Reading After Dark: Strangers; Pro Hero Bakugou x Reader [FanFiction]
*Disclaimer: Welcome to Reading After Dark, a series just for reads that are best enjoyed after dark. Books, ebooks, webcomics, and other reads featured in this series are NSFW (Not Safe For Work), contain adult content and explicit themes, and are not meant for those under the age of eighteen. All reviews are intended for mature readers only. All opinions are my own.
- Title: Strangers; Pro Hero Bakugou x Reader
- Author: rjbaxter
- Published: April 20, 2021
- Genre(s): My Hero Academia fanfiction, character X reader, Romance, Action
- Read It: Archive of Our Own // wattpad
- Rating: 4/5 Stars
Katsuki Bakugou is a great Pro Hero. He’s great with kids, kicks ass everyday and doesn’t take shit from anyone. But he has a bit of an embarrassing secret. He absolutely loves Romance Mangas and novels. What happens when you two meet in a bookstore and bond over your favorite books? Will you stay strangers or will you become more? archive of our own
Strangers contains graphic violence, rough sex, character death, kidnapping, and vague scenes of torture. There is also a praise kink and sexual degradation between the reader and main character.
Strangers by rjbaxter is a completed My Hero Academia fanfiction that’s 44 chapters long that are full of sugar with a bit of spice and a whole lot of action. I would affectionately refer to this kind of fanfic as “fluff” as it’s more on the sweet side than spicy, but it does get spicy especially with hot-headed Pro Hero Bakugou as the reader’s love interest. After meeting Bakugou at a bookstore buying the same romance manga as herself, the reader and Bakugou begin a bit of a slow burn romance. Meanwhile, a villain with unknown ties to the reader makes himself known to the Pro Heroes in an effort to cause a war between the New League of Villains and Heroes.
I was more than excited to dip my toes back into fanfiction, and I feel incredibly lucky that Strangers by rjbaxter was the one I picked up first. I had heard good things about the author, and while scrolling through several of their works, something about Strangers’ synopsis caught my eye. I say something but I know exactly what it was: a hot headed “bad boy” meets a fellow romance manga lover. I’ve read a fan fiction or two with the reader as the love interest, but certain things took me out of the story and left me feeling unsatisfied. I think rjbaxter does the character x reader story line perfectly with minimal physical descriptions of the reader. Usually it’s very difficult to place myself in the shoes of “the reader”, so to speak, but the way Strangers is written, I felt comfortable slipping into my role.
The author also took care in aging up all of the My Hero Academia characters which made me feel better as a 28-year-old (now 29) who just recently picked up the anime about high schoolers who want to become superheroes with incredible (and strange) powers called quirks. That being said, Bakugou is still pretty true to his character when he’s outside of the reader’s bubble. In the anime, Bakugo is pretty rough around the edges and all about fighting to become the next number one Pro Hero. He has no problem letting people around him know exactly how he feels especially when he loses his temper. When he’s around the reader, he’s definitely softer and more loving than you’d expect him to be if you were just going off of his personality in the anime.
Quite a bit of Strangers is told from Bakugou’s perspective so seeing the juxtaposition between his words, actions, and thoughts, gives his character the layers I needed to make this story believable. But let’s not forget that this is a spicy fanfiction! Bakugou in Strangers is exactly the kind of love interest I would expect from the synopsis. I know there are some really die-hard fans that would disagree about the out-of-character-ness, but I love when head cannons like rough and hot-tempered Bakugou secretly loving romance manga turns into a fanfiction like this.
The best part about reading a spicy fanfiction is when the story can offer up more than sexy scenes. In this case, Strangers has a fantastic plot and a twist! I read all 44 chapters basically in a day. I started it before bed and finished it the next day. I just had to know what was going to happen next! And of course I was hoping for more of Bakugou’s sexy praise kink that the reader – and myself – was getting into with a bit of tasteful sexual degradation sprinkled in. Tasteful is definitely of my own opinion, and I could see some people disagreeing with me, but what can I say? I’m here for it.
But before I jump into The Spice, there is something else that took this fan fiction to places I have never been before: an accompanying Spotify playlist. It sounds so cheesy, and maybe it is, but I loved it! I listened to the entire playlist and could see the story playing out before my eyes. I love that the author chose to do this! I believe they also have some other playlists for more fanfictions of theirs so I am going to have to check those out as well. Stay tuned… On to The Spice.
This fluffy piece has it’s spicy moments, but I wish there more of them! We have a few scenes that “fade to black,” but the scenes that don’t just fade out are pretty good. Are these scenes super detailed? No, not really if you compare them to romance novels; however, the images that the author conveys are still pretty damn spicy especially once the reader discovers a praise kink between the two of them. Fanfiction doesn’t tend to toe the line that some of the more juicy romance novels will not just toe, but cross, and I’m okay with that, even if I did leave some of those sexy scenes wanting more.
Like I mentioned above, I didn’t think sexual degradation would be so sexy in a fanfiction. Could some of the things said and done to the reader be a turn off for some people? Sure, but hey, the warnings are posted so if it’s not your thing, you probably won’t enjoy Strangers. Again, I liked it and thought it was tasteful. I would absolutely enjoy reading those scenes again. It really gave me the side of Bakugou I figured was there. He may have a soft spot for the reader, and he shows her on more than one occasion that he thinks she’s a goddess and deserves to be worshiped, but he still likes it rough. Being a brat and joking about him being soft is enough for the reader to get “punished” which sounds about right for his character.
Overall, I really enjoyed the story. Bakugou’s character was believable, the plot had substance, and the fluff had some spice too. I do wish the sex scenes were longer, more detailed, but it was enough to satisfy me even if it did leave me wanting more. The romance was perfect and sugary-sweet which I needed in a fanfiction like this. I highly recommend it especially if Bakugou is one of your anime crushes or comfort characters (and you enjoy secret soft boys).
Check out rjbaxter’s Strangers here! Below is the Spotify playlist to go with the fanfiction as well. Enjoy!
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