#YES I KNOW INVINCIBLE HAS LITTLE MOMENTS IN THE ANIMATION

[crismakesstuff]

everytime I see someone bitch and moan about “the animation in invincible sucks” “they should treat the animators the same way MAPPA does”

i just ,,,,,

maybe we should sit YOU down in front of the computer and id like to see YOU animate smoothly and cleanly at 12-24 fps since y’all want that so bad !

[paladin-of-nerd-fandom65]

Hi I got more questions about the starburst duo!

1: what’s their favorite video games?

2: what is their favorite anime and/or cartoons?

3: Chris has a brotherly/uncle relationship with Kon-El/Conner, what’s Jake’s relationship like with Kon-el?

4: you know how in some movies and tv shows a pair of best friends would get into a fight and act like: “your not my best friend anymore!” And towards the end they get back together, has that happen before between the two of them?

5: what’s the rouge galley for the both of them?

Silly question :p

6: on a scale of 1-10, how likely are they gonna aim for the crotch against a dude villain/goon? Speaking of that what’s their reaction seeing that stuff in movies like how in the first kung fu panda movie Po got hit in the tenders?

(Cracks Fingers while grinning wildly)

Back for more I see, my friend? Very well then…

1) In no particular order, they’d like (in spite of Dick and Lois having some second thoughts in allowing them for playing M Rated titles)

Mortal Kombat

Blitz The League

Cuphead

Dark Souls

Asura’s Wrath,

and perhaps their all time favorite,

The Rockband series (out of them, The Beatles Rockband being their top one. Chris can do both Vocals and Bass while Jake does Drums and Harmonies)

2) Dragon Ball…basically all of Dragon Ball. Whether it’s The OG, Kai, GT, or the upcoming Daima, they’ll be lined up in their best shirts that are either patterned after Piccolo’s outfit or have the Z Fighters on it with their snacks by their side on the couch and engage with an all night marathon of episodes and films. Their favorite character is unanimously Son Gohan

3) Those two get along as good friends though from Jake hears about Conner courtesy of his Uncle Tim and ‘Aunite’ Cassie, whenever Conner inevitably screws up with trying to win a girlfriend off the streets with his egotistical charms and attitude, Jake gleefully takes the chance for snarking about that screw up, much to Conner’s conniption.

Aside from that though, the two make it a sworn oath on working together for making sure Chris is safe and secure from the threats even he’s too great to handle, whether externally or especially his own internal ones including tendencies of low self esteem and fears of abandonment. Conner and Jake are there for him no matter what

4) Much to even their own surprise, not exactly. Yes, there have been moments the two have gone separately from each other before reuniting in full but the thing is, they never had said to each other that they’re no longer friends. They’re never actively taking pot shots or any sort of bad mouth each other even during their lowest points in their friendship.

In fact, it’s because of their close friendship, it’s how they’re able to communicate the message of “Hey Man, I really like to hang out with you but I don’t if it’s the right time right now. Maybe a little later? Still love ya as a friend btw” with little to no words whether it’s face to face or via phone texts. They have mutual respect and understanding of those moments and take their time.

Once they have a chance though, like say in the middle of a crisis or few, they’ll rush to each other’s aid and make up for it once it’s all said and done. Even in a hypothetical Civil War between all the superheroes which has the two in opposite sides would have a similar pattern between them.

5) I once answered this in a earlier ask but I feel like it’s the perfect time for a sort of expansion to that list. Some names here would be old classics while maybe one or two would be OCs of mine for villains.

General Dru Zod (Chris’ birth father and somewhat arch nemesis due to his….very tough love approach to put it very very mildly think of their relationship akin to say Omni Man and Invincible)

Mr Victor Zsasz (Jake’s own Gotham based arch enemy due to a particular case involving street orphans and urchins forcibly fighting a gladiator style tournament to the death and Jake facing Zsasz face to face at the climax of said case, a duel involving a rather brutal beat down since Jake’s powers were shut down briefly that includes a sharp blade and that old damned crowbar)

The Gordanians (Since Jake’s mother is Kory aka Starfire, it should be pretty self explanatory and easy to understand his dislike for these particular aliens)

Deathstroke the Terminator (Similar enough reason to the Gordanians only in this case it’s via what he done to Dick throughout the years as a Titan, whether it includes the forced apprenticeship or other misdeeds)

The Court of Owls (not only due to both Mar’i and Jake being offsprings of the ‘Gray Son’ but they also can sense Chris somehow being a unique sort that distinguishes him from the other Kryptonians (I.e. his unique physiology courtesy of his birth in the Phantom Zone and being a host for the Nightwing entity) that they can claim for themselves, an evolutionary step in their arsenal of Talons)

Cinderblock (The big dumb concrete lug frequently challenges Chris and Jake for a challenge in Bludhaven’s streets which they’re all too happy to take. He’s fun for them to take on)

Xa Du, The Phantom King (As the main ruler of the Phantom Zone himself, he naturally sees Chris as an obstacle to his own path of universal domination)

(And time for some OCs I have in mind)

NKVDemon (an ex-Spetznaz and apprentice of the KGBeast though his goals and methods are far more grand and widespread in comparison than his mercenary teacher’s. While not a cyborg like KGBeast or enhanced like Deathstroke, he’s dangerously intelligent, at peak human condition and utterly ruthless to the core)

Lion Master (a constantly bullied street orphan who ran to join a traveling circus where became the apprentice of an old kindly lion tamer, it all truly went downhill during one performance at Ivy Town when due to a simple mistake on his part, the kid ended up causing the old tamer’s unfortunate demise in front of the crowds, leading to him being kicked out of the circus he called home and the lions ordered in being out down. Not willing to see the felines he can call his friends meet their ends, the orphan frees the four big cats. Now with nothing left to lose and returning to the streets once more, the old tanner’s apprentice turns to a life of petty crime with his four kings of the jungle by his side and at his beckon command; competing his transformation into the Lion Master. Has a beef yet also somewhat a bond with Skybird due to their own connections to the circus yet Skybird and Nightwing ‘Phantom’ always foil his crimes)

La Llorona (‘The Weeping Woman’ herself; the Duo once encountered her during a vacation their families were taking in Mexico. A one time antagonist who they actually were able to communicate with in order to help her find peace with them but certainly a memorable one)

The monkeys and undead guardians of El Dorado (Ling story incredibly short, Time Travel shenanigans had Chris and Jake land in the a time lopping ancient city of gold with these monkeys and zombified warriors attacking the intruders almost every step of their way within their adventure to escape)

Vla-Bol (A Kryptonian juvenile delinquent who led an equivalent of a street gang doing all sorts of petty crimes and ruled their city streets/Hallways with an iron fist. At first, The Kryptonian High Coucil had Vla drafted into basically boot camp under the command of an ancestor of a certain Kryptonian General, Grand Admiral Gro-Zod. Unfortunately for Vla, despite or maybe because of taking the Admiral’s teachings and philosophy to heart, he went on committing plenty of bad conduct and failed to hold back his fury during war time as a Private. For this misconduct, Vla-Bol was banished to the Phantom Zone at the age of only 14 years, swearing vengeance on the House of Zod for this indignity. It just centuries later and once he finally is able to leave the Zone and find planet Earth, there happens on being a descendent of the old Admiral, Lor Zod aka Chris. Vla-Bol is an utter show off and Grade A jerk who flaunts his powers without any hesitation or second thought. Powers that are surprisingly deviant from standard Kryptonian ones as while yes he can fly, lift extremely heavy objects and exhibit super human speeds, for one he relies on Moonlight to fuel them. Also, in place of heat vision and x ray vision, Vla-Bol instead can make copies of himself composed of shadows and summon dark energy from the Zone itself, capable of leveling entire city blocks at the palm of his hands)

(*Phew* I think that should do it lol)

6) Chris: 3, Clark taught him well enough to not resort to dirty tricks in fighting his opponents

Jake: 10, Being raised in Bludhaven by Nightwing and having Red Hood as an Uncle….it’s pretty obvious he would fight dirty like they can lol

As for their reactions, both of them would giggling at those moments.

Okey Dokey, I’m pretty sure that’s a plenty for my answers, Anon

If there’s any suggestions to add or constructive criticisms, please Reblog/Reply. It’ll be very appreciated ;-)

[westanthewaterman]

Care For You - Engineer!Mark & GN!Captain

Rating: SFW

Word count: 1500+

Request:  hi 👋 could u maybe do a fic with the head engineer, where the captains gotten rlly injured but is hiding it from mark/the rest of the crew until mark realises something is up and hes like "huh"? and then he tries to bandage the captain up ? i love ur writing btw!!

Contents: blood and wound mentions, hints at a romantic relationship but can be read as platonic

AO3

As Head Engineer of the Invincible II, Mark has a lot of responsibilities on and off the ship. Whether it’s keeping up with the ship’s many, many systems or designing machinery to help the colonists down on the surface, there’s always something for him to do, something for him to fix. And he likes it that way. He likes being helpful, being needed. 

Which is why he’s found himself here - doing laps around the Main Control console, checking the communicator on his wrist every few minutes, and trying not to feel helpless. 

Gunther and the Captain have gone planetside to deal with a mob of hostile animals that has been terrorizing the colony ever since they’d arrived. Normally something so trivial wouldn’t be a job for the Captain but they’d insisted, desperate to get their boots on solid ground. Mark had asked to go as well but the Captain denied the request. After all, someone needed to stay to keep an eye on the ship and the only other person on board with the qualifications was Mack and the Captain would die before they left him in charge. 

So Mark waited…and waited……and waited. 

He was sure it had been hours, maybe even days. The Captain and Gunther were likely already dead, fallen prey to the aliens who would surely leave nothing but their bones left to be found. What if he never sees the Captain again? Who will run the colony? Who will captain the ship now that they were gone? Surely he couldn’t do it. He wasn’t ready for that kind of responsibility, that kind of pressure. Would they even have the resources for a proper funeral? Who would be able to fight off the monsters to retrieve their remains? Oh, ye cruel fate! They were so young! They were so-

Mark checks the time on his communicator. 

It hasn’t even been an hour. 

So…maybe it’s not the animals he’s really worried about. Maybe, and he feels silly even considering it, maybe not having the Captain at his side makes him a little nervous. From the moment they had been elected by the Board for the position of Captain, they had never been very far away, overseeing every detail as the Invincible was rebuilt. Mark thinks maybe that’s why the original ship didn’t make it through its maiden voyage, there was no one else on board to rival his meticulous care of the vessel as it was being built. And sure, maybe the Captain couldn’t tell the difference between a plasma contractor and an electromagnetic thruster, but they did their best. 

And now, after what the two of them had dubbed the C.F.W.I. or Crazy Fucking Wormhole Incident, Mark made sure they were never more than an arm's width away. After everything they’d been through, he thinks he deserves to feel a little cautious, especially now that the two of them are…whatever they are to each other. 

Which is why, the second his communicator pings, Mark almost falls forward as he stops dead in what feels like his millionth lap around the room to read the message. 

Threat taken care of. Coming back up. Gunther needs minor medical attention.

Mark turns on his heel and sprints to the Hangar, stopping by the Medbay to let them know Gunther would be heading over shortly. 

Soon enough, the shuttle docks. The Captain steps out of the ship, supporting Gunther’s weight with an arm tight around his waist. Mark rushes over to his other side.

“You said minor medical attention.”

Gunther waves him off. “I’m all good, just a flesh wound and all that. I’m just dizzy from the blood loss.”

Mark sighs with a shake of his head and helps the Captain get Gunther to Medbay. Once they’ve dropped him on one of the cots, Mark turns to the Captain.

“Are you alright? Did you get hurt at all?”

“I’m fine, Mark, really. Thank you for the concern.”

He squints his eyes, looking them up and down before nodding. “I trust your word, Captain. So how did it go?”

They shrug. “Nothing we couldn’t handle. It was nice to get out on the field again, I missed the action.”

The Captain’s eyes are beginning to droop, eyelids feeling heavy. 

“Are you sure you’re alright, Captain?”

“Yeah, I just need to go lay down, I think. All this time in space has got me out of shape.”

“...Okay, but you let me know if there’s anything I can do for you, yeah?”

They reach out and stroke the side of his face gently. “Of course, Mark.”

It’s been four hours since the Captain left for their quarters and Mark hasn’t heard a peep from them. It’s unlike them to take naps, especially during working hours, so he decides to go check and make sure they’re okay. 

Mark stops in front of their door, pressing the little button above the scanner to ping them. When there’s no answer, he frowns, sending them another message from his communicator. After waiting a few minutes with no response, Mark decides to just go in. Maybe the Captain would be grumpy at him for interrupting their rest, but at least he would know they were okay. 

He presses his hand to the scanner and the door slides open. The room is quiet, too quiet. Usually, the Captain sleeps with white noise or one of the audiobooks Burt had recommended but there’s nothing. 

“Captain?”

Mark tiptoes into their bedroom, heart freezing in his chest at the sight before him. The Captain is curled up in a ball on top of the sheets, face unnaturally pallid. They’re trembling and when he gets closer, Mark is horrified to see all the blood staining the sheets. 

He cries their name, grabbing their shoulders and turning them onto their back. 

“Captain? Captain, can you hear me?”

The Captain raises a hand, trying to push him away weakly. 

“M’okay, j-just tired.”

“Like hell you’re okay! You’re bleeding!”

“Just a scratch, m’fine.”

“Yeah, sure you are. Why didn’t you go get patched up in the medbay?”

“Crew comes first.”

Mark sighs. Normally, the Captain’s care for the people under their command would be admirable if it wasn’t the reason they were practically bleeding out. He grabs the emergency first aid kit from the bathroom and sits down on the edge of the bed. Carefully, he pulls off their captain’s jacket and unzips their jumpsuit, pushing it off their shoulders. 

“Buy me dinner first,” they mumble.

He chuckles. “Once the colony has a place for me to buy you dinner, I will.”

There are three long gashes on the Captain’s side. Thankfully, they’re not as deep as Mark had originally thought, missing all their internal organs. He gets to work disinfecting the wounds, shushing them when they whine at the sting. Mark’s touches are gentle and tender, careful not to cause them any more pain. He stitches the wounds up with a practiced hand; a small benefit of traveling helplessly through an infinite multiverse - you have an endless amount of time and opportunities to learn how to patch up wounds. 

Once he’s done, the Head Engineer washes his hands in the bathroom and fills a glass with water, returning to the Captain’s side. He tilts their head up, helping them to take a few sips. 

“We should really get you to the Medbay, Captain.”

“Later. Just sit with me for a bit.”

The Captain gives him their best puppy dog eyes and he sighs with a shake of his head; they know he’d do anything they ask of him when they give him that look. Mark sits down next to them with his back against the headboard, running a hand through their hair. 

“You scared me, you know.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to worry anyone.”

“So bleeding out alone is the solution? You don’t think that’s going to worry people even more?”

“Well…”

“Captain, you’re allowed to be cared for just as much as anyone else on this ship. And if you can’t let anyone else do it, then at least let me. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you. Well…I do know.”

“I’m sorry. It was stupid of me, wasn’t it? I can’t take care of the ship if I’m not at my best.”

“You’re worth more than your ability to take care of the ship, you have to understand that, right? Everyone on this ship wants you to be happy and healthy, not because it makes you a better Captain, but because we care about you. You’re worth caring about.”

The Captain doesn’t say anything at that, too lost in thought. Mark takes one of their hands between his and presses it to his lips. 

“Promise me, you won’t do this again.”

“But-”

“Don’t.” He gives them a stern look. “Promise me.”

“I promise.”

“Good, now seriously, we need to get you to the Medbay. The longer we wait, the angrier Dr. Iplier is going to be with me for not bringing you down sooner. You don’t want me to get in trouble, do you?”

[waeirfaahl]

A little bit about Aku’s ancestor

Although I earlier mentioned my thoughts about what Aku’s ancestor could have been and about those three alien gods, here I’ll mention some tiny interesting details from the episode’s perspective.

What made me wonder since the beginning — the introduction of Aku’s ancestor. It gives impression that the creature arose from the star.

And exactly from this star those three alien gods came also. Plus, the creature tried to escape and to hide, i.e. it didn’t attack first (and it means either the creature already experienced pain from gods’ weapons or it acted like many animals “Don’t hurt me, and I won’t hurt you” and tried to go away without fight), while these alien gods hunted and chased this black entity and attacked it first and then killed.

So... they were both born from this star? Then why the trio considered the black entity as the Ultimate Evil? Maybe it’s a regular cosmic predator. Or Aku’s ancestor was imprisoned and slept, but finally awakened and became free, so these alien gods were guardians and started to chase the escaped prisoner? I don’t think so. If the creature was imprisoned and weakened, why they didn’t kill it earlier instead of sealing in this star? I mean, they killed it with no hesitation and were okay with killing the descendant (Aku) of this creature, so they’re not type of harmony ying-yang philosophy patrons.

In comparison with Aku the ancestor is even more animalistic. Their behavior is widely different, Aku knows nothing what his ancestor saw and knew (Aku doesn’t know about the alien gods and their deadly weapons, for example) — they share only the ability of shape-shifting, invincibility, immortality and adaptation in the new area. The ancestor is formless, it’s self-defensive and has pretty limit abilities. Only the shape-shifting and absorbing an enemy (well, at least, it tried to absorb one of the gods to death after their attacks). It can’t talk, but only howls, growls and heeses (or whatever these otherwordly sounds are — maybe ancient language, i.e. more ancient than all these alien gods)  

Aku’s ancestor took form of octopus-like and crab (or spider) creatures. And this moment rises some questions — why these forms so remind animals from Earth, if the creature never visited Earth? If the creature only was born from the star, how it can know these animal forms? Or maybe the creature itself arose from ocean-like area of the space, where it saw similar cosmic animals and tried to mimic, but was banished and chased as something dangerous (or as something untamable for them, while they desired to conquer and control it for themselves) by those alien gods? That’s more plausible.

But, unfortunately, the creature died, and we can only assume, what this crature could do, while its tiny part survived and later will give the life to Aku, creating for him successful adaptation in the new world (about biology and reproduce by fragmentation of this creature and Aku I told here). Another little interesting moment about this scene I’ll mention in another post.

Although I have my own vision and headcanon of what Aku’s ancestor is, how it could look in anthropomorphic form and what voice this creature could have, as well as what relationships it could have with Aku and what the actual conflict between Aku’s ancestor and the alien gods was about (yes, I love epic and tragic conflicts and supernatural beings), in the show, if the creature stayed alive, it probably would want to absorb Aku, i.e. to return him back as its lost part and not considering Aku as already separate living being with own personality and apparently as own sibling/child. Because it’s the most obvious trope the authors could imagine, I guess, “We will be one again” thing or whatever. But in the show I still see Aku’s ancestor as fierce and noble force of primal cosmic nature, embodying both life and death despite having a deadly poisonous petroleum-acidic essense/blood/body.  Bonus: not only the alien gods had the weapon, which can harm and kill Aku’s ancestor and Aku, before humankind emergence. This Sleipnir-like stallion is not only spreads some white fog and makes plants to grow under its hooves (the Forest Spirit from “Princess Mononoke” vibes), but also destroys the black tree and the remains of the black lake, freeing Emperor. 

Although, since it disappeared in clouds, could it be these three alien gods either were this stallion or created it as tangible illusion in the same way they created tangible illusions of the monks during creating the sword? So, yeah, these liars could do all themselves much earlier.

[initiumseries]

It makes sense, I'm not a big fan of this format either

I tried looking for your comments about Invincible and didn't find much, but I wanted to know, what you thought of Invincible? Which characters did you like the most? What did you think of the couples? About the story and how it was developed? The animation itself, this kind of thing

Yeah, like honestly, if I wanted this format I would've stuck to cable lol.

Thanks for looking, but yeah, I didn't really get many Invincible asks, and I only really posted about how the fandom (typically) irrationally hated Amber

So, my thoughts on Invincible as a show, was I liked the idea, I think that they handled the concept of an "invincible" not so hero super being far better than The Boys. Like even though Omni Man mollywhops the FUCK out of his son, I believe it when he finally is like...fuck. I can't do this, this is my son. And leaves. And because we'd only seen him operating in secret, and his choices made sense, he wasn't just some insane white supremacists man baby with powers, I was like man this is evil, but I'd like to see where you're going with this, and the reveal didn't disappoint. The Boys just...doesn't seem to have a coherent point, and the points they do make have me like

I think there were some weird threads that, while I could see how they were weaving the story, I didn't really understand the point of, like the robot, and trying to get a physical body etc. I didn't care for Eve's storyline at all, and cared even less for her single episode or whatever. I personally find when people who don't experience violent isms are naturally, quite bad at writing them, especially for animation. I think I felt like, after a second watch, there was some meandering, and I wanted a really tight, really focused and executed season, more Arcane, less Avengers the animated series, as far as story execution. Everything in Arcane had a clear purpose, and with Invincible, quite a bit felt gratuitous and like it deserved cutting. When I learned about how awful the production was, it made more sense though lol.

I liked the animation, but, and I've said this before and people get their panties all knotted up over it, American animation excels at the action sequences. Big fights, big explosions, they got the fx and animation in the bag. Smaller acting moments filled with emotion, not so much. And that sucks, because anime really fulfills that for me. I know I can watch an anime that has sick action animation and incredible character animation, and I wish North American animation placed more emphasis on the latter, but when everything is rigged to hell, and there's very little hand drawn animation in tv anymore because of the deadlines, I see how that gets lost. But to emphasize my point:

I really need more Black character designers on these productions and as ADs, because I HATED Amber's character design. Like, I don't know who this is, but it's not a Black person.

While there's a conversation to be had about the same tired ass hairstyles for Black men and boys in animation, I still can look at this and be like, yes, this is a Black person.

Inb4 someone cries about it being 3D, there's no reason to not get the same fidelity out of 2D animation, not when Static Shock and Justice League have laid groundwork for those clear shorthands.

but it makes sense they'd suck at drawing BW because they want the girls to be simultaneously eurocentrically attractive, while also being shit at designing Black people.

I didn't care for any of the couples. I wasn't particularly interested in a single thing Eve did, or the robot not robot guy falling for the lady who keeps getting younger, and I cared even less for Amber and Mark, but again, I think it's because there was a development to the relationships that I was looking for, and the show is so focused on all this action and Omni-man, there wasn't much room for the right development to those relationships, and by extension, the characters, for me to care about how they went. I think the only relationship I marginally cared about was Omni man and Mark's mom and that's because they did just enough, playing them like this lusty couple, and then he calls her a pet. I was like...oh damn, lol. We're going there. Embarrassing. I think if we cut out a lot of the chaff with the excessive action scenes and really built the story with as many emotional stakes are there were physical ones, it could've really been a powerhouse of a show, but instead I think it ends up being niche because it's like a well animated show without too much substance. I hope for more season 2, but I know how animation productions work, and that's an empty wish lol, but I'm still gonna watch it because I like watching animated stuff.

[chibinekochan]

My Ghostmate part 5

Ft. Leviathan

Gender-neutral reader insert

Obey me! Monster tales

--------------

More days pass. The practice goes great. It's also thanks to Levi that I can relate better to the character I'm playing.

Our relationship is also getting better with each passing day. 

I'm getting used to his slight awkwardness and he doesn't complain over anything.

We also got into the habit of watching anime together every evening. It's quite fun if I'm being honest. 

Levi even got me into playing a few video games. 

My new life is pretty good, everything considered.

Once again I come home with food.

"I'm home!" I say with a cheerful voice.

"Welcome back." I hear Levi in the living room.

He is playing a new game. 

I plop on the sofa next to him. Just casually watch him while I eat.

"Huh?! When did you get home? And do you have to sit so close to me?" Levi is flustered.

"A while ago, and yes I have to sit close to you if I want to read the text on screen." I chuckle and move even closer. I feel like punishing him a bit for not noticing me earlier.

Levi reacts right away by becoming even more flustered and pulls his hood over his head. 

In situations like this, I'd love to ruffle his hair but that would probably cause him to vanish.

"S-suit yourself." He barely manages to say this much.

I giggle and move just a bit farther away.

"Oh, actually I have a treat for you. I found my deluxe edition DVD of the Rosen wars. So I figured we can watch it tonight if you want to." Levi puts a box on the table.

"You remember that? Wow, that's very sweet of you!" I give him a big and honest smile.

Levi is very sweet at times.

He blushes. "It's not a big deal. I like the series too."

So we both start the marathon.

It's a 52-episode show and a movie so it's quite a bit to watch.

At some point, I lean back and slowly drift off.

I must've been tired.

Something cold on my shoulder wakes me up.

In my sleep, I somehow ended up leaning on Levi.

"Oh sorry, Levi." I shift away from him and at that moment our eyes meet.

He seems surprised, I'm not sure by what exactly. 

Levi gasps and turns half invincible. "Gaahhh!"

This causes me to fall over and right into Levi.

A cold sensation spreads through my body. It's strange, a bit like a cold chill but not uncomfortable.

So this is how it is to be possessed.

A while later I find myself lying on the couch.

I sit up, checking the time reveals that a good hour has passed.

"A-Are you okay?" Levi speaks to me from somewhere across the room. I can't see him at all.

"Yeah, that was wild." I feel somehow giddy. "So you can possess me, that's pretty cool."

I hear a big sigh from Levi.

"You are a weirdo." He sounds like he came closer again.

I shrug. "That makes two of us. Why did it take you so long to leave my body btw?" Now I'm getting curious again.

"T-that w-was the first time I ever…I ever did you know…" Levi stumbles over his words.

I can practically hear him blushing.

"That makes sense." Not that I would know any differently. "So are we going to keep watching or what?"

"Don't you want to kick me out?" Levi is a bit visible now and his cheeks are indeed very red.

"Nope, unless you did something to my body." I shrug.

"I would never!" He sounds offended.

I pat the couch. "I trust you so move your butt here." 

Levi gasps again, he looks surprised. "You trust me?"

"Of course, you are my friend after all." I smile at him.

Levi blushes and awkwardly starts the DVD again.

I could tease him a little but I think he had enough embarrassment for one day.

So we just watch the show together.

Living with Levi continues as usual. 

Though today is a special day.

"I'm back!" I yell into the house unsure if I get a response. It's about 50\50.

"Welcome home!" Levi is near the door.

"Gee, you almost gave me a heart attack." I'm surprised by him being here.

"Sorry, I was just waiting for you to be home since I have to show you the new game I just got. It's epic!" Levi is so excited it's hard to stay mad at him.

"Awesome, but I have some great news too!" I smile, feeling giddy.

"Don't let me wait, tell me!" Levi is shooting me a smile.

It's always nice to see him just as happy about my news as about his favorite anime dropping new merch.

"We will have our premiere soon! I got a ticket for you." I feel super proud and get the ticket from my pocket. 

Levi's eyes shine at the ticket but it only takes him a moment to realize the issue. I can see his disappointment. It makes me sad.

"I know you won't be able to come but when they said we should give them to people we want there I could only think of you." It's a bit embarrassing to admit but true. "So you can have this!" I hold the thicket towards him.

Levi looks troubled. "Are you sure? You could invite a family member or friend? Giving it to me is useless." 

"That's not true you helped me a lot with your knowledge and practice. I'm sure you know my dialogue in your sleep by now." I chuckle. "Besides, you can keep it for the collector's value. I mean once I'm famous this will be highly sought after." I smile confidently.

Levi blushes, he seems unsure how to respond but then he reaches his hand out and takes the ticket. "Thank you, I will treasure it." He still looks troubled but doesn't say anything else about it.

"Didn't you have a game to show to me?" I decide it's best to dispel the slightly uneasy atmosphere with a topic change.

"Oh, yeah I almost forgot. You see, this game is about Poseidon building an underwater city. It's so wild." Levi is already on his way and keeps talking about it in great detail.

His delighted ramblings are always the best thing about his latest addiction. It always makes my heart feel warm when Levi is like this.   

I watch him play his newest game, which is truly something to behold. At least it distracts me from feeling nervous about my performance.

[astaroth1357]

Demigod MC Series: Ares

Demigod MC Series: Intro, Aphrodite, Hermes, Hades, Dionysus, Demeter, Athena, Hades Pt. 2, Poseidon, Ares

Lucifer

He cannot overstate what kind of damage this mortal was able to do in their first few seconds in the Devildom...

The instant they got to their feet, they had managed to incapacitate Satan and knock down Beel. Lucifer himself tried to get between them and Diavolo but…

If he hadn’t moved his head, if he was standing just ONE INCH to the left… he wouldn’t have a head anymore. Barbatos was there to intervene, but had he not they could have probably taken out the Avatar of Pride and done critical damage to the Demon Prince himself in one strike...

Frankly, Lucifer prefers not to dwell on that moment... He's sure Ares must be proud of this one...

He pretty much treats the mortal like a live bomb afterward, if he can get away with not interacting with them at all, that’s what he’ll do.

He’s NOT scared of them... much... It’s just that they have a bullish and uncooperative attitude at best and since they know they can take any of them, they don't even consider him - Lucifer, the eldest demon brother - a threat...

But you know what the most frustrating thing is? They won't give him an inch of respect, but they'll always listen to Levi! Levi!!

Look, Lucifer knows he may not hold a rank among the Hell's army and he might not have been a major player in the Celestial/Demonic wars of the day, but he's still the strongest demons here, dammit!! 😡

Lucifer finds nothing is more embarrassing than having to ask Levi of all people to keep the mortal in line because he can't... Oh, the humiliation… He hopes they leave soon...

Mammon

At first, he thought they were scary. But in time he thought they were scary… and also pretty damn awkward.

Mammon wasn’t there when they more or less wiped out the majority of his brothers in the Conference Hall but when he finally showed up he'd never seen Lucifer look so pale… If THAT doesn't make you shit your pants, he doesn't know what will.

Naturally, he kind of toned it down on the "stupid human" stuff real quick after seeing that…

But here's the thing. After the two made a pact together, Mammon started to notice that the MC wasn't all that mean, they were just… violent?

He legitimately thought that they couldn’t stand him for a while until one day a guy on the street called him a dirtbag. The MC threw a punch right there! No questions asked, they just decked that guy!!

It was kind of touching… and messy. Very messy. Did he mention that they’re terrifying yet? 😥

As it turns out, the MC has apparently spent a lot of their life just fighting things and being asked to fight things so they're not very used to showing non-violent affection… 

It took him awhile, but he realized that their way of saying, "I like you," is, "I will attack your enemies." So now all he does when his brothers tease him is say, "I'm telling MC!'' and they'll stop immediately. It's great!! 😁

Considers them to be his bodyguard when he goes out to gamble in some… shadier places. Most of the time not even the bouncers want to take on the MC, ain't nobody getting paid enough to lose that many teeth…

Leviathan

Okay, so. It's not very obvious anymore, but he USED to be on the front lines of the war against demons in the Celestial Realm. He was in charge of battle strategies, he led armies, and even now he still holds the highest rank of the royal navy!

So leave it to the kid of a war god to sniff all that out about him, huh…? They appeared to know all about his record the instant they saw him and they actually seemed to respect him for it!

For context, this mortal tells pretty much everybody to shove off but any time he’s around they call him “Admiral” or “sir” and actually pay attention to what he says! He can tell it drives Lucifer insane, but honestly? It’s a bit of an ego boost. 😌

It’s sort of cute when they come to him asking for tactical advice… They get just as into it as he does with his anime and any time he points out something that they haven't seen before they get so excited it's like they're a kid watching a magic trick. HUGE ego boost. 😏

Speaking of anime, it’s hit or miss whether or not they can watch any of it. Anything with good fight scenes (and let’s be honest, not that much talking) they’re on board for. But if the hero and the villain talk to each other for like an episode before throwing punches then the MC will just rant...

MC: “The enemy is distracted... Why aren’t they attacking yet??”

Levi: “Because the villain killed the hero’s best friend and they’re-”

MC: “They could avenge their friend right now if they ended things right here!”

Levi: “MC, we’ve been over this... That’s not how plot works.”

MC: “And now he got away!! See?? They should have killed him when they had the chance!”

Levi: “*sigh*... Let’s just play some CoD.”

Satan 

The last thing he remembered when the “human” hopped out of the portal was a sharp pain to the side of the temple and Asmo wailing as he fell unconscious…

Yeeeeah, not great. And unfortunately for the mortal the Avatar of Wrath tends to hold a grudge… 

For a comparatively brief moment in time, all of Satan’s considerable ire had shifted away from Lucifer and to their new housemate. They found their bed, clothes, pillows, food, and even their toothbrush cursed!

… But Ares kids must be built from some strong stuff, because half of what he employed didn’t even faze them! He even put an explosive spell on their backpack and not only did they tank the blast, it didn’t hurt them at all!! It was like they’re damn near immortal!

Annnnd they kind of are. Apparently the MC had taken a dip in the River Styx at some point before and became nigh invulnerable…

Was it maybe a little terrifying to know that they had kidnapped a nearly invincible demigod on the level of Achilles? Yes. Did that also mean that they must have had a weakness too? In theory....

Satan honestly devoted a depressing amount of time trying to uncover the “Achilles’ Heel” of his new sworn enemy… until…

The MC was walking with him and Asmo to RAD one morning when they passed by a group of lesser demons harassing a small puppy. Now Satan may be more of a cat man, but NO ONE fucks with animals while he’s around.

He was right about to go over and rip those demons a new one but the MC actually beat him to it! Apparently, the second that they realized what was happening, they launched themselves forward and started bashing the abusers' heads into a wall!

… Live by violence, forgive by violence because in that very moment Satan decided they weren’t so bad after all. He even joined in!

Oh, Asmo gave them both shit all day for the bloodstains on their uniforms and the scratches on their… everywhere, but it’s not like either of them cared. Righteous justice had been served and it was glorious!!

100% would team up with the MC in some kind of vigilante “punish-all-animal-abusers” gig. They have but to ask. 😌

Asmodeus

Oh they TERRIFIED Asmo when they first showed up! How else was he supposed to react?? They brought down his brothers like they were made of cardboard!!

Though he had to admit that the confident, battle-ready look they had about them was sexy as hell, he knew better than to go bear poking! 😣 He avoided them like plague until they finally asked him for a pact.

And then he discovered something… something very unexpected….

They're actually adorable!!!

Okay, like, not in appearance (they look like they could pile drive Cerberus for Pete’s sake!) but he discovered that they have NO CLUE how to handle physical affection. Like zero!!

The first time Asmo actually got the courage to try and hug them he expected them to toss him off, but instead they just stood there like a malfunctioning doll, all flustered and confused… It was so cute!!! 🥰

From that point on, Asmo would take every chance he could to wrap his arms around them or kiss their cheeks just to watch them try and fail to handle it. It's more fun than picking on Levi!!

It took two months for them to finally attempt any kind of reciprocation and even that was adorable! They pecked him on the forehead without thinking about it then nearly passed out from the realization. Apparently, they had never felt like kissing anyone before so he was quite honored!

The brothers know that if the MC's looking too mad to listen to Levi, they just need to call Asmo. A nigh invincible warrior becomes a LOT less scary after you’ve cuddled them into submission! 🤭

Beelzebub

Beel didn't like them one bit, at least not at the beginning. They had managed to get past him and actually attack Lucifer which was NOT a great first impression on their part...

He honestly saw them as a threat for a while, but unlike the rest of his brothers he didn’t avoid them. He just kept an eye on them.... constantly….

Look. Beel is a big guy. Stealth is not his strong suit… If he's tailing you, you're probably going to know about it because there's a six-foot something behemoth in orange following you around while pounding down bags of chips. He's not very subtle…

That being said, after following them around for a while the two finally got to talking and he realized that they didn’t want to hurt anybody or anything. They were just acting on instinct before.

After making the MC promise not to hurt any of his family, they got on much better terms. Hell, he actually got them into fangol!

Beel's sport of choice is pretty much just ultra-violent American football so the MC took a liking to it instantly! After enough begging, the coach let them try out and they got onto his team immediately.

He likes having them as a teammate! They're very good at the game, uh... even if they take it a little too seriously…

They once tried to convince his teammates to decorate the team bus with "the helmets of their fallen foes." They're REALLY into the sport… But hey, they haven't lost a game since they’ve joined. It’ll be fine!... Probably.

Belphegor

Hahaha… He’s in danger… 😥

It took one look at this mortal to make him rethink the whole, “Trick the Human” plan… Since when have humans looked like that?? They could crush his skull under their heel!!

It took all he had in him to play it cool when they first met because his internal monologue was nothing but screaming… THIS was the "human" he had to use to get him out of there?? How in the WORLD was he going to kill them?!

Admittedly, he had to think about it for a while. Belphie's a clever guy… and a demon. So who needs an honorable fight, anyway? If he can’t win one-on-one, then he’ll cheat!

He waited until the MC got the door open and didn't attempt a frontal assault… No laughter, no gloating. He just waited for them to turn their back, claws ready to dig out their heart, and then-!

MC: "Do you really want to try that?"

The MC must have had some kind of danger sense, because they didn't even have to turn around to know what Belphie was doing…

MC: "Look. I like Beel and you're his twin brother… So I'm willing to let this slide. But if you really want to try me…"

MC: *looks over their shoulder with the glare of a bona fide killer* "I won't hold back."

That was... very persuasive.

The MC brought Belphie down to the others peacefully with his tail between his legs and honestly Lucifer was more relieved that he wasn’t a bloodstain on the floor than he was mad… They could have killed him sooo easily… 

They did, indeed, forgive and forget about the whole “attempted murder” thing, though Belphie was never quite able to shake off how frightening they were in that moment… He had nightmares for a while.

Thankfully, Asmo clued him in that the MC would melt into a harmless puddle of fluff if they got even the slightest bit of physical affection... Oh, the sweet payback he could dish out... It’s cuddle time. 😏

[izzabeean]

Double Bind | Chapter 2

pairing : fushiguro toji x f!reader / gojo satoru x f!reader

warnings/tags : 18+, manga spoilers (up to chapter 79), alternate universe, unrequited love, love/hate, obsession, explicit language, graphic description of corpses, blood and injury.

genre : angst + smut

word count : 3,596

a/n :  hi! please be kind with my interpretation, I'm aware some things might not connect with the manga timeline. also, I'm unsure how I feel about the fighting sequence and mentions of cursed energy. but other than that, I'm very happy to share with you this next chapter. it's about to get a little more angsty now. I hope y'all like it!!TW: mentions of a corpse, mentions of blood

masterlist

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Total and complete irremediable sorrow trembles through you when you’re met with Toji’s remains-- his entire left side of his torso obliterated and his arm severed. A gloom of disappointment clouds you as the realization that his invincibility is only backed up by his pride. He is not eternal, nor free from harm, something so sickening to come to terms with that it makes your stomach swirl.

“You meant the world to me,” you whimper, feeling layers of unsettling emotion. It feels surreal. Like everything has just been ripped away from you in this tragedy. 

“I should have protected you.” But is protection something you could even offer him? For he couldn't even save himself at the time of his destruction. 

Gazing upon his corpse, you wonder if perhaps he is finally at peace, able to shove down his vengeance on the world. Yet you couldn't even fathom the heaviness of your heart as you know he could not eternally rest when the animal that killed him is still alive. 

A rumble of irrefutable heat sparks in you, your pulse starts racing as your hands start to sweat. The feeling of heavy anguish in your chest seethes and consumes you, building up a wall of treachery and wrath. How could he leave you? How could he go as far as to fuck you then just die like that? It’s unthinkable. Unreasonable. Unlike Toji, to just die.

Then like a switch, the rational side of your brain turns off. Instead, you are encompassed with a fury that's far more vast than the deepest ocean. A hostility wakes up in you as you look up to the man that brought you here. 

“Who did this to him?” You manage to grit between your teeth. 

The man pauses taking one conniving look at you before replying. You don't know if you can trust him but he's the only one that has the definite answer. You're about to repeat yourself, as your patience begins to falter, but he cuts you off with a breath, looking at you dead in the eyes. 

“Gojo Satoru.”

Him? You think, tracking back to the moments Toji has spoken to you about the Six Eyes. Your skin crawled and the hairs on your neck stood up, it was so haunting. Never has a name engrossed you with so much hate and anger. The fuming flames of emotion grasped at your heart, squeezing it to the point of discomfort.

Your greatest strength as an assassin is always thinking through and planning before taking action. You’d get to know your target, get a feel for their mannerisms, to a point that you could read their next move upon attack. 

Yet upon hearing that name… Like tunnel vision, your hunger for vengeance outweighs your principles. And yes, you know the risk of what you are up against. But you don’t care because you only have one goal:

To take down Gojo Satoru.

“Where can I find him?” Your voice is stern and cold. The task will be a bit more of a challenge than expected, but you weren’t one to back down from someone so sinister. It makes your head hurt. The pain was so searing you couldn’t even think what you were supposed to do. 

The man smirks, noticing the change in your demeanor, then passes a note. You take it from him and unfold it to reveal the location of your target. You couldn’t wait, you had to see what these Six Eyes are all about. 

Without hesitation your body takes off from the rush of adrenaline, knowing exactly where he is. Tokyo Jujutsu Tech. It was almost too easy to track him down. In fact, you were almost certain that you could potentially fall into a trap, but avenging Toji drives you forward. 

Hiding from plain sight, the towering white-haired man stands adjacent to a slim, tall man with black hair tied up in a bun. 

That’s him, you think, eyeing him up and down noticing he’s wearing a pair of dark sunglasses protecting his bright blue eyes. You can’t hear their conversation, but you hear a startling laugh from Gojo, making your entire body tremble with disgust. And as if he could hear your thoughts, he turns to look in your direction just before you duck for cover holding your breath.

You wait a moment counting to ten, before looking out to see where he’s heading to. Though when you peek out, you notice the black-haired man walking away and Gojo starring right at you. Your eyes widen, as you dash away instantly, out of his sight. Your heart starts to pound, it feels like it could break out of your chest as you run away as fast as you can.

“Have we met before?” A voice sounds while you are in mid-sprint and beside you, you see Gojo flashing a cheeky smile. “I feel like I would have remembered such a pretty face though.”

His teasing is torturous, it makes you want to vomit. You jump away changing directions, but he continues to tail you.

“Maybe at the sweets shop?” he asks as if you’d both known each other for years and he was trying to catch up with a casual conversation. “Or maybe on a job?”

Your eyes widen, fully knowing he’s probably just playing coy and knows exactly why you’re here. There's uncertainty whether you can flee from this encounter, so with all your frustration, you lunge towards the target. And seemingly your strength almost doubles as you attack, but your strike is not fast enough to even touch Gojo. 

Fully aware that you're not totally in control of yourself, you put your running to a pause and stand facing Gojo to catch your breath regaining your balance and composure. You've come totally unprepared, giving Gojo full control of the encounter. 

"Aw, c'mon. You don't have to be shy," he coos standing with his hands on his hips. "I know my good looks can make a lot of people nervous."

You can't believe that he just said that. It's almost as if he's mocking you in the way he grins like he's warning you to not be too careless.

"Believe me," you rage. "You're not my type."

"Then why did I catch you spying on me?' 

“It was a test,” you lie. It's true that you were caught but you couldn't give him the satisfaction that he is right. 

“Hm?” he hums. “Who do you work for?”

“Work for? You hiss. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, but you do,” he purrs. “A lot of people are out to get me.”

He has this crazy look in his eyes as if he could so effortlessly end you and you know he could. But you couldn’t let this be the end, not when Toji went and died without your consent.

"They thought they could distract me with such a pretty girl,” he flirts and it just fuels your anger more. 

Springing forward you draw out a knife strapped onto your calf then constrict your cursed energy into it. With a loud grunt, you aim for your target's legs hoping you can stun his movements. But Gojo just dodges it, instantly appearing behind you. He’s fast. Almost too fast to take note of where he is. You swing the knife at him again, but he remains vigilant only showing you how mundane it is for him-- it's too easy for him. It makes your blood boil.

You push yourself further and further, putting all your techniques into gear, as you're constantly reminding yourself with each attach that it's for Toji. Your moves get slopier as your frustration bubbles within you causing an eruption of negative emotions. And the fight isn’t even close.

"I think that's enough," Gojo utters, grabbing your wrist seeing you carelessly tire yourself out.

You don't listen as you try to gather up as much energy as you can for the final blow seeing as this is your only opportunity to get this close. With a final distressing scream, you thrust the knife towards his throat, but it stops before even touching him, not even causing a scratch. Sheer shock courses through your spine, as you fall to your knees gutted and destroyed. If this was trying your best, you didn't know what you could do to beat this nuisance. You can't avenge Toji, not when you're this weak. You feel like a disappointment. How can you say you'll kill this monster when you can't even touch him with your attacks? 

You try to keep your eyes open, but everything around you blurs and the last thing you see is Gojo's blue eyes, then everything goes black as you collapse.

All your will to fight diminishes and the heaviness of your body outweighs the heaviness you feel upon defeat. If you were going to beat Gojo, you were going to have to go through some severe training, at least you will have to if you get out of this alive. Being alive feels so much more difficult than it did before, of course, you barely had anything to live for in the first place, but Toji was a reason to continue going. Even if you didn't see him often, you still looked forward to the days you would encounter each other. There was always something about the way he looked at you. No one else in the world gave you such an honest look, even if he almost looked repulsed by you. Yet, when you think back to that last day you saw him, you could see his eyes filled with a longing to see you. Perhaps you were a bit naive to think so, but you'd like to believe he did somewhat care for you. It's something that you feel so deep in your bones, no words need to confirm it. The thought gives your strength, the strength to open your eyes and keep fighting.

But when you open your eyes, you can't see anything. Only absolute darkness. And the sound of water dripping like:

Drip... Drip... Drip...

It’s terrifying, but it feels like it’s calling you so you walk forward further into the nothingness following the sound. All your senses heighten, and an icy breeze prickles against you decorating your skin in goosebumps. The dripping still fills the silence, but as you grow closer to the sound, a voice whispers in your ears. The words aren’t loud enough to understand, but you swore it was someone calling your name. Then a speckle of a dim warm glow looms in the distance. You wish to call out to it, but you can't seem to find your voice so you start walking towards the strange phenomenon. But the light only grows further and further as you walk and a deep sense of anxiety pushes you forward. You sprint towards it, hands reaching out in hopes that somehow you can grab it. 

The light starts to grow brighter and brighter. But as you get closer to it, it isn't just an illumination. You see a figure. It's hard to make out what it is but it looks inhumane. You slowly encounter the thing half scared, half intrigued. The pressure starts to build in your chest and breathing becomes almost unmanageable. And once your eyes adjust, you can see everything. 

Toji's mutilated body stands in front of you.

You fixate on his injury noticing that the dripping sound is coming from the absence of the left side of his torso. Blood drips his open wounds as it pools below him. He gazes at you with regret and says, "I told you not to come looking for me."

A sob rises in your throat as you release a mournful cry reaching out to grab him. But your body falls into the blood and keeps descending below him to the point you are closed back into the darkness. You cry in exasperation trying to bite back tears and then you wake. 

You rise up from the ground clasping your chest trying to digest the events that just unfolded. 

It was just a dream. 

You look around to see where you are and don't recognize the room. You are surrounded by walls covered in thick opaque paper painted with a landscape of the mountains and trees. The floors are covered in thick tatami mats as the ceiling is raised coffered with warm wood. A translucent sliding door made up of wooden lattices covered in translucent paper dresses the room in a cool glow of moonlight. 

You wonder how long you've been out and attempt to move but your body screams at you to stop as pain engulfs you. The last thing you remember is falling on your knees before your nightmare. You let out an agonizing yelp unable to fully process this throbbing. It's hard to tell what's worse, the physical pain from your body or the emotional pain of Toji's death. 

The sliding door shoots open and a white-haired man saunter's in covering your mouth with his hand. 

"Shh, you have to be quiet," he whispers. "No one knows you're here."

Looking up you see Gojo, his eyes twinkle as he gazes down on you. Your body begins to lurch forward trying to get away from him but he just pins you down harder. 

"Stop," he utters. "You're only going to get yourself hurt."

You're squirming comes to an abrupt stop seeing as the severe pain in your body shoots through you once again. And you're calm but in agony.

"Don't scream, ok? I'm going to remove my hand now," he says calmly, then waits for your reassurance before slowly moving his hand. 

"What am I doing here?" You snap almost instantly after he pulls away and takes a seat beside you. "Why didn't you kill me?"

"A pretty girl like you?" He smirks. "Can't let that go to waste, plus you're not as strong as you think you are."

"And now what do you plan on doing to me?" You hiss, riled up by his presence in the room. You had only hoped to exchange very few words whilst in combat, but now you're stuck with him as punishment for not planning your attack. "Is locking me up some form of torture?"

"If you haven't noticed you're not under any restraints," he says gesturing to your body.

You wriggle your limbs to check how limited your movements are, but alas your only constraint is a blanket.

"You're a menace," you blurt out, feeling your face grow flush.

"A menace that lets you live?" 

"Why am I here then?" You fire back.

"Why did you try to kill me?" He asks, drawing in closer to you closing the gap between the two of you. "And I’m quite nice to even say you tried."

You don't respond, keeping your lips shut tight sending him a heavy glare. 

"Fine, I'll just have to use another kind of technique on you," Gojo adds, leaning in seductively. You're sure that dying right now could ruin everything that you've worked for, but a part of you would be at peace cuz you hoped that maybe you'd be able to find Toji. 

Gojo keeps his hand behind his back as if she is hiding his attack from you and you close your eyes in an attempt to shield yourself from the disturbance that is about to unfold. When the attack doesn't come, you open your eyes and see a bag of sweets in Gojo's hands.

"I'll feed them to you," he says in an almost threatening way.

"It's not necessary--"

"Say ahh," he sings, popping a chewy delicious red bean flavored treat in your mouth.

At first, you're taken aback by his weird form of torture, but as the flavors coat the inside of your mouth you settle into the bed feeling a bit better. But dropping your guard down just makes you more uneasy at the fact he is feeding you sweets and a big pit in your stomach forms.

"Are these poisoned?" You exclaim furious at yourself for giving in to this killer's tactics. 

"You seriously think I have--" he stops himself mid-sentence. "No, they're my favorite. I got a fresh batch this morning. How could you think I would soil such pristine sweets?"

Your face is in awe at his exclamation and you're not sure whether or not you're dreaming or just in hell. 

"Enjoy!" He says getting up to leave the box beside you before opening the door to leave. "Oh, and make sure not to be too loud. I wouldn't want my colleagues to find out about you."

With that, he shuts the door rendering you speechless. The situation you were in is far from sane in itself, you couldn't quite understand the ethics behind Gojo's decision to not kill you. Honestly, you thought him to be quite foolish for letting you live, this only gives you more opportunity to find his weaknesses so you could destroy him. But until then you were stuck in this room. 

A day and a bit go by, and the pain overwhelming your body begins to settle down. You hadn't found much intel seeing as you've been constricted to this room, but you were quite pleased Gojo came to visit giving you more food-- none of which had nutritional value, just more sweets. 

There was no added worth of being here, just time wasted where you weren't able to plan your attack. Gojo had been gone for a while and you suspected him not to be back until the morning, so this evening, you hoped would be the opportunity to sneak out. 

Getting up from bed your bones crack settling into your stance, the pain is still present, but you couldn't stand being here for another moment. As you pull open the sliding door you are met with Gojo face to face, causing you to jump out of your skin. 

"Want to go on a stroll?" He asks, choosing to ignore your attempt to escape. You're hesitant, to say the least, full of distrust. This man hasn't done anything to harm you but you can't give in to his ways. With a grin on his face, he adds, "I'll let you hold my hand."

"Gross," you mumble, walking past him outside to the elegant garden only lit by the moon. 

"Breathtaking," he whispers, taking the words right out of your mouth.

"Are you always this articulate?” You say before looking over to Gojo who is staring at you. 

"Are you always this stuck up?" He pokes back in hopes to get a reaction out of you. And he does because he can see the rage in you as you scowl at him with annoyance. "C'mon. Lighten up a little."

He walks in front of you down a gravel path and you follow behind. Evergreen foliage surrounds you, as small dim lanterns light the way to a small pond shimmering in the moonglow. The sight is tranquil and calming, bringing you a sense of peace. You wish you could have shared this moment with Toji, even if it was doubtful it would happen in the first place. A strange sense of urgency alarms your brain as you recall the dream you had the other day. Obviously, it could have been a sign to turn back and try to not kill Gojo, but it only made you even more determined to do so. 

"Why couldn't I kill you?" You whisper.

"Same reason Fugishiro couldn't… that's why you're here isn't it?"

You snapped to look over at Gojo, "Wh-- what. How do you know?"

"It's not the hardest thing to track," he teases. "Especially when a woman's in love."

"You're a fucking asshole," you utter. "You knew all along?"

"Cussing is a bit unattractive," he retorts. 

"Like I haven't heard that one before," you snort.

"That's not to say I don't like it," Gojo purrs, stepping in closer to you.

"When will you let me go?" you ask, pushing him at his chest with your fingertips.

"I don't know if I ever will, maybe you'll just be my prisoner forever," he flirts, to which you roll your eyes and cross your arm against your chest. "What no witty banter, your boyfriend seemed to be more up for it."

"He wasn't my boyfriend," you snarl.

Gojo looks at you intently as if to try to read your mind, then leans in closer.

"Then this makes this even easier." 

He closes the gap between the two of you. His lips look soft to the touch and seeing him closer you can honestly see why he has such a big ego. He's actually quite attractive and you wouldn't be surprised if he enjoyed handfuls of women chasing after him. Though this didn't really interest you and you turned away quickly before he could press his lips to yours. 

"Nice try. I'm leaving," you rasp walking away towards the wall of the garden to leave. You expected to have him stop you from escaping, but you find yourself continuing to walk away and get further and further from the room you were resting in. But now your deed is done and you can work to expel the disease that was once Gojo Satoru. 

Gojo watches you from behind, taking in your figure memorizing it. He knows that letting you go won't be the last time that he sees you. He knows that deep in his heart you will for sure be back.

[sserpente]

A/N: I received two anon requests quite a while ago and decided to keep them because the idea was… hot! I hope you all had some lovely holidays! Enjoy reading! ♥

Words: 2392 Warnings: smut, smut, smut… and a lot of fluff

Additional NSFW warnings: teeny tiny bit of dub-con, depending how you look at it, sleep fucking, cockwarming and forced orgasm (we’re going at it again, my lovelies! Prepare to take a cold shower after this!)

-

It was not that you didn’t care about the others. It was just that you cared about Loki more. The Avengers knew that—there was no point in pretending you were not selfish in that aspect. Besides, for a very long time, nobody truly seemed to care about Loki before, not until you stepped into his life and threw his emotions into turmoil. You grinned deviously at the thought. Together, you were one of a kind. An inseparable and invincible team against the nine realms.

To begin with, you had been unsure if he would let you win his heart even though he had been unable to deny his own reactions to you. Soon enough, however, Loki had begun courting you—right until this one, fateful night in Norway where he had kissed you under the glooming Northern Lights.

You missed him. More than you could couch in terms. Loki had been away on a mission with Thor, somewhere in the depths of Niflheim for several weeks now. Only a handful of einherjar as well as Valkyrie had accompanied him, the only life sign you received every other day when Thor contacted Tony to give him updates which left you worrying about him most of the time.

Your bed felt so empty without him, so cold. Loki had become the most important person in your life in such a short time period it almost scared you.

“Good evening, Miss (Y/L/N),” You looked up to the ceiling when you heard FRIDAY’s electronic voice ricocheting through Loki’s and your room. “Mr Stark has asked me to let you know that Thor and Loki have just returned from their mission. They are—” The AI was unable to finish delivering its message. You had already bolted through the door regardless of the fact you were already wearing your pyjamas.

Thor was sitting on the sofa in the middle of the massive living room, his dirty boots staining the soft carpet to his feet and his precious hammer resting on a cushion by his side. Frantically, your eyes scanned your surroundings. Loki found you first, greeting you with a mischievous smirk as soon as you laid your eyes upon him.

“Finally…” You dashed forward, throwing yourself into his arms. The God of Mischief grunted from the galvanic impact, making you push him an arm-length away from you with a concerned expression on your face.

“Are you hurt?!”

“No… just… exhausted.” He leaned his forehead against yours, pressing you tightly against his body despite the heavy tiredness in his limbs. Thor was taking all the credit, as usual. There were always two sides of a story and the Avengers, whenever the Asgardian brothers were involved, only ever cared to acknowledge Thor’s version.

“Did everything go well?” You asked him with a quiet voice all the while ignoring the heated conversation Thor had started with his rumblings about war, battle and triumph.

“There were minor complications. We had the element of surprise.”

You nodded thoughtfully. “Tell me the details tomorrow. You should rest, my king.” Loki smiled in response.

“Not just yet…” He mused. “First, let me show you how much I missed you, my sweet pet…”

Your loins caught fire the moment his hot breath brushed against your ear, promising a night filled with pleasure and passion. You clung on to him, desperately, as he lifted you up like a bride and carried you back to your shared room.

“But I do have to admit that we couldn’t have done it without my brother this time.” Thor said in just that moment. “Right, Loki?” He looked up, searching for him, but he was already gone. “Loki?”

-

His mouth came crashing down on yours before you had a chance to feel the ground under your soles again. Loki gently put you on the bed and threw the covers back, his lips never ceasing to explore yours. You could practically taste his longing for you, that burning desire setting your skin ablaze. Adrenaline from battle and violence still cursed through his veins, your willing body and mind an anchor to his aching soul.

His greedy hands dived under your thin shirt, caressing your naked skin. Your back arched when his fingertips reached the underside of your breasts, your nipples already hard and awaiting his touch. You whimpered—a soft sound urging him on to take from you what he needed, only to return more bliss to you than imaginable. Loki was a gentle lover, considerate. He took pride in how often he could make you quiver and moan underneath him before he sheathed himself deep inside your demanding quim.

Soon enough, he occupied himself with your knickers, his long digits travelling over your abdomen all the way down your body so slowly you shivered from the anticipation until he reached the hem of the thin fabric. He took his time sliding them off of you until you could kick them out of bed. You sat up, if only for a brief moment to get rid of your shirt. Loki eyed your body hungrily, taking in every single inch you so willingly presented to him. When you lied back down, bucking your hips already eager for his body to join with yours, an animalistic growl escaped his lips. Loki attacked your neck with a ferocity which made you tremble beneath him. His hands barely managed to free his aroused member from his dark leather trousers as he nibbled and suckled on your sensitive skin, determined to leave passionate love bites all over you to mark you as his. You would never belong to anyone else.

Breathing heavily, you dug your fingernails into his shoulders. More. You needed more, so much more.

“Loki… take all of your clothes off. Please… I want to feel you.” It was a silent plea, one Loki found himself unable to resist. There were, after all, certain perks of wielding seidr. His armour all but melted off of his body, along with, so you presumed, the dirt and sweat from exhaustion and his recent fights. A moan escaped your lips when his now naked skin touched yours, removing the last ounce of distance there had still been between you.

He was already hard, leaking precum from the pink tip. You longed to give his impressive length a long lick, tasting his arousal as much as he could taste yours when, without any forewarning, he thrust two of his long fingers into your leaking core and curled them just where you needed it the most, testing your wetness.

You were more than ready for him. Loki usually had you on the verge of madness the moment he kissed you, all your worries and sorrows drifting away from your troubled mind. This night was no different. In this very trice, you were his and he was yours. There was no one else.

Loki was demanding in the way he made you spread your legs to position himself between them, stretching your wet entrance inch by inch as he penetrated you to the hilt. Neither of you failed to cherish the moment as he shifted most of his weight onto you in an attempt to get as close as physically possible. He leaned his forehead against yours once more, his warm breath brushing against your moist lips. Only when you wrapped your legs around his hips to impel him did he retreat almost entirely and buried himself back inside you. His pace was steady, intimate. This wasn’t just passionate fucking—this was gentle and tender love making between two people who loved each other. Loki’s pelvis grinded against your clit with every powerful thrust, your breasts bouncing with the impact. It was a mesmerising sight, to say the very least. How could he resist not kneading them, caressing them and cupping them softly, one at a time? His thumb interchangeably rubbed over your hardened nipples, sending shockwaves of arousal through your entire body—they gathered right between your legs, promising release. You needed just… a little more stimulation…

Another, needy whimper escaped your lips when you felt his other hand sneaking down to where your bodies were joined, his teasing fingertips finding your clitoris with ease. He was panting, capturing your lips in another chaste kiss as he picked up his pace and prodded into you harder and faster, his fingers still massaging your sensitive bundle of nerves until he had you right where he wanted you—on the brink of orgasm.

“I can feel you tightening around me, pet…” He grunted hoarsely. A hearty moan accompanied by his name was the only sound you managed to utter in response. “Cum… cum for me.”

So you did, his soft command a dizzying invitation. Over and over, his name rolled over your tongue, echoing through the room. Your fingernails dug into his hips, wanting him even deeper inside you as your orgasm tore through you, setting fire to every cell of your body. Your toes curled, your back arched, your hips kept bucking up to meet his thrusts…

“Yes…” Loki hissed blatantly. At loss for more words, he began rutting into like an animal—like a tiger that had been caged and now pounced on its first willing victim. His hard cock, desperate for relief now, throbbed, pulsing against your tight walls. With a low grunt, Loki spilled himself inside you, filling your still quaking and contracting cunt until his warm seed dribbled down your inner thighs, tickling your sweaty skin.

His stamina never ceased to impress you—and he did not content himself with claiming you just once. No. The majority of the night had passed by the time you almost passed out from exhaustion, even more so than Loki after returning from his mission. He was more than compensating and making up for the time he had been away from you.

-

It was dark when you awoke again, your eyelids fluttering open only to be met with utter darkness. What was it that had so rudely ripped you from dreamland? It must have been in the middle of the night. Surely Loki had switched off the light with a simple wave of his hand after your passionate love making. And all too soon… all too soon you realised what was happening.

Loki was lazily thrusting into you again, whispering sweet nothings into your neck. His right hand was cupping your breast possessively, his thumb stimulating your hardening nipple.

“Oh… oh, fuck…” You moaned when he circled his hips, his pelvis grinding against your clit in such a delicious manner it fuelled your own arousal climbing up into dizzying heights within a matter of seconds. You were still wet from your passionate love making, remembered, after being taken times and times again and after clenching and cumming around his cock, letting wave after wave of pure bliss wash over you, and you recalled begging him groggily.

“No… Stay inside me, please.” You had fallen asleep with him still resting deep inside you, softening slowly. Loki had been unable to deny how wonderful it felt to have your warm cunt envelop and warm him for the night. He was slumbering soundly now—and he was… dreaming. Dreaming of… claiming you again? You bit your lower lip when his thrusts intensified.

“L-Loki? Wake up, my king…” You realised quickly he had a very deep sleep. Without ever opening his blue eyes, he rolled fully on top of you for better access. You tried to move your arms to control his vigorous rutting but found yourself paralysed, your eyes widening when you noticed. You could not move a limb. What… what was he dreaming? Had he bound you in his very own world? Tied you up with silk rope like he sometimes did in a conscious state? Shifting just a little, you raised your hips up against him. Loki had rendered you completely helpless, ravishing you intimately without his knowledge… and even though it scared you a little—so utterly at his subconscious’ mercy—you found yourself growing more and more aroused.

“Loki… I can’t move… Loki, wake up…”

Loki was not even touching you and yet… yet with a start, it almost felt like invisible fingers were stroking your clit, gently pulling an orgasm from you. Without a doubt, the God of Mischief was using his wicked seidr as he took his release from you. He played your body like an instrument, face buried in your neck and plastering wet and seducing kisses all over your skin.

He grumbled, eyelids twitching slightly. Finally, his blue gaze met yours in the dark, still drowsy and sleep-drugged.

“Oh God…” You moaned, too close to orgasm to grasp a proper thought.

Even if you had wished to, there would have been no stopping him from forcing you to climax for him. Muttering his name when pleasure took control over your body, you threw your head back, your tight walls clenching around him rhythmically, milking him for all he was worth. Loki came, too. He moaned quietly, sheathing himself as deep inside of you as physically possible as he marked you with his warm seed yet again, his manhood pulsing and jerking against your wet cunt.

The dark room was filled with nothing but your rapid heartbeats and your heavy breathing for a while. You were still quivering from your own high, your pussy barely contracting around his slowly softening member when he suddenly chuckled softly in his post-orgasmic haze, fully realising now what must have happened.

“My… it seems that even in my sleep, you are still utterly defenceless against me, my sweet pet.”

You groaned—though your half-hearted complaint sounded more like another eager moan. You could not deny how exciting it had been… and you certainly wouldn’t mind if it happened again.

“I’m glad you’re amused…” Raising an eyebrow, you landed a weak slap against his upper arm.

Loki chuckled once more, rewarding you with another lazy stroke. “You enjoyed it.” He stated matter-of-factly. “You were writhing underneath me and you are positively dripping wet…” His smirk sent pleasant shivers up and down your spine. He was already getting hard again, you could feel him twitch slightly inside of you. A devilish grin spread on your lips.

“Shut up and kiss me.” It was a wish Loki could never turn down before.

-

A/N: Check out my blog to find more Imagines and take a glimpse at my  first (to be) published novel! If you enjoyed this story, I would  appreciate so much if you supported me on Kofi! ko-fi.com/sserpente ♥

[undertaker1827]

Hey! Are you taking requests? If so can you do a hc based on episode: 20 where Sebastian is captured by Angela (but instead of ciel, Sebastian is actually serving the reader who's a lady of high nobility) and when the reader notices sebastian absence immediately tries to save him and later help him w his wounds, like I know Sebastian might not need any help but I'm curious what his reaction might be to someone being genuinely worried about him and willing to"protect him"?

Yes I am, and I have to be honest and say I haven’t watched the anime for a while, but here goes and hope you enjoy!

Masterlist

-

You noticed Sebastian was missing very quickly, as he was literally always by your side

To say your heart leapt into your throat would be an understatement, but you hid it well, being a lady of nobility you knew how to keep a political mask and a straight face

Internally you were somewhat less calm, but you still didn’t panic, you simply went through a list of possibilities and whittle them down until you only had a few options for where exactly Sebastian could be and what may have happened to him

Once you got through that, you went over the same process to work out how you planned to find out where he was and then get to him

In the end, you decided your only choice was to openly leave then be hasty as you went about tracking down where your butler had gotten to, before somebody caught you and sent you back to the room you had been asked to wait in

You could tell there was something wrong with him - it was just a sort of connection your had, likely due to the glowing contract sign sealed into your skin - and it seemed serious to you, so once you had a vague idea planned out of the direction in which you would go looking for him, you took off

It went wrong fairly quickly despite your best efforts

A man dressed all in white who put you in the mind of some sort of guard discovered you attempting to break into the third room along the second pristine white corridor you ran into, quickly grabbing your arm and pulling your back harshly

You dug your heels in and tried to twist out of his hold, leaving him dragging you along as you attempted to escape

That was when you yelled for Sebastian, hoping he would arrive and be able to save you

You never needed to doubt him as it turned out; your rescue was swift and deadly efficient

That said, as soon as he scoops you up into his arms to escape from that horrible building, your own fear builds up in your chest once again

Your demon’s clothing is ripped and torn, shirt hanging in crimson tatters from his bloody shoulders

His chest too is laced with deep, vicious lacerations that make you want to cringe, and though you do your best not to show your knee jerk reaction, of course he notices your sudden change in emotion from the relieved state you had been in just moments prior

“My apologies, my lady,” he tells you formally, “I should never have allowed you to see me in this state. I will clean myself immediately on return to the manor-”

“That’s not what I’m concerned about!”

You can’t help but interrupt him at this point, utterly horrified that he thinks you’re concerned about his appearance rather than his well being

“My lady…” he murmurs, eyebrows raising slightly in shock

He’s trying to work out what exactly he has done to earn your anger, why you would be displeased with his successful rescue of you

It isn’t until you’re almost back to the manor (only a few minutes really, given Sebastian’s supernatural speed) that you finally speak again

“It’s you I worry about; I could care less about your appearance when you’ve been injured so badly”

The demon’s shock returns tenfold, though it quickly gives way to a devious smirk and a glint in his amber eyes

“My lady,” he coos in an entirely different tone to the one he had been using just moments prior, “Do not tell me now that you’ve become so attached to me that you’re worrying about me beyond how you should concern yourself with a servant?”

The words are teasing, accompanied with a playful hum that your feel reverberate through his chest and into your side from how he is still carrying you bridal style

A little heat rises to your cheeks and you glance away, but the playful grin he gives you lets you know that he knows he’s gotten to you

You say nothing more for the remainder of the journey back to your townhouse, but you prevent him from going anywhere as soon as he closes the front door behind you

“Sebastian, please be honest with me. Are you alright?” You speak seriously, yet still that little smirk is just a hint at the corner of his lips

“Always, my lady,” he replies softly, “do not concern yourself with me.”

He could say that a thousand times over, you decide then, but it would still not induce you to do as he says

“At least let me help with your injuries,” you offer at length, unable to think of much else your could do

Your words startle a surprised, delighted, chuckle from him

His eyes light up as he considers the implications

You, a mortal, and his contractor no less, are more worried about his superficial damage as a practically invincible demon than you are about your own considerably more important and longer lasting damage from being effectively held captive? That’s simply too good

“That won’t be necessary my lady, though I truly appreciate the gesture”

He fails to keep the amusement from his voice

“I apologise to have to ask this of you, but please take a seat in the drawing room until I return to take care of you after what has been something of a stressful day. I shall only be a few moments.”

His tone leaves no room for argument so you do as he says, and the butler who returns to you in less than five minutes is just as pristine and perfect as the one you had left the house with earlier that day

He can still sense your surprise even if you attempt to mask it, and he just gives a knowing smile before setting to work on his duties as an exemplar butler once more

[bakugoukatsuki-rising]

I'm. The new covers, op. The new covers. Gosh. Both of them hold so much symbolism. And technically they both are canon, they are both original ideas that could perfectly be valid. Horikoshi simply found something better. But anyways, I'm going to go ahead and ramble about it because Im- Op, prepare for a long ask! Hope you like it!

So!

On the one where Katsuki's the one in the picture, he's not on his knees like he is in the other two covers. Instead, he has his face down, body forward, one hand on one leg, the other one holding out for something...He's bowing. Bowing in Japanese culture is a pretty big deal. Hes not just tilting his head a bit, his head and body are on full on commitment.

Such a tilted bow means a LOT, specially from THIS guy, Mr dont let anyone walk in front of me. Even more when hes not just bowing, but accepting such an open display of given help, Mr shonen anime lone wolf. Accepting something he always has trouble admitting to. Accepting the past, accepting the wrongs. Accepting Izukus help means so much, and that's what these three covers have in common.

His hand is sctretching out. He's ready to say yes to that hand out in the air.

(Ps. I wonder if he's watching his own reflection on the water in this panel, as well?)

Hes in middle of the picture with those childhood friend at the back, which means audience. It means letting people see what hes done, what he's sorry for. He is being open and exposed and vulnerable. That's no fighting stance.

Remember guys, in case you haven't noticed before, Horikoshi puts lots of metaphorical value in his manga and on his covers. Sometimes you've got to dig in deep and think to get the bigger picture. And in this case, the bigger picture screams regret and wanting to make things right from the start.

This cover occurs in the past, at the moment where everything started, and Katsuki fully remembers this. Katwuki has thought of this, is thinking about this. He's had eye bags for gods sake, he's clearly troubled by all of what it means.

These three covers are the visual explanation of what's going on inside Katsuki's head, because this is clearly focused on him and his perspective.

(Ps. Rivers symbolise the massage of time. If that doesnt add to everything else, I dont know what to tell you.)

So! Next!

Wow, if this isnt one of my favourite things ever. Okay. Christ.

I have two options here. Scratch that, three options. Scream into the void, scream into this post, or actually make a good presentation of my inner turmoil. I'll have to go by the third option. (Haha. Just like horikoshi did. Dont # me, I'm funny in my head.)

This cover melted my insides, froze them all over, and hit me with them like a hammer.

I know they're kids, but let me get this straight-so kids seriously look at their friends with these looks in their eyes and think "ah, yes. This is my very good friend. This gentle smile and kind look I'm giving him as if he was my whole world? Well, hes just a very good friend."

I looked at my childhood crush this way, I dont know what to tell you.

Anyway, let's actually jump to the information at hand.

This panel seems like it's making a reference to what Katsuki wishes could have been. And if that's not absolutely soul-crushing...this cover is Katsuki's feelings, guys. These are probably his very thoughts. This scene has gone through Katsuki's head at some point.

We've got Izuku in his stuck up pose all over again, in just an awkward angle. It's like katsuki isnt looking AT this katsuki right now, but at the spot where the actual past Katsuki, at some point, was. As if this Isuku is frozen in time. Dont believe too much in this paragraph, I still have my doubts about that, but I feel it's a possibility. Izukus eyes seem to be focused on the water, while Katsuki is just the tiniest bit back, reaching for Izukus hand. And gosh.

I dont think I've ever seen older NOR child Katsuki have this look plasted into his face before. He's...sheepish. Kindly, awkwardly sheepish. No hate, no anger, no shame, no nothing. His face is clear and sweet and has this "Whoops. You got me. But thanks." kind of expression on.

The hand behind his head, just the tiniest but embarassed? That little smile? It's all so soft.

Rambling about softness though- I really liked the hand scene in this particular panel. If you close up your view, you realise that theres no effort to pull anyone out of nowhere. In this panel, they are simply holding hands in frozen time for no purpose at all.

Katsuki has his hand around Izuku...simply holding there.

Again, because the angle is awkward, it's kind of messy, but you get the point.

It's all simply beautiful. Horikoshi clean likes give me life.

And lastly. The actual cover.

I screeched so hard when I saw this. My first instinct when seeing this for the first time was to straight up go trigger happy fingers and write about it to my friends. Christ.

Everything is so...SOft. horikoshi made a good decision by mixing both previous drawings in one. We have parts of the two covers in one, which is amazing. In this one, Katsuki isnt alone, as Izuku's there too. But we dont have the audience either. Probably because the main focus on this panel is no one else except them two.

Again, Katsuki looks like he's bowing, but instead of looking all the way down, he's in the middle. Not looking at Izuku nor looking at the ground, like it shows in the previous covers. Instead, Horikoshi found a middle ground. He's looking at his hand. At the gesture.

Hes not holding hands quite yet, but his hand is there. At arms reach. Not close enough but there. Wanting.

Theres so much regret and again, softness.

Again, like you Op said a bit bad, the angle is off here. This is present Katsuki remembering his past. The angle is off because this Izuku isnt holding out for our Katsuki. This is a memory. A wish. Katsuki's wish.

(Ps. Izukus trousers drenched in the rivers water. This detail was so nice. It's a subtle action that describes Izukus characterization so much. Izuku went in the river with Katsuki in mind, not caring if he got his clothes soaked in the process too. For Izuku, only Katsuki was there. And for Katsuki, only Izuku is.

As a plus, I can't believe the cover of this is literally called Bakugou Katsuki rising. They named the entire thing after that one chapter. Actually, I very much, totally believe it. It's the moment so many people have been waiting for, after all. The moment so many scenes have been amounting for, little by little.

*dreamy sigh*

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this little thing, I had to get it out of my system and dont want to bother my dear friends anymore than needed.

Have a good day, OP! I'll stay updated!

You kinda just...took my heart and curb stomped it, not gonna lie. Your observations are so beautiful and so accurate. The sketch with little Bakugou taking Izuku’s hand is so...raw, and yeah, that expression is definitely one of love. Those eyes, the way he is HOLDING Izuku’s hand, not TAKING it. He isn’t taking it to stand up, he is literally just...holding it. 

That isn’t the way you take someone’s hand when you’re trying to pull yourself up. It’s an awkward angle and just...wouldn’t work right. No, he is literally just holding his hand, and that’s exactly what Bakugou wishes he did all that time ago. He wishes that he not only took Deku’s hand, but held onto it. Held it as if it were something precious, something to be cared for and protected. 

These are Bakugou’s true feelings expressed in these drawings, and I think Horikoshi released them on purpose, to show us more of what he wanted Bakugou to be feelings through all of this. Since after all, we know that Bakugou expresses himself in action, not so much words. And because Horikoshi is an absolute genius, he thought to give us these other glimpses in how he feels through these actions. 

And the other sketch with him bowing his body to Izuku, and the way the log looks like it’s on his back with his ‘friends’ on top of it. 

The pressure of needing to be the coolest, the strongest, the best. Those kids put that kind of pressure on him, even if they never realized it. They encouraged his behavior and fed his ego, and it never allowed him to see how he was wrong. But now he is realizing it, and he is bowing himself in light of that acknowledgement. He is lowering his head and putting his pride away, so he can get back what he lost all those years ago; the opportunity to take Izuku’s hand.

To take the hand of the only one of those kids that ever loved him unconditionally. Who never pressured him or expected him to be invincible. Who saw all of his flaws and was completely prepared to support him despite all of it. The only one. 

I’m just a mess over all of this, and I am so incredibly thankful to Horikoshi for creating this beautiful relationship. AND IN A SHOUNEN MANGA, NONETHELESS!!  

Thank you friend, for your beautiful thoughts. I think they’re spot on, and I am so emotional all over again because of this. 

[allthingskakashi]

Could I request a scenario of Kakashi with his wife (fem!reader) and their young baby saying "daddy" for the first time? Doesn't need to be long just what some fluff to warm our hearts because Dad!Kakashi is one of my weaknesses. Don't need to rush, take your time, if for some reason you don't feel like writing it just ignore this ask. (Sorry if there's something you didn't understand, English is not my first language)

Don't worry, i understood you just fine, your english was flawless! :)) I'm sorry this took so long but thank you so much for being patient with me! I really hope i can make this worth the wait

• A Sprinkle of Blessing •

[ Kakashi x Reader]

a/n : Ahh I'm sorry i went off track for so long before getting to the actual scenario, i just wanted to give the story some background. Buuut since you said you love Dad Kakashi, I'm hoping you wouldn't mind

You sit on the edge of your bed, willing your body into keeping you from plonking back onto the welcoming arms of the mattress with every bit of your strength. You rub your eyes, ignoring the persistent throb in your temples. Feeling around for your slippers with your feet, you slide them on and get up to make your way to the kitchen. Your bathrobe hangs loosely from your shoulders, ends of the belt falling free, untied.

You stagger towards the kitchen with your eyes half closed and let out a wide yawn. You can’t remember the last time you got a good night’s sleep. Sleep is such a rare commodity these days, you’ve learnt how to take naps even as your body powers through the mundane chores of human existence. Like at this very moment. Every muscle that forms you aches, you’re so tired, been tired for what feels like ages now. Your uncombed hair is strewn all over your face. You know you look like crap but you don’t have the tenacity to care. Having a new born requires more work than an S-rank mission, and you’ve barely had the time or capacity to look after yourself.

Although if it weren’t for Kakashi, you would’ve lost your sanity by now. He’s been the best through it all, a true companion.

He’s stayed up till odd hours to let you sleep through innumerable restless nights, strolling around the entire house with a bawling Sakumo in his arms, trying to rock him to sleep. You’ve woken up on countless mornings to the sight of your husband passed out on the couch, with your son finally asleep on his chest, drool leaking down both their mouths. It’s quite a sight and no matter how many times you’ve seen it, it’s one that always tugs at your heartstrings. There’s even a picture on the fridge, much to the copy ninja’s mortification.

Kakashi has gone out of his way to grow into his new role as a father. He’s changed diapers, sung off-tune lullabies and replaced his Icha Icha with books on parenting and fatherhood. In spite of his Hokage duties, he hasn’t slacked when it came to dedicating his time to baby Sakumo and also you, coming home early on most nights to cook you dinner, just so you could have a little respite.

“We’re in this together, y/n. You’ve already done so much, brought our child into the world, let me do my part now.”, he’d say to you whenever you tried to take on too much. You were both new to this, you made mistakes and you learnt from them, but you couldn’t imagine sharing this ride with anyone other than Kakashi.

In all fairness though, it wasn’t always a smooth ride. Many a night, Kakashi would wake up drenched in sweat, shaking and hyperventilating in the middle of the night because he had a nightmare about losing the both of you. And you’d hold him in your arms until he calmed down, assuring him again and again that no one would take you both away from him, nothing would snatch away those he held close, not this time. Then again sometimes it’d be you, breaking down in the middle of the day, sobbing uncontrollably and doubting yourself, thinking you aren’t good enough. And Kakashi would be right beside you, holding you tight and stroking your hair, whispering affirmations into your ear until you could breathe again. But no matter what came your way, you and Kakashi were together, getting each other through it all, and he was as amazing a father to your child as he was a husband to you.

One time when you’d felt particularly exhausted, he’d almost shoved you out of the house. “Go out and do something for yourself y/n, whatever relaxes your mind. I got everything under control here.” He’d said, but halfway through your way to the spa, you’d turned around and come back, not quite ready to part with your child yet. So, he’d drawn you a warm bath at home, lit your favourite candles and put your favourite music on, providing you the lavish spa experience within the very walls of your home.

Of course, it wasn’t all exhaustion and sleepless nights. This child meant everything to you and Kakashi, having him brought the two of you closer than ever. Watching him grow up in front of your eyes, raising him together, it filled you with a kind of joy very rarely relished in the blood-stained shinobi world that you lived in.

Right now, however, you just need your first hit of caffeine to give you the necessary jolt to get you through the day. You fumble around on the kitchen counter, trying to locate the coffeemaker with your sleep ridden eyes so you can brew a cup of coffee.

Your hands find the machine and you notice there’s freshly made coffee inside already. Kakashi.

You get ahold of a mug, every drop you pour into it filling your heart with the same warmth as the coffee your husband so thoughtfully made for you; as you wonder, not for the first time in your life, what you ever did to deserve this man as your husband.

Taking a blissful sip, you turn around to catch the father-son duo on the dining table ahead, your son such a striking image of his father, although with your hazel eyes. You lean back on the counter, watching Kakashi as he sits on the chair feeding spoonfuls of baby food to Sakumo, who’s perched on the table in front of him.

You watch one of the five kages, the invincible, internationally feared copy ninja baby talking in sing-gong voices, making all sorts of animal noises and hand gestures to your child, the sight turning your heart into a slimy mush. You can’t stop the hearty chuckle that escapes your mouth.

Kakashi turns to you, having only noticed you just now.

“Oh look! Mama’s awake! Good morning mama, say good morning mama!”, he croons, holding Sakumo’s tiny hand in his large ones and waving it at you.

You laugh, taking your weight off the counter and walking towards them with the mug of coffee in your hand.

“Good morning, my two precious boys” you sing, “and thanks for the coffee”, you say, kissing Kakashi on the mouth as you wipe a smear of wet baby food off his vest. You go on to plant a few kisses on baby Sakumo’s head, the silvery wisps of his hair tickling your lips, before sitting down on the chair beside Kakashi.

Kakashi goes back to feeding your son as you take the unopened newspaper sitting on the table and start flipping through the pages, letting every sip of coffee energize your soul.

“Open wide, here comes the choo choo!” You hear Kakashi chime as he continues to babble all sorts gibberish to your son while you read on, stifling a laugh that’s threatening to burst out of you.

This was another of the father and son’s routine every day. Kakashi would wake up before you, freshen Sakumo up and feed him his breakfast before leaving for work. It’d give you a few more hours to sleep every morning and you were very grateful for it.

“Open your mouth pup! Let dada feed you! Can you say dada? Da-da! Say da-da! Mama and Dada love you so much!” 

You smile to yourself, listening to the merriment in Kakashi’s voice. Having Sakumo had truly wiped out even the last remnants of darkness from his heart. He was a happy man now and you were a lucky woman.

You hear Sakumo making gurgling noises with his mouth, drool slobbering down the corners of his tiny mouth.

“Aw baby, come here, let mama clean you up” you look up from your newspaper and reach over, using his bib to wipe the drool off, before going back to the International section.

The caffeine has started to work its magic and you’re feeling better now.

“d…dd..ddda-da”

Another gurgling noise, but almost a clear enunciation this time. Your head shoots up, eyebrows rising up in shock and every other sense in your body suddenly heightened. Your eyes dart in Kakashi’s direction and you see the look on your face mirrored on his, his arm holding the spoon hanging mid-air.

“D-did he just…?” he stutters

“Sakumo, baby, what did you just say? Did you say dada? Can you say it again?” you sputter, your voice quavering as you hastily get up from your chair and come around to stand beside Kakashi, facing Sakumo.

“d..da-da”, Sakumo coos, even clearer this time, squealing and flailing his baby arms around.

Your let out a gasp, your hand shooting up to your mouth in surprise as you feel your eyes welling up and hot tears streaming down your cheeks. Your heart feels like it’s made of rainbow, you’re so overwhelmed with pure joy, you feel as if you’ve never known true joy before.

Kakashi is frozen is his place, you see his hands shaking before he tosses the spoon away and pulls his son into his lap, smothering his baby face with kisses. He holds Sakumo up in his arms, touching his forehead to his own.

“Pup!!!”, he exclaims in a gasp.

You rub Kakashi’s back with one hand and hold Sakumo’s little hand with the other. 

“You said dada! Yes, dada! Can you say it again?” you say, salty tears meeting your tongue inside your mouth as you speak.

“da-da”, Sakumo coos again on his father’s lap.

Kakashi looks up at you and you see a look you’ve never seen on his face before. His eyes are twinkling, shining brighter than the stars and his cheeks are glistened with tears. A grin trembles on his lips as he swiftly pulls you to him by your waist, burying his head in your stomach. His other hand holds Sakumo, clutching his son close to his chest on his lap.

You feel Kakashi’s shoulders rising and falling as you put one arm around each of your boys, weeping into Kakashi’s hair.

You crouch down by the chair now, hugging the two most precious people in your life close as you and Kakashi shower Sakumo as well as each other with an infinite string of kisses, between tears and laughter. 

Sakumo coos on, repeating his first proper word, squealing as his parents hug him, the three of you together, your own little family.

Soon enough, Sakumo is asleep on Kakashi’s lap, his squeals of laughter replaced by soft snoring as his full belly brings over a drowsiness in him. You scoop him up carefully and lay him down on his small bed, covering him up with his small shuriken printed blanket and placing a kiss on his forehead before leaving the nursery.

Sweeping the stray strands of hair away from your face and putting it up in a bun, you go back into the dining room to find Kakashi getting ready to leave.

“Leaving already? You’ve still got about a half an hour, don’t you?”, you call out to him, checking the time on the clock.

“There’s something I need to do”, he says, coming around to you and kissing your head.

You don’t ask him what it is, because you already know.

You ask him to wait for a minute, and disappear into the next room. Confusion materializes on his face, but he obliges.

You come back holding a few white lilies in your hands, ones that you’d grown yourself.

“Take these”, you say holding the flowers out to Kakashi.

He gapes at you, a look of surprise flashing through his eyes, before they soften and beam at you with a look that can only be described as that of pure love and gratitude.

“Thank you, y/n.” he says softly, taking the flowers from your hand with a kiss on your lips, and heading off towards the door.

You close the door behind him, and walk up to the window which allows you a view of the long winding road that ultimately leads to the Konoha Cemetery. You smile to yourself as Kakashi’s figure appears on the lane, there’s almost a bounce in the way he walks today, and you watch civilians on their way stop to bow to him in respect as he returns the gesture. You keep watching him, until his frame becomes a little dot along the meander, before disappearing completely.

Your heart is tinged bittersweet as you smile into the horizon, thinking of Kakashi. You think of how happy he must be today. How his eyes would sparkle, when he narrates to his father in a slightly wavering voice, about the first time his grandson Sakumo called his son “dad”.

And how he’d close his eyes in prayer ,thanking his father for watching over him and pouring his blessings down on his son’s little family; because what more could it be, than by a sprinkle of blessing from the White Fang himself, that baby Sakumo would say his first words to his father on the very day of the departed warrior’s birth anniversary?

[voidstilesplease]

command me to be well

(a Beacon Hills Academy for the Supernaturals ficlet)

~•~

Supernatural creatures are known and accepted in society, and they have their branch and section in everything - the government, religion, court justice, health, food production, etc. They coexist with humans. There are still supremacist groups on both ends of the spectrum, but as a whole, supernaturals and humans share the world in equal.

In Beacon Hills Academy for the Supernaturals, mages (magic wielders) and shapeshifters (werewolves, werefoxes, were-coyotes, etc.) study and learn about themselves, strengths, and weaknesses, and adaptation in the human world. 

Stiles takes both mage and shapeshifter classes. His mother had been a fire werefox, and his grandmother a mage. The magic ability stays dormant in between generations, so Stiles received the spark that skipped his mother. Stiles's dad is the Sheriff of Beacon Hills, Homo Sapiens division. (It's not what it's called, but Stiles uses the term to annoy his father.) 

Every werefox can shift to their animal forms since birth. Their blood has no infectious components like werewolves, to turn an existing creature into one. So their kind only reproduces through procreation, but the power comes only between the ages of eighteen to twenty and never predictable. There are thirteen classifications of werefoxes: Heaven, Wind, Spirit, Fire, Earth, River, Ocean, Mountain, Forest, Thunder, Time, Sound, and Dark. And they all have to study every single one element through simulations and a weird practice called internalization. It's like the Buddhists' enlightenment when they have to "seek within themselves the core of their being" or whatever crap like that.

His mage classes are much worse. As a werefox, his reading skills are for shit, even with his human blood. His kind takes time to make sense of written symbols -it's called dyslexia in the human tongue- and so it proves to be a problem in his magic lessons.

"Stiles!" Kira, also a werefox and his non-biological sister, appears at his side after class. "Come over this afternoon and have dinner at home. Dad is making sushi."

The mention of sushi makes his mouth water, but he curls his lips downward. "I can't. I'm on my way to solitary study."

She winces sympathetically, "Yikes."

The solitary study is another word for detention in the Supernatural school. The students are put into confinement to reflect and read. It could be for an hour up to five -their offense and the amount of hate the teacher has for them decides the length of the stay. It doesn't sound bad when you hear of it the first time, but the stillness of being alone in a white room, being forced to think, drives everyone crazy. Stiles is probably the one person in the school who has seen those walls the most.

"What happened?" She asks, hoisting her backpack, forehead creasing intently.

Stiles shrugs, "In my mage class, we were practicing an incantation. I mispronounced a word because the symbols were flying all over the page," they stop walking when they reach the hallway that will separate them; Kira to the exit, and Stiles to his punishment. "All the light bulbs in the room broke simultaneously, and the shards went everywhere, mostly lodged in my classmates' and teacher's faces."

"Ouch,"

Stiles hums, curling his lips. "My incantation teacher hates me, just as much as I hate him. Every mistake I make is an excuse for him to send me to solitary. He also thinks I'm doing it on purpose. He gave me five hours today, and I'm expecting another tomorrow for the potion I fucked up earlier in another of his class."

"But that's unfair," Kira says, indignant for Stiles. "We're dyslexic. Every teacher should consider the limitations of each of us."

Stiles purses his lips but doesn't say anything. He doesn't mention to Kira that when the symbols rearrange in his mind, it's not always a gibberish mess. Sometimes, they're also perfectly readable -and quite harmful, depending on the caster's intention. He doesn't mention that more than half the time, he purposely utters curses and adds the wrong ingredients to concoctions. Stiles only does it for fun, though, to ruffle his teachers and enemies. He's a school jester; everyone knows that. He doesn't mean to cause pain to anyone -not all the time.

He's not vicious or vengeful. He swears he's not.

He's only a playful fox, curious with the less explored potentials of his power -even its violent capacity.

~•~

But it gets worse. It becomes an inclination more than a mere curiosity, especially when Stiles meets him.

In his fourth year in the Supernatural school, the management opened a program for the underaged supernaturals in the custody center. They're the young, homeless lawbreakers abandoned to the care of social workers after countless encounters with the law enforcement and their family's depletion of funds to cover the fines for damages they have caused.

The program grants them one term of attendance in the school instead of being instructed by tutors at the center, and a second one if the first term yields positive reports.

There are eight of them, and all are shapeshifters. There are three werewolves, a kanima, a wendigo, a chameleon, an electric eel (Stiles doesn't want to know how this kind came to be), and a were-coyote. All of them have criminal records, of course, but one has a count for murder - and his sister, no less. And Stiles knew him before his lock-up. They had not been friends because of Stiles's mistrust of canine shapeshifters, but he recognizes him right at first sight in years.

But while werefoxes prefer to stay away from the dogs, the latter doesn't have such urge to keep scarce, especially one among the outlaws: Theo Raeken.

He's taken one look at Stiles and decided to torment him. Witnessing Stiles do illegal magic did not help the case. Instead, it invited Theo more. Theo stalks him (as much as he can inside school grounds), stares at him, vies for his attention, pushes all the wrong but right buttons. Stiles feels repulsed by the way his blood thrums in Theo's presence. He's disgusted with himself for getting excited by his challenge. Stiles reminds himself daily that it's Theo -the one who murders their blood, and will probably have no qualms on staining their hands with someone else's. But Theo keeps provoking him, daring him to let go of caution. 

One day, Stiles does.

He unleashes himself and leaves Theo bloody, beaten-up, broken, and exhilarated, and himself satisfied for the first time. Theo stops prodding him after that. He starts tempting him: We can run. None of them listens. Their truth is the only truth. And Stiles thinks he's right.

He's almost eighteen. His fox's element should be manifesting -and it looks like it is.

~•~

"What happens if I turn out to be the wrong kind?" Stiles asks Kira one night, in the middle of video game night at her house.

Kira is focused on the screen, but she echoes Stiles. "The wrong kind?"

"A dark fox,"

That pulls Kira's attention away from the screen quicker than they can run. Her eyes are wide with alarm when she presses pause and turns to Stiles. She opens her mouth but speaks nothing for a long time. It seems she's too shocked for words. Finally, she shakes her head. "You're not."

Stiles sighs, putting down his controller. "There's one out of thirteen possibilities that I am. It's little, but it's there nonetheless."

Kira scoots closer, holding Stiles's arm, her clutch tight. "Yes, but," she stammers, "there hasn't been one in a long time."

"Of course, there isn't," Stiles agrees, looking at Kira. "They're exterminated as soon as they present to snuff out any chance of gaining power and growing a second tail."

"But you're not one," Kira says forcefully, eyes suspiciously moist.

Stiles replies softly, "I enjoy causing mayhem."

She shakes her head hard, "We all like trouble, Stiles. That's sort of what we are,"

Stiles can't look at her eyes when he admits his truth, so he turns away. "I inflict pain," Kira freezes in her touch. "and like it. The sight of blood makes me sick but with pleasure. I-" he pauses, wipes the sweat that gathered in his nose. He swallows. "I want to get into someone's head and twist their mind. I have done it, and I want to do it again."

Kira draws uneven breaths beside him. Her scent has turned sweet with fear -and though it makes his stomach twist, Stiles inhales it, savors it.

Kira's voice quivers, "If you learn to suppress it-"

"If it can be suppressed and controlled, there would've been no vulpine law authorizing the killing of a nogitsune."

Kira bows her head in defeat, sniffing.

"My magic," his whispering voice is loud in her room, reverberating in its four walls. He's been coming here since he was a child. Who knows when and if he can have the chance again. "It knows what I might be. It flows in my veins with my blood, rushing when I'm doing what I shouldn't be."

They're silent for a long moment; Stiles refuses to meet Kira's eyes, and Kira strives to calm her racing heart. She doesn't recoil from her touch, even when she was afraid. Now that the fear has subsided, she moves to kneel in front of him and takes his face between her small hands, prompting him to face her. When he raises his head, Kira's eyes are glowing, fiery around the black. Stiles flashes his in response.

"If you are," Kira says, tone final and sure. "I'm with you. You're my brother, and I love you."

Stiles knows she will stand by her words, but he doesn't wish her to. Kira has a whole life ahead of her that she can't spend hiding a nogitsune or running with one.

Because Stiles will run, damn if he won't. He's not going down, and he won't let them catch him. 

He leans his head against her hand, kissing the soft palm of it. He rubs his nose on the residual unease still clinging underneath her skin. "I love you, too."

And then he will come back invincible.

~•~

[kickingstonesandbones]

What I’ve gathered from the 3 Episodes bc some of y’all seem confused or asked

Disclaimer: For the past 10+ years, I've made it a hobby of mine to thoroughly analyze fictional characters and plots, so I feel pretty confident in predicting characters. There rarely are plot twists that can surprise me. BUT that is obviously no guarantee that I am absolutely perfect at it and never wrong! Nor do I believe that I am always correct, just quite confident in reading between the lines with characters.

There are some theories and posts I've seen (on different platforms) that, I think, are doing a good job of getting the general gist of stuff, but nonetheless, they all seem to be overlooking minor details that can turn around meanings (like the way Hoshino acts). Also, many of you seem to either be ignoring or unaware of the mindset of older JAPANESE generations (of Insanely Rich Families™).

So yeah, I am just going to put statements/theories I’ve seen and go through them one by one. They’ll be obviously marked, so just read the ones you’re interested in? (Also, I absolutely love a good discourse, so if you have something that would challenge my own theories, or would like to discuss something that I haven’t touched up on in this OR want me to elaborate on something, feel free to comment, reblog, or dm me with your opinion or question! Whatever you’re more comfortable with 😊)

#1 Haru killed the woman. (I see this as a kind of side-comment a lot?)

#2 Hoshino feels 'torn' about Haru. // He has turned cold/harsh towards Haru. // He dislikes Haru now. (Why it’s more complicated than that and also different than you think – explained more lengthily than I intended to, but still shorter than I could’ve lol)

#3 Why that entire first scene in Episode 3 exists.

#4 Because of that scene, WHAT really is Suzue to Daisuke now? (Just brain farts, pls kinda ignore this one haha I just wanted that one theory written down to get back to it)

#5 Older Japanese Generations In General... (aka Daisuke’s behavior in Ep 3 explained)

#6 Daisuke and Haru are NOT as close as some of you might want to believe right now.... Yet, at least. Yet.

Extra: I've seen a post where someone wondered whether Daisuke's and Haru's pasts are somehow connected. (I haven’t seen a single post about the 1998 Files and the Parents in this context, for some reason, and was wondering.)

I’ll put a Read More here because this is going to be long, very long.

#1 Haru killed the woman.

Absolutely not true. (I do see people mention that like “he killed her in self-defense” in case you're thinking "well duh, Sherlock.") Choice of words is ALWAYS important.

In Episode 2 when Haru and Daisuke talk on the stairs, Daisuke relays information about Haru. He says, "you misfired and seriously injured the target" when talking about the reason why Haru is not in First Division anymore.

Now, Daisuke does not seem the type to sugarcoat facts, which means he would not leave out "which resulted in their death" at the end, or just straight up say "you misfired and killed the target." Now, 'seriously injured' means that the woman's life WAS in grave danger and she was close to dying, but she DID NOT DIE in the end. She survived. Being shot in the chest does not mean inevitable death. In fact, you can survive injury to any organ (even the brain) EXCEPT for the stomach (bc inner walls are covered in a protein that protects the stomach from digesting itself -> injury that would let the acid leak from it -> acid will burn away other organs -> you die of multiple organ failure bc you cannot stitch up a stomach)

It hits her in the right side of her chest, maybe even right below the shoulder. It’s hard for me to tell the exact position from the frames. But anyway, it most likely pierced through her right lung, which in itself is already deadly enough. But yeah, she did not die. No one in the anime ever even alludes to it.

I think some people believe he actually accidentally killed the woman because Haru was so devastated by it IMMEDIATELY. No, it wasn’t because of that per se. He was absolutely devastated because he. LOVES. PEOPLE. (As shown by his entire conversation with the boy on the train before he gets off and his faith in the good in people in Ep 3.) And it just left him so shaken that he (seriously) injured an innocent person. (In his eyes innocent because someone who is about to shoot you out of anger/other strong emotions is not necessarily innocent to me but that is an entirely different discussion.) Anyway, I think he was most shocked about the fact that he had pulled the trigger on her out of reflex (because he instinctively knew she WAS going to shoot him DEAD in that moment and his body reacted before he could think about it – as his immediate reaction to shooting her shows).

See the absolute shock in his eyes? Like he only realized what he did right after shooting her. Reflex.

 #2 Hoshino feels 'torn' about Haru. // He has turned cold/harsh towards Haru. // He dislikes Haru now.

Yes, but no. I don't quite agree - and I don't agree mostly with the explanations given why (but also parts of the statements). And the reason for that is simply Hoshino's different facial expressions and exact choice of words in the interactions between them. To me, he seems like the type who would have an indifferent kind of face most of the time since I literally screenshotted every single scene with him (solely for this analysis lol), and he does have variation in expression, but only a little bit most of the time. His feelings are kinda subtle.

But before I explicitly explain what I mean, let me define something. 'Being torn' about something in general means that one cannot decide between two things, mostly two opposite (or at least quite different) things. And since some say Hoshino 'feels torn,' it would mean he would have two opposing feelings towards Haru, which I honestly don't think is true. It is just one very complex feeling that manifested over time.

Let me start by how Hoshino views Haru.

Haru is Hoshino's senior (senpai). Hoshino is Haru's junior (kohai). As we can see in the flashback in Ep 3 on the rooftop, Hoshino admires Haru. Like, this baby has complete and utter admiration in his eyes.

(He likely also thinks in that moment that Haru is insane, but that is besides the point right now.) He admires Haru for being able to do things fearlessly that he hesitates about. He looks like he’d like to be just like Haru as well. He looks up to him.

Then, the incident of Haru shooting the woman happens. Haru leaves the First Division and 'gets demoted' to the MCPTF. The two of them only speak to each other with higher level (distant relationship) honorifics. (I have a point about Hoshino calling Haru senpai in the first episode, but I will get to that.) Why they fell back into stranger honorifics will get more obvious in my second main point.

In the flashback we get in the third episode,

we get a Hoshino who stays on the side, also looking kind of dejected. I do not think that he is disappointed or angry at that moment. He just stares at his senpai in silence. Since he admires Haru so much, I guess he always wanted to be a cop JUST LIKE Haru, so he is... grieving? with Haru. I don't really know how to put it into words, but you could say he is HURTING by seeing his amicable, precious senpai BEATEN. Do not forget that Takei (Haru’s former superior) also puts a reassuring hand on Haru's shoulder. This interaction shows that they DO NOT blame him. (I am saying this bc I've seen people angry about what Hoshino says to Haru in Ep 3, saying "why would he hate him so much now and be so mean" - he doesn't. He absolutely. Does. Not. Hate. Him. He is frustrated and disappointed, but not hateful towards Haru.)

Having explained that, let me get to my first main point here:

I don't think I need to lay out Haru's work ethics for you guys because they're so clearly shown in the anime. So considering those work ethics of his, I truly believe that Haru ASKED to be removed from the First Division (which is why I put gets demoted in '   ' earlier) and be switched to one where he does not need a gun. Hence, he's now in the MCPTF. We do not SEE him getting demoted after that incident, which is why I firmly believe that that was Haru's decision and that he was persistent about it. When he packs up and leaves

he does not seem sour to HAVE to leave the division, but rather that he still seems to dwell over the reason WHY he's packing his stuff up. (You can see turmoil in his eyes. And that he’s lost in thoughts. He seems regretful, but also kind of set on something.) I mean the train scene really shows just HOW MUCH it still affects him

so I am pretty certain that he's thinking about exactly that and that he does not deserve to be a cop because of what he has done in that exact moment, and so on.

My second main point:

My first main point is exactly the reason why I think Hoshino acts the way he does towards Haru. It explains his expression that we see as Haru packs up his stuff.

He does not look angry.

He is hurt. And disappointed.

He feels let down.

In a sense, also betrayed. Like this isn’t reality.

The oh-so-great senpai, whom he has always looked up to all this time, who seemed so amazing, is pulling in his tail between his legs. Giving up. And running away. Just like that. Just because of ONE mistake. One mistake ALL of them probably would've made in that situation if they had been in his shoes. It made him realize that the senpai he had idolized all this time might not be as invincible as he had thought.

And. It. Hurts. Hoshino. To. No. End. (I mean, just zoom in on the pic and look at those eyes.)

I don't think he has ever let Haru know just how hurt he was just watching him leave and accepting the work he'd do in MCPTF (which is literally just desk work and filling in missing men force, as far as we’ve seen), which probably would mean that he let the hurt foster and foster inside of him until it slowly started to turn into coldness/curtness towards Haru. (Also could be that they fought before Haru left, which would also explain some remarks Hoshino makes.) He was hurt, and he somehow needed to show it.

Hoshino looked up to Haru, and was left feeling let down by his former partner. That stings. Deeply.

(I mean you can literally see the small changes in his eyes. His expressions slightly soften and harden. But the words tend to be more direct and harsh. And honestly, that is the result of disappointment and hurt speaking. But nevertheless, he still lets Haru and Kamei listen in (bottom right corner) even though he does look slightly annoyed; probably because he knows that he won’t be able to get rid of them, especially Haru. So the admiration is still there – probably had never left – which can give him moments where he “gives in”. Also, look at the bottom left corner.)

I mean Hoshino probably used to ALWAYS call Haru senpai for a longer period of time because he NEVER ever calls Haru senpai in the anime except for that one time when Haru startled him in the first episode. People in general react out of reflex and instinct whenever they're startled because reflexes and instincts are not a thing your brain CONSCIOUSLY processes. Those are subconscious responses.

If you don’t believe me, here is the other times Hoshino has called Haru – and when he did, it was literally only “Kato-san” (there aren’t a lot of other examples bc he literally only says Haru’s name like four times so far, but when he is NOT surprised, he addresses Haru like this):

(Completely taken aback by Haru just stealing the ear-piece, surprised face, afterwards not even aware that he did call Haru senpai, which he never does again (so far))

Which means Hoshino did not (more like COULD NOT) think about the way he'd call Haru, so that "senpai" slipped past his lips out of pure old habit. (Which goes to show that they used to be really close.) I'm not crying, you are.

.

I also have to bring up that first conversation on the train in Ep 3.

Kato: “That was rather fast.”

Hoshino: “Why are you here?” (he says Kato-san in Japanese, not “you”)

K: “I happened to be on the train. The perp is male. He said he failed the college entrance exam, so his age is somewhere around 19 or 20. I’m guessing he’s from somewhere around Hyogo.”

H: “How do you know-”

K: “I was sitting next to him, until moments ago.”

H: “Any other information?”

K: “No. I only started talking to him when I was close to getting off.”

H: “Understood. We at First Division will be handling this case. Kato-san, please take your leave.”

K: “It’s alright. I’m not a stranger in his light. Let me do it.”

H: “Do you have any authority to be on this crime scene?”

K: “What do you mean?”

H: “Why don’t you ask yourself that question?”

Look exactly at the changes in their eyes in each single picture here. Notice how Hoshino goes from surprised to somewhat indifferent to challenging? Someone might even argue that he looks angry, hostile, or that it’s resentment in his eyes, but considering that he is asking “Why don’t you ask yourself that question?” it is neither of those, because he is challenging Haru to defend himself. But Haru doesn’t answer, and they just stare each other down for a few seconds.

Just by the way Hoshino says it, and the way Haru reacts and how it immediately triggers the flashback/memory afterwards, I think this might actually be something Haru has said TO Hoshino (about himself) back then when Hoshino might've tried to change Haru's mind on leaving the First Division (that he does not deserve to be a cop, investigate crime scenes like that, etc). At least that interaction and just how Haru reacts to it seems to be implying that to me.

I refuse to believe Hoshino did not try at all to persuade and hold back Haru back then (I mean just that pic of Hoshino staring at Haru when he was packing his stuff and leaving the division literally SCREAMS INTO YOUR FACE), so I believe Haru told him at least SOMEWHAT how he feels about the whole thing, and I think Haru probably definitely said something along those lines. Like, he “did not deserve to investigate crime scenes LIKE THAT” (I mean the trauma and the train scene are literally the same hostage scenario with the culprit having a firearm (even if the kid's was a model gun and not real)) nor that he “deserved to be a cop any longer (because cops wouldn’t hurt the innocent).” He might’ve said something like that to Hoshino, which only frustrates and disappoints the latter further.

So in this complicated mess, what is it that Hoshino is actually feeling? That mixture of hurt, disappointment, betrayal and being let down has manifested itself into frustration. Hoshino is frustrated with Haru.

He’ll probably explode (in Haru’s face) at some point in the anime, too.

(I think Hoshino is an interesting character.)

#3 Why that entire first scene in Episode 3 exists

I was so confused about that scene in the beginning and had to check whether I WAS actually watching the third episode lol

The main thing I get from it is that it's entirely about INFORMATION. That is probably entirely because the Hong Kong episode got deleted and instead we'll get that in a drama CD? In Hong Kong, Haru probably would've learned that HEUSC is an AI butler, not a real one, and how to use him. (Among other things.) I mean, he somehow needs to first get to learn about HEUSC before he can use him for the whole train scenario later in the episode? And that hadn't been done yet, and probably would've happened in Hong Kong, but we aren't getting that in the anime so that information needed to be given another way. Which is probably why that first scene even exists. If anyone knows well about script writing for that and how that in general works, and knows more about this, please let me know, I am interested in learning lmao

#4 Because of that scene, WHAT really is Suzue to Daisuke now?

I do not want anyone to comment that it was confirmed that they are siblings or some shit. NOTHING has been confirmed. She still could be his wife. She also just could be his sister. Or a cousin. We will get to know eventually, but as of right now, NOTHING AT ALL HAS BEEN CONFIRMED. REMEMBER THAT, NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU HATE IT.

I, in general, do not really care for ships. So idgaf if she is his sister or wife, but I DO have a theory of my own. And it is all because of how Daisuke's grandmother introduced herself.

DAISUKE'S grandmother. Not THEIRS. Not Daisuke's AND Suzue's grandmother. ONLY Daisuke's.

So this either means a harsh canon awakening for shippers, or it MIGHT mean something entirely else. (And I have 3 points to make here.)

(1) That she does not accept Suzue as a grandchild. Now, she did not look like she harbors resentment towards Suzue and wished she wasn't present at all or didn't exist. Buuuuut.... Suzue might be an illegitimate grandchild? Like, I know that sounds wild, but hear me out.

Children sometimes look more like one parent rather than the other (or a parent’s side). Sometimes, not always, but often enough. Animes in general do not make love interests or parents look almost identical. (But then again, you could never know with the devs of this one lmao) Soooo... It could be that they either look like their father, or their mother. And the respective parent had an affair, resulting in Suzue. And why I believe it would be Suzue, if one of them actually would be the illegitimate child? Because she is younger than Daisuke, and the way the grandmother treats HIM. (Honestly, if Daisuke would be the illegitimate child, 1. Grandma wouldn't claim him 2. Why would the other parent stick around for two more years to have another child with a cheater?) Which could be why - considering the mindset of older Japanese generations - why she only introduced herself as Daisuke's grandmother. And also why she is so immensely strict with him. In her eyes, he would be the only heir to the family. So she has to raise him to be a responsible man whom she can hand over the company to with peace of mind.

(2) Daisuke and Suzue are actually married. So get over it in this case. (And don't you DARE hate on a great character (again) because of that, otherwise I'll only refer to ya'll as salty hoes from them on.)

(3) We all (read: I) might be interpreting too much into it and it literally means nothing at all, and she just introduced herself that way because they were going to talk about Daisuke because of his new work place and since Daisuke and Haru are partners. For this case, I already have my wig, red nose, and make up ready 🤡

If I am being honest, (1) does not seem too likely to me – just something I randomly thought of. I actually think it’s just simply (3). But I am presenting it for the VERY small chance that (1) could actually be true lmao I bet I will cringe hard at it later

Highly likely: Since Haru would be more involved with Daisuke than Suzue because of work, it could be that she just found it more logical to introduce herself as his grandma, rather than theirs, so yeah… like I’ve said, these are just brain farts and I just wanted to have them written down lol

EDIT: I’ve been made aware that there seems to be an error in the translation. Since it is too much of a pain to add even more pics on mobile, I will just relay the information of the tweet. You can find the link to the tweet in the comments though. My Japanese isn’t that great, so I am dependent on the translation, so errors can occur, which makes me happy when people point something like this out to me. Basically, what Kikuko is actually saying in Japanese is that she’s the grandma, but she leaves out the pronouns - therefore not really saying whose grandma she is - so it could refer to both of them. Like I said, (1) doesn’t seem likely to me anyway lol

#5 Older Japanese Generations In General...

Are strict. Are very conservative. Especially insanely rich families like the Kambe's. Kikuko is NOT strict with him because she has a bad personality or because she is inherently mean or something. (Though she does seem to consider him a bit irresponsible because she calls him selfish)

(Also notice how she asks “so hasn’t he” instead of “he hasn’t been, has he?” which means she always expects him to cause trouble for everyone. This goes to show that Daisuke can never do enough or do good enough for her, which also explains his character a bit since his grandma took care of him since his parents died, but my point here is not to analyze his entire behavior.)

The Japanese have a culture of respect. Respect your elders. Unconditionally. And grandparents of insanely rich families like Daisuke's also demand respect, which means not talking back, or DISOBEYING THEIR ORDERS. Which brings me to the next point (for which I have written this one because y’all might be misinterpreting Daisuke’s behavior, which is exactly what I meant in the beginning with “ignoring or being unaware of the mindset of older Japanese generations”)...

#6 Daisuke and Haru are NOT as close as some of you might want to believe right now.... Yet, at least. Yet.

Sorry to burst the bubbles.

I see everyone going on about them now being partners, and Daisuke trusting his life with Haru’s judgement.

The second part, yes… kinda at least.

The first? Not so much.

Let me talk about the first half of the sentence first. Like the point before this clarifies – unconditional, non-questioning respect, and no disobedience. Which means that Daisuke would NOT go against the orders of his grandmother. By helping Haru with that case and listening to him, being coached, is literally just him obeying Kikuko. (He might also think that it would be better to just follow before Haru rats him out to his grandma for a second time.)

(I do bet though that that will soon change and be genuine!)

Now, with the part about trusting his life to Haru’s judgement… I am not sure whether I can properly explain this the way I mean it, so I just hope it will make sense. I think Daisuke kind of trusted Haru’s judgement on the boy, but also trusted his own judgement just a little more than that. I think he just made logical deductions from what he witnessed inside (reported that a person was down and that they were probably killed by the boy, then it turns out he is doing all that for his sister’s surgery, then it turns out that gun is not real (after causing a distraction) and nobody is actually injured, but then he gets his hand on a real gun (Hoshino’s) and points it their direction in a panic, and Daisuke notices Haru cannot shoot the boy, so he deducts that if the boy knows that his sister will be safe, he will calm down and the situation will be completely de-escalated, so he steps forward and states he will pay for it (he does not really care about spending money as we all know lol) and stands with confidence because he knows flinching or getting nervous – or even blinking – would make it look like a lie and he would definitely NOT want that). Does this make sense? Like, Daisuke is such a calm and collected person, I doubt he would just absolutely BLINDLY jump into something because of someone else’s judgement BEFORE making sure that their judgement is correct by his own observation of the situation, which would be why he stayed behind Haru and just observed until a certain point where he was absolutely certain that it would be safe to do so.

Though what that DOES mean though would be that Daisuke would probably trust Haru’s judgement without being too skeptical about it soon. (I feel like this might’ve been that part in the Episode 3 Hong Kong PV 3 where a person (looks A LOT like Daisuke, so I’ll just assume it was him) was cuffed and Haru comes to the rescue. It might’ve been that Haru judged that person who ended up doing this to Daisuke to be shady, but Daisuke went ahead anyway and got himself in trouble, which was why he ended up cuffed to something, or something of that sort that would show Daisuke Haru’s judgement can be trusted.) [Edit: I used this simply as a theorizing example of how this could be done in another way with a scene that actually DOES exist (though we won’t be seeing that in the anime anymore it is still canon material) instead of having to make something up, and Hong Kong was just a good example to further show my point.]

Extra: I've seen a post where someone wondered whether Daisuke's and Haru's pasts are somehow connected.

In short: Yes, I think so.

In long: (This theory might be a far reach hahah)

The first time we see Haru enter the office of his division, he is carrying files.

'Unsolved Case Files 1998,' it specifically reads. We know Daisuke's parents have died and he says “it was in Japan” when that one day turned his life around (though we do not have any indication of year yet). I assume they were killed (and that it wasn’t an accident at all) and it is the true reason why he came back to Japan (even though yeeeaaars later bc he needed to be trained)

and why he specifically asked to be in the MCPTF BECAUSE Haru is in it (I’ll explain why soon), instead of the First or Second Division - as the superintendent general had suggested for him to be put into, which resulted in Daisuke declining the offer.

But we don't know much about Haru's family. Actually, NOTHING AT ALL. Now, I think that his parents are dead as well, and that their deaths are connected to Daisuke's parents' deaths. The fact that Haru looks through cold cases (or well, at least old cases), which is only briefly shown by showing the files he carried in the first episode, most likely is meant to be some "foreshadowing/hidden info given” kind of thing. Haru is possibly investigating his parents' (or at least a loved one's) death. His parents' death (if none of his parents were police officers themselves and therefore influenced him in that way) is possibly also the reason Haru became a police officer in the first place (even though he tells Daisuke that it is simply to "nab criminals," maybe specifically the criminals who have to do with that?).

Now, I said before that Daisuke asked to be in the same Division as Haru, not the MCPTF (though he names the division, not Haru’s name but you'll know why I'm saying that by the end of this. I don’t think he has immense interest in the division itself but WHO is IN IT). In the second episode, we get to know that Daisuke has a lot of information about Haru. During the case of Isezaki, we get to know during the interrogation that Daisuke obtains information about a person by having HEUSC scan a person's documentation item

or simply by asking HEUSC. 

We never see him doing that with Haru though (I also seriously doubt Haru would hand him any kind of ID, especially in the beginning lol), which brings me to the point that Daisuke probably already had obtained all of Haru's information before he had arrived in Japan; or maybe at the latest after the Bridge incident though I am pretty certain it was BEFORE arriving in Japan, just that maybe he didn’t know the face? Or maybe he even knew the face but didn’t care. (He probably knew more than just about the trauma and why Haru left the First Division, but Haru did not let him speak any further in that scene. It is unclear though, whether Daisuke would've kept talking or that being all of the information he would have delivered in that moment.)

Because Daisuke might already know from the start that their pasts are connected, while Haru is oblivious to it.

So, Daisuke wants to solve the murder of his parents, and he might think that the key to solving it might be by being around someone/doing it with someone who is also connected to it.

(I have no clue whether I am still making sense bc I haven’t slept and worked on this all night, going through the episodes again and again and at this point I am just extremely tired lol)

Like, I know by the fact that we are only 3 Episodes in that this might sound like a far reach BUT I seriously would not be surprised by this. The thing about storytelling is that at one point you would need to introduce the Motive™ of the story. Since animes have very limited time to tell the story in only 20 minutes, at least ALMOST everything in an episode sooner or later needs to give us that information; and honestly? They could’ve started this anime in ANY other way, but they chose to start by Daisuke telling us about his parents. And I honestly just think that it would be odd if that is not of greater importance in the whole story, so I think that that might be the motive that should be revealed within the first half of the anime. The devs seem like the kind of people who would give small hints for something like this (Daisuke’s parents, the 1998 Files) throughout the entire show and then SLAP it into the face of the ones who are unsuspecting in the second half of the anime, ESPECIALLY since they are so secretive with everything lmao I love them.

I am going to bed now, I’m so fucking tired lol

August 3, 2020

[sineala]

Hey Sineala, how are you 💐 I have come across many Tony Stark blogs and many are focusing on Tonys self-loath. It is pretty clear he is suffering from self-criticism, I can’t help but wonder why? I read his wiki page and it seems like from a young age he tried filling the void with alcohol, women and risky sports but does it all stem from the fact he feels guilty of weapon manufacturing? Thank you!

Hey, anon! So this is one of those areas where 616 actually differs a lot from MCU, because the answer to your question is that weapons manufacturing is eventually a thing Tony feels a great deal of guilt about, but it's not the origin of his self-loathing -- or even his superhero identity -- because he hated himself long before he started manufacturing weapons, and he actually continued manufacturing weapons for quite a long time after becoming Iron Man.

(I don't know MCU well enough to speak to whether Tony hates himself there, but he definitely hates himself in 616. It just has very little to do with weapons manufacturing -- or at least, while he is certainly capable of regretting his days as a weapons designer, it's not the root of all his problems or his drive to become a superhero. He's a superhero because he wants to save people, independently of whether he also wants to make weapons that kill people. Yes, it eventually occurs to him that these are two conflicting desires.)

The character of Tony Stark was created in 1963, and that was a time when attitudes toward the military-industrial complex were generally more positive than they are now, and definitely more positive among comics readers than they later became. Basically, Tony was a defense contractor and nobody had a problem with that. He was exemplifying the American dream! He was the best and most wonderful boss that anyone could be! He was, essentially, a fantasy of ethical capitalism. He was the guy who had it all. (And of course he was also Extremely Tragic because of his secret hidden disability, yes, so he really didn't have it all like everyone thought he did, but only he knew that.)

But then, Real Life happened, and the Vietnam War kept happening, and it kept getting more and more unpopular, and the people who read Iron Man comics started to not enjoy the fact that Tony kept making weapons. So Marvel changed that. In the mid-70s, Marvel ran an Iron Man arc involving Tony meeting a woman named Roxanne Gilbert, a pacifist who convinces him to stop making weapons. He changes the company name from Stark Industries to Stark International to reflect his new commitment. Iron Man v1 #78, from 1975, is the key issue you want to read here; it mostly consists of Tony thinking back to some of the horrors he saw in Vietnam and resolving that he's going to be a better man now and dedicate himself to peace.

It’s very touching, actually.

Keep in mind that this is 1975, so this happens more than ten real-life years after Tony debuted as a character. It took him a while to stop making weapons, is what I'm saying. (And even after then, people still try to force him back in -- this is in fact what Nick Fury tries to do to him in Demon in a Bottle, which is one of the things that leads to Tony’s massive drinking binge.)

When we see Tony talk about his weapons-manufacturing days at the beginning of Extremis (Iron Man v4 #1), he says that he doesn't intend to die as a weapons designer:

That entire interview sequence is definitely worth reading -- or even watching, if you prefer, since they made the Extremis arc into an animated cartoon -- if you want to see a modern take on Tony's approximately-current feelings about his weapon-designing days. Basically: he regrets a lot of things.

In fact, we know that one of the worst things that can happen to Tony these days is when people take his technology and use it as a weapon. And we know that because, well, that was the point of Armor Wars. Justin Hammer stole his tech and sold it to villains, and that's what started the whole catastrophe rolling there. And Tony, as you can see, is more than willing to beat himself up about it, here in Iron Man v1 #225:

And much later on, in The Five Nightmares, it is, literally, Tony's nightmare coming true when Zeke Stane uses Tony's repulsor technology to hurt people, as we see in Invincible Iron Man vol 1 #1:

(For MCU fans, I should point out that Zeke Stane is Obadiah's son looking for revenge, but also that, though 616 Obadiah Stane was very possibly the worst villain Tony ever faced, he is absolutely not the same as MCU Obadiah Stane and has very little in common with him.)

So, yes, he hates that this all happened, and he blames himself -- but it's not why he hates himself. Because Tony was sad and miserable long, long before he was Iron Man.

If you ask me -- and, hey, you did ask me -- I personally would be inclined to blame Tony’s self-loathing on the fact that Howard Stark was a horrible parent and was both emotionally and physically abusive toward Tony, and also was pretty much explicitly responsible for his alcoholism. Howard's shitty parenting continues to haunt Tony to this day. Sometimes literally.

(Incidentally, if anyone has a source for this one, could you tell me? I've been looking for it for years.)

So the Greatest Hits of Howard Stark, setting aside the part where he tried to sell Tony to Dracula (setting it aside because Tony is too young to remember that himself, and, yes, I swear this is canon), include such winning moments as That Time He Got Really Angry At Dinner And Was Clearly About To Get Violent, in Iron Man v1 #285:

(There is an issue somewhere in Fraction's run where a flashback shows him grabbing Tony's arms and Tony telling him he's hurting him, but I always misplace that panel, alas.)

Iron Man v1 #286 gives us the famous "Stark men are made of iron:"

In Iron Man v1 #287, we find out that Howard sent Tony to boarding school to toughen him up, because he was "sensitive" and "a coward;" you can see that Tony frames this as being "a disappointment" to his father:

And then there's Iron Man v1 #313, in which Tony recounts how he first started drinking as a child in an attempt to impress his father:

Yeah. So. I could go on, but you get the idea. Howard Stark really, really fucked Tony up. I mean, maybe Tony would have ended up hating himself anyway even if he'd been raised by a father who actually loved him and didn't do... anything like that. We can't know. But looking at the childhood he did get, this seems like a great way to raise a kid and ensure that they have massive, massive problems with ever feeling good enough, or loved enough, or, well, a whole lot of things.

So I think that's where all the self-loathing really comes from. It's not that Tony doesn't feel bad about having been a weapons manufacturer, or finding himself in a situation where things he invented are used for harm -- because he definitely does -- but that's not why he hates himself, deep down.

[softboywriting]

Broken Promises | Shawn Mendes

Summary: You and Shawn made a promise to never fall in love with each other. Some promises can’t be kept. [friends to lovers] [non au] [little angst] 

Word Count: 2k

|Masterlist In Bio|

Sometimes life doesn't go the way it's planned. Sometimes you don't get that promotion at work, sometimes you spill coffee on your way to class, and sometimes you break a promise you made a decade ago to your best friend.

When you were thirteen years old you and Shawn made a pact, a promise that you would never fall in love with each other. At the time it made sense. You were both teenagers just getting started in the world of dating. The two of you had been friends since you were five years old and agreed at thirteen you'd be just that. Friends. So one hot summer day in July you and Shawn signed your handwritten promises to each other and buried them under the old oak tree in his backyard. The ritual was ridiculous and juvenile but held so much meaning then.

Fast forward to the present. Shawn is making his way in the music world, working with a studio in Toronto towards a big break. You're interning at an animal hospital while studying to be a veterinary assistant. Your lives couldn't be more different but you still make time for each other every single week, because that's what friends do. You know he is going to make it big one day, that you're going to lose him in the blink of an eye and that hurts to think about. But what hurts more is the reason why. You've broken your promise and fallen for him, hard, and losing him to a crazy world beyond your comprehension is more than losing just a friend. It's losing the only person you've ever truly loved.

You can't pinpoint the moment when your feelings changed toward Shawn. Maybe they had always been there but you repressed them but tonight is going to change everything.

Halloween. You and Shawn attend a party thrown by some friends. The theme is fashion throughout the decades. Of course that means people show up as everything from hippies to grunge rockstars. You and Shawn decide to do an eighties theme. You go with work out clothes, crazy print leggings, crop top with a tank top underneath, leg warmers and a sweatband with your hair all teased up. Shawn...well he went all out. Headband, ripped cut off jeans, color blocked windbreaker, tube socks in an old pair of k-swiss white tennis shoes. He is a sight to be seen.

The party is great, everyone has a lot of fun and gets wasted, and that is precisely where your troubles begin to bloom. You and Shawn had taken an Uber to the party, knowing you would both be drinking. The whole night you stayed close to Shawn, not wanting to lose him since he was the one paying for the ride home, but also because you really don't like some of the guys there.

It's not until after midnight and you're stumbling out of the party, arm around Shawn, that you realize something is wrong. You sit him down on the curb and he holds his head in his hands, clearly not okay, as you suspected.

"Hey," you rub his back and he groans. "You doing alright?"

"No."

"What's wrong?" You sit down and he grabs your hand. Not an unfamiliar move but definitely not a normal one. "You were so happy earlier."

"My ex is here."

"Oh." You sigh softly and remain quiet.

His ex girlfriend Tessa really fucked him up. She was an Instagram girl trying to be a model. You know she was set up with Shawn for the clout, for both of them as they make their way in the game industry. But things got serious and they actually became an item for about nine months, well, it seemed that way. Then it all came tumbling down. She started ghosting him, standing him up for dates. Shawn didn't know what he did wrong, and truthfully he didn't do anything. Tessa found another guy, someone with more followers and a much bigger public view. A better victim. Shawn found out when he saw them together on the front page of a tabloid, and that really sent him into a spiral. Seeing her tonight was bad news.

"I couldn't even talk to her." He squeezes your hand. "I just want to know why. Why didn't she just break up with me? Lie, say I wasn't the one or something. Why did she just...just abandon me?"

"Shawn, she didn't love you. I know that's hard to hear but it's true. She never cared about you and you cared about her too much." You clench your jaw and you're glad he's not looking at you. It's difficult to remain calm when talking about Tessa. You hate her for everything she did to Shawn. "She is a horrible person."

"But-"

You lay your hand on his shoulder. "Shawn stop. I know tonight was hard but you have to let her go. You're not defined by her, or by anyone but yourself. It's been months, don't let her ruin all your progress."

"You're right." He drops his head against his knees. "God...I should have never made that promise."

"What promise?"

"Nothing, never mind." He looks over and you can see his eyes are red in the light from the nearby lamp post. "Do you wanna come to my place?"

"Of course. I love staying at your place. My neighbor still has that yippy dog that keeps me up."

Shawn cracks a little smile and stands, dragging you up with him. "Thanks for being here tonight."

"I wouldn't rather be anywhere else." You wrap your arms around him and he presses his face into your hair, clinging tight. Your heart swells, tears burning your eyes. You want to tell him the truth, how you've fallen in love with him and he doesn't have to worry about Tessa or the next person who might hurt him. You want to make him feel loved and whole again but you can't because if he doesn't feel the same, it's all over.

_____________________

The Uber drops you off at Shawn's place in downtown Toronto and you get him up to his apartment with a little more effort than you thought you'd need. He is drunker than you initially thought and he's got jelly legs apparently.

"Just stay there okay?" You murmur as you prop the giant man against the back wall of the elevator. "You're killing me."

"I'm sorry." Shawn says quietly. "I have octopus legs."

You stifle a laugh. "Oh yeah? I didn't notice."

"Yeah...they're sleeping."

"Uh huh." You bite your lip to repress a smile. He's ridiculous.

The doors open Shawn's floor and you get him out. He hands over his keys and you get him inside the apartment. It's a mess. There is shit everywhere and you have to maneuver him delicately around guitar cases, a spotlight stand, two amps and a box of old records just to get to the couch.

"When did you become a pig?" You grunt as you deposit him on his huge white sofa. "This place is ridiculous."

"I've been working."

"Really?" You look over the sea of instruments and their equipment. "Because I have no idea how you can focus in here."

"I can't." He lays his head back and you sit on the edge of the coffee table that's littered with tea mugs and water bottles. "My head is goop."

"Goop?" You lift his feet up onto your lap and pull off his shoes. "Why do you have goop brain?"

Shawn rolls his head, an attempt at shaking it back and forth it would seem.

"You don't know why?"

"No...well yes."

"Uh huh?"

He slumps over onto the arm rest and stares at you. "It's a girl."

Your heart sinks. Of course it's a girl. "Yeah? Tell me about her." You say reluctantly as you place his shoes under the coffee table. You know if you don't act interested he will find it fishy. "Why does she make you have goop brain?"

Shawn closes his eyes and smiles. "I can't explain it. She just makes me feel like I'm invincible, but I can't focus when she's around lately."

"Uh huh."

"I've been seeing her for a while now. Well, sort of. It's complicated."

You get up and go to the kitchen a few feet away to grab some water for him. Funny. He has never mentioned a girl before now. As far as you knew Tessa was his last interest.

"Wanna know the worst part?" Shawn calls out and you look over. "She doesn't even know what she does to me."

"What?" You toss a water in his lap before sitting down across from him in the bend of the couch. "She doesn't know she makes you goopy?"

He shakes his head. "I think it's been so long she thinks it's normal."

"How long have you been seeing her?"

"Years."

Your eyes go wide. "Years? Who the fuck are you seeing Shawn? Why haven't you said anything before now? Are you losing your mind?"

Shawn laughs, for real belly laughs as if you just told the best joke he's heard in his life. Frankly you're annoyed. How dare he laugh in your face while speaking in riddles and secrets. "You're so dense!"

"Excuse me?!"

"It's you! You're the girl!"

"I'm the...oh." Your stomach goes cold and sick with nerves and you are simultaneously relieved and panicked. "Wait...so I make you have goop brain? Why?"

"Because I'm in love with you." Shawn swallows hard and stares at the ceiling, head back on the cushions. "I broke our promise and I fell for you. It's so cliche and cheesy, falling in love with your best friend, but I did and it's killing me."

"Shawn."

"And I'm so sorry if this changes everything but I can't hold it back any more and-"

"Shawn!"

"What?"

You bump his foot with yours. "Look at me."

Shawn reluctantly lifts his head and looks at you. He's such a mess. "I fucked up didn't I?"

"No, we both did."

"But you didn't...oh...oh!" A grin spreads across his face and he gets up, half standing as he slides over to be next to you. "You fell too?"

"Real hard." You play with his hand and he flexes his fingers over yours. "I can't remember when, but I did and I've been fighting it for years."

Shawn leans in and bumps his nose against your jaw. "We shouldn't have made that silly pact. I'm pretty sure we were always meant to be together."

"Absolutely."

"Can I kiss you now? I've always wondered what it would be like."

You cup his jaw and his eyes find yours. "One kiss, and then you have to go to sleep. You're very drunk and you stink like cinnamon whiskey."

"Just one," he mutters, lips brushing yours.

"Just one." You tilt up just a bit and his lips press flush to yours. It's innocent and simple but so overdue.

Shawn smiles against your lips and surges forward, pushing you back but never breaking the kiss. He squishes you into the couch as he lays on top of you and strokes your hair back as he kisses endlessly.

"I said only one." You mutter and he pulls back just a little bit. "What's all this?"

"It is one." He strokes his finger down your nose and traces your lips. "You didn't say how long."

You run a hand through his hair and he drops his head to your shoulder. "You're a punk."

"Nuh uh."

You roll your eyes and relax, hand still in his hair. Minutes tick by and you're sure he's asleep by the slow rise and fall of his chest. It feels so right. "Hey."

"Mmm?"

"I'm glad we didn't wait any longer." You say softly, flexing your fingers against his scalp. "I love you."

He is quiet for a moment, face buried in your shoulder. "I love you too, more than anything." He lets out a heavy breath. "Yeah, more than anything."

End

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