#well hero still has villain on top of them so its a win-win scenario

[nuttynutcycle]

Prompt 163

“What’s a cutie like you doing in a place like- OOF!” Villain tackled Hero to the ground midsentence, clamping a hand over their mouth.

“Shut up.” they hissed, eyes wide and uncharacteristically concerned. Hero stilled beneath them. “Supervillain just put a massive bounty on your head. By all means, keep shouting if you want to lose it.”

[ignitification]

What the Future Holds

“It is the temptation of war to punish; it is the task of policy to construct.” (Henry Kissinger). 

There has been a lot of debate around what is going to happen after (the heroes win? AfO is defeated? The Villains are saved? - are all valid hypothesis), right at the end of BNHA. Long ago, though, someone asked - what would be the reaction of the civilians at large when this all goes down? We know for a fact that while, more or less, our protagonists are in the loop of what exactly went down with the villains (or at least that they have not had a lot of positive experiences and possibilities to grow up as good as them), the civilians know close to nothing (apart from Touya’s broadcast, which in hindsight should be at least enough to make space way for the possibility of civilians understanding the woes of the villains and trying to accept the change which this ending will brings, and yet) when it comes to this matter. Will they be able to accept ‘a hero’ saving ‘a villain’? Will the change in society, the abolishment of a Quirk Society in general and the aftermath of the war (likely the cancellation of the hero rankings, and just the demotion of the title hero as profession) be accepted eventually?

While these are question to which I would like to answer ‘It depends’, I’d say that it might be the case, but the change will be slow, gradual and likely painful. Let’s take the example of Heteromorph Quirks, which, so many years after the discovery and establishment of quirks, are still looked down upon. This highlights the struggle with which this society adapts, and that it adapts to only certain parts of the society (which are usually the pretty parts, while the ugly ones are or ignored or just thoroughly refused to look at). It is the same principle we see in not only the narrative of Lady Nagant (and the rose-colored glasses with which civilians see society and pro-heroes), and the villains themselves (as their Quirks made them unfit for the general public to be displayed or used) but also in the same narrative which Izuku carries - he struggles to accept himself as someone who is Quirkless, and takes his chances to inherit All Might’s power, a little because of his dreams and more because that way he can also be part of that same society who treated him like shoe’s dirt before he gained ‘power’ and a standing as a UA student with a Quirk fit to be a hero.

We can see and take a little bit from what is probably going to be the reaction to the ending, both by seeing the reaction we have to Dabi’s broadcast, the press conference of the Top 3 and Izuku going rogue and looking villainy, as well as the public’s reaction to him coming back to UA.

Being likely familiar with these scenario, it definitely does not hit as a positive-filled situation, but rather the outage of the small mindedness and the expectancy of a perfect world division in villains and heroes by the civilians. Yes, it is the famous panel of the dichotomy of heroes and villains and look who already did foresee this so long ago: a villain, which is hilarious in itself but also pretty logical if you think about it.

The thing is, that as told millions times before the core problem of this society is that it does not understand nuance (and so doesn’t this fandom, for that matter): everything should be white or black, good or bad, hero or villain. But in reality, this dichotomy falls short of understanding what is hidden behind the curtain: the ugly truth of the fact that sometimes there is no good or bad, and that maybe sometimes the good is not as good and bad is not as bad. And as said million times before again, this stems from the fact that a. society has been kept in the dark from the deeds that the HPSC has done all these years, therefore conditioning and manipulating society into believing that a distinction exists; and b. it is rather easier to separate the good and the bad guys by a simple principles like a working label and to stick to it, even in front of rather compelling evidence. In the end, it is clear that the public has trust issues at their finest, but it then shows what a shaky base these society has been built on: a rather fine balance, which has been topped over once the castle of cards has been knocked down. 

It is in the hands of the new generation then, to attempt and change how thing have been so far. Retributive justice, just like in the quote above, is always tempting - and it is no brainer that it will be likely very hard for the civilian to accept whatever is thrown at them in the end, which does not involve the imprisonment and therefore the punishment of the villains. But at the same time, it is also true, that slowly but steadily things are staring to look up: we have Shouto who wants to save his brother, and Izuku who instead is trying to understand the villains and why they become such, stemming from his will to understand and help Shigaraki. After all, their main power is to change things up: a change which, hilariously, can be seen concretely by Bakugou’s words in chapter 323. Bakugou, who is a byproduct of that same society, is admitting his faults and the fact that it happens at this moment is likely a foreshadow for a major scale change: after all, the entire society owes an apology to the villains, big time. It is not a case then, that the narrative is putting everything to its places and showing us the before, and the tough process of change and the consequences of it. In this scenario, Izuku, Shouto, Bakugou, Ochako and generally the UA kids play the role of policymakers: they are looking in the future, trying to get an overview of the situation which they know as true and the one the villains consider as true and then trying to do ‘the right thing’: unfortunately, there is never a right thing when it comes to these matters, and no shoe-fits-all solution. It will therefore be interesting how exactly things will play out and whether society (in a not so distant future) might accept the fact that the villains can be victims, and in search for the satisfaction of that same retributive justice they are trying to enforce on them. In my opinion, the effort made by the young generation in this matter will be crucial: some people will refuse to accept such a thing (blaming the villains for everything that went wrong since day 1), other will struggle with accepting it and likely will remain neutral (which, in hindsight, is even worse as it is somehow similar to the civilians that thoroughly ignored Tenko when we was clocharding of the streets) and the who begrudgingly might accept the fact that exactly like Dabi said, pro-heroes are not always heroes in private too and they have as much harm potential as villains, it just does not get publicly displayed. And maybe, slowly, society will come to the consensus that while not always the case, offering a hand to those who struggle, might save a life - and why not, maybe at one point they will stop classifying people as ‘heroes and villains’, and instead accept themselves as humans altogether. But such is the human struggle: lost in the will to put a label on things, and forgetting that unlike labels, humans have the infinite capacity to grow, expand and change.

[quinncupine]

Taken Chapter One: Never a Day Off

Chapter word count: 2,523

Link: A03

Relationship: Izuku Midoriya/ Reader

Summary:  You and Izuku have been married for a few years and though you've both been through hardships, nothing tops today. When Izuku comes back from work on his day off, he expects to find you home, ready to chew him out but what he finds instead terrifies him more than any villain ever could.

Next Chapter: Two

MASTERLIST

…

Izuku huffed as he stared at his phone. It was the third time he'd tried to call you today and you stubbornly refused to answer. It was like you were intentionally trying to worry him, but he settled for texting you his eighth apology. You two had an argument before he left for work today and your pride apparently meant that you were giving him the cold shoulder for the rest of the day.

Well, technically he wasn't supposed to be working today but a villain had appeared downtown and the three heroes fighting were on the losing side. He was called in at the last minute, he couldn't just ignore something like that. The fight took longer than expected and the villain had destroyed a few buildings, which meant he had to fill out all the tedious paperwork plus some fun bonus paperwork to account for the damaged property.

But you both had the day off and you were excited to finally get to spend some time with him. In the three years since you'd been married, it seemed like he was called into work more and more. People were depending on him and you understood that. He was the number one hero after all. That was just a part of him you had to accept when you married him. Your own work as a nurse at the hospital kept you on your toes plenty but you were able to secure the day, so why couldn't he? (Yes, that was a little selfish on your part but your alone time with him was dwindling and you were allowed to be upset, right?)

He glanced at the time, it was only a few minutes after two and his mound of paperwork didn't seem to be shrinking at all. He picked up his chopsticks and shoved some food into his mouth, willing the phone to ring but the damn thing seemed determined to ignore him too.

He tried one more time but was immediately met with that frustratingly familiar busy tone. Your cheery voice told him to leave a message. Did you seriously just turn your phone off on him? He stared at the screen in disbelief before setting it down.

Across from him sat Shoto Todoroki, the number three hero and close friend of you both. The two worked at the same agency so they would often have lunch together. Shoto sat silently slurping his soba, staring at you. He knew why Izuku was calling and he knew you would probably be upset with him but he stayed silent, waiting for Izuku to talk first.

Izuku rubbed his face. "I think I really upset her this time."

Shoto set the bowl down, ready to listen.

"It's not like I wanted to leave her this morning but I couldn't just ignore this." He eyed the paperwork sitting in a sloppy pile at the end of his desk. "She was really looking forward to today too."

Shoto nodded. "Was today some sort of special occasion?"

Izuku's eyes widened as he mentally recited all the important dates in his head but there was nothing today, nothing for the rest of the month even. No, it was just a day you both had off to spend some much-needed quality time together. You were pretty upset when he got the call. You didn't mind chewing him off when he needed it but your temper would sometimes get the best of you so you both left angry with each other. Except now Izuku was regretting leaving you so upset.

"No." He pushed the rest of his food aside and set the stack of paperwork in front of him. "But I have to get this finished, I told her I would try to get home as soon as I could. I'm sorry we have to cut lunch short."

Shoto pushed his bowl aside. "I'll help you."

Izuku looked up at him. "No, no, it's fine, I don't want to trouble you."

Shoto shook his head, taking a large portion off his pile. "Besides, you'll take too long. You can be very meticulous when it comes to paperwork."

Izuku let out a breathy laugh. "Thanks, Shoto, I really appreciate it."

The two of them worked in silence, the sound of pens scratching paper filled the air and soon enough, an hour flew by. Izuku looked up as he finished the last of his paperwork, Shoto had finished a few minutes before him and was organizing the pile.

"Done!" He smiled and stood up, almost knocking the pile Shoto was straightening over. "Oh, sorry!" He quickly helped correct the leaning tower of paperwork.

"Don't worry about this, I'll file it." Shoto waved him off. "You should get home."

Izuku checked his watch, it was almost four. He cursed and grabbed his bag. He thanked Shoto and escaped his office. On the drive home, he tried calling you again but your phone was still turned off. You must have been pretty pissed to ignore him this long. Usually, you would cave and at least text him but this silent treatment was new to him.

When he pulled into the drive, he saw your car in the garage but the blinds were shut. He took a minute to compose himself before he stepped out of the car. The house was nice because it offered a lot of privacy from fans, not to mention the state of the art security system Izuku had insisted on installing a few years prior. No alarms had been set off, which eased his mind.

As he walked to the door, he ran through a list of things to say to you that he'd thought up on the drive home. He was clutching the little stuffed Kappa plushie that he picked up before coming back. A few years, before you got married, he took you to a carnival where you kicked his ass in every game, except one. It was rigged, the carnie knew it, you knew it, and Izuku knew it but that didn't deter you from trying to win. After shredding through your tickets, Izuku stepped up to the plate, adding just a bit of strength to break through the rigged piece and won you a prize. It wasn't the biggest one, no, it was only one of the small prizes at the bottom but you loved it nonetheless. A little raggedy stuffed Kappa. You still had it, tucked away safely in the closet. Ever since then, he would always get you something whenever he saw anything Kappa related as a running joke between the two of you. Hopefully this time, this would dull your anger, if only slightly.

He fiddled with it as he unlocked the door, well, tried too anyway. It was already unlocked which registered as strange. You never left the door unlocked, that was one of the house rules. No unlocked doors or windows. He stepped into the foyer and peeked around, it was silent and empty.

He frowned and placed his keys on the hook, next to yours. You never left the house without them, which meant you were home, probably sulking somewhere.

"Y/N?" Izuku called out, glancing into the living room

No answer.

Something about the house felt...off. He couldn't quite place it but his senses were on high alert. Have you ever walked into your room after your mom sniffed through your things, nothing was moved but you could tell someone had been there, that's how Izuku felt in that moment? Izuku didnt even bother taking his shoes off, he could always apologize later but a disturbing icy feeling was settling in the pit of his stomach.

He went through the living room and into the kitchen but that was empty too. He dropped the little Kappa plushie on the counter, scanning the room. You had cleaned the house today, he noticed the area rug that usually sat under the coffee table was now moved into the space between the kitchen and living room.

"Y/N?" He called out tentatively. "Where are you?"

Again, no answer.

He searched every room for you. Maybe you just had your earbuds in and didn't hear him. But you weren't anywhere. He checked the yard, the garage but you were nowhere to be found. There was a little panicked voice in the back of his mind telling him the worst-case scenarios but he refused to listen, there was no way that would happen, not in your own home. He had the best security money could buy and nothing had tripped. It had been quiet all day but quiet was never really your style was it?

He pulled his phone out and called you again but was immediately sent to voicemail. Panic was trying to claw it's way out of his stomach as he yelled for you again. He ran upstairs, into his home office and open a false cabinet door that revealed a computer. It was wired into the CCTV installed around the house. He opened today's footage and scrolled through.

You didn't like the idea of cameras in the house but after Izuku's insistence, you agreed to have one in the foyer, kitchen, and living room but nowhere else, especially not in the bedroom. He told you that it was a closed circuit, no one could spy on them from outside the house but you were stubborn. Of course, outside, the property was covered head to toe in surveillance, there was trouble in the past with a few excited fans.

He also wanted it for your protection, he didn't want to tell you about the letters he received about you, mainly death threats. Being the number one hero has its drawbacks. Some overzealous fans thought that Deku marrying a quirkless nobody wasn't right, that he could do so much better than you. The thought that someone would want to hurt you because of who he is disgusted him. He tried to intercept every letter that was sent to you but you managed to open one that slipped past his vigil. The letter took you by surprise but knew most of them were just that, letters. Afterward though, you didn't complain about the added security.

He watched you two argue at high speed as he packed his work bag. You were waving your hands around, red-faced, still wearing your pajamas. He kept apologizing but you weren't hearing it, you were too furious and eventually kicked him out the door, slamming it for good measure.

Izuku stopped the footage and let it play at normal speed, watching you sulk by the front door, fists folded into angry little balls, looking any minute like you might start popping out explosions like Bakugo. Instead, your shoulders sagged but then you turned around, remembering the camera was there and you flipped it off before storming off to your room.

He fast-forwarded again until you came out, showered and dressed for the day. You made yourself breakfast and sat at the counter by yourself. He frowned. You looked so sad all alone. He skipped past breakfast, watching you go about your day. You pulled your purse out of the entryway closet, ready to head off somewhere. You pulled your phone out of your pocket and looked at the caller. Izuku knew it was him. You were about to answer but the air started to waver. He thought something funny was going on with the camera but you staggered, leaning against the wall.

Gas.

His hands tightened around the keyboard as he watched you struggle to stay upright. The door kicked open, startling you. You backed up, wavering on your feet as three people casually strolled inside wearing gas masks. You clutched your phone in your hand, your fingers sluggishly trying to work.

You gave up and stumbled away from them, towards the hall that leads to your room. Izuku watched as the trio seemed to talk to each other, following you slowly, like they were stalking their prey, playing with you.

You disappeared into the room and two of the people followed while one stayed in the kitchen, glancing around every so often. He wished the cameras had sound but he would have to settle for watching deftly.

After a few moments, you were dragged out kicking and screaming. Even through the gas, you were still putting up a good fight but you would eventually lose this battle, everyone knew it. You got a good kick to one of the men's legs and he crumpled, dropping you as well. You struggled to sit up, the world spinning around you but you had to keep fighting, your hope was that the silent alarms would have triggered, that the police, that your husband would be on his way, that he would sprint into the room and all would be right.

But that didn't happen. Instead, the man you tripped picked you up by the collar, lifting you a foot off the ground, your legs felt like jelly, the fight was quickly deflating from you. You tried to pry his hands off you, reaching to pull at his fluffy blue hair but he grabbed your throat with his other hand and pulled his fist back, raring to punch your lights out but the other man, wearing a cliché trench coat, quickly stopped him.

Izuku was fuming but watched on in silent horror.

The man holding you dropped his fist but not a second later slammed you into the ground, shaking the barstools.

You didn't move after that.

Izuku couldn't tell what state you were in but he knew it wasn't good. Trenchcoat seemed to scold Blue Hair as he picked you up and slung you over his shoulder like a sack of flour. Even from the video, he could see the blood dripping down your face. Anger boiled in his veins as he struggled to finish watching. The woman with them, a short blonde, watched the two men leave and turned to the camera. She gave a slight wave before she flickered and the house was empty.

He stood there for a moment staring at the empty screen, the bloodied spot on the floor before racing downstairs and ripping the area rug from the spot, hoping that the video was somehow wrong. Underneath was dried blood and a small crack in the floor. How hard did you have to hit to crack the floor?

Too many possibilities of what you might be going through at that very moment filtered in his head, making it hard to think of a plan to get you back. He stayed crouched, staring at the blood before fumbling for his phone. He needed to...what did he need to do? He wanted to scream, cry, break something but he couldn't. Not when you were in danger somewhere, he needed to be level-headed, for you, you were counting on him.

He dialed in a number he memorized years ago, someone he could trust, someone he could count on.

After one ring that familiar voice answered. "Young Midoriya, it's good to hear from you."

"All Might." Izuku's voice cracked.

...

Read Chapter 2

[capn-schmazz]

edgar wright being my new favorite director:

i have to admit that after watching the cornetto trilogy I’ve become more than a little obsessed with Simon’s work and Edgar’s as well, which means I’m forcing my friends (who all have a similar interest in either film or geek/sci fi shit so they aren’t too upset with my dragging them along) to watch them with me. Rewatching the trilogy just reminds me of how much I love certain sequences so here are (some of) my top Edgar Wright directorial moments from each movie.

some spoilers (no major ones though)

-

Shaun of the Dead: 

The Opening Shot

I absolutely love the intro to Shaun of the Dead. The song behind it (Ghost Town by The Specials) starts off on a black screen, the intro chords playing us into our first shot of Shaun where the music, just as it’s hitting its melody, switches to the background sound of the scene with the ding of the “last orders” bell. Shaun sits in the pub, staring vacantly as he sips his pint and smokes his cigarette, disconnected from the current scene. His girlfriend jolts him back to life with the first line of dialogue, and we begin that scene. What this is is a great bit of writing made even better by the cinematography of that shot (one of my all time favorites to be honest).     On top of that, it immediately characterizes his actions for the rest of the movie in a really interesting way. His girlfriend’s nudge is what pulls us into the actual movie, and it’s the love he has for her and the drive to stay with her that motivates the majority of his actions in throughout the rest of it.

A Day in the Life and Shaun Being Ignorant of the Apocalypse

Three things I love about these sequences: the things they accomplish, the visual comedy, and the recreated shot.     At first, the shot is really an establishing shot of how Shaun lives his life. It introduces us to his surroundings (which we’ll need to know well as it’ll become a warzone), the people in the area (more specifically, the people he’ll be fighting), and the way he as a character interacts with the world around him. As we see from that first shot, he strolls through, interacting passively with people, but still engaged in his surroundings in a sort of muscle memory way. In the recreated shot, we see that muscle memory, definitely helped along by his hangover, and he completely misses all the obvious signs of the coming end of the world: smashed car windows, someone running for their life, zombies stumbling in the street, the blood on the fridge door in the shop, etc. Now we know that even though the apocalypse is here, our homeboy Shaun isn’t actually aware of it, making him an incredibly unlikely hero, as we continue to see throughout the movie.     There’s also the joke in it. The original shot is the set up, the recreation is the punchline. There’s also the fact that all throughout ‘a day in shaun’s life’ we’ve had normal people acting like zombies, including Shaun, as an obvious foreshadowing to when they actually will be zombies. So it’s also funny that after all that build up to the zombie apocalypse, and us knowing it’s coming, when it comes Shaun doesn’t notice until it quite literally lunges at him. 

Honorable mention: The ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ zombie beating because Edgar’s musical direction is also killer. 

Hot Fuzz

The ‘Village Green Preservation Society’ and Slasher Run

So, we go straight from the aggressive, signature Edgar Wright quick-cuts, intense zoom action sequence of Nicholas Angel arresting a load of teenage boys, to a shot of him in his bed that night exercising his grip (in a great visual innuendo). The action of that first bit is immediately killed by the stillness of that shot. Then, queue ‘the village green preservation society’ by The Kinks, and Nick’s bed is made and we get that establishing shot of the country town and all its greenery. What follows is a perfect following of Nick’s morning jog through the town, introducing us to the lay out of the town (that we’ll need to know for when it becomes a warzone later on -- sound familiar?) as well as the new characters we didn’t meet during Nick’s late night pub arrests (because we’ll need to know them well once they’re...the people he has to fight-- de ja vu again). The new characters, they greet Nick with friendliness and little bits like “good morning Sergeant!” and such, that are each in time with the music. The music is perfect for the scenario as well as aligning perfectly and it tickles me just the right way and I love it.

It ends abruptly with the appearance of Mr. Skinner who essentially issues a threat and acts very weirdly, making Nick on edge, and has a sort of uneasy villain music tone behind that moment. Then we’re cut completely out of the sequence by a signature Edgar move of making opening the door to the police station as action-y, zoomed in and quick as possible. 

A Big Cop in the Model Village

“If you want to be a big cop in a small town, fuck off to the model village” (or something to that extent) is a line one of the detectives says to Nick earlier in the movie. So, this moment is not only a great shot but a terrific writing moment. Also the fact that the model village itself is a pun. Sandford likes to fancy itself as a ‘model village’ with perfection, a dream world, a perfect haven that wins village of the year award every year. Not only is he a big cop in a small town (as is literally demonstrated by this shot) but he has destroyed the town (both the real town and this one), both of which were ‘model towns’ in different ways. It’s just so brilliant. 

Honorable mention: Nick Riding into the Village on Horseback all Dramatic-Like because it’s dope and also really funny 

The World’s End

Most of my love for this movie is about the writing, which is why I only have on massive directorial hard-on for this: 

The Entire Fucking Intro to The World’s End

It starts with a basic expositional story telling us exactly who everyone is, where they’re going, what they’re doing, and what stopped them from doing this before. But it’s not just exposition. That’s the beauty. 

Gary King’s in a group therapy session telling them this story. So the exposition is justified in a characterization way. But this isn’t about the brilliance of the writing, this is about the directing and cinematography. So I present to you: 

That shot. Such beauty in that shot. It pulls out and out, running the production company logos with the incredible music of Primal Scream’s ‘Loaded’ in time with the movie title. The letters of the title even go out in time with the drum riff thing in the song. Then we go into a never ending shot going from left to right, following the action, as we see each of those characters of Gary’s friends and their modern lives with comparisons to Gary’s institutionalized squalor. It’s magnificent. This intro, from 0:00 to the bit where Gary hides behind Peter’s bushes and Peter drives around to see who it was, is probably one of my favorite sequences in any movie I’ve ever seen, and certainly the best introductory/exposition/characterization/title sequence I’ve ever watched. 

I could go on about it for longer, but I have homework I’ve been procrastinating on with this post. Once my classes are done I’m planning on bingeing Edgar Wright’s work as well as Simon and Nick’s.

fun fact though: That opening shot of Shaun of the Dead, I saw it on youtube, just that opening shot, and immediately I knew I had to watch the movie. 

peace out. 

[rip-a-dip-dip-you-potato-chip]

what have I created?

idk if yall like this, but they just exist not i guess :/

ok the the first one is Royalty AU

first things first, when I say Royalty AU, I don't mean the classic shit we've all become accustomed to. Im talking about the good old Chinese royalty! And I want to emphasize that these guys will/should be dressed in century appropriate attire. As someone thats read a handful of 'marinette, princess of china' fics from the ML Fandom, I've noticed a common trend. Marinette wouldn't be in the culturally appropriate clothes, always ballgowns. Not that there's something wrong with it, its just most of if not all these fic are set in China, so I'd expect Chinese royalty to dress as THERE dress code calls for. And since this AU takes place far in the past like, it won't make sense for any of the characters to be in royal clothing that wasn't from there region. I'm not trying to white knight/gatekeeping. Im Guyanese not Chinese. But since JTTW and Monkie Kid take place in China, it's only right. In my opinion that it. You don't have to outright agree with me.

With out of the way, it's time for that good old AU crack

- Wukong is the king of the Flower Fruit kingdom(or a different one if you'd like, again I'm only familiar with what western culture has taught me, but I'll try my hardest) 

- he’s single but rumor has it he used to/still is dating the Vigilante/thief The Six Eared Macaque

- *chants ShadowPeach violently* 

- no one know whether it true or not

- On of his wanders around the kingdom he finds an abandoned baby in a basket. 

- and no shit sherlock it's fucking baby Xiaotian 

- I think we all know where this is going because i'm a simp for Monkey Dad & Monkie Son shenanigans

- Xiaotian becomes prince

Shit, ill be referring to Xiaotian as Mk from now on, I mentioned this before in a fic I wrote for lmk that Mk's a nickname for Xiaotian for some reason- wait i don't have to explain my self to you people!

- Sun loves his son

- MK is treated differently by staff and others because he's not blood related to the king

- no one mistreats MK per say, because there King loved his adopted son, but words are said behind his back

- Sometimes MK hears what’s said, and he feels as if he won't live up to his dad’s legacy.

- He meets Mei during a festival

- Mei is from a noble family, that wouldn't mind if they got a connection into the royal family.

- but it becomes hella clear to Mei’s family very fast that the two are just friends, and will always will be. but hey there daughter is bffs with the prince so that's a plus.       

_

- the Demon Bull Family is rules a kingdom as well, I dont/am not creative enough to think of a name I leave that to you.

- It's a common misconception that DBK is a tyrant, when he’s not. 

- most of the time...

- they have been at war with the Monkey King for some time now and settled for a peace agreement.

- that agreement being there sons to marry

- oooo original i know

- MK and Red Son are roughly the same age, Mk being 20 and RS 22

- RS is revolted/disgusted at the idea of being wed to the Monkey Kings child, even more so when he realizes MK is adopted,

- but, that all changes the second he meets MK while he meets him by accident when he gets kinda lost in the palace when he and his parents go to discuss the arrangements.

- the second he looks at MK, he's instantly in love. MK less so, he's nervous and honestly kinda bummed he's not marrying someone he loves but it's for the good of his ppl, and he'll do anything for them.

- RS isn't even aware that MK is Suns adopted son until MK walks him back to the meeting room.

"Oh There you are MK! I was about to have a servant go fetch you!" Sun Wukong says, gesturing for his boy to come sit with him.

"S-sorry for keeping you waiting I got caught up in my lessons with Mr. Tang" MK responds, sitting next to his father. Red Son looked gobsmacked. The beautiful young man he had bumped into, was the prince of this land? Damn, life truly blessed him. Or cursed him depending on how you looked at it.

- the two are left alone in a separate room for a while.

- And MK straight up tells RS why he's agreeing to this union.

"Look Red Son. I've dreamed about meeting my one true love for a while. And I would give almost anything for that dram to be real. But I wouldn't ever dare give up my people, for as there price they mean more to me. I'm doing this for them, no other reason" MK says, his back straight and hands folded neatly in his lap. The look in his eyes was a mix of sadness, but that was drowned out by loyalty and determination. It just made Red Son fall for him even harder. Clearing his throat Red spoke.

"I understand, for im doing this for the betterment of my people to. But I propose a wager"

"A wager?"

"Yes, if i can make you fall in love with me by years end, before our marriage, we can live together like in the fairy tales from far away. But if I fail, in a years time afterwards you will be permitted to find your own path in life" Red Son stated. MK took a moment to process what was happening.

"So, if you succeed in making me fall in love with you, before our marriage we can live happily ever after?" Red Son nodded in response, letting the younger continue.

"And if I shouldn't fall for you, in a years time after our union, im free to leave?" Red Son nodded once more.

"So, what do you say?"

...

"Deal"

In the end, your free to choose their fate, should Red Son win the hart of Mk? Will he fail? Or will he let him go, and let him travel the country, after all Mk's a free spirit and keeping him trapped in a big house is like keeping a cannery trapped in a cage only for its song, only for it to dul. Or will the unthinkable happen and will both boys find their freedom? together or appart? I don't know, because that's all up to you 😉

personally, I’m partial to where MK and Red Son both find freedom together. Like they straight up run away together to somewhere far away and just live out there lives together. 

this could also be genderbent thing as well. MK or Red as their respective counterparts. Again it doesn't have to be, but it’s whatever bro. im just spitting out the idea. 

Also, there is a main side plot that they fight the WBS throughout the year as well, along with other shenanigans you wanna throw in.

____

The second is a My Hero Academia/BNH/MHA AU

truth be told i'm not a big fan of MHA i think it to over hyped(this is also coming from the same person that’s a Fairy Tail fan lol), and the fandom i don't even know how to describe that mess, but I will admit not the whole of its toxic since every fandom has some toxic members, some even more so. 

I just sometimes find myself enjoying MHA AUs like the Fullmetal Alchemist, Danny Phantom, Evil!Deuk AU and several others. 

to make it clear I don't see this AU taking place the same time as the main plot of the actual Anime/Manga. This could be either like 6-10 years before or after the plot idk bro. But i’ll do this after the main story plot of MHA, so keep that in mind ya? another thing, the gang is still in China, the top hero school in the world just so happens to be in Japan, and it’s only ever mentioned by Sun wukong and other pro heros. So MK never attended AU. in short it’s only ever mention/ reference.  

_

- Mk was considered Quirkless as a kid. 

- he was just a late blumer, i swear  

- Mai’s Quirk is called Dragon. 

- it pretty much works the same way as it does in the show(duh)

- Tang’s got a knowledge Quirk, 

- my man can retain information and he’s basically an archive of information drawback being his personality lol 

- Piggsy is a Animal that gained a Quirk

- in cannon to my current knowledge, there are two other characters that can confirm animals can become sentient. the characters being Fumikage Tokoyami, & Nezu the principal at the school UA.  

- Sandy is just Conner Kent, aka he like superman but can't fly, or shoot lasers from his eyes. And blue.  

I have two scenarios for Macaque and Wukong  

*- The first one is that, Sun Wukong & Macaque are brothers. twins to be exact. 

- they where legit people, but have mutation quirks that made them too like monkeys. 

- the added powers were just a boues. 

- Sun and Mac are close growing up, like there brothers but also best friends.

- the draw back to there quirks could honestly be whatever you want bro idk, same with the others tbh. Personally I like to think Sun just has lack of motivation, and Macaque needs to draw on other people's energy.

- Sun is a hero, Monkey KIng and Mac is a villain Six Eared.

- Sun was always treated has the golden child in the family, Mac always resented that, but there shitty up bring didn’t stop the two from being good brothers to one another.

- soon tho the resentment became hatred when Sun was able to attend UA in Japan, while Mac didn't.

- Mac be angy 

- so he became a villain, and joined the Chinese branch of the LOV(league of villains)

- Sun doesn't know this till he finds out during the all out war during the main story. and by that time he’s a full on hero with is own agency(The Flower Fruit agency)    

- when the hero's ultimately win and Mac is arrested 

- This ultimately hurts Sun a lot, his brother was in jail now, arrested for his involvement and wrong doings, he knew nothing about this! this brother, his blood. A bad guy? why? he hadn't seen his brother since he left for UA, he hadn’t seen him when he came home, and started his agency. 

- this just puts Sun into a funk so he’s not as active as he used to be, and he starts thinking he might need a successor 

*- The second one is that they were two separate people that had similar quirks and both attended UA but Sun ended up in the hero corse. so 1A.

- Both Macaque and Sun have similar quirks, Sun’s is obviously more light based while Macaque’s is more shadow based(this applies to the first one as well)    

- Macaque was placed in class 1B, U.A.’s High's Heroics Department, I believe, you can correct me. 

- In cannon Class 1A and 1B both went to the training camp. I can see the teachers pinning Sun and Macaque against each other to hone their skills. 

- And because of that they become great friends    

- In fact when they graduate they both co-found there hero agency together in China and are a duo.

- But due to Monkey King’s popularity and Six Eared's association with shadows(people sometimes saying he has more of a villains quirk than a heros) the public see’s Macaque as Sun’s sidekick when thats far from the truth. 

- now it’s up to you whether you think that Wukong and Macaque would be in a relationship together, but knowing how cooked we all are, ShadowPeach is a thing here more than likely. 

- If you do or don’t support/ like the ShadowPeach aspect, the two would be living together regardless since its more cost efficient. 

- They my be heroes but living costs are expensive!   

- I would imagine there would have been a huge fight/argument between the two in privet of course, at there home.(or in there shared office if you want the extra angst of the other people they work with hearing them fight)   

- If the two are dating, then this would either lead to an out right breakup, or Macaque just up and leaving with Wukong thinking he’ll come back once he’s cooled off. But after a week, with no sign of his partner, or him answering texts or calls, not even coming into work. Wukong gets worried that something might have happened to him. so there wouldn't be a confirmation if they were still a thing or not. 

- But Wukong remains hopeful, despite the nagging at the back of his head, and gut telling him to go find Macaque, or atleast make a public statement, or even just tell another pro hero about it.   

- on the not so shippy side, Macaque and Wukong still have there argument, and much like the ShadowPeach esc side, Macaque up and leaves, and isn't seen for weeks. the only difference here is that when Wukong comes home one night to there flat, most if not all of Macaques stuff is gone. 

- where as if this was the ShadowPeach side, Macaque leaves all of his possession in the flat he and wukong share. for the simple reason being, he still loves him and wants to go back, but Macaque being Macaque can’t bring himself to do it, especially after seeing just how hurt Wukong looked when he yelled at him just before he left.  

- in other words, ANGST DIALED UP TO A 10 BABY  

- in either case, its a news report that confirms Wukong's suspicions that he desperately didn’t want to believe, and that is Macaque turning into a villain.

- much like if the two were brothers, Wukong just can’t take it and is no longer as active as he once was, and is thinking about, either A) Retirement  B) Saying, “Fuck Society, Be Gay Do Crime” and join Macaque as a villain himself, or C) find a successor, and a way to bring Macaque back to there side, but most importantly, back to him.    

- also extra points if you're after people's hearts and want to make them suffer;  - If there dating, Wukong curle’s up in the bed he and Macaque shared, holding/wearing something of great value to Macaque and just crying himself to sleep, where as Macaque is getting wasted on alcohol, as he stumbles out of the bar he’s in, he either see’s something that reminds him of Wukong or while he’s trying to put his wallet back into his pocket, a photo of them on their first date fall’s out. and Macaque just cries in a nearby alley way. And it’s there where he gets indoctrinated into the League.

       - If there just friends, macaque heads to the nearest forest and just levels it, where as Wukong just gets engrossed into his work, trying not to think about it. you could add you own spin on this, again i'm just spitballing.             

- NOW BACK TO MK! :D     

- Obviously MK is a huge Monkey King fan     

- at Twenty MK has come to terms he's quirkless (HE’S NOT)

-for ANGST reasons MKs fokes kicked him out at this realization at 13.

- he works at Piggsy's Noodle shop, and has been since he was 14.

- don't need a quirk to drive or cook!

- the boy lives a content life with his new family, till DBK happens :D

- DBK runs a Mafia(in conjunction with TLOV) and has been in jail for like 5 years thanks to Monkey King, PIF and RS brake him out one night when MK's out making a late night delivery since Piggsy had the bright idea to go 24/7 service!

- one thing leads to another and Mk somehow manifest what looks like the Monkey King's staff, but its not, it’s MKs powers, it just so happens to be the same power the Monkey King has. And it practically goes down the same way in the pilot. 

- but unlike the pilot Mk and Mei go straight to the FF Agency, after making a panicked call to Pigsy and Tang.

- one way or another Mk are lead into Wukongs office. Mei being forced to stay in the lobby.

- they have there convo, butterfly monkey squishing included.

- "And so, I want you do be my success-" BOOM 💥

- from there they rush downstairs and see that the lobby has been infiltrated by the DB fam, and you know fight.

- once the DB family seems like there down, PIF wisks them away. Much to Monkey King’s displeasure.

From there stuff kind plays out like cannon, the calabash ep is just a conjoint quirk the Demon bros have. As for EP9, ill have to script that one out myself lol. I'll get onto it as soon as my will to commit stabs me in the face. Till then have a dancing Kermit the frog.

Now if you'll excuse me, am about to Kermit a felony :D

(For legal reasons thats a joke)

Psst @writingamongther0ses its done

[bokunoheroanalysisforthefuture]

Alright kiddos, it is time for! The last chapter of the opening arcs / battle trial! Wherein we continue Katsuki's mental breakdown! <3

I’m considering doing some kind of end-of-arc(s) summary / personal thoughts thing after this as a way of sort of compiling my thoughts on the story as a whole so far, as well as just being open to answering your general ideas and open questions / suggestions about the story and characters and whatnot so far (and I guess to come?) So have at it, I want to know what you all think about these first eleven chapters as an introduction to the series / characters / plot / whatnot.

[No. 11 - Bakugou’s Starting Line]

That is… a lot less damage than I thought there was. Like, it still looks pretty bad, but not to the point of ‘it’s going to collapse if someone breathes funny’ bad like I was thinking before. The active explosion of the panels before this probably added to that impression. Also, the building is a LOT smaller than I thought it was?

And speaking of Katsuki’s mental breakdown! He’s just standing there in complete shock while Tenya is comforting a vomiting Ochako, and Izuku is passed out on the floor. Someone points out that the losing team is almost unscathed while the winners are down for the count - they lost the battle but won the war, so to speak. Tsuyu points out that it’s just training though.

(to the tune of ‘Final Countdown’) It’s a mental breakdown~ (kazoo solo)

But in full seriousness, this is the first true moment we see of his worldview being smashed open. Like, he was definitely shaken with Izuku’s actions back with the sludge villain, but Katsuki was just more quiet and sullen. Here? Here he’s just had one of the pillars he built his entire mindset around - that Izuku was weaker than him - torn down as violently as the wall he blasted open. He is not okay with this. He’s sweating, he’s shaking, he’s probably about five seconds from collapsing to his knees and screaming. 

Fortunately, he’s mostly knocked out of his own head by All Might showing up and placing a hand on his shoulder, telling him to head back so he can get graded. Katsuki doesn’t really seem to be listening as All Might goes on about how whether one wins or loses, they can come out ahead by learning from the experience - instead he’s watching as Izuku is taken away on a stretcher by two transpo-bots to the nurse’s office. 

In the monitor room, All Might announces that the VIP of the battle was Tenya, much to said boy’s surprise. Katsuki is looking pretty gloomy and stuck in his head, while Ochako is still struggling with the lingering nausea. Tsuyu asks why the VIP isn’t one of the hero team who won, and All Might asks the class if any if them can guess at his reasoning. 

Momo raises her had and says she does, and then explains that Tenya had best adapted to the scenario. Katsuki’s actions were motivated by a personal grudge, and his use of destructive attacks indoors was foolish. Izuku’s performance suffered from the same faults. And Ochako lost focus halfway through and her final attack was haphazard - if the weapon had been real, the attack would be unthinkable. Tenya, on the other hand, formed an actual counterstrategy, and thought about what the struggle would be like. His only fault was being too slow to react at the end, and the hero team only won because it was a training exercise with exploitable restraints. 

Tenya is touched. Meanwhile, the rest of the class is stunned silent, with All Might shaking because she said it better than he could. He hesitantly adds that Tenya was a bit too stiff, but otherwise she was correct. She huffs and says that they need to start at the bottom and work up - if they don’t cheer each other on, they won’t even become top heroes. Her name is also introduced here, as well as the fact that she’s the number one recommended first year.

How’s Katsuki doing?

Eh… we’ll come back to you in a bit. For now, the other battle trials! Shouto and Shouji (hero team) versus Ojiro and Hagakure (villain team), in a new location. The heroes are both quiet, while Hagakure is getting hyped up and taking off her gloves and boots to go full stealth mode. Ojiro is a bit flustered at that, thinking that it makes sense for someone invisible, but that it feels unethical.

(Which is, I’m guessing, that comment that her ‘hero costume’ is being buck naked, which honestly, I refuse to believe. If the support companies can make a costume for someone who goes impermeable (which, by its own definition, would mean light goes through as well, ergo ‘invisibility’), then she can get one as well. I think she’s just a troll who says the costume is nothing to fluster others - I mean, considering she does like hidden camera shows, and they tend to do those weird stuff to surprise or discomfort people, it would fit in line with her character.)

Anyways, when the hero team is sent in, Shouji is listening in just inside the building with several arm-ears, right before they shift into really concerning-looking mouths to relay information. Shouji tells his partner that one is on the north side of the fourth floor, while the other is on the same floor barefoot - clearly, the invisible one is trying to ambush and capture them. Shouji also gets a title card and an explanation of his quirk, Dupli-arms: he can replicate his own body parts at the tips of his tentacles!

Shouto warns Shouji to get out, since it’s about to ‘get frosty in here’. Their opponents think they’re playing a defensive game, but it means nothing to him. He then proceeds to show off just what he means by ‘frosty’.

Yeah, that’s a bit OP there. Poor Ojiro - and definitely poor Hagakure, who got frozen to the floor with bare feet. Shouto walks in and says to bring it on, but that fighting without the soles of their feet will be painful. All Might and Kirishima are shivering in the monitor room from the cold, with All Might noting that neither Shouto’s ally nor the weapon were harmed when he immobilized the enemy; Kirishima says that he’s too strong. 

Hagakure’s hurting where she’s frozen, and Ojiro is freaked out and not even trying to break out as Shouto walks past and puts his left hand of the weapon, giving his team the win. Shouto apologizes to them as the ice steams away, Ojiro shocked to see how quickly the building is warming up. As Shouto finishes melting the ice, he declares that they are in different leagues - and we get his title card!

Number two recommended first year, quirk Half-Hot, Half-Cold (which I think is supposed to have some greater pun or sound better in Japanese? [Hanrei Hannen] I suppose does roll a bit better, but hmmm…) His right side can freeze things and his left can burn. His range and limits are unknown - what a beast! 

(Katsuki, meanwhile, is biting his lip to keep himself from saying anything - likely another blow to his preconceived belief that he was the strongest right while he’s trying to come back from the last one.)

We get a brief summary of what the other teams did: Sero and Kirishima played villains and defended with Sero’s tape as traps around the room. Tsuyu went along the walls while Tokoyami had his quirk primed to attack. Jirou scouted with her quirk while Kaminari kept a charge prepped in his hand, and Mina threw a ot of acid around, a bit of which burned Aoyama’s cape. 

We transition to the end of the class, with All Might telling everyone well done, and that besides Izuku, there were no serious injuries. He complements their teamwork and says they all did splendidly, considering it was their first exercise. Someone in the class mentions that after Aizawa, a straightforward class that that was almost a letdown. All Might walks away, saying that the teachers are free to have no-nonsense classes if they like, and that he’s off to give Izuku his evaluation, letting them know to get changed out of their costumes and head back to the classroom before he runs off in a hurry. Mineta notes he seems to be in a hurry, but that he’s also so cool.

All Might glances back, seeing Katsuki in the back of the class still in a gloomy state. He thinks about how Katsuki is ‘a bundle of conceit’ and how the most inflated egos are often the most fragile. As a teacher, he needs to give the boy some counseling, but for now, he has to save on his time, due to only having enough strength to get through a single class.

Which, considering All Might’s limit before USJ is three hours, seems a bit weird, so let’s do some math.

The villain teams have five minutes to set up, and the heroes have fifteen to get to the bomb after that - twenty minutes. With five rounds, that’s an even hundred minutes for the exercises, not counting those that ended early. With all the time saved from Shouto’s instant take out and assuming average times for the others, we probably have more like eighty minutes spent on those exercises. Of course, we can then add time for getting to and from the buildings, as well as the assessments of each match and determination of the VIP. So that can probably bumped back up to 100 minutes, maybe closer to 110? Which would just fit within the bounds of a double-class period for Japanese schools (which are fifty minute classes with ten minute breaks in between). 

Japanese classes have four periods before lunch and three after. The ‘canon’ schedule has heroics lessons happen THROUGH lunch period, which makes no sense when they need that energy in order to be able to fight. I am also skeptical of fighting right after lunch, when that makes it more likely for them to throw up if they take a bad hit, ergo, the reasonable time period for these lessons is the last two periods of the day - thus giving the kids about an hour for food to digest and energy to get into their systems.

I think this is also added onto with how Izuku doesn’t freak out after this over missing a class, which makes sense if it was the last one. Plus, well, scheduling the most exhausting and injury-prone class at the end of the day means that anyone who needs to rest a while actually can without missing important things - and that the kids won’t be too tired to pay attention to whichever teachers they would otherwise have afterwards.

...right, my original point. All Might is supposed to have three hours, but gets stressed out after using just two hours here. I can get that maybe it’s three hours total, but holding it for two continuously without chances to ‘unflex’ and rest for a bit might be straining on him still? Or maybe he just spent some time that morning doing hero things and so ran out of time a bit early. 

Anyways, I think I’ll end this off here, since it’s about halfway and we did get through quite a bit. Next time, we finish off the opening arcs of the series, and then I guess I do some Q&A / personal thoughts so far / narrative analysis / whatever? I guess send in questions or thoughts or whatever you guys have, and I’ll answer them after the next post. 

[kaen-ace-of-diamonds]

Restraint

Word Count: 3800+ (oneshot) 

[AO3]

Genre: Angst With A Hopeful Ending

Characters: Bakugou Katsuki, Bakugou Mitsuki, All Might, Shigaraki Tomura, Midoriya Izuku (mentioned)

Summary: Bakugou Katsuki has always thought of himself as a force of nature: more than human, pure fire and fury, meant to burn stronger and brighter than anything else. He hadn't expected that the world would have so many ways to smother him instead.

Written for the @forceofnaturezine!

Warnings for panic attacks, suffocation, and self-hatred.

~0~

He is primal, explosive fire and thunderous sound, and he was never meant to be restrained. 

“You’ve been like that since the day you were born, you know that?” Katsuki had appreciated Mom’s gift of a punching bag for his room, but he could do without her strutting in unannounced while he was busy with it. “Kicking and fighting and being fuckin’ relentless.”

Sure, he knows. He hears the story all the time, usually around his birthday: about how he had given his mother hell right from in utero — no matter how much amusement Mom puts into the words, it’s still what’s being said — and then been born too early and had to struggle for weeks just to breathe on his own. 

Every year he gets older, the more details — the more memories of fear and preemptive grief — his parents let slip. He knows that it all adds up to one thing: if he weren’t the strongest, he wouldn’t be alive right now. 

Katsuki doesn’t think to so much as look over his shoulder at Mom in the doorway, just keeps dutifully pounding away at the bag. The sound of the tape on his fists against the thick fabric has even gotten into his dreams lately, and it doesn’t pause for an instant now. 

“You gotta take a break and cool down sooner or later. Look, it’s gotten dark, aren’t you even going to turn the light on?”

His fists are a blur in front of him. “Did you need something?”

“You need food, hero. Dinner’s ready, I made those fire noodles you like. Take a breath and come on.”

He grunts in response. Mom snickers, taking it as a yes, and he hears her footsteps going down the stairs. Right now he doesn’t feel he can stop his arms from moving any more than a normal human could stop a lava flow. And he doesn’t want them to stop moving; the burning in his muscles is pain and life and strength. But he knows that if he’s not down in five minutes it’ll mean a fight.

So with considerable effort, Katsuki does stop. There’s pins and needles from his fingertips to his shoulders. His heart still pounds like a racehorse’s, pulse in his ears. Sweat soaks his hair, his face, his workout shirt, and he can smell the traces of nitro in it. He closes his eyes — no darker there than in the room around him — and breathes it in, listening to the ringing in his ears. 

He guesses this is what peace feels like. Contented exhaustion, as his power is built and maintained. 

Katsuki takes a long, deep breath, and opens his eyes. 

~0~

He had never seen the Sludge Villain coming. It would take him several years to stop kicking himself for his lack of awareness. 

How dumb had he been, skating through elementary and middle school thinking he was stronger than anything? That he was enough? 

Katsuki has never known anything so disgusting in his life as the mass that engulfs him, not quite solid or liquid. It moves like viscera with a mind of its own, it feels hot and sticky like vomit, and it smells like he’s had his face shoved into raw sewage. 

This was the scenario he’d always fantasized about: having some villain pick a fight with him, underestimating him, and then absolutely blasting them away with a laugh and a wild grin. Impressing the heroes. Being a hero. 

But he can’t move, let alone use his Quirk. He can’t even breathe.

Oh, god, he can’t breathe. 

Katsuki tries. He’s struggling harder than he ever has in his life against the sludgy body forcing its way into his mouth and throat, his ears, and his nose. His blood is on fire, veins constricting and muscles fighting to spasm for lack of air. He’s sure that any second his heart will burst open. Muffled and distant, he can hear explosions, screams, and destruction in the villain’s wake.

Destruction. That’s what he and his Quirk are. Right now he wants to wield it more than anything, but to have it wrested from his hands and used like any common villain would...it makes him want to scream with sheer rage. 

(Terror as well, and helplessness — but those are the things he can never acknowledge himself capable of feeling, even in the grip of death.) 

His eyes feel like they’re about to burst like grapes from the pressure. His mind can no longer even race with thoughts of escape, it’s slowing, fogging up, as white tendrils snake in on the edges of his vision. He isn’t burning up anymore, he is simply sinking...fading, into death and into obscurity...

“KACCHAN!”

Even with his inner ears blocked up by sludge, that screeching voice manages to pierce straight through. 

His eyes slowly roll to the side, and he still can’t see very well. But he’d recognize that bug-eyed green blur scrambling towards him anywhere.

Someone like him should be running away from this monster, as far as those stupid red sneakers could carry him. Especially after everything Katsuki has done to him to push him away, to hurt him, Deku should not be the one charging full throttle to help him, heedless of the villain that could tear him apart from the inside out even faster than it was killing him —

Katsuki can’t even tell what he’s feeling when thick tendrils of sludge fire at Deku, or when they’re hit by a bellowing comet that breaks him free (it takes him a long, dazed few moments to recognize it as All Might, up close and personal). He’s crouched on the street, eyes wide and bloodshot, dripping in sweat and sludge. He isn’t not sure whether it’s disgust or horror or indignant fury that’s making him tremble, on the verge of throwing up.

He walks home by himself, keeping to shadows and back roads, thankful that he had kept enough of his wits about him to escape before the press descended on the scene. They’ll find out his name, of course they will, but he won’t willingly give them anything. The sun is setting by the time he makes it back to his house. 

Neither of his parents are home, in the one bit of good luck he’s had today. Katsuki still sneaks in through his bedroom window: no way does he want to track any smell or residue through the house for his mother to detect. 

He has his own bathroom, and he has always been comfortable with that. But for the first time, he flinches hard when the shower door shuts behind him. He can’t stand looking at his own body, bruised and dirty and weak, with the light on. If he turns the lights off, there’s a churning in his gut that he can’t stand.

He can’t put a name to it that feels correct. So he decides to just chalk it up to shame and humiliation at what had happened: things that he’s already resolved never to reveal of himself to anyone else, and that will pass from him if he just fights harder. For the rest of the night, he wills himself to ignore the tightness in his chest, the spinning in his head, and the shakes all over his body. 

This time, he can push the whole thing down, and pretend it never happened.

~0~

The next time, he doesn’t have a choice. He is put on full display.

Fuck this fucking festival, is the only coherent idea in his brain. The rest is a burning red river of indignant anger, drowning his thoughts and suffusing his body. All he wants to win, he wants to be on top. But he’s not some...cheating glory hound, willing to accept victory through a fluke. 

What fucking Half-and-Half had done with their fight was a mortal insult. He wants to indisputably earn what he has, on his own, and he won’t accept less.

What’s so wrong with that? Why did he have to be turned into a joke for it?

He knows he looks like a rabid dog, howling and foaming at the end of its tether — he feels it — but he can’t help it. He might have been able to, even with the chains restraining him to the first place podium by a pole, locking his limbs into place like so much heavy sludge...but for the muzzle. 

There’s air holes in the damn thing. Filters and shit. But half his mind and all of his body are convinced that he’s suffocating again. That his failure has meant death, as it has all along. No matter how much he bellows and thrashes, adrenaline flooding his veins, it doesn’t trick his system out of believing that.

The stadium around him is a blur, tinged in scarlet. Katsuki can’t properly make out the hundreds of faces surrounding him, but he knows in his gut that all of them are jeering and laughing at him. His heart pounded so hard it ached.

He should have expected All Might to be the only one to show mercy. (He refuses to think of pity directed at him, and he’s glad to see that the famous smile isn’t one bit strained.) 

“Oh, now...this is a little too much.”

He can’t even feel relief when his face is freed from the muzzle. His first reflex isn’t to gulp in air, but to protest his being cheated: “To win first place like this, it’s nothing! It’s not enough to make me number one!”

If All Might is at all perturbed by that, it doesn’t show. “Society will acknowledge you as number one, young Bakugou, whether you do or not. Even if you only think of it like a scar, take this medal, okay?”

It occurs to him that All Might could be too optimistic, he thinks bitterly, standing there like a fool with the gold medal hanging from his jaw. Society will not see him as an object of glory, only mockery. Nobody will take him seriously or let him forget it.

And as per the norm for times like this, he can’t tell whether his old lady is proud of him or disgusted by him.

“You know, your grandparents called while the end of the festival was airing.” Mom leans into the living room, holding the landline phone in one hand and wearing her usual wry grin. “They don’t usually watch ‘hero shows,’ they said, but they had a lot of fun watching you.”

Katsuki grips the arm of the couch tight as he lounges against it. “Yeah? They liked the end?”

“You bet, kid.” Mom sits down on the couch next to him, picks up the TV remote, and turns down the volume on the world news. “Grandma’s hoping you decided to keep the gold medal after all.”

His heart starts thumping again. “Bet she thought it looked cute.”

Her laugh goes straight through his head, like a flurry of needles. “Yeah! You should check out some of the videos going around online of the festival, people are really talking. You’re gonna be a popular guy, Katsuki!”

His palm slams so hard on the arm of the couch that something cracks beneath the upholstery, and he just barely bites back a snarl of red-hot anger as he jumps to his feet. “I don’t have to listen to this shit.”

“Hey!” Mom’s voice goes up a few octaves with indignation as he storms out. “Katsuki! What the hell’s the matter with you, come back here!”

Katsuki does not, grinding his teeth and clenching his fists all the way back up to his bedroom. Whether she’d meant to make fun of him or if she really was clueless, he doesn’t care. The darkness stifles him when he opens his door, and he can’t stand it; he turns the lights up so high they sting his eyes. 

His trusty punching bag waits in the corner of the room. Without bothering to tape his hands up, he drops into a grounded stance and pummels it mercilessly, picturing nobody in particular, but with mocking laughter in his head. He doesn’t know how long he’s at it, trying to lose himself in the exertion and pain, but when he’s done, both the leather and his knuckles are bloody.

Both his head and his chest feel like they’re being squeezed in a vice, his body slow and weak. Isn’t there anywhere he can turn that will let him breathe? Anyone who will acknowledge him as a powerful hero instead of something pathetic?

For once, nothing he tries can calm him, only stokes the fires stronger. He feels like he could burn the whole world down if he simply chose. He could. He could...

~0~

...But he wouldn’t. Of course he wouldn’t. His shame has caught up with him. There are things his fire can’t touch.

Like the rest of the world, he blames himself for everything that happened, every domino that fell as the result of his weakness. Everything because he hadn’t been fast enough, smart enough, strong enough. Because he lagged behind the others, in every way. He thinks fleetingly that if his last thought is that image of their backs, he’ll die ripping his throat in a scream of fury.

Hardening sludge? Chains and a muzzle? Nothing compared to the damn magician’s compression spell. It’s like having plastic wrapped tight around his face, like being trapped at the bottom of the ocean, like...nothing he could have imagined. He can’t think of words, only of how awful it is.

Even when he’s been released from it, that doesn’t mean he’d been freed. Dabi’s hand, still burning hot and smelling of smoking flesh, is gripping his neck. Thirst for heroes’ blood radiates from him like heat, and Katsuki has no doubt that if he makes a wrong move, that hand will crush his throat like a soda can. As it is, he can barely choke out his warning to Deku, let alone imbue it with the ferocity needed to repel that idiot, racing to reach him again without a thought for himself...

At the other end of the portal, Katsuki only has time to register gold light and the scent of whiskey, before strong hands from both sides are grabbing him, and his back slams into the solid steel back of a large chair. 

Before he can even protest, his hands are locked into another metal box, and he hears several small sounds of buckles clicking shut. By the time he gets his bearings enough to jerk forward — the insides of the box heating up fast as he tries and fails to use his Quirk — he’s strapped in tight. 

“There you go, kid.” That smoke-smelling hand is palming his head back, with a sharp smack of skin on skin. “You won’t mess around anymore, right?”

What he wants to do is get fired up, break free and unleash hell on every villain here. But he reflexively freezes instead, once it fully sinks in that he is alone and surrounded by the League of Villains. 

“Leave him alone, Dabi.” 

Shigaraki Tomura is leaning against the bar, sounding for all the world like this is a casual meetup between friends. Katsuki remembers how this guy had trapped Deku in place at the mall, four fingers around his throat in broad daylight, and knows that he could kill him just as casually. Just the thought makes him dizzy with fear.

Every villain in the room is staring at him, seeming to loom over him, and he feels suddenly very, very small. Between waxy white fingers, Shigaraki’s small red eyes are burning a hole into his own. 

“You can relax, Bakugou Katsuki. We’re not the torturing types.”

“Most of us, at least,” Toga Himiko cuts in, playing with a knife. “But if we wanted to kill you, you’d be dead already.”

He forces himself to speak: “So what d’you want, then?”

“Well...to create a scenario that would help us both out, honestly.” Shigaraki turns on the bar’s TV, flipping every couple minutes between news stations. “Listen to how they talk about heroes. About you.” 

As time drags on, anger bleeds through his fear. The way this asshole rambles on about society, justice, corruption, heroes, as if he has any right, as if he has a point...

And those eyes are still looking down on him, expecting him to jump on board with it all.

“We’re planning on winning. You like winning too, right?”

Outwardly, Katsuki is as still and quiet as a mouse before a fox. He can’t help but tense as his hands are freed, and he momentarily worries that they’ll sense his intentions. But he shouldn’t have: the bastard doesn’t see it coming at all when a nitro blast blows that dumb fake hand right off his face.

It’s a relief to feel the words spill freely from his mouth:

“Basically, you mean, we wanna hurt people, so please be our friend, right?” 

He’s no one’s fucking friend. He’s realized that, and he’s braced himself to fight on his own no matter what tried to hold him back. The fire is roiling deep in his gut. 

“Don’t bother.”

His smiles don’t come easily. But he can just barely remember a time when they did: when he had been small and newly powerful, and a mere glimpse of All Might smiling on TV filled him with the same fearless pride. 

It’s an imperfect imitation, he thinks as he bares his teeth and forces his lips to stretch wide, and it doesn’t convince him. But maybe it’s enough to convince the League that he's still that fearless, proud, and unyielding, despite how much like a trapped animal he feels.

“I’ve always admired All Might’s victories. No matter what anyone says, that will never change.” 

Shigaraki’s expression is blank. But the self-preserving part of Katsuki’s brain, small as it is, notices that the look in his eye is considerably more unhinged. Oh, well: he had been risking himself from the moment he blasted the stupid fuck. He’ll fight himself free with U.A.’s distant blessing, their belief in him and his ideal strength.

They went through all that trouble to mount a huge attack, and all they got was me. 

His smile pulls upward, turning lopsided and feral. Despite his spotless record, there’s plenty of people who think he’s nothing but trouble; the U.A. interview had proven that well enough. So he’ll put that to good use. All Might’s victories...weighing the odds, he doesn’t stand a good chance of pulling one of those off. But he’ll do it anyway. He will. He will —

He’s as shocked as any of them when the world suddenly stops for a moment, and then shatters when the man himself bursts through the brick wall, taking instant control of the situation by his very presence. Katsuki is swept away in the strength his idol exudes, without even trying. 

Since becoming his student, Katsuki has gotten used to looking All Might in the eyes. But this time feels different. “I’m sure you were scared, but you did well bearing it. It’s okay now, young man!”

All at once, his throat constricted. He feels the ridiculous expression his face is contorting into, and blusters something to save face — heroes do not get scared — but he can’t deny that right now, he’s admiring All Might more than ever. This is a true victory, it has to be.

Then the Nomu appear.

Everything is ruined as easily as it was relieved. Out of nowhere, he’s choking and panicking, cold and thick sludge filling his mouth, throat, and chest again. He blinks, and the golden bar is replaced by darkness and stone. No, not stone: wreckage. And this man...

He spends maybe thirty seconds in All For One’s direct vicinity before All Might charges back onto the scene. But they’re the most horrifying seconds of his life. The faceless man emanates just as much power and certainty of victory as his hero, that takes Katsuki’s breath away, that by all rights he should idolize. But where All Might exudes warmth and protectiveness, All For One exudes ice and venom, lust for the destruction of everything around him. 

And destroyed everything is. The scene that plays out before his eyes is more like a nightmare than reality. All Might fights and wins, of course, as he was supposed to do. But to see him battered and bleeding, all the vitality and strength sucked from him, is beyond anything he could have imagined. Even after it’s all over — while he’s being questioned by police, while Mom throws her arms around his neck, both crying with relief and loudly lambasting him for worrying her like that — every part of him is numb.

Katsuki had thought he understood. But he’s been entirely clueless...entirely powerless. 

It is all his fault. And the realization feels darker and colder than anything else.

~0~

He sits alone on his bed, letting darkness fall around him. 

In hindsight, he doesn’t know what the hell beating up Deku was supposed to have done for him. Prove his own power? Get answers? Free him somehow, from all of this?

Chains, hands, muzzles, filth, fear...so many things had trapped him, restrained him, smothered his fire, when all he wanted was to burn the brightest. That’s what he’s meant to do, isn’t it? What he’s been doing since he was born?

Being relentless is exhausting. And for the first time in his life, he wonders how long he’ll be able to keep it up. Forever? 

Of all the things that hold him prisoner, he doesn’t want himself to be one of them. That is a weakness he can’t fathom. But something has to change. If he can’t figure out what it is...then maybe it’s time to see if someone else can.

“Young Bakugou?” He still isn’t used to seeing All Might like this: shoulders hunched, body shriveled like a scarecrow, blue irises small and sharp like candlelight. “What’s the matter?”

He lingers in the doorway of his teacher’s office, not sure how to word it. “It’s...nothing really, it’s just...do you ever get, like, these feelings in your chest? Tight, and...squeezing? Like you’re trapped? Not all the time, I’m not sick or anything, but...sometimes?”

He half-expects All Might to laugh at him. But he listens intently, and speaks very seriously once Katsuki is done. “That sounds familiar, young Bakugou. Sit down, tell me more. When did you start having these feelings?”

Katsuki sits down on the couch, surprised to find that the words finally leaving his mouth make him feel...lighter. Warm in his chest, like sparks floating up from a fire. Like he’d felt when Kirishima had called to him, reached out his hand to free him from that nightmare scene. 

(Nobody’s friend? What bullshit that had been.)

Deku, damn him for understanding him so well after all, had known that that was the only way he could abide leaning on somebody else. It still feels strange...but it’s a start. And maybe it really is something he needs.

He’s only human, after all.

[coliverxxx]

I just want to say people shouldn’t ignore Bakugo’s character development

Okay, so first of all, why am I writing this? It’s because I feel like a lot of people misunderstand Bakugo and his character. I will not claim to be some great anime analyst. I just watch anime because I enjoy watching anime, and it’s not even like I watch all anime genres. I just watch what my brother had already watched and thought I’d like it, too, since he watches practically all animes and is someone I trust with anime recommendations. He suggested Boku No Hero Academia way back its first season. I read the manga until the camping/Bakugo-napping incident and just last week, I finished watching the third season because the fourth’s going to be up next week, if I’m not mistaken. Going back, I feel like I had to do this because there’s been a great misconception about Bakugo and his character for me.

So let me say this. I am not particularly loving to Bakugo’s sadistic personality, especially towards Midoriya. I don’t tolerate him beating Midoriya and how he said Midoriya should take his own life just because he is quirkless and weak. However, towards the latter events of their intertwined lives, they both got into UA, their dream school, Midoriya got his quirk as All Might’s successor, and Bakugo got kidnapped by the villains, I’m saying if you’re just going to look at Bakugo’s bad personality, then you’re not watching this anime at all.

Midoriya and Bakugo both admire All Might since they were children. Their only difference aside from their opposite pole personalities was that Bakugo got a really strong quirk since he was a child while Midoriya didn’t. Working on that, Midoriya didn’t give up and still quite followed Bakugo even though Bakugo was getting stronger because of his quirk and his personality about winning could have attributed to that, too. And then, suddenly Midoriya got his quirk that made him strong as well. I will just take this moment here to specifically mention that Midoriya didn’t get there just because of All Might’s quirk and how it was already strong only. Sure, the quirk was strong but the quirk didn’t make its user strong. It was quite the opposite, I think, that for it to be strong, the user had to be strong enough to wield it. That’s what all his trainings with All Might was for before he even got into UA (which he still didn’t because he saved Uraraka but we all know how it ended and it ended positively with him getting UA after everything). Meanwhile, Bakugo was stunned because the person who was always tagging behind him was almost walking beside him now. It angered him and deep down, even if he wouldn’t admit it even if his life’s on it, I think it scared him because it was his goal. His life goal was to be the number one hero and to surpass All Might. But suddenly, this weak boy who he knew ever since he was a child, who was always following him behind, no matter how much he hurt him, was getting stronger and it scared him. That’s why I think he seemed particularly hateful towards Midoriya, too. Because he couldn’t show his vulnerability that he was slowly getting scared that Midoriya was catching up to him soon. So he would instead say spiteful things to Midoriya, yell at him, curse him. It definitely was not an admirable thing (not a hero thing as well, I know) but you also have to understand where Bakugo was coming from.

This bothers me because some people were often concentrating only on the fact that Bakugo was such a hateful, mean character in this anime/manga but they would overlook the circumstance of where Bakugo was coming from and why he was like that, which for me was like overlooking the overall story the writer/mangaka was trying to tell here. I think Horikoshi was trying to tell a story of two boys who came from different scenarios but will ultimately both come up as top heroes essentially for being one that is not the other. That’s what I am seeing in this series which is why I like both Midoriya and Bakugo’s dynamic relationship and individual characters. To see Midoriya finally stepping up his game, being more mature in using his power without forsaking his own body, and talking back to Bakugo just because he can now is just as gratifying as seeing Bakugo accept the fact that Midoriya is not powerless anymore, talk to Midoriya about what he can improve with his techniques, and decide that there isn’t really any change with what he has to do and that is to be the number one hero and surpass All Might.

Midoriya and Bakugo’s fight in the third season after the exam was one of the most satisfying fights I had seen with rivals in anime because it answered a lot of questions and bottled up feelings both on Midoriya and Bakugo’s part. Even Midoriya and All Might understood what Bakugo had been carrying ever since he was kidnapped which is why I am extra bothered how some people could not see it, or how they could voluntarily ignore the development of these characters, especially as mentioned, Bakugo’s character.

Now there are excerpts from Midoriya and Bakugo’s fight.

Bakugo: Even though we both admired the same person, why did I end up having to chase after the back of someone who was always behind me? Why did a damn small fry like you get strong and become acknowledged by All Might? Why is it that you became strong but I… Why was I the one who ended All Might?

I just can’t with strong characters suddenly breaking down but this for me is on another whole level. This is admitting that Midoriya is catching up to him (Bakugo even said he was the one chasing after Midoriya now). This is like that point when Bakugo’s dreams are crushed because the person he wanted to surpass “ended” and he thinks it’s because of him. Well, technically, he’s not entirely wrong. I feel like All Might would have fought with All For One regardless but it came earlier than expected because he was kidnapped. He carries the pain of losing his dream, the guilt of ending that hero he always looks up to, the anger of falling behind someone he had always thought is weak, and the sadness that he couldn’t do anything about all of this besides to fight because that’s the only way he knows how to release all these feelings. To be honest, I find it hard to listen to Bakugo talk because we’re not accustomed to him talking, right? He’s mostly cursing even to his supposed friends. But to listen to him talk honestly about everything he’s been carrying himself all this time while crying is just painful for me especially since we’ve always seen him as a strong character. Additionally, I don’t honestly understand how some people are still offended with Bakugo’s language up to this point. He even talks back to his mother (and gets hit nonetheless) but a character don’t just turn compliant just because some people are tired of his nasty remarks. To be honest, I don’t see a story with every single character portrayed as polite and calm. That’s why I like what Kaminari said during the first part of their provisional license exam about Bakugo. His attitude might not be the best but he didn’t use his full power because he didn’t want to accidentally hurt Kirishima or Kaminari while fighting and he might not look like it but he’s actually one of those who are most trying their best to be a hero. And I agree because if this has all been nothing for Bakugo, he wouldn’t feel any of the things I said he felt. It wouldn’t matter to him how Midoriya’s getting strong, or if All Might used up all his power to save him. But you see, all of this meant something to him because of his dream to be the top hero and because as much as some people might not believe it, Bakugo is also a person. Frankly, he’s the same age as Midoriya, and I just felt like it’s unfair how we can understand other characters development but close ourselves off some others.

Midoriya: I mean, normally, if someone keeps looking down on you, you don’t want anything to do with them anymore. But like I said before, because I had nothing at first, along with the parts I hated about you, I saw vividly all the amazing things you could do. You, who had so much that I didn’t have, were an amazing person much closer to me than All Might! It’s because I thought you were amazing that’s why I keep chasing after you!

How do I explain this without offending people? I’m not even writing this for the ship but just read Midoriya’s admiration towards Bakugo which is not exactly unexpected Bakugo doesn’t understand. Before, All Might was practically someone who was out of reach for both of them and Bakugo has always been someone who was strong since they were children. That’s why Midoriya always chased after Bakugo because he admired the strength he didn’t have and even now that he has his own power, he still chased after Bakugo because he wanted to surpass him. I particularly liked that part in their fight when Midoriya realised that he wanted to win this fight with Bakugo because despite all the hateful parts of Bakugo’s personality, he still admired his desire to win (also see that episode where they fight with All Might together and Midoriya just punched the hell out of Bakugo for saying he doesn't care if he’ll lose because Midoriya knows that’s not Bakugo at all) and that in his heart, the image of victory is Bakugo. I feel like that’s such an integral part in the story of this series and All Might’s going to be the one to explain that.

All Might: After being a hero for a long time, I’ve seen that being fixated on victory like you, Young Bakugo, and wanting to save those in trouble like you, Young Midoriya, if either of those feelings is missing, then a hero won’t be able to carry out the justice he wants to carry out. Like how you, Young Midoriya, admired Young Bakuro’s strength, and how you, Young Bakugo, feared Young Midoriya’s heart, now that your feelings are out in the open, I think you both understand. If you both recognize each other and can focus on making each other stronger, then you can save people to win and win to save people, becoming the greatest heroes.

I will just mention here that this is probably what other stories are missing. You see, in the end, there’s no such thing as a sudden power of friendship to save people, unless in that universe, that’s like the ultimate source of thing, okay, and I’m not even going to mention other animes for the sake of this argument but just saying, that not all anime universes have the power of friendship as the ultimate source of salvation and I think this is important to understand for this story. Bakugo’s strength compared to Midoriya’s is still top-notched up to this point of the story where they fight and it’s something Midoriya has to work hard for to catch up with and that’s something we need to understand since Bakugo has had his quirk ever since he was a child whereas Midoriya on the other hand was quirkless until he became All Might’s successor just before he started high school. On the other hand, Bakugo’s personality of plainly just wanting to win was not exactly hero-personality as we had seen on the second part of their provisional license exam and that’s why he failed. Both characters has something to learn from the other. That’s why I think this story is special for laying that out and putting it together. You can’t save people without the proper strength. At the same time, you can’t be a hero without having the heart to save people. It’s like what All Might said. If it’s just one without the other, it’s not going to work out, and that’s why I love Midoriya and Bakugo’s characters, and I feel sad that some people are just ignoring the development of Bakugo’s character because he is such a badmouth (and many more, to be honest, but can we focus on the topic at hand, please).

Lastly, like I said before, I just hope people won’t turn a blind eye and ignore all the character development of Bakugo because of what he did in the past or what he said to Midoriya in the past. I love Midoriya as well but just like how the story progresses and how the characters develop, I feel like as viewers, we should move forward along with all of them as well.

Please keep in mind in that I wrote this after the third season only. All facts and canon that happened after that, I’m still yet to read in the manga (doing that now actually) and see in the anime. 

[stellar-imagines]

NSFW SCENARIO REQUEST: ❝from ashes.❞

Request: Bakugou’s quirkless s/o who is thought to be dead suddenly rises from the dead which leads to discovering their Phoenix quirk with NSFW.

[ Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia ] [ Characters: Bakugou Katsuki ]

「Bakugou’s S/O who was announced dead came back to life to discover that they had a quirk all along. As soon as she came back to life, she tries to discover the perks of her quirk and reconnect with their loved one. 」 [ NSFW under the cut! ]

BAKUGOU KATSUKI

You found yourself laying in the shore, feeling a little odd. The sky was a little dark but there was no way for you tell the time. So you only assumed that it might just be late at night. All you could to was look around your surroundings, unable to fathom where on Earth you were. The scenery was unfamiliar and you assumed that you weren't in Tokyo anymore. Your memory was a little hazy and as you sat on the sand with nothing on, you shivered as the cold wind passed. You were still wearing the clothes you wore to the camp and when the villains attacked. A tank top that you claimed will help you feel cooler and a pair of shorts. Around your waist was Bakugou's jacket.

As another breeze of cold wind passed, you shivered, rubbing your bare arms as your teeth chattered. That was when you remembered about Bakugou's jacket. Unwrapping the garment from your waist, you quickly put it on to shield yourself from the cold air. As soon as you managed to get on your feet again, you left the beach where you found yourself at. The streets barely had any cars. For now, your goal was to find a phone to use and contact your friends or the police. After what it felt like minutes, you couldn't find a single store open nor any place like Seven Eleven or anything of the like. But the sight of a few houses and other buildings made you pick up the pace.

Soon you discovered that there was an oden stall on the street with two to three customers which you presumed to be businessmen. You picked up the pace, jogging over towards the cart only to surprise the customers and the stall owner himself.

It wasn't long till you finally found yourself sitting inside the local police station. The interrogation went well and from your surroundings and the little details around you, it was clear that you weren't in Tokyo anymore. Let alone anywhere near the campsite. What surprised you was that you were brought to the hospital for a checkup. Clearly, you had no prominent injuries anywhere. But you went along with it.

"Ahem so, [Last Name]-san. I was in charge of checking your results. First, let me congratulate you for having a quirk." 

Wait, what? You had never manifested your quirk and always assumed that you were quirkless.

“It may be some quirk related to reincarnation as you were announced dead a week ago."

"Dead? What do you mean? I'm clearly alive aren't I?" you questioned, eyes filled with fear and confusion.

It was a really long lecture and a lot of convincing. You find it hard to believe. Apparently it has been a whole month since the training camp. You had disappeared for three weeks, the police and Pro Heroes were searching you for such a long time and found no clue. Only a week ago they all began to accept that you're dead. Once you were finally given the full details, it was no surprise that you were in shock. 

But despite all that, you were able to say that you wanted to go back.

The atmosphere of the dorm was quiet. Everyone was doing their own thing at that moment, no one expected a late night visit from someone who didn’t look like they lived nearby. The sight of the man wearing a lab coat standing in front of the doorstep of 1-A Dorms was a very unlikely sight. Aizawa had noted that it was around 11 at night when this mysterious man appeared.

The situation was explained quickly and you peeked over the doctor’s side, avoiding your teacher’s gaze. It felt awkward. You have been told that you were supposed to be dead. Aizawa’s eyes widened almost instantly, surprised by your sudden appearance.

Every single person there immediately stopped whatever they were doing to stare at you. The girls had already latched themselves onto you, bursting into tears while thanking the gods above them. All the boys looked relieved and happy to see you standing there in one piece. They all crowded you as if trying to replenish an invisible hole in their hearts.

The only person who didn’t step up to greet you was Bakugou. He was standing at the back, watching the scene unfold instead of welcoming you back with teary hugs.

You could feel the heat of his body against yours so intimately. His chest was pressed up against your own, you could feel his muscles underneath the black t-shirt he was wearing. Embracing his warmth and letting yourself relax on his hold, your hand trailed over to his neck, brushing against the hair growing near the nape of his neck. Bakugou was never the type to initiate PDA stuff like this but no one could even blame him for jumping on you the instant he saw you.

He had buried his face on your shoulder and with the way he was trembling, you could tell that he missed you so much. An apologetic smile made its way to your lips and you let him continue to embrace you. It was almost impossible to hold back your tears at the sight of your usually angry boyfriend being emotion.

“Sorry to worry you.” you mumbled gently.

With the help of the doctor, the situation was easily explained to Aizawa and Class 1-A. Being quirkless didn’t stop you from enrolling into UA, your desire to help heroes had managed to score you a place in the Support Course. Today was made an exception and decided to let you stay the night. The girls had thrown you questions about your quirk while Midoriya listened intently and made sure he memorized every single thing you said.

After what it felt like hours, you were finally ushered to go to sleep by the girls who were worried about your well being. Bakugou had dragged you into his room wordlessly, earning a few questions from your classmates that made your cheeks burn red. The ash blonde could only bark an angry response which was probably telling everyone to fuck off and mind their own business.

He tossed you one of his random hoodies and shorts before pushing you into the bathroom to let you change. Once you came out, you nervously grabbed the ends of the hoodie.

“K-Katsuki? It’s a little bit too big on me.....Your shorts keep falling off.” you mumbled while pushing the hoodie down to cover the shorts you were wearing. It was the one you had on earlier and with the hoodie you had on, it accentuated your thighs and made them look much more enticing.

Bakugou didn’t say anything and pulled you by the wrist which caused you to lose your footing and fall onto the bed with him. Surprised at his gesture, all you could was press your hands against his chest and pull away. He didn’t say a single word which was normal for you. Bakugou often used his actions and never warned you about things like these. You moved soo that you were sitting across him.

“So.....what do we do now?” you asked, raising your head to face your boyfriend who sat with his legs crossed. Bakugou opened is arms for you as if to beckon you closer. You understood his gesture and shifted closer, letting him wrap his arms around your body.

“If you wanted to cuddle, there are other ways to ask for it.” you mumbled, wrapping your own arms around his neck, pulling each other as close as possible. In response, he let out a grunt and pushed you down onto his bed. His hands then wandered down to your waist, giving them a squeeze before pressing his lips against yours.

You brought your legs together while Bakugou rested his knees beside your hips and hovered of you. He pushed his tongue into your mouth, taking you by surprise, cupping your cheek to make sure that you wouldn’t escape from him. The male swirled his tongue against yours and you found yourself moaning into the kiss.

"I missed you." he grumbled under his breath once he pulled away to give you a chance to breathe. Bakugou was always trying to keep up that tough guy act but when it was with you, he was comfortable with being clingy, jealous and demanding. Honestly, you loved these rare sides of him, it made you feel special because you're probably the only one that he could trust and open up to.

"I missed you too." you smiled back and pulled him down for another kiss.

It was a battle of dominance that you were determined to win. With your hands around his neck, you were able to keep him in the position that you wanted. While you were occupied with the sway of your tongues gliding against each other, Bakugou slipped a hand underneath the hoodie and groped your bra covered breasts. Your entire body shuddered and your mouth involuntarily hung open, giving the ash blonde a chance to dominate the kiss. Once he pulled away, you had your tongue out, eyes hazily staring at the saliva connecting your tongues together. As your breath hazed against his lips, he took a moment to admire your flushed features. He began groping you while keeping the hoodie om, his hands had pushed up your bra out of the way only to be replaced by his warm, slightly calloused hands.

You moaned breathlessly against his lips, keeping your eyes shut as you were too embarrasses to be in such a vulnerable position. 

"Katsuki, what are you doing―Aaah!" your back instantly arched when Bakugou latched onto your right nipple, nipping and sucking at the bud. The feeling of his tongue swirling against your nipple made you weak and accompanied by his other hand groping and pinching your neglected breast made you whimper. Bakugou studied your face, from the pleasured sigh that left your lips to the way your cheeks flushed, it was all so erotic to him.

It made him feel aroused and it was hard not to flip you over and fuck you into oblivion. No, he was going to take his time to make up for lost time. He was going to make sure you feel so good that you can't feel anything and only think of him. Bakugou eased you out of the hoodie and tossed it somewhere onto the floor. He let out a growl, licking his lips as the sight of your bare breasts displayed just for him. Never he would get sick of the sight of you underneath him like this. A trail kisses were left, all the way from your jaw to the valley of your breasts. He started sliding his hands up your thighs and hooked his fingers into the waistband of your panties.

His fingers easily slipped between your folds, rubbing it gently and feeling the wetness gathering on his fingers.

"Mmph!" your body jolted at the sensation and your hand instantly seized his wrist. Bakugou smirked at your reaction and let your panties bunch around your ankles. His fingers felt like fire dancing against your skin and the softest touch from him was enough to drive you wild. Unlike the times you've had sex, he was more gentle and moved with precision instead of being so hasty like time was scarce. But at this moment, it was as if he had all the time in the world and was willing to sacrifice it just for you. He instantly moved downwards and placed a fleeting kiss onto your inner thigh. 

You threaded your fingers through his hair and pulled him even closer. When you let your head to lean back against the headboard, he brought his finger to your clit and began rubbing it. A loud groan of his name escaped your lips and you found yourself bucking your fingers to get more of that friction you wanted.

"Fuck you're so beautiful and so fucking wet for me already." he smirked, licking his lips.

"Stop making fun of me―Aaah.....fuck.....!" you moaned. He swirled his tongue around your clit and glanced up to meet your gaze. You were so lost in the sudden pleasure to even make eye contact with him. Even so, it didn't stop him from admiring your blissful expression which made it seem like you were feeling good. Bakugou shushed you and rose from his position, lifting you up so what you were sitting upright. He eased you up and slid underneath you until your arousal was hovering over your face.

"You complain so much but I know that you really like this." Bakugou smirked up at you. With a groan, you rolled your eyes and placed your hands on either side of his head to keep yourself steady.

"Just hurry up and do your thing." you grumbled, grinding down onto his face. 

He wasted no time getting comfortable underneath you, sticking out his tongue and running it across your exposed cunt. Your body shuddered, the sensation of his tongue always managed to reduce you into a mess. Before you knew it, he had pushed his tongue inside, trying to hit those spots that will completely make you melt in his arms. Your fingers found his shoulders and began to press down against his skin to steady yourself. A shaky breath left your parted lips when you felt him pull out as his hot breath fanned over your sensitive hole. Bakugou began to swipe his tongue over your clit and his fingers began to circle around your pussy.

"K-Katsuki...." his name was the only thing coherent falling from your lips, other than that, he could only hear your whimpers and heavy breathing. As your thighs began to shake, Bakugou found himself working faster. His tongue moved around your clit while one of his fingers slowly slipped into your entrance. The juices leaking out of you easily aided him with his intrusion. A loud, drawn-out moan left your lips when he pushed in even further. When he added another finger, your back arched deliciously, breasts shaking as more heady moans spilled out from your lips.

The sensation of his fingers inside you was euphoric and addicting but they weren't enough to give you what you wanted. You needed more, more friction ― so you began to grind your hips, pushing more of his fingers into you. At long last, you felt yourself getting closer to the edge. Bakugou noted the way your hips faltered and quickened his pace, but pulled away when he thought you would reach your end. Your legs were already trembling and you could feel your arousal trickling down your inner thigh. Shooting the male a glare, you pressed your lips together as a whine escaped your lips.

He was impatient of the foreplay―you could see that in the way he switched your positions and rubbed his erection against your sopping entrance. You leaned your head to the side, eyes shutting as you felt his hands roam all over your body. The position made you feel vulnerable but at the same time, you feel so loved. Bakugou aligned his hard cock at your entrance, pushing forward slowly. He kept his gaze on you, scrutinizing every single expression you made.

"Katsuki," you called, gently squeezing tugging at his wrist once his cock was buried inside you.

"Hold my hand, please." your voice was gentler and much quieter this time. How could he refuse such a request from you? Especially when you were looking at him as if he was everything to you. He grabbed your extended hand and squeezed it gently, your fingers intertwining with each other.

He began to rock his hips back and forth, fervently chasing after the release he sought for. The bed creaked underneath your bodies, everything sounded much louder in the quiet room. Your moans, the squelching and skin slapping, it was enough to drive him insane. With the addition of the alluring sight beneath him, he was certain he could cum right on the spot. His focus was entirely on you and only you. The way you shut your eyes, lips parting open with nothing but moans of pleasure escaping them and how your breasts shook ― it was a sight he wouldn't ever want to forget.

"Katsuki....you’re so big.....A-Ah! You feel so good.....!" you moaned, eyes fluttering open. He watched as you moved your hand to cup your own breasts, massaging them and lightly tugging at your nipples. Your moans increased in pitch and he couldn't help but move faster.

"Fuck....! So fucking tight every time!" he groaned against your skin, his entire body shaking as he came. You felt his semen spurt at your entrance, filling you to the brim and mixing with your own cum. It was overflowing to the point that your mixed juices began to trickle down your inner thighs the moment he pulled out from you. Bakugou let out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding in and laid down right next to you.

"I love you, Katsuki." you smiled one last time before sleep took over your body. Bakugou's eyes trailed over to your hands which were still holding onto his own, albeit a little loose.  He tightened his grip a little and hovered over you, pressing a kiss on your forehead.

"I love you too."

He knew at that moment, living without you was suffocating.

Total: 2917 words Published: 13.06.2019

So, we accidentally deleted the request and we discovered this when we wanted to put an image together with the request... We didn’t remember the full details of the request so we did our best. Hope you liked it! ― author Lou

We expected to go over 3k words but it only ended up with 2,9k. We didn’t want to bore the readers with a super lengthy story sooo We did our best, hope everyone enjoyed it! ― author Natsuki

Please do not mind the grammar mistakes and typos.

[recentanimenews]

Licensing of the Monsters: How Pokémon Ignited An Anime Arms Race

  "Hey, what do ya' got there? A rabbit?" Batman asks his mentor, staring at a video of Pikachu on a massive underground computer screen.

  "It's a Pokémon," Bruce Wayne replies.

  Five seconds later, Batman is shocked so hard by the tiny yellow creature that he ends up flying headfirst through another computer monitor (Using a clip from the "Blackout" episode of Batman Beyond, an episode that would've aired for the first time just days earlier.) It doesn't make much physical sense, but this bizarre 1999 crossover promo did establish two things: 1) Pokémon was coming to Kids' WB, and 2) Pokémon was important. So important that Batman actually took time away from obsessing over crime and vengeance to care about it.

  Echoing a 1997 promo where the comedic Bugs Bunny let us in on the "secret" that the serious, dark Batman was coming to Kids' WB, it almost seems like a passing of the torch. Kids' WB, up until then, was a programming service chock full of classic Warner Bros. cartoon properties like Bugs, Daffy, Pinky, Brain, and various members of the Justice League — all animated Americana. 

Pokémon wasn't a huge risk as the 4Kids Entertainment dub of the show had done well in broadcast syndication, they had plenty of episodes to work with (sometimes airing three in a row), and it was based on a game series that was already a worldwide smash hit.

  But the show was ... different.

  And it would end up changing cartoons as we knew them.

  Part 1: Batman Jumps Ship

  It's hard to think of a better scenario when it comes to appealing to kids than the one Fox Kids had with Batman: The Animated Series. Debuting in September 1992 and airing on weekdays just after school let out, it received immediate acclaim due to its moody, beautiful animation and storytelling that didn't talk down to anyone. Little kids could get into Batman throwing crooks around and adults could marvel at plots like the one where a former child actress with a medical condition that keeps her from aging takes her former co-stars hostage and ends up holding a gun, hallucinating, and sobbing into Batman's arms.

  It did so well that Fox tried to air it on prime-time Sundays and though this was short-lived — turns out, Batman was no match for Ed Bradley on CBS's 60 Minutes — it solidified the show as "cool." This was a show that could hang with the big boys. You couldn't say the same of something like Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.

  And then, in 1997, it was gone. A five-year contract ran out and Batman leapt completely to Kids' WB, where a continuation of the show (the often even grimmer The New Batman Adventures) aired later that year. There, it joined Superman: The Animated Series in a one-two punch of programming called The New Batman/Superman Adventures. When it came to Kids' WB, competitors not only had to deal with the Merry Melodies crowd, they now had to face the World's Finest Heroes.

  This, along with a departing Animaniacs, left Fox Kids with a gap in flagship programming. Sure it had various incarnations of the Power Rangers (which was still holding strong) and Spider-Man, but if you look back on 1998 programming, little of it would survive the year. Silver Surfer? Gone by May. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation? Out by December. Casper? Dead in October. By May of 1999, Warner Media would announce record ratings thanks to Pokémon, while its competitors, including the Disney-led ABC, Fox, and even Nickelodeon, would suffer losses in the Saturday morning area. Pokemon would have the best ever series premiere numbers for Kids' WB at the time.

    A chunk of that has to do with 4Kids Entertainment's (or to be more specific, 4Kids Productions) handling of the show. Again, Pokémon was a proven concept. If you love monsters, adventure, and collecting things, you'll probably find something to enjoy in the franchise. But the dub was particularly strong. For years, dubbing was seen as an inherently laughable thing in America, full of exasperated voice actors trying desperately to convince you that they weren't portraying three different characters, and lips that didn't match the dialogue. Entire Japanese series were reduced to laughing stocks in the U.S. because why focus on the lovingly created miniatures and top-notch tokusatsu action in Godzilla if one of the actors sounds weird?

  But while Pokémon wasn't the first great dub, it was a remarkably underrated one. Veronica Taylor's work as Ash Ketchum was relatable, funny, and consistent. And Racheal Lillis, Eric Stuart, and Maddie Blaustein's turns as Team Rocket's Jessie, James, and Meowth gave us villains that could've easily been the most repetitive parts of the show  — you can only try to capture Pikachu so many times before you should logically find a second hobby — but instead were one of the most entertaining aspects.

  Aside from some easily meme-able bits — Brock's drying pan and jelly donuts, for example — Pokemon became a seamless addition to the Kids' WB lineup and would end up giving many fans a lifelong love of anime. And it was great for 4Kids, too, as in 2000, they would be number one on Fortune's 100 Fastest-Growing Companies.

  Fox Kids wanted an answer to this. And it would soon find one.

  Well, two.

  Part 2: Monsters Rule

  Saban Entertainment was no stranger to Fox Kids. They'd been the one to adapt Toei's Super Sentai into The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers for American and international audiences, creating an unexpected sensation that combined monsters and martial arts. And in 1999, they nabbed Digimon Adventure, a series about kids that gain "digital" monster partners when transported to a "digital world," which had begun airing earlier that year in Japan. Based on a fighting virtual pet that had already been around for a few years, Digimon was a natural fit for an anime series and also a natural fit for a climate that was desperately trying to find the next Pokémon.

  Renamed Digimon: Digital Monsters, it premiered in August of 1999. Of course, accusations followed that it was a Pokémon rip-off, considering that they were both about befriending terrifying laser critters, but they offered fairly different things. While Pokémon was more episodic, Digimon gave viewers a more Dragon Ball Z-esque experience (they were both Toei productions, too) with the titular monsters evolving and gaining "power-ups" due to fighting increasingly powerful villains.

  Almost two months later, Monster Rancher would join the Fox Kids lineup, airing on Saturdays at 8:30 AM after Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century (a Fox Kids lost relic if there ever was one). Together, Monster Rancher and Digimon would cover the programming block with monster action, sometimes airing twice each. Meanwhile, Pokémon would do the same for Kids' WB, and if you look at their Saturday morning schedules from 1999 and 2000, it appears they just shoved Pikachu in whenever possible.

  Looking back on Monster Rancher is always odd, though, because it's so specifically trapped in the time period where it originated. The video games used metadata from readable discs to create new monsters for the player, meaning that as soon as people gained the ability to download or stream media online without having to travel to their local Circuit City, the game would look absolutely archaic in comparison to its peers.

  Monster Rancher is a very fun show based on some very fun games, and the dynamic array of personalities and their particular squabbles in the core group actually reminds me a lot of One Piece. But even the show itself deals with reviving monsters on giant stone discs — a prehistoric-looking adaptation of a video game gimmick that would, a decade later, appear prehistoric itself.

  The Monster War was waged across 2000 and 2001. And though it appears Pokémon was the clear winner — in 2020, it's the most popular franchise with the widest reach, even if Digimon does produce some stellar shows and movies — the ratings tell a different story. In the May sweeps of 2000, Pokémon (and Kids' WB) took the prize among kids 6-11, but in the end, Fox Kids would score a victory of a 3.1 rating to Kids' WB's 3.0 (the first sweeps win since 1997, the year that Batman left.)

    Early the following year, Fox Kids would score again, narrowly beating Pokémon on Saturday morning in the same timeslot and even coming ahead of properties like X-Men. And what would propel this February 10th victory? The first appearance of BlackWarGreymon, the Shadow the Hedgehog to WarGreymon's Sonic.

  However, Pokémon would still help create ratings records for Kids' WB, even though late 2000/early 2001 saw a slide that would often cede dominance to Nickelodeon. Jed Patrick, who was president of The WB at the time said: "I didn't think Pokémon would fall off as much as it did ... every fire cools down a little, but that doesn't mean it doesn't stay hot."

  Even though, in retrospect, claims that "Pokemania" had died seem a little ridiculous — the latest games, Pokémon Sword and Shield, just became the highest-selling entries in seventeen years — big changes were ahead.

  Part 3: It's Time To Duel ... Or Not

  In early 2001, Joel Andryc, executive VP of kids' programming and development for Fox Kids, was looking for a "Digimon companion series to create an hour-long anime block." He felt they were too reliant on Digimon, as they were airing it three times in a single morning. Likely not coincidentally, that summer Fox Kids Fridays were dubbed "anime invasion," advertising Flint The Time Detective, Dinozaurs, Escaflowne, and Digimon. In one commercial, a single quote zips across the bottom of the screen: "Anime Rocks!" Nicole, TX

  That it does, Nicole from Texas.

  Meanwhile, 4Kids Entertainment would provide Kids' WB with another monster show: Yu-Gi-Oh! Known as Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters in Japan, this anime adaptation absconded from retelling the stories found in the early chapters of the manga — which were mostly devoted to Yugi running into jerks, only to have his Egyptian spirit "alter ego" deal karmic retribution on them — and instead focused on the parts that involved the cool monster fights. So basically the parts that were the most like Pokémon.

  But how would this be received? In 2000, Canadian studio Nelvana had licensed the anime Cardcaptor Sakura and turned it simply into Cardcaptors — an extremely edited version that removed many important relationships and plotlines and tried to streamline the show into a pseudo-Pokémon story. It's gone down in history as one of the most questionable dubs ever, and never really made a splash on Kids' WB. So they wouldn't want a repeat of that.

  But would kids be into a card game? The cards did summon monsters, but in Pokémon and Digimon, the monsters are just there, moving around and not relegated to a glorified checkers board arena. It turned out, yes, kids would be REALLY into that. Yu-Gi-Oh! debuted at number one in multiple demographics in September 2001, and would remain a steady part of its lineup for years to come.

    And how did Fox Kids respond? Did the "anime invasion" work out? Well, sort of, but not in the way they were hoping.

  In 2001, due to diminishing ratings and audiences, Fox Kids Worldwide (along with Fox Family Worldwide) were sold to The Walt Disney Company. By November 7th, they'd canceled their weekly afternoon blocks, and the next year, they'd end up selling their entire Saturday morning block to a company that had provided their rivals with the very same TV shows that aided in sinking them: 4Kids Entertainment. The final show to premiere on the original Fox Kids was Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension, a live action series that stood beside Alienators: Evolution Continues (a cartoon sequel to the mediocre 2001 comedy Evolution) and the underrated Medabots as the block's last gasp. 

  Renamed FoxBox in late 2002 (and later 4KidsTV in 2005), the 4Kids run schedule would, over the years, include anime like Kirby! Right Back At Ya!, Ultimate Muscle, Fighting Foodons, Sonic X, Shaman King, and eventually, in 2004, the infamous One Piece dub. The first Saturday of the new FoxBox lineup would also outdo the previous Saturday's Fox Kids lineup. Disney would acquire the rights to Digimon and it showed up on ABC Family in late 2001 (eighteen years later, a reboot of the original series would air, which can be watched on Crunchyroll).

  Eventually, in 2007, the Monster War would come full circle. 4Kids Entertainment announced they would be taking over the Kids' WB Saturday morning block entirely, renaming it the "CW4KIDS," as The CW had been born after UPN and The WB had ceased to be. Pokémon was long gone by this point, having been dropped by Kids' WB in 2006, and was now overseen by The Pokémon Company International on Cartoon Network.

  "We wish Pokémon USA much success going forward," the CEO of 4Kids Entertainment said. Later sued over "illegal agreements" regarding the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, the company would eventually file for bankruptcy in 2016. Pokémon Journeys, the latest installment in the franchise, launches on Netflix on June 12th. 

      Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[maleyanderecafe]

Hero Yandere VS Villain Yandere

Hello again! Today we’re going to be talking about a Hero yandere vs a Villainous one. I think this topic has been discussed before, but I mean we can always discuss it again! I’ll be taking note of @thatyanderecritic‘s posts on Selfless Yanderes Vs. Selfless Yanderes and the discussion of yanderes from @violetosprey  and @thatyanderecritic’s Redeemable Yanderes, so if you haven’t read that, you might wanna at least skim it so you know what I’m talking about during certain points.

Before I go on, I want to clarify what I mean by a Hero and a Villain yandere. A “Hero” yandere is not necessarily a protagonist character and a “villain” yandere isn’t necessarily the antagonist.  In general, a hero yandere is one that the story wants you to root for while a villain yandere is one that the story wants you to be against. For instance, a hero yandere is a character like Onyu from Metronome or a character like  Satō Matsuzaka from Sugar Life. In general, these are characters, who, while definitely not the most moral of characters, are ones that we root for. Meanwhile, a villian yandere is a character like Mandarin Kim from Cherry Boy, That Girl or Kish from Tokyo Mew Mew. Of course, it doesn’t mean that villian yanderes can’t be rooted for, it just means that they are rooted against in the story. 

So first, let’s talk about Hero Yanderes. According to u/Thenamesevan Writing Yandere Characters: Part Three - Heroic/Romantic Yanderes, “A heroic/romantic yandere stands a pretty good chance of having a legitimately happy ending with their beloved.” and “A crucial part of writing a heroic yandere is that, unlike the other two mentioned, there must be a greater threat to our protagonist than this character.” I think both of these tend to be pretty true if you’re writing a yandere that is the hero of the story. Unless the yandere either sacrifices themselves for their loved one or somehow dies suddenly in the story, the yandere hero tends to have a good ending with their loved one. 

The second part deserves its own paragraph because I’m going to talk about this a lot more. If you think back to a lot of the different types of hero yanderes, the reason why we root for them is because the yandere is the best case scenario for the s/o. While the s/o may not like being with the yandere, as compared to possible other outcomes for the s/o, being with the yandere is the best case of survival.  For instance in the case of Onyu and Satō, the greater threat for Onyu is the “curse” that is on Yuna and for Satō the outside world (mainly people who might take away Shio) from Shio. For Onyu’s case, the threat of this “curse” means that Yuna would die, and because Yuna is our main protagonist, plus the fact that the other people who are trying to get Yuna would most likely hurt her either physically or mentally (from what I can remember), thus we will root for him. In the case of Satō, while we could possibly be rooting for another character in the series, we root for her because in this scenario Satō is the best case scenario for Shio, in that she gives her a lot of love and provides a good household for her. The reason why a lot of cases tend to be “yandere vs outside forces” is because generally yanderes aren’t built to be heroic characters. Yanderes are written usually to characters that are two-faced and malicious and have a one track mind for their s/o. Usually the term “love-sick” isn’t one that you would correlate to a heroic type. So to make them a more “heroic” character, usually you’d have to have something worse that you would have to fight against. Usually in this case, the s/o has to deal with really terrible circumstances and the only way they can come out alive is if they team up with the yandere. Sometimes the s/o doesn’t even know that the character they team up with is a yandere, like in the case of Worldend: Debugger, where the s/o doesn’t know that the yandere is a yandere, yet we still root for the both of them because of the scenario they are in.

Now, of course a heroic yandere doesn’t necessarily have to team up with the s/o. In some cases, we would root for the yandere and not for their s/o to win. For instance if the s/o were a extremely evil person, like a mafia member or serial killer and the yandere wants to keep the s/o for themselves by locking them up in their house. While both of these actions are evil, if the yandere is written correctly, we could make the yandere a more heroic yandere type. For instance, if the s/o was a sort of demon that brought humans into an apocalyptic downfall. The yandere, for one reason or another, wishes to stay with the s/o forever by caging them underground so they would be with them forever. Along the way, the yandere is met with human resistance who want to bring the world back to what is was. Meanwhile, the s/o demon wishes to snuff out every last human so that they can take over the world. This scenario also encompasses the “best case scenario” as I’ve put it before. While the yandere is in the wrong for wanting to kidnap their s/o forever against their will, the s/o is a much worse scenario, especially if they completely wipe out the human race and cause the world into ruin. We would root for the yandere in this scenario because they are the “better case” as compared to what would happen if they didn’t. 

This doesn’t really have to be a life or death situation either. This can also be shown in a shoujo manga for example. Hananoi kun to koi no yamai’s Hananoi, Miniamaru Kareshi’s Kusakabe and even Koharu no hibi’s Koharu. In many of these cases, the “yandere” in question is considered good, even if they are strange or obsessive. While generally it can be difficult to have a male yandere “heroic” character in a shojou (since shojous tends to be focused on more slice of life activities and romantic aspects, and hopefully murdering people isn’t part of your normal day activities), that again, doesn’t mean its impossible. However, we might still need to consider the “best case scenario” if you want to keep some of the darker actions of a yandere. For instance, a shoujo about a girl who has a really bad time with dating since all of the people she dates suddenly break up with them. She always gets comforted by a friend who always has the best interest in mind for her. As it turns out this friend is the cause of all of the break ups. However, the reason why the friend forces breakup on all of the guys she dates isn’t simply because he’s in love with the girl, but also because all of the guys she dates want to use her for money or other things. It becomes this friend’s goal get rid of all the people she dates as none of them want an actual relationship with her. In this case, we would root for this yandere as he is a “heroic type” and is trying to get rid of the people she dates to help her in her well being. 

Or perhaps we can turn to redeemed yanderes. See, told you that link on top was semi important! Anyways, redeemed yanderes are basically yanderes that give up their yandere ways, either by having a loving healthy relationship with their loved ones or giving them up so they can be happy. Generally, this is also another case of a “heroic yandere”. In this case, it really is the best scenario as in this case they’ve “outgrown” their yandere phase and will have a happy (or relatively happy) relationship with their s/o. Usually this means that the yandere has a redemption arc and probably has done something bad before having this redemption. In general, these tend to be more difficult to write, but have better characterizations than, say, a yandere from a oneshot. I’m not going to go super deep into them right now, since that’s a topic that other people have gone through already and it would make this way more longer than it already is ( perhaps a future post) but I will say that it can be and is probably is the best kind of heroic yandere. 

Now that I’ve had my long discussion on heroic yanderes, we’re going to turn to the villianous ones instead. Now again, villianous yanderes are ones that the story wants us to be against. Now, that doesn’t mean that they aren’t well written or sympathetic. For instance, Madarin Kim, while not redeemable nor agreeable in his actions, has understandable reasons why he is like the way he is. His clinginess and obsessiveness of Strawberry come from his neglect from his parents, and leaves him extremely scared of people trying to leave him. In many cases,  villain yanderes are considered villains because they go against the s/o, and often they tend to be extremely selfish and manipulative. In a lot of cases, these characters tend to be morally in the wrong, and if they are one shot yandere villains, either reform or die in the part that they were in.  Villain yanderes tend to not have much character development, and their motives and reasons for falling in love with the s/o tend to be misplaced. Usually the reason they’re attached to their s/o is related to their past, usually neglect tends to be the main reason, but it can also be other things like being reborn, having a condition, really a lot of things. Their actions for trying to be with their s/o are often pretty malicious. If it’s not something like murdering people, they might do something such as brainwashing, manipulating blackmailing or really any other kind of means to get with their s/o.In many cases, these yanderes tend to be very two faced, having a softer/ other personality and then their yandere one. In many instances, the s/o and even the audience doesn’t know that these yanderes are villains until later on in the story. A yandere’s characterization is usually aligned with a villainous character anyways, thus it makes perfect sense that yanderes end up in villain like role in one way or another.  

However, the villain yandere might not be really considered a “villain” at all. The only real requirement of a villain yandere is one that the story wants you to root against or the s/o is trying to go against. This means that morally, the villain yandere might not be much of a villain and may resemble more of a hero. This can be a bit difficult to pull off as like I’ve said before, yanderes tend to end up in a villain like role and are usually more malicious than good. But in this kind of situation, it usually means that the s/o would be more morally in the wrong. If you mix this up with a good premise/ goal, then this story would work. 

For instance, an example would be a story about a delinquent girl in a gang and a yandere police officer trying to stop her. The delinquent girl and her gang are constantly beating up people to a pulp and destroying property and the police officer is trying to stop her. Perhaps the officer is trying to convince the delinquent girl to live with him and become reformed in the hopes that she will date him. He could have yandere tendencies like attempting to stalk her so she doesn’t get hurt or arresting/shooting people that might destroy her future or might hurt her and are considered dangerous criminals. The delinquent girl then perhaps doesn’t want to be with the police officer because perhaps she doesn’t believe in the police force and is trying to reform it, or perhaps must find a younger sister or a special item that can only be created through violence. In this scenario, we would see the police officer isn’t morally in the wrong after all, he is still doing justice for the city, but we would also see why we would be against the police officer, as it would mean that the delinquent might not achieve her goals. We could also make the delinquent more sympathetic and the police officer more morally gray if we wanted to round their characters out more. For instance if the delinquent made a promise with their parents to take care of her sister and the police officers goal of “getting rid of crime in the city” was based off of something in their past that they couldn’t go against and were willing to become more violent and ruthless to get rid of them, thus them trying to turn the delinquent into a more harmless person.

Anyways, I hope you like this post! If you have anything else you’d like me to analyze for yanderes please tell me.

[babes-and-baddies]

I just read @codenamesazanka’s post (+some responses) about the issues with a ‘#1 hero’ ranking, and it ties into a lot of stuff I was already planning on writing about with how exactly this mindset self-generates and offshoots into everything else so I figured I’d write it here! I don’t know if Hori himself considered this view (it would be amazing if he did!), but the explanation that would make best sense in-universe? Is that this “#1 Hero” system seems like a bad idea because it is bad- and was designed to be.

I feel like this whole issue has to do with economics and how heroes are paid, mixed in with the value of public image and discrimination towards weak/lacking/dangerous quirks, the social emphasis on individual strength and image, as well as how that image perpetuates trust beyond the heroes means and stifles civilians inclination to help eachother. It all sorta jumbles together into one huge, complicated, interconnected, and unhealthy mess, just like real life does!

Disclaimer: this is gonna get long, and it’s very pessimistic about how things are and I’m probably going to be called a villain sympathizer which, y’know, isn’t wrong, but this is just really interesting and fun to look into. 

So to get this started: money.

It’s unclear how exactly heroes are evaluated for pay -though it seems competitive if Mt. Lady’s intro is anything to go by- but most likely it’s based on fulfilling specific pre-agreed upon tasks efficiently. There’s the normal heroes, rescue heroes, etc- and i’m willing to bet that they each have their own rigid set of expectations. 

It’s not about doing what’s the most good; it’s about doing what fits their job as a specific kind of hero. And as we saw with when Stain fought Midoriya, Iida, and Todoroki, ‘what’s necessary’ doesn't always line up with ‘what’s allowed’. Doing what’s right is not only sometimes separate from hero work, but also discouraged in some cases with heavy penalty, potentially even the loss of their hero license. It’s a system that says, ‘Be strong, be flashy, play by the rules, and you’ll rank high. Rank high, and you’ll have more security and freedom.’  Following that mindset is a requirement of being a hero, even though it doesn’t help the public or even the heroes themselves. 

Likewise All Might mentions that heroes don’t participate in public service anymore (like cleaning trashed-up beaches), and I have to wonder how many don’t because they don’t have the time to. 

After all, if only Top Ranking Heroes get paid a lot for hero work, most heroes need to turn to other sources of a living- such as modelling, advertising, endorsing, etc. It’s been alluded to several times, such as with Uwabami towards Yaomomo and Kendo, that, at least for the girls, these extra media jobs are central to doing herowork! Even male heroes such a Present Mic have side-jobs, and I wonder as well for whether they’re because he wants to, or because they’re financially necessary. This all also leads to fierce competition. While heroes can in cases work well together, it’s shown as early as ep. 1 that there is also infighting and lack of communication, such as when Mt. Lady created unnecessary property damage in order to do nothing more than steal Kamui Wood’s thunder (and in extension, money). 

While at UA there are times where they students are forced to work together, overall it seems like communication and cooperativeness is something optional and never taught. And if Endeavour is any indication, it’s something they’re never expected to learn.

All of this creates a situation where heroes are limited in what they’re able to do. Helping others is most practical to do while working as a term and providing everyone with support, but things are set up with a Strong Lone Hero type ideal. 

They have to constantly look out for their image since it’s their source of income, they have to allocate their time carefully between hero-ing and jobs for money, etc. None of that leaves much opportunity to focus on other central aspects of helping others, such as helping local communities or volunteer work.

So how does this matter outside of the fact that it limits the amount of good that can be done? For starters, it can work as one of the main tools to maintain the hero industry: creating an environment which allows for villains to be created. Not to get too political, but this can lead to a strong parallel between the BNHA universe and our own, or at least many prominent societies irl.

There are countless types of people who turn to villainy, and while some are genuinely evil people who would do wrong in any situation, it’s most likely that the majority of villains are small-fry who did minor or non-violent crimes, just like in real life. And what leads to so many of today’s crimes? Economic disparity, lack of other options, and discrimination.

To start with disparity: public service is already undervalued irl, and I can assume it is over in the BNHA universe as well. Since villains are needed to maintain the hero vs villain rate to keep heroism acting as an industry, there needs to be enough villains. So for those who are controlling and benefiting from the system there would be active interest in maintaining conditions where villains would be created.

An easy way to do this would be by making it harder for heroes to help with community outreach, so that those in need have less practical avenues to get any while at the same time maintaining a cultural idea that heroes are able to save everyone, even in non-villain scenarios, and therefore civilians don’t need to get involved. 

I know that, luckily, lots of people wouldn't fall for it and would still try to take care of their own without heroes involvement, but having a sociocultural and political system invested in maintaining its power would certainly make it harder for the smaller communities where more villains come from to find enough resources.

At the same time, what is one clear example of discrimination shown time and time again in BNHA, something routinely shown in both extreme positive and negative light? Quirks. There’s probably a reason why there are no quirkless heroes, or why Shinsou had such a hard time to get his foot in the door at UA; their society and culture idolizes powerful quirks and overlooks/fears those who have quirk statuses that are deemed not good enough. 

Those with flashy quirks become ‘good’ and those with dangerous quirks become ‘bad’, despite everyone having no control over what quirk they eventually manifest. These people are underrepresented in groups of power, and looked down upon in different contexts. While this won’t in and of itself lead to villainy, it does a first step of ostracising someone from society.

At the same time, there’s a parallel idolization of heroes which aims to create trust in them, for both big and small things- they can save you from a villain, but they can also let you in on a secret of the best shampoo for every hair type for super luscious locks. They can clear debris, but they can also be a hero in every moment of the days, helping others. This is the image that sells, and it’s the image that maintains trust. 

It’s also the image that makes people see an injured and afraid child crying for help and happily think ‘a hero will save him’; it doesn’t matter that it’s improbable, because it’s what the media and hero industry has continually led them to believe. Even the most kind and well-meaning people can be susceptible to incorrect beliefs shared by those they trust.

Villains on the other hand are universally shown as irredeemable, where all of them are viewed as scum of the earth regardless of the severity of their crimes. This helps maintain the image that the hero industry needs to continue to sell itself. Heroes are always good and always win, villains are always bad and always lose. We can trust heroes, so we can trust the system, and we can trust what heroes are paid to tell us. Strong flashy quirks are good because heroes have them and heroes are good. We don’t need to get involved. Everything’s simple and we’re all in the right since we support heroes and we don’t need to worry, yay! The belief system is simple, it makes people feel good, and I understand how it could be appealing. 

Even when Midoriya looked past the idea that heroes would always win, and he went to save Katsuki from the sludge villain, he was admonished for it. While that’s fair because he’s a child and shouldn’t put himself into danger like that, it’s not hard to see how that reflects a wider mindset- not only do civilians not need to help others when there are heroes to do so instead, but it’s bad if civilians do heroes’ jobs for them. 

That would be relatively fine if heroes could always help; it’s shown both here and in canon that that often isn’t the case regardless of how much most heroes genuinely want to help people as best they can.

And of course there are people realizing things feel wrong. But even when there’s criticism of hero society, such as Stain’s ideology and it’s popular reception, it keeps failing to recognize the underlying causes of what’s going on. Heroes aren’t universally shallow and greedy any more than quirkless people are weak victims or people with dangerous quirks are evil. 

As long as the criticisms are like Stain’s in nature, which place the responsibility solely on the shoulders of individual heroes rather than the society as a whole and the people who benefit from how things are set up -the media, corporations which profit off of trust in the Hero Image, politicians which understand how things are set up and use it to improve their image- the system is never going to change. But this is a whole other topic deserving of its’ own analysis, so I’ll stop there for now.

As an example of where this ties all together, take the hero/villain fight in ep 1. It was a huge fight over a purse snatching- people potentially getting injured, major street damage, etc, all over one purse. And what do the civilians have to say about it? They’re impressed by the villains quirk, wondering why such a good quirk is wasted on someone like him; the villain literally gets called the ‘incarnate of evil’ by Kamui Woods- while purse snatching is bad there are much worse things to do, such as, I don’t know, murder; most importantly, the civilians watch it as entertainment.

Wow, cool, a fight! It doesn’t matter that it’s dangerous, because there are heroes there and therefore everyone’s protected. And if people get hurt, that’s sad, but it’s an exception, bad luck, or the injured person did something wrong like not listening to the heroes! The hero vs villain conflicts have become so normalized, sensationalized even, that people feel separate from the situation, as if they are passive bystanders to everything where everything works out as long as they cheer the heroes on. 

And when there are pro heroes, why would anyone need to think about what makes actual ‘heroes’ in the broader sense? They trust the pros, so they trust the system- even though it’s the system which controls the pros.

So as far as I can see- there shouldn’t be a number one hero! The very concept could play into a self-serving system which priorities public image over actually doing good, and in fact would be part of what allows the hero/villain conflict to be so rampant in BNHA’s society! And considering all the potential implications of that, maybe the LOV have a point, even if it’s not as simple as they make it out to be.

At least there’s still hope in the form of 1-A and the other up-and-coming future heroes, and maybe one day they’ll be able to work together and change things into a better, healthier, more cooperative hero system.

[glittermemories]

“Rockcandy” MHA: OC Story

Okashi Shuga Battle Trial

Today starts off with All Might telling the students that they will be doing a Battle Trial. The purpose was to help the students prepare for an indoor battle with villains which happens more often than not. They have to draw lots and are paired into either groups of heros or villians. Shuga drew about 2nd to last and was paired with Mina to be a Hero team. She waved to the alien-like girl and did an Air-five. Shuga looked next to her and saw her dear red headed shark boy was slightly sulking as he was chosen to be a villain group and also got a missed opportunity to fight side by side with her. “Aww.. You are in the villian group? Well it’s ok, i’m sure there will be plenty of other opportunities to fight together!” She said as she ruffled his hair a little. He laughed and agreed but “What if you are the hero group we have to fight? I don’t want to fight you...or have to hurt you..” She looked at him and held his face in her hands as she smiled brightly “It’s ok! We are supposed to be heros right? This is just a test. Even if you or I get hurt by one another we will be ok. If it helps you can go after Mina instead of me. Who did you get paired with?” Mina looked over and agreed “Yeah I'll fight you!” He looked back to Shuga “Ok. but my partner is Hanta.” Shuga smiled “This will be a cakewalk! I will take care of him if I have to. Just believe in your girl and everything will be fine!” She winked at him. He blushed at the words she said but agreed “Yeah! This will be great! I’m excited!” The girl smiled brightly “There’s my shark boy! All happy and excited. My sweet bean.” She hugged him tightly while he mumbled while blushing “None of those names are manly...it's alright though I can handle it.” He patted her head and again Bakugo yelled “GET A ROOM ALREADY!” the pinkette turned and death glared at him “Actually it would have been better to fight you! I would have been more prepared to beat your butt and win.” Bakugo just scoffed “Someone like you could ever take me on.” She turned “YOU WANNA GO MEATHEAD?!” He stood up “YEAH LETS GO! I”LL FIGHT YOU PRINCESS!” Mr. Aizawa scolded the both of them “Sweets, Bakugo that's enough! We have other things to attend to then your bickering..” She sat back down with a huff and mumbled words of frustrations under her breath. Kirishima grabbed her hand and held it just rubbing his thumb over her hand to calm her down. She looked at him and kissed his cheek once again and leaned against his shoulder. “My sweet shark boy..” 

All Might let the students know they would be able to receive their hero costumes for this. Everyone was excited, the furball on Shuga’s desk sat up “Hey sparkle, everyone gets their hero costumes today...but i already have one basically. What do I do?” The cat turned around “Well just explain that the reason you don’t need them to design one for you is because you already have one.” the pink haired girl raised her hand “Mr. All Might, Sir, Uh I kinda…” She was cut off “Ah Miss Okashi, Your uncle was kind enough to explain things to me already. So you're good to go. Just please let us know if you do ever need anything.” She nodded  “Yes Sir!” All Might went on to explain the scenario that they were going to be in and answered any questions the students had. Later on they found out which team would be with who and for a second Shuga thought she wouldn’t be paired with Kirishima and Hanta so she was slightly relieved. “Oh it looks like we might not have to fight each other. That's a relief.” Mina turned to her “Actually Okashi-chan it looks like we are…” She was having a slight panic attack now. “Great, just great..” Kirishima looked to her “I thought you said I need to trust my girl?” she blushed “I-I did...And you can definitely trust me! I won’t go easy on you guys!” She was extremely nervous now and hoped her poker face would hide it. He kinda looked at her but nodded and went back to talking to Hanta.

 Secretly he was nervous as well but he had to be a man and deal with it. She pulled out her head phones and started listening to a song so it would help her get more excited about this and less sketchy. She handed one to Mina “Here want to listen, it should help a bit. Its helping me A LOT.” Mina listened “OH I LOVE THIS SONG!” They both started singing the lyrics to each other, even going as far as to do the dance moves in the song which were more like karate moves. Some students turned to watch the two. Mr Aizawa mumbled to All Might as they stayed watching the big screen together “You know if she wasn’t my niece I would say she would be Hizashi’s daughter with her vocals sometimes.” All Might just laughed “Kids these days.” Back to the girls they were singing a different song now and it was making Kirishima blush and Hanta very not ok with Mina being that close to his face. “Uuhhh Shuga..stop..I can’t handle you doing that.” Shuga smirked “Oh really?” She got really close to his face and then just kissed his cheek and giggled backing away “Ok i’ll stop I'm sorry.”  Kirishima just nervously laughed and rubbed the back of his neck “I-it’s ok I just wasn’t expecting that from you.” She smiled and hummed walking away to go look at the screen with her uncle not noticing that Mina had basically turned Hanta into a stuttering mess as she forced herself on the poor boy and full on made out with him. Kirishima just walked away slowly and went to watch the screen as well. 

Mr. Aizawa spoke to them “Are you guys ready it’s almost your turn?” Shuga smiled at her uncle “Yes Mr. Aizawa we are ready.” He turned towards the door as Ochaco, Iida, Bakugo, and Midoriya returned. “Ok Villains go first. Then Heros after.” Mina got off of Hanta and the boy just kinda stumbled over to Kirishima in a daze “Mina what did you do to him??” She laughed “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Both of the boys left and got in their positions in the building. All Might turned to the girls “Are you ready? This will be a true test of how you handle being in a team of heroes, and working together.” The girls nodded and ran out to the training field. “Give me the power of Cure Black and Cure White!” in a flash she transformed into her dark purple dress and of course her hair changed back to its purple version. The hair decoration turned to a black and white ribbon. “Hey Mina, Do you think having Sparkle with us is considered cheating?” Mina looked at the black creature running alongside them “Well as long as she doesn’t turn into a human like in that one episode of Sailor Moon I think it will be ok. She's more like your mini bodyguard sort of just.. In cat form.” Shuga laughed “Well that's true she did threaten to scratch out Kiri’s eyes if he hurt me.” Mina looked to the girl “Kiri?? Hurt you?? What's up with the nickname? And her getting that defensive?” While still running “Well...uh it happened my first day. Kiri was the nickname I gave him, but we are now on a first name basis so It’s really Eijiro.” Mina slapped her on the back almost causing the purple haired girl to trip over. “Wow girl you move fast. It's only been what? Like a week or two? I’m happy for you and him. I think he really needs someone like you. Someone sweet and bubbly. You are the perfect fit for the..ehem..Manly and strong Kirishima.” She blushed as they made it to the building “You mean it? I really like him a lot.” Mina nodded they both opened the door carefully and closed it the same.

 Shuga whispered “It too quiet...where are they? Maybe they are on the top floor??” Mina said i’ll check the first floor you go up to the second “Are you sure? Yeah if we are careful enough we might be able to get the jump on them!” Shuga nodded and started walking to the second floor quickly but quietly. “Its nerve wracking with people watching…where are they?!” Mina soon caught up with her and grabbed her almost causing the girl to scream she slapped a hand over her mouth “Gosh Mina what the heck? Anyway, I think they are on the top floor so the question is do we try to jump them by creating a distraction to split them up or do we just go in full force and attack?” Mina thought for a bit “I can create a distraction I think. You hide and i’ll lure out Hanta.” The girl had a mini panic attack *What no! If she does that i’ll have to fight Eijiro myself while she’s taking on Hanta! Ugh I guess it's for the best.* “Yeah that's true because if he used his quirk on me. Like if would disadvantage me if he used the tape to cover my mouth. I wouldn’t be able to really use my quirk. Plus i know you want an excuse to see him.” The pink girl just sighed in defeat “Maybe..anyway go hide.”the girl hid on the third floor behind an open door. Mina got close to the top floor and called out “Oh Hanta! Hanta! Please save me! My own partner has turned on me and I'm trapped!” Shuga snickered *way to play the victim card* With the boys they were on edge waiting for the girls to come at any moment until they heard Mina’s voice shouting and it threw them off. To hear that Shuga would turn on her?? For what purpose? Was this part of the test?? Kirishima was confused but Hanta started to slowly walk away “Be on guard Kirishima. I don’t know if this is a trick or not so stay here just in case!” He nodded “Ok man, just be careful!” Hanta walked down the stairs. The girls heard footsteps and hear Hanta “Mina?? Where are you? What do you mean Shuga turned on you?” Mina started fake crying “Oh! She was so mean, and she told me she was better off on her own then she shoved me on the ground and ran off. Wahhh!” Hanta found mina in the middle of the hallway with sitting there looking all sad “Well if that's the case then here let me help you.” She frowned “ahhhhwahhh! But your a villian! How will I know that your not going to just capture me?? Please Hanta, don’t capture me! I’ll love you forever just don’t capture meeeeee!!!” Hanta looked shocked but just caved “ugh...ok fine I won’t capture you. Here let me help you up.” When she gripped his hands Shuga slowly came out from around the door quietly.  Mina used her acid quirk on Hanta’s arms “I’m sorry Hanta, this will probably hurt ...a lot.” Before he could react to the acid on his arm he heard a voice behind him “Black thunder!!” Shiga gripped the black lightning in her palm wincing a bit “White thunder!!” the same with the other hand but white lightning. Hanta struggled to get away but his arms caused him too much pain. Shuga threw her hands forward as a swirl of black and white shot out of them “Pretty Cure! MARBLE SCREW!!” Hanta couldn’t move and was directly hit he screamed out in pain. All Might looked to Aizawa as they watched the scene unfold “Maybe that was a bit much from her?” Aizawa just continued to look at the screen “Nah, it’s just going to put him in an unconscious state.” The other students freaked out “UNCONSCIOUS???”

 Mina and Shuga used Hanta’s tape to tie him up to a pole. Shuga looked a bit concerned “Maybe that was too much??” Mina looked to her “It’s ok, i’m sure he’ll be fine. Now it's on to your boyfriend. I hope you are prepared for this.” Shuga frowned a bit “Maybe if I just run in there and just attack him it will be better?” Mina didn’t know what to do. They couldn’t do the same thing they did to Hanta to Kirishima, he might be anticipating the fact that Hanta was captured. Shuga just started walking forward. “Mina stay here with Hanta. I’ll deal with my little shark boy.” Mina gave her a thumbs up “Good luck Shuga!” 

She slowly ascended the stairs getting more nervous the closer she got to the top floor. “Black Thunder!” again the same thing happened “White thunder!” She walked into the room slightly wincing “H-hey Eijiro! Sweetheart…” Kirishima heard her voice and looked up jumping in front of the cashe. “Shuga...Where’s Hanta? And Mina? Is that one of your powers?” He watched the lighting flashing about. The other students watched in awe as Ochaco spoke “Is she going to use the same attack again? Is this what she meant about certain Magical girls have limited abilities that can get repetitive?” Mr Aizawa responded “Yes, but the ones she chose today have a couple different variations with this attack.” Back to Kirishima and Shuga looked at each other her still wincing slightly. “Eijiro, p-please let me capture you or you’ll end up like Ser-o” Mina dragged an unconscious Hanta up the stairs and set him down by the door. He had burn marks on his arms and he was covered in glitter. The red-head became a bit distressed but held his resolve “N-never ...It wouldn’t be manly. It doesn’t matter how much I like you. I’m the villain this time!” So she frowned “I wish you hadn’t said that my little shark boy.” She threw her arms forward just as before “Pretty Cure! MARBLE SCREW!!” He thought he had an advantage hearing the same thing from downstairs earlier but he was wrong. He hardened his arms to use as a shield but it was a bit too late “MAX!!” A bigger wave of magical energy flew forward with a blinding light filling the room. She heard Kirishima screech in pain and her heart wretched. Once the light was gone she ran over to him. He was unconscious just like Hanta but he was alive so he would be fine. Mina walked over with the tape from Hanta and tied the two boys together after touching the cache.  Shuga looked at Kirishima worried  “Ok we did it. We captured the villains.”  They heard All Might over the speakers “Ok come back now we will get Kirishima and Hanta. You will hear the results once here.” Shuga and Mina left, Shuga with her head down and Mina just being her cheery self. 

 Upon arrival into the room everyone congratulated them. Recovery girl had fixed up Kirishima and Hanta. Shuga and Mina went and stood next to them. All Might started to critique each individual battle. Then it came to the last group, Kirishima looked down at Shuga. She wouldn’t look at him instead she kept her eyes on the ground. All Might started “And now for the last hero and villain group. Okashi and Mina vs. Kirishima and Hanta. Mina, the plan you came up with was a good one. I’m surprised that Hanta fell for the act. Even though you only used your quirk minimally, the ability to think on your feet and come up with a strategy will make you a great hero!. Good Job!” He turned to Shuga “Miss Okashi, chin up! You did a great job and showed how well your quirk really does in combat. Together you and Mina showed great teamwork. Although I thought maybe you overdid it a bit, to learn that the ability you used can indeed be enhanced not just once but your uncle said there is even a more powerful ability using...who was it Cure Black and Cure White? So even a third time is amazing. I heard your quirk is one that has many different variations. It seems to be very powerful , I know you will be a force to be reckoned with as a Hero. Great Job!” she looked up at him “Thank you Mr. All Might! Thank you so much!” He turned to Kirishima and Hanta “Hanta...Your work was commendable especially for going to help someone who was a victim, even if that victim was faking it shows your compassion and willingness to help. Which are very much needed traits of a hero. But remember not all damsels are in distress.” 

He turned to Kirishima last. “Kirishima, my boy...you did an amazing job. Even though someone you care greatly for was in front of you begging you to give in, you did not. You stood your ground to the very end. That is the true heart of a hero. Even though your team was defeated you did great.”  He turned to the rest of the class, “Everyone did a great job today. I would say you all deserve a good rest.” As he continued talking Kirishima continued to worry about Shuga. He grabbed her hand and just held it not making eye contact with her. He felt her hand squeeze his. The two waited until everyone left. 

Once the last person left he pulled her to him and she just sobbed and sobbed. He wrapped his arms around her and held her there until she was actually able to form a coherent sentence “I-i’m sorry, that was too much force! I shouldn’t have used that move! Why didn’t you let me just capture you? I was so worried when I heard your scream. I didn’t mean to hurt you!” He just shushed her “Shhh. Its ok. I’m ok now. Yes it hurt, but i’m alright. The only reason I didn’t let you capture me is because you told me I had to trust my girl right? Well I did, and you won.” She looked up at him shocked “O-oooh. I’m still sorry.” He responded “Don’t be, I was just doing my job as your boyfriend. I’m very proud of you. You did such a great job and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.” He ruffled her hair “Come on, let's go home.” she nodded and started walking “Wait! C-can I take you to go get ice cream? My treat!” He blushed “What like now? As in...like a d-date..?” She smiled “I-if you want it to be? We’ve never had one before.” He agreed and pulled her with him “Ok, but it wouldn’t be manly to let you pay since you are the girl. You won the battle so I’ll take you out! Let's go!” She giggled and walked alongside him as usual leaning on his arm. And so ends another day and U.A.

[iveonlyeverseenliketwoanimes]

Manga Spoilers ahead :)

So when the new chapters came out I, like many others, was a little annoyed at this whole concept of Deku magically having a bunch of new quirks. I understand that it's been established from the beginning that One For All works as this whole ‘passing on of power’ - but I always understood it as more of an energy than actual individual quirks (and the content given thus far seemed to support this). That said now that is turning out to be the latter, it isn’t something that's caught me off-guard and it very much does make sense and I don’t think it’s ‘Lazy writing’ on Hori’s part, it just hasn’t been explained up until now and if we had learnt how One For All worked all in one single episode at the start of the series I think it wouldn't be as fun of a journey.

One of my main concerns with what's happening is this whole idea of Deku becoming some all-powerful God that no-one can beat, because, lets face it, as powerful as characters like Bakugou and Todoroki are, i don’t think even they would be able to compare to a guy that has a combined total of like 7 quirks, all of which have been cultivated into one massive super-quick that has been held by the former number 1 Pro Hero, so is clearly very powerful. 

So that got me thinking. Why would this happen? Why would a show, that up until now, has been very good with balancing the power levels of its quirks suddenly do a full 180 and just be like ‘Oh yes lil broccoli boi and his rabbit costume can now become God and just breathe in the general direction of his opponents in order to win’?

So, I have a couple points I’d just like to discuss. Feel free to add on anything or challenge my views, im just doing this because im bored and trying to rationalise the decisions in a show made for teenage boys.

So first of i think some people are being a lil bit dramatic about this current arc, sure it’s not perfect and I too wish that some things had played out differently, but at the end of the day it’s not my show/manga and tbh if the guy who made me fall in love with this show to begin with decides he wants to take it in a new direction then let him, he has every right to do what he wants regardless of what i, or anyone else, think and i put my trust in his hands and hope that he can pull this off. Furthermore, are we forgetting that Todoroki exists? The guy has not one, but 2, of the most powerful quirks i think i person could get. His dad is the current number 1 hero and HALF of Todorki’s power is the same as his (sure his maybe works a lil different but my statement stands). Now Ice and Fire, in my opinion, are two very powerful quirks, i mean at like 15/16 the kid took down a dozen or so villans and nearly stopped Nomu (With half his power and with no real training from UA). We compare that to what Deku has and i still think Todoroki has a fighting chance in a match against Deku because these quirks Deku is getting aint all that to be honest, some people are acting like Deku now has; super strength, super speed, telekinesis, can see into the future, mind control, laser eyes, the ability to fully heal on the spot etc. spoiler: He doesn’t. He’s getting some pretty average quirks that will still probably make him top of the class, but not unbeatable. I think some of you are a lil dramatic, and hey i get it, i said at the start i was too, so i feel ya. So, i guess my first point is that some of us need to calm down and maybe just wait until we get more details on the whole situation before we get out our pitchforks and start burning down the fandom over a couple chapters that haven't been fully explored yet. 

My second point that actually has more to do with the plot and less about fandom drama is going back to Bakugou and Todoroki, so my initial thought when everything was happening was “ Bakugou and Todoroki are the other strong members of the class and Deku is now way more powerful than them, how will they ever beat him?” but now actually thinking about it, what does that have to do with anything? Like sure the show is centred around the whole school system and the magical friendships we’re making along the way, but like, Deku’s end goal here isn't to send Todoroki and Bakugou to their graves, they’re just class rivals, and while they do fight, it’ s not to actually kill each other - its to train. Now i’m just going to make a big ol’ assumption here based on basic human nature, but when you train with someone vs when you are actually fighting a villain in a life and death scenario, i don't think you’re going to be fighting at the same effort level. Todoroki vs Deku and Bakugou vs Todoroki were great fights (or at least they were in my opinion) but you compare them to the UA kids vs Stain and you have two very different circumstances and the fights we’re very different for obvious reasons. One was to win a silly little medal and bragging rights. One was to save a friend from literally being murdered by some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle lookin’ dude with no nose. I don’t really think Deku’s new powers will affect the class stuff too much, it’s been established that both Todoroki and Bakugo are more powerful and Deku already and the three of them will never go all out vs each other anyway. So basically my point here is that Bakugou and Todoroki aren’t Deku’s endgame - they’re Deku’s rivals and they’ll be around the whole time, but they’re not Deku’s Villian. So this idea that Deku is now the Number 1 is the clas, while true, really doesn’t matter because Deku is still... Deku and he wants to save people more than he wants to kill them or prove he is the best.

Now children, who is Deku’s Villian? any guesses? Oh yeah, it’s my boy Shiggy (AKA Tomura Shigaraki, AKA Tenko Shimura, AKA Crusty, AKA Get this man some lip balm). Now then. So we have our lil Deku, a young boy of just 16 who has been blessed with 300 new magical quirks (well it's more like 6/7 but that's beside the point here). But who else do we know that probably does actually maybe, kinda, definitely, literally, but also i don't really know, but i think, DOES HAVE 300 QUIRKS?!? It’s none other than Shigaraki’s Master, Mr suit, tie and no face, All For One. Now in one of the recent episodes of the Anime, All Might questions why All For One wants/needs a successor, to which he gives a lil giggle, chats some shit and basic says he wants someone to pass on his legacy to, in the same way that All Might has with Deku. Now I couldn’ t find this exact conversation in the Manga so it might be that the Anime went a lil off script here for drama and whatnot, but when i heard this i was convinced that this meant All For One is going to somehow transfer his quirk into Shigaraki (or maybe take over Shigarakis body or some other nasty stuff - in this world anything is possible), this is also kinda supported by All For One giving a lil giggle to the concept of him being ‘ locked up for the rest of his days’ - the guy clearly thinks he is going to get out and i highly doubt that his current state will allow for him the fight Deku, i certainly do not want to see the lil green troll doll fight a crippled elderly man, but i would like to see him fight a handsome, young, slightly anti-social, gamer nerd. 

So we make it to the end of my lil tale, Deku needs to have all these quirks because his Endgame is Shigaraki and Shigaraki might also be getting a power upgrade in the future and it makes sense, as i don't think some green lightning sparks will defeat some grand-evil mastermind with the powers of all that's evil in this world.... but some black beams that can wrap around stuff might...?

Anyways, i wrote this over the span of two hours, its midnight and i did minimal research into this theory... BUt HEY ITS JUST A THEORY! A GAME ANIME THEORY! And im probably wrong about all of it and also im so sorry for all the sarcastic comments throughout this, i couldn’t contain myself. Im now going to sleep for the next 10 hours because this stressed me out :)

If you’d like to see more of my rambles then heres one on Hori’s female characters

[yourhero404]

hey there! could I ask for some hc or a scenario (whatever works best for you) for tomura. he basically has this fan who has a huge crush on him. they are neither a villain or a hero and don't take sides but they are super smart and good at combat. so they track the LoV down once in a while just to leave a gift for tomura and once they managed to steal a kiss from him.

A/N: omg i went offthe rails im so sorry but i kept the overall idea??? so I really hope you likeit, i enjoyed writing it!! ^^

TOMURA

“‘Aye, Shigaraki-have you read this?”

He heavily sighed asDabi came in the room already asking him questions so early in the morning. Hewas hoping for at least a little peace today, but it seemed the universe hadother things in mind.

“If it interestedyou then no, whatever it is, I’ll be sure to stay far away from it.”

“Haha,” hedrew out sarcastically, “I think you better get interested realquick,” Dabi pressed, laying his phone on the counter in front of him.

The webpage pulled up wasan obnoxious shade of pink with large cursive font spreading across the top- aquick glace on the contents showed a lot of exclamation marks, bold, and allcaps words throughout. Annoyed, Tomura shoved the phone away from him as Togareached over her breakfast and took the opportunity to scroll its contents.

“What kind ofnonsense is that? Are you trying to make fun of me in some sort of idioticway?” he accused, irritation tickling his deadpan tone.

“Hey! That’s socool!” Toga interjected before he and Dabi could interact further. A blushspread across her face as well as some sort of love-stricken expression on herface. “Tomu has an admirer!”

A glare wouldn’t evenbegin to describe the look he gave the phone being held in her hand. Anadmirer? He knew of a few stranger occurrences lately with this one girl… butopenly admiring him? Not possible.

“'Gimme.” Hedemanded, holding his hand out. Reluctantly, she gave the phone to him as herubbed any remaining sleep from his eyes to read the disaster clearly.

“You’ve gotyourself a whacko fangirl, congrats.” Dabi teased, walking out of the roomto dodge the glass being thrown at him- he watched as Toga followed suit,rambling on about some far away hope that her crush would be her futureadmirer.

“What are the twoof them even yammering about…” he muttered, picking up the phone andreading the title out loud, “'Getting HANDSY’?” He groaned at thehorrible pun, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I think Dabi’sright Shigaraki, you should read this in its entirety. Didn’t you mention a lotof strange occurrences lately? And a strange woman who keeps bumping into you? Itcould pose to be problematic to the L.O.V. if it gets too out of hand and we’llhave to deal with her,” Kurogiri advised, prompting him to continuereading aloud.

‘TUESDAY:

               HonestlyI can’t tell you guys enough how much I just love Rara!!!! And how angry Iam!!!! Has anyone watched the news lately?? Why isn’t he getting morerecognition, I want to see more of him!! :(’

“'Rara’?Really?” he only got past the first entry and found himself struggling torefrain from destroying the phone. Her personality was shining through thetext- he couldn’t help but sigh at the possibility that this girl is the sameone who’s been hanging around him for the past few months.

‘THURSDAY:

               You’llnever guess what I found out!!!!! I totally bumped into Rara in town earliertoday and I almost couldn’t believe my eyes!! I got to see him up close! He’s alot cuter in person, I don’t know how others don’t see it

Another sigh. He hadconfirmation that this girl was the same as the one he had been dealing with-her post pretty much mirrored the conversation he had with a girl who had quiteliterally ran into him months ago. At the time, he thought the red tone to hercheeks had been because she was easily flustered that she bumped into him, butnow he realized the stutter was one of infatuation rather than nerves. Shestuck out in his mind because she upset him a little bit- why wasn’t shefearing him?

“She thinksyou’re cute-”

“Shut it Kurogiri.”

'FRIDAY:

               Idid something naughty!! Okay, so, I’m not the type to really do bad things butI couldn’t help myself! I may… have followed Rara home yesterday! I DIDN’T GOIN! I wasn’t going to be like, really creepy or anything! I just needed it forfuture reference!!!!!!’

“Isn’t it alittle too late to be creepy?” he commented.

“She followed youhome? As in here? Shigaraki, this situation is only getting worse-”

“Don’t you thinkI know that? I can read!” He snapped.

He recalled feelingeyes on him that night; he figured it was a figment of his imagination causedby paranoia. Apparently his worries were justified in this case- but just howmuch has she seen? Has she seen inside- has she been inside? She didn’t happen to run into any of the members, right?He continued scrolling, only reading the ones that stood out, a knot in hisstomach tightening with each entry.

'WEDNESDAY:

               Itook so much time trying to figure out the best gift to give Rara!! It waspretty hard… kind of like, what kind of gift do you even get for someone likehim, ya know? But I noticed him walk by a game shop a few times- I wasn’tfollowing him this time I swear!! I was just working around there!! But he keptmuttering about something… it kind of looked like he was trying to talkhimself into buying some game?? He never went in but I got the game they wereadvertising for him!!! I wrapped it up really nice and left it outside the doorto his house(? I’m not sure!!!) I just wish I could have seen him open it :(’

The scene replayed inhis head- of course he remembered it. He couldn’t decide if the game was evenworth his time since it wasn’t a strategy game therefore wouldn’t help him honein his skills as a leader so he walked away. Later, however, he had thisstrange feeling… almost as if something in the back of his mind had told himto go outside; he couldn’t shake the feeling and threw the door open, hoping toscare anyone who may be there. When he realized no one was there, somethingshiny on the ground caught his eye and he immediately became suspicious.

He brought it in andeyed it for quite a while. He was worried- as he should be- that it was somesort of trick or weapon to be used against him. Curiosity was eating him alive,causing him to scratch at his skin and grow more and more frustrated until heaggressively tore the shiny paper off of the object. He carefully inspected thegame case, making sure the plastic surrounding the case was intact; when hecame to the conclusion that was literally just a video game his face fell to ascowl, realizing the weird stalker girl he had been dealing with was likely tobe behind it.

“She leftsomething here? Did you dispose of it immediately?” Kurogiri’s voicesnapped him out of his flashback.

“Of course Idid,” he scoffed, “Why would I risk everything for a stupid gift fromsome weirdo.” Kurogiri didn’t need to know he had not only accepted thegame, and definitely didn’t need to know how he had beaten it twice since then.

He scrolled andscrolled, mindlessly announcing little things he came across that wasirrelevant but interesting enough to mention- something about college classes,something else about work, even a pretty interesting mention of how she managedto win her way out of a mugging. He had to admit she had spunk- idiotic, butspunk nonetheless.

His grip suddenlytightened on the phone, his entire body visibly tensing when he got to the mostrecent post.

“What isit?” Kurogiri asked, “Shigaraki? Read it.”

“It’snothing.”

“Here, I’ll readit myself then-” He yanked his arm away from Kurogiri’s grip, scowling ashe let out an aggravated sigh.

“Shut it. I’llread it.” He leaned his elbows against the counter, reading the post datedfor last week in a monotone voice.

'FRIDAY:

               Mostpeople vow not to kiss and tell- but I’m not most people!!!!!! We kissed, wetotally kissed! It was amazing, he was totally adorable and awkward but therewere fireworks and it made my heart soar

“Kiss? Shigaraki,please, please tell me you didn’t-”

“OF COURSE WEDIDN’T!” he yelled, slamming the phone onto the counter and knockingnearby glasses to the floor. “WHY WOULD I DO SOMETHING SO… SO… SOSTUPID. SO DISGUSTING. SO-”

“Shigaraki,please, calm down. I believe you; You know not to get involved with peopleunnecessarily and let yourself get distracted-”

“She’s obviouslylying,” he seethed, “This is lies. Lies and absolute slander.”

“Of course. Justtake a moment to calm down,” he suggested as he started to leave the room,“We’ll handle the damage control later.”

He let his head fallto the counter, a loud thump following suit as his forehead slammed against thecool material. An irritated growl bubbled up his throat as repeated this actiona few times before finally laying his head down as he closed his eyes and lethis mind work.

It was a colder nightthan usual. He had gotten fed up with the girl following him only to hidebehind street-side objects or horribly act nonchalant whenever he turnedaround. Ducking into the closest alleyway and pulling her in as well when shewalked by, he threatened her with four fingers wrapped around her throat beforeleaning in close.

“Who are you andwhy the hell do you insist on bothering me,” he practically growled, hisfifth finger twitching, ready to close the gap around her neck.

“A-ah! I’m (L/n),I just…” she looked into his eyes, fear diminishing and quickly beingreplaced with infatuation as a blush spread across her skin. “I just thinkyou’re really cute and… and cool. The stuff you’re doing- it’s good! Wellit’s not good 'cause they’re stillcrimes but the meaning behind it all is cool, ya know?”

She caught him offguard. His eyes scanned every inch of her face, taking in her features andanalyzing her body language to find any suggestions that she may be lying. Deepdown, he admitted to himself that the attention and praise she offered him madehim feel ecstatic- it boosted his ego and something about it made his chesttighten. As much as he enjoyed the feeling, there was no possible way he couldlet someone as simple as her distract him from his goals, but…

Suddenly, he smashedhis lips against hers, feeling her initial shock melt away as she started tokiss back with the same amount of force. His hand dropped down and his fingertips ran down her arm as he slowly pulled away from her; his gaze clouded overwith some unknown emotion as something in the pit of his stomach fluttered.Attempting to appear stern, he threatened her once again.

“Stay away fromme,” he warned over his shoulder, walking with a quickened speed to gethis distance. “Or next time I’ll kill you.”

He wrapped his armsaround his stomach to try and force the feeling in it to go away as he turnedto lay the side of his face against the counter and snap back to reality again.So maybe it wasn’t a complete lie that they had kissed.

She caught him offguard and he let his walls fall for a moment, hoping to feel something foronce.

His eyes closed onceagain as he let out a heavy sigh, realizing the feeling in his stomach andchest was connected to what people call 'liking someone’.

But Kurogiri didn’tneed to know that.

[squidpro-quo]

A/N: I was inspired to finish this by @nappotuna ‘s beautiful art of Iida and Todoroki. Because this is meant to be angst and bonding times.

AO3

Basically: In the fight with Stain, the moment that Iida gets control of his body back and attacks Stain to save Todoroki... what if he'd been a second too late?

Iida has to watch as Deku falls to the ground in a slump, knowing the paralyzing numbness all too well. His own body is still chained to the ground with nothing more than his own weight and blood. Todoroki’s all that stands between them and Stain and Iida wants to scream. He’d been too proud, thinking he could seek out someone who had bested his brother and win. Wearing Tensei’s armor and bearing Ingenium’s name did not a hero make; he’d learned that lesson when Stain carved into his shoulder.

Todoroki’s foot slides into his field of vision, ice streaking along the ground towards where Stain is crouched. It’s fast enough that Iida hopes it’ll be enough. He’s seen Todoroki’s avalanches of ice during the sports festival, now that he has his flames it’s like fighting against a force of nature. Todoroki switches as Deku’s shout echoes down the alleyway and the spot where Stain had been is bathed in red and orange so hot Iida thinks his glasses could melt even from this distance.

But it’s only succeeding in keeping Stain at bay, keeping him dodging and ducking while Todoroki slowly grows more and more tired. Iida doesn’t have to see the sweat mixing with the blood seeping out of his cuts or the tremble that will start in his fingers to know that using a quirk as much as Todoroki has in the past few minutes is unsustainable. He’ll fizzle and melt and Iida hates the thought.

Stain flits from one wall to the other, dangerously close, while Iida struggles to move even a finger. His hand cramps from the effort it takes to pull it slowly into a fist.

He needs to stand up, Todoroki’s right, he needs to look at what he wants to be. And he wants to be helping his friends, wants to protect them. Tensei wasn’t the type to go after someone because of personal vengeance, he did it to save the people who needed help.

Stain darts forward, sidestepping Todoroki’s ice with an ease that freezes Iida’s veins instead. Todoroki’s left arm is wreathed in fire as he takes another shot and Iida gets to his knees. His legs feel like leaden weights, moving takes a thousand times more effort but he’s almost standing when he sees it.

Stain is too close. The blade angled inside Todoroki’s defenses is a single slash of silver on Iida’s vision as he activates his engines and speeds forward.

...a second too late.

His foot slams into Stain and the Hero Killer is sent flying. The blow was enough for Iida to hear a crack from the plating around his shin, but it did the job.

When his feet touch the ground, there’s a wet splash. The silver of his boots is rimmed in red from the puddle he’s now standing in and he turns to see its source.

Todoroki is lying on his side, curled up with his hand clutching at his left shoulder while spurts of ice from his fingers fight to stem the flow of blood. The front of his shirt is split open from his collarbone to underneath his arm and though it’s too dark for Iida to see clearly, Todoroki’s skin is wet with blood. Where his left shoulder used to be, there is now a ragged mass of flesh poking from the blue sleeve that’s quickly being soaked through. A thin cry escapes Todoroki’s mouth before he stops moving.

Iida’s heart skips a beat at the sight and his mind’s spins into worst possible scenarios when he hears a slurp from behind him. Stain is smiling, tongue flicking out to wet his lips as he lowers the drenched sword.

It’s a bare comfort that Todoroki still breathes, even immobile, and the grey eye that Iida can see staring up at him is wide and dulled. The composure Iida has been clinging to snaps and he is shooting towards Stain before his mind can process his actions. His right engine struggles to keep up with the sudden burst of speed and an uneven step leads to an off-kilter kick. Stain dodges by a hair before jabbing a knife towards the back of Iida’s knee. He won’t be able to avoid it at this close range, he won’t be able to run if it hits it’s mark. He’s bracing for the pain when the blade is knocked aside as a pillar of wildfire sprouts between them. It’s easy to see how uncontrolled it is, the flames swirling without aim and singing Iida’s plated armor but the moment is enough. Iida skids to a halt still facing Stain despite the need to check on Todoroki.

“One less false hero’s progeny who thinks themself worthy,” Stain says, eyes skimming over the prone form behind Iida. “Didn’t even have the conviction to use their own quirk.”

Ignoring both Stain’s taunting and the guttering of his engine, Iida jumps after him. He sees a blur out of the corner of his eye, something green and glowing but he only has concentration enough to push himself into one last Recipro Burst. With how bad his leg is overheating now, he has no illusions about whether he’ll be able to keep fighting after this.

The moment comes and he sees Stain’s sword loom towards him, edges still dripping, but his boot has already connected solidly with the villain’s chest. Above, Deku punches him with a howl that rips through the air. Stain folds under the assault, his death grip relinquishing the sword that killed so many.

Iida has no thought for victory when the Hero Killer that maimed his brother drops to the ground before them, no thought for the way his hand is turning numb as he turns to limp slowly towards Todoroki.

He almost can’t bear the sight of the mangled arm and the way it looks like it’s hanging on by a single sinew. Todoroki pulls in a shuddering breath when Iida kneels down beside him, . There’s a mess of stained ice spread like a patchwork over the wound and Iida doesn’t know how Todoroki was able to keep conscious this long while holding himself together with only his quirk. The concrete below him is scorched over a wide swath that covers half of the alley and the section of wall where Stain had once been. The blood at the puddle’s edge is still bubbling from the sheer heat that passed by it.

“I can’t reach any of the hospitals,” Deku says from his post beside Stain, pressing his phone to his ear harder like it will help, “All the lines are busy.”

The night sky overhead is shaded with orange light from distant fires as Iida tries to think of what they should do. He’s the class representative, this whole fight is his fault, he has to right what has gone horribly wrong but as his mind starts to fitfully spin, it doesn’t help. Recovery Girl won’t be able to do anything to put Todoroki back together again, they’re all injured with one barely restrained villain, the likelihood of getting to someplace that can help Todoroki is a long shot, should they risk moving him and making it worse or just stay here until they can get ahold of...

“I’ll carry him. Let’s get to the main road.” Native’s offer is almost lost to the buzzing building in Iida’s head and he looks up to see the Pro Hero crouched on Todoroki’s other side. The tired but reassuring smile is at odds with the hopeless look in his eyes as the hero carefully picks Todoroki up. Todoroki’s head droops against his chest, eyes glassily open even as he shivers and shakes. The hand covering what’s left of his shoulder looks like it’s practically frozen there, the ice the only thing keeping him from losing any more blood.

Iida’s traitorous mind fixates on the Pro Hero’s proposal and lets it overrule any suggestion he might have come up with. He’s committed so many mistakes that the thought of it makes him reel with nausea. His brother’s suit feels tight around his throat, holding in his breath along with his guilt. A villain had been more right than he was, he’d fallen into revenge with anger blinding him to what path he’d been taking and in the end his friends had been the ones getting hurt to keep him safe. Deku looks like he’s barely standing and Todoroki… Iida grits his teeth, his worry threatening to pull him under at the thought of what happened to Todoroki.

They’re walking towards the end of the alleyway, he and Deku dragging Stain as well as they can both manage with a functioning pair of arms and legs between the two of them, when Endeavor and another pro-Hero turn up. Deku introduces Gran Torino as the man he’d been interning under, but everything is swept away by the roar that echoes down the street as one of the top heroes in the entire country looms over Native and almost wrenches his injured son out of his grasp. Iida sees Todoroki try to stiffen and shy away but the movement is weak enough that he only manages to cradle his arm against his chest.

“What happened?” Endeavor growls, the anger in his eyes freezing Iida and Deku to the spot. “How did he get injured?”

Iida swallows, his mouth dry after the fight and even dryer at what he’ll have to tell Endeavor. But it’s the truth.

“Stain cut him during the fight, I was too late to stop it,” Iida admits, lowering the villain to the ground and struggling to meet Endeavor’s piercing gaze.

“Can he still use the arm?”

“I don’t know, sir, he saved us—”

“At what cost,” Endeavor snaps, low and biting, turning away before Iida had managed to close his mouth. He’s kept from continuing his explanation by the arrival of more heroes who crowd around Stain and Todoroki until Iida loses sight of him completely. But the words stay.  

They stay as help arrives, as the sound of everyone asking about what happened begins to turn to meaningless syllables, as he feels the armor that held him together being taken off and his thoughts fracture inside.

The words stay.