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Ideas for subverting popular character tropes? I've started a story and am having difficulty making my cast of characters unique. I'd love it if you had any fresh takes on tropes like the mentor, the sidekick, etc...
POPULAR CHARACTER TROPES AND PROMPTS TO SUBVERT THEM
A character trope, sometimes called a character archetype, is a “recognizable element within a story or plot that defines or conveys information about a character. Character tropes can either define a character's entire role in a plot or the character's personality or motivations.” (source: arcstudiopro).
Many people bash “tropes,” but what you have to remember is that there is no such thing as a unique idea; everything has been done before, and the reason why tropes are so popular is because (a lot of time) they work!
It is totally possible to have a "normal" trope in your story without making it a cliché. However, if you’re looking to subvert these expectations, here’s a list of ideas I’ve come up with!
(This is me brainstorming on the fly to help get your gears turning, so I apologize if these aren’t fully fleshed out or if they’ve already been done before!)
1. THE CHOSEN ONE
The “Chosen One” is a trope where “one character is framed as the inevitable hero or antihero of the story, as a result of destiny, unique gifts, and/or special lineage” (source: Wikipedia). The Chosen One is often depicted as naive or unwilling at the beginning, and has a progression of growth through the narrative when they “accept their destiny.”
Examples:
Luke Skywalker (Star Wars)
Harry Potter (Harry Potter)
Frodo (The Lord of the Rings)
Neo (The Matrix)
Subversions:
1. The protagonist who was believed to be the chosen one from the very beginning discovers that it was actually someone else the whole time and must come to terms with the realization that they no longer have this title that they’ve based their entire life (and perhaps personality) around. (Bonus points if the new Chosen One is someone they’re close to).
2. Every solstice, the “Holy Order” sends a Chosen One to defeat the monster that has been ravaging their town. None ever return. The protagonist is selected as the next Chosen One, only to find that being Chosen does not mean “Chosen to defeat the monster” but rather “Chosen as the sacrifice to appease the monster.” (Bonus points if the reason the Chosen Ones always die is because the “Holy Order” misguides them (gives them broken weapons/drugged food/faulty armor/directs them into traps/etc.)).
3. Having the Chosen Power comes with a price. After someone is Chosen, it is a death sentence. The protagonist must find a way to defeat the villain AND purge themself of the Chosen Power before it’s too late (Bonus points if the villain helps them purge the Chosen Power).
2. THE SIDEKICK
The sidekick is a friend and helper of the main protagonist. They are often depicted as a loyal comic relief character made to emphasize the hero’s greatness, and may be killed off to advance the hero’s journey.
Examples:
Robin (Batman)
Samwise Gamgee (The Lord of the Rings)
Chewbacca (Star Wars)
Pan (His Dark Materials)
Subversions:
1. The “sidekick” is actually the hero of the story; the narrator just has an inflated ego and believes themself to be the hero. Meanwhile, their “sidekick” is the one saving the world.
2. Sidekicks are often depicted as younger than the hero. Perhaps an older sidekick might do good to spice things up (Bonus points if it’s without turning them into the mentor trope).
3. The sidekick is a former hero who had to watch their own sidekick sacrifice themself, and was convinced to leave hiding by the current hero. (Bonus points if the sidekick dies in a poetic way that is a narrative foil to the way his own sidekick died, perhaps in a “I didn’t understand why they would sacrifice themself for me but now I get it”).
4. A ridiculously strong/powerful Mary Sue type character is the sidekick to a Normal Guy™ (Bonus points if they are incredibly content in this position).
5. The sidekick is not a willing sidekick; they were kidnapped by the hero because they have an object/bloodline/power/etc. that is essential to defeating the villain.
3. THE MENTOR
The Mentor is the protagonist’s teacher, who helps them transition from a “normal” person into a hero. The Mentor is often depicted as wise and virtuous, teaching the protagonist not only the ways of fighting or magic, but also the ways of good and evil. The mentor is often killed off to advance the hero’s character arc, due to the fact that they are sometimes seen as a parental figure.
Examples:
Dumbledore (Harry Potter)
Yoda (Star Wars)
Uncle Iroh (Avatar the Last Airbender)
Mr. Miyagi (Karate Kid)
Subversions:
1. The mentor is the narrator. After spending so much time training the Chosen One and raising them like their own child, they must hear news that they have been killed by the villain. While still grieving (or perhaps fueled by revenge), the mentor must venture out and defeat the villain themself.
2. Have the mentor be a woman! You would be shocked at how overwhelmingly male-dominated the “mentor” archetype is!
3. The mentor turns on the protagonist that they trained…not because the mentor has turned evil, but because the mentor believes that the protagonist has become a monster (à la Kung Fu Panda). (Bonus points if the mentor is actually right and the protagonist really has become a monster).
4. The bright-eyed Chosen One thinks the world of their mentor, only to realize through experiences with others that the mentor trained them horribly, and that the mentor only used their training to boost their renown—without expecting them to survive their fight with the villain. (Bonus points if the protagonist is an unreliable narrator, and we as the readers feel just as betrayed by the mentor because we, too, thought they were a great person).
5. The mentor is the former Chosen One, desperate for the current Chosen One to not make the same mistakes. The current Chosen One resents the mentor for pushing them so hard and treating them so cruelly, but in reality the mentor is just overprotective (Bonus points if it’s not revealed that they were the legendary “Defeated Chosen One” until later).
4. THE DAMSEL IN DISTRESS
Although a Damsel in Distress is often associated with female characters, any character is capable of falling into this archetype; mostly known for being a passive figure who exists mostly as an object for the hero to save.
This is one of the few character tropes that is difficult to break the negative stigma, due to its root in misogyny and the disadvantages that come along with having a character without personal goals or motivations. In my opinion, if you have a character that follows this archetype to the T, perhaps you should consider some revising.
Examples:
Lois Lane (Superman)
Princess Buttercup (The Princess Bride)
Mary Jane Watson (Spiderman)
Ann Darrow (King Kong)
Subversions:
1. The passive, meek damsel in distress whom the hero has been working relentlessly to save actually turns out to be a villain! Their supposed rescue efforts were used as a distraction while the evil plot unfolds, and ends with a fight to the death!
2. The damsel in distress gets in a huge fight with the protagonist when they come to the rescue; they were undercover the entire time, and the protagonist has ruined their plans!
5. THE FEMME FATALE
The femme fatale is usually characterized as a mysterious woman who seduces and entraps men with her body. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a gendered archetype, but often errs into sexualization and misogyny (especially in works written by men).
Examples:
Jane Smith (Mr. & Mrs. Smith)
Nikita (La Femme Nikita)
Catwoman (Batman)
Catherine Tramell (Basic Instinct)
Subversions:
1. The Femme Fatale doesn’t know they’re a femme fatale. They are a master of seduction and gaining valuable information through licentious wiles, but it’s all an accident; they just-so-happen to sleep with rivals and they just-so-happen to say important information. The femme fatale casually brings this information up in conversation, rendering the team awed by their “impressive skill set.”
2. The Femme Fatale is male or nonbinary (Bonus points if they will seduce any gender).
3. There is a Femme Fatale team; an icy power couple dedicated to killing through threesomes.
6. THE GEEK (OR MAD SCIENTIST OR NERD OR KNOW-IT-ALL ETC.)
The Geek, or the Mad Scientist, is the character known for knowing everything. They often have a lack of social skills, and their vast knowledge of random things helps the characters when they’ve been backed into a corner…though they sometimes tend to be a quick fix for writers who’ve written their characters into a corner and need an easy solution.
Examples:
Sheldon (The Big Bang Theory)
Spencer Reid (Criminal Minds)
Spock (Star Trek)
L (Death Note)
Subversions:
1. The Geek has leadership skills and ability to inspire others. Awkward is not the complete opposite of charismatic; just because someone may have trouble talking to people doesn’t mean they can’t foster intense loyalty from their comrades. (Think along the lines of L from Death Note. Bonus if they’re the leader of their organization, and their subordinates would face God and walk backwards into Hell for them).
2. Combine the Geek with another archetype, perhaps an antithesis archetype like the Dumb Jock. For example, a Geek that enjoys the outdoors and extreme sports like rock climbing (but rather than to get buff, they just want to look at the fantastic granite deposits on the side of the mountain they’re climbing). Or perhaps a Geek Femme Fatale, whose “special interest” is the psychology of seduction.
3. The Geek hates what they do. The “passion” that Geeks usually have for machines/non-humans/their chosen expertise is forced upon them because they’re super smart. In reality, they’d wanted to take it easy going to business school but nooooo the world was at stake so they had to become an expert in the intergalactic space-time continuum.
4. The Geek is useless. Their musings are more mania than genius, their explanations and ideas incomprehensible to a normal human being, and the group only keeps them around with the hopes that one day they’ll come up with an idea that actually makes sense. (Bonus if that idea comes at the climax of the story).
8. THE DUMB JOCK (OR HIMBO)
The dumb jock, also known as “the brawn,” is an archetype that is often categorized by being all buff and no brains. They often are, or at least begin as, the antagonist of the story, and if they aren’t, they’re considered the “Himbo” character (with character traits being buff, dumb, and respectful to women), who are often reduced merely to their attractiveness and stupidity, without much depth.
Examples:
Jason Carver (Stranger Things)
Mitch Downe (ParaNorman)
Kronk (The Emperor’s New Groove)
Bolin (The Legend of Korra)
Subversions:
1. The himbo and/or jock is frustrated with the way that their comrades always reduce them to the brawn. They feel left out and isolated because they can’t understand the lofty conversations of their peers, and know that they, in a way, look down on them for not being as smart (Bonus if this becomes a major plot point in the character’s arc, causing a huge blowout fight that fissures the group because of it).
2. The himbo/jock’s stupidity does not reduce them to comic relief. The himbo/jock is well-respected and has incredible emotional intelligence and charisma/street smarts, but merely lacks in textbook intelligence.
3. The himbo/jock is a woman! Break through the stereotype of dumb strong people being men and put some herbos in your story (Bonus if you don’t sexualize her and just let her be herself).
4. An idea from the jock/himbo becomes an integral part of the plan to save the world!
9. THE ANTIHERO
The antihero archetype is categorized by their lack of conventional heroic attributes, their execution of their goals through morally gray means, and their frequent reluctance to be the one saving the world. Their motivations may be vengeance, hatred, or any other less-than heroic inspiration besides “the greater good.” In fact, the antihero is sometimes the antagonist of the story, but due to the fact that the audience is seeing things from their perspective, they often tend to root for them.
The antihero used to be its own subversion of the “Chosen One” archetype, but became so widespread that it itself became its own archetype. That’s why antiheroes are so varied, to the point where you may not even need a subversion due to how many possible ideas there are to choose from. (This was the hardest list to make!)
Examples:
Barry Berkman (Barry)
Harley Quinn (DC)
Cassie Thomas (Promising Young Woman)
Deadpool (Deadpool)
Subversions:
1. The antihero feels guilt. Oftentimes, an antihero is depicted as stone-cold and dead-set on their actions (and sometimes they’re right! If someone killed my family, I wouldn’t care about “being the bigger person”). However, an interesting subversion may be guilt or self-awareness surrounding their actions playing a large role in the execution of their goals.
2. The antihero is not a lone wolf, and develops meaningful and positive relationships with others rather than having it be 90% snarky banter. Sometimes, antiheroes suffer from a lack of three-dimensionality due to most of their dialogue being cheeky one-liners. Anchor them solidly into the story by building a web of relationships to support them! (They don’t have to all be lovey-dovey, either! Even enemy relationships can be more than snark).
3. An honor code. Giving an antihero with an interesting honor code regarding killing, stealing, or any of their other morally gray deeds could be an excellent subversion! Having characters who are stone-cold killers but draw the line (perhaps in an odd way, such as refusing to steal cars or kill pets), somewhere can be a great way to develop their personality and show the readers their motivations.
External conflict can always make readers more interested in a story. The fist fights, car chases, and fictional battles might make them hold their breath, but so can internal conflict. Check out the primary types of internal conflict your protagonist can experience to add more depth to your stories.
1. Morality Conflicts
Everyone eventually reaches a point where they question their morals. We have to believe in our morals as individuals to prioritize them. It’s not enough to have your parents or other leaders in your life tell you what’s right and wrong. You won’t hold the same morals until you choose them on your own.
Characters also reach these crucial points. It’s part of their character development like it’s part of our personal development.
Your protagonist may only grapple with one question of morality in your story or they could encounter many. The morals will most likely align with your theme so they make sense within your plot.
Example: Your protagonist is a scientific researcher and leading a trial that could result in a cure for a new illness. They know they shouldn’t take bribes and wouldn’t compromise their career, but someone who nearly qualifies for their trial offers a life-changing amount of money to get included even though they’ve already been ruled out.
The protagonist has to choose—do they stick with what they trust is morally correct or do they take the money and use it to help pay for a family member’s legal battle in criminal court? Do they view it as potentially saving two lives at once? Or do they reject the bribe and face whatever consequences could have possibly been avoided?
2. Self-Identity Conflicts
Your identity is something that morphs with time. People rarely settle on one version of themselves forever. Life makes us reconsider things from different perspectives as we go through periods of challenges and peace. Characters also grapple with their identities when faced with similar situations. It makes them take a stand, hold their ground, or chase new goals, which is much more interesting for readers.
Example: Your protagonist considers themselves an optimist because they’re a firefighter who has saved many lives. When they realize their chief has been starting all the fires their station ever fought, your protagonist begins to view people more pessimistically. It affects how quickly they’re willing to risk their life for others, which results in challenges and a character arc they wouldn’t have experienced without this fundamental change in their identity.
3. Religious Belief Conflicts
It’s much easier to stay firm in your religious beliefs if nothing challenges them. If a challenge or major question arises and your beliefs hold firm, that makes your identity stronger. It doesn’t always happen that way though.
When your protagonist faces this type of internal conflict and realizes their opinions or feelings contradict their religious beliefs, it can take them onto a path that shapes a new identity. These choices are hard but real. Readers who are going through the same experience or experienced the same questions before will get absorbed by your story because it’s relatable.
Example: Your protagonist attends a religious gathering every week. The group fundamentally believes their religion exists to help those in need. Prejudices begin to invade that group, so people start choosing their own well-being instead of helping others.
Your protagonist watches their religious family pick sides and has to question if they really believe in helping others or if they choose the familiarity and safety that comes with the approval of their longtime religious family.
4. Societal Role Conflicts
Societies have predetermined roles or expectations for people based on factors like their gender, sex, and economic status (just to name a few). Sometimes these roles feel natural to people and other times they don’t. We all have to decide what feels best for us on an ongoing basis. Your protagonist may need to choose their societal role, reject it, or shape a new one to portray your theme in a relatable way.
Example: Your protagonist goes to a university for the first time. They’ve been encouraged by everyone they know to start forming a large friend group. That’s what people are supposed to do in college, their loved ones said. But your protagonist is an introvert and values only a few friendships at a time. They have to choose if they’ll push themselves to become a social butterfly or if they’re happier as the person they’ve always been.
5. Political Opinion Conflicts
Political opinions can create all types of internal conflict. You may believe in a certain candidate or party during one part of your life and support something completely different in another part. Those values change as we experience new things and meet new people. Characters can face the same internal struggles as they recognize changing values or reject opportunities for change.
Example: Your protagonist may have never formed strong political opinions. They meet a new person who becomes their best friend, but their government starts passing laws that make their best friend’s life much harder because they’re part of a marginalized community your protagonist hasn’t empathized with before.
Your protagonist now cares for that community, so they have to decide if they’ll make different political choices that could ostracize them from the community they’ve been part of all their life.
6. Love Conflicts
There are numerous types of love—self-love, your love for your family, and your love of a potential romantic interest or current partner. These come into conflicts in stories all the time because people experience them every day.
The conflicts result in choices—does your protagonist choose to continue loving a specific person or do they fall out of love? Do they fight for that love or realize it never actually existed? These are just a few ways this inner conflict can play out.
Example: Your protagonist has three siblings. They’d give their life for their siblings because they’ve lived in an emotional and physical home environment that’s been unsafe all of their lives. However, your protagonist is also the oldest child who has to leave home when they’re 18.
They have to decide how to best love their siblings—do they leave them at home with a parent who is a threat to their safety so your protagonist can achieve an education or job that pays enough to create a new home for them? Do they get the legal system involved? Do they get their siblings and run away together since your protagonist is now old enough to lease an apartment, pay bills, etc?
7. Personal Journey Conflict
Existential crises make characters come to life by breaking their identity apart. These moments are unfortunately a real part of life, so readers want them in their books to help them cope, understand the changes, and generally feel not alone in their hardships.
This internal conflict happens when we question why we’re in this world or what we’re supposed to do with our lives. Sometimes there’s a clear answer after we start searching for it, but other times there isn’t. How your protagonist’s internal journey to a new purpose unfolds depends on your theme and plot.
Example: Your protagonist spent their life dreaming of becoming a politician. They wanted to help people and change the world, but they lost their first three attempts at running for local office. The third loss devastated them.
If voters don’t want them as a leader, what’s their purpose? Who are they if they aren’t a leader who changes the world through effective policies? The answer may come through the plot events that follow. If they don’t get an answer, sometimes it means their purpose already exists in their life and they’re overlooking it.
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Reading through the basic types of internal conflict will help you shape your future protagonists. If you align your desired theme with an inner conflict, the external events in your plot will be much easier to choose. Your readers will also connect with your story better because they’ll see real problems reflected in your protagonist’s character arc.
(this is part of my series, how to write children in fanfiction! feel free to check it out if you want more info like this!)
this is the main aspect of writing children that i see people mess up so often, especially in the fandoms i'm in (sanders sides and undertale). children are not adorable little noodles with no brains and no concept besides being cute and silly and crying. children are beings that are just as complex as adults, and they deserve personalities to match. this will make them way more interesting to read about! let's get started!
since there are so many aspects to personality to talk about and i don't want to sit here typing for ten years, we're going to do this guide a little differently. i'm going to divide these issues into archetypes, write a short description, and then make a list of do's and don't's for each one!
archetype one: the cute little baby
okay. babies are cute. we all know this, and i'm not saying it's a bad thing to make your babies cute. a lot of people love reading about moments with adorable little babies. but here are some ways to step this kind of thing up, and some things to avoid if you want to improve upon writing this archetype.
do's:
give the child character another archetype besides this one. though "cute" is the foundation for a lot of child characters, it's not a personality. and if a character is vital to your story, then it needs a personality. that's just a rule. you will read more about other archetypes further along in this post!
make the moments symbolic. though it doesn't seem like it from an outsider's perspective, basically everything a baby does is for a reason, and every action a baby makes can say something about their personality. if you want this baby's personality to be energetic and curious, have them crawl around and explore things, and laugh a lot, and babble. if you want this baby to be more sullen and shy, have them cry quietly instead of wailing, or have them squirm when being held by new people.
make the actions of the baby's guardians affect the mannerisms of the baby. babies act differently depending on how the people taking care of them act and react. for instance, if the baby's guardians are very busy people, then maybe have the baby cry very loudly whenever they want something, since they know that it's the only way to get the attention of their guardians. stuff like that can add depth to a character and to a general story.
don't's:
decide that the baby is cute and call it a day. sweet little babies are cool and all, but they get very boring to read about after a while. this can barely even be considered an archetype because of how bland it is when it's by itself.
keep this archetype around for too long. as babies turn into toddlers and then children, they don't act even remotely the same way. it's strange and off-putting to read about a seven year old acting like a two-year old, unless it's a very clear character choice that is a result of explicit actions and events.
make the baby know that it's cute. realistically, children don't understand the concept of cuteness until they're around toddler age. if then, you want to make the kid be like "i get what i want when i'm cute, so i'll act cute!", then sure, that's hilarious. but when they're two months old, they're not batting their eyelashes because that's their personality. they're batting their eyelashes because they got something in their eye. the main thing that makes a baby cute is that they don't know they're cute. they're just figuring out how to do ordinary things.
make everything a cute moment. while babies are awesome, raising them isn't always sunshine and rainbows. make the baby do something wildly chaotic, because babies do wildly chaotic things all the time. not only does this make things more realistic, but it makes things very interesting!
archetype two: the shy kid
as a former shy kid, i know good and well that these types of children exist, and they are very real and valid. however, there are certain ways i've seen them written that are just terrible because once again, this archetype cannot be considered a full personality on its own. let's get into the do's and don't's.
do's:
make their shyness a deliberate choice. kids aren't usually naturally shy. kids are usually more curious than cautious. is there a reason why the kid is shy? there doesn't have to be a reason why the kid is shy, but there could be a reason why the child is NOT outgoing/curious. try and give something like this some deliberate cause, instead of just making them shy so they can seem more precious and infantilized.
make their shyness manifest in diverse ways. not all shy kids cling to their guardian's leg and sit alone during recess. there are different ways to be shy. you can be aggressively shy, or fearfully shy, or shy due to general unwillingness to change.
make their shyness have realistic consequences. someone who's shy is probably not going to have many friends, if any. not all shy kids magically meet an extrovert who adopts them. someone who's shy probably has underdeveloped social skills, which can lead to them being less emotionally intelligent down the line. this makes the shy kid archetype a lot more three-dimensional than just a wet noodle of fear.
don't's:
infantilize shyness or treat it like it makes the kid some sweet, precious angel. not only is this very uncomfortable for shy people to read, but it's generally unrealistic. shyness doesn't affect how good or bad somebody is - it's a neutral trait.
use shyness as a tool to make characters seem younger. shyness does not indicate age. fear manifests in many different ways, and shyness is not the only way.
rely on cliches. not all shy people have the same journey, and the idea that a shy person becoming more outgoing is the "goal" is not only a bit offensive, but it's very cliche. shyness is not always an obstacle to be overcome.
archetype three: the happy-go-lucky kid
oftentimes, the reason why children characters are written into stories in the first place is to give a little bit of lightheartedness and innocence. to add a unique voice among all the cranky, stingy, burdened adults. but you have to be careful when writing this archetype. i personally really dislike this archetype as a whole, but i'm going to put personal feelings towards it aside because honestly, there's no valid reason to dislike it besides opinion.
do's:
give the kid a trademark. maybe this kid makes a lot of little jokes, or maybe they always see the best in a situation. give the kid one thing that makes them happy-go-lucky instead of just giving them everything because nobody is endlessly happy all the time in every way.
go deeper. while happiness is very often genuine, sometimes, it's a mask that hides something else. this can be an interesting way to sort of spice up your happy-go-lucky kid character. maybe the kid is hiding a big secret behind all those jokes.
don't's:
make the character always happy. while children tend to have simpler thoughts, they don't have simpler minds. this child needs to have thoughts, real, genuine thoughts that aren't just happy things.
see happy-go-lucky as a trait that is exclusive to children. comparing happiness to childhood and viewing them as the only places where the other can exist is just wrong, and it's kind of depressing. maybe give happy-go-lucky kid a happy-go-lucky adult to exchange jokes with!
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those are the archetypes that i see a lot. but now, i'm going to suggest a few child character archetypes that i LOVE that i don't see enough in fics! feel free to use any of these that you like. alter them, combine them! these are, in my opinion, some of the most fun child character personalities!
the spoiled brat: "i want this, and that, and that, and- why aren't you giving it to me?? if you don't give me what i want, i'll tell on you!". spoiled brats are so fun to read and write about, especially when they have absolutely no reason to be spoiled given the current situation (think riches to rags). they've got everything, humor, angst, and best of all, lots of pockets for personality. think about why the child is spoiled. were they enabled by their guardians? did they grow up rich, with access to everything they wanted? think about whether you want the child to stay spoiled. does something change? do they learn how to improve their materialistic and selfish tendencies? there are so many opportunities to play with the personality of this child!
the know-it-all kid: while i do see a lot of know-it-all kids in media, oftentimes, they don't actually have personality besides bossiness and intelligence. i love know-it-all kids who have depth to them. kids who are constantly spouting information because of their sheer love to learn. kids who have one specific thing that they know everything about, so they never stop talking about it. kids who tell people what to do and act like they know best because they don't have a lot of control over anything at home, so they grasp at whatever control they can find elsewhere. i think this archetype could open up a lot of ideas for personality further down the line. it also has a lot of variety with humor and angst, and general depth.
the serious child: this is an archetype that i cannot get enough of. i love a child that doesn't think they're an adult, per se, and still enjoys kid things, but just has such a calm and regal air about them that isn't learned. it's just natural. think of the kid that doesn't really get excited about things conventionally, but you can tell they're happy by their faint smile. the kid that seems to live in slow motion, and doesn't mind this fact at all. the kid that sits alone at recess just because other kids scare the birds away, and they want to see how a bird acts when it doesn't think its being watched. i love kids who have poignant thoughts, because their thoughts are so creative and different from adult thoughts.
the adult-ified child: now this is another archetype i can't get enough of, but it's for a different reason. this child, on the other hand, does think that they're an adult for one reason or another. maybe their guardians forced them to grow up too quickly. maybe they just wanted to grow up quickly by themselves. but this child has thoughts that are too big for their little bodies. they explore things that aren't meant to be explored when their brains are still so small. they do everything too quickly, they stumble through life as if a clock is ticking somewhere. to me, they're just haunting to read about. it feels wrong and dangerous to just watch them do things that hurt them because they don't know any better, but they're on a page. nobody can stop them. it's just so tragic, i'm obsessed.
the prodigal child: this archetype isn't really as deep or detailed as the others, but i do appreciate it. this archetype is for a child who knew who they wanted to be from an early age. a child who wanders into a ballet class and finds out they're better than the ten year olds by the time they're five. this archetype often pairs really well with the know-it-all kid or the adult-ified child because usually, children don't experience what it's like to be the best at something until they're a lot older. this is just a really cool archetype when you aren't quite sure what to do with that main character's little sister.
the chaotic child: this archetype is so much fun to read and write, to be honest. this is a child that just does as they please, whether it's out of curiosity or for pure enjoyment. think of the crazy stories that your guardians have about you or your siblings being absolutely insane. scribbling in a book and then demanding that the library publish their version. trying to ride the dog like a horse. cutting up clothes in an attempt to be a fashion designer. this one is just plain fun!
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now, there are so many more archetypes out there, but those are just my spotlights and recommendations! i hope after reading this, you feel more equipt to write child characters that have real, engaging, interesting personalities!
You are not writing a movie (ignore this if you are). The reader doesn't need to know every word the characters say for the duration of the story. Less is more.
Dialogue can happen within the prose. "And they awkwardky discussed the weather for five minutes" is way better than actually writing five pages of dialogue about the weather.
Balance your dialogues. Surprise yourself with a monosyllabic answe to a dialogue that's ten sentences long. Don't be afraid of letting your character use half a page for a reply or nothing at all!
Don't write accents phonetically, use slang and colloquialisms if needed.
Comma before "said" and no caps after "!?" unless it's an action tag. Study dialogue punctuation.
Learn the difference between action tags and dialogue tags. Then, use them interchangeably (or none at all).
Don't be afraid to use said. Use said if characters are just saying things, use another word if not. Simple. There's no need to use fancy synonyms unless absolutely necessary.
Not everyone talks the same way so it makes sense for your characters to use certain words more often than others. Think of someone who says "like" to start every sentence or someone who talks really slow. Be creative.
Use prose to slow down the pace during a conversation.
Skip prose to speed up the pace during a conversation.
I love the "came back wrong" trope but from the opposite side.
Imagine you are dead. And then you are RIPPED from the embrace of decay into the world of the living again. Your memories are hazy and you don't recognize any of these people, but they act like they're close to you? Like they love you? So you try to get your memories back, to act like you belong here, but everybody tries to forget you died. And you can't. It is omnipresent. And just trying to grapple with that fact pushes the people who "love" you away, and they're incapable of understanding, and they're so confused, what's wrong N̶̄̀O̶͛͗T̷̉́ ̷͋͝Y̴̎̌Ȍ̴̈U̸̓R NÄM̴̃͑E̵̾̇? And you just need them to understand, you aren't that person! You aren't! You don't know who that person is! You don't know why any of this is happening, but they're unwilling to bend, they keep insisting you are that person, your memories will come back, everything will be normal again, and you want to scream and cry and claw yourself open to show them you're different. Your existence as a being wholly separate from whoever you "used to be" is a sin unto itself. All you can do is scrabble for life and to them, you're killing whoever they loved to do it.
Writing Prompts: Older Sibling being the Caregiver of the Younger Sibling
Hello! I got a few reblogs in my last post and I know that’s nothing but it made me so happy! I’m glad you guys liked the prompt, here’s one more
Also, you can request prompts and headcanons! Just leave a message in the ask section. Rules and a list of fandoms I do are two posts down my profile (I’ll try to pin if i figure out how lol)
Prompt: The parents are either dead or absent in the lives of the two children, so they have to care for themselves, and the other sibling sees it as their priority to protect their younger sibling.
General Actions:
-The older sibling constantly being on guard for their younger sibling
-If anyone interacts with them, you know they’ll give the person a death glare
-The older and the younger sibling having a closer bond than normal siblings do, yet still bickering over little things like taking another’s clothing.
-The younger sibling seeing their older sister as a role model and their personal superhero
-The older sibling feeling like they never have a break. One day the younger sibling sees this, and gives them a ‘spa day’ to help them relax
Angst:
-The younger sibling feeling like they have no freedom to do anything they please, because their older sibling is always watching
-The older sibling however, feels that they already lost their parents, and if anything happened to their little sibling, they would never forgive themselves.
-The older sibling never making friends, dedicating their whole life to caring for their sibling. This causes them enormous amounts of stress.
-In a heated argument, the younger sibling calling their older sibling (parent term) and then the two pausing..
Happy Dialogue:
“When I grow up, I’m going to be just like you!” :D
–
“Hi.. I’m (Younger sibling name)’s friend.. n-nice to meet you..”
*intense stare into soul*
“um..”
*an immediate switch to a smile* “Hello. I’m (Older sibling name).”
–
“(Older sibling name), wanna play a game?”
“Eh.. maybe later..”
“Okay, guess I’m not cool enough for your games.. guess you’d rather do nothing than hang with me..”
*light chuckle* “Bitch. What would you like to do?”
Angst:
”Why don’t you leave me alone?! Why can’t I live my own life?!”
“Because I don’t want to lose you too!”
“So it’s about you.. isn’t it?”
–
“I- I really can’t go. I have to watch my sibling.”
The two of you were such an odd couple due to you both being so shy.
It’s a question on how you two ended up in a relationship since you both were too nervous to speak to each other, if it wasn’t for Mirio you wouldn’t be together.
He saw how you both liked each other so he took if upon his self to play wingman for Tamaki and hooked to two of you up.
The two of you stuck to each other like glue after you got together.
Neither one of you were to far one other, as you both had the same classes and would hangout afterwards.
You would hold hands a lot as the two of you were deathly afraid of losing each other while you were out or walking to class.
The both you would rather not go out so you would end up staying home and cook together instead.
Don’t get them started on their first kiss. It was the most awkward thing, nether of you had kiss anyone before which led to him accidentally trying to swallow your mouth.
The two of you became a popular couple at school, that you would constantly have people compliment you for how cute you were which embarrassed the both of you to no end.
Mirio Togata
You first met him while training. You were in a the corner trying not to be noticed when suddenly a naked man appeared.
You would quickly learn who he was as he would happily introduce him completely ignoring that fact that he was naked.
After meeting him you would avoid him on ground of how do you talk to someone after that.
But Mirio was already attracted to you so he apologized for the odd first meeting and tried to befriend you.
it didn’t take long for the two of you to start a relationship, as Mirio was quite the charmer.
The boy would practically terrify you any time he use his quirk. He would some times appear in front of you just to hug or kiss you.
He would constantly compliment you, telling you how great you are which made you blush in embarrassment.
Mirio was a outgoing person so your personalities clashed from time to time but he understood how you felt since he’s been friends with Tamaki for so long.
It was bit awkward when you had you first kiss together. Mirio had just given you gift that you really appreciated when you grabbed him by his collar and kissed him.
He didn’t get a chance to respond as you had ran away right after it was over, he still cherished the kiss regardless of how it ended.
I'm so sorry I keep on requesting. Your writing is just really great!!! Could I possibly get Bakugo, Kirishima and Midoriya with an Energetic s/o who's all bubbly and bouncy and all over the place?
No need to apologize, I love getting requests, especially since I’ve been running low on creativity lately.
But I do hope you enjoy it and don’t worry about requesting again in the future as I’m always open for requests.
He never understood why the two of you were in relationship, but he couldn’t deny that was happy to be in one with you.
Bakugo was surprised when you asked him out. He wasn’t expecting it so he would blushingly agree.
He would not haste to tell you to sit the fuck down if you were being annoying.
You’re always eager to train with him which he enjoyed, especially since he won on every occasion.
You would bait him into thinking you were going to kiss him but run away instead leading to him chasing to get what was teased by you.
Bakugo would some times hug you from behind just so you would stop bouncing around.
Your constant happiness made him sick but also at the same time filled him with a odd sense of joy.
Kirishima Eijrou
He was beyond captivated by as you literally stole the spot light when ever you stepped into the room.
The two of you approached each other to ask one other on a date. It was pure coincidence but the two of you still laugh about til this day.
Kirishima really loves your bubbly personality sense it matches his perfectly.
He was always up for anything you wanted to do. From training to playing video games, he was down for it all.
You would constantly hug and kiss him which he just adored as he regularly returned the affection.
You would occasionally jump on his back for a piggyback ride which he was more then happy to give you.
The both of you acted like goofballs when you were together sense you both found someone that understood you.
Midoriya Izuku
He really liked how energetic and positive you were, as it reminded him of what a hero should be.
He didn’t know what to do when you asked him to go one date with you which he accepted what he wasn’t expecting was for you to literally lift him up in a hug.
Midoriya was afraid that wouldn’t be able to keep up with you but you were always there to keep him going.
If you weren’t doing you would randomly bust out a dance move or two which always made him laugh and attempt join in.
You would literally attack him in a flurry of kisses that he never sees coming.
He actually found your bounciness quite helpful when your sparring against each other as it allowed him utilize his fighting style more.
You never failed to make him smile when he was feeling down with your gleeful personality.
Aizawa was a perfect mix of uncaring and overly strict.
Tell him you were going to jump off the roof to see if you can fly, he’ll say have fun, but tell him that your going to a party and all hell breaks loose.
He would let you join him patrol at night because he knew you could benefit from watching him and that you would listen to him.
Due to being raised by him you have a horrible sleeping schedule since you would stay up and wait for him to get back home.
He likes to train when your home, since he doesn’t have to be as hard you as the others, but that mean he let’s you off so easily.
Eri and Shinso acted as the siblings you’ve always wanted. every time you talk to him about having a sibling he would laugh and get you a cat instead.
Present Mic
Present Mic was the type of parent that always encourage their kid to do anything they believed in.
When you tell him of a activity you want to do he would immediately go sign you up and buy whatever was needed for it.
He wants to be seen as cool by you so he does a bunch of things that he thinks is cool but is actually embarrassing.
You always try to be on your best behavior on the grounds that his screaming hurts, even without the amplifiers.
You frequently act as a co-host with him. Especially during the UA sports festival since you found yourself up there often from request of your father.
The two of you are both loud which was much to the dismay of Aizwa as you and Mic are dedicated to spending time with him.
All Might
All Might would always try his best to be a good father for you.
After what happened with All For One, he dedicated more time to you, realizing that life’s to short and that he wanted nothing more then to see you grow up happy in life.
The both of you would keep it a secret that he was your father since he didn’t want you to be put in danger because of him.
All Might wasn’t sure if you would have a quirk since he didn’t originally have one, so when you started showing signs of one he was eager to train you.
Midoriya was the brother you never had since your father started mentoring him. He thought you might be bitter about the powers thing but you were understanding of your fathers decision to give it to him.
All Might never wanted to push you to be the number one hero since he knew how hard could be, but you were determine to be just like him one day.
Midnight
Midnight was the most relaxed parent out of them all.
When she was younger all she cared about was her image but when you were born, she couldn’t care less what they said about her as she was mother to a beautiful baby.
The two of you would wear matching clothes when you were younger since she thought it was cute.
The both of you frequently do things together like go shopping, get your nails done, and etc.
She never had a problem with you dating but warn you about the ones that wanted only one thing.
Midnight always made sure that you felt comfortable with being open about things, as she knew the struggles of not having anyone to turn to for help or advice.
If you're still open for requests, could I request Bakugo with a reader who gets distracted and wanders off and gets lost at the mall and he kinda panics internally and looks all over for her?
Thank you so much requesting, I’ve dying to write something recently so I hope you like it.
Bakugo was against going to the mall in the first place since he didn’t like people but you convinced him to go with you.
He was stubborn the whole time you were there asking when you two could leave.
The mall was overpacked so there wasn’t a lot of room to move which lead into people bumping into him.
He was constantly about ready to yell at everyone but you continually calmed him down, as you walked to where wanted to go.
He finally had enough and yelled at the last person who bumped into him.
Once Bakugo got done he turned around and saw you weren’t there anymore.
He start freak out inside since didn’t know where you were.
Bakugo begin to push people out of his way as he attempt to find you. causing people to yell at him but he didn’t care.
He thought he could see you so he went where you were. You had your back turn to him when he approached you.
“I thought I lost you, bab-“ he stoped talking once he realized that who he was addressing wasn’t you at all but another person who looked like you.
He didn’t bother to apologize and walked off instead in search for you again.
His mind was begin to flood fear as he thought about all things that could have happen to you, like villain found you or you were kidnapped.
The two of you would keep nearly missing each other as Bakugo was entering stores you were just leaving.
Bakugo would eventually get so fed up and shout in anger before sitting down on a empty bench nearby.
He was sitting with his head in his hands so didn’t notice or care when someone sat next to him.
Suddenly he saw a taiyaki being handed to him. He looked up and saw you sitting to him, smiling.
Without thinking he hugged you, causing you to giggle as he tightly clutched onto you.
“Where the hell where you!” He asked loudly, making you sheepishly looked down at the bags next to your feet. He rolled his eyes and groaned when he noticed them.
“I couldn’t help myself. But I got you this.” You said holding up a taiyaki but he didn’t seem interested.
“It’s going to take more then that for making me worry about you.”
You twisted your head in thought of what you could do before smiling and planting your lips on his, to deliver sweet kiss.
“Does that make up for it?” You asked in your kindest voice. He stood up causing you to do the same as he thought about it.
“No, but with a lot more it could.” He replied with a grin and wrapped his arm around your shoulders as the two of you walked.
“But now if all is said and done can we get the hell out of this fucking place.”
I noticed on your latest post it said that requests are open! Could I request a headcanon with Bakugo and a female reader, where Bakugo is really insecure with her spending time with other males lately more than she was spending with him, and there's just a whole lot of angst and fluff. If that makes sense
Your request made total sense that I wasn’t even half way done reading it before I knew what I was going write.
I really hope you like it and do feel free to request something again.
Bakugou was not a insecure man. So he wasn’t originally worried about you hanging out with your other classmates.
But despite this he was a little jealous but had faith you wouldn’t do anything to betray his trust.
The problems started to arise when you begin to spend more and more time with them instead of him.
One day while you were preparing to go out with the guys he would suggest the two of you do something together instead.
“You know we should do something tonight, just the two of us.” He would say while wrapping his arms on your waist and looking down at you, with a grin on his face.
“I have things planned for tonight, but we can do something tomorrow if you want.” You would respond trying to wiggle out of his grip but he continued to hold onto you.
“I know but it feels like we haven’t been spend a lot of time together and I’m just worried…” He stopped, making you look up at him. You could see in his eyes that something was troubling him, but you did not know what.
“I promise that tomorrow all about you, we can do anything you want Katsuki.” You would tell him, placing your hand on his face to soothe away any problems he may be having.
He would smile after a second or two and kiss you. The kiss felt more needy then any of your other kisses but you didn’t have time dwell on it since you had to leave.
Bakugou would watch as you left, he felt reassured knowing you were his but yet he couldn’t help but to feel nervous that this was one of the last few times left that he’ll be able to see you as his.
The next day came and you were true to your promise, about making the day about the two of you and no one else. He had decided that the both of you should spend your day in the dorms watching tv.
Bakugou was laying across your lap as you played with his hair. He wasn’t really paying attention to what you watching and was more or less enjoying being in your company as continued to move your fingers through his hair.
But you would stop making him curious so he looked up and saw you texting on your phone instead. This made him mad as this day was suppose to be about just you and him, not whoever your texting.
“What do you think your doing?!” He would question in clear annoyance. You would looked away from your phone just as he pulls away from you.
“Oh Kaminari texted asking what I was doing and if wanted to hang out with him and the guys.” You would reply not seeing anything wrong the problem that was clearly there for Bakugou.
“You should go waste your time with those fucking idiots since their so much more important then me!” He would say raising his voice. You tried to put your hand on his shoulder to calm him down but he just shrugged it off.
”Katsuki you know that’s not the case. I was just typing up massage telling them that I’m busy with you.” You would try to reason with him but he was hearing none of it as he continued to rant about it.
You would leave the room in a huff, no longer wanting to be bothered by him. Bakugou would sit there still angry by what happened until it hit him that he had just driven you away to possibly someone else.
The day after your fight he would be heading to class and hear the guys talking about you as he walked behind them, so he decided to listen in.
“I planning on asking Y/N if she’ll like to join us to train later.”
“That’s great, I love it when she trains with us since she always so much fun about it when we do it.”
He knew he shouldn’t have read so much into it but he couldn’t shake off the feeling that more was happening that no one was telling him.
Bakugou tried to talk to you after class but you would just ignore him and join the boys as they were about to leave. He would become slightly in raged when he saw Sero wrap his arm around your shoulders as you all walk away.
Him and Kirishima would be walking to the dorms as he rant about how it seemed like you didn’t care about him anymore. Kirishima would cut him off tired of hearing him complain.
“What the hell are you thinking Bakugou? Of course Y/N still cares about you, she just wanted to spend with her friends and just because their guys doesn’t mean anything since she would never cheat on you!”
It took his best friend yelling at him in defense of you for him to finally come to better terms about your friendships. He also realized that he was a complete ass to you and needed to apologize before it was to late.
Bakugou would find you practicing with Kaminari. He shouted your name from across the gym, causing you to drop what you were doing in favor to glare at him. You were about open your mouth to cuss him out but he stopped you.
“Before you say anything, let me start with I’m sorry.” Your eyes would widen in surprise since he’s never been one for apologizes. Kaminari would ask in a hush whisper if he heard him right which you would nod you head to.
“I was afraid that I might lose to them I couldn’t help but panic and jump to conclusions which was wrong of me, because I should have had more faith in you.”
The boys would start laughing due to the fact that he thought they were a threat. Bakugou would yell at them to shut up as you begin to approach him.
The first thing you did was slap him which even he admittedly thought was deserved and then kissed him, shocking him slightly.
“Baby all you had to do was tell me and I would have reassured you every step of the way that your the only one I want.” You would say with a smile. Before Bakugou knew it he was smiling as well.
He would tightly hug you before passionately kiss now secured with the knowledge that you won’t be going no where no time soon.
“I’ll never understand why choose to hang out with these your idiots but it doesn’t matter as long as they make you happy then I won’t complain.” He would add looking at them trying their best not to laugh and ruin moment for you two.
Midoriya originally thought it had something to do with your quirk, until he realized that you were just naturally tall.
He knew he wasn’t the tallest person so he was silghtly self-conscious about the height difference.
But it didn’t matter as he was to overly taken by you to care. So one day after class he asked you on a date which you accepted.
“You most boys don’t ask me out because of my height. I’m glad to know your different, midoriya.”
The two of you would often walk around school holding hands, causing some to cast a odd glance every once in awhile.
He absolutely loves cuddling you. It feels like he’s hugging one of those giant teddy bears.
Izuku would comment on how helpful it must be with you quirk, since your able to see most of what going on in a situation.
“Wanna piggyback ride?”
“What no! Not unless-“ He would stop for a moment and looked back and forward making sure no one around before continuing.
He would joyfully agree to it if no one was around. It brought him a childish sense of joy when you offer it to him as it was a chance to see the world from a new light.
When it came to kissing he’d rather jump up to kiss you instead of you leaning down sense he thought it could get annoying after awhile.
He also likes to jump up and give you kisses on the cheek as often as he can, just show you how much you mean to him.
Kirishima Eijirou
Kirishima didn’t know you were tall originally when he first met you. He was talking to you after class when you stood up revealing how tall you were to him.
He wasn’t bothered at all by your height, he actually found it more attractive.
So after spending a little more time with you, he asked you out and was overly excited when you said yes.
Kirishima loves kissing you and didn’t think it was weird. His way of was that if roles were reversed it would still be the same so he didn’t care about it.
He would randomly pick you up bridal style and start walking with you in his arms with no explanation.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m carrying you to class babe!”
Likes hugging you even though he only reaches up to your chest.
He’s a little spoon and proud of it. Kirishima loves it when you fall asleep together as it meant he gets to sleep in the most loving embrace.
One day you went into the kitchen and found him struggling to reach something so you simply walked over, grabbed it and handed it to him.
“You are an angel for helping a comrade in need.”
You jokingly called him a dork for taking it so serious. You offered to open it for him but he proudly showed you can he could handle it.
Bakugou Katsuki
He knew you were tall so it was nothing new, he was more impressed by your actions more then a few times so he was already interested in you.
He didn’t have a problem with it until he became painfully awere of just how much taller you were compared to him.
Bakugou tried to avoid asking you out as he didn’t want to be to obvious, but he would cave in and ask you on a date which you agreed to.
He proudly walks around campus with his arm wrapped around you waist, especially since it fell so close to his favorite body part.
“Bakugou, your hand is slipping.”
“I know.” He would say with a shit eating grin on his face.
He was definitely the big spoon despite the size differences. It felt like one of the only times that height didn’t matter between you two, as he enjoyed being able to lay kisses on your shoulder as he falls asleep.
Bakugou likes to sweep you off your feet when you kiss, quite literally. He felt like he was in control when he did it instead of you leaning down to kiss him.
“Hey Katsuki, do you want train together?”
“Do you even need to ask.”
You would end up on the ground with your hands pinned above your head and Bakugou’s other hand on your waist. This is usually how training went despite your height advantage.
But you rather liked losing to him since he would always kiss you as a reward for being a a good sport despite himself boosting about winning.
Imagine Them Learning You Participate In Beauty Pageants
Bakugo Katsuki
He would think it’s stupid originally not seeing the point of why you bothered with it
You would ask him to accompany to one of your pageants which he begrudgingly agree to until you got there, where he saw just how competitive it could be
Behind the sugar coated smiles of the contestants was a fierceness that Katsuki could relate too. The more he watched the more he wanted in on it
After the pageant Bakugo would ask if he could help in anyway for your next one which surprised you but you were more then happy with him joining you in these competitions
Katsuki and you would practice your talent together, he would try to give you his tough love training but end up reassuring you that you were doing great
He was surprisingly good at make up as he had offered to do it for you some times when you were to jittery to do it yourself
Some the other contestants would complain about him helping you and make snide remarks about you. This would not go unnoticed by him as he started cussing out anyone who dared to try do it in front of him or you
Bakugou would root you on from crowd, boasting about you being his girlfriend every time you came onto stage. Some people would tell him, he’s being disruptive but he didn’t care as it was all worth it to see your smile
Todoroki Shoto
Shoto would be surprised when you told him but would be supportive of it sense you really seemed to enjoy it
He liked going to your pageants as it was a chance to see you in a new environment, one where you held dignity and grace against the other  contestants
He was beyond taken by the show and wanted to aid you in the competition, if you would allow him to which you of course accepted
Todoroki would buy you whatever you needed, let it be dresses, jewelry, or shoes he would buy it without a second thought. You would tell him that’s it not necessary but he insist that he do it as he loved seeing to how happy it made you when you wore them
He would offer to help you train for your show but would get so lost in how talented you were and instead praise you for your skill
Some of the other contestants would mock you for being try hard which brought you down until Todoroki stepped in reminding you how perfect you were
He clapped every time you were on stage and give you a reassuring smile whenever he saw you were nervous, making you smile back with more confidence then before
After the show was over Shoto would greet you with flowers and tell you proud he was of you and how happy he was to be apart of this experience with you
Midoriya Izuku
Izuku would be in awe after learning about it. He had heard some things about it and thought it was really cool. he thought that he would never meet someone who took part in it so it was exciting for him to learn
He’d be happy about the prospect of going to one of you competitions and was looking forward to going
Midoriya was absolutely amazed by you and other contestants. From the talent to the presentation it was all so wonderful to him, but most of all how happy it made you
He really wanted to help you as he saw how passionate you were for it. You wouldn’t hesitate to let him help you as you knew he would try his best
Izuku had already taken notes about what the judges liked and what didn’t like so he was already ahead of helping you by telling you all about it so you could be better prepared for your next pageant
He would learn more about your talent so he could better help you train, until he was properly able to give you good tips
Most of the other contestants thought that they were better then you and would try to make you feel bad, but he stood up for you telling them that you were ten times the person they’ll ever be
Midoriya would cheer you on from the crowd, clapping the loudest whenever it was your turn, grinning madly as he saw in your eyes just how much having him there meant to. He would hug you after it was all over and tell you that he hoped you enjoyed yourself and expresses how he wished to continue helping you with it
Your day was hell from the moment you stepped out of your dorm room, everyone you met up with seemed to coping you for some odd reason which annoyed you because you couldn’t figure why they were doing it.
Only when you stopped to talk to Momo did you learn why. You had walked over to her while she was using a mirror, but as you approached her did you see your eyes were glowing. Your quirk was acting up and you hadn’t known about it.
It explains why everyone was acting weird around you sense your quirk was the ability to install emotions onto people, from sadness to joy you could control it all, well you thought you could but clearly not today as you freaked out about what to do.
Momo knew better then to look you when your quirk was activated so she stared at the ground instead and tried to clam you down, but to no avail as you continued to panic. All she could do was listen to you rant about not knowing what to do about it until a idea came to her mind.
She used her creation quirk to make you a pair of blackout sunglasses and handed them to you as she explained that people won’t be able to see your eyes so your quirk would be affectively useless. You thanked her a ton for them but you still couldn’t help but to worry as you both walked to class.
But now you sat at your desk, looking at the ceiling as you waited for Aiwaza to show up so you could get excuse note to go to Recovery Girl for possible help. The rest of the class was slowly filling the room and when they did you were immediately harassed about the glasses.
“(Y/N)! Take those glasses off right this second. It’s disrespectful to wear them inside.” Your class representative said making you roll your eyes. You turned your head towards him to see him sternly looking at you.
“I can’t. I’m having problems.” You explained not wanting to give away that your quirk was messing up. He opened his mouth to probably demand a more reasonable answer but was beaten to the punch by Bakugou.
“The only problem she has how pathetic she is.” Oh your childhood bully and long time crush, you loved nothing more then your little arguments but you were in no mood to have one right now.
“No right now, Bakugou.” You stated closing your eyes as you tried your best to keep clam. You could hear footsteps coming near you but paid no mind to it, only focusing on your breathing until you felt someone snatch your glasses off your face.
Your eyes instantly shot open as you stood up and glared at who took them. Of course it was Bakugou. who else would have been so blunt as to do it.
“Give them back.” You demanded to which Bakugou ignored. He looked at the glasses, twisting them around in mocking interest.
“What are these for? To make so people won’t be effected by your miserable quirk?” Your eyes weld up with tears. You were use to his insults so his words meant nothing but you were already stressed so to have him add on to it was becoming to much.
You snatched them back which made him glare at you but when his eyes made contact with yours did his anger fade away and was instead replaced by love. You couldn’t help but to feel your hatred for him disappear as you remembered how much you liked him deep down, no matter how much you tried to pretend you didn’t.
You weren’t aware of what had done but you had just projected your emotions onto him. Bakugou mind begin to cloud with loving thoughts of you, he wanted to do so much for you all of a sudden that it overwhelmed him that all he could do was look at you as you placed the glasses back on your face.
He begin to open his mouth to say something but every time he tried nothing would come out, leaving him to look like a fish gasping for air. He couldn’t even say anything as you ran out of the room embarrassed about what happpened.
Bakugou was still standing not doing anything which worried Kirishima He approached him and laid a hand on his shoulder knocking him out of the trance he was in.
“Hey, you alright?” He asked making Bakugou stare at him with a look he had never seen before from his friend.
“I’m in love with (Y/N).” Kirishima was shocked by what he said. He would always rant about how much he hated you to such a degree that even he thought it was excessive so to hear this dumbfounded him.
“Man, I don’t think your thinking straight.” Was all he could say as Aizawa showed up and told everyone to take a seat so class can begin. But even after class started Bakugou couldn’t help but to think about you, he wanted to do everything he could to make you happy, anything to make you love him.
……………………………………………
Some time had passed after you ran out of class that you were now standing line at the cafeteria waiting to be served but your mind still lingered on earlier. You had went straight to nurses office after leaving class, passing Aizawa and telling him it was emergency. When you got there you were instantly seen by Recovery Girl as you were the only student there.
You told her what was happening and she seemed to know right away what your problem was. She then explained that you were stressed, some times when people with quirks like yours get stress it causes them to lose control of their powers, the mind was the most important thing for mental quirks so if it’s taxed with a lot of things then it fail at the most basic task, like not using your quirk.
You had to admit that you were secretly stressed because of a test that you didn’t have time to study for but you didn’t think you were to this degree. Recovery Girl wrote you excusing you from class for a few days so you could get your mind sorted again, you thank her as she also added to drink some green tea as it can help you relax.
You were taking her advice as chef asked what you wanted. You asked for tea along side with your lunch and went to pay for it but was stopped as a hand full of money slid in front of you making you look up to see who’s paying for this for you and to your utter shock it was Bakugou.
“What do you think your doing?” You asked as he dropped the money into the hand of the chef before grabbing the tray for you. He did the oddest thing and smiled at you which was exceedingly rare.
“What does it look like? I’m buying lunch for my future girlfriend.” You were still questioning why he was doing this until you heard the last part.
“Future girlfriend?” You repeated in your head unsure if you heard him right. You were so lost by his statement that you didn’t even notice him grab your hand and lead you to a empty table, were he encouraged you to sit down which you did as your head was in a completely different place.
After a minute you begin to laugh as there was no way that he called you that. You looked up at him with tears of laughter, you just had tell him what you thought you heard.
“Bakugou, you’ll never believe what I thought I heard you said…I thought you said something…about me being your girlfriend…Isn’t that hilarious.” You had to take pauses in between talking due to you laughing but he just sat with his arms crossed and a unfazed look.
“I did say that.” Your eyes widen in horror as he confirmed that you heard him correctly the first time. There no way he could actually mean it, he’s hated you ever since you tried to be nice to him on the playground when he hurt himself and you kissed were it happened. He thought you were mocking him and from then bullied you for a innocent action.
“You don’t mean it though, now do you?” You challenged knowing he wouldn’t pass down a opportunity to make you feel bad about yourself. He looked at you directly where your eyes would be behind the glasses with a determination that you had only seen a few times in your life from him.
“I meant it and want you to be my girlfriend.” He said bluntly making you blush and look down at your tea. He was serious which you couldn’t believe. The boy who’s hated you since kindergarten felt the same way that felt as you did. It’s all you ever wanted but you had to know why he was just telling you now.
“What makes you want this all of a sudden?” You quietly asked, slowly lifting you head back to see him lovingly staring at you. There was something about his eyes but you couldn’t put your finger on it as you waited for his response.
“When I looked into your eyes earlier I don’t know why but after that I realized how much I really love you.” Your heart would be doing flips right now if you didn’t know why he felt this way. Your quirk was cause of all this which added onto the disappointment you already felt.
“No you don’t Bakugou It’s my quirk making you say this.” You told him hoping he would see the sense in your words but he instead got defensive about it.
“Yes I do. Ever since we were kids I’ve liked you (Y/N). It’s reason why I stopped being your friend because you made me too soft.” His response made you sick to your stomach. Your quirk didn’t have the power to make people lie so he must had been telling the truth but you just couldn’t accept it which caused you to stand up and raise your voice.
”After all this time knowing me you aspect me believe that?!” You yelled drawing attention the two of you. Bakugou turned visibly angry and stood up as well, he towered over you slightly but you could care less about it.
“Yes, because I fucking love you!” He replied just as loud as you, but it was obvious that you were going to continue to argue with him, he knew there no way you were going to believe him on words alone so he quickly took hold of your face and kissed you.
Your eyes widen in complete shock as you felt his lips against yours. You were dazed by his actions that you couldn’t think but out of instinct you kissed back. You’ve always wanted this but it didn’t feel right sense you knew why he was doing it.
So without thinking you pushed him off of you which caused him to fall back down onto the bench. He looked up at you with disappointment in his eyes. You stared into them and felt nothing but panic and guilt as you realized that everyone was looking at you.
“I’m sorry.” Was all you could say before running out of the cafeteria, as the stress of this all was eating way at you to much to stay.
………........….....…............
You were sitting outside the dormitory watching the sun go down. The colors in the sky were a beautiful display that distracted you away from your problems. Yet your mind was still swamped from the events that transpired earlier.
You couldn’t figure out if Bakugou really meant what he said. You knew your quirk couldn’t froce people to lie but maybe it was evolving that now it could. You just didn’t have it in you to believe that he actually loved you. You really wanted it to be true but all the reasons point to it not be real.
“I’ve got you to run away from me two times today and it wasn’t even from me threatening you. I’m disappointed.” You heard Bakugou say from behind you, making you slightly chuckle.
“You know I really wish that was the case for once in my life.” You responded as he took a seat next to you. You could feel his arm against yours making you blush from the small contact.
“So about earlier-“ he started but you cut him off already knowing what he was going to say.
“Listen Bakugou I’m sor-“ but just as you did to him, he did the same and glanced over to you.
“Your quirk wore off on me half way through while I was making a fool of myself so I decided to continue telling the truth…and the truth is I like you.” You were left speechless as you stared at him wide eyed. “He really likes me! He really likes me!” Was all you could think about as he waited for your response.
“Wow Bakugou I never knew you felt that way.” You replied not knowing anything else to say, other then how you feel yet you were still trying to take it all in.
“That was the whole point dum-“ He realized what he was about to say and stopped instead looked away from you. “Look you make me weak okay and you don’t even try to which is why I hate you,” He was frustrated which you found cute as he blushed when he was.
“This is why I didn’t want to be your friend, but even after all these years I still like you…so what I’m saying is will you be my girlfriend or what?” He got a little aggressive towards the end but you understood why as his face became a new shade of red.
You couldn’t help but to smile and how could you not, the boy you’ve liked since you were a kid actually felt the same about you as you did for him after all these years.
“I’ve always liked you Bakugou so I can say with no doubt that I would love to be your girlfriend.” You said making him turn his head to you but as he did you grabbed his face in your hands and kissed him with every ounce of passion you could gather, he made a little yelp sound when you did it making you giggle. He instantly started kissing back and planted his hands on your waist as he pulled you closer.
The kiss lasted until you both needed air, you laid your head on his shoulder, breathing heavily. You could feel him wrap his arm around you as the two of you quietly sat together, basking in each other’s warmth.
The sun was behind the horizon at this point leaving the sky filled with colors as the day closes to a end. All you could do is smile as you finally have what you’ve always dreamed of.
