#aside from how ooc i feel it'd be for him to just accept it

[luvfy0dor]

“You Know That I'm Obsessed With Your Body ♡⁠˖” BSD Men x GN!Reader ੈ✩‧₊˚

╰┈➤ Chuuya Nakahara, Osamu Dazai, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Nikolai Gogol, Sigma, H.P. Lovecraft

Warnings; Suggestive, kisses, hickeys, bite marks, allusions to self harm (Dazai), sh scars (Dazai), prolly a little ooc

Description; BSD men and their physical attributes

A/n; CAS lyric title!!! But I cannot bring myself to write reqs RN so............but guys i actually talked to a guy OMG never thought I'd have big enough balls but I got his ig ^w^

⑅Chuuya Nakahara⑅

Chuuyas arms are beautiful to you, they're not insanely buff and they're not thin, but at a perfect equilibrium. They're decorated with intricate tattoos and beautiful colors, and sometimes small dotted lines left by your teeth or maroon spots formed by your love and passion for each other. You loved feeling them wrap around your torso or waist with him leaning his head against your back, letting all the thoughts in his mind flow from his mouth like a waterfall. Other times, he'd hang his arms over your shoulders, letting you feel his biceps against the nape of your neck, ghosting over the baby hairs on your skin. His arms can carry you too, no matter your weight. If it'd make you feel better, he'd use his ability to help and reassure you that he won't drop you or let you get hurt.

“There we go, darlin', see, I told you I wouldn't let you get hurt. Literally not even the strongest gust of wind could knock me over with you right now, so quit worrying.”

⑅Osamu Dazai⑅

Dazai has such a gorgeous torso, bandaged or not. His skin is soft on contrast to the rough and volatile life he's always lead. The only patches of skin that aren't smooth are the ones that are littered with past scars, whether self inflicted or from other people. When Dazai trusts you enough, he'll ask you to help him take off his bandages before bed, letting your fingers brush over the rigid bumps and sharply inhaling while adjusting to your sweet touch in a new, naked place. He lets you kiss the scars and it helps him feel a little relaxed receiving your acceptance through soft kisses and affection instead of being pitied or shamed for his past. It's not like you encourage it, but you don't waste your breath on lecturing him on why he shouldn't have. It's in the past, so instead you'll offer your support for him now rather than dwelling on what you can't change.

“Mmnn...your lips are so soft on my back, baby...keep going, sweetheart, you know how much I love feeling your kisses on my skin...”

⑅Nikolai Gogol⑅

Nikolais thighs could resurrect a dead man, and you couldn't help but feel the same way every time you had your head between or against them. Occasionally your hands would hold them apart and squeeze or grope at them, feeling the firmness beneath the palm of your hand. The pressure from your fingertips leaves temporary pale spots with every pinch and your teeth and tongue leave red ones in your wake as you kiss, suck, and bite all over his thigh, and he loves it. Nikolai loves the harsh feeling of your teeth clamping around his skin, making him gasp and giggle in excitement with a hand on your neck encouraging you to continue. He's got a higher pain tolerance, so if you like to give lovebites, especially on thighs, he's your guy.

“Ah-! Oh, don't worry dove, it doesn't hurt. You know I have a good pain tolerance! You can keep going, hehe, I don't mind it.”

⑅Fyodor Dostoevsky⑅

Fyodors hands are thin and pale aside from some select spots with higher blood concentration. His nails are bitten down to the quick almost always and his fingers are bony and thin. They rest gently on your hips when you sit on his lap while he types or just relaxes with you, his thumbs rubbing circles into the fabric of either your top or bottoms. Sometimes they'll travel upwards, resting against your midsection and making you shiver from their low temperature. He'd laugh under his breath at your reaction and slide them further up, loving the idea that he has you squirming in his grasp. Otherwise, he'd keep a hand on your thigh, rubbing it out of habit modestly. In public he keeps his hands to himself, but in private his hands have a mind of their own.

“Are they that cold, Moya Lyubov? You'll get used to it eventually, unless you'd like to find your own way to warm my hands up?”

⑅Sigma⑅

Sigmas jawline is so defined and Everytime you look at it, an overwhelming urge to kiss along it bubbles up inside of you. Sigma doesn't dislike it, but he'll act like he does, always squirming and playfully grimacing. Eventually he'll give in though, holding your hand while you pepper soft pecks along his skin. He'll return them all over your cheeks and nose, tickling your skin and making you giggle. You can't help but watch Sigmas fingers trace over his jawline while he's deep in thought about this that and the other, admiring how perfect it looks on him.

“H-hey, knock it off, I'm in the middle of fillin' out papers! I said quit it- huff...fine, just a few though! You're really distracting, you know that?”

Bonus; ⑅ H.P. Lovecraft⑅

His hair is so long and luscious- how could you not want to run your fingers through it while your sleepy boyfriend lays his head in your lap? The upper half is smooth and straight while it changes into silky curls towards the bottom, though they're not the tightest and allow for your fingers to brush through them with minimal effort. He loves the feeling of your hands against his scalp, giving soft hums and groans of a relaxed pleasure. His face has his usual neutrality regardless of how nice it feels to get his head massaged by his lover. He frequently lets you pull it into a ponytail or put it into braids or whatever style you please. He lets you brush it, too, as long as you start at the bottom instead of ripping the brush through his hair.

“Mnn...that feels nice, dear...don't mind if I fall asleep on top of you, I can't help it.”

A/n; I feel so bad for not getting to requests, something like this was the easiest thing to do this week though because I had mock trial comp right after school so i couldn't write anything from 8am-7;30 pm some nights and it was the end of the quarter so i had to focus more on school work.

[bannock-freak]

#i hope this is ok and doesnt come off rude!!#1st time rlly interacting on tumblr

hey no worries!!! you weren't rude at all and you stated your point really well! if im understanding you right then in your opinion its the egregious nature of the mischaracterization that puts it over the top for you? thats totally fair! i think ive said this but its been a while since i've read or watched saiki k all the way through, so i could absolutely be misremembering there.

uhm. im sorry. i think. i rambled a bit. so. oops. sorry *u* its just. fun for me to talk about ig????

i think part of it for me is how they treat him in response to their ideas of him. like with rifuta, at least iirc, she was extra antagonistic toward him after this until they settled into a more sibling-like dynamic. teruhashi is interesting with this because the sheer number of her fantasies, combined with a very consistent seeming characterization of him, is what put that over the top for me a bit. BUT she also seems to take efforts to learn about him? when they go on a date to keep away from her brother's filming location, she says that she's learned saiki really likes sweets and uses that to cajole him into staying. if she actually believed the saiki of her fantasies was real, would she still feel the need to do that? which is what also helps me to believe that she's willing to let go of those to accept who he really is, but still uses those fantasies as a crutch for to uphold her ego. i think that may be the same for rifuta.

the idea of getting chased by a very handsome but manipulative playboy and being able to reject him, maybe that appeals to her? especially since it's 'saiki' setting her at odds with teruhashi and not rifuta bringing it up herself. once she comes to like teruhashi, i could see why that'd rub her the wrong way, so maybe the mischaracterization comforts her - and is therefore an ego crutch. yumehara has a looooooot of fantasies in one episode but once she gets distracted from him she seems to stop seeing him through that filter for the most part, brief discontent with her boyfriend aside.

BUT. AIURA. the actual point of the conversation alskdfj

okay. i don't think aiura knows him inside and out, first off, i just think she's closer to the bullseye than the other girls who fantasized about him. if that didn't come across properly then i apologize but that is what i meant to convey.

andddd i don't really take what aiura says about saiki after she has a fight with him too seriously tbh, it's clear to see that she is seriously fired up over what she sees as a refusal to help a person who needs it. like, it's something she says in a moment of frustration more than how she genuinely sees him. for me that jives better with her attitude toward him afterwards. aiura seems to have a huge 'i need to help people whenever i can' thing, so it'd make sense to me that if she actually saw saiki as a person who's completely selfish and doesn't care about other people, she either wouldn't spend the time of day on him (like she legit storms off to just get it done herself, i think she'd maintain that attitude) or would hound him to convert him.

instead she not only continues to associate with him, but she actually retains the instinct to go to him for help on things like train derailments and other 'psychicker' type problems. and when saiki asks HER to help HIM help people (ala stoning Nendo and Kaidou or saving the world from a super volcano or, less personally and therefore probably less aligned with his 'i dont care if it doesnt concern me' mantra, saving suzumiya from herself) she doesn't respond to him as though she believes it's OOC. which i think makes sense given saiki was forced to reveal himself to her for the explicit purpose of saving yumehara's life. like that's her introduction to him, it'd be hard for her not to figure out that he does actually care for people even if he says he doesnt cus hes a mega tsundere in denial.

(i like how hes drawn here, the lad looks Very cool)

in other words, it doesn't change her behaviour toward him. and i think that could be said similarly about her fantasies, too. she might press a bit to try and get the response he wants ala 'but that's what you mean right right right' but i don't recall her doing that as often as teruhashi thinks something like 'now he's DEFINITELY gonna say Oh Wow/Offu!'. so it's less consistent. she'll take a swing anytime she thinks she sees an opportunity, but (again in my memory) doesn't chafe nearly as much as teruhashi does (or yumehara tbh... the look on her face when she's comfort-eating those cookies, woof LMAO) when her expectations aren't fulfilled.

instead aiura actually pivots course when she needs to. for example the 'my parents arent home' miscommunication. she swings and misses and whines but she also knows straight up why saiki asked for her help, she needs no clarification. so it makes me wonder how much she's pushing for the reaction she wants (and therefore probably somewhat aware it's not gonna happen) and how much she's actually teasing him completely unseriously (with the full awareness that he's not gonna stop playing hard to get).

and when she asks to kiss him after the supervolcano is dealt with she RESPECTS it when saiki tells her no. instead they hug. it's a really sweet moment~

even when she's being pushy in other words, there's not as much of this VVVV her world isn't legit ending cus of the mere possibility that saiki MIGHT turn her down

which might even be why saiki is able to tell her no, given he's a bit of a soft touch and doesn't want girls to die just because he refuses to reciprocate their romantic interest LMAO this moment is somewhat early on in his and teruhashis relationship but if i remember right i think aiuras are too???? so if thats true it could be a decent comparison but again i could be wrong.

she also doesnt pull the same 'trick' repeatedly in my memory, whereas teruhashi tries a few times to go on a date with saiki to win his 'oh wow' at long last (and does debatably have more success since she's so hard to say no to lmaoooo). i do think that counts for something. not sure how much, but something lmao

i keep bringing up teruhashi because i think, of the girls who fantasize about him, its aiura and then her that seem to display a greater understanding of his character compared to yumehara and rifuta, in addition to her and aiura being the primary 'rivals' for his affections.

im not saying any of this to insinuate teruhashi is acting inappropriately or that she's wrong, it's just a good point of contrast in their behaviour for me

back to the radtacular fortune teller. OFC since she acts that way from the start, she could just be going on the basis of her assumptions and treating him that way since her behaviour doesnt really change. to me it just aligns better with how she treats him outside those moments, it would make less sense to me otherwise ykno? she might not be a hundred percent on the mark when it comes to her understanding of who saiki is as a person, but she's also not a telepath so she wasn't going to be anyways. well, not unless end of eva happens and they get tanged but that's a different show so LOL

also a really great point of contrast to see where the changes are and who's static. rifuta and yumeharas attitudes change toward saiki, teruhashi's attitude changes toward herself, and aiura is by and large static... just rly fun to think about!

BUT YEAH....i dont know if aaaaaany of that makes sense? i hope it does. but that was my logic behind that part of the post anyways LOL anyways apologies again for the unnecessarily long response alksdfj

the disparity in how the girls view saiki entertains me also btw

rifuta imagines saiki as a debonair and oh so dangerous playboy with his shirt unbuttoned, shimmering eyes, and glamorous hair. she's actually completely replaced a memory with this scenario too instead of making something up wholesale.

yumehara imagines saiki as soft and rounded with big guileless eyes - completely nonthreatening in other words, which she somehow combines with the edward cullen creep factor because in her imagination he likes to sniff her hanky....?????

teruhashi imagines him as mostly himself, just with a complete personality switch. unless it's during art class in which case you either get plainer-than-satou or bishoujo-romance-kun. so apart from those instances, you could say that she understands certain pieces of his character, but overrides the others completely to her own preferences. IE 'Kunio' vs 'Kusuo'.

aiura doesnt have nearly as many imagine spots iirc, probably since, of the girls, she knows saiki the best? and iirc she seems to know it's more fantasy than reality. she accepts that this version of him lives in her head. but she's probably the closest of all of them there, too, albeit she's ramped a certain part of his personality WAY up. saiki is prone to giving mischievous and charming grins like below but he wouldn't say that in a thousand years.

(i also think it's very funny that yumehara and kaidou's interpretations of saiki are very freaking similar)

of the girls, rifutas and aiuras fantasies are the most similar and yumehara and teruhashi's are the most similar. i think they all have things in common with saiki - if you mash them all together, you might get a character that's somewhat similar - but ofc they're certainly not him.

it's also interesting which pieces of him they play up and play down, and who of them most commonly use him as a prop to uphold their egos. rifuta makes up a completely different character, yumehara idealizes him to an enormous extent, teruhashi doesn't mind his appearance but doesn't prefer his natural personality (though i think she warms up to that aspect of him as they get to know each other) and aiura, well... manga readers know whats up there. but again, she likes his face and she really likes it when he shows his domineering side - but that's only one aspect of his personality.

it's too bad that of the boys the only one who has imagine spots of him is kaidou, at least to my recollection. would've been fun to compare and contrast those too. for example what do 'shadow leader' and 'partner' and 'master' look like?

anyways idk. just thinking lol

PS some Official Saikis that alignish with the above headcanons

aiura - rifuta

teruhashi - yumehara

[franeridart]

#kaminariprotectionsquad

Anon said:SHINSOU KAMI AND KIRI ARE THE MOST PRECIOUST BOYS WHO WE MUST PROTECT

None of these strong amazing boys actually needs protecting but is that gonna stop me from trying? Is it?? (the answer is no)

Anon said:Hi! If you haven't already answered this, would you mind listing the tags/ships you aren't comfortable with people tagging your art with?

Ohhhhhh what an interesting ask, I’ve been thinking about how to answer since I got it and?? I’m not sure, so let’s put it like this: generally, if the art is obviously meant as platonic I’d prefer it if you didn’t use the ship tag on it, but as a general rule I don’t actually mind people tagging ships anyway? I know how this site works so if I’m really uncomfortable with the idea of it being misinterpreted as romantic I’m just not gonna post anything with those characters in it from the start

That said, sometimes people tagging ships confuses me a lot??? For example the majority of people who’ve reblogged my latest bnha comic have tagged it with the bkdk tag and? There’s nothing romantic about it?? Bakugou is literally off to kill Deku why is that romantic we just don’t know, bkdk shippers seem to have an understanding of romance completely different from mine haha

Ah, also I’ve been having people tagging my bokuro and akaken arts with the ot4 tag, even if I rarely ever draw all of them in the same place. Please don’t do that. Like. Seriously.

As for the general tags, there’s a lot of tags I don’t understand, but from there to saying I’m uncomfortable with them is a bit of a huge step... the one thing that comes to mind is people trigger-tagging Bakugou’s mom. That’s. Hm. I happen to really like that woman and my drawings depict her in a positive light always, so if people could stop that it would be very nice? That’s about it tho~

Anon said: Bakugou smiling omg bless your soul

!!!!!!!!!!!!! Smiling Bakugou is a happy Bakugou and happy Bakugou is a happy Fran so you can 100% expect more of it 👍👍

Anon said:I'm rooting for Kacchan as his hero name. I feel like it would be a huge step personality wise for Katsuki, just like 'Deku' was for Izuku. I feel like they might become civil with each other and hopefully even friends. For Shouto it would be amazing if he could find a name that shows he's accepted who he is but that he isn't a prisoner of his blood...... even though I have no idea how to show that with a name lol

Ah, I’m sure in the future Bakugou and Izuku will be on civil terms, but here’s the thing anon. Deku was a name with a negative connotation given to Izuku the degrade him - someone Izuku holds dear changed the meaning for him, made it something positive, and Izuku took the name back and made it his own, like a phoenix reborn from its ashes. It was a positive thing because it used to be a negative one, you follow me? It also didn’t have anything to do with Bakugou. Izuku took that name away from him, he didn’t accept Deku as a name to show some sort of positive change in his relationship with Bakugou, it was more about him cutting Bakugou of a source of power he had over him. It was distancing himself from Bakugou, not growing closer

Kacchan doesn’t have anything like that tied to it, it’s just a childish name Izuku has been using since he was four, most probably because everyone used to call Bakugou that - Bakugou doesn’t actually care for the name, or else he would have found a way to make Izuku stop using it. He doesn’t like it, but he doesn’t actively dislike it either, he just does not care, right? So there’s no way him accepting it as the way the whole world knows him as would be some sort of positive change for him, imho

What I meant when I said that I really hope it doesn’t happen is that all it would be for Bakugou is just yet another smack on the growing list of things gone wrong for him - there’s no way Bakugou would willingly accept such a childish name as his hero name just for the hell of it, one thing is growing up and a whole other thing is him making a 180° on his personality like that. So, like, I really don’t want it to happen because I want Bakugou for once to have things go as he wishes, but considering the amount of times the narrative has punished Bakugou and how often his plans have gone on the opposite direction compared to what he was working for, would I be surprised if that choice too were to be taken from him? Absolutely not

As for Todoroki, as I said I have never spent time thinking about his hero name? I kind of assumed he actually wanted to be known as Shouto, but you really never know with him! His character is always going in directions I don’t expect one bit, so his hero name too, if it comes, is probably gonna be something I hadn’t seen coming at all haha

Anon said:THE TAGS ON THAT LAST BAKUSHIMA KILLED ME THATS SO SWEET AND IT ALSO MADE SENSE AND I LOVE THIS IS MY NEW FAVORITE THING THANK YOU FOR BLESSING ME WITH THAT YOU AND YOUR ART ARE INCREDIBLE I HOPE YOU'RE HAVING A LOVELY DAY

Anon said:I love your ring hc for that last post omg it's perfect

OHHHHHHHHHH I’M GLAD YOU BOTH LIKED IT!!!! I hope you’re having the best days too!!!!!!!

Anon said:dude, your art output is simply incredible, you post something pretty much every single day, and its not even just single pictures, its comics! with lots of poses! and anatomy! ahhh, bless you, youre a gift!!! A GIFT!!! your comics are adorable and funny and so in-character <333 (how much time do you spend drawing every day? >u<) anyway, may inspiration never leave you and have a wonderful week!

Thank you!!!!!!!!! So much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my gODS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Annnnnndddddddddddddddddddd.............. actually............... I kind of............................. not do much aside from drawing................................. r i p

(The thing is that I draw to make myself feel happy when I’m sad. I’m. Always sad. So.)

Anon said: Fran why are people shipping Todoroki with Kaminari ? i mean the pics are nice but i was wondering if there was an interaction between them ?

They were on the same team during the cavalry battle! And!! That’s about it!!! Horikoshi has doodled them together now and again in his twitter sketches but as far as canon goes that should be the only significant interaction they’ve had. I don’t mind the ship? They could be cute, but I don’t exactly ship it. Then again I lowkey ship Todoroki with Sero so who am I to talk

Anon said:Ao3 dealing with a wildcard

I don’t!!! Understand this ask!!! Anon help me out please!!!

Anon said:BRO, that last comic with Bakugou's hero name is PRICELESS! I know you said you actually would prefer him to have a cool name, but could you imagine if this happened in cannon?! I would DIE of laughter! Or worse, imagine if Bakugou did end up with the hero name Ground Zero, but everyone in the public decides to call him Kacchan ANYWAYS, because it's adorable and if deku can call him that, then why shouldn't anyone else? XD I just can't!

Bakugou spending the rest of his life trying to make people use his actual hero name and failing miserably is the single most rational and canon comment I’ve gotten about that comic I’m not even gonna lie hahahaha

Anon said:As soon as I finished reading your Teacher!Bakugou post, I couldn't help but think of that meme/twitter compilation. The one where the teacher is going over safety procedures only for the students to show how much they love their teacher. Like, one student says they'll avenge Bakugou if he ends up getting hurt while another says they'll go after the perpetrator's kids. This idea is gold~!

The problem here is that I can’t really see Bakugou giving a straight “no you can’t do that” answer to those suggestions oh my god what a disaster lmao

Anon said:I just wanted to say that I love your terushimas and your bokuroos and especially your kiribakus (actually the hole bakusquad) and that I'd love to see tokoyami more in your art style (as he's my fav in bnha)

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!! More Tokoyami is definitely coming!!! I love him so much and he’s so much fun to draw!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:Hey! I love your art, seeing it on my dash always makes me happy! I'm sorry you have people demanding things from you and not respecting your work, you don't deserve that

Anon you’re so sweet o<-< oh my gods - it’s fine tho! I mean, it’s not fine but I’m used to it? Sadly. Haha.

[pachinkowashere]

#I'mNotChangingTheirStoryI'mNotChangingTheirStoryI'mNot--

Doitdoitdoitdoitdoit- *shot*

OK LOL DON'T DO THAT. Actually, I say that but I honestly love this idea a lot and it'd make Keith's reaction to Pico's sudden break up with him even more heartbreaking in retrospect.

After all, the friend you thought was dead this entire time suddenly shows up alive again after all of these years. Pico not knowing him can easily be handwaved as the ginger not having kept up with his old childhood friend's life (partly because he was more focused on making sure his family was okay and somewhat because he might've not trusted himself to not try to reconnect with his old friend perhaps? Who knows! You decide~!); Keith most likely hadn't had his transition back then so he still looked like a girl and went by his old name so makes sense Pico wouldn't recognize him. As for Keith not bringing it up, perhaps he wasn't fully sure this cranky ginger was the same friend he had known all those years ago. It'd make sense he'd refrain from informing Pico until he was absolutely certain.

Also this scenario would give more pain to Otis because in this verse Keith and his family would've kept in touch with Pico's family right? True there might be some unintentional distancing from those on the ginger's side but I imagine that's more in response to all of the shit that happened. ANYWAY back to Otis, imagine his reaction if Keith were to call him up soon after his first encounter with Pico to inform him. Perhaps Otis would confirm albeit not outright that perhaps it IS Pico (because let's be honest he wouldn't have the heart to fully lie to Keith there so make sense he'd hint at it). Maybe this bit doesn't happen but still something to think about! After all, just imagine the extra douse of angst here~

Oooooh. Consider Pico's reaction when he learns who Keith is too! I don't know if Keith will reveal who he is at some point or if he refrains for whatever reason (perhaps some part of him is worried about being accepted?? Maybe he still was hesitant for some reason??? IDEK). Since Pico later becomes convince Keith is a figment of his messed-up mind, it's very possible he would end up believing Keith isn't his old childhood friend. I can see him faltering for a moment, wanting to believe Keith is actually really and perhaps even almost giving into that hopeful side, only to shove it aside because of those stated reasons you gave before on why the breakup even happened.

Now imagine him, unlike before, mentioning a bit of Keith to Darnell and Nene, telling them about this supposed illusion of their old pal. Now imagine Darnell's and Nene's reactions later upon learning that the supposed illusion wasn't actually some figment of Pico's messed-up mind but ACTUALLY REAL. Now, not to say they wouldn't be understanding, but let's be real a part of them would still be like "Pico wtf".

Also please consider Grammy's reaction to seeing Pico again after he got reconciled with Keith and got together with him and Amelia. I dunno about you but I can't unsee her being accepting of him but also giving him a good smack with a slipper. Okay that last bit is probably ooc but wanted to mention because it was stuck in my head lmao

ANYWAY WOW THIS GOT VERY LONG LOL. SORRY ABOUT THAT.

As much as I'd love you to make this a part of their canon, I know you've already established quite a bit of stuff here already and I know all too well how frustrating it can be to go back to change stuff up. So don't worry about it okay? You can just make this like a one-shot thing or just something fun to ramble and imagine about.

I would love to make this an official thing, but I feel like I would have to change just enough stuff that it'd bug me, which friggin sucks. I also don't know if Keith would want to be with Pico again if this was canon, because to lose him a SECOND time would hurt. A bad part of his brain might make him believe that Pico was hiding from him with ill intention or something, so to have Pico yell and hold a gun to him that he's some fake illusion? That'll hurt

"Twice.. twice you're leaving me, and it doesn't make any sense!"

It's a great backstory, but it might have to be saved for another person's version of BF and Pico

[jesseisquick]

You know you're 100% right, and I'll put aside the rushed Wally-Grodd bonding for now because I could've looked past that if the ending hadn't been so goddamn weird. This is a very unprompted rant and I'm sorry in advance, but here we go:

Wally fights back against the Rogues ONE time and decides to go full-fledged superhero? That doesn't track with the anxious, self-doubting boy we've seen for the past 3 issues. It especially doesn't explain how he felt comfortable enough to return to the cave and strip the suit from Barry's corpse! What was the purpose of that? Beyond being wildly OOC with what little we know about Wally (that he feels incredibly guilty about Barry's death, this being confirmed as recently as literally the first half of this issue), I just can't figure out what the costume change was trying to achieve: 1) he doesn't need it to protect him from any friction-related injuries (he's used his powers several times and never suffered for it), 2) Maybe he's trying to throw them off his track & hide himself better by changing clothes? But that makes no sense, they literally know who he is and what he looks like, and 3) He's doing super-heroics now and just Needs A Suit I Guess; see above for why that makes no sense.

The only thing I can think of is that Wally picking up the suit is meant to symbolize him accepting responsibility for his mistake. Like, he's carrying it with him rather than trying to get away from it. Which, again, would be a lot more impactful if he didn't spend roughly the first 10 pages of that same issue freaking out about how badly he messed up! He does a complete 180 in attitude within 22 pages!! And I kinda take issue with the fact that it is specifically Barry's suit!! I get what it's meant to symbolize, but it's a bit grotesque to rob the clothes off a dead man, isn't it?? Wouldn't the "new beginnings" theme work better if he used a suit that looked very similar to Barry's, but just... wasn't? Wouldn't it have the same effect if he made/got his own? Wouldn't it be a little less gross??

Also something that's bothering me, though I can't get into it too much bc I don't have much info: we know from the issue 4 summary that "Wally's on the run and looking for any safe space to hide out." So. Okay. Call me crazy, but doesn't that seem like.... it'd be part of the same arc??? The "runaway" arc? Then why are they acting like that's wrapped up? What is meant to be happening here? In issue 3 Wally accepts that he fucked up and faces (*whoops the ass of*) the consequences, proclaims that he feels free for the first time, and then... goes back into hiding?? This feels very muddled. But like I said, I can't criticize too much right now since it isn't even out yet.

All this said, it's close to being good. Trying to wrap everything up with a bow in less than 30 pages is the big issue, here. This is how I would tweak it: you have Wally and Grodd have an initial connection. That's fine, it can even seem a little quick, whatever. The Rogues catch up, Wally wants to sprint away but realizes that Grodd would be left behind, so he fights back for the first time and takes them out. Then he grabs Grodd and goes back on the run. No taking up the suit, no huge turning point; just Wally realizing that even after he's fucked up so tremendously he isn't alone, and that running away from his past means other people will get hurt. He can't abide by that. Something something, he realizes can do good even when he's made mistakes, he takes the pain as motivation to help (à la Peter Parker becoming Spider-Man bc of Uncle Ben's death), something something.

I just hope it'll find its footing, because the art is really too magnificent to waste on janky pacing.

Ok so preliminary thoughts about Absolute Flash #3:

I wonder if there's a reason why these issues are consistently shorter than the other Absolute series? I love the idea of Wally gaining the courage to face the Rogues by being given someone else to stand up for (i.e Grodd) and I think it would lead quite naturally into his development as a hero, but the pacing is kind of all over the place. The connection between Wally and Grodd wasn't given room to breathe!!!! It seems like the first arc is over already in 3 issues where the Trinity had 5 or 6, and I feel like AF is worse off for it. Maybe now that the exposition is out of the way the story will settle into its rhythm.