dumbshow | the critically acclaimed open post

the critically acclaimed open post

assorted shitty people

optional prompts/ideas

☆ caught in the rain meme
☆ little steps meme
☆ affectionate physical contact meme
☆ picture prompt also acceptable but link them so it's tidy
☆ AU ideas: soulmates AU, reincarnation AU, Bad End AU, canon divergent/roleswap AU, dorky college AU, crossover AU, super indulgent high fantasy AU
☆ melodrama is ultimate tier
★ SHIPPING AND FILTHY THINGS:
☆ non-fluffy relationship types I'm down for: codependent, master/servant power imbalance type ships, "we're bad for each other but worse for anyone else," other things I am failing to think of tbh
☆ things I won't rp: noncon (includes "dubcon"), incest, tsundere shit if your tsundere is just verbally abusive, gratuitous torture porn, you'll probably have to ask me about harder kinks and they will vary by character
☆ I don't have a kink list so pitch me an idea if u thirsty
☆ if you would prefer a locked post I can also make that happen

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[Just let him tap his damn pen in peace, Aizawa. All Might blinks at him, somehow surprised - this is what they're going to talk about? This?

It's not exactly the conversation he usually has with well-meaning comrades. Gran Torino, Nighteye—]

What? [He puts the pen down. Progress.] If you know of any rosy glasses I could borrow, Aizawa, I wouldn't mind having them for a day.

[Because he is old and tired and has seen the harsh reality of the world since before Aizawa was born. It doesn't have to be a thing; shouldering everything on his own, of course he doesn't talk about this.]

I don't have any illusions about this world. It may be cold and unforgiving at its worst, but there are people in it like young Midoriya and like you that make it worth saving. If that's "rosy glasses," then I'll accept it.

[Like young Midoriya and like you, oh, no. No, no, no. No, All Might is not going to lump them in the same category, because Aizawa is miles beyond that self-sacrificial, uncontrolled, overly emotional student. Just because All Might has some kind of attachment to him doesn't mean he gets suddenly elevated, not even in this conversation.

Which doesn't mean he doesn't think Midoriya has potential. But still: the kid's got a long way to go if he ever wants to be anything more than a maybe in people's minds when he shows up to the scene. Maybe he'll save us, maybe he'll win . . . he has to get better, stronger, more in control if he wants to succeed as a pro hero. To be a certainty, a sigh of relief: he's here, he's sure to win . . . that's what it takes to be a hero. Not broken bones and stumbling good intentions.

Besides: All Might isn't correct right now. Aizawa isn't the sort of person who makes the world worth saving. He isn't a bad person, and frankly he likes who he is, but that doesn't mean anyone's ever going to point at him as a prime example of humanity.

But they're getting off the point.]

Then act like it.

[The world is cold and unforgiving, and it isn't always because of villains. Sometimes it's easier when it's villains, because at least they identify themselves. But sometimes it's just . . . people. Stupid, petty people, who torture others for no real good reason at all; who torment and abuse and inflict pain on those weaker than them just because they can. God, sometimes it's heroes, and Aizawa thinks of Endeavor, of how many cases he's solved and how it still doesn't absolve him of what he'd done to his wife alone.

And it's just . . . it's easier to just acknowledge it, rather than act all optimistic and overly cheerful every damn minute, like that'll really help fool anyone. Oh, maybe it'll work for a minute, as everyone stares at All Might and thinks things are all right, but the glamour will eventually fade, and what are they left with then?

And on a more intimate level . . .]

And face reality. You say you look at the world and see it for what it is? Prove it to me. Stop acting like this.

[How undefined. Like this, vague and snappish, an imprecise statement at, god, one in the morning. Like this, like things are going to be okay, like their students aren't flirting with death every other week, like All Might really is still in his prime, like he's just killing time before his next patrol. Like he's not a teacher, not broken, not petty and weak and imperfect just like the rest of them.]

[Endure it, Aizawa, All Might loves that dumb little boy and he'll keep putting his faith in him for as long as he's able. And he'd argue, too, that Aizawa is more than certainly someone who enriches the world; he's doing so much for the children, how couldn't he be? Nothing Aizawa has done has ever been for the glory or the money, like some heroes—and All Might has reveled in the glory himself and can't say it's wrong to want to be appreciated, but—

The fact remains that Aizawa dedicates himself to these children, these would-be heroes, raises them not to be prepared to lay down their lives but to survive despite everything the world will throw at them and that, for fuck's sake, is an admirable quality.

Later he might even say all this out loud, when Aizawa is done getting angry at him for putting his hope before his despair.

Is the world dark and cruel and merciless? It is. Even All Might, Symbol of Peace, can't save everyone, but does that make embracing that hopelessness the right thing to do?

He looks down at his lap and taps his pen- against his fingers, thanks, he's not offending Aizawa's delicate ears again.]

I see. To tell you the truth, Aizawa... [And he goes quiet for a long moment, because which truth should he be getting at here? The world has let each of them down differently; that's fine, they know that, but—] I want to leave behind a world confident enough to go on without All Might, but the world isn't there yet.

[Even now, people treat his weakened state like a nonissue to assuage their fears of such a world, and sure, the entire world doesn't depend on him, but in the small sliver of it that actually does...]

And so much of it is because of the way I've acted, all these years.

[Villains and heroes and civilians, whole conflicts rife with death centered around the fact that All Might exists. The way he dismissed Nighteye's concerns and barreled so far ahead without thinking of what would happen when his light burnt out; that the new number one hero is a monster with no concern for people, only rankings, because of a rivalry with All Might he imagined and All Might didn't put a stop to when he should have—things All Might could have avoided.

And maybe he's wrong and things will work themselves out without him, but if Aizawa wants him to be honest, this is what he's going to get. All Might sits back and looks away from him, up at the ceiling, bracing for the next lecture. Surely it's coming.]

This must sound like the rambling of a washed-up hero trying to stay relevant, to you... It never occurred to me, even after my injury, that retirement was an option.

[Pro Hero: Only One Job For Like Forty Years]

It isn't retirement.

[It's not that he doesn't understand where All Might is coming from. He's such an unshakable pillar in this world, something as constant as the rain or the snow. To imagine a world without All Might is . . . unsettling, and terrifying. It isn't that the world will fall without him, but people imagine that it might.]

You keep acting like there's nothing left for you. That you're some kind of-- of burden waiting to die now that you can't do what you did. You call it retirement-- is that what you think of what the teachers here do? Some side-hobby that we indulge in because we can't patrol?

[Of course he doesn't. All Might has been vocal in his admiration for the teachers more than once, even if he might disapprove of certain methods.]

It will become retirement if you treat it that way. And you will become irrelevant if you keep thinking of yourself that way.

[A beat, and his voice is a little kinder as he adds:]

But just because you can no longer fight doesn't mean you can't be a symbol of hope in other ways.

[Oh, yes, there's the lecture. All Might frowns up at the ceiling, listening, purposely not interrupting to object or counter anything Aizawa has to say; he wants to hear it. After all this time, he has to learn to listen to these kinds of... concerns, even if Aizawa maybe isn't the ideal person to start with.

Then again, maybe he is; he's never been anything but brutally honest with All Might, a quality many people who've known him for years still haven't mastered. And it stings once again to hear the sort of things young Midoriya's mother had said to him, about his waiting around to die, but this time the shock isn't so great. All Might has never waited around for anything!

But he sees the point. What this life is now is a second chapter, not a punishment—he has to remind himself of that, some days.]

Don't accuse me of disrespecting the teachers... [That first, but his objection is half-hearted because he knows that Aizawa knows just how much he values the staff at UA. Low blow, sleepy man.]

If I become irrelevant because your students have risen so high that they eclipse me— [know that he says this with a wide, sweeping gesture, because of course he does.] Then I won't mind at all! This world's future is up to them now.

[That's what he has left; Midoriya's growth and the other students' training. He knows.

After a moment, he looks at Aizawa again.]

I didn't expect you to cheer me on.

[is this cheering. this is scolding. all might.]

I don't hate you.

[Quite the opposite, frankly, he does not say. Being brutally honest doesn't mean offering up everything. But he says that plainly, as though it ought to be obvious.]

And I don't want to watch you just wither away. You have a lot left to give, if you choose to. And you'd be better spent choosing that, instead of just feeling guilty for no reason.

Hahaha, of course! [That's his usual chipper, but he can't help it when this is the most conversation they've had that hasn't been about students and it's all about... his... feelings?

It's a surprising turn, that's all. He's almost sheepish, a very un-All Might emotion.]

Even the former number one hero still has a long way to go. Thanks for your patience.

[is it patience???]

You know, since we've already started, this is the perfect time to get to know each other better.

[He stares at him for a long moment. His expression might be read as exasperated or disgusted, but it's honestly just blank.

Then, with a long sigh, he leans back. The laptop stays open, but he's got his attention.]

I'm not playing a trust game with you.

[@Aizawa please appreciate him, thanks.]

Right, right. [There go his first five ideas--] If you're finished soon, it's not too late to get a bite to eat.

Mmph.

[THAT'S SO MUCH EFFORT AND HE IS BUT ONE MAN . . . who has a lot of grading to get through, and he'll never come back if he senses freedom. No, no, he'll start this . . . one on one questions aren't exactly a game.

. . . and maybe he can have some fun anyway.]

Do you have any kind of personal life?

[Wow, Aizawa goes right for the jugular. All Might anticipated this, but he would have preferred it over a bowl of noodles or something, at least. Some sushi to ease his pain. Social pain.]

No.

[WELL.... NO... just no. He used to pretend to be his own secretary, man.]

[god that's so sad]

Do you want one?

[The fact that he takes longer than a second or two to answer is telling, and not in much of a flattering way. This is truly the million-dollar question...]

I never had time until now. [Now he's definitely sheepish, because it feels strange to be saying this, as, you know, an adult...] It's now or never.

[Well. That's an opening if he ever saw one, and he'd be loath not to take advantage of it. Aizawa turns a little more fully towards him. His expression is still blank, but that isn't an indication of displeasure. It's just he never learned how to emote well.

And then: a hint of a grin, there and gone.]

So. What do you want now?

[This whole questioning business is getting to be a bit one-sided!, he imagines All Might saying, and wonders if that's actually going to be what he says next.]

[Oh, look at that, a whole reaction. All Might perks up very obviously, by contrast - of course he does - and then falters slightly. Hang on, didn't he just--]

I already asked if you want to get something to eat! When do I get to be the interrogator, hah?

[Close enough? Eat with him, you strange little man.]

Not exactly what I meant.

[But dinner works too. Aizawa stands, ignoring the pop of joints and pings of protest from his back.]

And when you start asking questions. Obviously.

[Oh!! He's going! All Might stands just a little too hurriedly, like if he doesn't leap on this opportunity Aizawa will just crawl under the table and go to sleep, and—that's entirely possible, so he doesn't worry about how eager he looks.]

Haha, of course, of course. Then here's one: do you like sushi?

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