Really random for my (empty) blog, but I've been dipping my toes back into SVTFOE, and as an adult, I now see an "issue" I didn't previously.
They're too young.
That's it.
The show literally starts on Star's 14th birthday, and while there's nothing wrong with any age being the focus of a piece of media, I feel like the themes and romantic plot would have been more tastefully delivered had the leads been a few years older.
Let's say that instead of the show starting when the characters are of 8th grade age, you have them be high school seniors (I know that canonically they're like, highschoolers, but 14 is still 8th grade territory in most countries).
Anyway, picture me this, quirky, blonde, unapologetically-herself, oddly-dressed girl who says she's a magical alien princess drops in on your FINAL year in school. Up til now, everyone thought of you as the SAFE KID, and all you want is to get better at karate, plus very importantly, you want your lifelong crush, Jackie Lynn Thomas, to think you're cool. You don't want this crazy girl around you. Well, that was at first, now that you have what some may describe as a manic pixie dream girl living at your house, you fight monsters together (and can't get over how cool that is making you feel), you hang out with friends more thanks to how sociable she is, there's always something crazy going on and you feel more capable than ever thanks to all the unpredictable shenanigans you now get up to, and also, while she's a bit of a hyper loonie, she's also surprisingly laid back sometimes, she likes the nachos you cook and the stuff you put on TV, she likes just lazing around with you. Oh right, and her magic is actually pretty dope. This is what having a best friend must feel like? Right? A platonic soulmate, that's what they call it, right?
Now, this setup may not seem too different, but that's mostly cuz we haven't gotten into the romance, which is a big part as to why I believe the show could have been nicer with a slightly older cast. At around 18, romance could have been done in a more mature(?), serious(?) way. I feel like I have to explain, IF romantic relationships weren't such a BIG part of the plot I don't think I would have cared about the characters ages at all, but the show does have an abundance of romance, and it explores the topic in a way that feels somehow more mature than the characters should be. For example, I think The Owl House tackles young teen relationships better, they're awkward as hell, inexperienced, embarrassed, and again, romance is quite prevalent but it's very much fitting for the characters' age. In Star vs. if you moved everything into a college freshmen setting, said the characters are 19 and gave them the same romantic beats, oh, toxic ex with anger issues, oh, the cool girl next door crush, a lot of their actions would have still been believable. In TOH placing the cast's romances onto adults would have made you think that the whole cast suffers from anxiety or is immature, or just behaving in a weird, pathologically awkward way, which is PERFECT since romance is one thing that doesn't look the same at all ages.
Want more examples of things that would translate better with older characters? Marco moves to a different dimension after a year(eh) of knowing Star. If they were seniors in high school that would have been so perfect, instead of chasing a degree, a job, overall prestige on Earth, he goes to grow himself as a knight/diplomat(eh) on Mewni instead of applying to college, something that the Marco-before-Star probably wouldn't have done. Now that's CHARACTER GROWTH combined with sense (since he'd now be free after high school). Confessing to your best friend-crush at a house party? Becoming a nation's leader? Firmly positioning yourself against your own mother, the ex-queen, therefore having a very solid political stand as a key supporter of the new queen's (Eclipsa's) regime, same Eclipsa who is seen as a usurper, a criminal and against mewman kind? Having a break-up buddy (totally not a friend with benefits)? Yeah, I think these could've been done better with even slightly older leads, like 16. When you're a teen even a year makes a huge difference, trust.
Regardless, I like the show as is, I promise, I'm just having a field day imagining how it would've felt not watching the characters be at an age where their moms could very well be packing them lunchables for school. I find it just a little jarring that Star (a literal princess) was first dating Tom in what would be 7th grade (at 13 yo) if not when she was younger. I find it odd that later in the series these 14-15 year old kids are full on diplomats, holding pro-monster lobbying events. Okay, Moon's mom died when Moon was a kid, why did her daughter coincidentally also become queen for a while at 14? What's wrong with your bloodline? Mostly, the characters act weirdly mature sometimes and painfully childish other times, but not in a realistic way for a teenager who would be smart enough to do well here but dumb/anxious enough to take ages to fix their problems there. The keyword is inconsistency. I believe that's due to the writers wanting more mature themes and storylines, but being unable to fully make the 14 year olds to behave solely in a grown-up way (because that would have made everything even more unrealistic), so now they all seem... off.
I mostly really like the idea of them being at the end of highschool in season 1 because it feels like a natural progression that ties reality with fantasy really well. Kids could watch the show and see how life moves on from getting an education (aka maturing) to putting stuff in practice (existing as a grown person in the world). Going to school is part of growing up, and seeing the characters finish that phase and transition to the the next one would have been so awesome, what comes after highschool? College? No! Fulfilling your destiny!
Instead, it seems like these teenagers aren't getting a formal education, and especially for Marco and Tom it seems like their parents are kind of just letting their 14-15 year old kids do whatever, fight wars, hang out with possible dictators/genocidal magical leaders, usurping leaders etc.
Again, there's shows that do what Star vs tries to do, and do it well, like Avatar the last air bender and Steven Universe. They make it believable that the 12-13-16 year olds actually behave the way we see on screen, meanwhile SOME, not all, but some, of the things in svtfoe look more plausible in a different context.
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Your leader is sending you on yet another mission to gather intel on hero patrol routes.
"Spinner will go with you.” He finishes off with.
“Man! I cannot blend into a crowd!” Well said. That's the only valid response to the unreasonable pair-up of you and your reptilian colleague. It seems your boss has taken a liking to sending you out with Himiko, Compress, anyone but himself or Dabi, really.
You decide that a chat about this with Tomura is, by now, long overdue.
I've been drooling over COD men this past month. Have literally not touched anything else with a 10 foot pole. Needless to say, this has been on the back burner, BUT here's a snippet of how the second part will go. No longer are we seeing mostly Tomura's POV, we've entered your POV, and well, let's see where it takes us.
Honestly, I thought that the fic I posted would be a one shot of this "kissing in an alley so we don't look suspicious for wandering the streets at night" scenario that I've been thinking about, no open ending in sight. If anything I was going to have a fade-to-black (closed door) smut ending, put their story to rest, and go on to write whatever else, but no, internalized guilt + self deprecating Tomura and mischievous reader are coming back for seconds.
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Of course he didn't. In fact he doesn't feel anything for you that he doesn't already feel for everyone else in this world. Hatred. Anger. Resentment. A wish to use them.
That's exactly why he was always observing you and always hanging somewhere not too far from you. He wants needs to know more about you so he can use you as best as he can.
But well, when learning about someone, you don't just find out about the good parts. And in your case, you can be insufferable. You have this… this… bothersome, annoying, exasperating trait that drives him up the walls. Well, it would, if he cared. He doesn't care. But still, you're just... overly friendly? Too open? A flirt?
He doesn't know what to call it but he hates it just like he hates everything, just more than the usual. He hates it when you look into his eyes then glance down at his lips (on the rare occasions when he doesn't wear his father's hand). He hates it when you lick your lips while looking at his face, what do you like his face or something? He hates it when you place your stupid cold hands on him, so soft and so so stupidly kind, your small stupid cold hands leave a warm sizzling on his skin for hours, he loathes that the most.
He knows it's nothing personal. That's another reason why he hates you. If you were this… bothersome to him and him alone, he could bare it, that would be his duty as a leader. But you throw your dangerous looks and touches at others as well, at newbie heroes who gladly hand over information when they see you fussing over them, or at yakuza members who give you much less trouble when you look and talk to them a certain way.
But most of all he hates it when you get friendly, with Dabi other people from the league. He shouldn't be forced to bear witness to those “fuck me” eyes you point at the walking patchwork quilt. And while he doesn't hear whatever you two whisper about when you're alone on the bar’s couch, he can imagine, and he hates that it's so obvious. It shouldn't be It isn't his business to care about who's fucking who, but he just hates that he can tell. He hates whenever you don't stay in the only room in the hideout aside from his own, and prefer to leave with him the others for the night. He hates the good mood you're in the day after even more.
That's because a villain shouldn't be able to make you happy. It's just not right. Someone evil someone who’s just like him can't make others happy, because if they could, what would that mean for him? That would make him almost human, touchable, savable. That would mean there's hope, and there isn't, there's no world where he isn't a monster, he's sure. He's sure because he hates everything, especially you. Why does he think of you every moment he can then? That's just because, because you're pretty, and he's not used to pretty things. That's all there is to it. The charm and charisma you have, your kindness and intelligence, they're traits people make up in their own heads just to pretend there's a different reason other than physical attraction that draws them towards you. He's above that, you're just a pretty face, nothing more. There can't be anything more.
______________
But when you two end up walking through the suburbs at 4 am, having just come back from exploring an abandoned furniture factory, it's more than your appearance that draws him in. While a calm quiet has settled over you two now, when looking around the old building earlier, you were as chatty as life-long friends. Maybe it helped that you found the place to be well suited for your needs (a second base, big enough to fit you all in case shit hit the fan and you needed to run). Maybe it helped that you were alone together, well unless you count the squatter sleeping in a warehouse on the other side of the factory's overgrown yard. And maybe it was your willingness to act completely normal around him that helped. You act just like a regular young woman with her friend would. In this case, exploring an abandoned building and laughing and joking and making every hair on his body stand up when you touched him. And oh boy, you touched him a lot, having him hold your hand while you balanced on dusty conveyor belts or asking him to push your thighs up so you could peer into whatever locked room had a window you could climb on, or simply grazing your hands over his arms.
So then, perhaps it’s the intimacy he feels whenever he is alone with you that gives him this irreversible tunnel vision, keeping him forever focused on you, counting each of your breaths as they turn to mist in the cool fall night.
Right about now, you start to notice how glued his eyes seem to be on your face, but both your heads jerk forward as you hear someone approach. No, multiple people. The reaction you share is instant, you duck into the first alley you can find, the space barely 4 feet wide but offering a good cover. You pray that it's just some teens and listen intently.
It's not just some teens.
You hear two voices, heroes.
“Do you really think it's those guys?” A young male asks.
“Whoever calls at 4AM from inside an abandoned factory CANNOT be sober enough to know that kind of stuff.” He gets his answer.
You two share a glance. The fucking squatter had the civic consciousness to inform the authorities? Well, fuck that guy.
An instant later, a flash of something crosses your eyes, he can tell because they go wide and your eyebrows raise for just a second. Please God, he hopes you're not getting sick from the nerves, these are professional heroes, there's no shot they won't look to the side when they pass by the dodgy alleyway you're in, don't make yourself look suspicious.
“Make out with me!” You whisper-shout at him as you pull on his sleeves to get him closer to you.
What.
He can't, he can't put his lips on you, on your lips, he can't get that close, he can't touch you. He quite literally can't touch you (without killing you). The thought of your skin on his, especially your face, your lips, your mouth, on his? He can't go there. He couldn't come back if he did go.
So he doesn't. He looks at you with shock and terror, stiff as a board, not moving an inch as your stupid cold hands find the side of his face and the back of his head.
The problem is, he knows it's a good plan, your best option even, the heroes wouldn't care about some couple making out in an alley, they'd pass by without a second thought, you were already far from the factory anyway.
But he can't do it, so he just stands there, still and mortified, while you pull him with all your weight, hitting your own back against the wall behind you so he'd look like he was pressing into you. When you pull again you only drag his stubborn head, not his whole body, and his lips crash onto yours.
The heroes are almost at the head of the alley, but your faces are mashed together, the impression you were trying to give off has been achieved, they'd leave you alone.
You could stop right now, this was believable, hell it would've been believable even if you were just hugging or pretending to kiss. Damn you for actually putting your lips on him.
As the heroes come into view, you pull away and then his whole body goes limp and warm and he feels like his entire being is made of fuzz, buzzing with static from the inside. Your eyes. Fuck. Your eyes. You've just opened them, and they're half lidded and they're gazing straight into his, and he feels like they're saying a million words. In this current second that he's seemingly stuck in, he sees a little steam escape your parted lips, and soon after, time starts ticking normally again as you both dive back in with hunger.
His eyes stay open, so somewhere in the back of his head he knows the heroes rolled their eyes as they passed by without a second thought, but he can't bring himself to care, he's finally, finally moving. He can't even bring himself to care that he's getting harder and harder, his pants tightening, thank God he had a jacket that covered that well.
He doesn't understand where this studded hunger came from, doesn't understand his or yours, but that doesn't matter.
You both push and pull, ending up in the middle of the alley, holding on tight and meeting each other again and again and again, tongues greedily prodding with any hint of embarrassment rapidly falling away. When you actually part to look at the other, he couldn't imagine tearing his gaze away from you ever again. Not that he hasn't spent the past months looking at you from the shadows.
He goes back in, but you drop from your tip toes to your heels, widening the distance between you two.
His heart sinks. He feels stupid, why did he think… just because you kept kissing him after they left doesn't mean you want to keep doing it. Maybe you just wanted to make sure, or maybe you did get lost in the moment for a bit. Before he can keep coming up with reasons why you wouldn't want to touch him ever again, you lift yourself back up and plant a kiss on his lips.
After taking a look at him, you close back in to lay pecks along his lips and upper jaw, your hand playing with his strands of light hair. He's standing still as a rock again, no longer engaging, only following your movements, why are you still touching him? Is this a pity thing? Fuck you.
“I uh… didn't mean to cut you off, Tomura.” You say softly before your eyes widen with shock, probably because you've just realized you called him by his first name for the first time.
He realizes he's making the same shocked face as you and he doesn't want you to think he's upset! He should say something! But why does he even care what you think? This is all shades of wrong! He shouldn't be here, doing this, feeling like this.
“I'm sorry, that slipped.” You tell him quickly yet tentatively, before he gets the chance to say anything. Your reaction is fair, he supposes, you probably think it's better to be safe than sorry.
“It's okay.” He says, finally.
He notices that you're still catching your breath, and between thoughts of how much he should hate himself for being here, he decides he likes you breathless, quite a bit actually.
He looks down at your palm, currently resting against his forearm but making its way up onto his arm.
“Let's leave.” He says, though he wishes there was more finality in his tone.
The way your face falls suddenly has him suppressing a shudder. You seem a little confused, and while he tries to convince himself otherwise, you look… sad.
Regardless, after a few moments your lips, that are still wet from your earlier actions, curl into a mischievous smile. Fuck, are his lips wet too? He rolls them to check. They are.
“How about a few more minutes?” You ask, your tone intentionally innocent, a contrast from your palm that has snaked up all the way to his chest, pressing on it softly. Are you trying to kill him? How's he supposed to decline, he has to somehow, no way he can lose himself in his craving again.
He leans back, away from you, eyes closing and he sighs, but feels your hand on his cheek.
“Tomura” You say softly and he feels ready to shove his pants down and ask you to do something, anything to make this feeling of neediness go away. He knows that so far he's always had support, never being fully on his own up until a few months ago when his master was captured, but he's never been bound to someone, unable to pull away. He hates this need he has. You. You've become a need and that makes him vulnerable, he can't have you dragging him down, you're a weakness he has to get rid of. But how is he supposed to do that when you're here, in a grimy alley, willing to stay longer if it means kissing him again. He can't even believe it, let alone act on it.
“You didn't like it?” Now that's the dumbest thing he's heard, are you really insecure about something like that? If only you'd know how fast he got hard from kissing you.
“Don't be stupid.” Is all he says.
Your eyebrows furrow a little, how infuriatingly charming.
“Then…?” Fuck, there you go with your open ended questions, he has to say something, he can't stand here all night doing this.
“I don't think this is something we should do.” He explains, praying it's enough for you, and of course it isn't.
“Why?”
“Maybe you're in the business of fraternizing with teammates, but I'm not” He replies brusquely.
Your brows lift, giving way for a look of offense to cross your round face, which is quickly followed by a glint of amusement.
“Are you upset about me sleeping with Dabi?” You ask outright which statles him.
“You can do whatever you want.” He answered, masking his shock and turning away from you to walk out of the alley. Stupid, stupid, he could stay here and kiss you more, feel your lips quiver along his own, but he's leaving, he tries to justify that it's the smart thing to do, but he's really just a coward.
“But you would want me not to?” You follow your first question. “Come on, I have to know now.”
“I don't care.” Liar. “But I wouldn't do something like that.” He tries to sound as much as a leader as he can, to instill some feeling that you should stay quiet, and stop asking him embarrassing things.
“Ohohoho, of course not!” You're actually laughing at him, great. “Okay, okay, picture me this: It's 1AM, everyone's gone, I knock on your door and beg on my knees for the big boss to Put. Me. In. My. Place! Wh- haha- what do you do?” You keep gesturing, swishing your arms and gathering your fingers into fists.
He won't dignify that with an answer.
“Ok, ok, sorry.” You sigh with satisfaction and you two keep walking homeward. “So do I have to find out first hand or…?” Why, oh God, why are you pushing him so hard on this topic? It's almost as if you're seriously asking.
