hey your entire life is fake because people genetically altered you to be their weapon in a war so much bigger than yourself” that was recently dumped on her. like,,,, you really expect me to think that three days is what made her feel prepared and CONFIDENT? no sir. i don’t buy it.

coming back to it being rushed: the book starts out slow and then really hits the ground running and doesn’t stop. so much more stuff happens in the second half of the book than the first and it never gets fully developed it feels like. in the first half sophie moves away but gets a new family and struggles a bit but adapts, fires maybe but hey don’t worry about it, dex hates fitz, fitz is ✨d r e a m y ✨ but our main girl doesn’t like him like that, right?, stina’s a bitch, and sophie is a quirky girl and telepath but can’t tell anyone. pretty basic stuff, not too plot intensive. the second half though: sophie almost fails her midterms but doesn’t, grady and elaine want to unadopt her (which that’s never really explained as to why they do that but ok) fires exist in san degio but they’re fine but they’re actually a rebel elf so..., sophie accidentally breaks a law but it was an accident so it’s fine, update on the fires: sophie burns herself trying to get the evidence that it’s a rebel elf and it works, she’s the moon lark and basically a weapon bc no one knows her well enough to evaluate her safety, sophie and dex get kidnapped but fitz can now transmit to her and she has two new abilities so it’s all good, trauma doesn’t exist except for nightmare you can fix with sedatives, sophie doesn’t fail out of school, and yayyy her family doesn’t want her remove their adoption. there’s probably a lot more that i missed, it’s just that’s a LOT of stuff crammed into a little bit further than the second half of the book that really could have been devolped or explore further instead of forcing into less than 244 pages, ya know?

fitz’s eyes are mentioned seven times, the first time being on page TWO of the novel

his smile is mentioned three times

alden says “no reason to worry” five times, he writes it once, and sophie points out he says it a lot so he chances it slightly to something like ‘don’t stress about it’ so i didn’t count those though i should have

speaking of alden, in this book he’s absolutely creepy, but something that stands out to me is how much he calls sophie girl. i didn’t count it, but he said “that’s a good girl” to sophie too many times for it to be normal especially when you consider how he doesn’t do it to anyone else.

i kinda forgot i was annotating for sophie’s anxious habit of pulling out her eyelashes so i got she did it twice, but i highly doubt that number

but i will keep adding to this when i actually do the words with my annotations.

[dereksmcgrath]

Y’all are talking up Star and Stripe, while I’m impressed how this series finally gave interiority to Stain.

“No Man Is an Island,” My Hero Academia Chapter 328. By Kohei Horikoshi, translation by Caleb Cook, lettering by John Hunt. Available from Viz.

Content warnings regarding rape and violence against women.

Before I get to Stain, let’s start with the end of this chapter, given how much of a splash Star and Stripe, our newest character, has made so far with readers.

Is Star and Stripe All Might’s student? I don’t want to bring out the Todoroki red-string board determining a list of All Might’s potential offspring, and I don’t think that’s her role in this story, as calling her mentor her “master” is far more a student-teacher relationship than anything else. But if she is All Might’s student, what does that change in what I have considered about All Might up to this point? I have frequently derided his skills as a teacher, and nothing in the story has suggested otherwise that he isn’t used to it: flashbacks we’ve had of Nezu talking with All Might implied teaching would be something new for him, his innate learning clashes with someone like Izuku who prefers things explained to him, and the series has made gags about how he needed the equivalent of Teaching for Dummies to know basic pep talks to give to Izuku’s classmates. That’s not to say he was never a teacher to Star and Stripe--but it is to say that it has not been obvious to me that he had such experiences, or was that suited for it. It may be that All Might, despite himself and what he thinks of himself, was indeed a teacher to Star and Stripe, or at least she thought he did a good job as one, whether directly or, as is just as likely, serving as the role model, literally the person she has modeled her look and theming around.

You’ll also forgive me if I look at that chapter’s title and not still think how much All Might isolated himself for so long, so it’s rich to have such a title like that, when it’s too little, too late, for All Might to suddenly engage in the collaborative work that heroes should engage it, that has been part of Izuku’s ethos for so long, that is at the heart of One For All, when All Might has kept trying to handle everything on his own with no help from others. Granted, I’m being unfair: All Might has seemed to have more coordination with the police than other Pro Heroes from what we’ve seen in the comics, and it’s not like they can’t retroactively change that (Big Red Dot refers to All Might as a “friend” in this chapter, so maybe All Might is a more collaborative hero than I’m giving him credit.) Weirdly, All Might’s tendency to work alone kind of makes him and Stain alike in a lot of ways--but we’ll get to Stain later. And yes, I can also see the island conceit is referring to Tartarus, but I’m looking at the subtext first before the text.

But turning back to Star and Stripe, and without whining too much about this point, it is bizarre this late in the game to get yet another character who was influenced by All Might. But it’s not unbelievable. Of course there are more than just Izuku and Bakugo who modeled their look or name after All Might. Of course there are more than just Melissa Shield and Nighteye inspired to go into support or hero work by his example. And of course, when All Might studied and practiced in the United States, and whose theming is built around Superman, the quintessential United States superhero (albeit one co-created by a Canadian creator), of course we’d get a US Pro Hero inspired by him. And she’s a woman, and I appreciate that inclusiveness and representation.

Too bad, as usual, including another woman in the story leads to two problems I have with fans’ reactions: one, for fans who are fixated on objectifying women characters, and two, for an Edgar Allan Poe scholar like me who keeps reading into things, rightly or wrongly, and thinking everything is going to turn into killing off a woman character to motivate the men characters.

I really wish I wouldn’t have to write this ridiculous disclaimer, but the “horny on main” crowd on social media gets tiresome. It’d be nice to have a new woman character be introduced without immediate reactions being primarily “she’s hot.” Sometimes you just want to enjoy a new character like Star and Stripe as a Captain America-style pastiche and their superpower work without just seeing her as another freaking waifu for someone. Nothing precludes her from being someone that people find attractive; I just find it tiresome when it seems like still that this tends to happen to women more frequently, especially with the long history of reducing women, in real life or in fiction, for objectification and not seeing them as fully realized people where, yes, any sexuality or asexuality is part of them, but just a part, not all of them.

And while I criticize the “horny on main” crowd, it’s not like I don’t have my own problems in writing these reviews regarding women characters: I have set a countdown clock for how long before Star and Stripe gets fridged, because that’s my fear. At least recent art in the newest My Hero Academia volume in Japan features new artwork of Nagant, so fingers crossed she’s not quite dead following All For One’s inevitable explode-y betrayal. And it’s not as if this series lacks diverse representations of girls and women, especially in roles they take (Pro Hero, Villain, Vigilante, or civilian) and personalities. And it’s not fair for me to risk limiting the story’s potential by insisting a character not be killed off. But when I think popular culture at large still limits roles for girls and women in action stories, especially in superhero stories and shonen, it’s hard for me not to cringe with worry that, shortly after a girl or woman character is introduced to the story, that she’s going to be sidelined in some way, whether objectified or killed off, largely for the sake of boys and men fans and characters.

Or maybe I’m just annoyed seeing as this chapter starts with a Tartarus escapee shouting about “females” like Quark from DS9 before Stain kills him. Thoughts and prayers for that dead jackass.

Still, that character’s presence is troublesome. In Horikoshi’s works, and spinoffs like Vigilantes, violence against women perpetuates as a way of identifying someone as really super-duper evil. It feels like that Mark Millar quotation referring to rape as one of the ways to really clue in the audience that this person is evil, no different than if a villain decapitated someone. It’s far more complicated than that when writing in fiction for two reasons. First, it’s victimizing women for a story so that it traditionally falls upon the protagonist, usually a man, to avenge those women--so, Stain killing this guy kind of fits that cliche. Second, it’s not believable, and it does a lot of harm acting like a rapist is that obvious villain over there rather than a lot of people that we keep thinking are nice guys before, bam, we realize they’re fucking awful. It’s the banality of evil that perpetuates, to ignore that rapists in real life are not just mustache-twirling villains but can be people of all types, even people in the highest levels of government, entertainment, and business who are supposed to come across as reasonable, normal individuals who contribute to society but instead are also freaking monsters who committed sexual violence against someone else.

I wish I had any sort of transition to get back to other parts of this chapter, so the best I can say is, let’s turn back to Stain.

I do appreciate what this chapter does with him, especially giving us something we haven’t had from him in a long time, if ever: interiority. Getting into Stain’s mind should be petrifying, like how his stance against the Pro Heroes froze them in place, with or without use of his Quirks. (If it turns out he actually had a “Quirk awakening” like Toga and Shigaraki, I’m throwing copies I have of this manga against the wall.) Instead, Stain is weirdly rational. He assesses the situation, sees how chaotic things are in this prison, realizes things must be chaotic outside, so his first stop is to see who has information, such as any computer data, and that’s where he’s lucky enough to find the last surviving Tartarus guard protecting the hard drive that he passes onto All Might. He’s even weirdly honorable to not take that weapon on his way out, not kill this dying guard, and not just be evil for evil’s sake. As Stain himself said, he’s an ally, but also a beast.

It’s incredible. What character progression.

I was ticked off with the last chapter having Hawks dismiss Stain’s note as a “love letter” to All Might: that’s right up there with UA dismissing Shigaraki initially as a “man-child.” These characters are more complicated than these off-putting insults that seem to be more about criticizing men for failing to stand up to some expected behavior. Like, if you’re going to go after Stain and Shigaraki, I would start with the fact that they are freaking murderers before lambasting one as looking up to All Might and the other as enjoying video games and being immature for his age.

So, after how annoying those character derisions are, I’m impressed how this chapter took us through Stain’s thought process in a way to have him be more than the crazed vigilante we saw in Vigilantes and the Hosu Arc. It added depth to him without negating what evils he has done. It showed his thought process beyond cliches of some Death Wish hyper-violent weirdo without, again, retconning those aspects as if they were never part of him. This chapter isn’t quite a retcon, so much as a fleshing out of a character to show how he was able to get the jump on Pro Heroes and kill or disable so many of them. This makes him look smart and capable rather than, as I will continue to complain about Villains like All For One, just lucky and the beneficiaries of plot contrivances. That contrast, to have Stain looking at All For One, who stands before escaped prisoners like the Messiah (or Anti-Christ) figure he thinks he is, just cements for me how well Stain is written, and how poorly in contrast All For One comes across.

Then again, Stain did just happen upon the guard having those drives of digital information, so he could have just been the lucky beneficiary of a plot contrivance. Or, as at least one person online wrote, All For One planted that evidence to trick the Pro Heroes into thinking Shigaraki is nearing his finalization so he can draw them into a trap. For now, though, I’m choosing to take this as an example for how an antagonist should be written: capable, smart, and not just getting by on the plot deciding they should win.

I had said about the previous chapter how that one felt incomplete. But I can’t say that any of Stain’s story in this arc has felt incomplete. I usually hate bouncing back and forth between flashbacks and timeskips in stories (but I’ll say more about that later when getting back to some Episode 7 posts), but going back to explain how Stain got the information from Tartarus worked for me. It wasn’t just to fill in back story; it also clarified what Stain thinks his role is right now, after what he did in Vigilantes and what he did to Iida’s brother: at least to me, or maybe because by now readers are more familiar with him, he seems to have more self-awareness. There is no glee like there seemed to be when he took down crime bosses and unintentional Villains in Vigilantes, or when he disabled Tensei. He seems oddly more rational--which is terrifying, given how much to shit society has gone in the manga, where someone like Stain seems reasonable compared to All For One gathering enforcers from Tartarus. It’s kind of fitting that the chapter that really re-introduced Stain to this series was titled “Who Are You Really?” which is pretty much the question that surviving Tartarus guard said to Stain, whether he will be a hero or another villain.

(Speaking of that guard: we’re told pretty much all the guards at Tartarus died, whether killed by the prison escape, the building’s damage, or drowning. But wasn’t there one guard that All For One’s team took with them to pilot their escape? I’m not getting my hopes up that Shishikura’s father survived, but it would be a waste to kill him off just to motivate Shishikura instead of that motivation being in part to rescue his dad. Granted, I’m skittish around killing characters before their usefulness is exploited, as awful as that is to phrase, but unfortunately, I just complained about fridging, so I’m being annoying right now.)

After that back story for Stain, we catch up to All Might returning from his pep talk to Izuku to meet with Tsukauchi. For a lot of reasons, Tsukauchi has been criticized by fans, some of inspired for good reasons by our moment of reception (many police not meeting the standards set for them in the wake of their unjustified violence, especially against marginalized people) and some that are either plot-based (he is not the biggest fan of our protagonists in Vigilantes and actively upsets their work) or undeserved (he’s actually been competent by this point in the manga). So, it’s weird to hear him complain about needing Stain’s help--when, given how bad things are in Japan in this story, he’s not exactly doing that great a job himself.

Also, poor Sansa back there has a head scar now.

Where this chapter falls apart a bit for me is its attempt at worldbuilding. I appreciate that we are learning along with All Might just how One For All works. He himself didn’t quite get what Izuku was seeing of the Vestiges way back in the Sports Festival Arc, so it makes sense that he is our audience surrogate to explain to Sansa and readers just what he can and can’t sense of them when near Izuku. The problem I’m having is that this is information related to about a month or so ago when he was with Izuku in the hospital. It wasn’t as clear to me then that All Might had this much of a deep understanding of One For All, so to now have it explained in this detail feels like we’re skipping some steps in logic. It’s not unbelievable that All Might needed that month to finally understand all of this; it’s just bothersome as a reader to have the info dump happen in this manner. I understand that info-dump would have disrupted the narrative flow in those earlier chapters; I also think delaying that information until now is frustrating, the equivalent of having to set down this chapter to go back to the earlier ones. It’s not the joy of re-reading a story with new appreciation for something else to discover in the earlier chapters; it’s more like reading a textbook and having to skip to endnotes at the back of the book to read something in more detail.

And speaking of getting buried in needless confusing self-contradicting explanations: the manga then cuts to a Pro Hero version of the United Nations, full of shadowy people explaining how it’s too difficult to coordinate nations to convince them to let their Pro Heroes go to Japan and help with relief efforts. It’s bad enough how much I hate “shadowy people in government” as a trope: it felt lazy in the first Avengers film, and after more than four years in the United States having to hear deep state bullshit by hucksters and far-right fascists, no, I’m not up for such symbols that don’t put a face on the people responsible. I know I’m invoking Avatar: The Last Airbender so soon after talking it up in the previous chapter review, but we delayed showing Ozai’s face to make him faceless so that, when it is finally revealed, and he looks like a normal guy, we realize how this evil can come from even the most normal looking person, especially as a contrast between his unscarred face and Zuko’s scarred face, where the scar in a lot of stories is traditionally used to mark someone as ugly and therefore evil, while Avatar shows how obviously prejudiced, wrong, and illogical such mental and symbolic associations are. I know it would take more work to draw designs for all these bureaucrats, but give them faces, make them known, make them actual characters. I get that making them relatable causes as much of a problem as making them too relatable and therefore making their absurd points logical, but I can’t stand to keep perpetuating “deep state shadow government” nonsense in destabilized times.

Then again, when it comes to the delays in sending out the Pro Heroes, it’s not that unbelievable or unrealistic, given how bureaucracy hampers international relief efforts all the time in the real world. But it’s just bizarre, for a work of fiction that has shown Pro Hero society making so many advancements yet still bogged down by something so quotidian in a fantastic setting. Granted, I’ve repeated over and over again in these reviews how I thought this setting was a utopia--a world where people of different abilities and sizes had accommodations with regard to clothing, housing, and buildings--only to have later chapters undermine all of that--housing for giant-size people is in inconvenient locations, subsidies are not easy to get for being giant-size, people with non-human appearances are abused and tormented.

But, to the story’s credit, ending with Star and Stripe ignoring such bureaucracy, so, this is very much Horikoshi having his cake and eating it, too.

And I hate to end this review on a down note, but I am cringing at potential unfortunate implications incoming. Star and Stripe is riding atop what looks like a futuristic fighter plane that, I have to imagine, within this plot, is related to the United States government and, if not, at least by her entire US-patriotic theming, might as well be. And she’s flying a couple of these fighter planes to Japan. I really, really am trying not to cringe at potential invoking of the United States’ attack on Japan during World War II, and I’m really trying to hope the story won’t make some misguided references to nuclear bombing. I know this is a stretch, but after the trouble Horikoshi rightly faced for how he named All For One’s doctor, it would not surprise me. Plus, it’s not as if this hasn’t been a difficulty in localizing these Japanese works in United States audiences: I play that Bungo Stray Dogs mobile app game all the time, but there’s a reason that game, upon initial release in the United States, almost immediately changed a special move’s name from “Kamikaze” to “Beatdown.” And seeing as that Bungo film ends with Agatha Christie almost carpet-bombing Japan, yeah, you’ll forgive me if a lot of these thoughts are circulating in my mind anticipating what could happen next in this series.

[yastaghr]

Acquiring Feegle and Rickets

I just adopted two rescue bitties! Feegle is a Sansy and Rickets is a Brassberry. You can read their story on Ao3 here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18008270/chapters/52148683

Or under the cut below!

You would think 25 bitties would be more than enough for anyone to handle. You would be wrong. My pack has finally settled in and worked out all their kinks.

Vergeven bakes treats for the dogs and me. He’s discovered my love of cake donuts, and he bakes them at least once a week. Shenling and Yu absolutely adore their alter. We keep adding more to it, and they love it. Kronkel and Hemlock are the sweetest couple. They’re almost always touching one another. Gates and Starlight are zooming around. Having someone to adventure with him has really pepped Gates up. Verst is always tagging along for everything except the kissy stuff. Yong, Qiang, and Dijkstra are inventing new ways to show off in the water every day. They all like the hot tub right now, given how cold it is. Pleiades has a whole collection of scarves now. He’s usually swaddled in at least three.

Strawberry and Baza’eir go everywhere with me. It’s nice to have a service bitty I can pick up, although Hemlock and Kronkel still squish me if I have a panic attack. Inktvis seems to like doing art with me. I’ve been more active in that area. I’ve also been getting back into science thanks to Decon. I’m not sure what, but once my health issues are more stable I plan on going back to get another degree. Byzantium has a little “roller skate” that fits around the bottom of his pot so he can roll around. He has safe caves all over the house. Plato and the blasters love our pack. Their favorite game is Thunder Paws, which my corgi pup Teagan plays all the time. Meng has a little bit of a crush on Inktvis, but hasn’t wanted to acknowledge it yet. He’s helped tremendously with my night terrors. All in all, everyone is happy.

Apparently the universe decided that wasn’t enough. I was stopping by my local bitty center to get Gyftmas presents for everyone. I usually take the time to talk to each bitty that’s there. I’d finished with the main kennels and moved into the rescue area. This was the place where rescued or returned bitties go to recover and, if possible, get re-adopted. My area is big into being humane, so there are usually very few or none at all. That was what I was expecting because of the holiday. There’s always a rush to give them homes for this special time.

Most of the kennels were empty, save one. It was in the bottom row where nobody looks. Well, except for me. I squatted down to see who was inside there. I was shocked with what I saw.

There were two bitties in the back corner of the kennel. One was a Brassberry. It’s hard to mistake that wound covering. What I could see of his bones outside of the hospital gown he was wearing was covered in bruises, cuts, and scrapes. They were all mostly healed over, so they had to have been here for a while. He was glaring at me with fear just under the surface of it. In his arms was a Sansy bitty who looked almost dead. His bones were grey and in multiple casts. He honestly looked like he was going to dust any minute now.

I didn’t even think about it. I directed a tendril of my magic into the kennel and fed it to the Sansy. I filled it with love and support and hope. Slowly, painstakingly slowly, his bones became the proper white. Now I could see the carvings. Someone had decorated his bones with geometric patterns etched in deep.

I swallowed and looked at my own wrists. They were covered in sleeves, but underneath the sleeves both arms were criss crossed with cuts all the way up to my shoulder. Some were old and barely visible. Others were still red. A bandage covered the latest set so I wouldn’t bleed all over my clothes. I chose and choose to put them there. How would it feel if someone else forced them on me?

“Fuck off, human,” The Brassberry growled. He had drawn the Sansy closer to him, jostling his head. Now I could see that the Sansy was awake, but there was no expression on his face. He just...wasn’t there.

“No,” I said stubbornly, sitting down. “I’m going to stay here as long as I want to, Brassberry. I’ve got nothing urgent to do today. I might as well help you and your friend feel better. Would you like some magic of your own?”

The Brassberry’s eyes went wide. “You- You’re feeding him magic? Stop! He can’t handle losing another bond. It’ll dust him for sure!”

I blinked. I’d completely forgotten about how bitties bonded with their owners.

Strawberry jumped to my defense. “Sh-she’s not like that. She wouldn’t do that on purpose She just wants to help!”

Baza’eir, on my other shoulder, chuckled quietly. “What makes you think she’d break it? She’s got 25 bitties so far and we all know she’ll adopt more. I bet you a steak that she’ll adopt him. A nice, fat juicy one.”

The Brassberry’s mouth was watering, but he shook himself out of it and scowled. “There’s no fucking way I’m letting another human take him. How do I know she won’t just abandon him again? He needs me to look out for him. He’s just...given up on fighting back. He’s given up on living. I’m barely able to hold him here.”

I spoke up, “Then let me handle feeding him magic and you handle keeping him physically safe. I know about bonded pairs in animals. You might not be lovers, but it would be bad for both of you to separate you. I don’t mind having another two bitties in my house. Please?”

He blinked at me, searching my face for signs of danger. I tried my best to look non threatening, but I’m not very good at expressions. He seemed to be put off by this, so I added, “I’m autistic and don’t always get my expression right for my feelings. I really do want to help you. You both deserve a better life than you’ve had.”

He huffed. “Read through our chart before saying that. You’ll run away, just like the others.”

I dutifully looked at the packet of papers on the front of their kennel. It detailed all the horrible things that someone had inflicted on this Sansy while trying to turn him into something like a Meek. Brassberry’s papers told of a fighting ring and all the times he had hurt other bitties and staff. He had quite the rap sheet.

“I’ve seen worse, Brassberry,” I said confidently, “I’ve volunteered in animal shelters for more than 10 years. I worked in foster, where the youngest, sickest, and most feral cats end up. I’m more than prepared to take care of both of you. And...I understand about abuse on a personal level. I was abused by teachers, students, and other staff members all the way up through high school. I’m still healing from that, and I know it’s a process. And I’m extremely well versed in wound care,” I said as I slipped up my right sleeve to show him my arms. “I’m very clumsy and I self-harm. I’d love to take you both home and help you heal.”

The Brassberry’s mouth had dropped open at some point in my speech. He closed it and gulped. I could see the distrust warring with a glimmer of hope.

Strawberry added the final touch. “There’s hidey holes all over the house for Byzantium, our Error-type plant bitty. If you don’t want to interact with anyone you don’t have to. And there’s always ketchup and meat in the house. Please come join us? Please?”

The Brassberry looked at his friend. The Sansy gave the barest of nods. The Brassbery sighed.  “Fine. But if you’re lying I’m going to wreck your house and wreck you. Don’t think I won’t.”

I smiled. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

An employee came up to me and asked me to leave, as upsetting bitties in the rescue center was a big no-no. I jumped a little and haltingly explained that I was going to adopt both of them. They asked if I had read the backstories with a distrustful expression.

Amazingly, it was the Brassberry who stood up for me. “Leave my owner the fuck alone. We’ve been through all that already. Just go get the care bag and the adoption papers. Um...please.”

The employee quickly scurried off, and I turned to the two bitties in the kennel. “Thank you. I have problems with anxiety so extreme that it can block my voice. I was about to lose it, there. They startled me so much.”

The Brassberry huffed. “Don’t think anything of it, owner. This means nothing.”

I smiled back. “I won’t. Since we’re going through with this, I should probably introduce myself. I’m Yastaghr, which is pronounced Ya-star but spelled completely differently. Um...do you two have names?”

The Brassberry shook his head. “Fighting bitties don’t get names, and the Sansy here...they didn’t bother. They just called him Sansy.”

I puffed up. “Do you mind if I name you? Or do you want to pick your own names.”

His eyes went wide. “Pick...our own names? Really? What kind of a weirdo are you to let us pick our own names?”

I giggled. “A weirdo who is notoriously bad at naming things. I pull names from 4 different languages and multiple different disciplines. Really. I have bitties named in English, Dutch, Chinese, and Icenic. I also have pets named after book characters. So, what do you say?”

A weak voice whispered, “i like pratchett. something from him?”

All eyes snapped to the Sansy. The effort of speaking seemed to exhaust him, but he was smiling slightly.

I grinned back. “I like Pratchett, too. How about Feegle? Would that be a good name?”

The Sansy, now Feegle, nodded. He seemed to have run out of words for the day, which I could understand completely, so he fell asleep. The Brassberry smiled down at him. It was a proud smile, the kind a parent gets when their kid does something good.

“What about you, Brassberry? What do you want to be named?” I asked.

He hummed softly. “How about Rickets? The humans here say I’ve got it, and it sounds cool. Can I be named that?”

“Of course! It’s your name, so you get to choose. Rickets. It’s-” I started to say.

“I have the paperwork here for you, and the care kits that comes with every bitty. There are medical supplies in both, extra clothes, snacks, and a care pamphlet. Oh, and a hand towel that smells like them for introductions to pets.”

I nodded, my words suddenly gone, just like Feegle. Baza’eir came to my rescue, his service bitty vest shining. “That’s good. Thank you so much! We’ll fill out the paperwork right now.”

I started scribbling down the necessary details, including their names and mine. I signed multiple consent forms. I read through pages of text. Finally, the paperwork was done and I handed it to the employee.

Once the employee was gone, I carefully opened up the kennel and scooped up both bitties. I smiled at them and whispered, “Time to go home.”

[broccolianddandelion]

13 Todobaku Fic Recs

I’ve been following the BNHA fandom for approximately two seconds, but within this time Todobaku has become my indisputable OTP. (The evil soul who introduced me to the fandom via her divine artwork (@anatchie) favors Bakudeku, and I feel a little disloyal now, but what can you do?) Over the past months I’ve read a lot of Todobaku. My gift to you is a baker’s dozen of my (admittedly idiosyncratic) favorites, the ones I return to time and again. As always, check out the author’s tags before reading. They’re there for a reason.

The indelicacies of nitroglycerin (T, 50.2K) by yeetin. - “Don’t you think Bakugou is pretty?”

Todoroki looked up, after having apparently caused the untimely deaths of his three friends. Uraraka was doubled over, clutching her throat as bits of food sprayed from her wheezing mouth, Iida had somehow mini-Recipro Bursted his way through the floorboards and was struggling to get back out of the crater, and Midoriya… Midoriya looked like he needed an ambulance. Or an immediate blood transfusion at least, his face was so white.

This fic has one of the most indelible scenes of drunk Todoroki I’ve ever read. A little angsty, a lot funny.

I want to reconcile the violence in my heart (T, 28.1K) by @callalilalma - You had one job, you piece of shit! his brain yells at it. Just pump fucking blood in my veins, don’t fucking give yourself to half and half!

This fic got me fascinated with the idea of Bakugou as an unreliable narrator. I may be halfway done with a remix from Todoroki’s point of view. I’ve probably listened to the Muse song thousands of time by now. (I’m a slow writer.)

i want you (to want me) (T, 18.5K) by shaekspeares - “You know what,” Bakugou exhales angrily, more to himself, and then suddenly is leaning over Todoroki where he sits, arms by his sides and face close to his. “It doesn’t fucking matter. I can think whatever the fuck I want of you. I’m gonna beat you no matter how much better than me you think you are.”

“When you’re not having a tantrum, I actually respect you a lot,” Todoroki corrects. Mainly because he means it, but also because he’s starting to know how to get Bakugou to pull the face he’s pulling now. “You’re an admirable person in some ways.”

“Fucking hell,” Bakugou says, his shoulders sagging and his expression comically disheartened. “I- what’s next? You gonna declare your love for me mid-battle?”

“I don’t think so, no,” Todoroki replies, instinctively, then freezes, thinking about it.

“I’m fucking- going,” Bakugou continues, undeterred and jittery. “Fucking weirdo.”

He hastily grabs his bag and stomps off, and Todoroki sits very still.

Oh, dear.

He thinks he may have missed a few things while redefining his feelings.

One of my favorite characterizations of Todoroki. Hilarious and sweet getting together fic.

Lock and Key (E, WIP) by @autochorystalize - Bakugou made a choked, gravelly noise before croaking out a low, “You can’t be serious.” His fingers ached to blow up everything in the room.

“I’m sorry, young man, but you can’t change reality! This sometimes happens.” Recovery Girl clicked through his file, adding a new symbol in a previously empty slot. - - - A pair of eyes discreetly locked on to an explosive blond plowing his way forward, parting people in his path. He recognized the kid, of course. Anyone in the underbelly of society would recognize him, after the publicity of both UA’s Sports Festival and the events leading up to All Might’s fall. The uniform he was wearing cast away any doubts about the young man’s identity. It was a bit of a surprise that the little firecracker presented as an omega. - - - - - - - - - Or: there are certain types of evil that seemed too distant, archaic violations and perversions that would never actually threaten bright-eyed heroes-in-training in the clean, modern world...but sometimes those evils aren't as distant as one might think.

The fic that changed my mind about abo. The world building is mind blowing. Delves deep into social issues that are all too real. This can be a hard read at times (check the tags) but is absolutely worth it. Also I’m dying for Bakugou and Todoroki to get together.

nothing lingers passively. (E, WIP) by @ii-mo - A faint tickling sensation under the bridge of his nose was all the warning he received before Bakugou gripped the lapels of his uniform and hauled him in. The scent of the Alpha's peaking rut shot through him like a bullet, ricocheting off his insides and settling to quiver at the bottom of his gut, still warm.

Cross- eyed, Todoroki wrinkled his nose where it nearly met his classmate’s. He should have expected that reaction, honestly.

Alpha Bakugou Katsuki is allergic to suppressants, and Todoroki Shouto is a Beta with a grudge. Together they strike a deal that swiftly becomes more than either of them had bargained for.            

As of this writing there is one more chapter left in this story, and I can’t wait to read it. Fascinating take on the biology of alphas and betas.

Proximate Cause (T, 5.3K) by @daddyissuesandgrenadehands - “It seems our dear Bakugou has punched a teacher.” Shockingly, there’s no sarcasm in Nedzu's voice. “Midoriya was involved somehow too, but we aren’t sure how just yet. This is quite serious, as you can imagine.”

Aizawa wouldn’t be opposed to a Nomu slamming his head into the ground a few more times. Maybe one could just come and finish the job for good this time. All he wanted was one freaking day of peace. Goddamit Bakugou.

A serious catalyzing event, yet some of the best wry humor I’ve encountered.

rule 02: stay (M, 23.6K) by @altinsky - The vampire leans in close, expression utterly business-like in its seriousness.

And the last thing Katsuki remembers is the feeling of a tongue touching the bleeding wound at the juncture of his throat, the feeling of inexplicable anger, the fleeting thought of — this guy is so fucking dead — and then, nothing.

(or: katsuki is a vampire hunter who, thanks to a series of misfortunate circumstances and his potent werewolf's blood, somehow ends up striking a deal with the most aggravating vampire in existence)

As I rule I don’t particularly like creature!fics, but this fic, perhaps inspired by the BNHA Halloween art, captivated me. Great use of canonical elements in an AU.

Starting Over From Ground Zero (E, 38.5K) by @xenophonspeaking and HyacinthAtropa - What would their relationship have been like, if Bakugou’s pride hadn’t stood in the way? Would they have been friends, or would things have mostly stayed the same? Would Bakugou have been happier, more open and honest about his feelings and wants and needs as a person? Would he have accepted and even appreciated the comfort others offered him, rather than always keeping people at arm’s-length in an effort to maintain an image of independence and strength?

Todoroki didn’t know.

He didn’t know. But he wanted to.

Abruptly, like a bolt of lightning, he realized he actually had the chance to find out.

(Or: that one where Bakugou has temporary amnesia and Todoroki is tasked with caring for him until his memory returns, but ends up falling in love with the part of Bakugou that Bakugou has always kept hidden away instead.)

For obvious reasons XenophonSpeaks was one of the first Todobaku writers I discovered, and this is one of my two favorite fics from a talented writer. I’ve been pleased, though not surprised, to see its kudos steadily rising over the months. A sweet getting together story, great use of the amnesia trope, hot lovemaking.

then, be mine. (M, 32.5K) by TDRKBKGO - The way things always trucked onwards despite the ruthlessness of it was a constant fucking boulder in Katsuki’s smooth machinery because he had no time. One thing happened after another and he was content, of course - he didn't want to stand still. In fact, that was probably the one thing he couldn't stand the thought of doing. But it meant leaving things behind.

This fic should have hundreds more kudos. I want to write a love letter to this writer, if it wouldn’t be super creepy. One of my favorite tropes — getting back together — angsty, some of the best-written (though not necessarily the smuttiest) smut I’ve read in BNHA.

Tracing the Sharp Edge of You (T, 4.7K) by hellsinki - “Why do you hate Midoriya so much?”

“Why do you fucking ask? Why not just assume?”

Why not just assume? He had tried that, but something just didn’t add up.

“Because it doesn’t fit your profile.”

This is my take on the reason behind Bakugou’s rocky relationship with Deku based on their canonical interactions, set in a soft todobaku narrative. It’s not what you have been reading up in the fandom, but this is what I think could be a very plausible reason. Fair warning: Not exactly Deku-friendly.            

This is a Todobaku fic, but it is actually a fascinating take on Bakugou’s relationship with Midoriya. If you read the comments you can see that a lot of readers didn’t understand (or appreciate) what the writer was doing. A refreshing read that I return to when I want something different.

Without Hesitation (T, 8.2K) by @xenophonspeaking - The first time Bakugou told Todoroki he was in love with him, he thought he’d die.

My other candidate for favorite fic from XenophonSpeaks. This fic makes my angst-loving heart sing, and there are some great ensemble comedic moments.

Yellow Umbrella (G, WIP) by veemon - When Todoroki’s interest finally catches Bakugous attention it may be too late for them to make up.

I adore this fic, and it launched my obsession with manipulative!Midoriya. I eat that shit up now. A rare G-rated abo story. I can’t wait until it updates.

you are my sun. (T, WIP) by TDRKBKGO -  “‘Why’d he have to go and become the Moon’, he said"  Shouto leans forward where he sits in a cherry tree on the verge of springing into full blossom, rubbing his temples.  

“Because he went and became the Sun.”

This fic blew my mind, and it’s breaking my heart that it hasn’t been updated in months. I was speechless when I finished the first chapter. Bakugou’s the sun, and Todoroki’s the moon, and the way the story maps onto canon is extraordinary.

[manycoloureddays]

Prompt: HS AU Rogue Ot3 on their first date??? (Up to you if Cassian is at all aware that it’s a date)

for those of you who are wondering, this follows on from this rogue ot3 hs au

in which Cassian really doesn’t know he’s going on a date at all

Cassian finds them on a picnic rug underneath a tree, at the far end of the park, out where it backs onto the creek. Jyn is sitting propped against the trunk, Bodhi’s head in her lap. He’s reading what sounds like Peter Pan to her while she does her best to distract him, running her fingers over his face, down his nose, circling his mouth, flicking under his chin. Cassian watches quietly, not wanting to break the moment. He wonders, not for the first time, why they keep inviting him to hang out when they could be alone together.

He’d spent the first week at Jedha High eating with different people each day, with whoever shared his pre-lunch class. Then on Friday he’d been paired with Jyn in Spanish, and Bodhi in Art, and it had been easy to fall in with them. He’d eaten lunch with them every day since. They were bizarre. On paper he never would have picked them as friends - Jyn was angry, all sharp edges, and easily mistaken as a loner type except she was never seen without Bodhi, who always seemed to be fidgeting with something, could vague out for half a conversation, and stumbled over the words he did say. But Jyn was less detached than she led people to believe. She was like his cat, Kay, standoffish until she trusted you and then it was nothing but flopping against you, demanding attention, and bringing you dead mice. And Bodhi was even sharper than Jyn sometimes, he startled laughs out of Cassian and then ducked his head, hair falling in his face. Cassian almost had to sit on his hands to stop himself reaching out and brushing it back.

And now they were waiting for him under a tree, and he felt way out of his depth. So far out he couldn’t see land anymore. He shakes himself. They are just his friends. Besides, it looks like they have carrot sticks on their platter, and he loves carrot sticks. He walks over and drops casually onto the rug, as though he hasn’t been staring like a huge weirdo.

‘You made it,’ Bodhi says, smiling and pulling himself upright.

Jyn offers a fist to bump. ‘Thought you were never going to make those last 100 metres.’

Cassian feels himself blush, but he doesn’t break eye contact. Bodhi just shakes his head at the two of them. Fond. It’s easy to fall into a rhythm after that. They rile each other up, try to make each other laugh, and end up unable to look each other in the eyes without giggling for about fifteen minutes. They eat, and keep talking shit, and then school comes up, as it always does. When Jyn asks how Mr Malbus and Mr Imwe are, Cassian learns that their Gym and Philosophy teachers are Bodhi’s foster fathers. They ask Cassian how he’s liking Jedha, and he tells them about moving out of the city after his mum died because everything there reminded Dad of her. Jyn reaches for his hand when he starts talking about how paranoid his dad is getting, how he keeps talking about how Mum was killed instead of saying she died in an accident.

‘I know all about paranoid guardians. Wait til you meet Saw.’

‘Yeah,’ Bodhi nods. His hand was already resting on Cassian’s ankle, and he gives it a squeeze. ‘Let’s maybe avoid that particular parental meeting for the time being.’ Jyn snorts laughter and cracker dust everywhere.

‘Yeah, no. No one is meeting Saw. Not unless it is in a very public place with many, many exit strategies.’

‘He can’t be that bad,’ Bodhi says, but even Cassian knows that this is a well worn topic of conversation.

‘Oh he is. I think I’d die of embarrassment. He is the living embodiment of the shovel talk.’

And just like that they aren’t talking about Cassian’s parents anymore. It was such a subtle subject change he almost believes it’s natural. Except he knows it wasn’t, because they’re still holding onto him. Cassian is so grateful to have found people who don’t push, who have learned where his boundaries are and don’t step over them. He is fucked. So very fucked.

He pulls back from them, and kneels. ‘Well,  I should head home.’ He really doesn’t want to go. ‘Finish up the homework I’ve left to the last minute.’

Jyn says nothing, but Bodhi bursts out, ‘No, don’t leave. We had a plan. See.’ Cassian takes the notebook from his hand. It says “English” in tiny handwriting at the top of front page, which is then covered in technical drawings and calculations. He flicks through a couple of pages, sees game after game of Hangman, and the stick figure comics he knows Jyn drew because his Spanish notebook is littered with them, and then in big, bold letters at the top of a relatively clean page, The Cassian Situation: Plan A. He scans it, words like “crush” and “negotiation” and “seduction” jumping off the page. It is incredibly detailed - there are subsections and indices and -

‘This is the most ridiculous plan I’ve ever seen,’ he blurts out before he can stop himself. He looks up at them and sees that, for some inexplicable reason, they’re grinning.

‘It worked didn’t it?’ Jyn counters. He shakes his head, not because she’s wrong but because he is still so confused. None of it makes any sense.

Bodhi takes the notebook back and reads, ‘Plan B. When he inevitably doesn’t understand that you are wooing him (a reasonable response because there are two of you and he might not believe he deserves you both, something you will need to debunk often if the aforementioned Plan B works out) take him on a date. Explain that it is a date.’ He flips the notebook closed and looks at Jyn with exaggerated seriousness. ‘Sounds like it worked to me too.’

‘What about you Andor? You get a say in this craziness. Did it work?’ As cool as she sounds, Cassian can see her face, can see the way she’s biting the inside of her lip. They mean this, he realises all of a sudden. They mean it. This was a date. They were wooing him.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. ‘Yeah. I’d say it did.’

When he opens his eyes to twin beams. Bodhi’s turns sharp in seconds, his eyes darting down to Cassian’s mouth.

‘Do you kiss on the first date, Cassian?’

Cassian figures he can leave the homework for later.

[vsionvry]

Shane Griffin on the Future of Design, Autonomy, & Breaking All the Rules

Born in Dublin, Ireland, Shane Griffin is a digital artist trailblazing throughout a multitude of mediums. Whether it’s in design, film, sculpture, or animation, he continues to create captivating and unique realms for not only our favorite brands but also for himself. I had the opportunity to speak with Shane about the future of design, autonomy, and breaking all the rules.

AP: Hi Shane!

SG: Hey ash! 

AP: What’s up, how are you?

SG: Good, how are you?

AP: I’m doing good, thanks for hopping on this call with me, I appreciate you.

SG: Absolutely, no problem! Great to be connected.

AP: Yeah! I’m really looking forward to getting to know more about you. I’ve been following your work for a while and I really enjoy it. I read in a previous interview that you grew up in Dublin, Ireland. How was that experience and what influenced you to pursue more of a creative career?

SG: Dublin is a beautiful city. It’s a small city. Back then there weren't many creative opportunities. Not that many jobs in art either. So that was a real toss-up with what I was going to do. In school, they didn’t really teach creative jobs. There wasn’t anything I could take in college that was creatively related really. I knew I wanted to do something in that field, but I honestly had no idea that the job I do now exists, so yeah it was a bit of an unsure time. There weren’t many people there that were shining a light on new media and things like that. Now it’s changed a bit.

AP: Yeah, we’ve moved in such a digital and technical direction since then and all of these new jobs we didn’t know could exist, exist now. How did you get introduced to animation and motion design?

SG: I actually applied to Architecture. I was very set on it actually. That’s all I was slightly interested in and when I was leaving [the equivalent to high school in America], they said I couldn't take technical drawing, the prerequisite to Architecture, because there was no teacher to teach it. So even though I did it for 3 years, I couldn’t take it for my finals which was ridiculous. So, I applied for Architecture and I actually missed it by less than 1%.

AP: Oh my god...

SG: Yeah! So I was pretty pissed off, I was like “Fuck College.”

[both laugh] 

SG: So in a weird turn of events, my brother used to work at this DVD Magazine place with this graphic designer. And my brother’s like “Hey, Shane didn’t get into college and he kind of has this interest in design. Do you have any jobs for him?” and the guy said, “Well I can use an intern.” And at the time, he was at this small post-production company that did animation and 3D. So I went in and I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I was 18 and I was trying to figure this shit out. There was another guy there, Steven, who taught me all the tricks of the trade and all the different types of ways to get around things - bits of 3D, bits of 2D. I was really just learning the ropes there, you know? And then I really just got a feel for it and I had a natural aptitude for computers and art, so it kind of just went hand and hand.

AP: It’s crazy how all that kinda came full circle and worked out in the end. Look at you now. [chuckles]

SG: Yeah! 

AP: How has your creative journey been since you moved to New York?

SG: It’s been a real rollercoaster actually. New York’s a whole different beast for this type of stuff. I really didn’t think it would accelerate so quickly. I had an idea of where I wanted to go, but to be honest, even when I got here, which was probably like 7 years ago, there weren't a lot of 3D artists who were doing their own thing. They were all mostly in-house and at companies doing post-production stuff. There weren’t many designers exploring the world and doing things on their own terms, you know? So I sort of made my own lane. I don't mean that to sound in an egotistical way, it’s just the way it happened. The opportunities were coming in, I was getting a lot of work and meeting all these great people. Like-minded people. There wasn’t that kind of energetic, pulsing creative scene in Dublin, and in New York, it’s everywhere. There are niche scenes. And there are scenes for animators, scenes for illustrators, there are scenes for all these different people.

AP: It’s crazy you mention that because I wanted to ask you if you were able to find a design tribe in New York, you know, a design community to be a part of.   

SG: Yeah! I was actually. And not by accident either. A couple of years ago, when I was in Dublin, I won the Young Gun Award from the Art Director’s Club and they asked me to come to the ceremony in New York. It was my first trip over here. I met a bunch of people that night, other winners and other people who have won in previous years. There were a lot of people who I looked up to and all of a sudden I was in that clique, which was pretty unusual. It all changed a bit, but at that time it was really cool. Everyone was doing something different and everyone was trying to scramble their way to the top. It was so funny ‘cause it was like this weird creative wall street thing.

AP: That’s so cool! Do you think that’s important or necessary? To have that design community...

SG: It’s cool because you get to talk shop with people, you know? But it’s also very competitive. Creatives come from different walks of life and some of them are great people and some of them aren’t. It’s just like anywhere though. You float in and out of these nebulas of people until you find the ones you’re comfortable with. The creative world is no different. There are so many walks of life and a bunch of weirdos and it’s great. I think it’s important, yeah. I didn’t have that before I came here and it was important to me when I got here, but now it’s weird ‘cause it’s not that important to me. I loved being involved in it, you know? I’ve made some great friends for life, but it doesn’t hold the importance it once did.

“You float in and out of these nebulas of people until you find the ones you’re comfortable with.”

AP: Congrats on launching Grif.Studio! 

SG: Aw, thank you!

AP: You launched it in 2020...

SG: Yeah I did a soft launch. It wasn’t like a real thing. I was buying the domains, I was roping in people to do jobs with me. It kinda accidentally got out and I was just like “Okay!” 

[both laugh]

AP: How has that experience been? How does freelance work differ from launching a studio?

SG: I guess it’s more autonomous. I have a unique situation where I have a production company that represents me, but I don't work there. Their name is Psyop and we got in touch at the beginning of last year and really hit it off. We do all of the bigger, longer-form projects together. And for the smaller form, more art-focused projects, I do them through my own studio. The guys [at Psyop] really support that. They want to empower me in my artistic endeavors, so it’s a great relationship. On top of that, it’s great to be a part of a huge clan.

AP: Right! A design tribe. [chuckles]

So you work with all of these big names -- Nike, Apple, Adidas -- who are some people or brands you’d like to work with in the future? And what type of projects are you interested in making?

SG: I’ve just had a dream come true actually! Back in 2011 while I was in London, Wiz Khalifa had just released Rolling Papers and it was a really good summer album that we used to just blare on the rooftop. And I just did this music video for him...

AP: Whoaa, dope! That’s amazing! Congrats!

SG: Yeah! I’m really happy. It was a really cool collaboration.

I literally finalized it just before our call and I’m really happy with it. It’s wild and it’s very internet-y. It’s still very much my look, but it’s given it a new avenue, so I’m really happy with that. I’ve always wanted to work with Wiz and I always thought he was a very funny dude. I love how laid back he is and we’re the same age too, so I’ve always thought “Ah, I could be friends with Wiz!”, so that was cool. 

I would love to work with everyone. I’m really interested in taking on new projects and expanding what I do to different areas. It’s really just when the stars align. I’m just praying more aligns this year [laughs].

AP: Absolutely! And they will. What’s been your favorite project so far, do you have one?

SG: I hold so many of them dearly in a weird way, you know? The Kanye Red Octobers with Nike was amazing because there was so much hype behind it. He had just left Nike when they were supposed to come out and I was “Whoa this is gonna be huge!”. But then he left and I was like, “Noo, they’re never going to come out! I’ll never be able to show anyone this shit” But thankfully they did drop. It was a cool moment to be a part of pop culture history. I’ve always loved that. 

I’ve got good memories from all the Nike stuff too. I did the Sneaker Ball sculpture for them in Madrid and had a blast making it. They ended up fabricating it for real, so that was great to see that take life and a whole new form. To have people interact with it was great. So those things have been really amazing. Some of my own projects have also been really rewarding. My Chromatic series has served me...

AP: That’s actually one of my favorite projects of yours!

SG: Oh, thank you! It’s weird, you know when you’re so deep into something you kind of lose track of what it is. You have to step away from it for a while. I did so many of them last year for clients that I had to take a step back from it. I jumped back into it with the Wiz Khalifa video, so it was a really nice stop and start that I had with it. It’s a really empowering thing for me to have, because no matter what medium I’m working with, I can always fuse the thinking and the conceptual nature of that project into it. So that to me has been a favorite. I always feel rewarded for it wherever it goes, whether it’s on iPhone screens, the Wiz video, or if I’m doing large scale installations with it. It always feels like it maintains the DNA of the original thought process I had with it, so that’s been really good.

AP: Yeah, that’s such a great series. The colors, fluidity. I was blown away when I was stalking all of your work.

SG: Oh thank you.

AP: Speaking of stalking, I pulled up old tweets. [laughs]

SG: [laughs] Oh shit.

AP: I saw one that made me laugh out loud. It was something along the lines of ‘Whoa. Client just asked to make the logo smaller.’ 

Both: [laughs]

AP: It reminded me of this meme I saw a few days ago about receiving feedback from clients. Sometimes brands, companies, or clients lack the context to design and the design process. What’s the craziest feedback you’ve received from a client?

SG: Oh my god. So I used to work at this company when I first got to New York that wanted to essentially rip off Instagram. Like, make a Chinese version of Instagram.

AP: [laughs]

SG: And that’s not something I do, you know what I mean? That was not a project I was interested in, nor was I really capable of doing, but I was like “Well, this is my job now.”

AP: Like rip off the layout or the actual platform?

SG: Everything. The platform was getting coded somewhere else, but it was an exact replica of Instagram. Initially, they wanted 10 photo filters but changed their mind to like 100. It was really hard to understand what the Chinese aesthetic was and to really get into the mindset of what they thought was cool and what wasn’t cool because of language barriers. So we sent this one filter and the feedback was “Looks like puke.” 

Both: [laughs]

SG: Getting lost in translation with the feedback was absolutely hilarious. Of course, it was frustrating but it was so beyond the realm of comprehension, that you’re like ‘This is so ridiculous.’ But that was really fun. There have definitely been some other really mean ones, where you’re like “Geez, no need to say that.”

AP: Right! No perspective on the design process. It’s just them telling you to move something here, or there, or make this bigger, ‘this looks weird’. 

SG: Yeah, there’s a lot of people that aren’t educated in the ramifications of some changes. But at the same time, that just comes with practice. Usually, no one says no to a good idea. You can always say “Here’s what I think you mean.”, and you present something that’s quite visually engaging and usually it’s a yes. For the most part, people just want their stuff to look cool. 

AP: What’s your creative process like?

SG: I’m trying to refine it more nowadays. I’m trying to be more strategic with how I approach things. The concept is really the key to projects and now more than ever there are more tools to realize that. There are more avenues to take with it and more mediums to explore with those concepts. Ideation to production is also much faster. So initially, I like to spread the net pretty wide with the concept. When I’m thinking of it, I try 7, 8, 9, or 10 different things, and one of them will kind of hit the mark. Or none of them! I have a graveyard of 50 projects from old ideas that I’ll never touch again, you know? But sometimes one of those things will really resonate and you’re like, ‘There's something in this!’, and then you dig deeper and deeper until you unearth something. You cast the net really wide, go down a bunch of avenues, you explore things, you try things, and one always rises to the top. And then you take that and you run with it. You refine it. And then you kind of get snow blindness from it ‘cause you’re in it so deep. You’ve been doing the same thing and you don’t know if it’s cool anymore...

AP: Yeah, you don’t even see it anymore.

SG: Yeah, you just see fucking lines and colors. You don’t see anything. So then you take a step away from it and then you revisit it. Sometimes I temperature check with people and see what they think and I’ve noticed that I don’t really get an amazing reception from a lot of people initially on things that I try, so I’ve dialed back a little bit. I don't really show people stuff anymore, I just put it out. When they see it in the context of when they can’t comment or they can’t change it, everyone seems to like it. It’s very unusual.

Both: [laughs]

AP: There’s more room for feedback when the opportunity is given.

SG: Yeah so I’ve gone backward on that one. I keep everything pretty private until I’m ready to go with it. 

AP: That’s an interesting way to go about it.

SG: Yeah, it’s actually kind of democratic for me. Like ‘Nah I’ll keep this for myself.’

AP: How do you get unstuck creatively?

SG: Oh I just have to take a few during the day. I try to get out. I try to step away from the computer as much as I can, for a refresher. If I’m going in all day I just start making mistakes. I’m beginning to read more and explore older artists. People whose artistic peek happened in the ‘60s or ‘70s. There was a lot of interest in color theory going on back then, so I’ve been catching up a lot on that. It’s always interesting to see people’s different perspectives and how people with analog tools have approached corporate work. So yeah, I get unstuck by just broadening my horizons a bit, in terms of influence. I think people may think I’m a bit ignorant ‘cause I don’t follow that many 3D artists online, but it’s not really what I like to consume. If you are only surrounded by people who do similar work as you, you’re all going to kind of melt into the same thing. So I like to keep things that influence me in a different spirit from what I’m in. I’ve always been interested in how other people communicate their ideas. If you communicate an idea via paintings, it’s different if you’re communicating via a novel. It’s really not about the concepts, but how people communicate the concepts. That’s what interests me. That always helps shake off the mental block. 

AP: Speaking of all these different mediums, it seems as though people outside the creative world are sometimes trying to box creatives into one category. You're only looked at as a designer, or a painter, or even a director, but I feel as though creatives are so much more than just one thing. Our art, interests, and passions kinda transcend titles. We’re multi-dimensional. Are there any other mediums, besides design, that you enjoy or are interested in diving into?

SG: Yeah. Filmmaking for sure. I direct commercials and stuff, but I’ve had this idea for a while and I’ve been wanting to take a stab at it. I guess it’s called educational filmmaking? Just ‘cause there’s not much of it out there. If I’m interested in a topic and I want to learn more about it, it’s hard to find something that engages me visually. I was trying to understand Quantum Field Theory the other day. Like, what is it? I don’t get it. And I couldn’t read this book on it...

AP: It wasn’t making sense... Especially if you’re a visual learner.

SG: Yeah, exactly. People just learn in different ways. So I was looking at this guy on YouTube who's actually quite good at it. He demonstrates it in a great visual way and at the end of it I was like, “Whoa, there’s no way I could’ve figured this out by reading it.” So I thought it could be cool to do this in a very film-like way. I’m interested in the educational part of science. I really liked Cosmos. I don’t know if you’ve watched it. It’s a series with Neil deGrasse Tyson.

AP: Yeah! I’ve seen some episodes. I love Neil deGrasse Tyson.

SG: Visually it’s very engaging. It looks cool. It makes you feel like you’re flying to different worlds. It’s pretty successful, from an educational standpoint. So I really like the idea of that, but just thinking of it more artistically. That’s in my pipeline somewhere. I’ll have to get that idea out at some point. 

AP: Let’s talk about credit! And we’ll use creatives and the music industry as the example. Sometimes music artists get all of the credit or most of it for let’s say -- the album art or creative behind their album rollout. What’s your perspective on that?

SG: I’m glad you touched on that. It can be hard sometimes, you know? It’s very unusual because some people get credit, and some people don't. I kind of forced my own credit on the Wiz video cause no one else worked on it. I’m taking it. I feel bad for a lot of people who do amazing work and can’t talk about it, or some people may steamroll past them. I think it happens in music as well. A lot of producers have this issue. A producer will make a beat, but because there’s another producer’s tag on it, there’s no recognition. And so I see it happen there and I see it happen in design. It’s a lot of people just trying to justify their position. You might have somebody, who by commissioning the job, feels like they own the creative, and in a certain way, they do. But credits are there to be honored and shared. 

A company I used to work for deleted me off the credits when I left... 

AP: That’s crazy...

SG: It’s very unusual, I don't understand it. It’s not how I roll and I really have no time for people who want to do that. 

AP: Yeah, that’s so crazy. It’s almost one of the reasons why the perception is that artists, music artists being the example in this conversation, do things by themselves. But in actuality, they have teams and they commission people or have people on their team pitching these ideas to make their shit look cool. It’s not necessarily just them, but people around them.

SG: No you’re right, especially with how things are now. I don’t know if you saw that Young Thug video, where he doesn’t show up for the video...

AP: I’m not sure?

SG: It’s amazing, the director basically says “Here’s a video I made for Young Thug, where he doesn’t even show up to the shoot, and he had one phone call with me and he demanded the video be directed by Young Thug, even though he didn’t show up for the video.”

AP: That’s fucking crazy.

SG: Madness. The director made such a good video, it’s hilarious. But I see that happen to a lot of different artists. I’ve had my own issues with companies I’ve worked for, but I haven’t had that happen with music artists. I do see it happening by music artists all the time though. I think we’re in a world where everyone wants their roses and everyone wants autonomy, but then everyone also wants to be connected to these celebrities. It’s tough to say no to things. If you don’t take the opportunity, someone else will. So I definitely feel for a lot of creatives who are going through that, but at the same time, I see it happening on the other side of the ladder. Younger people taking credit for things that they didn’t really have an intricate part of. So I think it’s really more so about the human element of it than anything else. Insecurities mixed in with savageness. I don’t know, I don’t really subscribe to it, but I think if you’re a good person and have a good collaboration, there’s no reason you shouldn’t give people credit.

AP: Exactly! I agree. I think social media really elevates all of this as well. Everyone wants to be a brand, no one really wants to put in the work, doing things just to do it — without purpose. I don’t know, it’s weird. [laughs]

SG: It’s weird. The mental gymnastics people do to try to justify that to themselves. It really all just comes with experience. If you’ve gone viral a bunch of times and there have been things in question, you begin to learn that lesson rather quickly. It’s always best to be a good person when it all comes down to it.

AP: We’re living through history right now, with this pandemic and all of these super intense events. How has this experience affected you creatively?

SG: Covid has been interesting. To see the shift in everything. To be honest, I was kind of worried when it happened because I had three projects at the same time, and they all got canceled immediately. They were some cool projects too. But after digesting what was going on, it didn’t affect me too much. I feel pretty guilty because people's lives have been ruined from it and it's horrific to watch. Friends have been displaced forever because of it, you know? A lot of people have obviously passed from it. The side that’s unforgettable in a way is, I feel like I’ve avoided most of it. And I feel guilty, to be honest. I’ve just been really thankful that I’ve been able to navigate the change in landscape and what is presented. So from a creative level, it’s been fine. It’s been somewhat inspiring in a way because there’s been stuff to talk about within art, and with everything going on in the year, in America in general. A Lot of people are having discussions about many things. I’m not the type of person who’s particularly worrisome but it has definitely tested me several times. A lot. Work and real life have always kind of blended together. So if I can give you a two-sentence answer for it -- Yes, it has displaced a lot of things that I was familiar with, but change is good. I always welcome change.

AP: Even though it’s been very negative for the most part, the positive side of it is we’ve all had to adjust and learn new things -- about ourselves...

SG: Yeah, definitely. It’s forced a lot of decisions and a lot of things I probably wouldn’t have done if I wasn’t confronted with it. So yeah, I hope there’s a silver lining. I really do. 

AP: Yeah. Same. 

I saw that you had an installation scheduled in 2020. Between.

SG: Yeah, I did. [laughs] 

Yeah, the day everything fell apart. [same day we went into lock down] 

AP: [laughs] Aw, no way! Is this something that will potentially still happen?

SG: I doubt it. 

To be honest, I looked back at that project and I didn’t know if I really liked it. I went to see it recently. We put it back up and I went to photograph it. And I don’t know if I liked it as much.

AP: Really?!

SG: Yeah, so I think if I revisit it, I might do something wackier. You know things change, ideas change, your perception of your own work changes, everything is in a constant state of evolution, and being creative is never finished in that regard. I still talk to the gallery and we’ll probably do something when it’s safe and when things are back to normal. I don't want to take away from anything else that’s going on. I definitely will do something though. I’ve got a couple of more things planned for that world, which I would love to share with you, but just shouldn’t. [laughs]

AP: [laughs] Nah, let’s keep it a surprise, it’s cool. Artists are never satisfied with their work, so I understand. But I thought it was a cool series [laughs]

SG: I appreciate that. That’s good to hear, cause you know when you’re so deep into something, you can’t see it anymore.

AP: Definitely. 

AP: As we move into this hyper digital-focused space as a society, I think it’s super important we learn some sort of digital or technical skill set. What do you think the future of animation and/or motion design is? Given the takeover of social media, movies, entertainment, and all that stuff.   

SG: I think it’s weird for people who are learning right now. A friend of mine who’s a professor asked one of his students “Where do you want to work? What sort of work do you want to do?” And one of the girls was like “I want to be Insta-famous.” 

AP: Interesting [laughs]

SG: I had this knee jerk reaction, “What the fuckkkk??”

AP: [laughs]

SG: But when I thought about it more, I understood that there is a potential if you’re an amazing animator with a unique point of view. Just as there is potential if you're unique and have a unique point of view in anything. There is a way you can sustain yourself off of something like Instagram if you have the platform and have tons of followers. But I guess what I thought she was forgetting is that there are maybe 40 graduates that year and maybe 40 graduates every year. She’s got competition. So trying to skip the phase of putting your teeth into design, or really learning all of the tools and skillset, is a dangerous thing. At some point, you could be made redundant. And that kind of segues into the future thing. There are so many applications for AI now -- I don’t know if you’ve seen DALL·E from OpenAI, but they’ve created a new text-to-image generator, where you basically type whatever it is you want to see and it makes it.

AP: Whoa...

SG: A porcupine in a leather jacket walking a turtle, and it makes it.

AP: That’s crazy...

SG: Crazy. So when AI gets smarter and tools get easier, some people will be made redundant. In the creative industry, everyone thinks they’re safe, but that’s not the case. It’s obviously a dangerous precedent to set. Something that just learns and mimics humans. But at the end of the day, it’s coming whether you like it or not. Regardless of what you think and how you feel about it, it’s coming. People have to learn how to adapt. It’s extremely tough, but it’s more important than ever now. The ability to segue if you need to based on unforeseen circumstances. For instance, Covid this year. It was very hard for me to direct. I only got to do one shoot in 2020. And that’s down from maybe 5 or 6 shoots a year. If I didn’t have the skillset to pivot, I’d be in a really dangerous place financially. Also, my career would feel very stagnant, ‘cause I’d only be putting out one job a year. So skills are important. Always keep learning. 

AP: So important. We should always be trying to evolve. What advice would you give to someone who might want to start designing?

SG: I always advise people to learn as much as possible. Try different things, break the rules, try to break your computer, try to break the programs. Just try to learn as much as you can and try to do as much as you can. And it doesn’t even matter if it’s perfect or not, because it’ll be 10 years before you even break through. It’ll be 10 years before you make it big. No one blows up overnight. Some people might get a shit ton of Instagram followers overnight, but that’s not really blowing up. It takes 5 years of craft to even get in front of the door and 10 years to even blow up. So it’s a waiting game. People are more impatient now than ever, so it’s a tough pill to swallow. In the design world, it’s almost the reverse of musical artists. Musical artists may hit it hot straight out the gate. They may have stuff that’s relevant, the subject matter, the new sounds, and they don’t give a fuck and that’s what really creates this attitude and interest with people because they’re so fresh and so new. Whereas in design and art, if you want to create a masterpiece by yourself, you have to learn from the masters. You have to really put your teeth into it. It’s a waiting game and it’s a patience game. But it’s a rewarding game if you do it right you know.

”..break the rules, try to break your computer, try to break the programs. Just try to learn as much as you can and try to do as much as you can.”

AP: Okay last question. I’ve asked you a million already. 

Do you remember your first-ever design? Either static or motion. 

What was it?

SG: Awe, yeah. [chuckles]

I used to photoshop random bands’ images together. And I used to upload them onto their fan websites. That’s so corny, but that was a real thing that happened.

AP: [laughs]

SG: But it wasn’t pictures of them, it was always abstract shit. Shit didn’t exist back then. Instagram and all of that. Any sort of media we consume now didn’t exist back then. So I was trying to play around with the tools I had, which was photoshop, and that’s what I was doing. I was making wallpapers for bands, not commissioned, I didn’t know them [laughs]. I would just go to their fan websites and be like ‘Here’s a cool thing I made!’, and they’d upload it onto their wallpaper section and I would be like ‘Coooool!’ 

AP: Were they good? [laughs]

SG: Some of them were soo bad. [chuckles] Some of them were good though.

It was soo long ago. I never thought I would be doing kind of the same thing still — that many years later. Obviously, it’s been taken to a whole new avenue, but not really, you know?

[xraex]

Great Minds Think Alike: 006

“Jaehyun, what are you doing here?” Johnny asked in a hushed whisper as the other scrambled into the room and rushed up to the teacher’s desk.

The four in the back looked at each other with confusion before going back to their work.

“The countdown started early,” Jaehyun stated, making Jeno perk up slightly with interest.

The teacher clicked his tongue and immediately relaxed. “Well, your wifey’s not gonna be happy about this.”

“Johnny, this is serious!” Jaehyun lowered his voice again after catching more unwanted attention. “Taeyong’s gonna make me sleep on the couch.”

Jisung turned towards his friends. “Do you guys have any idea what they’re saying?”

Jeno shook his head and whispered back, “I heard something about a countdown, but that’s about it.”

“A countdown?” Donghyuck questioned, his voice rising a little with panic. “A countdown for what?”

Jaehyun then pushed Johnny away from his desk and typed frantically into the teacher’s laptop while looking back and forth from the clock anxiously.

Jaemin gulped and said in a small voice, “I think we already know.”

As they were all going to mass panic, the door opened, revealing Mark and Renjun.

The four boys were about to stand up and tell their friends to leave as fast as possible, but it was too late.

Everything went black.

—

The five boys opened their eyes after a second to see that they weren’t in the classroom anymore, but they were in an empty beige room, and all of their stuff was gone.

“FUCK!” Donghyuck cursed as he held onto Mark, who was frozen with shock. “WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO NOW?”

“How am I supposed to know?” Jeno yelled back at him as he held onto Renjun’s arm. “Also, what the fuck are we even wearing?”

“Spy outfits?” Renjun guessed as he ran his hands down the black fabric of the cargo jumpsuit he was wearing, weirdly calm about the whole ordeal. “I’m not complaining, though. You guys look like a full course meal.”

“Wait, Injunnie, why aren’t you freaking out?” Jaemin asked as he kneeled down to wake up Jisung who was passed out on the floor again.

Renjun shrugged. “I was expecting Mr. Seo to be an alien who was gonna take us to his home planet and feed us to his people for dinner, so I kinda prepared myself for the worst.”

“You and your conspiracy theories,” Jisung groaned out as he sat up, rubbing his eyes and ruffling his hair. “Where are we this time?”

“This time?” the Chinese boy questioned as Jaemin helped the youngest stand up.

Before anyone could answer him, Jeno’s eyes met a tall, dark haired male who was just standing near the opposite side of the room with his arms crossed, watching the boys with suspicion. “Who’s that?”

The boy was undeniably handsome, and he was wearing the same outfit as everyone else.

For some reason, it looked like he was interrupted from doing something or someone because his cheeks were flushed, and his lips were red and slightly swollen.

Jisung felt his blood run cold when he saw him.

A wave of recognition hit him, and before he could even think on it, his friend’s voice shook him out of his thoughts.

“I’ve never seen him before.” Donghyuck narrowed his eyes in confusion before turning back to his friends. “He wasn’t in the room with us, so I don't know why he’s here too.”

“Jaehyun and Mr. Seo aren’t with us either, so I’m guessing the teleportation thing pre-plans who it wants to take which is why Jaehyun wasn’t with us in the woods yesterday,” Jisung stated smartly, impressing the others with his theory. “But I still don’t get why I’m the only one who gets knocked out.”

Mark cleared his throat, finally gaining the voice to speak. “Can someone explain to me what’s going on?”

Renjun turned towards his boyfriends and gave them a condescending look. “Yeah, what is going on?”

Jeno and Jaemin glanced at each other without saying anything, making the youngest sigh in disappointment.

Jisung explained everything that happened the night before in the woods with Donghyuck adding details that he missed.

Mark blinked and turned to his boyfriend. “...Is that why you asked me to do your homework?”

“Wait, what?” Donghyuck gave him a weird look. “That’s all you have to say about this?”

“I guess, but—”

“I don’t understand why they’d do this to us,” Renjun cut Mark off. “And why they chose us out of all people.”

“Neither do we,” said Jeno quietly.

“Maybe that guy has some answers,” Jaemin suggested, gesturing towards the unknown person from earlier.

Donghyuck, being the extroverted and spontaneous person he is, went over to the guy and dragged him over to the group.

“Dude, what the fu—” The taller yelped, almost tripping his feet as his arm was pulled.

“I’m Donghyuck, and this is Mark, Renjun, Jeno, Jaemin, and Jisung.” Donghyuck crossed his arms, looking up at the older with a glare. “Who are you, and who are you working for?”

“Wong Yukhei,” the boy introduced plainly with wide eyes, still a little shocked from the confrontation. “But you can call me Lucas.”

Renjun raised his eyebrows. “Chinese?”

“Yup, my mom’s Thai, though.”

Right, he spoke Mandarin in my dream, Jisung realized. Now I’m even more sure that I’ve seen him before. It can’t just be a coincidence.

Renjun was about to say something else, but Donghyuck interrupted him.

“Do you know about Jungwoo and the others?” he asked suddenly.

“J-Jungwoo?” Lucas stammered, his tone becoming quiet. “I-I’m sorry, I have no idea who you’re talking about.”

Donghyuck narrowed his eyes. “What? Is he your boyfriend or something?”

“Ye— I mean no!” Lucas stated, which made the younger raise an eyebrow. “Again, I don’t know anything. I just teleported here after soccer practice. I’m just as confused as you are.”

“You’re lyi—”

Mark sighed and placed a hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder before things could get heated. “Forget about it, sunshine.”

“Yeah, let’s just try and find a way out of here.” Renjun moved away from the group as he went up to the only door in the room.

He tried to turn the doorknob, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Of course it wouldn’t have been that easy,” Renjun muttered as he tapped his chin, looking around the empty room for something that might be of use before giving up.

“What is it, Injunnie?” Jeno asked as they all watched the small Chinese with question.

“It’s locked, but if Mark just threw himself—”

“I’m not breaking the door with my body, you weirdo,” Mark interrupted before looking around the empty room as well. “We just have to find a key or something.”

Lucas cleared his throat, catching everyone’s attention. “Don’t you already have one? I overheard you guys talking about it earlier.”

He then touched his neck, making Jisung, Jeno, and Jaemin look at each other as light bulbs went off in their heads.

Donghyuck remained oblivious and was still glaring at Lucas for eavesdropping.

Jaemin shook the boy by his shoulders. “Your necklace!”

Donghyuck widened his eyes and took off the gold chain he was wearing. “Oh, I forgot I was still wearing that.”

Jisung turned his attention back to Lucas who was wearing a proud smile at the other’s discovery.

He knows more than he’s letting on. Tilting his head in suspicion, Jisung made eye contact with the boy, Lucas following the others to the door after looking away quickly. Who exactly is this guy?

The youngest just stood there in silence before realizing that the door still wasn’t open yet.

He shook his head at his struggling hyungs.

“You’re turning the key in the wrong direction,” Jisung stated bluntly, making his friends nod and finally get the doorknob to turn. “I swear you all share one singular brain cell collectively.”

When the door finally opened, they were met by the same beige walls as before; however, it was a long hallway leading into more corridors that went into three different directions, all looking like what you’d see at a fancy hotel but without the rooms.

Mark turned to the others. “So which way do we go?”

“It doesn’t really matter, does it? They all look the same,” said Lucas as he started walking ahead with the others following him cautiously, the faintly flickering ceiling lights giving off a weirdly creepy vibe.

The oldest led the boys along the patterned carpet into the right corridor, passing little tables with lamps and vases scattered around on the sidelines for decorations.

They walked through the hallways in silence until they turned the corner which led to yet another split in directions, except one of the corridors reached a dead end.

Donghyuck huddled closer to his boyfriend and sighed dreadfully. “Looks like we’re stuck doing some stupid maze.”

“Hey, we’ll get through this eventually.” Mark squeezed their intertwined hands comfortingly. “I hope.”

Next Chapter

Chapter Index

[shimmy-sham-with-the-fam]

tagged by: @softkillua, @canzie-gumm and @www98vikitoo (if there were others, I apologize!)

rules: answer these 92 statements and tag people

THE LAST:

1. Drink: Water

2. Phone call: my boyfriend! (He wanted to call last night and it was actually really nice)

3. Text: @shamelessly-anonymous and our friend Josh (I count other messaging apps besides just text messaging)

4. Song you listened to: Walk On Water by 30 Seconds to Mars

5. Time you cried: just this past Sunday because... Uhm... Reasons.

HAVE YOU:

6. Dated someone twice: nope

7. Kissed someone and regretted it: eeyup (my ex was the equivalent of kissing a suction cup.)

8. Been cheated on: not as far as I know??

9. Lost someone special: Yes

10. Been depressed: YES

11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: nope!

LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS:

12-14: Red, Blue, and Purple!

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU:

15. Made new friends: Yes!! Lots of online friends!! :D

16. Fallen out of love: nope, but I've fallen in love with two people all over agai..

17. Laughed until you cried: too many times to count

18. Found out someone was talking about you: uuh I think? Probably. Obviously it wasn't much of a problem since I can't remember.

19. Met somebody who changed you: YES, ABSOLUTELY

20. Found out who your friends are: I mean?? I guess. This is a stupid question, to be honest XD

21. Kissed someone on your Facebook list: well.. I mean I'm not really using fb, but my bf and partner are both my friends on there, so, yeah

GENERAL:

22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: I don't know and I kinda couldn't care less tbh

23. Do you have any pets: yes, although they're not technically mine (But I will have my own after this weekend and I am SO EXCITED)

24. Do you want to change your name: my real name yeah... I like Shim/Shimmy much, much more

25: What did you do for your last birthday: had a small birthday party at my house! I got drunk and accidentally drenched my partner in water... Good times!

26. What time did you wake up: like, 7:30 ish??

27. What were you doing at midnight last night: I was fucking passed out by 10:30

28. Name something you cant wait for: short term: getting my axies! Long term: ... School. Just school in general

29. When was the last time you saw your mom: Sunday at church

30. What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: going to a different college.

31: What are you listening to right now: nothing

32. Have you ever talked to a person named tom: yep, my ex roommate's bf's name is Tom

33. some thing that is getting on your nerves: .... I'd rather not say

34:most visited website: definitely Tumblr

35. mole/s: one

36: mark/s: I have stretch marks on my sides. Uhm, do freckles count?? Cause I have lotsa those

37: Childhood dream: I used to wanna be an art teacher or a veterinarian

38: Hair color: uuuhh... Like a reddish-brown maybe?? Like auburn?? I dunno I can't tell any more

39: long or short hair: SHORT.

40: Do u have a crush on anyone: two people actually (it's D and CJ, but shhh, don't tell either of them. They think I'm a weirdo)

41: What do you like about yourself?: I definitely like that I've improved on my drawing skills!

42. Piercings: yes! Ears and navel! (I'm hoping to get many more in the future)

43. Blood type: O!

44. Nickname: Shim/Shimmy! (But I would rather it be my real name

45. Relationship status: happily taken by the two most amazing dorks this world has to offer

46. Zodiac: Sagittarius

47. Pronouns: They/Them

48: Favorite tv shows: HUNTER X HUNTER BOIIIII

50. Right or left hand: Lefty!

51. Surgery: nope

52. Hair dyed in a different color: yep

53: Sport: sports are kinda bleh with me. I was in colorguard, although some people don't consider that a sport.

55. Vacation: almost anywhere! I love traveling!

56: Pair of trainers: ... This is trio pokemon trainer group erasure (what the fresh fuck??)

MORE GENERAL:

57. Eating: saratoga chips (they're gross but it's something, I guess)

58. Drinking: water

59. I’m about to: Go check on my table at work I guess???

61: Waiting for: this shift to end so I can try to figure out school shit

62: Want: to go back to fucking school, I'm dying of boredom

63. Get married: yeah that sounds nice

64. Career: maybe an art therapist?? Or something that's helping people

WHICH IS BETTER:

65. Hugs or kisses: fucking both you can't make me choose

66. Lips or eyes: once again, both, and I refuse to choose

67. Shorter or taller: taller I guess but they don't gotta be like super tall??

68. Older or younger: doesn't matter just as long as it's not... A gross age difference

70. nice arms or nice stomach: uhm?? Both??? Duh??

71: sensitive or loud: either are okay depending on the situation

72. Hook up or relationship: definitely relationship

73. troublemaker or hesitant: hesitant, definitely

HAVE YOU EVER:

74: Kissed a stranger: nope!

75. Lost glasses/ contact lens: yes... Too many times to count...

76. Turned someone down: yeah, sometimes I felt bad and other times I couldn't have been more proud of myself

78. Sex on the first date: HAHHAHA no.

79. Had your heart broken: yes, but?? Never really from like, a romantic thing???

80. Broken someone’s heart: once again, some I feel bad about, others I couldn't be more proud of myself.

81. Been arrested: nope

82. Cried when someone died: yeah

83. fallen for a friend: Yep, twice, and now I'm dating them both (how did I manage to get so lucky twice over??)

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

84. yourself: haha...

85. Miracles: ish??

86. Love at first sight: no, not really

87. Santa Claus: nope! (But you bet your ass I'm gonna mess with my kids with it)

OTHER:

90. current best friend name:?? BETSY @dragmakihiveka IS MY ONE AND BRONLY

91. Eye color: uuuh I kinda changes?? Like, a blue-ish, green-ish, grey-ish somethin

92. favorite movie: hmmm... Don't really have a favorite?? But I do have lots that I love! Mainly Disney movies!

That... Was such a weird question to end on

Well! That's all! I'll tag uhh.. @dragmakihiveka @destructionofsanctum @mowedith @adorablegorilla @eisompt @deira-luv @zappychild @unnoticed-and-necessary @nekocookiecrumbs @godspeedcomplex @honeybitz @mychildgon and I guess anyone else who wants to do this!

[lulusoblue]

Headcanon: Casey Jones being on the Autistic Spectrum

I see plenty of neurodivergent headcanons for the turtles galore, but never for any of the human characters. In all honestly, saying one of the turtles is on the autistic spectrum is iffy and uncomfortable to me at least because it’s sorta implying that said autism would be the result of a mutation caused by an external element. Because it’s not like we’ve had shit over some dickhead portraying autism as a side effect of vaccination rather than it being a mental disorder that’s as embedded in our genes and beings as internal organs and a massive part of who we are as people. also fuck you wakefield

And so thinking about it more, it just clicked that Casey could fit an autistic headcanon. So here’s a list of things about his character I believe fit such a headcanon based on personal experience and from other autistic people I’ve known:

• Apparently the writers put him at around 17 years old, a year older than April, with some intent that he might have been held back during his education (probably to tie into him seeking April for tutoring). I don’t have any knowledge of American education beyond secondhand information I may see on the internet or pop up on my dash, so my only knowledge of being autistic in a learning system built around neurotypical students is from brief personal experience. Neurotypical education sucks when there isn’t enough awareness of learning difficulties or the teachers don’t have enough training to know how to handle it. Casey might have trouble with his education because he may have difficulties trying to pay attention and absorb information without the tools or support to help him focus. This can get you labelled as just bad behaviour or being dumb/stupid. I sure as hell wasn’t able to follow lessons in school until I finally had someone who listened to why I didn’t like lessons and found them hard to understand. We don’t have any clue as to when Casey was held back if this concept still applies in canon, but being held back might not mean he just didn’t care to study or doesn’t have the smarts to pass. Granted it gets harder to care about learning when you have trouble understanding and your educators don’t bother to help you so much as call you lazy. Which brings me to my next point.

• Casey’s interests and knowledge in gadgets, vehicles, and metalwork. The boy knows his stuff when it comes to Mad Max-looking makeshift weaponry and devices, which is clear from his decked out bike and the crude taser that he’s managed to strap to his arm without frying himself. He worked with Donnie to rig up a supercar as a hobby and helped pimp up the Party Wagon. And he’s still flunking trig. (so’s April but shhhhh that was just a Season 1 thing) Casey seems like a very visual learner in this case: he picks up on things through observation and is self-taught on what interests him. For all we know he figured out cars while being cooped up on a farm with nothing better to do while one of his terrapin friends was in a coma. I’ve ended up doing that with some programs I use or with life stuff in general. Manuals are boring and slow and easy to lose focus on. Maybe look up a couple of video tutorials for something but most of building skills and interests is self-teaching and trial-and-error. (my experience of video editing and art programs is “what’s this do and can i figure out what makes it tick without looking it up”, which is an approach to new interests I think also fits Casey). Likely not something specific or common in autistic people, but figuring things out in such a way has been a thing that popped up for me and a couple of old friends. What I’m saying is Casey made that new mask after half-watching a couple of cosplay tutorials and winging it with some scrap.

• Casey wears those gloves and that headband all the damn time. Even when he’s eating pizza, he’s eating it wearing gloves that have probably been worn working on his bike, wielding a hockey stick/baseball bat that’s likely bashed sweaty heads in rain two weeks ago without being washed, and just the day-to-day things that would get those gloves sweaty or grimey or icky. He wears that headband at all times, even when he’s wearing a mask thank would probably fit better if he took that band of material off of his head. What do his headband and gloves also have in common? They’re articles of clothing that usually have elastic to stay in place. Sure canonically they’re just there to fit his grungy look (get to that hoodie in a second), but digging myself deeper into this headcanon i got to thinking they might also serve sensory/stimming purposes. If there’s something that I think is one thing autistic people have in common or a feeling they share, it’s fiddling/fidgeting and certain sensory things to some level: e.g. I usually wear loose tops because i like fiddling with the hems and corners of my clothing. Some people wear tight or loose clothing based on how they process the sensation of skin against different type of clothing. Casey never taking off his damn gloves or headband could be seen as him liking the sensation of the elastic in them around his wrists and forehead. He probably pings the elastic as well because that’s fun too when you’re bored and need to fiddle.

I refuse to believe that he has never washed that hoodie. I mean yeah the turtles have smelt worse living in a sewer but Casey is a Human who has spent most of his life around Humans and his Human father would probably have burnt his clothes by now if Casey never washed the stink out of them. That and Casey is a hockey player, and I imagine stinking clothes is an annoyance that comes from most sports. Those paint stains on his hoodie I think he’s leaving there on purpose, like he’ll wash his clothes but no dad his clothes get washed separate because he can’t wash his clothes with your clothes because you use stuff that lifts stains and that’ll get rid of the paint splats that he likes on his clothes and why does he want paint splats because he does and they look nice and he probably won’t get the same splatter pattern again if he tried and shush dad this hoodie stays the same because it has to because shut up. We don’t really see Casey tagging anything regularly so unless it’s because they don’t change the texture on animated models because what’s the point it’s not a cgi blockbuster we’re making here Casey probably keeps his paint splattered hoodie like that because it looks nice and it’ll stay nice dad. It’s a Thing.

• Casey constantly refers to a love of heavy metal music. Too much sound for an autistic person can end up in sensory overload and that fucking sucks. And in general just the world around you can suck and you wanna shut it out because ugh. You know what helps? Headphones and really loud music. What genre has really loud music? Yup.

Casey having a social battery. He just pops in and out of the show all the time because the writers dunno what do with him shrug so yeah. Autism likes to play up the variance of a person’s social needs and wants and limits. You want to be friends but you just can’t be asked to be with people right now. You get this surge of wanting to hang out with friends and be loud for a bit, and then you have this mood where you just want to not exist or just not do things. Basically like this:

“raph great to see you i love your face” “whatever weirdo”

[dude where are you] [home] [you’ve been at home for three days] [i’m waiting until i stop hating faces to talk in person again]

If anyone has any other things to add to this headcanon, please do share/add onto this post. Now if you’ll excuse me i’m gonna dig myself further into this headcanon.

EDIT: I forgot another point I wanted to put in and also @a-specforest added some cool addon tags so broski if you don’t mind imma put them here too

• #okay so one symptom of autism is speaking in ’pre learned phrases’ #and casey has a ton of catchphrases • #sometimes speaking in a tone that doesn’t match the conversation? #casey does that a lot too • #he seems to have a few hyperfixations #in season 2 he’s practicing hockey late by himself #and the working on cars that you mentioned

1) how else would he come up with Goongala of COURSE!!! That and pre-learned phrases are great to have when spontaneous speech is a bitch and you trip over words and stammer. not that i would know anything about that nooo We’ve already heard him muddle up words in the moment (I think he said jumbled up “racism” later in S4)

2) Tone control is something I’ve dealt with, too. Apparently I have resting bitch voice so I’ll say something and get asked if i’m in a bad mood or snapped at for “being rude”. Also knew other autistic people who would have ranges of tones in certain convos too, e.g. one always sounded happy and chipper and laughed a lot even when something wasn’t particularly funny, one person’s tone of voice went everywhere it was hard to tell what their feelings were even with the context of conversation. Casey’s attitude and tone in conversation, even serious ones, might be an indication of that, I agree.

3) Oh yeah, he definitely fits hyperfixation. There’s his hobbies, and also there’s how he sees his future. When he and April are in the park for their first study session, he’s got two clear ideas for what to do with his life; Hockey Star or Bounty Hunter. With him immediately trying to play hero when confronted with a walking talking tank of organs his bounty hunter fantasy may have something to do with it. He’s reckless and headstrong, but it also lends to his fixation on one of his dream careers; if fighting a monster that he’s confronted with something he sees as a step to bounty hunting, he’ll likely put up his dukes and get melted because ACID HANDS I have definitely known people who were determined on doing something because it was what they wanted. It might’ve come across as stubbornness or rigidness depending on what it (even something as simple as just doing something like a chore a certain way), but in context of ambitions and their future they were pumped as hell to take the steps they needed to take to do what they liked and what they wanted for themselves. They didn’t care about what people thought of them even if they didn’t pass as neurotypical and would get stares on the street. Not sure how they would react if say culinary career path involved fighting mutated food, but considering the show itself is an action-adventure cartoon with mutant turtles I think we can give Casey a pass on that lack of realism there. we begrudgingly give the writers passes all the time so why stop now

Aaaand the point i forgot to put in my original post:

• Casey’s less-than appropo reactions or attitudes in situations possibly links to difficulty reading people, being empathetic or understanding social cues/priorities. Reading and understanding facial expressions and body language can be a bitch if you’re autistic. There’s even a learning software program a couple of students from my school would use in one-to-one sessions that specifically addresses this for those who find it THAT hard to tell what another person is expressing. It’s especially troublesome because empathy can be a confusing thing too, because it can go from you not really having any empathy to you having so much that you think you’re hurting the feelings of a pair of shoes because you chose to wear something else that day which totally isn’t the extreme i experience at all hahaha help i’m mentally apologising to a boot Casey doesn’t appear to take things seriously in dangerous circumstances the majority of the time, nor does he appear considerate of others at other times. It’s a lot of confidence and certainty that things will turn out OK (with a heaping spoonful of “self preservation instinct what self preservation instinct”). It’s not always an appropriate attitude to make jokes and quips and tease and make jabs at people, but he HAS taken things seriously and shown worry/sadness at appropriate times. He’s really quiet and almost numb when the subject of his family’s fate comes up in Invasion, and he was surprisingly the only one to be most affected after watching someone get mOLECULARLY RIPPED APART. From experience, both personal and through observation, figuring out how to react and respond to things when you don’t really know how to is a pain in the ass and often distressing because you feel bad for not knowing. Sometimes you resort to humour to lighten things and try to ease tensions, sometimes you have an internal screaming match with yourself and panic and go through an archive of potential reactions because what the fuck would apply here, or sometimes you just shut down or just don’t react like it’s not really a big deal or even happening. Or you end up going through verbal barfing and dig yourself deeper into a hole of instant regret because you’re making yourself look like an ass when you don’t want to why is this so hARD. I think Casey would fall into the “address things with confidence and cockiness” kind of reaction pool, because it’s an attitude he’s comfortable with and how he better deals and processes things. It’s not to say he doesn’t have some empathy or disregard for other people’s feelings (hello Buried Secrets), it could be that it’s not comfortable territory for him even when he wants to be serious/emotionally supportive. did any of that come out right fffffffffU

• Casey’s small social circle and it possibly being by choice. His best friends are the girl who he met through tutoring in a subject she was failing before and four giant turtles who are trained in ninjutsu. He only mentions having one friend before, a friend with whom he had a falling out, and he didn’t seem to like Irma all that much (you can say it’s because “she’s a third wheel on dates” but even outside of that he didn’t seem to get along with her much). With things like hyperfixation and the like making a vast group of friends is tricky. Being autistic might mean the friends you choose to make have lots of interest in common with you rather than just being someone you get along with. Not to say being autistic means you are limited to a few friends. I’m no expert on autistic social lives, I can only draw from firsthand experience. I found trying to maintain a number of friendships difficult and often overwhelming so at some point in school I stopped trying to make friends, with the exception of a couple of people I liked and had common interests with. I chose to keep my social circle small because the thought of making lots of friends and keeping in touch with them all and remembering who likes who and what overwhelmed me and made me nervous as a child. Still kinda leaks into adulthood because I don't have many friends outside of the company I keep on tumblr. In this autistic headcanon, Casey’s very small social circle could be by choice. He doesn’t mention having any other friends besides one previously, fixates on April (and yes I am knocking the romantic aspect out the window for this) after approaching her for tutoring because he found her cool and likes hanging out with her (and probably saw kicking a mutant’s ass as common ground/bonding too), hung out with her even when a person he wasn’t keen on (Irma) was also there, and even when he’s introduced to the turtles and befriends them he still appears to be platonically closest to April arguably, depends on how the writers want to write him that week. Considering how the love triangle bullhockey has been given little to no reference as of late, his concern for April in Tokka vs the World and his annoyance at Leo’s teamup picks in Tale of Tiger Claw might be more because he can’t be with his favourite person. (and yes that can be a Thing too) He might also fixate on having April’s company because she isn’t much of a social butterfly herself outside of the friendly neighbourhood mutants living in the sewer. Compare how many times we see him hanging out with the turtles minus April versus when April is present.