“You’re going to blow out your arms,” the villain observed. They watched as the hero merely grit their teeth, shoving themself through another pull-up. It looked painful, and if the sweat slicking the hero’s brow was any indication, it was.
They waited for the hero to let themself drop from the bar and accept the villain was stronger. But they didn’t.
Three more pull-ups, and the villain stepped in.
“Hero,” they said slowly. “You’re about to tear the ligaments in your arms. You need to stop.”
The hero blew out a shuddering breath. Struggled for purchase, fighting gravity—and let themself drop.
The hero’s hands were bleeding, calluses torn open by the bar. The hero didn’t seem bothered when their own hands shook so much that their blood began to splatter on the gym floor.
For a moment, the villain could only stare at them.
Shit.
They didn’t know how to handle this. They knew the hero was dedicated. They knew the hero was strong, and perpetually trying to be stronger, but they hadn’t thought…
They hadn’t thought the hero would be so willing to tear apart their own body for success.
It was supposed to be fun, the villain thought. They felt a little sick as the hero pressed their palms together to soothe the bleeding, an action that was practiced and familiar. As if they had done this before.
The hero reached for something in their bag, smearing blood on the side, and pulled out a roll of blue electrical tape. The villain didn’t understand why, until the hero tore a strip off and made to wrap their hands with it.
The hero would be the death of them.
They crouched in front of the hero, plucking the electrical tape out of their hands.
“What are you doing with this?”
The hero blinked at the villain like they were the strange one in this situation.
“Wrapping my hands?”
The villain hissed in a breath.
“With electrical tape?”
The hero flushed slightly, looking down at their bloody hands. They looked close to tears.
“It…sticks to skin, really well. And it doesn’t move, either, when you move your hands or wherever else, even if you’re fighting. Plus, blood doesn’t make it come off, at least, not for a while.”
The villain blinked at them.”
“Blood doesn’t make it come off,” the villain repeated, processing. The hero nodded, reaching for the electrical tape. The villain settled it out of reach.
“Not if you wrap it right.”
Dimly, the villain realized that meant the hero had done this enough times to have it down to a science.
“And you couldn’t use a bandaid?” The villain asked incredulously. The hero shrugged a shoulder, then winced at the motion.
Yeah, the hero had absolutely blown out their arms.
“Bandaids move—“
The villain hushed them.
“Be quiet for a second.”
The hero, wisely, went quiet.
The villain rubbed a hand over their face, then studied the hero for a moment. They took one of the hero’s hands into their own, studying the damage.
“Why did you do this to yourself,” the villain murmured.
“What do you mean, why,” the hero snapped. “It’s my job.”
“Your job is to save people,” the villain corrected. “Not destroy yourself.”
“I’m not destroying myself—“
“You are.”
“Shut up—“
“Hero.”
“I need to be better,” the hero snapped. Their voice rang out across the gym, echoing into the rafters, and they both froze. After a moment, the hero spoke again, voice soft. “I need to be better.”
They said it like they needed the villain to understand. The villain wondered who they were really saying it to—the villain, or themself.
“Better than who?”
“Everyone.” It was hushed, like a secret.
The villain watched them, waiting.
The hero took a shaky breath
“My whole thing is being the best. I have always been the best. That’s the only reason I matter. If I’m not strong enough, then I am nothing, so I need. to be. better.”
The hero had started crying, very quietly, like they were afraid to take up too much space.
The villain was not equipped to handle gifted kid burnout.
“There’s more to you than just being a good athlete,” the villain said hesitantly, and the hero shook their head.
“No. There isn’t.”
“Hero.”
“Can you give me back my electrical tape?” They hiccuped to contain a sob.
“No,” the villain said firmly, and then the hero really was sobbing.
“You don’t understand—“
The villain didn’t. Not really. They had never been the kind of talented that the hero was.
They wondered now if maybe that was a blessing.
“I don’t,” the villain agreed. “But I do understand that you’ve saved half the city, and you give everything you have to give, and you always do your best.”
“But I-“
“No.” The villain stopped them. “You are doing your best.” They tipped the hero’s chin up until they met the villain’s eyes. “And it is enough.”
The hero froze, eyes darting over the villain’s face. They wondered if anyone had ever said that to the hero, if whatever mentor they had was giving them anything other than orders to be stronger. Be better. Be more.
The villain had some new targets to take care of, it would seem.
For now, though, they had to take care of hero.
“We’re going to go wrap your hands,” they said softly. “And then we’re going to take care of your arms, and you’re going to take a nap.”
The hero nodded, watching them like they were some kind of good, selfless person.
“And if I ever catch you using electrical tape again, so help me, I will put you six feet under.”
That startled a laugh out of the hero, and they let the villain guide them to their feet.
“Fine.”
The villain turned to them. “Okay?”
Are you going to be alright?
The hero seemed to understand.
“Okay,” the hero agreed.
Yes.
And so, it was.
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⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 𝐒𝓦𝐄𝐀𝐓 & 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝓡𝐒 / gym smut collection
you discover an all-women’s gym near your apartment and decide to start working out again. you expect to run into no one at 5AM, but you learn that there are plenty of women who are up and running at this time. these strong, fit, and focused women are dedicated to building their strength, but they are also willing to help you get your workout in… in other ways.
↳ g!p. a filthy little fantasy that arose in the late hours of the night. reader gets absolutely railed by the hottest women in the gym. warnings will be listed accordingly.
⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐗 🏋🏻♀️
01 ➛ working out with twice’s jihyo
02 ➛ working out with loona’s heejin (tba)
03 ➛ working out with ???
04 ➛ working out with ???
05 ➛ working out with ???
06 ➛ working out with ???
07 ➛ working out with ???
08 ➛ working out with ???
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just finished mashle (the manga) and like every other shounen out there, it has its faults.
there are 2 (two) women characters in the whole manga. lemon, while funny, is boy obsessed and has really no personality trait other than being in love with mash. meliadoul, while being around whalberg's age, still looks like she's 20 for some reason? also she was stated to be even more powerful than whalberg but she barely put up a fight against innocent zero.
familial issues are solved a little too quickly? rayne treats his brother like shit for years but one fight changes that? he literally treats mash better than his own brother??? "i'll make sure that brazen kid goes as far as he can go".... bro you just told your own brother that he was useless. whatever it's a shounen
mash forgives too many people. i love compassion in characters but idk if forgiving innocent zero is the way to go
i don't think the author knew what to do with finn. healing magic is cool and all, especially when most authors tend to give that kind of magic to women, but finn, to me, felt like he got sidelined the most. that last minute secondth that finn casted would've been much cooler to me if we got to see some more magic from him. i didn't even know he had swap magic until the training arc!
orter and wirth never fuckin interact??? like i don't even think they bring each other up in their respective backstories??? the wiki says they're estranged so ig that tracks???
domina still killed people. like multiple people. at the end he gets to go back to his classmates and whatever but he still murdered multiple people. pretty privilege is real i guess
uhh what did kaldo gehenna do? i was really looking forward to his moment of awesomeness and then he just... didn't?
the rewind at the end felt a little cheap to me. yeah i'm happy that we don't have to leave anybody behind but i feel like it cheapens their sacrifices. orter staying behind means nothing anymore.
what the fuck is up with orter owning slaves???? 008, i will get you out of there
i lied, there are like 5 women in the series but lauren, sophina and tsurara are so insignificant that they don't even count
anyway, all this aside, the manga was genuinely funny and for every moment i didn't like, there were at least two more that i really did enjoy. i think if you want a good time pass, mashle would be best for you!
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