Elly stared incredulously at her phone as she sat at her desk in the communal lounge. A small squeak slipped out of her tightly closed throat and Mic wandered over, frowning a little.
"Hey hey, pretty lady! How's it goin' babe." He bent over at the waist and took a peek at what she was looking at. "Hmm. Oh, hey! Didja post that pic on the hero reddit thingy?"
"Yeaaah," she said slowly, her ears folding back a little. She set the phone down and leaned her head back. "My anonymous account. They downvoted the shit out of it. No responses. Just downvotes and a few ups, barely any."
"Whaa?" He poked his glasses down on his nose to stare at her. "Wait, I literally saw a blurry photo of 'All Might' getting coffee that coulda' freakin' been anyone get thousands of likes."
"It's me," she told him miserably. "Whenever I try to post or do anything positive, it incites negativity. I give up. If I keep trying and hanging in there it will only get worse like it always does. It's not worth it anymore."
He kissed her on the cheek, inciting a disgusted sigh from Aizawa who was hunched over his seat trying very hard to ignore them. "No, babe - you're wonderful. I will admit that you seem to have bad freakin' luck, though."
"I have you. I guess I used all it up all at once on you." She smiled crookedly at him and his eyes lit up.
"Awww! Best. Girlfriend. Ever." He gave her a little wave as he walked back to class, chanting it under his breath like a mantra.
The rest of the day went without any distractions. Elly cleaned up and changed when she got home first, and Hizashi ambled in a couple hours later, as usual. They exchanged kisses and she opened up their laptop to mess around while he showered.
When he stepped out of the bathroom, freshly scrubbed with his hair messily scrunched up in a damp towel, she was still slumped over the screen.
"What's up, baby? You're like, obsessed with that today."
"I got my responses," she said flatly.
"Uh oh."
"Yeah... it was on one of my old blogs."
Hizashi peered over her shoulder at the glowing screen. "Ah, the ones I suggested ya dump 'cause of social media strain?"
"Uh huh."
He had been reading a few of the messages while absently drying his hair. The towel slipped from his fingers and he let it fall around his shoulders when he saw how bad the posts got.
They were horrible - non-constructive critiques of her paintings she had done awhile back. She had created from what she knew and loved: a still painting of Mic's neck speakers, one of his sunglasses on the table beside a vase of flowers. Things like that.
The problem was she was being torn apart for her subject material. The people labeled her a "fan artist", and she was made fun of for it. The last on screen was from some anonymous poster that had called her a few choice names and then told her that, besides her art being bad she was an "ugly old chick" that would "never even see Present Mic in person, so quit painting shit like you live together".
Most of them were like that, really.
Hizashi winced, but then shook his head dismissively, wet locks slapping his cheeks as he moved. "Don't let those assholes get you down, 'cause you know they're jealous. Whatever they say, however much they protest, why else they gotta tell you so much bad crap about y'self that isn't true?" He paused to roll his eyes at the last one. "This one is especially freakin' ridiculous. You can paint whatever ya want. Hey..."
"Mmn?"
"You don't use these at all now, right? An' all your usernames are different?"
She perked her ears. "Yeah..?"
He grinned wickedly. "I've got an idea."
The next time people logged in to troll her blogs they were treated to a bold link up top, directing them away since she was closing these off for good. The link opened onto her twitter account, specifically a tweet with a very nice photo of her and Hizashi in their costumes. They were posed in front of their computer showing her blog and holding a couple of the paintings, proving it had been her all along.
Hizashi retweeted it on his official Present Mic handle as well. He had the biggest, most smug grin on his face, reaching from ear to ear as he pointed to his favorite.
"Hey hey, pretty lady! How's it goin' babe." He bent over at the waist and took a peek at what she was looking at. "Hmm. Oh, hey! Didja post that pic on the hero reddit thingy?"
"Yeaaah," she said slowly, her ears folding back a little. She set the phone down and leaned her head back. "My anonymous account. They downvoted the shit out of it. No responses. Just downvotes and a few ups, barely any."
"Whaa?" He poked his glasses down on his nose to stare at her. "Wait, I literally saw a blurry photo of 'All Might' getting coffee that coulda' freakin' been anyone get thousands of likes."
"It's me," she told him miserably. "Whenever I try to post or do anything positive, it incites negativity. I give up. If I keep trying and hanging in there it will only get worse like it always does. It's not worth it anymore."
He kissed her on the cheek, inciting a disgusted sigh from Aizawa who was hunched over his seat trying very hard to ignore them. "No, babe - you're wonderful. I will admit that you seem to have bad freakin' luck, though."
"I have you. I guess I used all it up all at once on you." She smiled crookedly at him and his eyes lit up.
"Awww! Best. Girlfriend. Ever." He gave her a little wave as he walked back to class, chanting it under his breath like a mantra.
The rest of the day went without any distractions. Elly cleaned up and changed when she got home first, and Hizashi ambled in a couple hours later, as usual. They exchanged kisses and she opened up their laptop to mess around while he showered.
When he stepped out of the bathroom, freshly scrubbed with his hair messily scrunched up in a damp towel, she was still slumped over the screen.
"What's up, baby? You're like, obsessed with that today."
"I got my responses," she said flatly.
"Uh oh."
"Yeah... it was on one of my old blogs."
Hizashi peered over her shoulder at the glowing screen. "Ah, the ones I suggested ya dump 'cause of social media strain?"
"Uh huh."
He had been reading a few of the messages while absently drying his hair. The towel slipped from his fingers and he let it fall around his shoulders when he saw how bad the posts got.
They were horrible - non-constructive critiques of her paintings she had done awhile back. She had created from what she knew and loved: a still painting of Mic's neck speakers, one of his sunglasses on the table beside a vase of flowers. Things like that.
The problem was she was being torn apart for her subject material. The people labeled her a "fan artist", and she was made fun of for it. The last on screen was from some anonymous poster that had called her a few choice names and then told her that, besides her art being bad she was an "ugly old chick" that would "never even see Present Mic in person, so quit painting shit like you live together".
Most of them were like that, really.
Hizashi winced, but then shook his head dismissively, wet locks slapping his cheeks as he moved. "Don't let those assholes get you down, 'cause you know they're jealous. Whatever they say, however much they protest, why else they gotta tell you so much bad crap about y'self that isn't true?" He paused to roll his eyes at the last one. "This one is especially freakin' ridiculous. You can paint whatever ya want. Hey..."
"Mmn?"
"You don't use these at all now, right? An' all your usernames are different?"
She perked her ears. "Yeah..?"
He grinned wickedly. "I've got an idea."
The next time people logged in to troll her blogs they were treated to a bold link up top, directing them away since she was closing these off for good. The link opened onto her twitter account, specifically a tweet with a very nice photo of her and Hizashi in their costumes. They were posed in front of their computer showing her blog and holding a couple of the paintings, proving it had been her all along.
Hizashi retweeted it on his official Present Mic handle as well. He had the biggest, most smug grin on his face, reaching from ear to ear as he pointed to his favorite.
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