#i'm starting to realize how many characters i've done for this menace

[alekirser]

at this point my tumblr exists to reblog fanart that @escapedaudios fans do for the characters i voice ; - ; y'all are so TALENTED!

[justatalkingface]

Breadth and depth.

You know, I was going to talk about the villains, but I realized it was going to bleed into this if I didn't get this off my chest, so... await that another time, I guess.

As time has passed more and more people are starting to call Hori a bad writer, and... I'm not sure they're wrong, but I don't think that's right, either. My Hero, for all of its flaws, is huge. If Hori was a bad writer, it never would have gotten this far.

What I've come to realize is that Hori is... for lack of a better word, an incomplete writer.

Let me explain.

First off, yes, I realize the manga isn't over yet. That's not point. When something in the story reaches a certain point in it's arc, a climax, big dramatic moment, whatever, there has to be build up. Let's look at AFO's big Kaminio intro, for example.

Hori didn't just throw AFO at us, he built up to that moment. First, he introduced him, with All Might and the face in the TV directing Tomura. But after that All For One kept showing up, and that's the crucial bit. It wasn't all big things, most of it was some plotting or sinister laughing here, or some teasing shapes in the TV screen there, but it reminded us, the audience that, A, AFO existed, B, that He Was Important, and C, we should really be afraid of him.

Then he showed up in Kamino and that build up? All the time Hori spent subtle reinforcing AFO's brand in our mind? It payed off in spades. All For One was epic. He was menacing. He dominated the scene.

All For One's intro was a great example of build up, A++, Hori hit that out of the park. The problem is that that is one of the few examples of build up done well. Honestly, Hori, for whatever reason, seems to have a lot of problem with that. I don't know why; maybe he can't focus, maybe it's lack of interest, maybe it's that unholy Japanese work schedule you hear so much about, but the fact of the matter is he flubs it more than he pulls it off.

In fact, I'd go so far to say that most of the things people criticise about his writing, ballpark of a good... 70% of everything before the War Arc (because that's where everything went to shit), is because of that.

Here's where I go back to my title though, breadth and depth. In general, breadth is about how broad your understanding of something is, how many topics you know about, while depth is about how deep your understanding is, how much you know about a topic.

For the purposes of this rant, these both apply to world building and character development, AKA how much of it there is, and how deep does it go.

The thing is? Breadth wise, Hori is golden. He, in the span of one chapter, introduced the audience to a wide, fascinating world that instantly grabbed the audience's attention, with vast room to build up off it in all sorts of directions. Depth, though, depth is what is holding him back.

Let's analyze a bad example of build up with that in mind: the mutant discrimination mob Spinner... thing. Yeesh. I'm going to burn two bridges with one torch and go over this, and rant about how shit it was, while also proving my point.

Interestingly enough, Hori had the start of this from as early as the first day of class: Shoji and his mask, who was afraid of scaring people with his face. It was a small mention, not big enough to disrupt the narrative but enough to be a good start of it.

Think of it as a seed. Hori sowed a lot of seeds in MHA early on; almost everything, even in the later arcs, probably has something somewhere that implies it was possible in the first... what, twenty chapters or so?

Hori sowed a lot of seeds, but he never watered them, though. We had Shoji, and we had Gang Orca (and oh, he had some potential, he did, but let's wait a bit before we go back to him), but after that? Mutant racism never came up again. The closest we've seen about that, really, until that mantle was shoved onto Spinner as Hori frantically backtracked, was if anything Shoto insulting that police chief. He called him a dog, I think? I've seen people bringing that and Dabi being a dick to Spinner as proof that the Todorokis, probably via Endeavor, are racists, but...

...Did the police chief care? Because if that was Shoto being racist, you'd think he be upset about that. He wasn't though, because back then, that wasn't actually a thing. Shoto was just being rude because he was upset. Dabi.... let's be honest, Dabi's kind of a dick in general. Him insulting Spinner really wasn't anything speical.

See, that's the thing: if you want to harvest your seeds, if you don't want them to die, you need to water them. More than that, you need to water them regularly. Hori didn't do that for the mutants, just as he didn't for so many other things; there was no depth to them.

So, when Spinner lead an angry army of mutants, we, the audience, weren't swept up in the narrative. We didn't feel for the poor oppressed people, or feel conflicted as the heroes faced them.

We wondered where the fuck that came from, because that wasn't a thing before.

Character wise, look at Shoji. We had that mask thing, but again, his big, overarching trauma wasn't a thing. He retroactively opened to his classmates about his horrible childhood, there were tears, apologies... all in a fucking flashback.

If that, if any of this, was something Hori had planned out, then he would of, or should of, anyways, have been hinting about for years now. We should have seen build up for this, and it wouldn't have been that hard. Shoji is afraid of showing his face; good, show that. Tell us, the audience, that it's there, and why.

Mutants are oppressed? Where? Where do you tell us about this? Where do we see it? Is it in the internships, when they patrol on the streets? Because that would have been a great time to start demonstrating that.

Remember Gang Orca? He's a high ranking hero, and he scares children because he's a scary mutant. He hates that, because he loves children. He's a mutant in a high level of power, when that should be hard for him. Here's something that I came up with a while ago, as a sort of primer introduction about the mutant thing: in the same way Hawks takes Tokoyami as his intern for being bird like, Gang Orca should have interned Shoji, and Koji, if he's part of all this, because they're mutants.

It would have been great for world building and character development; Orca could have explained how mutants have a hard time in the media oriented hero industry, that a lot of them end up as underground heroes due to lack of sponsors, how he struggled to get where he is now, and he that makes a habit of trying to help fellow mutants get off the ground in heroics. Then Shoji and Koji could have opened up about their experiences, which would have built up their characters, and given Hori an easy way to introduce both the characterization and world building to 1-A as a whole.

I came up with this idea after about ten minutes of trying to word how frustrated the Spinner hospital bullshit made me last month. How long has Hori had to prepare for this moment again?

So yeah, this mutant thing is incomplete. Hori's trying to collect the payoff for something that isn't there yet, because he never built up to it, the same way he did with the traitor, with Nighteye's death, with Mirio getting his powers back, with almost every character he's ever made.

Hori is an incomplete writer, who just doesn't finish one step in the process before he moves on to the next, and that's why everything he's trying to build keeps falling down around him.

And it's why My Hero Academy is a field filled with seeds left to die.

[mechanicalinertia]

STMPD Recommends Bubblegum Crisis Fanfiction: Bob Schroeck's Drunkard's Walk II: Robot's Rules Of Order

Okay, fresh off an anti-rec, I'm going to post in health rather than in sickness for awhile, as Nietzsche would put it. I'm going to talk about things that are good, not things that are bad. Perhaps this might preclude writing about interestingly bad fanfic, but I just want to break my little internal rule for like, two posts. On the other hand, a good, clean, wholesome anti-rec, easy to anti-recommend, does spring to mind, so maybe I'll revert to type... I think maybe the best course of action is just to anti-recommend fanfic that's easy to laugh at, that you don't want to scream at.

This is an easy one. Drunkard's Walk 2 has its flaws, some things I don't really like, but all that is overshadowed by the sheer epic scale of DW2, how it was written over five years by Bob Schroeck and a few other guys who added little bits and pieces, even throwing in meta-references to other fics (some of which I've disparaged in these pages, but whatever). Drunkard's Walk is ambitious, to say the least, it's got like sixteen other multiverse hops (other crossed over universes) planned - only one or two have been done since the nineties, but who gives a shit? If Bob spends the rest of his life chipping away at this project I'd be a happy man.

Is Drunkard's Walk 2 the greatest BGC fanfiction of all time? Good question. I think it's up there for sure.

So it's like this: Bob's quasi self-insert-

Wait, stop! Come back! It's cool, I swear!

No, seriously! Bob's guy is a superhero he drafted up for a GURPS (I think?) superheroic campaign, a man by the name of Douglas Sangnoir, one of many with a superheroic 'metatalent', a man under UN Charter to protect the innocent from the supervillainous no matter what. Shunted by another meta across the realms of time and space, separated from his also superpowered wife and his fellow superhuman team, he winds up, on his second reality jump, in Megatokyo, 2036, years after Largo, years of the Sabers grinding out small victories against GENOM.

What sells the fic, mind you, is Sangnoir (aka Looney Toons)'s superpower. He channels magic by means of listening to music. He's got a helmet with a music player built in, he plays a song, and he manifests a superpower relevant to that song. "Another Brick in the Wall"? He builds energy walls. "Pinball Wizard"? He turns himself into a pinball, and the local area into a ping-ponging arena, tilt sign and all. "Konya Wa Hurricane?" Well... That doesn't come till the end.

Anyway, Doug ends up in Megatokyo, gets a small job, does what he can to get by - discovers the Boomer menace, the media silence imposed by GENOM, and resolves to start fighting himself. He doesn't 'join' the Sabers, doesn't even fucking realize who Sylia likely is until the end. Shit, he even gets in a fight with them after he realizes that Boomers are technically a slave race, unfree versions of the free robots he knows back at home.

(This is a gripe I have with interpretations of the series with Boomers being complex slaves - why would GENOM build something smart enough to be human enough to be enslaved? Sure, the Boomers from OVA 1 are pretty smart, but I like the idea of them being Chinese Rooms, simulations of complex conversation with nothing on the inside. But then how are the Sexaroids different? I don't have a good answer for that. Well, that's my baseless headcanon and I'll stick to it whenever I get around to writing my own fic.)

But that's later in the fic, and... yeah. A lot happens. It's hard to give a simple plot summary, and that's for the best. But I'll say this much: Two characters you wouldn't expect to be so important to the plot - Lisa Vanette and Kate Madigan - get as much characterization as the Sabers proper, which is to say quite a bit. Everyone's so rich and well-written, even the original characters who aren't Doug, especially since the POV will happily switch from his first-person to a third person watching the other characters. And the fight scenes are incredible, and the ending is insane, and Quincy is a genuine-ass villain (You know what? That's what annoyed me about Tokyo Babylon: Why create a new super-menacing villain when Quincy works just as well?). Nanotech is all over the place, Doug plays around with some cool songs, the Norns show up in a slightly antagonistic manner, antigravity technology is brought to the masses...

Oh, hell. Words fail me, you know? All I'll say is this: You can't read Bubblegum Crisis Fanfiction - maybe not even write it - without reading Drunkard's Walk 2. Or you can, but you'll be missing something. Something great.

[caffeineforbucky]

As Time Goes By...(Chapter three)

A/N: This one took a while to write. I've just been so busy doing absolutely nothing all while procrastinating, so special thanks to that. No, but I really hope you like this, fellow reader. If you like the series, let me know if you want to be tagged!

(Side note: I've been playing RE8, thirsting over lady D, and dying over and over...it's going great! It's part of the procrastination...)

Also, has anyone seen the Bridgerton musical tiktoks? I swear I've had the 'burn for you' song in my head all last month and if you've been living under a rock...here's the link:

https://youtu.be/EwY9_m5qeow

Word Count: 2,299

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Fem! Reader

Warnings: I don't know....angst? As always, John Walker!?! AKA; Fake Cap. Umm...If I missed any let me know.

(A little PSA: I don't hate John Walker: or the actor. John is a well-written character. This is just strictly for the purpose of where my story is going. I'm more reiterating how Bucky treats him in the show. Thank you!!)

You groan, rolling from your left side to lay flatly on your back, arms spread out beside you. You inhale deeply, becoming aware of the moistened dirt and crushed wildflowers beneath you as they release their aromatics. Birds chirped around you, the busy sounds of traffic fading away while you lie still in the field, oxygen feeling heavy in your lungs.

"Y/N?!"

You barely heard the worrisome calls of Sam over the sound of your heart pounding in your ears. You lift your head, the view of icy mountains in the distance, blurry figures making their way towards you while you somehow managed to sit up. Your head was spinning, a sharp ache on the side of your thigh.

Your eyes flickered down, taking note of the small paring knife lodged in your thigh. You exhaled softly, nodding your head at the sight of it. "Okay," You grumble in agreement. With shaking hands, you wrap your fingers around the handle, bracing yourself by taking intervolved breaths before carefully pulling it from your thigh.

You worked fast, ignoring the crunch of rocks and dirt under the acknowledgeable footsteps of Sam and Bucky. Taking babochka, you cut off the end of your pant leg, wrapping the spandex around your wounded thigh before securing it with one of the holsters, tying the ends into a knot. You remain quiet, carefully pushing yourself up to your feet, transferring all of the weight to the opposite leg, eyes drifting up to meet the guys. "Are you guys okay?" You murmur, dusting off the clumps of dirt and dead leaves from your jacket.

"Are you?!" Sam exclaimed incredulously. "You're bleeding!" He points out, gesturing to the bright red staining the skin of your calf as it dripped down to your boot. The wrap might've held the wound shut, but that didn't mean blood wouldn't have soaked through.

"Oh, this?" You ask, glancing down at your leg, the wound throbbing in agony, but you did your best to avoid it. "I've had worse." That was true, from all those years fighting as an avenger. Getting shot, kicked, stabbed, beaten until you were purple, and undergoing mind control. This tiny stab was the least of your worries. It still hurt like hell, and you couldn't hide the discomfort in your features.

"Do you want a piggyback?" Bucky asks suddenly, slightly annoyed at your nonchalance and still concerned nonetheless. You weren't expecting it, the odd but kind offer, especially from the menace himself. Though you weren't one to pass up being carried. With a hesitant nod, you agree, watching Bucky crouch just a bit, allowing you to climb on his back.

The position was awkward for both of you. With his hands tightening on the back of your knees and your arms wrapped around his neck, neither of you could think straight. Yet, you were still thankful. The road to the airport was a long one, and you weren't sure if you could make it in your state. Bucky held you as if you weighed nothing, his super-soldier strength showing off while he carried you on his back, footsteps matching up with Sam. He didn't mind doing it, especially since he was the one who offered, and the proximity was just a bonus.

"Sorry about Redwing," Bucky muses, breaking the silence while the three of you sauntered down the empty road. There was nothing for miles, only empty plains of grass and dirt. Young trees scattered, lacking the greenery around them, evident of the cold weather in Munich.

"No, you're not," Sam remarks, narrowing his eyes to a pinprick at the winter soldier. "You've always hated Redwing."

"That doesn't mean I'm not sorry about it," Bucky grumbles, tightening his hold on you as he felt you slipping. You gasp at the sudden strength, clinging better to his shoulders as well. "How're you doin' up there?" He asks, jaw clenching from your touch.

"All things considering," You sigh, pushing aside the butterflies in your tummy at how close you were to Bucky. "I've been better. We've gotta find out where that super serum is coming from."

"Yeah," Sam chimed in, glancing at you. "-And how the hell after 80 years are there eight super-soldiers runnin' loose?"

Loud honks of a horn ring in your ears, tires treading on the gravel as an army jeep slows down beside the three of you. "So, that didn't go as planned, huh?" John chuckles, pushing the door open only for you to keep walking, paying no mind to the man in stars and stripes.

"Okay, keep going," John utters, signaling the driver to keep up as he pulls the door shut. "Look, at least we know what we're up against, huh? And I'm pretty sure it's one of the big three...so,"

"Aliens, androids, or wizards," Lemar comments as John nods his head in agreement.

"There's no such thing as wizards!" Bucky grunts, keeping his eyes forward, hands on the back of your knees.

"Fine, aliens or androids," John settles, sharing a look with his best friend beside him. "Look, it's 20 miles to the airport, and you guys need a ride. Gary, stop," He instructs, the wheels slowing down. John opens the door once again. "Get in," He sighs, motioning all of you inside the jeep as Bucky and Sam's footsteps came to a halt.

Bucky gently sets you down, taking note of the small whimpers falling from your lips. No matter how tough you appeared to be, you still carried so much vulnerability. "You okay?" He asks, eyes filled with so much concern it almost scared you. He hadn't looked at you like that in a while. "Do you want any help?"

With a soft nod, you oblige to Bucky's ask, needing more help than you anticipated. You didn't want to add any strain or force to your injury. You didn't even realize it happened, and that part of it was Sam's fault for swooping to grab you while you had a knife in hand, but you weren't going to start pointing fingers. You wrap your arm around Bucky's shoulder, using him as support while he boosts you up on the jeep after Sam climbs up first, helping you settle beside him.

"Woah!" John exclaims, almost rising to his feet at the sight of your thigh, your hands stained with blood. "Are you okay?"

With a curt nod, you adjust yourself to relieve some of the pressure while Bucky takes a seat on your left, leaving you to be right smack dab in the middle as he pulls the door shut. You blow out a breath, knowing damn well if it hadn't been for the mishap, you would've walked the damn 20 miles.

"Lemar, hand me the first aid kit," John instructs, pointing to the steel case beside his friend. You wanted to protest, but even you knew that the strap wasn't going to work. Mouthing a thank you, you take the case from Lemar's hand and clip it open.

"Okay, so we got eight super-soldiers on a bulk supply run," John continues, the jeep beginning to roll down the road. You hand the case to Sam, asking him to hold it while you searched for gauze, medical tape, and butterfly bandages, you were probably going to need stitches, but you'd worry about that later. "Why?" John asks, watching closely as you patched up your wound.

"They say their mission is to get things back to the way it was during the blip," Sam answers, handing you another strip of tape. "Maybe they're just tryna help."

"They had a funny way of showing it," Bucky adds, his eyes trained on you, a hiss slipping through your lips as you roll down the remaining spandex. You sigh in relief, the ache becoming dull as you shut the case, giving it back to Lemar.

"Better?" John asks, earning a single nod as a response. "I don't think we've properly met. John Walker," he smiles, offering a shake of his hand, but you didn't move, only staring at the outstretched palm in front of you. "Does she talk?" John mumbles suddenly, looking to Sam or Bucky for a reply.

Your eyes cast down, gaze hardening at the sight of the shield in his grasp. Flashes of Steve running through your mind, the many times he'd catch you trying to throw it like he would. Steve Rogers meant a lot to you, having joined him in not signing the Sokovian accords, being an outlaw, and helping to clear Bucky's name with Sam. So, seeing a man who wasn't Steve hold the shield awoke something in you. Something unkind and hateful.

"When she wants to," You claim, John squirms in his seat, sensing the tension as your eyes flicker to his. "And frankly has no desire to speak to you."

"You don't even know me," John defends, glancing at Bucky, a sly smirk on his lips, and Sam, who rendered quiet, his eyes looking elsewhere. John sets his attention back on you, lips razor thin.

You scoff, shaking your head softly as you fold your arms over your chest. "Jonathon F. Walker," You begin, leaning back in your seat, your eyes never leaving his. "Former Captain of the U.S Army's 75th Rangers Regiment. Graduated at the top of your class from the United States Military and the first person in American history to receive three medals of honor, ran RS-one missions in counterterrorism and hostage rescue."

John's tongue darts between his lips, a frown spreading throughout his forehead at the information you were giving him. Either you did research on him or, you just read his file, which you had done both. You were not one to go into a mission without potentially knowing who you were up against. It was better to be safe than sorry.

"So you saw the news?" John chuckles, the frown falling from his features while he shrugs. "Big deal, so did the entire world."

"Custer's Grove High school alumni."

John's smile falters.

"There you met, Lemar Hoskins and your current wife," You tilt your head in curiosity. "Olivia, right? Or am I getting it wrong?"

Clearing his throat softly, John broke eye contact with you. So you did know him, and you probably knew more than you led on. "Do they always just stare like that?" He gestures between you and Bucky, who had displayed the same distaste for him.

Sam glances beside him, observing the matched body language you shared with Bucky, its no wonder Bucky had taken a liking to you, even if he'd never admit it. "You get used to it," Sam smirks, turning his head back to Walker.

"Okay..." John drags, eyes flickering to the more sensible one of the trio, and that was Sam. "Look, that serum doesn't have the greatest track record, no offense," He waves his hand, dismissing the insult directed towards the only super-soldier in the car.

"We need to figure out where they're going. How'd you track 'em here?" Sam asks, "The flag smashers."

"Uh," Lemar murmurs, scratching the back of his head. "We didn't track them. We tracked you through Redwing."

"You hacked my tech!?" Sam gripes, straightening out his back as he sat up.

"Sorry," John laughs, "It's not exactly hacking. It's government property...kind of the government. Alright, you know things have gotten kind of..."

"Chaotic," Lemar adds.

"Yeah," John nods in agreement. "The GRC, they're doing their best to get things up and running smoothly post blip. If you guys teamed up with us-"

"No." Bucky interrupts. He couldn't let Walker finish that sentence.

"I've got mad respect for all of you," Lemar praises, looking between the trio before him. "But you were getting your asses kicked 'til we showed up."

"And who are you?" Bucky bemuses, cocking a brow at the man next to John.

"Lemar Hoskins," You mention, "I could've sworn we've been through this." You shake your head at the old man, for being 106, he couldn't hear a thing.

"I see a guy hanging out of a helicopter in tactical gear," Sam shrugs, "I'm gonna need a lot more than Lemar Hoskins."

"I'm Battlestar, John's partner."

"Battlestar?" Bucky repeats, narrowing his eyes at Lemar as he nods, confirming his alias. "Stop the car!" Bucky shouts suddenly, brakes screeching as the wheels come to a stop in the middle of the road. Bucky pulls open the handle, ducking, as to not rail his head on the bar-frame above him before hopping off the jeep.

"Look, I get it, okay?" John sighs, calling after Bucky. "I get the attitude, I do. You didn't think the shield was gonna end up here. I get it, Bucky. And I'm not trying to be Steve!"

"Good," You interject, rendering John to settle his eyes on you. "Because you will never be. And just because you're the one wielding it..." You grab the bar above your head, using it to pull yourself up. "It doesn't make you Captain America." And with that, you carefully jump off the jeep, following after the heated super-soldier.

Sighing in frustration, he rips his eyes away from your retreating figures. "I'm not trying to replace him either. I'm just trying to be the best Captain America I can be." He explains to Sam, hoping the falcon would cut him some slack. "-And it'd be a whole lot easier if I had Cap's wingman on my side."

Sam's eyes widen in surprise, his tongue darting between his lips. "It's always that last line," He scoffs, shaking his head as he jumped off the car, following you and Bucky.

John's lips thin out, face scrunching in a scowl. "Let's go," He instructs. The sound of the jeep leaving making its way to your ears.

[lynn-does-stuff]

Hanahaki

An Afterdeath Oneshot

—————

Hanahaki

Hana- flowers

Hakimasu- To throw up

A Japanese myth disease that claimed if a person were to hide their feelings towards someone for too long, flowers would begin to grow in their lungs. They would then throw up/ cough up the flowers, starting with only a few petals until it got to large amounts of full flowers. By the time it reaches full flowers there would be little time left until they would die. There was no cure, other than the victim feeling loved in a romantic way by their crush. If the victim expressed their feelings and the other declined, the process would instantly speed up and would die in minutes. The victim can also choose to have the flowers removed through surgery, though many choose to suffer through it, due to the fact that the removal of the flowers often caused them to lose all feelings towards their crush. Sometimes it would completely erase any memories about their crush all together, or even erase any ability to love again.

————

Reaper floated carelessly into the Save Screen, home of the infamous "immortal" skeleton. The resident of this empty space was supposed to die a long time ago, but had somehow escaped DEATH itself. And when Reaper went to the Save Screen personally to dispose of him, he was shocked to find the character didn't dust after making physical contact with him. Reaper had never met a being that didn't die by his touch, so he was genuinely surprised, and almost hopeful. Maybe he could finally have someone close to him that he could do normal things with, instead of simply standing to the side and looking awkward.

Ah yes.. Geno..

Geno was the resident of this empty space. When Reaper found he couldn't kill Geno, he immediately decided to try and warm up the the glitched skeleton. He then proceeded to get a smack on the face and a stern lecture about how you shouldn't try to befriend the person you were just trying to kill.

That's what Reaper liked so much about Geno. His Tsundere attitude, his pouting, and of course, his overly bossy tone. And they did become friends. Good friends even. But.. Reaper wanted more. He really wanted more. But there was no way he could flat out tell Geno. That would just make their friendship incredibly awkward, and possibly even ruin it. Better to just stick with the simple flirting and frequent compliments.

This had been going on for about nine months..

Reaper's eyes widened as he saw Geno sitting in his usual spot, the area of grass and flowers, and then grinned at the evil idea forming in his head. He floated up silently behind Geno and took a breath, before exclaiming in a loud voice. "Heeeeeya Geno!"

Geno whipped his head around, eye flare burning, as he smacked Reaper across the face. He then realized who it was and diminished his eye flare and menacing look and instead equipped a more annoyed face.

"Reaper you idiot! Don't sneak up on me like that! My soul is weak enough as it is, I don't need jump scares like that to give me a soul attack!"

Reaper simply rubbed his face and chuckled, though he felt a small pain in his chest. It was short and quick, so he waved it aside as side effects of floating for too long. He slowly touched the ground in front of Geno and grinned.

"Good to see you too beautiful."

Geno frowned. "Again with the flirting? Come on, it gets old after a while. And it's not funny either!" Geno huffed and turned away, causing Reaper to laugh.

Reaper walked next to Geno and sat down. His friend reluctantly followed and sat next to him as well. Reaper looked over at Geno, taking in all of his features. His rounder cheeks, the glitches that covered his eye, the extremely faint red tint that was always on his face, there was so much to look at, Reaper soon found himself lost in his eyes. Geno soon glanced over and made eye contact with Reaper, causing him to frown again. "It's rude to stare you know!"

Reaper blushed slightly and turned his head away. There was that pang again. This one seemed slightly worse however. And it only softened, it didn't completely go away.

Reaper frowned at the sudden pain, losing his usual carefree grin. Geno looked over and noticed this. "What, can't take criticism? Jeez, your ego is immense."

Reaper felt the pain suddenly grow as he winced, but it soon toned down again. He replaced his frown with his usual grin and winked as he looked over at Geno. "Oh, it's nothing. Just thinking."

"What were you thinking about?"

Reaper was going to reply with a quick nothing, but he soon realized he could be flirty and possibly get his point across at the same time.

"You~"

Geno just got an angry look as he blushed slightly, before replying in a quite upset manner.

"Well stop thinking about me! It's weird! And dumb! Especially when there's so many other things to think about!"

Weird.

Dumb.

Geno thinks I'm weird and dumb..

Reaper suddenly burst out into a coughing fit. Geno scrambled away from him, yelling something along the lines of "Don't infect me with your stupid virus you weirdo". Reaper continued to cough until a singular golden petal fell from his mouth. His eyes widened as he quickly scrambled to grab it and shove it into his robe pocket. Geno hadn't seemed to notice.

"Are you very much done? I'd like to make sure I don't get the idiot virus."

Reaper's body suddenly went rigid as he slowly stood up. He coughed slightly before turning to Geno.

"Uh, sorry Geno, but I gotta go earlier today. My brother wanted help, and I've been putting off work for too long."

Geno looked surprised before going to his usual strict face. "Well, I don't remember inviting you, so you don't have to feel bad about leaving."

Reaper's chest felt like it was on fire.

He turned away and opened a portal to his AU, walking through, something he rarely does.

When he entered his room, he immediately sunk to the floor. He trembled slightly as his eye sockets widened.

"Oh god.. what am I gonna do?.."

————

It was about four days until Reaper visited Geno again, which was very out of character for his usual daily, sometimes even quick hourly visits. He casually floated into the Save Screen once more, though this time feeling slightly anxious. When he saw Geno sitting in the patch of flowers, he felt his soul flutter as he rushed to get closer. He was about to make the same entrance as the other day, but remembered how that went and decided to silently plop down next to Geno.

Geno was so lost in though that he didn't even realize Reaper arrived. But when he suddenly looked up and saw him sitting next to him, he yelped and jumped back a little. He then took on a confused yet strict face.

"Who are you and what have you done with Reaper?"

Reaper was a little confused by his statement. "I'm me?"

"No idiot! Reaper would've come here days ago, and proceeded to either scare me or flirt with me every time he arrived!"

Reaper was a bit taken aback by what he said, but simply grinned. "Well, what I did today scared ya, didn't it?"

Geno huffed and simply turned away, crossing his arms and muttering something along the lines of "stupid" and "no it didn't".

Reaper laughed but soon started choking and coughing once more. Again, Geno stepped away, but there was a slight flint of worry in his eyes.

"What's wrong asshole, something caught in you throat?"

Reaper continued his coughing fit for a while until three golden petals fell from his mouth. He quickly scooped them up and shoved them in his pocket, but too late. Geno noticed.

"Ew, flower petals? What were you doing, shoving those things up your throat?"

Reaper turned his head to Geno with a slightly panicked look in his eyes. "It's nothing."

"That wasn't the question dumbass."

"O-oh, right. Uhm.. yeah! I saw those flowers and thought it would be a good idea to eat some!"

Geno simply stared at Reaper with an unamused look before walking away. Reaper panicked, this is not going how he thought it would.

"Geno wait!" He called out, his voice sounding slightly weaker than before. He quickly stood up and followed behind Geno.

"I'm ignoring unintelligible beings who decide that shoving flowers up their throats is a perfect way to waste time at the moment, thank you."

Reaper continued to follow behind Geno, the pain in his chest increasing every second he was ignored.

Unloved..

Reaper suddenly stopped at his realization.

Geno doesn't love him. He never will. It's all simply a fantasy of hope and lies. Geno's made it quite obvious after all. How many times had he been called "dumbass", "idiot", "weirdo", "dickhead", and "asshole" in just the past month? It was obvious.

Reaper suddenly broke down into another fit of coughing, suddenly falling to his knees. He felt weak, incredibly weak. And the coughing wouldn't stop. Geno whipped his head around and rushed back to Reaper, now very worried for his friend.

"H-hey, are you good? Snap outta it Reaper!"

Geno started patting Reaper's back in an attempt to stop the coughing, but Reaper misunderstood it as more of Geno's slaps and coughed even more. It wasn't until a fistful of petals fell from his mouth that he stopped. Geno looked at Reaper with a cautious, yet judging look.

"Uh, that seems to be more than a few flowers shoved up your esophagus."

Reaper replied quickly in a dark tone, though his voice seemed somewhat strained. "N-no shit Sherlock."

Geno's eyes widened slightly. Reaper never talked like that to him. Now he knew something was up.

"What the hell is wrong with you Reaper?! You never act like this! What did you do?!"

Reaper just stared to the floor with empty eyes. He quickly spat out a few remaining flowers in his mouth and stood up. He kicked the petals aside and turned away. Geno watched as Reaper simply stood there for a few moments. Suddenly, Reaper seemed to look around frantically and stare at his hands. He kept bouncing up and down on his feet before eventually going on to full on jumping.

"Now what are you doing?" Geno gave him a questioning look. Reaper immediately stopped and whipped his head around, a panicked look plastered on his face.

"I can't float! I can't get off the ground!"

Geno was a little stricken before finding a way to get back at Reaper for all the teasing.

"Oh, well it looks like you'll have to walk like the rest of us mortals and deal with the inability to have god-like powers."

Reaper winced before bringing up his hand. Suddenly he seemed even more panicked. He waved his hand around, opened his eyes extremely wide like one does when their eye flares, and held out his hands like he was trying to grab something.

"I can't do anything!!"

Now Geno was worried. "What?.."

Reaper started yelling. "I can't summon my attacks, I can't summon my scythe, I can't activate my eye flare, I can't even teleport out of here!!"

Reaper suddenly broke down to the floor and stared at his hands. He spoke in a small, weak voice that seemed extremely strained. "I'm weak.. I'm powerless... I-I can't do anything..."

Geno suddenly rushed forward and wrapped his arms around Reaper. "H-hey, it's okay, it'll be fine!-"

"How could you still care..."

Geno suddenly sat up and stared at Reaper. "What do you mean?"

Reaper replied with a shaky, hesitant voice. "How could you still care for me... you've made it clear..."

"Stop the stupid mind games Reaper! Just tell me what's fucking wrong!"

"YOU HATE ME!"

Reaper began hacking up full flowers, chocking between breaths. The flowers continued to fall around them and in their laps as Reaper shook uncontrollably. "G-Gen-no-"

Geno backed away in horror at the scene. His eyes shrunk to small pinpricks as he took a shaky breath.

"W-what's happening to you R-Reaper?.."

Reaper chocked our words between coughs. "H-hana-ha-haki-!" Reaper coughed up another fistful of flowers.

Hanahaki... The name was familiar to Geno, but he couldn't seem to place it. "What the hell is Hanahaki?!"

Reaper's eyes went wide as the burning sensation returned in his chest, worse than ever. He knew.

He was out of time.

Reaper didn't want to do this, not like this, but he knew he had no choice. If he didn't, he would die.

"G-Geno!" Reaper choked out between flowers and coughs. "I-I l-love you!"

Geno's eyes went wide as blush dusted across his face. He loves me... Suddenly knowledge came flooding back to him. Hanahaki: The disease where people throw up flowers. The only cure is from the crush to show affection and show their love back.

His blush increased. Did he love Reaper?.. He enjoyed Reaper's company, and he hated it when he was feeling down and always wanted to make him feel better..

Geno was suddenly cut out of his thoughts when a shaky hand reached up towards his face. The words were small, shaky, and almost inaudible. "Please.."

Geno felt the pang in his chest. He gave in. He pushed away all doubts in his mind and pulled Reaper's face to his, closing the gap. He kissed him with all his might, allowing some magic to be forced in the kiss, truly expressing how much he cared. He wanted, no, he needed Reaper to know. He didn't care about the flowers, he just wanted to share this passionate moment.

When they finally pulled away after what seemed like eons, they stared into each other's eyes passionately, glimmering with love and happiness. Reaper stared in awe.

"Y-you.. you really.."

Geno smiled warmly at Reaper. "Yeah, I suppose you're not that much of a dork." Reaper shakily smiled with tears in his eyes before suddenly turning away and began coughing again. Geno panicked and gingerly wrapped his arms around Reaper.

"D-did it not work! I-I'm so sorry Reaper!!"

Reaper continued coughing, but they didn't seem so violent this time. He continued coughing until dead flowers fell from his mouth, and eventually the source of the disease itself- the dead plant. When the dead plant finally fell from his mouth, Reaper put a hand on his throat and looked up weakly with a smile.

"I'm cured.."

—————

Word Count: 2466

Eeeeeeeee I forgot about this thing so take my awful writing okay bye-