#League of Villains band au

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

League of Villains band au where:

Btw this is a no quirks au, skdjkdndmdmdnd

It starts with an announcement on Kurogiri's bar. Tomura had been on and off for a whole year on different bands, but nothing worked, so he decides to start his own project.

Giran owns Kurogiri a few favors, so he makes some calls and eventually comes across two young punks who look exactly like Tomura's brand of crazy.

Toga is a drop-out high-schooler who was kicked from home. She was making a name for herself singing in the streets while playing either the drums or her guitar.

Touya's dream was to be a pop king like his dad. After his accident and recovery, Rei and the other Todoroki kids agreed to help Touya change his appearance and move to his own apartment, where Enji wouldn't find him. He can't sing like before due the damage on his vocal cords, but his a total showman on the guitar or bass and an insane lyricist.

Tomura processed the trauma of his family death through music from a young age. In other words, he's able to play a good number of instruments and knows a lot about music theory. He prefers the piano, however. The movement on the fingers help him relax.

The first time they play together because they can't decide which genre they want to play or who sings or who plays what. They decide to find at least one or two more bandmates and try it out.

That's how they met Spinner, a barely known bassist from a small town, and Twice, a kinda older drummer that makes it sound like he has more arms than he has when he plays the drums, holy shit.

They try again. It takes them a few intense days until they make it. Funnily enough, they were chilling all across the bar messing with some cover when Kurogiri walked in and started correcting them individually. That's how they learned that Kurogiri is some musical genius or something.

They start pulling their influence. Found in Magne a make-up artist and in Mr. Compress a visionary man when it comes to the stage arrangements. Mustard is their first fan, Muscular their bodyguard and they have a poor mutilated plushie that they call nomu, the mascot of the band.

They start playing on Kurogiri's bar, getting barely enough money to buy a broken ass van and travel as they can to other places. Their reputation is mostly due how crazy they all look stumbling down the van and getting on stage. They're like a fever dream.

They start creating their own lore. Maybe there's a superior evil pulling their strings. Maybe the world turned them into villains. Maybe Dabi can breath fire and Tomura always wear gloves because he destroys everything he touches and Toga has fangs and drink blood and Spinner ir a lizard man and there is a different Twice every night and...

Before they know it, it's not about the fame anymore. They sign with Meta Liberation records. Magazines are calling them a menace to the music industry. They're competing with the best boy bands and solo artists and records of Japan.

It's a delicate thing to find themselves a second before diving in a spiral of fame and attention. It's chaos and it's hurting them but also there's nowhere else for them to be.

[phoenixgreen]

did @villainsandvictimsalliance 's post about a lov band au motivate me to finally draw my own band au I had in mind for like two years? Yes. Yes it did

x Tomura is the singer and bandleader, Dabi the lead guitarist, Toga the second guitarist, Twice the drummer and Spinner the bassist

x they got together in high school and made the decision once they finish it they’re gonna try and make it as the “League of Villains”

x no quirks

x I loved Shan’s idea for the lore that formed around them, like people thinking Tomura destroys everything he touches because he wears gloves or Twice playing like four people at once so he must be more than one person and so on

x Giran is their scrappy cool uncle manager

x AFO is Tomuras adopted Dad after his parents died in an accident (there is more to it but he doesn’t talk about it) and Tomura is still on the run from him

x Dabi had an accident with fire years ago so he has his scars (even tho they’re not as bad) and hates his father with a burning passion you could say

x Endeavor is a music producer with his own label; All Might too

x Spinner was bullied in high school because of his wierd looks and Tomura befriended him and showed him how to stand up to his bullies

x I imagined they sound a lot like Nothing but Thieves and/or Bad Omens

I‘m gonna post more headcanons with more art in a later post

[thesakuragarnet]

Music Keeps Us Alive: College Band AU

Summary: Three bands rule UA University's campus: Bakusquad, Dekusquad, and League of Villains. In a college town where music is the lifeblood, these three bands struggle to shine the brightest against the crowd. However, in addition to expressing themselves through song, each band member is just simply trying to graduate and find themselves throughout their lives at UA University.

Disclaimers: So far, I own none of the songs/lyrics in this story! All rights go to their respective owners! This fic has also been discontinued until further notice and by that I mean the first four chapters are on AO3, but I'm not sure how I'm going to connect my plotlines for this. So it'll come whenever it finally gets ready.

THIS FIC IS 18+ FOR THEMES AND CONTENT

Tags: Dabi-centric fic, implied s3xual content, angst, implied/referenced cheating, swearing, alternate universe- rock band/college/university, Bakusquad, Dekusquad, league of villains as family/a band, found family, multiple ships/rarepairs, underage drinking, drinking, implied/referenced substance use, age changes for this AU, mental health issues, FTM Dabi, mild v!olence

Word Count (for this first chapter): 1,096 words

AO3 link

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 1: BreakUp & Intro

“GET OUT!” Dabi screams, shoving Hawks toward the door of his apartment. Hawks promptly turns around and grabs his boyfriend by the wrists, keeping him from pushing him. 

“C’mon Dabs. Lemme explain!” Hawks shouts back in an almost nonchalant manner, as if Dabi’s simply overreacting. 

“EXPLAIN WHAT, MOTHERFUCKER? EXPLAIN HOW YOU WEREN’T CHEATING ON ME WHEN I CAUGHT YOU FUCKING PROFESSOR KAYAMA?!” Dabi growls, trying to hold back tears as he attempts to wrestle free from the jock’s grip. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about man,” Hawks scoffs. Dabi activates his Quirk, making Hawks cry out and release him. Dabi angrily tears his phone out of his pocket and pulls up the video footage. 

“I CAUGHT YOU SNEAKING HER IN ON THE FUCKING RING DOORBELL IDIOT! DID YOU FORGET I HAVE A CAMERA, OR DID YOU WANT ME TO FIND OUT THIS WAY THAT YOU’RE FUCKING OUR CHEMISTRY TEACHER?!” Dabi snarls, “THIS IS MY APARTMENT! I’M GONNA HAVE TO GET A WHOLE NEW BED! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME AFTER EVERYTHING I’VE DONE FOR YOU?!” 

“Pfft. And what exactly have you done for me, Toya?” Hawks snaps, and Dabi grits his teeth. 

“I told you, that’s not my name anymore,” The scarred man seethes, balling his hands up into fists. “And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

“It means. All you do is sit in your room, study, and write music. We don’t go to bars anymore. We never go on dates anymore. You won’t come with me to my fraternity’s parties. You refuse to do anything but fucking stay holed up like some loser,” Hawks says coldly, staring him dead in the face. 

“I told you . I’m going through a rough time right now. Music helps me calm down and feel better. You used to like my music-” Dabi starts, trying to remain calm, but Hawks rudely cuts him off. 

“Yeah, yeah. Your mom died last year and you’ve still got daddy issues, boohoo. My folks have been absent for years. You’ll get over it.” 

Dabi can feel his heart shattering. Ever since Hawks started making more friends and joining new crowds, he’d become a totally different person. They were high school sweethearts, going into their third year of dating and their junior year of college. They’d been living together for a whole year, though it was Dabi’s name on the lease. He just let Hawks continuously crash there. But…as the years went by…he realized that Hawks was no longer the person he fell in love with. He wanted so desperately for it to not be true, but his words just confirmed it. Dabi storms off, running straight into the bedroom. He grabs Hawks’ duffel bag, which reeks of weed, and tears it open before harshly pulling open drawers in the dresser. Dabi throws Hawks belongings into the bag and storms back into the living room before shoving the bag into his hands. 

“Get. The fuck. Out of here,” Dabi says through gritted teeth, feeling tears well up in his eyes. Hawks laughs in his face. 

“Seriously? That’s it? Toya, we’ve been through too mu-”

“THAT’S NOT MY FUCKING NAME AND I WANT YOU OUT OF MY FUCKING APARTMENT! NOW! GET THE HELL OUT AND DON’T COME BACK! WE’RE DONE! THIS ‘LOSER’ IS DUMPING YOUR SORRY ASS! GO LIVE IN YOUR STUPID FRAT HOUSE WITH ALL YOUR STUPID FRIENDS WHO ARE BETTER THAN ME!” Dabi screams, igniting his hands, threatening to get violent. Hawks’ eyes narrow and he puffs his chest out. 

“Fine. I don’t need you anyway,” He snorts, rolling his eyes as he walks out of the front door and slams it behind him. Dabi sinks to the ground in the middle of the living room and completely loses it, crying his heart out and ruining his eyeliner. 

“FUCK!!!!!!!” He screams until his throat hurts, not caring if he gets a noise complaint. He feels like his heart was just ripped out of his chest. In truth, his friends warned him that this would happen. 

…

They’d formed a band freshman year, after Dabi (then, Toya) met them at orientation. Dabi is majoring in biology and is set on becoming a veterinarian, which his father rather frowned upon. Nonetheless, his new friends were eager to support him. Twice (third-year theatre major) is the lead vocalist, Tomura (third-year computer science major) plays the bass, Spinner (third-year exercise and sport science major) is the drummer, and Compress (third-year history major) plays the keyboard. Dabi writes the songs, plays his electric guitar, and sings backup (or provides screams whenever needed for their harder songs). Last year, they’d welcomed a freshman (now-sophomore)  into their band; a girl named Himiko Toga (theatre major) who had a siren-like voice and an astounding vocal range. She and Twice were the headlining vocalists of their band: League of Villains. 

This year, Dabi’s younger brother, Shoto (first-year biological engineering major), also formed a band with his friends. Shoto was two years younger than Dabi but was far more gifted in their father’s eyes. Shoto was the favorite. Dabi didn’t resent him for it; in fact, Shoto loathed their father as much as Dabi did. Like his older brother, Shoto was the guitarist and co-lyricist for his friends’ band: Dekusquad, named after the lead vocalist’s stage name: Deku (first-year mechanical engineering major). The other co-lyricist was a girl named Tsuyu Asui (first-year ecology major), who also played the keyboard in the band. Their bassist and backup vocalist was Ochaco Uraraka (first-year astrophysics major), and their drummer was named Tenya Ida (first-year accounting major). However, Shoto’s band had a prominent rival on UA University Campus: Bakusquad. 

Bakusquad was an up-and-coming alternative group of freshmen with a lead vocalist whose range was almost as glorious as Toga’s. Mina Ashido (first-year dance major) had the timbre of Rihanna and the tenacity of P!nk. Mina and their drummer, Katsuki Bakugo (first-year chemistry major), wrote the lyrics for their songs. The drummer’s boyfriend, Ejiro Kirishima (first-year exercise and sport science major), played the bass, while their other best friends, Denki Kaminari (first-year electrical engineering major) and Hanta Sero (first-year graphic design major), played the keyboard and guitar respectively. 

The music scene of Musutafu was always a key part of the culture, and UA University often brought some big names in music to light. Music was a way for the students to express themselves; it was a way to relieve stress and dish out emotions whether they be love, hate, anger, happiness, despair, or frustration. Music keeps the students of UA University alive.

[thebnha-auhoard]

Au where everything is solved because one Iida Tensei got real stressed helping out with Yamada and Aizawa during their increasingly disastrous wedding day and started to rope more and more people into helping him fix this wedding.

He would ask Kayama for help but she’s too busy flirting with Ms Joke and he’s been rooting for that for a while and like hell he’s going to ruin romance for them.

All he has to do is find a new band, get a new cake, make sure no villains sabotage the wedding, prepare the backup suits because Tensei knows that the first suits are going to be ruined, find a new venue because the first one is gone and oh god he’s going to get an aneurysm by the end of the day.

Meanwhile, a Ten Year Old Iida Tenya is trying to recruit every single kid his age to help him stop his uncles from seeing each other because according to Hitoshi, if they see each other at all they’ll die on spot and that can't happen! They have to get married! They can't die on their wedding day!

Somehow in the time span of a day, Tensei is going to go and just gather up all the Future League of Villains, stop All For One, and make this wedding perfect. I don't know how but he's going to do that.

And meanwhile, his brother is going to somehow go and grab all of Class 1-A, Shigaraki, Dabi, Spinner, and Toga and just start roping them into helping him stop his uncles from seeing each other. AT THE MOMENT. AT THE MOMENT. HITOSHI HE ISN'T TRYING TO WRECK THEIR MARRIAGE. STOP SAYING THAT-

Aizawa and Yamada are just in the background, having a good time and thinking about the days they'll spend together as Partners.

[remosdeerica]

Summary: Jade has brought Lian to the only person she could think of to protect her now that Roy is dead: Damian al Ghul.

[Context: this is set in my AU where Damian has adopted a bunch of Villain's kids. The 11yr old mentioned is Zoe Lawton.

TW: there are allegations to postpartum depression and abortion but nothing explicit.]

"You can't be serious. Nguyen, this is insane."

"There is no one else. She is not safe with me."

Damian took a sharp breath through his nose in frustration as he stared Cheshire down. She looked ragged. Tired in a way he had never seen her before, though unless you had known her for as long as he had you would never be able to tell.

In her arms was a bundle. Small, wrapped in a pink fuzzy blanket. Damian knew what that bundle was, and as he had just stated, it was asinine for her to have brought it to him of all people.

"What about, Queen? If the child is truly Harper's like you claim her to be, would it not make more sense for her to be with her adopted Grandfather?" Damian tried to reason.

Jade gave him a hard look. "Do you truly wish me to entrust the safety of my only child to Oliver Queen?

Okay, Damian could at least concede that Queen being given access to an infant was a horrible idea. Especially so fresh after he and Canary have split for what he assumed was the umpteenth time.

"I just don't understand why you would bring her to me. I can not be your first choice."

"Of course not," Jade snapped. "My first choice is dead."

Damian could admit he felt a modicum of guilt at invoking the thought of Roy Harper's demise. Especially as he was seemingly to be given the privilege of being the first to meet his daughter, when by all rights it should have been him.

"You aren't even my second choice," she continued.

"Who was?"

"Jason."

"Todd?" Damian asked.

It would make sense, he supposed. From what he understood he, Harper and Jade had all had some form of… arrangement. Harper being the focal point. Damian had only witnessed Jason and Harper together once, but they had looked so disgustingly in love that he made sure to never have to be in the same room with them again, if he could help it.

Grimly, he thought that would no longer be a problem.

But the problem with Jason being her second choice is that shortly before Harper's death, he and Father had some falling out in regards to the Penguin and he went off grid. Damian wasn't even sure if he knew his lover was no longer living.

"Yes, Jason." She said, "but though hard as I try I can not find him."

Damian sighed. "I'm not surprised. When Todd wants to disappear he makes sure that even Father can't find him. But I still don't understand the logic of me being your third choice."

Jade laughed bitterly. "Do you not understand, Little Prince?"

Damian winced. She had not called him that since they had been in the League.

"You are not my third choice. You are my only choice. There is no one else. I have no one else to trust."

The pair shared a long look amidst the silence of the cold night air.

"The Justice League would help you, Jade." He said, softly. It was not often he showed others this kindness. But he knew deep in his bones the hysterical and bitter feeling of having no one to trust. No one to rely on. It was part of the reason he had gone about collecting his little band of misfits. So at least he could be someone to trust, even partly.

Jade scoffed as she tightened her arms around her daughter.

"Please," she spat. "Like they protected Roy? Or Jason? Or you?

Damian had to look away from her glare.

"The Justice League can not even protect their own children! I can not- will not- entrust them to protect mine."

"But why me?" He shouted, demanding to know what the woman was thinking. "I'm seventeen. I live with a handful of other teenagers and an eleven year old. We don't even stay in one place for more than a few weeks. Not to mention that said eleven year old is also being hunted because of her connection to her father. Your child will not be any safer from your enemies with me, Jade."

"Perhaps not. But she will be safe from me."

Damian felt a growing sense of unease as he saw a deep hollowness take over Jade's eyes. He didn't have to wait long for her to elevorate.

"Sometimes she just… cries. And cries and cries and one night I- I almost- I could have-" she took a shuddering breath. Damian had never seen her this shaken. " I thought I could do this. I thought I could love her enough to be what she needed. But I'm not… I'm not built for this. For the… softness that she needs. It's just not in me."

Damian felt his heart twinge as he watched a single tear trickle from her eye.

"I tried. We're she anyone's but his… I would have terminated. But I… I couldn't bear to bring myself to kill the last part of him that remained in this world. I tried for her, for Roy, but… I'm just not built to take care of anyone but myself."

Damian opened his mouth to say something. What, he didn't know. But he felt she deserves to hear something.

She, however, interrupted him.

"But you are," she said, her voice nearly more than a whisper. Then stronger, " I have known you since you were a boy. I have witnessed you in many parts of your life. And what you have always demonstrated, without ever giving it conscious thought, is your ability to care for those you consider under your protection. Those you consider your own."

"My brother's would very much disagree with you."

Her lips twitched upwards. "You are a good man, Damain al Ghul. You always have been. Even all those years ago. I know that you will guard my child with your life. And that you will take the life of others in her defense, should you find it necessary."

Damian felt his shoulders sag in defeat.

"I still don't think this is a good idea. What exactly is your plan?"

Knowing she had won, Jade drew her shoulders back.

"Find Jason," she said, authoritatively. "He is who she has left now."

"And if he won't take her? Or if… he can't?"

"Do whatever you have to do to keep her safe."

Damian sighed for what seemed to be the hundredth time that night. "I supposed that's all I really can do."

He lifted his arms towards her to take the child.

[lordkingsmith]

Given power rangers has alter reality kids and grandkids for Kim and Tommy now I wanna do a series to make up oc kids for Kim and Kat for everyone they were dating or popular ships for them. I’ve got a couple for Kim so I’m just gonna spitball a few with the canon lol

Canon Kimberly Hart child;

Tommy Oliver:

Olivia Hart, possibly aged 21, green ranger. Information to be added.

Oc Grandkids:

Olivia;

Although Tommy died long before he could really get to see his daughter grow up, she did and she’s thriving. She never got married, she did have two kids. One adopted one not, but the other parent doesn’t matter-at least, they’re not at the age that it matters yet and she’s not going to contend with the fact the baby may or may not be a demigod. Theo, aged twelve, and Clover, eight months, love their mom and grandma. At least Theo does. Clover’s just a baby and generally loves everyone who holds her. Adopted at two, Theo knows about power rangers, knows about his mom being one, knows his grandparents were. Doesn’t particularly care aside from the fact his family helps people. Theo reads a lot, and draws, and helps his mom take care of things. She’s trying to run a small business while also being a Green Ranger, and Theo when he’s home from school is used to juggling school work and babysitting. His only hard me time days are the weekends, when he’s got little league baseball or chess. Olivia supports and understands this, and so far she and Kim have attended every single game and tournament. Has bashed putties in their faces in defense of Clover, before. He got a cake for that one. Privately Olivia knows Tommy loves these two, if he’s watching. And she’s certain he is.

Neither Theo nor Clover are associated with a color nor do I see them ever becoming associated with a color.

OC Children of Kimberly Hart;

Farkas Bulkmeier;

Chloe Bulkmeier-Hart, aged 19, pink ranger. Au that will be animated, Kim and Farkas waited to have kids and actually Chloe was a bit of a surprise baby. Best friends with Tommy and Kat’s oldest grandson. Was a good ranger, became brainwashed and is a villainous ranger. Her love interest is a vampire named Iva Song. She is pastel goth with a deep love of frills and spikes, deep pinks and velvety blacks and poofy skirts and dresses and combat boots. She's got an inordinate amount of knowledge on ancient battle tactics, and how to hotwire a motorcycle. Both things she learned from her parents. She has a lovely singing voice. She is five foot four, and is a bottle rocket of doom. While she's had a crush on Iva since they were tiny, she never knew he seriously reciprocated until much much later. She's able to shake the mind control when she's-gasp-forced to go undercover as a punk. Trading her dresses for miniskirts? Respectfully, no.

Tangential Coinless au, bur she’s a newborn and Billy and Drakkon’s clones Bit and Tom become her babysitters. Her godmother is Sharkie and her godfather is Eugene Skullovitch.

Eugene Skullovitch;

Stormy Hart, aged seventeen. Her parents are separated. Despite the rocky start with Eugene being Kim’s rebound, they got together again after the Candace Incident. Kim progressed on Eugene’s terms, and they had a kiddo right as they were applying for colleges. It was a bit difficult and they made it work, but when Stormy was seven they finally had to separate, though they’re not on bad terms. Stormy is Spike’s half sister, and has her own band. Has anxiety and depression. Doesn’t spend time with brother or Bulk, at least as much as she should. Mostly for her appearance. Got extremely jealous of Spike over the power rangers thing though! She generally lives with her mom, not her dad, hence why she doesn’t spend time with Spike. She loves her goofy half brother but she’s at the age where her image is important to her. She doesn’t have any colors associated with her.

Stan Skullovitch;

Kimmie Skullovitch-Trueheart. Aged 20. She is the alternate version of Dr. K. The one that wasn’t stolen from school and her parents. In the same reality as Chloe. Kim offered to be the surrogate mother when she was around 27 years old. She had long discussions with them, and they made it happen.

In a tangential reality she and Stan got together while he was on tour and she was finishing college, and Kimmie has two famous parents. One in biotech and Olympic gymnastics and one as a rockstar. In this reality Kimmie is a purple ranger.

And then of course Dr K, yes my headcanon is she’s a Skullovitch somehow, and I adore her being Kim’s too

Matthew Cook;

Kelson Hart. Aged 21. Older Twin brother to Kira Hart. Kim’s a single parent, raised her kids mostly on the run after Matthew died when they were four, but she and Matt never got married. More of a friends with benefits thing, off and on until she got pregnant with twins. Kelson has nothing to do with his family. Intergalactic diplomat at 21. Does not live on earth, but shows up every Christmas. He is not associated with any color. He blames power rangers for a lot of his family and planet problems actually. He loves his mom and sister and family, but he can’t bypass their glaringly massive differences in opinions.

Kira, aged 21, younger twin sister to Kelson, green ranger on SPD B Team. She’s often her brothers body guard when he’s on earth for official business, but they bicker constantly when they actually speak to each other outside of work. He blames the power rangers for everything, she thinks he’s an idiot. The reason Kim was on the run in the first place was an unreformed Zedd heard about the kids and as Matt used to work for him, decided those kids were his, actually. As payment. Matt died killing Zedd. That wasn’t power rangers fault, that was Zedd’s fault.

Zedd;

Specifically not serious bur she almost got married to him so that eventual resulting Eltaran human hybrid is named Zinnia, he’s 26. Zedd’s dead and Kim is a grand empress. Nobody blames Kim for murdering him, however she’s gone a bit nuts. Zinnia is a freedom fighter against his own mother. He’s a gold ranger.

Trini Kwan;

Forgot to add the ladies last night but y’know, only fair. So.

Hart Linh Xian, aged 16. Xian is the younger half sister of Minh and Olivia. When Tommy disappeared Trini did as well, however a few years after Tommy. She and Kim got close shortly after Minh was born, and later got married. Soon after they had a daughter of their own with the help of in vitro fertilization procedures. Trini later died in a freak accident fighting a villain, and Kim withdrew completely with her daughters. Xian’s a pink ranger to Olivia’s green and Minh’s yellow. She’s the one braincell in the sister group, and a fair balance of her sister’s personalities. Still figuring herself out, trying to do Kim proud while also struggling to figure out how to honor Trini’s memory.

Kat Hillard;

Echo Hart-Hillard. Aged 20. They were not raised by Their moms, at first. Dark Spectre used magic to make a child from the dna of the two most fearsome pink rangers he could think of, and then had said child trained. Echo first met Tommy, fresh out of divorce with his second wife Kim, and almost they killed him. He managed to talk them down and it was Zack and Billy showing up in back up who realized who Echo even was. Kim and Kat were good friends, but it was the then twelve year old assassin who inadvertently got them together. Echo’s non-binary and very very good at murder. Not associated with any color. This is probably a good thing. Specter was intending them for psycho silver, but Echo’s glad they’re not a ranger, at least for now. They got to be ring bearer at their moms wedding. Specter is still pissed he’s lost control of the murder child, and moms and teenager are currently hiding out under assumed names. They move around a lot just because Echo still finds it difficult to not solve all their problems via murder. And can’t shake the habit of calling the psycho rangers their aunts and uncles. It’s been rough but they’re happy with their moms.

Jason Lee Scott;

When Kim and Jason both stopped being rangers, there was a…growing pain, reacclimating to normal civilian teen life, to be sure. With Jason also coming off the heels of having just buried his mom. Kim and Jason spun their wheels for a bit trying to get around the awkward and be there for each other. Eventually it settled into a devoted romance. They have two daughters. Kristine Alana Scott-Hart, aged 21, and Jenny Rose Scott-Hart, aged 17.

Kristine is planning on going into NASA, fascinated by the stars and the adventures of her parents but more interested in the very close by solar system. She’d like to explore Mars, Neptune, Pluto, rather than anything farther. Her reasoning is the ocean is on the planet and barely explored, in lieu of more interesting subjects. Their neighboring planets are a bit like the ocean, and she’s keen on seeing what secrets they hold first, before anything else. She’s been told if she sees a dumpster however, don’t for the love of the grid open the stupid thing. Nobody wants to know what ancient space warlord’s inside. Somehow managed to be more science minded than fight minded, and Kim and Jason don’t know how that happened but they love their kid anyway. Billy thinks it’s hilarious.

She has a fairly easy going relationship with her parents. She can tell them things and they trust her. Not associated with a color, and gets along well with her sister, who is.

Jenny Rose is going to be a kickboxing champion. She decided this at five years old and it’s never changed. She’s a violinist and a kickboxer, and uses the dichotomy to confuse people constantly. Would rather get in the ring with someone than date them. She’s the pink ranger of her team. It’s a little confusing until someone listens to her coaching the putties on how to kick better, and then it starts making sense. When she’s older, she wants to own a dojo and run self defense sessions and kickboxing classes for teens and kids. It’s always surprising to people, but she gets along well with her sister.

Aisha Campbell;

They quickly became fast friends, and Aisha caught feelings for the pink really really quickly. However, she didn't say anything until Kim left the rangers and was replaced by Kat. She was going on scholarship, and they started a long distance relationship. Eventually they got married after Aisha herself retired from rangerdom. Together with Anubis Cruger, they founded SPD. The wives have one son, a wild card named Benedict "Ben" Campbell. Aged 24. Benedict is currently in Ranger Academy, and has broken nearly every rule so far. Just for fun, just to see what'll happen. He's not a bad guy, he just simply wants to test limits. Of both himself and the world around him. When he graduates school he will be a Pink Ranger on D Team.

-

I’ll put more up but I think this was fun! Do you think we should make this an ask game? Send someone a name and ask them to list their ideas of kids they might have with different partners?

I kinda wanna draw them too, the official and unofficial “siblings” as it were lol. Your thoughts @augment-techs and @skyland2703? I’d tag more but I don’t know if it’d be a good idea. Anyway. Thoughts?

[deadboyswalking]

Shigadabi Band AU

Shigaraki "I am going to murder my bass player slash ex-boyfriend" Tomura

Todoroki "I was an asshole but it wasn't what it looked like and hearing the love of my life scream into the mic about wanting to kill me every night is starting to bum me out" Touya

League "this is super fucking awkward even if the music's great so please get back together" of Villains

[transjarlaxle]

i dont know much about BG3 but i do love AUs, so... what roles would your main OCs play in a hero/villain au? :3c

i stopped in the middle of drawing oc nsf// to answer this bcz i completely forgot about it ngl<3

but listen anon you are SPEAKING MY LANGUAGE so i'm gonna break it down for you okay here we go

now. i am going to talk about the ocs i'm mostly using for bg3 because theyre the guys im talking about most these days and most of my other ones are specific to other kinds of content. THAT SAID, i have two(2) ocs who are FOR hero/villains settings, and they are:

Jury, indie villain-turned-hero. she utilizes photokinesis and limited flight as a front-line fighter - she'll use her light to form wings and a hammer to burn and blind her opponents and create openings for her teammates. she's pretty independent at this point but i originally made her for bnha, and yes she gets to kiss aizawa there.

Vindicator, my main Sidestep for Fallen Hero. He's most often a version of Jesse O'Shea, who is my self-insert oc that i use in pretty much any IP. His build focuses on subtle manipulations over strength of mind, arrogant/ruthless/daring, and his main situationship is Ortega, but sometimes Herald. please play fallen hero it makes me insane

ALRIGHT now that they have been mentioned - the dnd/bg3 crew :3

i imagine this is going to have to be a sort of avengers / justice league situation, with a sort of suicide squad / league of villains thing happening on the other side. so, with that in mind:

reaper is The villain. i haven't talked about him here much, but he was my original Bhaalist oc from like four years ago, before i even knew baldur's gate was a thing. he's a death cleric, commits murder as an act of worship, and in my homebrew world, is one of five members of a cult dedicated to an undead chaos goddess. so in this AU, i imagine he's one of the leaders of whatever Bad Guy team exists here, in charge of getting the band together and whatnot

rumari is also a villain. they grew up as an assassin, which translates well to this AU - raised as a blade, to be wielded by whosoever is in charge at the time. depending on who they end up around, they might be reformable - but most likely not. i imagine they're the sort of loki-type, the one that the heroes capture and banter with, the one they lock in the glass box, but they always escape to cause more problems<3

leorin and kaz are the villain lackeys. they're part of the evil elf squad with rumari, and theyre the ones to match up with the heroes in the big end battle. leorin is a dark magician type, corruption and fire and whatnot, and kaz has a big fuck off sword and heavy armor - he's the tank. they don't get as much screen time as the others, but they're usually in the frame together, and banter a lot, so all the edgy teens ship them

kaine is the wild card. they're introduced late in the series or one of the sequel films, and it's a will-they-won't-they thing - they're a free agent, and they're easily swayed by power and promises of freedom, so there's probably a long arc of them working alongside the villains. most of the heroes want to take them out bcz of how big of a threat they are, but theres one or two (gale? wyll?) heroes who Believe In Them.

max is the face of the hero squad. i mean, he's The Butterfly Knight - he does the tv appearances, the sponsorships, the press releases, all of it. and he loves it! and he's not Just a face - he has the power to back it up, but his powers are really more showmanship than anything.

if max is the face of the group, etienne is the backbone of the operation. he's not a leader, but he's a guide, and he's adept at strategy and keeping his team safe. he willingly allows himself to fade into the background - which is also an advantage, as it allows him to absorb much more information than he would without max as a shield.

kit is the old guard. he never wanted to be a hero, and still doesn't. he was caught in the middle of one high-publicity incident when he was in his 20s, and got a lot of attention from it, but never became a hero, and did his best to fade into history. but when the threats begin to resurface, the new generation digs him up, and due to his situations and his mindset, he finds himself taking on an advisory role. he's the one that you Know the villains don't wanna fuck with - and he gets an arc that really shows the extent of his abilities, where he has to keep everyone else alive after a grave miscalculation of some sort, and it's like, oh, he's the one to watch out for.

honorable mention:

the warhawk is the free agent. he's a vigilante, and most of the time, the heroes clash with him because of his disregard for the law. the only law he follows is the law of the land, and he lets people know that, but when they really need him, he's there<3

[ottoslab]

I ADORE your grown up camper designs sooo much! also your style is very unique and fun!

If it's not a bother, what are some relationships/friendships that formed/changed between them as they've gotten older?

Thank you sm!!

admittedly I sort of wish I would’ve explored campers interacting with different campers than the ones they met in the game, just for the sake of diversity, but even though a lot of the matchups stayed similar, their relationships are very different on account of a lot of them being very different people now lol. Long ass ramblings under the cut!

Clem and Crystal stopped speaking to each other in their early teens. They both joined the Psychonauts intern program at that time, but a big blowout fight between the two resulted in Clem leaving the program. Due to technological barriers and family boundaries, crystal could only ever contact clem at home through letters, but clem didnt respond to any she tried to send to make up, and they fell out of contact entirely. They only recently met back up, with Clem finally coming back to the motherlobe to finish the internship program! The dynamic is… different, and a little awkward, but they can both safely say that their enthusiasm is a lot more genuine than it was when they were teaming up together at camp!

Maloof and Mikhail didn’t really talk much after camp, and I think they just ran into each other on happenstance when they got older. Maloof has been fucking around and getting into trouble, and Mikhail quickly finds that if someone doesn’t keep an eye on this guy, he’s definitely going to get himself killed. He’s Maloof’s strong, silent bodyguard, the muscle in a lot of his plans, and Maloof doesn’t realize that Mikhail is probably a lot smarter than he is and is half the reason their plans ever go right. Mikhail sees Maloof as a younger brother of sorts, and they find him endearing. If not a bit frustrating to deal with.

I think Dogen and Elka keep in touch. After a chance encounter when Elka was around 13, the Psychonauts have been keeping tabs on her. She’s an incredibly strong psychic, with a lot of ties to a current threat of the Psychonauts at the time of this AU. I just sort of think Dogen bonds with her on account of the high power levels, trying to make her feel less like a freak for being under the observation of the psychonauts. Elka definitely sees the similarities between the two of them, and I think she influences Dogen as much as he influences her. Which is to say, as much as he tries to help her feel like a normal person, she’s trying to get him to ditch the psychonauts and join her emo band (villain league.)

Benny and Chloe started becoming very close after Bobby stopped showing up to camp, oddly enough, only heightened when Chloe happened to move into Benny’s neighborhood the summer after the events of PN1. They quickly became local menaces, even if they didn’t get along. Their early teens was a lot of them just hanging around each other because no one else wanted anything to do with them, even if Benny was insistent that Chloe was a freak and he didnt want anything to do with her. But after a few times of them saving each other from school bullies, he just sort of… dropped the act. There was never an acknowledgement that the dynamic had changed, but they did start to become genuine friends in their late teens, around high school. That’s when they definitely started being a force to be reckoned with in their small town. Two kids trying to get away from their dysfunctional households, one of them with an increasing interest in anything that sparks and blows up, Chloe started crafting its whole vigilante alter-ego around this time. Benny was the helping hand in snatching many a thing from around town that Chloe needed for its projects, and once they both graduated they dove head first into a life of psychic adventure. (They wouldn’t call it crime, because they never set out with the intention to become criminals, but you cant deny that their adherence to laws was uh. Lackluster. At best. FOR SCIENCE!)

Bobby has, whether he likes it or not, been adopted into Raz’s inner circle (mostly consisting of Lili and Dogen. But thats not the point.) Bobby and Raz’s relationship is a hellhole of grown adults still absorbed by their childhood conflicts (both internally and toward each other) but once they learn to get along after what im sure is a very long character arc for both of them, they get very close! They bully the hell out of each other, for sure, but it’s done with love. I cant tell if Bobby would have gotten along with Lili sooner than Raz or if it would’ve actually taken them longer to get along. I think Bobby and Lili were a lot more hollowly antagonistic toward each other, just two hard-headed individuals whose personalities really clashed a lot at first. Bobby’s not immune to strong woman though. They end up bonding pretty quick id imagine, almost strangely so. I think it takes Raz a while to tell that they’ve become friends, because the way they talk to each other makes you feel like they want each other dead just as bad as they did when they first met back up again.

Phoebe and Quentin have what is probably the most consistent friendship timeline. Friends since camp, stayed friends since. They met back up with Chops on happenstance when he auditioned for their band (still unnamed at the time) when they were about 20. They quickly fell into a very comfortable group dynamic, there are no such thing as personal boundaries between the three of them. They all live in a self-renovated double-decker bus and travel around the country, sneaking their way into venues that they're absolutely not supposed to be in, spreading their obnoxiously alternative music that barely has the decency to stay consistent from song to song on account of the fact that a different person is usually writing each one. They are banned from so many bars. They’re having so much fun.

I’ve mentioned it before, but Vernon and Kitty met back up when they were older through their jobs at True Psychic Tales. Vernon being a lot less talkative than he used to and Kitty being a lot less of a self-absorbed jerk made meeting back up a little jarring, and for a while the dynamic was very one-sided. Vernon seemed very intent on burying himself in his work and dying at his desk, and Kitty seemed very intent on bugging him whenever necessary and roping him into trouble. their various scooby-doo type shenanigans bring them closer as friends, and they’re very casually intimate. Guys who lean up against each other when theyre talking, guys who put their heads on each others shoulders for some simple comfort, stuff like that. They’re buddies :)

[kittycole]

Dabihawks Week Day 5: Fake dating✨ 💕

(This one was easy challenges. Because I talk about this pretend relationship au but I will fill in the idea again for this au. So it began with Hawks having a bad day. First, the commission wants Hawks to have a fake relationship in order to gain fame. Which he does not want, but he must accept this order. Second, the commission's chosen phony partner turned out a total jerk. So Hawk's entire day had been so bad until he met a stranger who made his night amazing that made him wish it could have been him rather than that asshole. Hawk watched the news for a few weeks and saw his photographer from commissions taking pictures of him and his fake date that night to show fans pictures of him and his fake date that night to show fans proof he was in relationships. But it wasn't the guy he was with that night. The time he spent with stranger made his night. Hawks discovers that the photographer that night was not his, but rather the photographer for the League of Villains band. They were all celebrating the release of their first albums at the same time. As a result, his photographer arrived late and took him and a stranger instead. So now he's at a loss as to what to do next: tell the fans it was his partner or just go along with it. Dabi, on the other hand, was having a pretty good day. First, he and his band moved into a new home that brought in an old warehouse. Second, Dabi now has his own room and does not have to share it with his bands any more. Finally, he had an amazing night with a cute stranger. So it was his lucky day, until he saw he was on the news and they were talking about his relationship with the most famous celebrity and singer Hawks. So look like his lucks already run out.)

Reblog to let everyone see, Thank you very much!

Commissions info/ Ko-Fi

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

I'm gonna say something you all are not gonna like but Spinner would be the singer of the LOV if a "the group of friends becomes a band" au.

Listen to me, a singer. Not a lyricist. A singer.

That's because his whole theme in bnha is that he is hollow, as if he had no words for himself so he repeats the words of another. In bnha, he started as an empty Stain cosplayer, then went to follow Tomura and made Tomura's dream his own. In a band au Spinner would sing whatever lyrics the band wrote, because not knowing what he wants to communicate doesn't keep him from being there with his friends in a band. He can use his voice to shout their feelings until he finds his own way. It's okay, he has time.

I'm not saying he's the only singer, but that's he's main role.

The fact Spinner has a weak quirk would translate into the band au as him not being as talented as his band mates when it comes to music. He can't play any instrument like them, he is not a genius or a prodigy, he's just a man who kinda wanted to do something his life.

Also, don't forget that Spinner was the narrator of My Villain Academia. When the villain became the protagonists, he was the one telling their story! It is a detail often forgotten, how much he means to the original story.

He doesn't have to be the main figure of the band (aka the frontman) for it to work. He doesn't have to be the lead singer either. For example, he can realize that it (the microfone) is not his place and learn how to play the bass. He can become a back up singer or even ask his band mates to become the lead of some songs, because he wants to sing his own words.

All I'm saying is that it would make a lot of sense.

[princess-of-the-corner]

I think it's interesting how, with the sole exception of All for One and Garaki, all the MAIN members of the League of Villains (none of the one-off members, Noumu, or MLA recruits) are basically people who never had anyone come save them when they needed it.

This is probably most obvious with Himiko and Tomura, but they basically only exist because of the failures of the Hero System.

Yeah basically.

It's why I find it very easy to drag them into being in a vigilante squad. Both in the particular AU and also in the main Chaos Children universe.

Most of them are very angry about how they've been treated and on some level want to fix things. They're just in a position where, currently, they think that tearing down the current system at the expense of others is the best option.

I mean. People joined up because they heard what Stain said. And while he's on the Light Yagami Slip-N-Slide™ thinking that no one can ever be as perfect as his waifu All Might, he also had points on how their society is kinda fucked and Heroes can get away with whatever (and the Commission is even /worse/ at getting away with whatever and deciding who gets labeled 'Hero' or 'Villain'). They might want some cathartic revenge, but they also want things to be Better.

Of course, real evils like AfO take advantage of this to say 'ah yeah let's band together and tear the system down to start anew!' with no plan to fix things, just cause problems.

[thesakuragarnet]

Hi! (First Post I guess) MASTER LIST LINKED BELOW KEEP READING!

Hello! I'm Sakura_Garnet and I am chronically obsessed with My Hero Academia, specifically the Keeping Up With The Todoroki's subplot. I exclusively write Dabi/Toya Todoroki-centered fanfiction, ranging from angst to fluff to smut and various combinations. I have a few finished fanfictions and a LOT of WIPs, as well as a plethora of "oneshots" for various AU's. The majority of my writing is done on AO3, but I double post a few of my big works on wattpad. I am constantly listening to music, and most of my fics have been inspired by songs and albums. I have so so SO many headcanons for MHA/BNHA, and feel very strongly about DabiHawks/TouKei as you will see from the majority of my writings. I have ADHD and Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and try my best to relay my experiences with these neurodivergencies in a few of my works. My main fic that is my pride and joy is PHOENIX: A Pro Hero Toya Todoroki AU, which covers 14 years of Toya Todoroki's life in an alternate universe (ages 16 to 30 to be exact) . If you do choose to read it, please mind the tags and the AO3 author's notes as it does deal with some heavy content (I tend to max out the tags on the majority of my works bc a bitch is nothing if not thorough). I don't know how much I'll be active on here, but I'm excited!

As always

The Past Never Dies,

<3

Sakura_Garnet

Master List (and my universes) 1 8 + ONLY

(Disclaimer: I curse like a sailor in real life so pretty much all fics have some form of swearing in them in some form or fashion. I tag my fics extensively, please pay attention to the tags listed in each fic as I will not be listing them here. Summaries and taglists will be on the links for each fic <3 fics with a sole focus on sm*t will be labeled smvtfics, but that doesn't necessarily mean that unlabeled ones do not have sm*t in them. Some links will take you to tumblr, but not everything is posted on here, so some will go straight to the AO3 fic.)

DabiHawks

- PHOENIX AU

PHOENIX: A Pro Hero Toya Todoroki AU

Private Hero Training Academy : PHOENIX AU Spinoff

Fire in My Veins

I'm Not Okay, I Promise

Separate Ways

I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE (I WANNA BE YOUR MASTER) (smvtfic)

The Tape (smvtfic)

Perfectly Good At It (smvtfic)

HONEY (ARE U COMING?) (smvtfic)

-Fantasy AU

Flames of Fate

Your Body Is My Temple (smvtfic)

-Civilian Social Worker Toya X Pro Hero Hawks AU

It's Dangerous To Go Alone

Pillow Talk (smvtfic)

Grand Gestures

Light as a Feather (smvtfic)

Meet The Todoroki's

Home Late (smvtfic)

-Pro Hero Dabi X Villain Hawks (Talons)

And when he touched him he turned ruby red (smvtfic)

bad idea right (smvtfic)

When we're staring at the ceiling (smvtfic)

-Quirkless College TouKei AU

Pent-Up (smvtfic)

-The Mean Girls AU

On Wednesdays We Wear Black

-THE VOID (Not the canon timeline necessarily but something in between)

We Were Just Kids

Easier Than Lying

Distracted (smvtfic)

One Stupid Phrase (smvtfic)

Touch-Starved

I'd Rather Feel Pain Than Nothing At All (smvtfic)

My Eden (smvtfic)

What The Heart Wants

Conjugal Visit (short smvtfic with a LOT of plot)

that one Rihanna song

Flecks of Gold

Dabi X OC

-The FIREPROOF/ANARCHY saga (Dabi X Sakura)

A Mission

FIREPROOF

ANARCHY (apocalypse AU)

-Pro Hero Dabi X Pro Hero Sakura AU

Playing With Fire: A Pro Hero Dabi AU

The Limo Scandal (Pro Hero Dabi X Mirko X Hawks smvtfic prequel)

-Touya X Dusk AU

His Ocean Eyes

First (smvtfic draft)

MISA! MISA! (smvtfic draft)

On the Clock (smvtfic spoiler)

-Pro Hero Dabi X Villain Sakura

Secondary Location

DABI X FEM! READER

Random Villain Fem! Reader X Dabi

Only Stops A Sentence (smvtfic)

Good Graces

Liquid Lust (smvtfic)

Left Behind

Support Course Graduate Fem! Reader X Dabi

Crimes Of Passion (smvtfic)

Carnal Addictions (smvtfic)

Deal With The Devil (smvtfic)

Spies AU

Say My F*cking Name (smvtfic)

The Band AU

Music Keeps Us Alive: College Band AU

Cravings (FTM DABI X TWICE SMVTFIC)

Random Dabi-centric (ish) Fics

The League Of Villain Go To Disney: A crackfic mini series for just good vibes (slight DabiHawks)

Birthday (LOV Found Family Vibes) (slight DabiHawks)

Savior Complex (Big Brother Dabi)

Here Be Dragons (Alt. Fantasy AU)

If I Had Been There (Dabi X Magne Angst)

Embers In The Dark (Dabi X Burnin' smvtfic)

[scary-grace]

17 and 18?

Thank you for the ask!

17. A trope you’ll never, ever write for.

Dubcon/noncon. It doesn't speak to me creatively and it stresses me out on a personal level.

18. Wildest fic you’ve ever written?

/cackles nervously in reader insert/ I signed up for a BNHA League of Villains Halloween anthology in July and finished my fic for it on Monday of this week. I would love to be able to tell you how long the fic is, but I can't -- I wrote the entirety of it in the Notes app on my phone, and I'm still in the process of typing it up. We're at 71,689 words of ghost Shigaraki x reader fanfic and counting, and I'm still unsure of how it happened.

Honorable mention goes to Kairos for being obscure beyond belief. I joke about Show Me My Silver Lining being the band AU nobody asked for, but the weirdest fic is the 1970s slowburn barduil haunted house AU for sure.

35 questions for fanfic writers

[ao3feed-ateez]

Kindred Hearts

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/nVq10Y9 by FeverScribe My Hero Academia AU Hongjoong is home from UA for spring break when he finds files for an old cold case in his father's belongings in the basement. What starts as a harmless hobby quickly turns into a matter of life and death when Mingi, a deadly wanted criminal associated with the League of Villains, suddenly kidnaps Hongjoong and brings him face to face with the League's leader, and suspected subject of the old cold case, Mars. Words: 10075, Chapters: 3/?, Language: English Fandoms: ATEEZ (Band) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage Categories: M/M Characters: ATEEZ Ensemble, Other kpop idols as side characters Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa, Kim Hongjoong/Song Mingi Additional Tags: Incest, Violence, references to poor mental health, Tags May Change read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/nVq10Y9

[animereaderinsertwriter]

Previous - Chapter 1 - Next - Series Masterlist - Series Playlist

Pairing: Dabi x Reader

Rating: Explicit

Tags/Warnings: fantasy au, violence, smut, angst, fluff, non-major character death, pregnancy, dub con/fuck or die but only kinda?, enemies to lovers, there's an arranged betrothal somewhere in there that eventually goes away, spoilers for dabi's identity

ao3 link here

One month later

"The Age of Unrest, of course, is known by this name because of the stirring restlessness of the Clans’ gentlefolk. However, this unrest did not stop at the well-mannered, hard-working folk who were subjected to the Empire’s rule; as it happened, rogues, tramps, bandits, and malcontents of every sort were also restless. Eventually tiring of their own singular wickedness, they banned together, forming a nuisance known as the aptly-named League of Villains. Oh, they were a mean, mangey, motley crew, and as they began to terrorize the land in ways never before seen, it was widely agreed that it would be better by far to stumble across a pack of rabid wolves than a single member of the League. The wolves, at least, could not talk, and in that age, there was nothing more antagonizing than the yapping of an idealist right before meeting one’s demise. It settles ill on the stomach.”

—Balthazar the Wise, On the Age of Unrest

(Y/N) woke up gasping for air, her body coated in a thin sheen of cold sweat.

The moon shone big and bright in the eastern sky above the small farming village of Solime. The light of it shone through the open shutters of the village temple’s window, casting the relatively small space in ethereal silver. The walls, which were made of cool gray stone, looked like pools of mercury, and the steady drip, drip of dew slipping into the brazen bowl at the altar, though quiet, sang out into the night like a lonely moan. 

(Y/N) forced herself to sit up on the soft pallet she used as a bed during her travels, inhaling and exhaling deeply. She was safe, she was fine— it was hard to remember, sometimes, but she was okay. 

It had been a while since she had dreamed of that time.

This is nothing like then, she mused, internally grateful for not having accepted the hospitality of one of the villagers, instead having insisted on sleeping in the temple like any other traveler might. And yet, some days I wonder which is worse.

It was hard to say. 

Nearly a year and a half ago, in the Battle of Brookside, the war between the Empire and the Clans was escalating to its peak of violence and ferocity. The goddess-blessed— those with supernatural ability granted by the goddess— were being hunted like foxes in the wood by imperial soldiers, especially those of which had physical manifestations of their blessings. It was a nightmare to say the least, but even then… even then, even while running for their lives and fighting for their homes, there had been more freedom, more agency for the people than they would ever be allowed to have under imperial rule. Some days, (Y/N) thought that it might have been better to have never made peace with the Empire in exchange for the people’s autonomy. After all, what peace could mean more than freedom?

(Y/N) shook her head. Those thoughts belonged to days when she didn't remember the screams of women and children ringing out into the night. They belonged to the times when she no longer thought of the long, dreadful days of her capture when she was finally caught by imperial forces about a mile south of The Wildwood surrounding Castle Morg. 

She remembered those days well. By that time, the Clans were already losing the war; (Y/N) had been leading a battalion masquerading as nothing better than rag-tag bands of guerilla fighters, attacking imperial encampments by night and running during the day. Looking back, she should have known that it was only a matter of time before she was caught, but some foolish hope had taken stubborn root in her heart, faithful and unyielding. So strong was her faith that before they eventually took her, (Y/N) had led the imperial soldiers on a three-day chase through the Wildwood, living on nothing but hope, acorns, and a single skin of water; even as they surrounded her, (Y/N) still had hope. She killed six out of twenty men before she was subdued, and she kicked and screamed all the way back to the newly-captured Brookside Castle, raising holy hell at all hours until someone finally knocked her unconscious. 

It was odd what two weeks of captivity and brutal treatment could do to a thing like hope. 

Fourteen days, fourteen nights— that was how long (Y/N) spent in enemy hands. They beat her, burned her, kept her chained to a wall by her wrists in the dungeons of Castle Brookside with only gruel to eat and rank ladlefuls of water to drink. The soldiers of the Empire would question her for hours and hours, taking fingernails and strips of flesh from her hide for every time she cursed them— and she cursed them a lot. Her accelerated healing allowed them to push her farther than a normal person could possibly have endured, and (Y/N) remembered praying for the goddess to bring the castle down on top of them brick by brick, killing every living thing within. Darkest, blackest vengeance— that was what had become of her hope.

On the dawning of the fifteenth day, Shoto Todoroki had stormed into the castle with a written pardon from the Empire and a license to kill as he pleased; (Y/N) remembered hearing the screams of her torturers as their faces were melted by those famous Todoroki flames and thinking that the goddess had finally unleashed the might of heaven to smite earthly devils once more. Perhaps the goddess did smite those men and Shoto was just a vessel to embody that divine wrath, but all (Y/N) could remember doing when he set her free was sobbing, that crying out that she had wanted to be the one to kill the bastards that had caused her so much pain.  

Looking back, it all seemed so long ago, and yet— and yet, in her dream, (Y/N) had seen the frightened eyes of the boy whose job was to feed her in perfect detail, as though it were only yesterday that he was crying, repeating I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry over and over again as though that would absolve him of the sins he hadn’t even committed. Every time, he would apologize, hiccupping little sobs as he spooned gruel into her mouth— he couldn’t have been more than twelve, and the bastards had made him watch, training him to be an Inquisitor before he even knew what it was to be a man. 

Strange— why was it that memory in particular which haunted her? Was it because he was just a boy, a small, bird-like thing with a big heart and teary eyes— because he was the only thing in that castle possessing something even remotely resembling humanity?

(Y/N) wondered where that boy was now, if he had since lost his kindness.

A shout rose in the distance, stirring (Y/N) from her thoughts. Through the window to the east, (Y/N) could see smoke rising to meet the sky from somewhere in the distance, and before she remembered the time of year, her whole body tensed, ready for war. 

Fool, she thought to herself after a moment of thought. Jumping at shadows like some kind of alley cat. I should be ashamed.

No doubt the smoke and the shouting had come from Tinkermen and Troubadours that were camped somewhere nearby, traveling together to visit bigger towns for the festivals. Beltane was a performer's busiest time of year, after all, and the best season for traveling.

Still, the image of that smoke disturbed (Y/N). Something about it felt wrong, even ominous.

Jenny’s baby is going to be born tomorrow, she mused, an odd wave of certainty washing over her— goddess-given intuition. I suppose I should stay another day, Welcome the child myself.

(Y/N) had planned on leaving early the next morning, but it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to stay. Giving birth was an unpleasant process, and Jenny was a young woman with no husband and few friends; it would be worth (Y/N) delaying her journey to support the girl.

Still uneasy, (Y/N) relaxed onto her pallet and fought to find sleep— this time, hopefully dreamless.

***

Flames as blue as a jay’s wing reached up to the midday sky, and Dabi— the Black Dragon of the League— was prowling with his sword drawn, seeking whom he would devour.

The village was fairly small—a little farming community by the name of Solime that made its living off of the miles and miles of golden wheat which grew naturally over the moors— but unusually fierce. Before Dabi and his marauders had come through, it had been a lovely, prosperous little place, no doubt full of laughing children and doting parents; it was certainly not the League’s usual fare, but the men were hungry for both food and violence, and Dabi— well, Dabi was of the opinion that everything looked better when it was burning with flames of beautiful sulfur-blue.

“Mercy!” cried a distant voice that shook with desperation. “Please, my daughters—” 

The pleading ended with the thunk of metal cleaving flesh, and Dabi grinned. What anguish his father would feel at the news of yet another village razed! Todoroki Enji would shake with rage and impotence, and the very image of it was almost good enough to make Dabi shiver.

Through the ash and smoke, Jin the Twice appeared in Dabi’s peripheral with a worried look on his face. Normally, that would be no cause for concern— Twice often got something of a fit of the vapors during raids like these— but this time, something in his expression gave Dabi pause. 

“Twice!” he bellowed to his comrade over the din of chaos, “What news?”

Twice stopped, searching for Dabi, and found him waiting patiently a few yards away. Hurriedly, Twice made his way over, looking more panicked by the minute.

“What news, he says, what news indeed!” The vertical scar that split Twice’s forehead in two rippled with concern. “We’ve cornered a wildcat over in the temple, and not the kind with fur— one of the novices there is armed and dangerous.”

What fun! thought Dabi, imagining a feisty young priestess writhing on the furs in his tent. There may yet be excitement to be had here. 

“What, some kitten’s claws are troubling you?” he asked, shifting his gaze over Twice’s shoulder to the direction of the temple— a one-room building just big enough to seat the families that made up the village. “Surely one backwater pussy-cat is no match for—”

A truly harrowing scream rang out from the temple, and Twice winced.

“She’s killed four men so far,” he said with a pained expression. “No one can get near her.”

Dabi raised a brow. Interesting.

“Weapon of choice?”

“Bow and arrow,” Twice replied, and Dabi scoffed.

“Let her shoot until she runs out of arrows, and then kill or cage her like the animal she is— I don’t care which,” Dabi said, but Twice shook his head.

“She already ran out of arrows.”

Dabi frowned. 

“Then how is she— ”

Another scream rang out, and Dabi decided it was time for him to see what all the commotion was about for himself.

“Follow me,” said Dabi, striding off in the direction of the temple. “I’ll declaw this cat myself before she can do much more scratching.”

“Be careful,” warned Twice, only a step behind. “She’s feral!”

Dabi took the warning for what it was, but even so, nothing could have prepared him for the sight that he was met with at the threshold of the temple— nor could he have predicted how hard it would be to contain his laughter at the irony of it all. 

The girl— well, truly, it was a woman about his own age, maybe a bit younger— stood poised with a shortsword in hand and blood on her face. She was dressed like a man, in breeches and a shirt, and though Dabi had only heard rumors of the woman who roamed the countryside with breeches and a shortsword, Dabi recognized her on sight.

The High Priestess and Hand of Cerridwen stood before him, fierce and fearless; she was a relic of a faith newly forsaken, and she represented all that Dabi was working both for and against. This young woman was the perfect symbol of the perseverance of the Old Faith and its perversion— the spitting image of a plant twisting itself almost beyond recognition to gain even a sliver of sunlight. 

What a golden opportunity!

Dabi stepped forward, fully intending to brave the point of her sword to seize her, but she proved too quick, stepping up with a warning slice before he could get close.

“Not a step further,” she commanded, locking eyes as fierce as any wildcat’s with his own. The steely strength and resolve Dabi found in her gaze was most interesting, and despite the six dead men at her feet, he decided to press his luck.

“Or what?” he challenged, stepping into the room. “Would you hurt a man who has done you no wrong, little priestess?”

“I know who you are, Black Dabi,” she sneered, her lovely features turning dark with malice, “And as it happens, I have no problem killing a man like you in the name of my goddess.”

“My, my, aren’t we well-informed.” Dabi knew his smile looked more like a predator baring its teeth, but he couldn’t care less. “Why don’t you put that sword down before someone gets hurt, pussy-cat?”

She looked like she wanted to lunge at him, but she stayed put, wary. 

Intelligent, he thought, watching her watch him right back. This is no ordinary pussy-cat, oh no.

“I see my reputation precedes me,” Dabi continued, walking even closer. The woman brandished her sword, and he stopped just outside of its reach. “If you know who I am, then you also know you can’t kill me.”

Her eyes glinted, ferocity lurking behind her mask of calm. “You underestimate me.”

“I think not,” Dabi replied slowly. “I really, really think not… High Priestess.”

He could have heard a pin drop in the ensuing silence. The only thing to betray her surprise was the widening of her eyes— and what eyes they were! She looked like she could light a fire with her gaze alone, and Dabi felt something hot flare in his gut as he watched her.

Just when it seemed that she was going to say something in reply to Dabi’s revelation, there was a pained cry behind her, and Dabi noticed the rotund form of a pregnant woman lying on a cot behind the priestess. At the sound of distress, the priestess was momentarily distracted, and in that split second, Dabi pounced, wresting the sword from her hands and tossing it aside as he wrapped his own slender fingers around her throat. 

“Now, pussy-cat, I’m not a bad man,” he told her, lying blatantly as she choked and sputtered on her breath, her eyes burning holes in his face. “I can see you’re in the middle of something, but I can’t just turn a blind eye to you killing my men, can I?”

“You can if I gouge them out,” she spat, her words garbled by the pressure on her neck, and he tightened his grip on her throat so much that her voice died there under his fingers as she struggled and fought against him.

“How rude,” he tutted. “If you would have asked nicely, I would have let you see to your patient… but now I’m not sure that such an ill-behaved wretch as yourself deserves to do as she wishes. Unless, of course, you really are who I suspect. After all, even a man like me has to acknowledge the will of the goddess, no matter how poorly behaved the vessel is.”

The woman sputtered and struggled against him, but to no avail. Dabi wasn’t letting her go until he had answers. 

“So, how is it going to be, kitten? Confirm my suspicions, and neither myself nor my men will disturb you in your duties any longer."

There was wild hatred in her eyes, and Dabi was beside himself. It was heady, having this much power over someone who was arguably the most powerful woman in the land; the feeling was so intensely satisfying that Dabi was almost sad when he had to ease his grip on her throat to get her answer.

“I am the will of the goddess incarnate,” she croaked, her fingers digging into the scarred flesh of his forearm, attempting to push him even farther from her. “I am with Cerridwen, and she is with me.”

“Proof, pussy-cat,” he chided. “I want to see your power.” 

There was a long cut across Dabi’s arm— he hadn’t given it much notice before, since he could barely feel it— and with no small amount of distaste, the priestess grabbed the wounded arm and held it in her hand. Right before their eyes, the cut on Dabi’s skin sealed itself shut as the same place on the priestess's arm was rent open. If what the rumors said was true, that cut would heal completely within the hour, and Dabi was fascinated. 

“Exquisite,” said Dabi without quite meaning to, and the priestess glowered.

“You’ve seen,” she said, withdrawing her hand. “Will you let me see to my duties?”

“Of course,” he replied more softly than he meant, releasing her. “Do you have need of anything?”

The priestess looked as though she might refuse his offer of assistance out of pure spite, but then the woman on the bed jolted upwards, holding her belly with a horrible groan of pain, and the priestess surprised Dabi by giving him orders. 

“A fire, I need a fire in the fireplace,” she said, turning away from him to see about her patient. “I need the dead bodies out, some strips of clean cloth, and I need a pot of water on to boil. All the doors and windows need to be shut, and I’m sure Jenny would like her privacy.”

“You’ll have all that, privacy excepted,” he replied, extending a hand to the fireplace. At his will, blue flames flew to fill the hearth, and he nodded to Jin— who was standing just outside the open door— to gather men to fulfill the rest of her requests. “Sorry, pussy-cat, but if you think I’ll leave a kitty such as yourself alone in a room to sharpen your claws, you’re mad.”

At that, she turned to glare at him once more. 

“Don’t call me that.”

She spat the words like they were bitter, and Dabi considered her thoughtfully. 

“And what should I call you, priestess?” he asked as she urged her patient to stand and walk a bit. “Not your title, mind; the name your friends call you— the one the Great Mother gave you.”

She told him her name, and Dabi found himself immediately enthralled with the way it sounded from her lips. 

“Y/N,” he echoed, and the name tasted like honey.

(Y/N) ignored him in favor of her duties. After a moment, she glanced out the window towards the burning fields, then turned her gaze to the sky.

“You’re a bastard,” she said softly, watching smoke curl up to the heavens. “The goddess must have a hell of a fate for someone like you.”

Dabi didn’t comment, but it hardly needed saying that traitors and blackguards like himself preferred not to ruminate on what fate the goddess had in store for them. 

After an indeterminable amount of time, Jenny’s wails became closer and closer together, and the beginning of the birth seemed to have reached them. (Y/N)’s tone became clipped and urgent, and she commanded Dabi as if she’d done it all her life. 

“Fetch me that stool,” said (Y/N) without looking up, and Dabi complied. “Come on, Jenny— push, woman, like the Seven Devils are loose from their binds!”

So interesting— this priestess had a mouth on her unlike any priestess Dabi had ever known. Not that he had ever been with a Healer who was helping someone give birth— maybe they all spoke that way under duress of this nature.

“Push, Jenny!” (Y/N) urged, and Jenny screamed. “I see the head, we’re almost there!”

At the end, Dabi was glad he’d had the foresight to look away; he’d never seen a birth before, but if his initial disgust at seeing a newborn for the first time was any indication, he wasn’t sure that he would have made it through without retching. Still, as he looked on, the depth of the moment struck him hard. That child— ugly with blood and placenta as it was— was the very image of the future Dabi was striving toward. If he had his way with the world, that babe would know nothing of the persecution his people had known, feel nothing of the suffering they’d felt. This babe would grow up worshiping the goddess without fear, without prejudice, and without being demonized by the followers of that sick, invasive parasite that was the New Religion, brought by invaders that razed the land he loved.

Invaders, whom people like Dabi’s father and this so-called High Priestess were working to compromise with for the sake of peace. 

The thought made Dabi sick.

“I need a bowl,” said (Y/N) without looking up from her task of cleaning the child. “Can I trust you to bring me a fresh lump of earth— no ashes, if you can help it— and the water from the altar without touching either with your hands?”

She did look up then, and Dabi was struck by how tender her expression was, how lovely and sweet she looked even with the gore of the delivery on her hands. Looking at her was a study in opposites, he found; her face was young, but her soul was old… her deeds were noble, but her purpose was ugly. She was everything he had expected her to be, and yet somehow— not. 

"No," he replied, just for the sake of denying her. "I'll have one of my men do it. I'm not letting you out of my sight."

Dabi motioned to Twice— who was standing just inside the door— and the priestess’s request was fulfilled. 

Once the last item necessary for the Welcoming ritual was handed over to Dabi, (Y/N) placed the newly cleaned and swaddled babe into its mother’s arms and took the bowl in her lap. Gently, she poured the sacred water— fresh, clean rain water and dew drops that were allowed to flow through a hole in the roof of the temple, untouched by human hands— into the bowl of earth, letting the one flow naturally over and into the other. Then, Dabi watched as she slowly pulled something from the pocket of her breeches.

“I have a blade,” she told him, her eyes boring into his own. “It’s for the ritual. I’ll surrender it as soon as the Welcoming is complete.”

So saying, (Y/N) cradled the blade of the knife in the palm of her hand, but before she could make a slice across her skin, Dabi’s hand on her shoulder stopped her.

“Under different circumstances, the entire family would have surrounded this young one and would have given drops of their blood to mix with earth for the Welcoming,” said Dabi, stating the obvious, and (Y/N) looked up at him with a puzzled expression. “It is in part the fault of myself and my men that there are none here to welcome this babe, and thus we have all been promoted to the roles of husbands and fathers in the absence of any here. I would be the first to give of my blood for the Welcoming— your own and the mother’s excepted, of course— and with permission from all parties, my right hand Jin the Twice would also like to volunteer his services in this matter.”

From the corner of the room, Twice started, but Dabi didn’t acknowledge his second’s surprise. Jin was a good man, a loyal man, but not a man that was likely to ever have the opportunity to participate in a Welcoming. Dabi couldn’t give Bubaigawara Jin much in return for his service, but he could give him this.

Hesitantly, (Y/N) looked to the mother of the babe, but to the surprise of all of them, Jenny nodded. 

“Very well,” said (Y/N), slicing into her palm without flinching or hesitation. “Quickly, now— and if you and your man know the Blessing, sing it with me.”

Dabi did know the blessing, as did Twice; they followed (Y/N)’s direction by chanting along with her in the Common Speech, but Dabi itched for the rolling melody of a Welcoming in the Old Tongue. Even as he struggled to hide his well-trained voice within the deep, gruff grumble of the ruffian he was supposed to be, all Dabi could think of was that he would rather be using the words of his ancestors— the words of the goddess— to Welcome this child into the world. That much, he thought, was its birthright, as it was with every mother’s son. 

But, Dabi supposed, he could hardly be angry on the child’s behalf when the High Priestess herself was there to sing it into the world; that was more than most men would ever be able to boast of. 

At the end of the singing-chant, (Y/N) mixed together the blood, the water, and the earth, and she painted runes all over the child that glowed a deep russet color, then dissolved as though seeping into the child’s very skin. Thus, the Welcoming was over, and the moment was ended.

“Blessed be this babe,” (Y/N) murmured, handing the child back to its mother, and Jenny took her son in her hands and whispered his name.

“Balthazar,” she said, pulling her babe to her breast. “My little boy.”

With that, Dabi supposed he had indulged his curiosities enough; the hour was growing late, and he needed to pull his men back to camp to regroup. 

“Come,” he told (Y/N), his voice pitched low and his hand outstretched. “I’ve given you what I promised, but now your time is up. You’ll be coming with me.”

The hate which had been noticeably absent in (Y/N)’s eyes in those last moments returned at full force.

“You war-mongering cur,” she spat, backing away from him. “I won’t be going anywhere with you.”

Dabi fought the urge to sigh. Women were so difficult. Luckily, however, they all had the same weakness, and Dabi always took great pleasure in exploiting it.

“If you refuse to come, I’ll have my men put that baby on a spit and roast it over my campfire.”

(Y/N) bared her teeth in a snarl, but there was real fear in her eyes. 

“You wouldn’t dare!”

Dabi raised a brow. “Wouldn’t I?”

They stared at each other for a long, long time. Dabi didn’t want to have to prove he meant what he said, but he would if she forced his hand. The High Priestess was an incredibly powerful bargaining chip in his hands; the possibilities were endless with her in his camp, whether she went willingly or not. At the very least, she could be used for ransom— she would be easily worth a small province of land for the people of the Old Faith— and at the most, she could be used to achieve everything he wanted and more. If one little peasant bastard had to die for that, so be it, but Dabi was not a man to let something so small and insignificant as morals get in the way of his ambition. 

That was, after all, how the Empire had won their war. They’d thrown out their morals and captured one (apparently) smart-mouthed priestess, and the war had been over within two weeks. Maybe Dabi would get lucky and catch a break too.

"If you touch that babe," she warned him, somehow both flinty and fierce, "I'll know— and if you do, I swear by the goddess of my mother and her mother before her that you will die screaming with my hand around your beating heart."

Dabi wondered what it meant that his cock twitched in his pants at the look in her eyes as she threatened him. She really was quite beautiful; perhaps Dabi would even like to feel her hand on his beating heart. His cock, at least, had no objections to it. 

“Take her, Twice,” he said, never taking his eyes off of hers. “I’ve got to take a few men and ride over to the main camp to report to Shigaraki.”

Before he handed (Y/N) over, though, Dabi wrapped his hands around her throat once more, pulling her close enough to kiss. He looked long and deep into her eyes then, and saw that they were ancient; her skin might have been that of a young woman’s, but her inner self, he knew, was as old as the earth itself. If there was any lingering doubt that she was the vessel of the goddess, it would have been dispelled by those eyes.

“If you pull anything— and I mean anything— while I’m gone, I’ll starve you half to death, and your next meal will be human-jerky,” he told her quite seriously. “Do you understand me, priestess?”

“Too well,” she replied, her words a bit strangled as her air supply was cinched. “I understand perfectly that you’re an inbred bastard with a prick too small to behave with empathy and kindness like a real man."

He struck her then, but not with all his strength. It was a stinging slap, just enough to hurt, but not enough to make her ears ring and her teeth clack; still, for all that he held back, her expression was still murderous. There was too much bite in this little kitten, and he was beginning to suspect she was untamable by human hands.

“Keep those claws to yourself, pussy-cat,” he said, “And we won’t have any problems.”

She raised her chin. “I’m not afraid of you.”

Dabi sighed. This was getting nowhere. 

“Teach her some manners while I’m gone, Twice,” he said, his gaze still unwavering as he released her. “And show her to my tent. She’ll need to be familiar with the area.”

With that, Dabi turned on his heel and left in search of his mount. He knew those words would sound ominous to (Y/N), when in truth they were benign; Jin would more likely bring her to his tent and try to ask her what manners she needed to learn and whether or not she played cards than cause her any harm. He almost laughed at the thought. 

Behave, pussy-cat, he thought as he walked off, entrusting kind, gentle Jin with the task of taking care of his plundered treasure. I’d hate to have to declaw you.

It hit him, then, as he was leaving the temple, that he might not have a choice in the matter, depending on what Shigaraki had to say about the whole ordeal. Once Dabi had made his full report— and he would make a full report— there was no telling what that mad bastard would have in store for her. 

***

Dabi lied straight to Shigaraki’s face.

It hadn’t been his intention— far from it— but at the very thought of the pretty High Priestess bound and helpless on the floor of his tent, his lips glued themselves shut. 

If he was asked, Dabi couldn’t have said why he lied. It wasn’t that he was afraid Shigaraki would take her away from him— for what it was worth, Shigaraki trusted him well enough to manage even so valuable an asset as (Y/N)— or even that he was worried about her treatment. Truly, it made no sense for Dabi to keep something so important from the man who was, for all intents and purposes, his superior, and yet— and yet. 

I must be mad, he thought to himself as he walked back from the main camp to his own, his hands in his pockets. There's no way I can conceal her presence here for long, and when Shigaraki finds out, I’ll be a dead man walking. 

Anyone with half a brain would have turned right back around and told the truth, consequences be damned. Such promptness and humility would surely have earned mercy, and being the bearer of such good news could only bring blessings— but something stopped Dabi. A small, dark, ugly part of him recoiled at the idea of deferring to anyone, and as was his wont, he let that darkness rule him, striding only ever forward as twilight settled over the land. What Shigararki didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him; if Dabi could only keep (Y/N)’s presence quiet for a while, then he could time everything so that when Shigaraki did find out, it would already be too late to stop the chain of events that Dabi had been working toward since the very beginning.

Oh, if only it could have been that easy.

As Dabi entered the camp, he found an immediate complication with his master plan. A crowd had gathered around in something of a circle in the center of the camp. As Dabi came closer, he could hear shouts of protest and fear, and he soon realized that, to his horror, Twice and (Y/N) were at the center of the commotion. 

The scar that split Twice’s forehead was open and bleeding, and (Y/N) was standing face-to face with him, dancing around his sword with quicker feet than Dabi would have credited her with. All the while, she was shouting something that Dabi couldn’t hear— and, curiously, there was no fear or anger on her face that he could see; there was only concern, and a healthy amount of caution. 

Surely, she didn’t strike him? Dabi wondered, pushing through the crowd as quickly as he could. Looking at the facts— Twice’s split forehead, his aggression towards her— it was a likely explanation, but when Dabi grew closer, he saw the dead bodies of two men, and a more plausible alternative presented itself.  

Having a woman who wasn’t a whore in the camp was rare enough, and even when there was, the woman in question was almost unfailingly Toga, who wasn’t much better, bless her sweet, slaggy heart; the presence of fresh meat— pretty, feisty fresh meat— was usually enough to start a fight in and of itself, even if it meant going up against someone as skilled as Twice. If someone had been foolish enough to attempt such a thing, and had somehow hit Twice hard enough to make him lose control of the killer in him… it would be an unmitigated disaster, an utter slaughter. No man alive could beat Jin the Twice when he went berserk. He would kill everything within sight if he wasn’t stopped.

And yet there was (Y/N), dancing around him as nimble as a fairy, with bound hands and bare feet, screaming sense at him like a woman half-mad.

“Put down the sword!” (Y/N) was shouting, leaping in front of him as he lunged at one of the onlookers. “You’re no longer in danger! You’re safe!”

Dabi finally broke through the crowd, but neither Twice nor (Y/N) saw him, each of them too involved in their struggle to notice anything around them.

"Foolish girl!” called Dabi, a strange mix of respect and frustration welling in his chest. “Get away from him!”

That turned out to be the wrong thing to do. (Y/N) turned at the sound of his voice, distracted, and Dabi knew she would never be able to dodge the blow that Twice was about to deliver.

Well, at least I won’t have to explain to Shigaraki that I lied if she dies here, he thought a bit hysterically as Jin raised his sword above his head for what might be a killing blow. Dead is dead is dead, and that’s hardly my fault one way or the other.

But then (Y/N) surprised him.

As quick as a cat, she pivoted on the balls of her feet to face Twice, and saw his sword raised above his head. Then, in a desperate motion, she threw herself to her knees, her bound hands outstretched as Twice’s sword came down. Dabi’s heart leapt into his throat, but by some miracle, the razor-sharp blade passed just between her arms, severing the rope that bound her without cleaving into her flesh. Now free, (Y/N) launched herself at Twice’s legs, and with one mighty heave, she locked her arms around his knees and pulled backwards, toppling him to the ground with her beneath him. That bought Dabi just enough time to grab his right-hand man by the collar and drag him away before he could do any more damage— with a punch to the jaw from Dabi’s gauntleted fist, Twice was down for the count.

“Who started this?” growled Dabi, furious when he saw that Twice’s head wound looked worse than he’d thought. “If I don’t get an answer I like, I’ll give every man in this camp a face to match mine.”

Before anyone could muster a reply, Dabi felt a hand press against his bicep, and he turned to find (Y/N) looking at him with an unreadable expression.

“They’re dead,” she said simply. “There’s no need for any more blood to be spilled today.”

Dabi wanted to argue— he was in the mood to burn someone, to hear hoarse screams and watch the death throes of a man who no longer had a face— but something in her eyes stopped him.

“No one here is to lay a finger on this woman,” he announced darkly, choosing his words carefully. “She is my prisoner, and mine alone.”

So saying, he turned away, grabbing (Y/N)’s arm and none-too-gently dragging her along to his tent. Twice, he knew, would be just fine— after that display, no one would come close enough to him to do him any harm, and with decent luck, the poor bastard would wake and not remember a thing— but (Y/N) needed to be pulled from public view as quickly as possible.

"Unhand me," said (Y/N), trying to jerk her arm away from him as he strode forward. "You're hurting me, you brute, let go—"

She dug her heels in then, and Dabi rounded on her with a fury. 

"Jerk against me one more time," he told her, squeezing the soft flesh of her arm painfully tight. "Give me a reason to bare your arse in front of all these men and paddle you like a child, I dare you."

"Unhand me," she repeated fiercely, "And I'll walk beside you like a good little prisoner."

She spat the word like it was a curse, and Dabi gripped her face, smashing her cheeks almost comically inward. 

"Let's make one thing clear, pussy-cat— you don't give the orders around here," he said, staring into those age-old eyes with dark, steady certainty. "Watch your mouth when you speak to me, or I'll make sure you regret it. I'm not like the little serving boys or the drooling knights you're used to ordering around with that poniard of a tongue; goddess incarnate or not, I'm only one snotty comment away from putting you over my knee and tanning your hide with the flat of my sword. Am I clear?"

"Oh, certainly," she replied with a sneer, her words mangled with the pressure of his fingers on her face. "I’ve been made well aware of my place by big, bad Dabi. I'm terrified of a man who slaughters frail old women and helpless children— you must be so strong and brave to take on such worthy opponents!"

Dabi's patience snapped. He backhanded her, and she crumpled, collapsing to the ground with an indelicate thump.

"I warned you, woman," he growled, pushing a boot into her chest when she tried to get up. "Watch your mouth."

"Or what?" she challenged, and Dabi grabbed her by the hair, his fist snug against her scalp. She let out a scream that rivaled that of a bobcat's, but he paid her no heed as he dragged her along with him the rest of the way to his tent. She would learn to respect his authority, even if he had to beat that respect into her.

"You are troublesome," he told her in the privacy of his tent, throwing her down on his furs so that he could remove his belt. (Y/N) scrambled backwards, suddenly appropriately wary, but it was far too late for that to save her. "If it weren't for your station, I'd slit your throat and leave you in a gutter— but as it is, that's hardly the best use I have for you."

(Y/N) looked around as though searching for an escape route, but Dabi loomed over her— taller, bigger, stronger, faster— his belt now folded in half and held like the whip he intended to use it as. 

"Even so," he continued, "You're going to have to learn to behave. I have men to lead and a reputation to uphold, and I cannot and will not sacrifice the respect of my comrades by bowing and scraping to a woman. Let today be a lesson to you; in order for me to use you, I have to keep you alive, but I'm not above bruising my peach before I eat it."

So saying, he descended on her like a hawk might a rabbit in a field, intent on making his point clear. She fought him tooth and nail, screaming curses that would have made Shigaraki stifle a smile, but eventually— after some nasty scratches to his face, one very memorable bite to his forearm that cost him a chunk of flesh, and (Y/N)'s spit in his eyes— Dabi was able to pin her down properly, one hand fisted in her hair to shove her face into the furs as he pulled her breeches down to expose her ass with the other. Even restrained, however, (Y/N) still refused to suffer her punishment with dignity; as he whipped her, she howled and thrashed like one possessed, and it wouldn't shock Dabi if half the camp heard her call him a thrice-damned son of a motherless whore. 

"Oh, I love it when you talk dirty to me," he grunted smugly, thrashing her even harder. "Go on, insult my lineage more; I hate my fucking parents."

And wasn't that the truth?

"Go to hell!" she screeched, and Dabi wondered briefly if that was an actual goddess-ordained curse or if it was just the regular kind. Not that it mattered— Dabi was certainly hell-bound anyway— but he was curious nonetheless. 

When Dabi finally finished with (Y/N), they were both tired. Her arse was a horrific shade of crimson, and Dabi might even have felt a little bad for going so hard on her if his arm didn't hurt so bloody much where she'd bitten him. He probably should have stopped earlier to have it cleaned out— he was missing at least half an inch deep of flesh over a three-inch surface area— but when she refused to gratify him by crying and pleading with him to stop, he'd simply continued to whip her until he couldn't anymore. 

"I hope you learned something," he said, withdrawing his hand from her hair and rising stiffly from where he'd been kneeling over her. "If you don't want a repeat performance, I'd suggest that you behave yourself."

When she turned to look at him, her eyes were daggers. 

"I hate you," she said, though she trembled like a newborn foal. "You bastard."

Dabi tutted. "I assure you that I'm perfectly legitimate, pussy-cat. Now, be a good kitty and stay put while I go fetch some refreshments. If you so much as poke your head out of this tent, one of my men will throw you over his shoulder and toss you right back here, and I'll be sure to replace my belt with a freshly-cut switch when I tear your arse up again."

So saying, Dabi left to scare up some food from Spinner— the camp's most cold-blooded cook— and was met with stares and snickering as he passed. 

"What's all that about?" he asked Spinner as he fixed a platter, watching as a couple of goons laughed in his direction. "Did I do something funny?"

Spinner gave him a wry look. 

"Well, since you asked… by the looks of you, none of us can tell who got the worse thrashing, you or the girl."

Dabi huffed, affronted, but when Spinner thrust a freshly-cleaned platter in front of him, Dabi understood. He looked as though he'd had the worst day ever, with his jaw swelling from where (Y/N) had kicked him to try and escape, his cheek deeply scratched and still bleeding sluggishly, and his hair even more disheveled than usual.

"I gave as good as I got," Dabi replied with a shrug, exchanging the empty platter for a full one. "Her arse looks like an overripe tomato."

Spinner grinned. "Oh, I bet she hates you."

"I believe she might have said so a time or two."

"Was that before or after the 'son of a motherless whore' bit?"

Dabi rolled his eyes. 

"Both. Thanks for the food. Wish me luck in eating it— she's going to be glaring at me, hoping I choke."

At that, Spinner laughed and wished him well, and Dabi was on his way back to his tent. 

She'll learn one day, he thought, making his way back to his tent. If not today, then tomorrow, and if not then, the next week or the next. Even the meanest dog can be trained, given the right master.