#but my favorite thing about the total imbalance in how they see each other

[ardentpoop]

If you're still doing the opinions thing. What are your thoughts on the take that Sam is just as bad as or even worse than Dean in terms of how possessive they are over each other?

~~Not my personal opinion, just a comparison I saw on a wincest blog that I didn't agree with~~

total garbage. also unfortunately a very common bad take. the narrative likes to go “heehee hoohoo they are just as bad as one another” in the late seasons based on Extremely Questionable or even outright fabricated evidence and I love that the fans who are predisposed to this view of the brothers eat it the fuck up even tho it’s full of giant holes.

s10 is the most egregious example of this. not gonna get into it in depth rn bc it’s tiring but truly just grit your teeth and rewatch s10 while paying attention to what dean is telling the audience about sam and think about whether you actually believe him based on what we’ve seen sam do in s10 and previous seasons. there could not be a more screamingly obvious red flag than dean describing sam working with charlie on a cure for the mark of cain as “when you bullied charlie into getting herself killed.”

I diverted this away from “possessiveness” and into general Harmful Behavior bc it is their overall patterns of behavior that the narrative itself is dishonest about to the viewer. but to be extra clear - there is no world in which sam could be equally or more “possessive” over dean than dean is over sam because sam is not entitled to dean’s body and dean’s life in the way that dean is to sam’s. and furthermore, because sam is so accustomed to having his power of choice stripped away while being told that it’s what’s Best For Him, when he has the option of enforcing another character’s right to choose (usually a child or a woman or other vulnerable person) he almost always makes a point of explaining to them that the choice is theirs. see his interactions with jesse (s5), claire, and jack for very clear examples of this.

my personal favorite parallel however is what dean did to sam with the panic room in s4 vs dean’s comparatively brief and non-dehumanizing experience with the panic room when he was first on the verge of saying yes to michael in s5. samndean’s conversations in “point of no return” are so crucial to understanding their series-spanning power imbalance. like come on. dean’s “I’d let you rot in here. hell, I have let you rot in here.” followed by sam’s “I guess I’m not that smart.”

shouldn’t need to spell it out any clearer than that!!!!

[mecachrome]

What is the hype around jendo? I am trying to do research but I feel like they barely had any interactions?? Especially recently? Is there a primer or something cause I totally want to try to get into them!

OMGGGG well i wouldn't call myself a jendo expert or anything but i can briefly tell you why i like them!!! also soz for late reply 😭

tbh the very first thing that converted me was watching this interview forever ago because i remember being deeply intrigued by lando's demeanor + relative shyness + how hard he tried overall to appear Respectable and Mature in front of jense while answering his questions??? like the way jenson smiles at him during "are you happy?" "UMMM... kind of" wtheck T__T

jendo honestly have a lot of lore though! again i am not an expert but @cuthechicane has so many fantastic clips and gifsets if you're looking for interax that will rewire your brain chemistry ☝️ (the sheer giddinesssss of their miami interview 😭 also this is a classic moment). part of their thing is that they're both "somerset boys" (lando grew up in glastonbury / jenson is from frome) so that connection also kind of adds an extra layer to jenson having raced for mclaren / lando looking up to him and the general hero worship or cyclical nature of f1 that is palpable in their dynamic and a lot of other f1 agediff ships. ofc rossi was lando's real hero but... you know jenson is jenson

really though i think what i like most about jendo is how much jenson genuinely ADORES lando lmfao like their dynamic is so ridiculous but in a really absurdly sincere way!!! ofc it's super fun to go all in on the rancid age gap power imbalance vibes etc. and the way they flirt in public and fluster each other but jenson 100% RATES lando and hypes him up constantly to the point that it's almost embarrassing negl. lichr him going all in on lando like 4 hours ago... what's craziest to me is that he sincerely believes everyone else loves lando too like his brain can't comprehend the mere concept of someone not being obsessed with his favorite little british twink 😭 he's those innocent guys on reddit who still post comments like "lando is so nice it's impossible to hate him!!!" as if we're still in 2019 or something...... i want to live in that world

imo there's also an aspect to jendo where it's like...? jenson sees so much of himself in lando to the point of having preconceptions about lando's mentality that he projects onto him a bit which i think adds dimension to jenson's vulnerability but that goes into way more my own Meta and isn't really relevant to this post. but part of jenson's personality is that he is very charismatic and a natural speaker and also Usually Right so he loves to SAY shit and although he's not quite a nico-level professional shit stirrer he does kind of um... always speak like he knows something you don't. as evidenced by his time as lewis's teammate wherein he won the idgaf war by not acknowledging it going on in the first place. this is also why he and oscar should banter more because i feel like the comparisons between oscar and jenson are honestly so apt HLSDFH i have a jenson/oscar/lando post if that is of any interest

ok sorry i'm getting off-track but >>>all of that to me is why jendo is fun... jenson presents as very self-assured but if you do a psyche deep dive you realize he was quite sensitive growing up and Personally Victimized by briatore and has been quite open about his anxiety and the way f1 culture functioned at the time, and he's always been quite emotionally regulated but obviously there was... also a lot of glamour that accompanied that until later in his career LOL. so getting to explore those sides of him with a 20-something lando who very much mirrors him (self-reflective and sometimes overly critical and learning to live the "highly committed and industrious playboy" life) but also makes his façade crack in ways you don't often see is so fun & fascinating...!!! imo you can take them in a lot of different directions as a ship :3c

^ bonus bits i like from his book

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

my favorite interpretation of him is as a man who WANTS that companionship and love but. He’s been burned so many times before, falling in love with people he outlived due to war and his slower aging. So he can’t allow himself to be hurt like that again. Deep inside his little black heart he would love to be equals with Alina but unfortunately years of trauma and pain have left him entirely unable to exist in a relationship that doesn’t have a power imbalance in his favor. He doesn’t know how to let go of his want for power even in his relationships anymore. And now that he needs Alina for his Grand Schemes, well he definitely can’t fall in love with her without potentially fucking up his plan, right? He needs her to do many very specific things and he can’t be blinded by Real Emotion that might make him change his mind so instead he keeps her at arms length while making her THINK her feelings are requited and he pulls her strings to get her to do what he needs so that his centuries of living will have paid off. And deep deep down the man he used to be yearns to have built something real with her, to have companionship who won’t die in the blink of an eye, someone who understands this Otherness he experiences, an equal. If only the man he’d become could stand to let go of the reins in any relationship for more than like. Thirty seconds. Lol

I think this is more favorable than how I would personally word it! But yeah, I’d say he wants companionship and human connection at all, however never at the cost of true, personal vulnerability. I don’t think he’d genuinely want an equal relationship, because that would necessitate putting himself within someone else’s power.

I also don’t think he’s necessarily been burned in the sense of giving many relationships a chance with any sort of emotional openness. Like we see him resolve to not do that in Demon in the Wood, where he’s like twelve. That’s basically the entire purpose of that story! While he’s definitely grown more and more jaded and uh insane in his white knuckle need for control and emotional self-mastery, I think that’s through realizing that he’s never been as guarded as he’d like to be. And I’d read that gradual excising of all emotional weakness a deliberate thing, where each time he’s realized that he’s grown to care about something/someone despite himself and being royally pissed about it until he finally calcified into the piece of work we see in canon!

Taking all that into account, I wouldn’t say I personally interpret him as having a conscious desire for an equal relationship of any sort? He can only feel secure in a dynamic where he has all of the power, and is therefore not in danger of any sort of hurt or vulnerability. But through that intense repression, I think he also ends up not being in control as both confounding and tantalizing. Hence him outrage spiraling SO HARD at Alina being nothing like he wanted her to be, and not nearly as in love with him as he is obsessed with her.

Anyway, that’s not even getting into how he went through an unknown amount of his immortality completely under his mother’s thumb and has possibly the worst case of mommy issues known to man. Frankly, I think the total control thing is overcompensation for always being stuck as the child, or at the very least never an equal, in his oldest and most important relationship.

That is to say, for all his bluster, I think he would immediately fall to pieces if Alina patted him on the head and called him a good boy. Which itself isn’t the same as having a desire for an equal relationship, as opposed to desiring (again in like a repressed and probably repulsed way!) the same strict power dynamic to simply be reversed.

[uchihakeimei]

Helloooo, hope it's ok if I reply here! Also I forgot to apologize in advance for my terrible English, hope it's understandable!

What a relief to find someone who actually understands Kaiser! He's one of my absolute favs together with Rin and Isagi, but I never really spoke much about him since I noticed the fandom has a bad habit of misinterpreting him. AND Kaisagi in general. No, Isagi is not his soft-uwu toyboy, he's a badass, a menace and if anything, it's him that would put Kaiser in his place. And yes, they totally hate each other. Like, super hate. And that borderlines on obsession from Kaiser's part. (Ngl, that's my favorite part in all Isagi's ships, how he's unbothered, moisturized, living his best life, and the counterpart is decaying in their obsession in beating him. God, he's such an icon.) Their mutual disdain is what makes the ship so balanced, and also the reason why I dislike Kainess, I don't really appreciate the power imbalance and how submissive Ness acts around him. He deserves better than that. Oh, how I would love to see him leave Kaiser in the dirt to fight alone: that would be such a great character development for both of them. Ofc I'm not judging anyone who ships Kainess, it's a perfectly valid ship! I just love both Kiis and Rnis cause they check all of the boxes of the chemicals in my brain. And when the Kaiser flashbacks drops? I'm gonna go absolutely crazy. I need to be the worm in his brain and understand him in a much deeper way than Kaneshiro ever could.

(Also, I love your headcanon about their alternative jobs. I tried to come up with something for Rin too, and I concluded that he definitely could only ever work in front of a computer, where he would never have to interact with people - and traumatize them with his weird bullshit, lmao). (Oh, and Kaiser would be an even worse boyfriend than Rin, let's be real. One small argument and he's dumping your ass to ""find himself"" like any mediocre fuckboy).

Yes, despite my BLLK obsession I'm keeping up with other mangas! I've been reading One Piece since I was a child, but lately I got invested in Chainsaw man, Choujin X, Kagurabachi, Bungou stray dogs and My hero academia, too. What about you??

Of course, it's totally okay!!

And hello fellow Kaiser fan, great to meetcha!!

And yes. A lot of people mischaracterise Kaiser- either as an Isagi simp (most common in fanfictions) or a complete asshole with no depth.

KaiSagi characterisation tends to be even worse (which, this is NOT me criticising authors at all, people are entitled to write what they enjoy!), but either Kaiser or Isagi gets reduced to a desperate simp trying to get into each other's pants (mostly I have seen this with Kaiser, actually) and that's not very likely.

The charm of KaiSagi is their mutual hate, and the ways they overcome that!

And yes. You hit the nail right on the head! Such unbalanced ships, like KaiNess (SasuSaku or NaruHina from Naruto) are the one kind of ships I can never get behind. Whether it's love or hate, it needs to be mutual for me to enjoy it. Power unbalance is not my thing but different strokes for different folks and all that

And yes, Kaiser currently obsessed with destroying Isagi while all Isagi wants to be is no 1 is a delicious flavour and Kaneshiro is cooking

I need an explanation. Of everything regarding Kaiser. That flashback needs to be longest flashback in the manga. I want a biography I can write a thesis on.

(True!! He definitely isn't a people person. He will most likely be doing a job that requires minimum human contact lol)

(And yeah, Kaiser is such red flag, we'd need rose colored glasses to date him 😝)

Hehe. Fellow CSM fan!! My fav is Denji, and I am eagerly awaiting Season 2!

And although I haven't seen the rest of them, I have they are very good anime as well!

My absolute favourite would be Naruto, as I have been in that fandom for years as well. Apart from that, I am currently keeping up with Solo Leveling and Windbreaker!

(Although listing all the animes I have watched will require a separate post, I watch a lot of them!)

Ps: Your English was lovely, no worries!!

[clementine-kesh]

Ship Ask Game! J7, Harry x B'elanna, Kes x Seven and Doctor x Tom (Sorry there are so many, i couldn't choose)

j7

1. Why don't you ship it?

y’all know i love a good insane and fucked up ship but i think the power imbalance between them is just a bit too much for me to enjoy. when you put janeway’s whole deal with shaping seven’s humanity into a romantic context it just feels creepy to me. that said i do 100% believe in seven having an extremely freudian crush on janeway

2. What would have made you like it?

if janeway was less invested in seven’s humanity and getting her to be a certain way i think i’d be more into it

3. Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

despite it not being my thing i do get why people ship it like there’s something there i just prefer not to see it

harry/b’elanna

1. What made you ship it?

it’s been since day one babey their first interaction in caretaker is just so fucking good

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

so many things! they work so well as an unexpected dynamic duo and i think that’s such a fun and interesting vibe. i love how well they balance each other out. and of course the star-crossed lovers of it all…

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

for similar reason as i’m glad janeway/chakotay wasn’t canon i’m glad they weren’t canon lol. like they were probably never going to be anyways because 90s hollywood but considering the way the canon romances were written i know it would’ve been bad and out of character and fans would not be nearly as forgiving towards harry acting as b’elanna’s gross sexist boyfriend as they are towards tom

kes/seven

1. What made you ship it?

i feel like i saw a post or something a while back talking about the potential for kes and seven’s relationship (either romantic or platonic) and it totally convinced me. if only kes had stayed on voyager!

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

weirdgirl4weirdgirl 4ever

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

i’ve seen this one around so rarely i can’t think of any

tom/emh

1. What made you ship it?

it would be so funny

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

literally how incredibly insufferable they’d be together. it’s one of those ships i mostly like for the amount of psychic damage it would cause to everyone around them

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

same as for kes/seven, i’ve seen it around so little i can’t think of any

[no-white-dress]

Icy 👀

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

16. What's your least favorite ship for this character?

17. What's a ship for this character you don't hate but it's not your favorite that you're fine with?

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

OH WOAH that's a lot of questions

1 - I don't even know why I've liked her so much since I was a kid. If I remove the version of Icy I wrote, I love her because she has a sick design, extremely cool powers, and especially in books and comic canon she isn't entirely, hopelessly evil. There's room for growth and change and that's all I've ever wanted to see for her

2 - favorite canon thing... ok one has to be how she canonically tried to stop global warming. Did she give up and act like a spoiled vip when she realized she couldn’t make it? Yes. But she actually tried first.

7 - people are starting to draw her with loose hair and I live for it

9 - idk if it's my version of Icy I think she'd want a room of her own 🤭 but yeah if it's two separate rooms that's totally possible

12 - I have so many headcanons for Icy 😭 she is bi and polyamorous and she used to be a fairy as a kid and she loves loves loves magic and she's a bit of a nerd about it

15 - SUN&MOONS OBVIOUSLY aka Icy, Darius (toh) and Dave (winx oc) triad

16 - Icy and Valtor and Icy and any of the wizards of the Black Circle 💀 sorry y'all it's centuries of age gap, and even if you hc Valtor as the same age as the Company of Light, there's a huge power imbalance and I rarely if ever see valcy portrayed as the toxic relationship it would be considering canon

17 - BloomxIcy, it got old pretty quick for me. Some people are weird about it.

18 - I really love the Trix's relationship with each other. Poking fun at each other and even antagonizing each other at times, but always having each other's back at the end of the day

[nimuetheseawitch]

for character headcanons: klinger and margaret

Klinger

1: sexuality headcanon 

Flexible. Hard to label because his gender is hard to label/he doesn't canonically seem to claim anything other than cishet. But I 100% see him as someone who says he's a straight man and then enjoys being a woman and will also totally have relationships/sex with men. He doesn't care about coloring in the lines of any chosen label.

2: otp 

I can't help it, I love canon for this. Soon Lee is perfect for him and I just died when she said she wanted to see him in a dress sometime. I also love to imagine that he and Henry hooked up before the war.

3: brotp 

Mulcahy. They gamble together, they both have black market connections, and they care about a lot of the same things in some really sweet ways. I love it when we see them team up on things, and I love their interactions in church and gambling in backrooms. They deeply respect each other and their differences and I love that.

4: notp 

Winchester. My apologies to those who love this, but Charles has often done wrong by Klinger, and it's just a no for me.

5: first headcanon that pops into my head 

Post-war tailor shop that secretly serves the queer community. Who else in Toledo knows how to tailor women's clothes to masculine bodies?

6: one way in which I relate to this character

I would also trade away my favorite salami for an incredibly personal gift for a friend and then take zero credit for it (it would embarrass me to be acknowledged).

7: thing that gives me secondhand embarrassment about this character

I don't think anything Klinger does embarrasses me. I'm furious about some things on his behalf, like how everyone treats him when he decorates, but I can't think of any embarrassment.

8: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

Cinnamon roll all the way through.

Margaret

1: sexuality headcanon 

This is fun because I recently changed my mind. I now hc her as aromantic. I always thought of her as bi/queer, but I've been thinking a lot recently about the possibility of her being aromantic and how that intersects with her perception of her gender and related expectations. The happiest liaison she has is the carefree one night stand after her divorce where she really embraces her freedom to not worry about all the trappings of romance. She tries so hard to fit into this box of the woman who needs a man and marriage, and we see her fumble with this idealistic romance after sleeping with Hawkeye and with Scully. We also see her really happy when eschewing traditional gender roles with Frank, and although she keeps asking him for romance, it either goes horribly wrong or seems to really be about sex and not much more. I don't know, I got rambly, but I like my new headcanon.

2: otp 

Herself. I know this is kind of cheating, but I kinda want Margaret to be single and become part of the 60s free love thing. Eschewing marriage and boxes and embracing bodily autonomy seems right up her alley, and I want her to find happiness without being tied to any one person. I want her to love herself.

3: brotp 

Hawkeye. They are the best besties and should be best friends forever. I want Margaret and Hawkeye to get together and gossip about their various sexual escapades and scheme together to set up an illegal abortion clinic.

4: notp 

Power imbalances in either direction. This isn't one specific person but more about her characterization of someone who sleeps with generals. I am incredibly creeped out by the implication that some of them are her father's friends. I also think she wouldn't sleep with someone who she commands because she'd be uncomfortable with the power imbalance (she makes a comment at some point about how she's dating Frank because he's a Major) - she already struggles to even be friends with those she commands.

5: first headcanon that pops into my head 

She has 100% explored her sexuality with both Lorraine and Helen.

6: one way in which I relate to this character

All of those feelings about expectations - from the expectations of her parents to behaving professionally to gender.

7: thing that gives me secondhand embarrassment about this character

The shrieking over Radar waking her up and other similar things. She's so quick to assume he's a creep and doesn't give him the benefit of the doubt (tbf, he does peek in the nurses' shower, but he pretty much always treats her with respect).

8: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

*sigh* I want her to be a cinnamon roll (and by the end she's pretty much there), but she definitely starts out as problematic. She has so much character growth, and I love her.

[lunaryrs]

👯‍♀️ the walker girls (your pick which set)

shout out to ryan and meredith's daughters but when you said walker and told me to pick which my immediate inclination was literally like oh some combination of landon and paige's and whichever two i chose to expand on was the "set" like omgggggg sorrryyyyyy cousins but there is indeed an elite trio.... just gonna try to like bullet point some things that are like known facts in my mind and see what sticks. might even return to this at a later date

alexis is very obviously hbic but i truly don't believe there's any like power imbalance she's just the oldest so she paves the way for the rest and like fortunately they have a hot mom who is self-assured so what we've got on our hands is a bunch of insanely pretty girls who are at least superficially self-confident and definitely girls' girls and a hot bitch that's leading the pack

they're insanely close, particularly alexis and vanna, and i don't see too much conflict between them besides like the occasional bad sister moment like give me my fucking top back you'll stretch it out and its literally bc they're a single cup size bigger but like only while wearing the most insanely padded push up bra

about alexis and vanna in particular, very just like comfortable and uninhibited with each other and themselves and their sexuality like always naked and chilling, won't shy away from being like fully nude and asking for a second opinion like i have cute nipples right? is my pubic hair long enough to nair? is my labia weird? and their social media posts do make people scratch their heads like tell me why these girls are all bare tanned limbs intertwined and kissing on the mouth and the answer is like they got alexis's employee pass for tanning beds and pecking isn't weird unless you make it bitch!!!!!!!!!

i sense some sort of like significant age gap with brooklyn its just my truth. even if its just like 8 yrs or whatever idk time is fake in rp but they call her baby b and even though she's like very clearly the black sheep they totally embrace her and her eccentricities and try to incorporate her into their entire dynamic it's just not her jam and they'll only lightly poke fun at her for changing behind a door or whatever

piggy backing on the above i don't know if i'm projecting or misinterpreting but i feel like vanna in particular has a soft spot for brooklyn and will engage with her more at her own speed like gossip about crushes or try to teach her how to kiss or whatever while alexis is more like omg eye rolling and shrill strippers vc you've got the ass and titties you call the shots like idk maybe brooklyn just texts vanna the things she's a little too shy to tell the sisters (+ paige?) gc

all of the above said, i think olive is their favorite cousin. they love them all (because again i really just think they're girls' girls and respect whatever a girlie has going on but olive fits in the most obviously). i think vanna and olive are very much the same in spirit so i think brooklyn connects with olive the most for that reason, but also thinks margot is the coolest and while ALL of the walker girls are going on the blunt walk on thanksgiving, brooklyn and margot are the only ones to stick around once the conversation gets weird. alexis and gideon don't have much in common beyond being the eldest in their respective families but i feel that they both recognize that they're the OGs and get along rly well for that reason

[dykelawlight]

mikalight for that ask game :3...

YEEEEAAAAHHHHHH

001 | send me a ship and I will tell you:

when I started shipping it if I did:

Literally instantaneously. Like as soon as I saw them like even thinking about each other for the first time before they ever interacted I was hooked.

my thoughts:

MY THOUGHTS. UMMMMMM. They made a ship based on some of my very favorite dynamics just for me. That was nice of them. I literally am so incoherent about their insane and wildly unhealthy relationship because of how much I want to chew on it. I think it's definitely bittersweet bc of how much room there is for like unrequited shit, emotional abuse, generally terrible vibes, but there's also room for them to be having insanely good sex about it and for Light to be worshipped via Mikami kneeling in penitence for the sins of the world that he has failed to curb sooooo you know you win some you lose some.

What makes me happy about them:

I am very happy about the fact that they are having deranged worship kink sex. That's my #1. But I also think they come to understand each other very well, even if their relationship is a disaster. They have a lot in common and operate in largely similar ways and I love that for them.

What makes me sad about them:

I think the imbalance in their relationship is incredibly depressing but I would never want to change it because it's very fun for Me, Isa. But it is definitely a saddening situation. A mess. You're in love with the person you worship and that person regards you as, what — almost an intellectual equal, a devout servant, an excellent fuck, but not really a person. Enjoy.

things done in fanfic that annoys me:

Oh my fucking G-d what DOESN'T annoy me about 99% of Mikalight fanfiction. The Mikalight tag on AO3 is a fucking disaster. I will say I hate when Mikami is portrayed as like, either a creep inflicting himself on Light OR an entirely brainless slave to Kira, and both are very fucking common. I also really hate fluffy stuff for them most of the time unless it's like threaded between scenes of total relational dysfunction but that's my own deal.

things I look for in fanfic:

Worship kink stuff done WELL. Mikami characterization that makes him act like a person. Mikami having a sense of religiosity that is rooted in Shinto practices rather than Christianity. <- This one is HUGE. Acknowledgement of the fact that Mikami is clinically psychotic and likely has schizophrenia or a similar disorder that's not ableist and 2edgy like so much fic about psychosis is. Sorry those last two are just expansions on the second one but they're important to ME.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: 

Mikami is about to be SUPER ALONE and obviously I'd want Light to end up with L. If L is dead Light is going to "end up" with Misa and cheat on her like crazy with men, which is fine. I really struggle to see Mikami entering a long-term emotionally committed relationship with somebody else.

My happily ever after for them:

I don't know that I have one! Mikami hopes to someday be elevated to Light's level by his grace and Light wants a devoted acolyte, so there's a goal and emotional desire there that's unreciprocated and hard to get around. I think it ends badly. However I do also love to imagine them curled up on the couch watching Saw II like it's a comfort movie. So that's something they might always have even if they break up or kill each other or die.

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

Mikami is the big spoon most of the time whether he wants to be or not. However I don't think Light is above big spoon behavior. I think he kind of gets a kick out of wrapping his arms around somebody (this guy in particular because he's cut as fuck, hiiiiii) and being weirdly possessive of them in their sleep.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

Killing people.

ask game

[strawberry-soot]

:3c Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love❤

Mya you lovely creature, don’t put me in the spotlight like that!! XD

After some careful consideration, I decided to put them in no particular order, so here we go:

The Other Side of Sunset [TWST I Malleus/Leona I teen and up audiences] is a 15K rant about art, family, and shepherd’s pie. Imposing time and spatial constraints on this story was not only a fun challenge to write but also makes for an interesting narrative while Leona and Malleus pretend to ignore they’re trying to prolong the sun’s funeral march for as long as possible for reasons they’re slowly figuring out with each passing minute.

here we are now [TWST I Malleus/Leona I mature audiences] is about as much slowburn teenage angst as you can expect from MalLeo. I especially enjoyed expanding the cast from a Leona/Malleus-centric story to everyone meddles in one way or another and the total chaos that ensures in later chapters. Though, of course, delving into the MalLeo dynamic and thoroughly chewing myself through what makes them work while they steadily learn that hunger isn’t always a violent thing was an overall memorable experience for me.

By The Book [TWST I Malleus/Leona I general audiences] reminds me that the Diasomnia found family dynamic never gets old, especially when I get to explore Malleus’ relationship with each of his dormmates while he tries to figure out what love is, how a broken heart is just as good as a cracked rib, and why the fairytale he painted for himself was flawed from the start.

I contemplated putting a different Rook/Vil fic as one of my faves but time away from home [TWST I Rook/Vil I teen and up audiences] was such a huge time commitment that more or less started my journey as a fanfic author so it’d be rude not to pay it the respect it deserves. It’s admittedly a bit scary when you first see the length, but I think the way I told their story in a more fragmented style makes for a pleasant read overall that’s best enjoyed at your own pace. Love is trying to see the beauty in things, and Vil and Rook learn in an agonizingly slow way that they have love in abundance.

Despite The Blame Game [TWST I Azul&Jack I general audiences] being my least popular fic, I really had fun pushing myself in terms of imagery and weaving as much ocean-imagery into it as possible. It’s not focused on any ship, but Azul and Jack’s dynamic and the underlying power imbalance that comes with it was fun to explore nonetheless. Writing this fic also made me come round to Jack since I initially thought he's too self-righteous and hypocritical for my liking, but actually portraying him made me understand him that little bit more. Jack’s just a puppy. How could I dislike him?

[eldritch-spouse]

You've become my inspurration baby, my mewse, you've singlehandedly made me want to craft my very own Yan meownster blog, I want our blorbos to touch mouths and/or kill each other 🥺

I wanted to ask your opinion, p-pls, as I'm creating the starter content for it, writing drabbles if you will, on some of these ideas I'm juggling. I'm unsure which to do first, and I would just like to ask you what you think of these 😳👉👈

The first is a dream demon that obsesses over a lucid dreamer darling. Honestly I thought of this one because of a weird dream I had that I couldn't really remember but I could remember the feeling of being chased or hunted by something. Dreamer darling uses lucid dreaming as an escape from reality, sleeping and dreaming constantly, probably to an unhealthy degree. They don't really remember their dreams, or even remember how talented they are in lucid dreaming (in terms of crafting and controlling dreams) but they know that sleep is more comforting than any other past time. At least it used to be, until suddenly, rather than feeling rested and happy as usual, they wake up anxious, unable to shake the feeling that they've caught the attention of something dangerous. They start staying awake, some small voice in their head telling them that sleeping is dangerous now, and every time they do inevitably fall asleep, they wake up feeling more and more worried and scared each time, as something unknown gets closer and closer.

The second is a royal obsessing over a commoner/ servant, I'm inclined to say gardener or knight cause I love the dynamic of, small man in power who has never labored in his life attempts to seduce/ intimidate bigger, work hardened commoner who is just mildly annoyed by their boss bothering them when they have things to do. The prince is bratty and spoiled but not much of a threat considering he's a long way off from ascending the throne and can't get away with anything too crazy until then. He always seems to be everywhere their favorite servant is though, talking their ear off about how when he rules he'd make it illegal to reject him so they'll have to come around eventually, why not make it easier and just come to his chambers with him now? When he overhears his favorite commoner telling other servants of their plans to travel, go far away from this kingdom and him with it, he decides its prudent to put a rush on that ascending to the throne thing, sorry dad, it's for love ❤

(I hope your weather is nice by your standards and that your food just hit Different today, love u pinnie🙏❤)

Hi, the first paragraph of this ask is so radioactive it fried some of my brain cells, I'll be holding you accountable for any gray mass leaking out my ears from henceforth. Eitherway, I'm extremely flattered and very happy to hear I motivate you in any way. <3

I like the first concept lots. Mostly because I'm big on creatures that are related to the mind. Monsters who always seem to have different features when you see them, they can't quite decide what you react best to yet so they're going to expose you to multiple versions of themselves until they hit the nail on the head. Do you ever wonder if dream demons (nightmares?) get lonely? Maybe some lucid dreamers have the ability to see/interact with them, but those are so rare... I can definitely see curiosity or loneliness as the basis of an obsession for a dream demon. Or may not. Maybe they're already so powerful they just sought you out to snuff the life out of you while you slumber, but you manage to impress them somehow, perhaps with your abilities to shape dreamscapes?

As much as I just eat up power imbalances, I'm probably not the best person to ask about for king/peasant or prince/commoner stories, since I don't really consume many of those, nor am I honestly cultured enough to make one minimally immersive. 💀 Though, if you're doing a kingdom of monsters, I can totally see humans being either discriminated against or glorified, and that's an interesting twist in my opinion. I definitely love the idea of a yandere character already showing signs of hysteria but not being taken seriously because of their appearance or their position in society, it makes their victory sweeter. You know what we don't see enough of? Royal darlings and yandere peasants. Maybe several yandere commoners at once! >:]

Ultimately, do what you feel works best for you! <3

[takaraphoenix]

My very favorite DCMK thing is The Lost Ship in the Sky. That’s a tough thing to say, because it’s like picking your favorite child. Every time Shinichi and Kaito interact and face off presents a unique thing that makes it special and makes me love it.

But this current rewatch, though I am not entirely through with it yet, really reminded me just how much I love this movie, specifically.

Because it presents an entire different kind of dynamic between Shinichi and Kaito. This movie presents them the most as equals. And allowing them to work together as equals shifts the dynamic between them and makes them interact with each other in a much more playful and also honest manner than we get to see in any other encounter between them.

Now, let me elaborate on why I think they’re never as equal as they are here.

Usually, we get the thief and the detective; which, in itself, brings an imbalance with it - the chaser and the chased. The two rivals competing with each other. On various occasions, the playful magician who just wants to awe Shinichi with his heists and magic, but even here we have Kaito go in with entirely different motifs than Shinichi. On too rare an occasion, them working with each other when circumstances force them to.

So, on the premise of them working together, this movie is by far not one of its kind (thankfully enough), but even compared to other team-ups like say The Magician of the Silver Sky, where too many lives are very directly at stake and there is a certain tenseness and professionalism about their interactions, or The Blue Fist of Sapphire, where it’s more playful but Kaito holds things back and it has a more serious tone to it due to the actual murders, somehow the movie about bio-terrorism and all of Shinichi’s friends being kidnapped by said terrorists is the most playful when it comes to their dynamic.

There is already a built-in imbalance between them due to the premise of Detective Conan; Kaito has free reign that he takes for himself as a criminal, but Shinichi is always held back by Ran/the Detective Boys/the police. Where Kaito gets to use the KID get-up to be free, Shinichi is restricted by the public persona of Conan that he has to put up around others as well as the limitations that come with being perceived as a child by others.

Even The Blue Fist of Sapphire, that literally has Kaito kidnapping Conan and making him pretend to be a total stranger, somehow manages to heavily rely on the Mouris and thus on Shinichi putting on the front of a little kid. And when it’s just the two of them, the atmosphere is very serious because they’re discussing the murders, which in their nature put Shinichi into a very professional mode.

For large portions of this movie, however, it’s really just... Kaito and Shinichi, being all alone with each other. And sure there is a threat of bio-terrorism, but so far no one has died, so far it is all still preventable for them. So far, it is a puzzle for Shinichi to solve and he largely gets to solve it together with Kaito, without anyone intervening.

They’re alone, with no public to force them to act a certain way, and they both have the same goal, for the same reason - stop the terrorists, save the people on the ship. How to get there, what to do, and also the motives of the terrorists, that’s all things they get to figure out together.

Look at this moment, specifically. They’re verbally agreeing on working together - and neither puts up any front. The way Kaito hunches over and gives Shinichi a side-eye, no KID bravado there, just a skeptical Kaito. How Shinichi leans away and scratches his cheek, also giving Kaito the same kind of side-eye, no facade of Conan.

For the first time, they’re the most them with each other. They’re actually being Kuroba Kaito and Kudou Shinichi with each other. Not Kaiou KID and Edogawa Conan. Not the thief and the detective. Because even between Shinichi and detective!Shinichi is a difference and for the most part, the smug detectiveness is on hold and it’s just... Shinichi being Shinichi.

That was a very long post to say what could be summed up in this one GIF actually. Look at the pure, raw bastard energy they both have, those smirks, the communication without words.

Because they both have public personas that play down the utter bastards that they are; the charming gentleman thief, the suave and brilliant detective. But deep down, in their hearts, they are both little gremlins who are up to no good and could actually destroy the world if they so desire - and this movie shows the full potential of what they can achieve when they actually work together and it also beautifully showcases the way they work together. They were literally finishing each other’s sentences when they figured out the bad guys’ plans.

This movie is the most KaiShin movie, because it shows just how similar they are while at the same time showing just how much they compliment each other with those similarities, because their matching intellect but also the bastard-way in which they apply that intellect makes it so easy for them to work together.

[nautilicious]

why i ship prudence & potions

(Did y’all remember that all the HP pairings have ship names?)

Thanks to @tomato-greens​ for asking, and for reading the novel that resultedLOL.

I like fics where fucked-up people find happiness. I need to see distrustful and wounded people finding their person(s). I need to see the odd, misunderstood outcasts finding a bulwark in each other. I need them to keep each other's secrets. (Bonus points if those secrets are vital to the plot, though knowing each other's deep dark personal secrets is plenty good, too). I want to see people facing adversity together, and healing from those wounds together.

Those are the themes that I come back to over and over again. Many of us like the "blond one/dark one” or “sunshine one/grumpy one” ships, but it goes deeper than that for me.

(And if y’all have recs with these themes, please do mention them -- any fandom welcome; I like to read good stories even if I haven’t seen/read the source material. I’m happy to give recs, too.)

It's interesting, because I don’t go for teacher/student scenarios. I know those are popular, and that’s fine; we don’t have to like the same things (kinktomato!) (If student/ teacher naughtiness is your thing, however, HG/SS fandom has a lot of excellent authors, and that particular scenario is often done scorchingly well. Snape as a dramatic and powerful Dominant/Top/playmate/etc is totally believable. As is how hot it might be for Hermione to bring someone like that to heel.)

What interests me most in any fic is: why these characters shouldn't be together, and how they are going to overcome that anyway. I like to see serious obstacles. I mean, I enjoy the classic "I'm too scared to risk our friendship" obstacle well enough, but I'd rather see something more complicated. "I used to be a brainwashed assassin," or "I started out on the other side of the war," or "everyone thinks I'm cold and horrible but really I'm not."

With HG/SS, the power imbalance always has to be addressed. Some stories do this by being set post-canon, and those can be very nice. (Hermione stumbles across a man everyone thought dead, or they know he's alive but he avoids everyone and then for some reason she has to seek him out, or they are co-workers at Hogwarts/the Dept of Mysteries/?? and get forced to work together, etc).

For any story set during book 6 or 7, however, the author is required to do a fair amount of work in order to address how to get these characters into a relationship that I feel comfortable reading about. That usually inspires fantastic stories. Stuff like: war-related reasons (their connection wins the war!); marriage law scenarios (or related notions like "Death Eaters have the Ministry and say you have to marry a Death Eater & Snape is the only one who can save you"); potions accidents (in one classic fic they switch bodies and it won't wear off for six months, so now Hermione has to play the spy!); magical mishaps (accidental bonding!); or even just something like aging up Hermione via time turner usage. And let's not forget "Hermione accidentally goes back to the past and meets a Snape her own age!"

(The time travel ones are so fun; I really love them. I’ve been pretty into “someone goes back in time and makes it so all the bad things don’t happen after all” kinds of stories, regardless of pairing or fandom. Fix-it ftw. But I digress.)

So just in terms of kinds of stories, the HG/SS fandom has a vast and creative landscape.

But there’s more! We get cool world-building, too! I won’t claim this is unique to HG/SS -- it’s actually one of my favorite things about HP fanworks in general. Fanon explanations for magic/rituals/artifacts, house elf/creature rights issues, social tensions, and pureblood culture -- just to name a few of the popular building blocks -- are always more thought-out and nuanced than what JKR gave us. (Fuck JKR, btw.) Hermione-centric stories are often lore-heavy because of the kinds of problems/mysteries writers create for her to solve (which is awesome!) and even more so if Snape’s intellect/talents are involved.

Most of the HP stories I’ve read have phenomonal character writing, since that’s a thing I look for. And I do love a number of HP characters. There’s just something about Snape, though.

From the very beginning, fans have wondered about him. He defies easy theories. (If he hates Harry, why does he save him so often? If he’s a bad person, as his classroom manner makes him seem, then why does Dumbledore let him get away with it? If he’s villain, why do his actions always seem to help the good guys? Is it trauma that makes him act that way, or is he a jerk and we should discount his heroic actions? Can we trust Harry as a narrator when it comes to Snape?) All of these questions require nuanced answers, because he’s neither irredeemably bad or obviously good.

Love him or hate him, he's almost always right where the action is. (Lorrie Kim wrote a whole literary analysis called Snape: A Definitive Reading if you want to dive deeper.) And that gives fans a heck of a lot to work with.

Before we got HBP & DH, authors made up a bunch of really cool stuff about Snape, creating all kinds of fascinating backstories for him. These pre-canon imaginings of his history and motives are often quite different than what JKR chose. (Quite a few are better, IMHO). Post HBP and DH, authors successfully use canon to give these characters the kind of interiority that fanfic does so well. And the HG/SS fandom, in part because it skews towards more experienced writers, handles these characters very well indeed.

Hermione and Snape have a lot in common. Intellectual passion and rigor. Intelligence. Introversion. A fervor for justice, fairness (maybe more Hermione on that one), and duty. They both read. They think things through deeply. They can be quite creative and inventive. We’ve seen both of them be ruthless and sneaky. As far as the sexual dynamics go, I’ve seen every combo of experience and inexperience, and they’re all great. With all that intellectual ardor and determination, writers can create all kinds of compelling and believable interpersonal moments. Lots of great building blocks for an alliance, and then a romance.

Maybe she saves him with the power of love. Maybe he teaches her how to use her intellect to the fullest. Maybe she believes in him and that allows him to go farther. Maybe she was a cynical/melancholy person/outcast her whole life and Snape only ended up being an outcast because of the Mauraders. Or maybe Snape really was a screwed up, toxic person who eventually got better but was still trapped by his teenaged choices, and learning about his life means she loses her innocence but gains wisdom in witnessing his struggles. Maybe they both had abusive childhoods. Or maybe one of them was loved and teaches the other how to be vulnerable. There are a lot of delicious things to explore, and many talented writers exploring it.

All told, I continue to have a great time, in the HP fandom in general and with HG/SS in specific (though I’m happy to geek out with you about any HP ship, tbh). Would be happy to hear your thoughts or send you some recs, or whatever. (You can check also this sshg review site for one fan's reviews of popular fics).

[wangyibofanclub]

An Analysis of the Snape/Hermione Age Gap

It’s been nearly 7 years since I’d read anything Snape/Hermione. Recently, one of my friends recommended to me that I read Pet Project by Caeria (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2290003/1/Pet-Project). I had actually read this story years ago when I was still in high school, and I remember really liking it. The premise of the story is that Hermione finds that Snape is exhausted and not eating or sleeping well. On top of that, no one seems to care (and much less be grateful) for the work he does for the Order. Hermione, in her strong sense of justice, takes him on as her pet project. 

This story begins in Hermione’s Sixth Year and extends to the summer and her Seventh Year. My favorite part about this fic is seeing Hermione grow and mature into a wonderful young woman. Snape also grows to trust her and find himself worthy of love. The other characters grow and change too, and honestly, this author did such a GREAT job of characterizing Ron, not as someone dumb, but as a brilliant strategist. Overall, the character development in this fic was TOP TIER.

The story itself is a really slow burn, and that’s really what I want to get to talking about. If you’re reading this post at this point and you’re thinking, “Snape and Hermione? Gross!” Let me just say: yeah, I get it. 

I am not against age gaps in general, mostly because they will always exist. Without doubt, a younger person and an older person will be into each other, and we must learn to let it happen as long as the younger person is of legal age and the relationship occurs with consent. The real issue we must tackle is learning how to not let power imbalances affect relationships. 

Power Imbalances

Power imbalances come from the age and position as well as the financial. Older people are more likely to be in more prestigious positions over others, and thus there is potential for using their power to push someone younger into a compromising relationship with them. Someone who is older is also more likely to make more money. In that case, they may have a financial leverage over someone who is younger and struggling more, and the person struggling may be put under their control. These are two things that we must keep in mind when thinking about relationships with large age gaps, and it’s someone that we also have to keep in mind when we consider Snape/Hermione stories. 

In Pet Project, it takes a really long time for Snape and Hermione’s relationship to build up. Something that I really like about it is that Snape is at first not really interested in a relationship with Hermione (although to be fair, she isn’t interested in a romantic relationship with him either). It really just is meeting of someone who cares about righting injustices with someone who is not respected or properly thanked for their work. I think that her approach to him, and the start of this relationship, is valiant and admirable.

The Numbers and their Meaning

Within the book series, a relationship between Snape and Hermione is not totally unrealistic. In the final book, Hermione is 18 and Snape is 38. That’s around a 20 year age difference, and when you factor in how Wizards tend to live longer than humans, the proportion of the age gap relative to their life span is lowered.

That being said, we must fully consider what it means for Snape to have been Hermione’s teacher since she was 12 years of age. What does that do in a relationship? Another story that we can look into is Jane Austen’s Emma in which Emma is 16 years younger than her best friend, love interest, and future spouse Mr. Knightly. She says towards the end of the book that he essentially helped raise her and taught her as a young child how to behave. In a relationship between Snape and Hermione, we have to keep in mind those same things too. Snape essentially helped raise Hermione, but Hermione had other positive parental relationships, like with her biological parents and maybe even Dumbledore, McGonagall, and maybe the Weasleys. There is still a chance for Hermione to not think of Snape in any other way than someone who is a teacher in her life. 

The most important thing we have to look out for in an age gap in which one person has known the other since they were a child is that there was no grooming. Grooming refers to the set of manipulative behaviors that allow a predator to gain access to a victim, to get them to agree to an abuse. Pet Project is very clear in that the romantic relationship between Snape and Hermione does NOT start before she is of legal age and able to consent freely. Furthermore, the story presents Snape as having some real concerns about what it means to be with such a young woman and he recognizes his limitations as to what he feels he can offer, especially with his job as a spy and his troubled past. The story also demonstrates a real growth into maturity.

Adolescence and Maturity

I would like to briefly touch on the subject of adolescence and maturity. In the past, young people were fairly respected. In fact, it was young people who were considered the revolutionaries of their eras. During the American Revolutionary War, the Founding Fathers and early revolutionaries were as young as 17. Alexander Hamilton, whom we all know, was only 21. In the early 20th century, there was the development of the myth of adolescence by G. Stanley Hall. He proposed that people aren’t fully complete until they reach adulthood. What happened was that young people were made to stay in school for longer times, thus the enforcement of a high school education. This was done so that we could universalize the experiences of “adolescents” and “mass produce” adults according to what society felt was needed.

I understand Hermione is young. However, it would be unfair to characterize her as a child and immature compared to Snape for two reasons. First, to call Hermione a child is to ignore the context in which she lived. She was fighting for her right to live and exist in a Wizarding World as a muggle. She was fighting against a corrupt government. She was learning about who she could and couldn’t trust. Hermione was thrust into a tumultuous environment and forced to grow in ways that perhaps many of us don’t fully understand. Many of us don’t know what it’s like to grow up in war. Those of us who do understand what it’s like to grow under discrimination, however, can understand what it’s like to mature faster and face these ugly realities. Hermione is not a child. Second, it’s unfair to call Hermione immature. Yall, we know some adults who are so immature. There are some young people who are more mature, judicious, and wise than some adults we know. Furthermore, maturity isn’t just a status that you gain at a certain age or at a fixed point. It’s something that we learn, it’s something that exists and can ebb and flow depending on the situation.

Final Thoughts

In Pet Project, I feel that Caeria explores these dimensions of power, age, and development. When authors don’t explore those, we run the risk of portraying their relationship in a way that is unhealthy. I also admit that I did not cover all aspects of Snape and Hermione’s age gap relationship. However, I hope that for those of you that aren��t into their relationship are able to approach it in ways that are more understanding and kind to the concept of age gaps. I hope that for those of us who are into their relationship can do so in a way that is healthy and reasonable.

I ended up leaving the Snape/Hermione ship a couple of years ago. I did this because as I grew, I realized that some of the fics I was reading weren’t satisfying that desire for a thoughtful and healthy approach to their relationship. They didn’t study those dynamics of age as well as I would have liked. After reading Pet Project with a new lens, I can feel myself coming back to this ship with my new knowledge. That being said, I would still personally like to approach Snape/Hermione in a way that is careful. I think that it’s the author of the Snape/Hermione fic The Five Winters, Anubis Ankh that says that a Snape/Hermione relationship story should be slow and reluctant. Considering their power differentials and age gap, I agree that this relationship should be approached with care.

All of this being said, Snape and Hermione are fictional characters, and everyone is welcome to whatever they want with them, hate them or leave them, read them or leave them. 

[eutxrpe]

painting a picture

—there is no color combination that could ever paint a picture like you. izuku (with the help of his students) still tries to capture your essence on a canvas though.—

pairing: elementary schoolteacher!izuku x gender neutral!reader word count: 2.1k words warnings: fluff, izuku being a simp for you, a bit of second-hand embarrassment the art in the banner belongs to @/hanabiy_chan on twitter!

song inspiration: picture perfect (freestyle) - jhene aiko

a/n: this is both dedicated to and caused by @whipped-cream-writings​. you know what happened for this to be a thing. thank you for being you and inspiring this.

if there was ever a time to be embarrassed about something that deku’s students have said to him, it would be now.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

“mr. deku? are you dating someone?” izuku’s head snaps up to see hina, one of his most extroverted students. many other students come over to his desk, intrigued by the question that hina had asked. their little heads surround the table, and eyes peer at him over the height of his desk. 

“yea, are you?”

“tell us! tell us!” tiny voices chant in unison before izuku shushes them all gently. he internally reminds himself that they are innocent six-year olds that were not trying to purposefully embarrass him before answering.

“y-yes, i am dating someone,” the class erupts into cheers before quieting down again. they don’t disperse and head back to their tables like izuku had hoped, because hina looks at him with bright, brown eyes and continues the conversation.

“what are they like? do you love them? do youuuu?” her hair bounces as she drawls out the last syllable of her statement.

“hina, isn’t it time to go back to your seat?” deku asked, cheeks flushing a deep pink at the questioning. shaking her head, she only giggles.

“it’s free time, isn’t it?” she pouts. “also you didn’t answer my question. i...i could always make you, though!” and izuku watches as the brown of her eyes turns a deep black to the point the iris matches her pupils. one of the oldest in her class, hina had already manifested her quirk: the ability to make anyone do what they she wants when they make eye contact with her but only when her eyes were fully black.

“hina.” he makes his tone more strict, catching her attention and making her gaze drift down to the floor. “no quirk usage in the classroom, okay? it’s not fair to your other classmates who don’t have theirs yet.”

“yea, i know it’s a power imbalance or somethin’… but please? tell me?” and when izuku sees her eyes again, they’re back to the umber they usually are and hold only truth in them. he sighs. 

“after this, you’ll go back to your seat?” with an enthusiastic nod, deku catches his lip in between his thumb and pointer finger, trying to figure out how to describe you: the love of his life.

“they’re… amazing. i don’t know any words that could describe the way that i love them. but they’re that feeling when you have your favorite drink for the first time in forever! or-”

“you’re gonna ramble, mr. deku.” hina’s straight-forwardness could be taken as rudeness eventually... he’d have to take her over to bakugo’s or todoroki’s class one day to see what she does in other people. “i know that if i were in love, i’d show them what i couldn’t tell them!”

hina’s reply sparks an idea for a long-term project for his students… and for the both of you. izuku stands up, clapping his hands to get their attention. brushing his hair away from his face, the students see the glee in his emerald eyes and know that it’ll be an interesting project.

“what do you guys think of doing some painting over the next few weeks?”

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

“izu, you’re home!” at the sound of his footsteps, izuku sees you turn around and smile at him and his heart flutters. you’re wearing one of his oversized sweaters and mismatched socks that soften the noise of your feet padding down the hallway to kiss him.

“hi, angel.”

your hands cup his freckled cheeks, and he hopes that you don’t feel the amount of heat that crosses them. from your laugh, he knows that the opposite is true. your expression suddenly changes from content to focused, and midoriya feels your thumb rub away some pink paint.

“paint?” you step back and arch your eyebrow at him, walking away to the kitchen to wash your hands. taking off his blazer and folding it over his arms, izuku follows you, the baritone of his voice floating over to you across the island that separates the two of you. 

“i started a new art project with them,” izuku explains while he plays with his fingers, a habit he’s never really gotten over since his high school days. “their assignment is to supposed to paint something, someone —anything really— that brings them happiness. and then they asked me to do it with them.”

“and you just couldn’t say no?” after drying your hands, you turn around to face him, eyebrow arched and mouth curved into an amused smile. he feels heat race across his cheeks as he nods bashfully. “then i assume you’re painting all might.”

“well… you’ll see.”

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

“you’re so forgetful when it comes to your health, you know that?” your unforgettable voice can be heard from across the room to deku, holding the lunch that you reminded him to take three times in total. the students, including one excitable hina, turn their heads up at the noise and gasp.

“mr. deku, is this (y/n)?” after shy confirmation from him, the class cheers and deku raises both of his hands to turn the shouts to hushed whispers.

“p-please go back to what you were doing! you guys wouldn’t want to wake up kacchan, would you?” the bunny that sat on the counter was taking a short nap, his expression relaxed which was the opposite of his hostile behavior. at the mention of the angry bunny, the students went back to work, dipping their fingers in the paint as they continued to talk about you. you shyly smiled and rolled your eyes at the excitement that your arrival caused.

“do you want me to go over to you? or…” your sentence causes deku to blush and stand up quickly, striding over to where you were at the door.

“no, it’s fine… i know that it was hard to take this time out of your schedule. thank you, sweetheart.” he murmurs, trying not to take the children’s attention off of their project. izuku takes the lunch from your hands, giving you a smile and squeezing your hand softly.

“of course! i’ll see you at home later?” he enthusiastically nods, and you kiss as a farewell, lips slotting against each other lovingly. it seemed like you were about to deepen it, but hina’s voice causes you two to part.

“ewwwww!” 

and deku has never felt so embarrassed about showing his love for you. heat streams across his cheeks and down his neck while you laugh innocently. slinging your arms around his neck to pull him into a hug, you whisper your goodbyes into his ear, knowing that he would be mumbling about this into your lap at home tonight. in a sort of apology, izuku presses kisses into your neck. (knowing that his back was to hina, of course.) and like the angel you are, you giggle lightly at the sensation, and midoriya knows he’s been forgiven, even if there was nothing to forgive.

afterwards, you turn away, and midoriya sighs at the sound of your shoes against the hallway flooring. clutching the bento you brought him in his hands, he walks back to his desk and back to what he was trying to encapture in his painting. that was until he heard what hina mumbles —or tried to mumble— in the relatively quiet room.

“so that’s what love looks like…”

for once, deku lets out a sigh of relief at work. it was peaceful, and seeing all of the proud smiles on his (they were his at this point; he cared for them that deeply) children’s faces made him proud as well.

all was calm, and so before kacchan woke up from his nap, deku clapped his hands together and stood up, attracting the students’ attention.

“guys… i’m going to need your help with this plan i have, okay?”

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

you had been surprised when izuku called you while he was at work one day. he was almost religious with the amount of dedication and attention into his students and put his phone on silent everyday. so when he asked you to come to his classroom, you were shocked but quickly rushed over.

your heart skipped a beat with every step you took forward to the door, mind conjuring the worst scenarios every time you thought of izuku’s nervous, high-pitched tone.

“just c-come over as soon as possible please, angel!” you loved this man, but sometimes you just didn’t know what was in his mind. 

and with bated breath, you opened the door to his classroom and gasped.

the room formerly had circular tables on top of an area rug with all might memorabilia on the walls and children running havoc around it. 

but this room had fairy lights around it, giving it this safe haven aura, and there was a pathway to the other side of the room by separating the tables. someone squeezed your hand, so you tore yourself away from the look of the new room and made your eyes look downward. by the excited look in her eyes and proud smirk on her face, you assumed that this was hina, the same girl who had squealed in disgust during your kiss with izuku. 

“follow me, (y/n)!” and although it was a very small distance, you took her smaller hand within yours and let her lead you to the other side of the room where you saw izuku, who was beside an easel. before walking away to another room, hina narrowed her eyes at your boyfriend, telling him to “man up and do it or i’ll do it for you!”

“what’s happening, izuku? is something wrong?” you let him take your hands and he immediately told you everything was okay.

“i just… n-needed to tell you something before i lost the courage to do so. you know that project i told you about earlier?” you nod, trying not to say anything as you saw him fight for the right words. “well… for someone who brings me happiness, i chose you.”

izuku walks behind you to envelop you within his arms from behind, hiding his face in your neck. you tear the paper hiding his work from you away and gasp at what you see.

“i’m not a very good painter! the sketch was much better…” and you know that he wasn’t being modest.

your features were there, but blobs of paint were astray in different places. your eyes were too far apart and your hair was just a touch different than it usually is. but you let yourself fall into the colors that he chose.

the background was pink and you remember that one morning, izuku had told you that you reminded him of the color of a carefree love: baby pink.

you were wearing the same outfit that you were on your first date, and you can’t help but tear up slightly at the amount of detail that he put into this painting.

“izuku… it’s bad but good at the same time, you dork. i love it. i love y-” you turn around to find him on one knee and his own eyes watering. “-ou.”

“i- um, bare with me, here.” you run your hands through his soft locks of hair and sniffle, and he just knows that you’re always going to listen to him. 

“i could never put into words just how much you mean to me. which is probably why i put off this for so long. hah, i- you’re perfect, angel. perfect for me. i’ve always been in love with you even before we started to date… and just seeing you take care of me because i’m so forgetful when it comes to my health and always being there for me in the mornings has made me fall for you again and again everyday. i call these kids my world, but you’re my universe, my love. a picture so perfect that i tried and failed to encompass you.”

you sniffle again, and he presses soft kisses to the top of your hand, trying to compose himself to ask the damn question once and for all. he looks up and into your eyes, and finally… he’s determined to make you his.

“it would make me the happiest man in the world if you could marry me, (y/n).” he lets go of your hand to crack open the velvet ring box to reveal the prettiest ring you’ve ever seen. although you sometimes don’t know what goes through izuku’s head, it’s like he was in yours picking out this beautiful moonstone. 

you get down on the ground too, resting your forehead against his as you whisper out a yes.

“yes… yes, i’ll marry you, ‘zuku. any day, any time, because it’s you. i love you.” you kiss his lips over and over again, making him giggle and pull you even closer on this kindergarten class floor.

and you’re not sure if the moment is ruined or made better by bakugo opening the door to his class and letting hina & the other students loudly rush into the room.

fin.

[shelikescolds]

Tag Game

Thanks for tagging me @coldsandfluff , this was really fun to think about! Her original post can be found here.

The game is such:

List your top three whump tropes and tag people.

Whoever gets tagged gets to say how they feel about your top three tropes.

After finishing that, they then list their top three tropes, and the tagging cycle goes on!

@coldsandfluff tropes:

1. A Very Important Person who shouldn’t care about someone’s cold, but does. Like a CEO, a doctor, a huge celebrity… Just someone who obviously has way more important things to care about than the sickie’s cold (because the sickie isn’t part of their inner circle, like an employee or an assistant), but turns out to be a very caring person and goes out of their way to make sure the sickie is well taken care of. And if they’re the grumpy type, they do it in a grumpy way and won’t acknowledge it, but you can totally tell they’re a sweetheart underneath it all. Love it.

Thoughts: I usually prefer writing and reading about characters with little to no power imbalance, but you really sold me on this one! I like the idea of someone important being smitten by someone’s personality/deeds and deciding that they need to make sure this beautiful soul is taken care of properly (and maybe catching feelings along the way). And if the sickie gets really happy or emotional because the person taking care of them is someone they admire? Sign me up! I think that’s absolutely adorable.

2. A cold that develops slowly. You get to witness every stages of a cold through the character. The scratchy throat they think is just dehydration. The nagging headache they ignore. The first few sneezes that are probably just from dust or something. As it progresses, the sickie realizes they’re sick, but they can still go about their business without people noticing; they still have about a day where they can hide it, maybe go to the bathroom to blow their noses, down a whole bottle of Dayquil, anything. But there’s always that one perceptive and ultra caring care-taker that puts all the little signs together and forces the sickie to slow down and rest.

Thoughts: I love this trope so much! It’s fine (and has the potential to be great) when a worse illness develops slowly, but colds and flus don’t have very high stakes and I prefer that most of the time. The slow addition of symptoms, the moment of realization and their reaction to it, and especially that perceptive caretaker that notices and jumps into action trying to take care of them (maybe even before the sickie knows themself) are all great.

3. The forehead feel from two people who have just met. I know this one is not for everyone; some people don’t like to be touched, let alone be touched by someone they barely know, but there’s something so endearing to me about two people who are just starting to get to know each other, for example on a first date, and one of them is running a fever but trying to hide it, and the other realizes it, hesitates for a second, then places their hand on the sickie’s forehead without a word. And then of course the delicious “You’re burning up,” or “Thought so,” or “You’re sick, aren’t you?” or “You feel a bit warm, let’s get you home,” or… I could go on forever. There’s just an added warmth for me when the person isn’t super close to the sickie, but cares just as much and is just as concerned as someone who is.

Thoughts: I like this trope a lot, too! Having the caretaker either grow to care for someone so quickly or just be the type to naturally slide into the role regardless of their relationship to the sickie are both wonderful. I usually prefer one of two extremes with this trope: the caretaker is embarrassed or hesitant to check the sickie’s forehead OR the caretaker is so worried or feels so comfortable around new people that they jump wholeheartedly into a caretaking role immediately. 

My current favorite tropes:

1. Confessing love while sick and feverish. A sickie that is completely worn down and emotional finally cracking and allowing themselves to be vulnerable to the person taking care of them. I’m a sucker for when the feelings confessed are romantic, and the caretaker responds to a teary confession with sweet comfort and reassurance that they love them back, or a confused and playful “I thought we've already been dating...??”. BUT I also absolutely adore platonic confessions of love to the caretaker, especially if the caretaker was worried that the sickie didn’t really like them much before but after the sickie recovers they become close friends or have a new mutual respect and care for each other. Bonus points if the sickie and/or caretaker cries during this confession, it adds to that good good vulnerability.

2. A sickie trying to keep the people they care about away from them so they don’t get sick, too. I think I like this trope so much because it shows how much the sickie cares for the caretaker despite them being so weak and vulnerable. They may desperately crave the company, affection, or care because they feel so awful, but their deep care for the caretaker still shines through even while they’re out of it. Trying to temporarily shut them out, lie about how they’re feeling, putting on a brave face as a way to protect the caretaker from contagion or worry. The sickie can put up as much fuss and drag out the façade as long as they want, but this trope is only one of my favorites if the caretaker ends up taking care of the sickie at some point. Maybe they knew the whole time the sickie was lying because they know them so well, the sickie slips up and it all clicks into place for the caretaker, or the caretaker accidently stumbles upon the sickie when their walls are down when they think they’re alone or in the clear. Just!! The moment the sickie realizes that the caretaker is going to stay with them!! Temporary intense fear of contagion? Full-on sobbing, filled with a jumble of love for the caretaker, fear of making them miserable if they get sick too, relief that they don’t need to suffer alone anymore? Confused as they wake up from a fitful nap to be filled with a welcomed warmth seeing the caretaking making food in another room or watching tv with their hand on their leg? *chefs kiss* All of it. It’s the sickie allowing themself to be vulnerable and accept help and love after putting up a fight to protect a person or people they care about. Wonderful. 10/10 every time.

3. Reluctant caretaker and/or sickie. There are lots of different types of reluctant caretakers or sickie characters, but I prefer characters that are reluctant because they’re weary of contagion, unsure of how the other person feels about them or the situation, or are bad at expressing their feelings (like someone that pretends to be grumpy and reluctant but secretly eats it up and eventually starts to show their feelings as they get progressively more tired or out of it). I like that this kind of reluctance has the potential to add a little bit of tension? Drama? Possible small misunderstandings? I like when it leans more light-hearted, but it’s a pretty versatile trope and can absolutely lean more angsty or be added to slow-burn stuff. For me it’s about that allowing themselves to be vUlnEraBle with each other and working through whatever is causing the reluctance. Bumps along the road are great, but if the fic doesn’t end with at least the implication that things are going to be okay for the sickie and caretaker I won’t be into it all.

Okay, so I’m still getting my bearings after being on hiatus for quite a while, so I’m not sure who is currently active or not right now. 😭 I’m going to tag @gay-for-the-snz , @mochi0chi0chi , and @dylan-1117 ​ , feel free to respond if this seems fun to you, but absolutely no pressure!