VILLAINS open post

[dryeyes]

(fanart source here)

Doesn't it feel good being bad? The age of heroes is over, let's act like it. ... in a single open post where it can't contaminate the pure threads. Sorry, villains, I don't make the rules.

For all of your:
• Kidnapping, hatemance, revenge and dark threads.
• Well-thought-out, planned, serious Villain AU threads OR what-plot, trashy, sexy, Villain AU threads.
• "I'm the U.A. Traitor" threads in either and all directions.
• Villain-hero roleswaps with varying degrees of effort put into it.
• "well yeah shigaraki is a villain and i hate him but he has a very entertaining speedrunning stream that i watch at 3am when i can't sleep" AUs
• or anything else we goddamn want

Comments

[dryeyes]

[It was easy to just think of Shigaraki as some sort of primed and groomed villain without anything else there. It was easy but it wasn't accurate. This was useful, though. This was another interest. If they were eventually going to coax Shigaraki into a normal civilian life he'd need hobbies just like anyone else. It could be something to do, other than sleeping, scratching, and writing in his journal.]

I agree. If they're too easy then what's the point? [Even Aizawa's hobbies were productive in one way or another. He'd take all three of them fishing if he weren't so sure that would be a pain for Shigaraki with his limitations.]

Although I haven't played a real game in a while. Haven't been to an arcade since high school. [what are console games]

[retrievearms]

[Honestly in a month or two if he's still making good progress some of his limitations could be lifted. Probably even encouraged by his therapist and other professionals helping him.]

Easy solution puzzles don't really teach you the basics either. If there's no difficulty to it, you can't learn from it. [Go hard or go home.]

I haven't been to an arcade. But I used to play games on the TV and a handheld.

[He kinda misses playing them. But he also knows his situation, he isn't stupid enough to ask for things that are a certainty to getting declined.]

[dryeyes]

[How technology has advanced. For him, the greater draw of the arcade was probably Mic's invitations than the games themselves. There was something satisfying about a good puzzle, though. It was like a mental exercise.]

I can get you some of these, [he lifts the book he's working on a bit] if you're interested.

[Shigaraki still asked for so little. When someone doesn't ask for anything, Aizawa can step in. He can offer it. It's really one of the least things they could get him. He could still have interests and hobbies. They can't get up to handhelds, yet, but little logic puzzles should be fine.]

[retrievearms]

Yeah... [There's some hesitancy in his voice. Asking for things was still a hurdle. Everyone had suspected he'd be demanding because he'd certainly had a tough time not getting everything he wanted in prison. Again he knows his situation- knows that he's not calling the shots anymore.]

I'd like that. [He admits quietly with a nod.] Can I get some logic puzzles too?

[Because he knows he'll get through the number puzzles quickly.]

[dryeyes]

[Certainly, a demand would be annoying. There was a line between asking and demanding, though. Shigaraki would learn that line. He would adjust.]

Sure. [That was a logical extension of the request. Besides, it wasn't even like the books cost much.]

How quickly do you think you'll get through them anyways? [It's asked more in a light, joking manner although it can be really hard to tell with Aizawa.] Just an estimate. [No, that doesn't make it more or less clearly a joke. Maybe. Eri can't tell, he tends to be a bit... softer with her.]

[retrievearms]

[He gives Aizawa's question a quick look over. With so little to do with his freetime, he'd be able to get through the puzzles fairly quickly.]

Thirty minutes? [Ha. His own joke.] Probably an hour depending on the type. I can use grid paper so you can use the books as well?

[Thoughtful. He was finally showing that he was capable of considering others. It's not really a growth that could be contributed to therapy or his time spent under house arrest. But it's still a bit of a highlight for him considering the circumstances in which it was a casual sort of compassion.]

You could probably find free ones online.

[Again with trying to minimize his requests.]

[dryeyes]

[There's a bit of a snicker at the reply, an understanding. Yeah, with nothing else to do, it would be easy to just plow through as many puzzles as possible. Eri sort of looks between them, not quite getting the joke.]

I've got a lot of other things I could be doing. [which was part of why he could do them so leisurely, after all]

... I could probably do them on my tablet, if I wanted, I'm just old fashioned. [If he did them on his tablet, then Shigaraki wouldn't have the share the books at all. It's a weird situation, in which Shigaraki is trying to share and Aizawa is trying to give him something.]

[He leans forward a bit where he's sitting, resting the book of puzzles on his lap. He twirls the Hello Kitty pencil in his fingers.] I like pencil and paper when it comes to relaxing.

[His tablet was for work and cat videos. Cat videos were also relaxing but, well. He needed the digital apparatus for cat videos. It was essential.]

[retrievearms]

I don't want to burden you. [He says it sincerely as he watches Aizawa's Hello Kitty pencil get twirled around. He's a little jealous that others are able to so carelessly use their hands like that.]

I'm going to go through them quickly. [Maybe he should learn impulse control? Shigaraki raises a hand to scratch at his shoulder, reminded suddenly of his other impulses he needed to better manage. He scratches a little harder than he really needs to before pulling his hand away. So far? He's still gotten away with the scratching in front of others. In a way he's learning to curb the destructive behavior but Aizawa is probably already aware that at night it's a different story.]

[dryeyes]

[Aizawa's eyes flick over from the Hello Kitty pencil to Shigaraki's neck. Drawing attention to that habit, especially around Eri, could be a little dangerous. It wouldn't be dangerous due to the fear of Shigaraki lashing out. He was much more subdued these days. The worry was mainly in emphasizing that anxiety and, unintentionally, making it worse.]

[His glance shows that he notices. He just doesn't say anything.]

I'll see about looking up some free ones online. [A very brief pause as he fills in a square in the book in front of him]

It's not a burden. [He keeps it neutral. He's not mushy enough to say that Shigaraki wasn't a burden. Objectively, he was more work. He was just more work Aizawa didn't particularly care one way or the other about. He tilts his head, addressing Eri,]

Do you want to try? He can help. [He points with his pencil towards Shigaraki. Eri looks between the two of them for a bit, a little panicked to have the attention on her again, then offers a small nod.]

[retrievearms]

[Eyes widen when Aizawa tells Eri that Shigaraki would help her and while he doesn't protest, it's clear that his anxiety has spiked up in that moment. He's still cautious and shy around Eri, more so than she is around him. The words of the escorts from the day he arrived at U.A. still rang pretty loudly in his ears- about being a fuck up and trying not to burden U.A. Somehow that twisted into not scaring or harming the poor girl.]

She's smart... [He says, as if that means she doesn't need his help. It's a weird compliment and Shigaraki definitely means it. Eri is pretty smart. But being around her made him fully aware of what kind of person he could have been. If only he'd been rescued by heroes. Shifting uncomfortably in his seat at the thought, he looks at Eri with a small nod. One hand reaches for the back of his neck, fingers smoothing over the old scars but not quite scratching. Not yet.]

[dryeyes]

She's six.

[Aizawa was a painfully independent child. Still, asking a child to do something particularly complex by themselves... they'd learn, sure, but nowhere near as easily as when another person helped them along. That went doubly when the child was probably more interested in the person helping than the task.]

[Either way, Aizawa flips to one of the easier pages that he had skipped entirely and offers the book to Eri. She takes it, grasping the pages firmly and setting it down on her lap. It's almost like she can sense Shigaraki's hesitation because she just stares intently down at the puzzle, determined to try on her own, first.]

[And Aizawa sighs, because he doesn't know what to do with two tiny versions of himself and no tiny Hizashi.]

If you get stuck, it's fine to ask. How about that? [and he glances over at Shigaraki as he says it, implying he's asking there as well.]

[retrievearms]

[Shigaraki clams up, embarrassed that maybe he'd fucked up at what Aizawa was triyng to accomplish with him here. He stares hard at the puzzle too, avoiding Aizawa's gaze out of shame until he hears the next bit that comes out of Aizawa.

He looks up, notices that Aizawa is looking at him too, and nods in agreement.]

Yeah. You can ask me. [Maybe that would have corrected his mistake earlier.] I just... don't want to assume y'know?

[dryeyes]

[Aizawa does wonder, belatedly, if Shigaraki has ever had any experience with children. FRom the files the police had put together, he was hardly given an opportunity to be a child, much less interact with them.]

[It's a chance to learn. While Aizawa won't apologize for his brusqueness, he does realize where the conflict was coming from.]

Even smart people ask for help. It's good that you don't want to deny her the opportunity to learn, at least.

[Although Eri looks a bit hesitant at the whole exchange, now sort of unsure if she should ask for help or not. Great job, gentlemen.]

[retrievearms]

[He's a manchild groomed for villainy. Of course he never had any experience with children or socializing normally with people his age. Hell, he had a hard time making friends even in the League or with people who had similar goals like Stain. Always demanding that they go "die immediately" when they didn't match the descriptor he'd gotten about them or picking fights.

But it didn't have to be that way forever. The simple fact that Shigaraki came out of his room because Eri was in the common area was a big leap forward. But it didn't exactly teach him how to behave around others or that it's ok to have relationships that didn't hinge on him being the center of the universe.

Shigaraki doesn't go back to his room even though Aizawa had been firm with him. Instead he peers over at the easy puzzle Eri was opened to and pointed at one of the numbers.]

You want to have one in each row and column without repeating. There's only two more threes that can fit, do you see them?

[Unsure if he's doing a good job helping, his other hand sneaks to the back of his neck, picking at it relentlessly. He avoids looking at Aizawa, certain that the guardian knows what's going on. He doesn't want to get called out for his bad behavior so he chooses to hyper fixate on Eri's puzzle.]