#CHAT IS HE A GOOD MAN

[teddybeartoji]

i do not know natsuo but.. do i wanna fuck him? yes.

[ardate]

Every Boromir hater makes my enormous love for him grow stronger. Sorry you couldn't understand him, I get him tho and we're holding hands and the whole of Gondor is laughing at you

[seelestia]

head empty.... no thoughts...

[xxplastic-cubexx]

logan on that plane when the divorcees started arguing had to have been AT LEAST one of his top 20 worst moments in life if not at least one of the most awkward like imagine not liking flying in the first place and then the plane starts being crumpled like tin foil once the metallokinetic gets frustrated and now we're all nosediving towards the middle of the ocean

[askchilchuck]

If 7-11 is open 24 hours, why are there locks on their doors?

He doesn’t seem to know what a 7-11 is, but looks concerned why you’d be curious about their security systems.

[gros-chat-fait]

CYOA: You are one of three promising young doctors working under a brilliant diagnostician, and you're also the narrative's stand-ins for the three structural agents of a man's psyche. One of you is destined to inherit the metaphorical throne. What do you choose to do?

--

Inspired by the weird promotional posters of the show. A quick study of the 3 original fellows of House.

I'm on season 4 right now, but the first 3 seasons were so good I can't get attached to anybody else except these 3.

*Updated version with some coloring and line adjustments.

[todayisafridaynight]

i didnt just cry from how gorgeous ichi looks in this you did

[leefi]

[stewyhosseini-bf]

what does it all mean

[khattikeri]

i don't think enough people talk about how the backbone of nie huaisang's plan hinged heavily upon jin guangyao's low birth, and the jianghu's willingness to dogpile on such people.

nie huaisang is upper class. he's specifically stated in the novel as behaving more like the idle rich than like a distinguished second young master of one of the five great cultivation sects, but he's still an heir by birth. even if nie huaisang had been more openly caught, who would do anything to him?

wei wuxian notices that bicao's testimony was bought with a few shiny baubles— that nie huaisang was the one who bribed her with a nice bracelet for her testimony. he intentionally kept his own sect half dead, barely afloat for years, just to keep up the guise of an incompetent loser!

but the only actual consequence he's faced for such poor leadership that probably hurt a lot of common folks in his territory over 13 years is that people think nie huaisang is an annoying, useless crybaby. nie huaisang has a level of protection from consequences that jin guangyao had to fight much harder for (and that jin guangyao ultimately never truly got).

nie huaisang knew his own class and social position extremely well, and he knew how most people of that position behave and think. he was more than willing to use this in his revenge.

we know lan wangji is the type to use his wealth and position to do good for others. nie huaisang is the opposite— he's the type to use his wealth and position for himself and his own personal goals.

and this wasn't just something that started after his brother died! avoiding responsibilities, never carrying his sword, ignoring the fact that he wasn't honoring his sect or ancestors the way others wanted… his underground ring of selling porn as a teenager even got him out of the worst part of the wen indoctrination camps, because he bribed the wen cultivators overseeing everyone else.

my point is, nie huaisang is self-aware enough to know he doesn't really ever do the "right" thing! at no point in the story does he delude himself or others with grand ideals of how one ought to behave. he doesn't care.

unlike almost every single other upper class cultivator in the story— jiang cheng, jin zixuan, nie mingjue, lan xichen— who all think of themselves as righteous in a way, who are always able to justify their thoughts and actions, rarely if ever able to conceive of those thoughts and actions as flawed or wrong... nie huaisang KNOWS his own selfishness.

like lan wangji, nie huaisang recognizes that his class can easily be used as a shield to do whatever he wants. while lan wangji at worst uses this nifty privilege to silence people he doesn't like, refuse to explain himself in inconvenient situations, and bring wei wuxian along with him everywhere, nie huaisang uses it to shirk his duties for decades and tear jin guangyao apart in revenge.

jin guangyao being the son of a prostitute automatically amplifies bad rumors around him. bringing to light his incestuous marriage and the gruesome way he murdered his upper class father, however deserved, is obviously going to impact him in a way that someone higher class wouldn't be as hurt by. combining that with a final lie to get his sworn brother to stab him in a flash of doubt, and well...

is that good or righteous or just? no, of course not. nie huaisang doesn't spend any time pretending that his actions were conducted based on morality, or that he "had no choice".

nie huaisang just wanted to destroy jin guangyao, and damn did it feel good to finally do it.

[hoshiina]

guys im going to share you three characters i absolutely adore and you have to pretend to be surprised ok you have to act like this is ABSURD

[zerguette]

Oh god Madd took such a time to design...(Hours compared to Konrad, given this man has more lore than i intentes to give him ), hehe sunglasses boys deserve more love!!!

Also a hc, Bukowski twins are 190cm tall (Calvin 190cm, Konrad 191cm) while Madd is 197cm-198cm, so they are part of the tallest soldiers.

(psss psss they like to mock on Rupert, tower over him, loom ominously bc Rupert is 173cm tall, Even Charles is 187cm tall. I'll write more in the tags as I die)

[xxplastic-cubexx]

charles better than me cause if i had to feel a coin tear through my brain AND get shot and paralyzed all within the same half hour AT BEST i would be so petty about it to erik until i died

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s3 episode 11 thoughts

dare i say it… new favorite episode?

whatever expectations i had, they were blown away. usually the episode after a two episode arc feels weird and stiff, but this? this hit every box on a checklist i didn’t even know i had.

i’m bouncing off the walls right now. i'm pacing my room and mumbling to myself while gesticulating wildly. i am filled with an energy that caffeine has not ONCE given me. and it's called "your character, that is so near and dear to you, got an episode dedicated just to exploring their inner life and workings and belief system and faith in God and the world". try it if you get a chance.

so let us begin. let me give you my verbatim notes, so you can watch the excitement grow.

oh boy! oh boy oh boy! i am excited! and i know by now to not expect any real continuation from the last episode, but i’m still excited because the last two were so good! and this one is like… good omens? with a kid that can start the end of the world?

wow. never have i thought to myself, how would mulder and scully handle biblical revelations? but here i am. wondering it.

hope the kid is chill. hope he has good vibes. mulder will like him anyway because he’s actually a huge softie but still better if he’s got good vibes.

we open on a sermon. the priest or pastor- depending on the denomination- whatever his title is, he is talking about faith. saying that miracles are real. and now he’s shaking and moaning. is this one of those churches?

OH HE’S BLEEDING from between his knuckles like some sort of blood wolverine. people are looking at him, thinking, what is going on? and this is something i am also wondering. maybe it was fake though…. little capsules in his hands, maybe???

he’s dabbing off his makeup now. as a man enters his dressing room. saying that some people really do believe. but he’s being weird.

and then this guy escalates to murder. and when he touches this pastor he’s burning up??? huh??? a firebender?? in pennsylvania??

THE INTRO WAS DIFFERENT AGAIN THIS TIME. WHY DOES IT CHANGE. i have come to know these beats VERY well!! they are like a heartbeat to me. you cannot simply alter them as you see fit!

scully looking at the body of the dead pastor/priest, talking about how it looks like rope burns around his neck. mulder crouching VERY close by.

HEHEHEHEHE mulder is like “he was bleeding from his hands like the crucifixion” and scully goes “stigmata?” heheheheheeeee i’m blushing

(talking about belief systems is apparently a way to my heart? like c'mon, tell me how you understand the universe and which elements you surrender to knowing that you will never comprehend. you look cute while doing it)

no wounds on the hands, though… so mulder licks the blood. and i froze JUST as scully makes this horrified face... i’m CRYING. yes, it is fake blood, and yes, he has some on his lips and teeth, and yes, its adorable. but what a risky move!

ohhh he was wearing a sugar pump sort of thing! yum yum. couldn't be me, i'd be slurping that.

so mulder has been tracking religious murders related to stigmatics (excellent word!)

scully’s talking about how certain people believe at any given time there are 12 stigmatics in the world. and they represent the 12 apostles. and i’m blushing terribly.

nods solemnly. i am learning a lot about myself through this show.

scully you are so preeeeetty. 

okay, cut to elementary school in ohio. kevin is blowing spitballs. his teacher is bullying him into doing math on the board. when all of a sudden, his hands start bleeding!! and we see that he has the holes!!!

he’s in the nurse’s office still when mulder and scully show up. damn how did they get to ohio that fast… OHHH they had put out an FBI alert and maybe this happened more than once.  yes, this is exactly what is explained mere moments after i made the initial comment.

so it happened BEFORE, and they assumed it was an incident of abuse, but it wasn’t proven. still, his dad was institutionalized after saying Kevin was chosen by God. okay! things escalated. 

scully is talking to the boy. she feels his forehead and says he feels feverish. okay doctor!! and she says he is very brave. queen. smart and kind.

mulder is meeting kevin’s mom. explaining that he might be in danger from a religious fanatic.

oh! the thermometer in his mouth broke. straight up exploded. hope that was fake mercury in there.

they’re going to put kevin back “into the shelter” which i feel like would make him an easier target for a serial killer?? but on the off chance it WAS his mom, it would make him safer. so mixed feelings here.

mom yells at the teacher, teacher says she loves her job, and mulder has this excellent smile. then waves scully out to leave. it was kinda funny to me for some reason, the waving her out. quite domestic. 

mulder thinks the kid did the cuts to himself to get his father back. hmm. not buying it. so they go to talk to kevin's dad. 

dad claims the forces of darkness have been watching kevin. in the great war between good and evil. he’s really talking to scully and he says they just “come full circle to find the truth”. she says dude idk what that means?? and he says “you will” okay... i’m creeped out a bit!!!

kevin is back at the children’s home. telling a bunch of other kids scary stories. and he seems to be explaining a scary guy who is walking into the building as the storytelling goes on. just as the scary guy enters, all the kids leave. scary guy is looking at the wounds on kevin’s hands!

soon after, mulder is with the group of children who saw the guy. we learn here that mulder is 6 foot 1. which is very funny. 

kevin was abducted by the fellow it seems he was describing before his arrival!!! and his mom seems to blame scully. she looks really upset.

they see the drawing that they think does not look like a real person, and kevin’s mom is like it’s owen, who did the yard work. 

so it’s owen time. he’s carved noah’s ark and he has kevin. but he says he can’t let him go home. because it isn’t safe. he refers to himself as kevin’s guardian angel. hmm. that makes me suspicious.

owen grabs a shotgun when a car pulls up. but the agents get him to put it down and scully is on a quest to find the little dude. and he was there… but now he isn’t?

so owen says God asked him to protect kevin. 

OH ANGRY MULDER IS GONNA QUOTE SCRIPTURE AT YOU!!!!! now give him some DAMN ANSWERS!

owen is like, well YOU believe, don’t you scully, because you have that necklace on. he’s calling her a BAD CHRISTIAN??? the audacity….

then owen gets up and JUMPS OUT THE WINDOW??? and runs away??? somehow??

(mulder jumped down from the porch to chase owen, and his big coat floated around him like a cape... i giggled)

now where did this dude go...?

kevin made it home!!! he’s yelling for his mom. she doesn’t seem to be there, but someone rang the doorbell. and we only see a quick glance but it LOOKS like the killer!!! 

who burns off the doorknob with his firebending!!! so yes, it is the og killer from the start of the episode! he comes in and asks for kevin. saying he knows he’s here.

mom, now would be a good time to roll up with a gun. 

he picks up a family photo and sees kevin in a picture then checks the closet to see if he’s in there but kevin is in the hamper. and the hamper is bleeding!!! dead giveaway. 

but owen rolls up just as the firebender guy opens the hamper, and starts fighting for him!! so kevin is making a break for it!!!

he runs and runs and RUNS INTO MULDER!!!! scully is telling him that he will be okay.

they only find dead owen. no firebender.

and kevin asks scully if she was sent to protect him… she does not seem to know what to say because. do you mean like by the government... or jesus?

autopsy time!!!! she’s talking into the voice recorder like always. it always gives vlog energy. anyway, his body looks very much alive. despite the very much dead thing. 

mulder interrupts this. and scully asks him to SMELL the dude. he obliges. with only a smirk!

scully says he smells a bit… floral.

OMG!! OMG I RECOGNIZE WHAT IS GOING ON HERE. they talk about it in the brothers karamazov, how a holy body is said to stay intact and even smell good when it ought to be decomposing. so the real question is: is she imagining it?

i mean, she is the body expert. so i’d want to say no. but also, this dude was playing with her head. so it’s hard to say. i'd think she would identify the body correctly no matter what, but a little smell hallucination thanks to the power of suggestion cannot be ruled out in any situation.

AND SHE TALKS ABOUT IT!! apparently it is something you learn in catechism. okay, well i just picked it up from that summer i got through that book, but we all learn somewhere. mulder is like “you’re serious?” and i feel he should be encouraging this open discussion rather than ridiculing it. AND SHE STARTS NAMING SAINTS IT HAPPENED TO!

mulder is saying that those things didn’t really happen, and i’m not taking this from alien man.

mulder has transitioned into listening mode now. OH! SCULLY! she says:

“isn’t a saint or a holy person just another term for someone who’s abnormal?”

“do you really believe that?”

“i… believe in the idea that God’s hand can be witnessed. i believe he can create miracles, yes”

“even if science can’t explain them?”

“maybe that’s just what faith is”

YES! YES I AM CHEERING AND JUMPING UP AND DOWN. we were owed a scully-centric episode, and never did i even THINK we would get something so aligned with my interests that we’d start exploring her religious beliefs and how that intertwines with her faith in science and her work. that sounds like something i’d write a fic for because it’s hyper specific to my interests. but no. this is CANON!

mulder is saying that she shouldn’t get swept up in these things (and how ironic that the roles are reversed! it’s exquisite. we’ve found his weak point, he’ll believe in anything but a Christian God)

scully is lost in thought. taking a deep breath. steeling herself.

pause. it’s a scene change. but mulder has a pencil in his teeth. it’s adorable, really. he takes it out to write something.

they pulled prints from owen’s neck!! burned right onto the skin. and they found who did it!! the man i was previously calling the firebender, his real name is simon gates, one of the south’s wealthiest men, arrested 3 years ago on a DUI. 

so then he went to israel, and this is how i learned of something called “jerusalem syndrome”, where people come back from the holy land with religious delusions. i have not heard of this before. but it could be a motive. except for the whole burning fingerprints into necks thing. i'm unfamiliar with any sort of place turning you into prince zuko.

okay, so someone saw kevin with his mom the same time he was seen with a social worker??? doubles?? twins??? ghosts??

kevin and his mom are on the side of the road with a broken down car, when who pulls up but SIMON!!

she asks what he wants and he says “i think you know”, then kevin makes a break for it.

now. can an old man outrun a child? children have small legs, but boundless energy.

BUT HE’S RUNNING?? AND ANOTHER KEVIN GETS OUT OF THE CAR??? to talk to his injured mom. then running kevin DISAPPEARED!!! AND MOM HITS THE DUDE WITH A CAR!!!

sadly, it wasn’t out of excellent aim that she hit him, but rather because she had her face smacked into the ground by simon and was concussed or something similar. she drove into a ditch. 

NO!!! KEVIN IS SAYING SHE DIED BECAUSE OF HIM. DEATH??? I JUST THOUGHT WE WERE DEALING WITH CONCUSSION HERE?

i guess it can be a quick trip from one to the next. but i'm sad for poor kevin.

scully is near him, telling him she promises she won’t let simon hurt kevin. OH LORD, YOU GOT HER PROMISING THINGS, SMALL CHILD.

he doesn’t want to go back to the shelter. and she says he doesn’t have to. are they going to take this small child for a bit….?

she avoids mulder’s gaze when telling him she wants kevin to come with them, saying she is not getting personally involved, but like mulder is gonna complain having a kid around. 

(he actually didn't seem to have his typical instincts kick in today. how curious...)

and turns out simon rented the car under the name of one of the devil’s disciples. yikes!

so creepy simon is watching this go down despite being hit by a car. 

back to the motel. scully is running kevin a bath and sees he has a big scratch on his side. from the crash… or?

mulder is fake pouting. “you never draw my bath” JCHDJSBJSND

she’s freaked out because she knows that cut was NOT there before. OH? is it the jesus spear thing??

she is busting out her theological training- he could be in two places at once, like st. ignatius! and mulder is talking about how it was all a metaphor, that bible. mulder, if you are dismissive ONE more time...

OH, I GASPED AT THIS NEXT PART. HOLD ON I NEED TO WRITE THIS DOWN:

“how is it that you’re able to go out on a limb whenever you see a light in the sky, but you’re unwilling to accept the possibility of a miracle, even when it’s right in front of you?”

“i wait for a miracle every day, but what i’ve seen here has only tested my patience, not my faith”

“well, what about what i’ve seen?” 

UGH. how PERFECT is that dialogue!!! how brilliant is that exchange!!! why is what she has seen less believable than his x files and aliens and beasts? he spends so long looking to his own stars that he’s forgotten others can form constellations as well. and how often does the narrative favor him, his thoughts running like a prey animal, chasing and chasing any sort of lead. why can’t she have something that cuts her to the quick just as deeply?

sure, science is great, science is the building block of her reality. but you can’t change the way you grew up, either, the pattern recognition, the fear of the divine. and she’s never had trouble balancing the two, we just haven’t had a reason to see them interact before, because she generally compartmentalizes the day to day world and the spiritual- and how many of us can say we do the same? probably most, if we believe in anything at all. but then it comes straight to a head- and after she has been through so much as well, losing her dad, her kidnapping, her coma, losing mulder and her job (which luckily came back), losing her sister forever- is it selfish to want there to be a caring force out in the universe?

but on the flip side, that means that there is real and genuine evil, forces of the devil and hell- unless you think it’s poetry, like mulder does. but wouldn’t that explain all the suffering she’s been through? the horrific things this job has showed her? and wouldn’t it be worth it in the end to go through that all if you know it was to be defeated?

okay i just spend so long typing that up the screen went dark. SORRY SORRY I’M COMING BACK I PROMISE!!! I JUST GET EMOTIONAL.

NOOO! a weird noise was heard, so mulder kicks down the now locked door where kevin was supposed to be taking a bath. AND THE WINDOW WAS MELTED OPEN!! so scully basically comes face to face with the evil that must be real if miracles are as well. oh! i’m eating this up.

but she promised him he would be safe! so this is not looking good!

she wants to go talk to his father again. and mulder doesn’t want to, but she is NOT taking no for an answer. 

kevin’s father is not coming up with an answer. the doctors have increased his meds and he’s very foggy. 

she asks again about the full circle to find the truth thing. and she runs out, in a daze.

mulder gets a call that there has been a simon spotting, but she doesn’t hear; she’s pointing at a recycling bin, saying that it’s arrows that form a circle. she thinks he’s at a recycling plant; he thinks he’s at the airport.

mulder asks if she thinks she’s the one that was chosen to protect him. and she says she doesn’t know; her voice cracks as she says that if she’s wrong, she’ll meet him at the airport. OH! religious burdens, the divine pressure of fate. he watches her leave, looking troubled.

at the recycling plant- and simon IS there, saying kevin has to die, for everyone, so the new age will come. and his hands are bleeding again. all the others were false.

SCULLY AMBUSH!!! but simon is taking him into a recycling chopper. AND HE DROPS HIM IN!!! we see chopping occur!!! but it was SIMON AND NOT KEVIN THAT WAS CHOPPED!!! kevin caught himself on the ledge!!!! she pulls him up.

he says he knew she’d come, and they hug so so so tight, and she places a kiss on his head when she’s holding him, and i’m gonna cry like a baby

when they’re getting him around to leave, she says that maybe she’ll see him again sometime, and he says that she will.

and scully looks like she’s crying- i don’t think she is, but she puts her head in her hand- mulder comes in and asks if she’s okay. she says she thinks so, and he holds out her jacket to put on. it might have been the most tender thing i have ever seen. he says they need to go make a statement; she asks him to do it alone, she has to go run an errand.

again, she mostly avoids his eyes. but he agrees, and goes to make the statement alone. he doesn't press.

AND SHE GOES TO CONFESSION???? FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 6 YEARS??? she starts talking about not being able to discuss something with mulder. she asks about miracles; if she was seeing things when it comes to saving kevin, or if she was imagining them. 

she doubts herself because mulder didn’t believe them!!!!!!!!!!! and usually he believes without question!!!

maybe they weren’t meant for him, maybe they were meant for YOU, he says. and she asks if this was to bring her back; he says “sometimes we must come full circle to find the truth”

and it makes her afraid!!!! that god is speaking but no one is listening!!!!

WHO THE HELL WROTE THIS EPISODE. NO. NO, HOLD ON I’M GONNA LOOK THIS UP. 

KIM NEWTON. KIM. YOU ARE THE ONLY PERSON WHO GETS ME ON THIS PLANET. NO ONE ELSE DOES.

wow okay. i’m going to be pacing my room about this for 100 years. there are going to be think pieces about this, from me, for the foreseeable future. i’m losing my MIND.

i don’t think i could have cooked up a more perfect episode if i had tried. something centered on scully entirely (mulder has had his fair share of attention), something about faith, something where she questions what she holds close and why she holds it close and what it means that she does so at all. what it means for there to be human good and human evil and divine good and divine evil. how god speaks to people and how we listen. or hear things that he didn’t say, like simon did. 

holy FUCK i literally could not think of anything better. and i have SO much to say. i already SAID SO MUCH, too. like i’m seriously bouncing off the walls right now. whatever love i had for scully before just quadrupled- and who knew this was even possible??

for things to be reversed, for mulder to try and talk her out of a belief, how bizarre that must have felt to him, and how cold it felt. how he just couldn’t see it, how his not being able to see it drove her to doubt herself, how she must doubt herself already, but that sprung everything to the surface. how she doubts that god would use her. and use her for good. 

but still, despite his lack of understanding, despite his trying to get her to think rationally- he is there for her, even if he doesn't get it, even if he could have done better. the way he held her jacket while she processed everything, the way he didn't question her needing time for herself. somethings are best left unspoken.

lord, i’m gonna have to stop there because if i don’t. i just might never shut up ever ever ever. and i still need to proofread all my raw notes, and i’m sure i’ll think of something else to say.

i started this episode AN HOUR AND A HALF AGO LMAOOOO i just had SO much to pause and observe and say which is NOT a complaint in the slightest. 

wow. new fave episode i think. i’ll have to add it to the list. 

please let me know what you thought- are there any other scully truthers out there who lost their minds over this? did you like the episode? is it disliked and i'm strange for going on such a ramble? did you have trouble reconciling faith scully and science scully? personally i don't, but i could see how some people might. did you find mulder too dismissive? or did you think he was trying his best? some combination of both? did scully protecting that kid make you emotional? please, spill EVERYTHING. i always want you to spill everything, but now so even more than usual.

[that-foul-legacy-lover]

Imagine the timeline just being in a wreck and it ends up with multiple au of FL and childe on the same world, looking at each other in confusion

Why are we seperated?? Why is there a child version of Ajax?? IS THAT A HOARD OF MINI LEGACIES--

ohhh my goodness and they all look to you for comfort THIS IS SO CUTE

you're so tired from work that day that you initially think you're hallucinating- what else would explain the room full of Ajaxes and Foul Legacies? you blink, rubbing your eyes as they all turn to stare at you and a moment of silence descends over all of you before you turn and roughly pinch your arm, praying to Rex Lapis. nope, no such luck. they're all still here when you open your eyes again, and the tiny child version of Ajax tentatively approaches you and wraps his arms around your legs. when you carefully pat his head it's like a lightbulb switches on, the other versions of Legacy and Ajax quickly swarming and embracing you- everything from the young Ajax to many tiny Foul Legacies to an unsettlingly silent fusion of the two, a frown marring his familiar features. your own world's two are the closest, hugging you with protective glares on their faces and trying to make sure you don't suffocate. with a struggle and a gasp you manage to untangle yourself, and find many pairs and singular eyes all trained expectantly and adoringly on you

it's... a mess, you can only describe it as a mess. a wonderful, incredible mess, with so many different versions of the ones you love around you, but still a mess trying to sort out and return them all where they need to be. you end up having to call Zhongli, who sends for help from his bard friend in Mondstadt, several mini Legacies stubbornly curled up in your lap. it's a several-day job; you, Ajax, Foul Legacy, Zhongli, and his friend working as a five-member team to restore timelines you have no business in even witnessing. most of your new friends don't even want to go- they want to stay with you, stay with the one who gives them such an odd feeling of comfort. but you reassure each and every one of them before they leave. one day they'll meet you again, their own wonderful, curious version of you. their loneliness is not forever, even to those like little Ajax who don't understand the greatness of their destinies yet

finally your house is left quiet again, and you and Foul Legacy collapse on the cough with a respective sigh and low groan, Ajax happily snoozing away in Legacy's mind again

[ohhcinnybuns]

I need to get this out of my head

Have you watched kaguya sama love is war and if you haven't watch it but if you have then do listen to this

Kaguya sama love is war style soukoku where they try to get the other to confess first

Kaguya-sama: Love is War but SKK Gakuen would be such a great AU! The potential to write them in the most idiotic scenes with two geniuses that seem to share one singular brain cell with each other and trying to get the other to confess? Lol, I LOVE IT! I can imagine them staring each other down with straight faces, but inside, they are thinking about pining each other down in show of dominance 😭 because let’s be real, neither would allow the other to have control over them.

And every time they encounter each other, it’s always a who’s going to get hooked first.

I’ve got a little something for you to read. 👀 ✨

Today, Dazai, Atsushi, Akutagawa, and Chuuya eat lunch together at a picnic table. Dazai and Chuuya’s battle has been silent for a while, but today, Dazai has decided to stir things up. He’s getting a little tired of seeing Chuuya get hit on by every girl and guy in their classroom and watching how others playfully touch his arm or lean against him when they are holding a conversation is driving Dazai mad.

It's painfully obvious that Chuuya is not romantically interested in them. So, he will make Chuuya realize what he could potentially lose.

“Ah, Atsushi-kun, did I tell you I got a new phone the other day? My last phone fell into the school’s fountain, and I was finally able to replace it with a free upgrade!”

“That’s because you decided to submerge your body with the phone in your pocket to take back the coin you threw into the school’s fountain. Remember that?”

Dazai giggles, and Atsushi can’t help but grin at his senpai’s gremlin shenanigans with him. “Has your wish come true yet, Dazai-san?”

“You made a wish?” Chuuya speaks up absentmindedly but it was too late. He couldn’t take it back.

Dazai glances at Chuuya, who has stopped eating, paying close attention with a raised eyebrow and a skeptical look. Dazai rests his head on his hand, a challenging provocation to test the waters.

“Not exactly, but if you want to know what my wish is, I can tell you in secret, Atsushi-kun.”

“R-Really? Oh! Does it have to do with… l-love?” Atsushi tries not to blush at the last bit.

Chuuya ‘hmphs’ out loud with a roll of his eyes. Of course the suicidal maniac wouldn’t directly answer him. “If you’re going to talk about something dumb, then atleast share it with the rest of the table.”

“My, Chuuya! I didn’t think you would care,” Dazai says with pep in his voice. There it was. The snare and reel.

Chuuya’s eyes widen and his breath hitches. The sly fox had him right where he wanted him. Chuuya translated the words in his mind.

“My, Chuuya! I didn’t think you would care about my love life like that. It almost sounds like you are a little jealous and want to know more about me.”

Chuuya was not going to get caught in Dazai’s playful clutches today. He glances at Dazai with a piercing glare while Akutagawa continues to eat his lunch, peacefully, but occasionally giving boba eyes to Chuuya.

“I don’t care, but I don’t see why it has to be a secret unless it involves someone at this table.” His smirk widens. “Is there something you want to confess at this table, eh, Dazai?”

Dazai’s eyes widen and all eyes immediately turn to him. He chuckles nervously, a hand coming to rub at his neck. Chuuya’s volley and fury always hit critical points like a viper striking its prey. Dazai shakes his head, and instead, says, “I suppose I could always send it to our secret group chat, Atsushi-kun.”

Activate trap card.

Chuuya’s eyes narrow and his smirk slowly disappears. “Secret group chat?”

Akutagawa gasps and immediately leans over the table, startling the others. “DAZAI-SAN! I-I want to be in the group chat too.”

“Oh, sure, Akutagawa-san! I’ll add your number right now.”

Chuuya flutters his eyes. “Hey, wait a minute…Akutagawa, you have Dazai’s number?”

“Yeah, I asked him for it. Haven’t you?”

Chuuya shuts up and looks at Dazai who is holding his phone in a show-off manner. “We traded numbers a long time ago.”

In other words, Chuuya heard: “We traded numbers a long time ago. So come on, Chuuya. What are you waiting for? Ask me for my number. Take the step.”

The little jerk was showing off his phone to entice Chuuya to hand over his phone number willingly, but if he did, he would look desperate to know more about Dazai’s wish and show interest in the man which meant he would lose this back and forth game between them. Chuuya bites his lip. Dazai was winning their match…

Atsushi glimpses between Dazai and Chuuya, a light bulb going off in his head. “Chuuya-san, do you want to be part of our secret group chat too??”

Chuuya pauses before answering, seeing Dazai tense next to Atsushi. “But it wouldn't be a secret if we’re all in it?”

“Nonsense, Chuuya-senpai! If you think about it, it’s a secret to the rest of the school. I don’t think I have your phone number to add you in though. Can you give it to me?”

Chuuya immediately lights up with a smile and playfully kicks Atsushi’s legs beneath the bench. “Sure thing, kid but don’t go all soft on me like that, again!”

Atsushi laughs gleefully at the playful banter between him and Chuuya, unbeknownst to the darkening aura of a Dazai Osamu. Someone did get Chuuya’s number, alright… but it wasn’t him.