#I'm not gonna say anything further but he is mainly the reason why i watched f1 as so as my brother

[moo-savr]

new millennium - golden boy - in peace

"Danke Seb, we'll always cherish everything you do growing up"

[payidaresque]

I’m curious to get your opinion on two things. 1) do you think the buzz around haladriel/PR recognising it’s profitable will have any effect on the show itself (keeping in mind both seasons were written before they realised how popular it is) and 2) what do we think they’ll do about celeborn, if he does reemerge in Galadriel’s life. Considering that the lead director and exec producer confirmed Galadriel was in love with halbrand (=sauron) they clearly don’t give a damn about The Lore saying elves only love once (much to the chagrin of those insisting that celeborn is Galadriel’s one true love). The books also do not portray her and celeborn as some great passion either. Like no matter what happens that marriage is always going to be overshadowed by saurondriel ??? But I could be wrong!

Okay. i'll break this one down: 1) Honestly, I don't know, it's hard to tell. Mainly because the thing with those big franchises is when you start to "predict" things, you might end up being dissapointed because big companies don't think like their viewers unfortunately (or do it very rarely), so i try not to make any theories not to get my hopes up. HOWEVER I do think that taking lines from the book and giving them to Sauron, of all charactrers, was a delibarate move. Some might say "they took those lines just to be closer to canon" and they might be right, but why giving them to SAURON? That is an interesting question. Plus, they basically just acknowleged Haladriel fandom. Did they do it just for bait? Or because they planned something? Nobody knows, and nobody can know. However, i do think that if they did it for marketing, the blacklash is gonna be huge, cause the fandom will be really mad. The question is: is that the risk Amazon is willing to take? Especially considering that since they sort of "spoke to the fandom directly", i do think they realise what affect we have on the show

2) as for Celeborn... man, this is hard. Before i say anything, it might be fair if i say this: i am not a tolkienist, i never took any interest in his universe, and i watch the show as a completely new and, most importantly, separate project. Separate both from the books AND the movies. Of course, keeping in mind some of Galadriel's background, as it's important to the story. So everything i say further comes only from my personal opinion

Now, what i learned from the movies, is that Celeborn is a Mary Sue type of character (god, i beg u on my knees, don't let lorebros read this LMAOOO) whose main purpose is "to be Galadriel's husband", and nothing else. The moving force, the main character is Galadriel. And if i'm honest, if amazon plans to introduce Celeborn, they're gonna try very fucking hard casting wise cause (and i might sound biased) the chemistry between Sauron and Galadriel is off the charts, and if they fail to find someone who can keep up to the game as Celeborn, and if bring someone who fails to do it, then it's gonna look a bit awkward if u ask me lmao and raise a pretty reasonable question of "how the hell did they manage to make Celeborn (who IS Gal's husband) look like a loser?" and, as u perfectly put it into words, will make him stay in the shadow of Haladriel

But to be honest, i don't want Celeborn to be introduced: not only because of Haladriel, and i know they're a doomship, but also because i don't want any "love triangle" energy surrounding the show, and i don't want more discosure. I mean come on, we have lorebros to deal with every day 🤦🏻‍♀️

Besides, showrunners already said bye bye to the lore with the whole elrond/galadriel thing lmao

[ritualslaughter]

so I mentioned seeing a terrible take saying shigaraki was beyond saving because he willingly murdered his father, and I was gonna leave it be but actually I'm still pissed off about it so here goes nothing:

Shigaraki Tomura, Unreliable Narrator or: Why Shimura Tenko Did Not Intentionally Kill His Father

tw for talks of child abuse - physical, emotional, and psychological - below the cut

okay, so - the aforementioned flaming bad take is obviously based on these caps:

these are taken from 236, when we learn about tomura's (or rather, tenko's, because I think there needs to be a distinction between the two in this case) childhood. from the outset, this seems cut and dry - if you don't read anything other than this, I would excuse you for thinking this is just another case of "crazy kid seeks bloodlust, kills family."

I'm here to tell you why that's a load of bullshit.

okay, let's cover some bases, and talk a little bit about child psychology:

During their development between the age of two to five, children do not understand that death is irreversible. [x]

as we learn in 235, tenko is five when his quirk begins to manifest - his skin starts to dry around his eyes, he develops an itch, and we can assume shortly afterwards is when the actual decay quirk forms.

as stated above, preschool aged children do not have the same concept of death as adults; they think of death as temporary, even fixable. this is how you get children saying things like "but how can grandma breathe all the way down there?" and "did it hurt when they burned daddy?"; to a preschool aged child, death is akin to taking a trip - it is something that can be returned from. [x]

to say that tenko - a child of five years old who has already gone through abuse (a common effect - even in cases where the abuse is not physical - of which being stunted emotional growth/development, and in particular difficulty understanding the consequences of their actions [x] [x] [x]) understands the finality of death enough to comprehend the consequences of a quirk that has only just developed, immediately after the trauma of physical abuse from his father and then unwillingly causing the death of the rest of his family, is absolutely absurd.

"but he said he knew what he was doing!" you say.

now we're really getting into the meat of this, let's talk about a couple reasons as to why shigaraki tomura is an unreliable narrator.

tomura - not tenko, because it's important to remember this is shigaraki that is recounting these events to us - does say that he believes that in some way he did this on purpose.

however, I am once again going to bring our friend context back into the equation.

shigaraki tomura has undergone serious indoctrination by all for one for the majority of his life, the majority of which being in his formative years, and especially regarding this particular event. the entirety of afo's introduction in regards to tomura's origin story literally revolves around the death of his family and his "itch to kill," so let's talk about some ways in which afo might have affected tomura's perception of that day:

1. forgotten memories

this is the most out there, and the most tinhat-ty of the theories, so I'm getting it out of the way first. I think it's worth it to put in here anyway, because it does still touch on afo's overwhelming influence, but this is pretty much all speculation.

in 237, tomura mentions the memories of "that day" being repressed up until his fight with re destro when they come back to him. the theory is that these memories - and by proxy, the feelings that came with them - were placed into his head by afo as a child, and are not reflective of his actual actions/feelings.

like I said, I think this is the weakest argument in this particular context, but it would explain some of the convenient events (i.e. the grandson of shimura nana, the one person afo wants on his side, just so happening to kill his family) that lead to tenko meeting afo. it's an interesting idea, and one I like, but it's not the one we're gonna focus on for this argument.

2. a helping hand

sit back and watch me girlboss and gatekeep this shit, cause this is where we really start to talk about gaslighting.

Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse where a person or group makes someone question their sanity, perception of reality, or memories. [x]

regardless of whether afo orchestrated the death of tenko's family as posed in the above theory or not, it's irrefutable that he is the first and only person to to offer tenko support following the incident. this puts afo in a position of power and worship over tenko, which is the perfect breeding ground for this type of psychological abuse.

afo praises tenko, tells him he's powerful, and that he's proud of him, gives him his name, and assures him that it's okay to want to hurt the people who have hurt him, and not only that, but that they deserve it when he does.

afo creates an environment where tenko/tomura worships the ground he walks on, then builds the narrative that the ones who hurt us deserve to be punished. so why would tomura, who blatantly in the text says he felt immense guilt for killing his family, not try to lessen that guilt by saying they deserved it?

3. scratching the itch

"but what about the itchiness? he said it went away when he killed his father, it's obviously tied to his need to decay, he can't be saved if his instinct is to destroy!"

I'm going to pose a little theory here: tomura's itchiness is not a symptom of his quirk. it's a psychosomatic disorder caused by the abuse from his father, and then later heightened by the abuse he received at the hands of afo.

Psychosomatic disorder [is a] condition in which psychological stresses adversely affect physiological (somatic) functioning to the point of distress. [x]

tenko's itching starts near enough to the development of his quirk that it's pretty easy to see why the two might be related, it's also shown to be in DIRECT correlation with any time his father verbally or physically abuses him. the first time we see him itching, it's after his father drags him across the house. he also says in the text that it (his face) "gets itchy when I'm at home," meaning it mainly manifests in environments his father is in.

afo abuses this knowledge, and turns it into a weapon used to create the "symbol of fear" he's always wanted - he tells tomura that holding back will only intensify the itch; he has to let go if he wants it to ever truly go away. the itching stopped when he killed his father (because finally, his abuser - the stressor for this reaction - was gone), so it must be natural! it must be natural for him to want to destroy, so he should follow his heart, and that will make afo proud.

and the only thing tomura has ever wanted to do was make afo proud.

let it be known, I'm not arguing any of this to take away tomura's agency or absolve him of his crimes - he absolutely has killed people knowingly, and with full consciousness. but the idea that tomura - or any child - was "born evil" or can never be saved because of actions done under extreme stress, and tainted by further psychological abuse, is fucked up, and it just straight up is not backed up by the text.

tomura's whole character is based on the fact that if someone had been there to save him, he would not have grown up to be the way he is today. to put the blame of his character on his quirk, or his personality, or just the fact he was born fucked up shows a blatant disregard for the themes of his character, and the themes of bnha as a whole.

no one is too far gone that they can't be saved. especially not a scared little kid looking for comfort when they never had any.

[nanakah]

about Ishigami, his growth and Miko's role

most people, myself included, thought at some point that Tsubame's rejection (or acceptance) could wrap up Ishigami's arc and even his past's flashbacks neatly, but Osaragi's arc suddenly revealing there was more to his relationship with Miko made me reflect more and think nah...if anything we're halfway there. It also showed glimpses of him already struggling to find his place in the world by quitting his clubs, even though he was successful at them and there was no Ootomo incident yet to undermine his self-image.

It seemed odd that despite everything he went through he still has his "hair=shield/averting eyes" theme going strong, but it makes sense if you consider even though Tsubame helped him see the way to be more accepting of people and cleared his name, his self-esteem still is super low. I spoke of this in my "sutera" meta, but to Ishigami, his life still has been a sucession of failures and almosts. At his core, he still hasn't fully opened up to people or learned to use his vulnerabilities to his advantage.

If I have grabbed your interest thus far, keep reading for more considerations!

Tsubame is kind to anyone and attempted to do good for him, but ultimately he was never fully himself around her, nor she tried/he alllowed her reaching out to the deepest parts of his insecurities. She doesn't show her own flaws to him either and to this day we get the feeling we don't know her well, just the best parts that Ishigami wanted to see. Kaguya, Miyuki and Chika contribute a lot in a sibling-like way, but there's a limit to how much Kaguya in particular can inspire him. Miko however, has scratched a little beneath the surface and has expressed an interest in helping him with that, even if he himself is still avoiding the topic. She's also more relatable to him in the sense that the rest of the stuco has a history of successes in their lives, while he was able to watch Miko's hardships and failures closely. Their panic attacks even look similar and they're always watching the other to provide backup (in a very roundabout way, at least before) when they happen.

While their personalities are fundamentally different, his arc and struggles remind me a lot of Miyamura from Horimiya and today, as I was musing on what is so different about them as of now, I believe it's how Miyamura didn't have a single *traumatic* mistake to get over, so he goes down his development road much faster. Putting it another way, it's ultimately that Ishigami hasn't yet learned to be kind to himself like Miyamura has through Hori. Like Shirogane and Kaguya are through themselves. In Miyamura's case, sympathizing with how Hori despite her strong exterior can be very fragile inside but still support him (fight for him, defend him, accept his true self, not judge him, hear him, make him feel good enough) made him feel compelled to grow stronger to protect her back.

Miko as she was at the beggining of the story couldn't provide Ishigami this sort of stability (and that's where Osaragi's "prettier story"/"you weren't there for him" reasoning fails) even if deep down she wanted to, but now after making many mistakes, learning from them and becoming more flexible, she absolutely can. Both Ishigami and Miko have deeply rooted issues that took them more than just each other to flesh out and develop, but they're very much the missing puzzle piece the other needs.

Miko still very much has room for growth as well, mainly concerning finding a middle ground between her "bad girl" and "good girl" personas that Ishigami can easily see through, as demonstrated by the consolation chapter. She tried being "bad", she attempted lying but was still saying half-truths, because her love of justice isn't just out of parental abandonment issues or loneliness - she does believe them sincerely. The moment Ishigami headpated her and shared genuine, spot-on words of concern and admiration (thus a hint of fondness), it was all over for her trying to keep up the love-warfare upper hand.

That's not actually new - Ishigami has always demonstrated he was able to see glimpses of her true self, be it teasing how she's an otaku or a closet pervert and such, he never fully bought the strait-laced image she aspired to make real. But it did take him being around her more to see she could be sweet to him and as he puts it, that smiling more is not a bad look on her. Miko says to Osaragi your true self only comes through interacting with others, so given how lonely she has always been (and how the one person close to her - Osaragi - was actually keeping things between them superficial because of her own problems), it's no surprise she's only finding out now who she is. Ishigami can help Miko find a better compromise of good/bad after both not following any rules at all for so long and recently learning that hard work can pay off. Miko immersing herself in his hobby will clash with her rigid study schedule sooner or later, and he'll know how to help her with that better than anyone else.

On the other hand, Ishigami's moral compass, romanticism (love for flowers, planing dates etc) and idealism aren't things he is proud of...yet. He protects himself with layers of cynism, especially in his first appearances, but he is always being contradictory and letting it slip how idealistic/pure he is at heart. He also is only now learning to like his outward image with things like fitness/studying and finding out it's not like he never cared about it - it's just that he was scared shitless of failure, thus never even tried hard in the first place to avoid being hurt. And as I have advocated for in the Sutera post, I expect Miko in some level to help him come to terms with seeing good in himself. Heck, even being able to game with her now and showing off how good he is and having her appreciate it is gonna do wonders to make him feel more "adequate". Tsubame's arc had a lot of him changing himself to become "better", but Miko on the other hand is trying to put herself in HIS shoes to maybe go "hey, I like you as you are. I'm trying to understand you more and put effort in for you".

Ishigami and Miko start out watching out for each other behind their backs - which instead of helping their relationship, drives them further apart because they think the other side is showing no appreciation. As the story progresses, they're slowly learning to make each other more aware of their support, and it is making them open up more in general.

They have a strong belief the other wants to be rescued and there is truth in that. Both want help and to be recognized for their efforts, but won't cry out for it. In the unplugged earbuds chapter Ishigami takes it upon himself to protect Miko's reputation in spite of himself, the election arc has him actually putting effort into the campaign just for the sake of protecting her and at first posing as a rival of hers to Shirogane only to reveal he's trying to "make Miko smile", he is constantly fending off men from interacting with her as protection (while also sounding jealous), he was way more protective of her when she was wearing that cast than needed and is now being able to openly headpat her and sounds almost like her "soothing sounds" from the days of yore lol Sure Tsubame seems like his start to becoming "a better man", but all the way back on the election, it was for Miko's sake that we first SEE him putting effort into *anything* without being coerced by anyone to take action.

And while it's more discreet compared to Ishigami's "white knight" attitude, Miko also tries hard to protect him - cheering him on during the sports festival race and wanting to console him before the stuco intervened, telling him he should study (but he thinks it's just nagging), christmas (which I'll elaborate bellow), making sure he was able to graduate middle school by actually confronting school staff and, of course, their very first meeting as recently revealed.

Many people hated the entirety of Osaragi's arc, but 232 gave very juicy info indeed. Ishigami's reason for supporting Miko from the shadows comes from admiration AND part gratitude for her attempting to talk to him and listen to what troubles him, and seeing they actually had a "falling out" argument was game changing.

He looks sad and troubled to have shut her down there, not simply angry, and so does she (there's tears in her eyes when her face is shown in the next page) - despite her black and white sense of justice at this point of the story, she still wanted to listen to him. And even after that outburst she still believed the rumors weren't real, unlike Osaragi sees it - otherwise she wouldn't have made the effort for him to be able to move on to high school. Why would she care, if she truly hated him and thought he was in the wrong?

If any further proof was needed at all that this info is important, I'm happy to say we have more. I noticed the Christmas stairs scene mirrors this exact falling out moment: "Go away"/"Suit yourself"

But this time Miko had already decided to change, had already seen the mess their relationship became the last time she did not reach out to him and thus already had their previous falling out in mind - meaning she decides to chase after him.

I don't like how the scanlations handled this scene because reading the japanese raws, my interpretation was that Miko was sounding "annoying" because she was still kinda drunk/unfiltered and freaking out when talking to Ishigami, not outright berating him like the Jaimini's box translation made it look like. She also sounds too angry after the fall, so I generally thought Viz's version (the panel shown above) was closer to the original.

"I always have to take care of you! You keep putting youself in danger. You can't make it on your own." is a better translation than Jaimini's, and also parallels better what Ishigami is often telling Miko as well (That she keeps putting herself in danger and that he has to be around to keep her in check). But with 232 in mind, I think it misses a nuance of the original line: "ほんとあんたは 私が居ないと危なっかしく駄目ね" - "Honto anta wa watashi ga inaito abunakkashiku dame ne" - while I'm a novice at japanese studies, gathering from what I can read and trying to get a feel of the whole sentence, it's closer to "So it really is dangerous to you if I'm not there/ It's no good if I'm not around you". You can take that as her being full of herself, which is the route Jaimini's goes ("You'd be screwed without me") but that's too hostile - Viz's got the spirit of wanting to protect him better, but the original has an implication that she has "tested not being there"/failed being there before (due to not fully siding with him in middle school) that's absent elsewhere.

IMO the reason Ishigami's "closed his eyes" arc is not over yet is because he hasn't accepted or gotten over or fully learned from his past yet, he simply shut it down. That's why briefly during the sports festival his eyes are in plain view, then go back to their usual for the balloon gag. I'm not sure if Ootomo herself will make a comeback, may or may not - regrets are regrets and sometimes the only solution to them is letting them stay in the past. But the topic of how he saw Miko in middle school and the letter certainly are being set up to still show up in the story.

If I compare him to Miyamura again, he'd still be at the point before Miyamura's haircut - not wanting to face the parts of himself he doesn't like, not quite ready to change. Not quite ready to patch up his own wounds yet and instead silencing everything from his past.

In this sense, Miko does wonders to make him feel more confident even if he hasn't realized it yet, and she's always dropping little hints she'd like him to worry about his future not in a naggy way, but because she genuinely prays for his success. He unconsciously wants Miko to think well of him and it fills him with confidence and a more prideful image of himself he doesn't really display to anyone else, not even Tsubame - like his usages of "ore" (a more manly/confident way of addressing himself) around her (AND HER ALONE):

( I don't like the available translations to the staircase scene either, lol. Zaibatsu has conveyed the tone of the second scene up there perfectly. For the staircase line, I've seen "I'll be there to catch you" and "I'll save you" which are contextually correct, but to me the original "俺が絶対���る" - "I (ore) will absolutely protect you" carries a much more romantic nuance or ambiguity, regardless of him realizing it at that point. It's like, the title to one of the most romantic moments/songs in the CCS Clear card anime ost, for instance. OF COURSE MIKO LOVES HIM. The narrator doesn't overexplain or take apart Ishimiko's interactions like for Prezguya, but all the evidence needed is there. And I gotta add the very next chapter to the staircase one is the "eternal love" x "real love" I'm super fond of that says fate is irrelevant and to find real love you must use your head to realize/understand things, so makes the romantic subtext even greater.)

This whole affair is also making me open my eyes that I should try to study japanese more...of course I'm happy to have translations and scanlators working hard, but there is something inherently lost in adaptations because it robs you of connecting with the author's intentions unless it was the author who wrote the translation in the first place

Thinking back on Ishigami's early "i wanna die/i'm going home/don't look at me" role, it seems unbelievable we're at the point he's now able to directly confront a "stranger" (lololol) or make serious promises with so much confidence.

PLEASE DON'T END SO SOON MANGA, I NEED MORE.

( off-topic kind of, but i'm lazy to make a separate post just for it: Since I mentioned things lost in translation, I saw something on Discord about Ishigami having an unreliable narrator moment in the "compliments" chapter/Iino Miko cannot love part 4 and holy molly, it is true. He first says something akin to "You're just too beautiful" out of context, Miko HEARS IT - and that's why she looks so shocked before asking for clarification - and he DID SAY IT in the speech bubble, but after she's nice to him and he thinks back to what he said he adds a "Your handwriting is just too beautiful" to his flashback. I'm ONTO HIM. ONTO HIM I SAY. It is what he meant, but it's like his mouth betrayed him. Whether it's unconscious or denial...it totally is something. The scanlation completely skips this and had the same line both times it's mentioned.)

[doubleshotofsomething]

To Hell & Back

Part Two: “Lucky for me, your kind of heaven’s been to hell & back”

Summary: You still hate Bucky. But you need him to keep you from going to jail... So, what’s the harm in inviting him over to dinner?

Prompt: “I don’t want to live on this planet anymore.”

Warnings: Angst?? (i think). Probably typos( which will be fixed). Implied violence. 

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x Reader

--

Part one [In case you missed it]

----

It's Saturday.

Your day off. Well, what used to be your day off until it was turned into a family therapy session.

Well... Not an actual therapy session. It is literally just dinner with your family, including your sister's husband - a man you refuse to identify as your brother in law for reasons that will end in you being called the j-word. The husband, because he's the only son-in-law your parents have, has been dubbed the "referee" of the Saturday Sessions.

Each session, since you've been discharged, has made committing murder seem more and more appealing.

So appealing, that you're standing in front of your neighbour's door with a basket of muffins and a please-keep-me-from-committing-felonies smile.

Bucky, because he just spent the afternoon searching for a new bar, is standing on the other side of the door. Both confused and frightened to see you at his door voluntarily.

"Is there a bomb in that basket?" He asks, eyes roaming over you suspiciously. "Believe me, it's not gonna work."

You blink at him, then at the basket. Then back at him. "Why would I put a bomb in a muffin basket and then hold it?"

He raises a sceptical eyebrow at you.

You huff. "Fine, they're poisoned. I accidentally added laxatives while making them-"

"Accidentally?"

"Yes, accidentally-" you glare at him. "-they're not for you. They're from us."

He blinks at you, confused. You haven't spoken to him, actually spoken to him, for a few months. You avoid him like he has a disease and when your paths do cross, you just glare at him like he threw your cat into on coming traffic.

It's been a few days since the coffee machine incident. He has a brand new one - better than the last one - sitting on his kitchen counter, waiting for him to develop the courage to give it to you. It should be easy. He has mastered the art of making amends.

But... He can't, for some reason, bring it to you.

"Wait-" he frowns, your words finally registering in his head, "-did you just say from us?"

You set the basket down. "So, remember when you broke my one shot at happiness?"

"Oh god." He forgot how dramatic you are, as well.

"Yeah, you can fix that little error by being a doll and-" you pause, then frown, struggling to find the right words.

"Muffin poisoned your tongue?"

"I'm trying to ask you to be my plus one for tonight's dinner-" you grit your teeth, your blood beginning to boil. "-at my parents house."

You didn't look him in the eye when you said that. And by the sounds of it, he doubts this is something he should be going to. Or something you should be going to. Not if it brings out this side of you.

"Who are the muffins for?"

They were for your sister. You broke her nose last week, which was never your intention, and the guilt has been eating you up alive since. The punch was meant for her asshole husband.

"You coming or not?"

"Let me grab a wine and the keys."

"We have muffins. No need to waste your good wine on mediocre tastes."

"I'm bringing the wine."

"If you make us stop to pick out flowers, I will watch porn with the volume on full blast every night for a week."

"Why are you always so violent?"

--

"So, how bad is it?" Bucky asks.

You've been in the car for a half an hour, because you chose the busiest route and the most congested during rush hour, and that's the first thing either of you have uttered since you politely dragged him out of his apartment.

You shrug. "Three roads lead to this one, so we'll be here another half hour."

"I mean the situation-" he drums his fingers against the wheel. "-you literally chose to be in a car with me, for the longest time possible. Either you want to get there late or you don't want to get there at all."

"Maybe I just like spending time with you."

Bucky scoffs, but doesn't question you further.

The car is silent, aside from the traffic outside, and you could almost relax. For just a moment, you could close your eyes and imagine you're somewhere else.

But you can't. Because you're not. You're on your way to a dinner that shouldn't be happening and is only happening because you're part of your neighbour's redemption list.

Because he just had to have a conscious.

"I punched my sister last week," you mumble.

Bucky wants to laugh. He wants to laugh so badly. He has met your sister, a handful of times - at the hospital, outside your room and outside your apartment door.

Every time she'd come over, she would knock hard enough to make him think she's part of SWAT team. And each time, he would could hear you scramble to switch off all devices that could alert her of your presence inside.

One time, you'd both arrived a few minutes after each other. His door was closer and already open, so you shoved your grocery in his hand and dived into his apartment to hide from your sister. He had to pretend he hasn't seen you since you left for work , and that the packet of sanitary pads that fell out were for his girlfriend.

He didn't have one.

He wants to laugh, because he doesn't like her at all. But he doesn't, because she's your sister. "What did she do?"

"She married an asshole-" you scoff. "-and decided to get in the way and I tried to punch said asshole."

At this, he grins. "And you need me there because?"

"I need you to keep me from trying to kill him," you begrudgingly admit. "I'm too high maintenance for prison."

"How bad is this guy that you need me to help you not kill him?"

"Bad enough that I'm gonna need you to park a few blocks away from the house," you turn to look at him, his confused eyes meeting yours for a quick second. "I told them we're taking the bus."

"Wow."

"Which means we only get to spend less than two hours there, if you drive a little slow-" you pause when he drives passed a McDonald's. "-hey, can we stop and get milkshake?"

He deadpans. "We have dinner plans with your parents."

"I get that you and them might have gotten along since you decided to be a hero," you glare at him. "But they're not as cool as the hospital visits made them seem."

Your parents have invited him over to dinner a handful of times, and each time he had to decline. You and him weren't on the best of terms, and he didn't want to make things worse by showing up for dinner without your knowledge.

He knows, first hand, that a few interactions aren't enough to give the full depth of a person. But he saw how devastated they were, how heartbroken they were, at the sight of tubes and needles sticking out of you.

He doesn't believe, he can't believe, for a second that they're as bad as you say they are.

But he won't argue with you. Not about this. "We'll get milkshake after."

"Hey, remember that coffee machine you br-"

"Oh, fuck you!"

***

You're not a fan of wine. At least, not the wine Bucky brought to the dinner.

An hour into the dinner and you've already had enough glasses to have Bucky worried. The wine is halfway to empty by the time dessert rolls in, and when your sister's husband clears his throat, you abandon the glass and drink straight from the bottle.

The second hour into the dinner is where things got interested. Interesting enough for Bucky to take the bottle from you before you could throw it at someone's head. Mainly because he wanted to throw it at someone's head. Your sister's husband's head to be specific.

Just as your mother gets up to start making tea for the muffins you brought, Bucky is the first on his feet and the first to use the 'we have to get going before we miss the bus' excuse.

You grin at him, vision slightly hazy from the wine you drank on an empty stomach.

"Mhmm," you hum as you cling into him to get to your feet, "the bus. We gotta- the bus. Bah-yeee."

"I'll make sure she gets home safe," he promises to your parents and they believe him.

Hell, you believe him. If there's one thing you can trust your neighbour to do, it's to save your life. But not your coffee machine.

He guides back to the car, which is parked exactly where you told him to, and he's never been happier to have listened to you. You sing all the way back, some ridiculous song about when you're fat and old, and you're the most content he's ever seen you.

Drunk off wine, eyes glassy and smile wide, as you try to mimic his steps. You sigh when you get into your seat, even though you fight him on opening your own door, and fumble lazily with your seat belt until he helps you clip it in.

Your struggle to find a comfortable position, but forget all about that when he parks the car outside your favourite coffee shop. You're out before he can even unclip his seatbelt and you're inside before he makes it to the door.

"Hi," you whisper-yell as you lean against the counter. "Pssst. Hi. Hello."

The barista blinks at you. Bucky cuts in before he can get a word out. "We'll take coffee. Filter. And anything that's bread-"

"-don't listen to him, he breaks hearts for a living. Sometimes he rips them out." I jab your pointer finger against the countertop. "I will take the strongest coffee you've got. I'm in the mood for bad decisions and-"

"We'll be at the booth, in the back." Bucky gently pries you from the counter. "One coffee and two bottles of water-"

You try to smack his hands away. "Why must you be so- Barnes, I swear to god, I will take your parking space."

He shoves you into the booth, then takes a seat opposite you. You attempt to make a break for the counter, but the glare he fixes you with is enough to keep you in your place.

It should scare you. The look he gives you. You know what he is capable of, without mad scientists to control him, you know the damage he's done. It takes a special kind of strength to face people like the flag smashers, and a special kind of crazy to go after them.

Bucky is both. And yet, his glare doesn't scare you. So much so, that you return it.

"I hate your brother-in-law-"

"Sister's husband," you cut in to correct him. "I refuse to recognise him as my anything."

He nods. "Right. So, let me get this straight-"

Bucky pauses as the barista sets down the coffee, the water, two croissants, some breadsticks and a garlic roll. When he's satisfied that there's nothing else, he leaves you alone with Bucky and the breads.

"You got work tomorrow-" he puts sugar into your coffee and stirs, before handing it to you. "-so you're gonna need to eat as much, so that it absorbs all that wine."

You glare at him but still do as he says. He's right and you'd rather sulk than admit it.

"So," he clears his throat to get your attention. "Your sister is an asshole, that married an asshole. And your parents are enablers of all that bullshit?"

You nod, practically shoving the garlic bread into your mouth. You didn't touch the food your mother cooked and, other than that milkshake Bucky bought you, you haven't had anything to eat all day.

"Instead of just sending you to therapy-" he scrunches his face in disgust at the thought. "-I can't fucking believe I'm advocating for that, but instead of paying for therapy. They do that? Host a dinner, sit a circle and kumbaya the problems away?"

Taking a sip from your coffee, you continue to nod. "Is it helping?"

He frowns, meeting your eyes. "What?"

"The mandated sessions-"you swallow. "-I heard you and Wings talking about it."

Thin walls. Shared balconies. Despite not being in each other's life, both of you know more than enough because of your apartments.

Your balcony and his are separated by a small barrier, but you can still hear his conversations - and visa versa- if you leave your glass door open enough when he's out there.

The wall that separates your apartment is thin enough for him to pick up on your habits. You don't think you're a creature of habit, but he would disagree.

He can tell, just from your foot steps, what you're going to watch or do in the living room. From the little sounds you make, he can tell which series you're binge watching for the umpteenth time and which one is on just for background noise.

If you weren't a creature of habit, he wouldn't have found you in time. You wouldn't be sitting in front of him, asking about his wellbeing, instead of dealing with yours.

"Wings is Captain now," he corrects, and you accept the deflection.

You would never overstep, or push. Not with him. Never with him.

"If Captain, why Wings?"

Narrowing his eyes, he pushes the bread sticks closer to you. "Fine, Captain Wings."

Again, you obey the silent instruction.

"Where were we-"

"We were plotting an asshole's abduction," you tell him, "and then dropping him off at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean. If that's not available, then maybe near Dyer Island."

He raises an eyebrow at you. “Why would we drop your sister’s husband on an Island?”

"It's a place, with a shitload of great white sharks."

"And you know this because?"

"I like to always be prepared."

"For what?" His brows furrow. "Do you just know random places to dump people that–"

You cut in. "–will lead to an inevitable death by natural causes? Yes."

He stares at you. Actually stares. Openly, at you. He can't remember the last time he did that, looked at you, for no other reason than to just look.

You didn't always hate him. When he first moved into your apartment building, and the landlord introduced you too, you were indifferent. He didn't think you knew who he was, most people don't at first glance, so he was relieved. Indifference was definitely better than everything else.

That was until you walked passed him and Sam in the lobby of the building, a week after he moved in.

"Sarge–" you nodded at him, as you checked your mail. Then nodded at Sam as you made your way out of the building. "–Wings."

You knew, you always knew who he was, and just didn't care. That was refreshing, to say the least.

The hate only came that night, or the following morning, he wasn't sure. All Bucky knows is, he meddled, and now you hate him for it. For saving you.

He's tried to talk to you about it. Countless of times, he's tried, and each time you hate him a little bit more. Or so it seems.

He wants to talk about it now. It's obvious in the way he's looking at you, like he can't believe you're here, in front of him. You can't either, but you won't ever admit that to him.

Hell would sooner freeze over before you actually admitted that maybe, just maybe, he should have meddled sooner.

You won't. So, instead, you put down the bread stick and sit back. "I know a really cool coffee place... If you still need a new place to hang."

It's an olive branch. You don't ever say what you really mean, he knows that, and he smiles at that little fact. That he knows that, he knows you.

"Is the barista as dramatic as I hear?"

"Only to strangers that break down her doors," you shrug. "Oh, and guys who break her coffee machine–"

"You're never gonna let that go, are you?"

You grin. Because you're just as petty as he is.

---

Tags: @sunflowerxbarnes , @ginger-swag-rapunzel​ , @arctic-duchess​

[sizzlingpatrolfox]

wow tkkrs are going above and beyond and it's gonna backfire so hard on them i'm actually scared for the boys ... it's one thing to know that people ship you together , it's another thing for your shippers to go spreading it like it's facts and getting it to influentual people and big insta pages. i've stanned 1d and seen this before with larries, im scared it'll get too big that the boys will have to adress it themselves (im scared for their friendship too tbh). it's so fucking embarassing tbh

They're so WEIRD they geniunely creep me tf out... I'm literally a nobody and even I sometimes get so embarrassed of talking about ships and all this stuff with like 5 people... so it's really difficult for me to understand someone who is an actress, a public figure, who publicly and proudly talks about taekook as if they were a real thing lol. It's one thing to say I love Jungkook and I love Taehyung or I love Taekook and a very different thing to say Taekook Is Real.

Actually, there was a famous Korean model who in 2020 I think posted an instagram story of her watching jikook videos, but she didn't say anything about them, and then there was one time she was in a TV show and she showed her cellphone gallery for some reason and you could see a couple of Jimin's pictures there. For the life of me I can't find her name but if anyone remembers, that'd be great.

So yeah, sharing that you like them separately or together, it's great. Being a public figure and making open statements about the status of their relationship... I personally think it's really really wrong.

BUT.... honestly, atp I don't think it can hurt their friendship. I really think neither Jungkook or Taehyung care about it. I think they're just okay with it and I don't really see anything of that sort stopping them from being friends. It already is huge, but they won't ever address it. It's not a kpop thing to address stuff like that, unless is to only feed the narrative further tbfh. But yeah, it's embarrassing nonetheless and very weird, mainly.

PS: It's also really fucking hilarious (meaning: I absolutely despise) the fact that JK doesn't have to be "free" from this weird shit but he has to be saved from spending time with Jimin because he wants to. Give me a break... It's literally why I have never and will never be on agreement with jikookers who say "they hate jikook because it's too real" no. They hate jikook because Jimin is in it and they hate Jimin because in their rotten minds, he has taken Taehyung's place next to Jungkook. Period. I just made myself angry.

[redxblueihateloveyou]

i'm curious, what are your top 10 favorite rinharu moments in high speed and high speed 2?? i love the books. i don't understand why people say is impossible to ship rinharu if you read them...

Lmao who are those “people”? As in multiple? And are they from Mars? I do not get this. You cannot be serious. You probably meant “impossible not to ship”?

I don’t know about top ten, I love all of their interractions tbh, they just remind me of my fav type of romance in general. I know what are my top 5 I think, but after that I love everything, so it’s hard to rate.

1. My absolutely favorite moment will forever be the one, where Rin describes the way he sees Haru in the water, I’m seriously forever in awe, because, I’ve read a lot of books, and like... even period dramas got nothing on Rin Matsuoka, when he describes the love of his life. I mean, seriously, find yourself a person who sees you the way Rin sees Haru lol

Rin felt like he was touched by the light, that surrounded him with warmth. He turned around to see Haruka, who was glowing. Shining. Haruka was shining with every strong and confident stroke that he made. The outstanding energy, emitted from him, surrounded Haruka with the dazzling light and Rin froze, unable to look away. Rin’s heart was beating so hard in his chest, that he forgot how to breathe. Haruka stole his heart. And the further away he got from him, the more distance grew between them, the more uneasy Rin felt, like he was losing the control over his emotions. He was possesed by Haruka’s shining. His strokes looked as if he was hugging the water, his leg movements were so effortless and so elegant, as if water herself was moving him to the finish line. But in all these deceptively smooth and unhurried motions were so much strength and power and such incredible speed, that all his opponents didn’t stand a chance. His swimming was that transcendent reality. He was like a bird dancing in the sky with its wings spread wide.”

Dude... I’m like... still speechless. I mean, and not just this, but everytime Rin talks about Haru, even when he jokes about his stupid habbits, you still feel that he finds him so beautiful, inside and outside, that it just makes my heart melt. 

2. When Aki tells Rin that if you put him and Haru together, you get a perfection. 

“That guy has no sense of humor. He should learn by watching me, don't you think?" Rin joked lightly.

Aki laughed a bit at his words. "It's true. Add the two of you together and divide by two, and it would be perfect."

But I mainly love that moment, because like... Aki starts telling him, that Haru is not what he's pretending to be (like for some idiots in the fandom who call him selfish, that was the explanation for them xD) and how everyone always want something from him, and he never asks for anything in return and doesn’t have anyone to lean on (yup that’s what I said all along, too, with Makoto’s dumb behavior in difficult situations, he’s on his own there lmao). And she waits for Rin to deny it or like be surprised, but it turned out that that’s exactly how Rin sees him and that he cracked him from the very beginning. BTW, here’s your addition to the ask about Rin loving Haru for who he is and seeing him for who he is. I’m just in love with that moment, because I’m happy that he just... not only he knows him, but bc he’s not one of those many idiots who just don’t get it.

"Nanase-kun seems like he can do anything all by himself, doesn't he? He's good at studying and sports and even art. He really can do anything, right? That's why everyone relies on him, but it would really be something for Nanase-kun to rely on anyone, wouldn't it?"

Rin certainly thought this was true. He had only just transferred, but the image that Rin had of Haruka was exactly that. But even if Haruka didn't have the will to go out and get involved with other people on his own, it wasn't like he was completely isolated. On the contrary, he was considered the most reliable person in their class, and when people relied on him, he always did his best to meet their expectations. This was the strange balance that people around Haruka had to maintain.

3. The one when Haru calls Rin by his name for the first time. And I honestly for some reason didn’t even realize that this moment was in the anime until my 3rd rewatch (lol), but, man, little Rin’s reaction is the most adorable ever. I cry.

4. When Gou meets Haru for the first time and immediately goes “ah so you’re Haruka Nanase, the one, who my brother talks about 24/7...‘Nanase is so cool, Nananse is so fast!’” and Rin just goes red lmfaaaaaooooo.

5. When Haru says that he feels the fever running through his body each time he just sees Rin, but he doesn’t understand what it means... ahem.... OH WELL

6. When Rin tells them he’s leaving and Haru gets absolutely furious and calls him a selfish jerk, but then he feels his legs giving out and he thinks that he needs to be in the water, but then he realizes, that for the first time in his life it won’t save him and he’s so lost and fucking crushed. "you can’t just mess up my whole life and leave me like that” and “this can’t be true, I can’t be this weak.” aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa fucking hellish angst... that mix of emotions was seriously hideous, at first he was so confused and in denial, he couldn’t even think, he literally went “who is leaving?” and then it just all blew up. Poor baby.

7. Just all the little moments, when Rin notices everything Haru does and falls in love a bit more each time. Like when Haru slowed down, when he saw that Nagisa is having troubles of keeping up with him.

Nagisa was earnestly trying to keep up with Haruka. If he kept up that pace, he wouldn't be able to run next to Haruka for the whole trip. That was how it had been yesterday. Nagisa's breath was coming short, and when Haruka saw him slow down a pace, he lightly turned his eyes downward. I guess that's as far as he goes.

A sigh mixed with Haruka's long breaths. Then, by just a tiny increment, Haruka let his pace slacken.

"Oh?" Rin said quietly. Haruka could almost hear him saying "You're so nice, Nanase," and he tsked inwardly. Nagisa caught up to him, smiling as if it hurt a bit. It looked like he'd lost the energy to keep talking.

Just cute, and they watched each other all the time, it’d be a bitch to count each one, but god, all of them were cute.

8. All the moments of Haru pulling Rin’s pigtails... hilarious, especially the RinRin one, but the funniest and my favorite was when Nagisa turned to Haru to ask him for a permision to call Rin Rin-Rin, like... all the rights to Rin belong to Haru and vice versa lmao I agree. “I’ll allow it” lolz shut it, Haru.

9. This moment: “Something happened inside of him that made Haruka incredibly angry, he was so pissed, that he didn’t even want to swim anymore. To think that someone like Rin could make him feel such powerful swirl of emotions and make him such a mess... he felt disgusted with himself.” Yeah, Haru, love is dat bitch when you’re 13 lol

10. The one where Haru whispers “sorry for making you feel that way” to Rin? The one where Rin’s grandma doesn’t want to go to see the relay, but then she suddenly does, when she finds out that her grandson’s future husband is in it? The “he at that moment realized that the only thing Rin was concerned about was Haruka” one? I don’t fucking know, you pick haha ANY MOMENT, ALL THE MOMENTS XD

______

BUT in all seriousness, I do not get how you can love Makoharu after the novels. Like do people just ignore these moments:

“Haru waved Makoto off like an annoying fly”, “feeling annoyed by his obnoxious care, Haruka went right past him”, “feeling like Makoto’s smile could turn into tears any second now, Haru turned away and went to the showers” (fuck this shit I’m out lmao), “complitely ignoring him, Haru kept walking”.

??????? is this... does anyone find this amazing??????!!!!!!!!!!!

Or when Haru was literally fucking losing it, cause Makoto just repeated everything after him and how he just lost all the respect in that moment.

“I feel like I should also get into running.” Makoto said it as it was a joke, but Haru knew for sure that it wasn’t. More than that, he knew, that Makoto was going to ask him that ever since the moment he found out that Haru was running this morning. Haruka fel annoyed, because he couldn’t find the excuse to refuse him.

Or this moment:

“Makoto was late and Haruka didn’t have any reasons to wait for him. Makoto can catch up with him on the way, they’ll meet at the swimming club either way. For both of them it’ll be better, if Haru went by himself, than stood there and waited Makoto, slowly losing his temper.”

“Haruka felt uncomfortable, cause Makoto looked at him, as if was a weak”

Or this:

"Did you know I was going to come out here?" Even though he knew it was impossible, Makoto couldn't stop himself from asking.

"Nope."

"Then, why…" are you standing in a place like this?

"Watching the sunset."

and I can go on and on and on

and the fishies... oh my fucking god, the fishies

***

I’m just saying, all these moments are not even funny. My point in all this, that like no matter how much Haru loves Makoto as a friend... or got used to him is what I personally think, I don’t think he’s ever gonna idk how to say this... respect him as a human being? admire him? And this whole situation... I just can’t appreciate such kind of relationships even in a friends way. 

1stly because Makoto’s behavior in general makes me have war flashbacks to some of my real life experiences (and yeah, I confess, it affected me and that’s why I don’t like his character a lot; because I don’t think many people know what it’s like to deal with these kind of people in general). 2ndly, cause Makoto fans keep trashing Haru and many call him selfish bc of the way he treats him, but what they don’t understand is that if it wasn’t for Haru being this harsh, Makoto would literally became even doormat-y than he is now (yes, it’s possible lmao). 

P.S. my favorite in the novels tbh is all the Haru “I’m surrounded by idiots” moments, like when they started to dig the frozen soil with little scrapes and he was looking at them like they’re morons and then just silently walked away and came back with a giant shovel... “if you keep doing this with your tiny scoopers, we’re gonna be here all night” and they then they just watched him as he did everything himself LMFAO I just love him so freaking much. I also think his relationship with Nagisa are incredible and so underrated, since it’s a huge and incredible part of the books. I just keep saying, Haru’d be an amazing dad, so I can’t wait for him and Rin to adopt xD

P.P.S. And what about the Free! novelization????!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAA

[agent-cupcake]

I'M SO HAPPY YOU'RE INTO FE3H AAAA For requests how about hcs for yandere dimitri?

Yan! Dimitri  pre-timeskip - White Clouds

Yan! Dimitri post-timeskip - Azure Moon (SPOILERS-ISH!)

~Ah yes, my darling Delusional Prince with yandere feelings lingering around in the madness ridden rage state of his broken mind. It’s the good stuff. I like to imagine it like you had hopes he was alive but also knew he might actually be dead, so seeing this man you cared a lot about and had an intense emotional connection with understandably makes you incredibly happy, but Dimitri’s just (in all sense of the word) mad. 

~Mad that seeing you again would bring up uncomfortably human feelings he thought he had buried, mad that you were still a distraction, mad that you’d have the gall to be excited to see him, even mad at the sort of relief he’d feel because at least now he wouldn’t have to worry about you haunting him, too.

~I guess it sort of follows some of my thoughts in THIS POST, because I don’t think anything particularly interesting would happen with yandere feral Dimitri unless you were an active participant in trying to ~help~ him. Plus, you trying now would be yet another great reason for him to cling to an unhealthy connection later.

~Some of my favorite scenes to imagine here would be with you trying to help Dimitri in some way, trying to get him to eat or drink or engage in some way other than talking about revenge or murder, and him being rude and dismissive towards you. But then you give up and say how you’re gonna go train with the professor or someone and suddenly he feels it’s incredibly important that he trains, too. In service of killing Edelgard, of course. 

~Dimitri ridiculing you while aggressively attacking you for not being strong enough to be useful to him and pointing out all of your weaknesses while berating you for not valuing your life properly is actually a pretty good display of how I think feral yan Dimitri would be overall. Afraid of losing you for reasons he can’t really understand and dealing with that fear using anger and aggression and violent sexual tension. 

~Another nice thought is Dimitri getting extra physical in questioning you about your investment in him and why you’d be trying so hard to help. Which, if he realized your motives and feelings, could easily end up in a… Compromising situation. All that anger and those repressed feelings bubbling up could lead to some fun little scenarios. 

~He mainly hangs out in the cathedral during these chapters too, which makes me wonder to what extent he’d make a point of being beyond salvation or forgiveness, how far he’d go to illustrate the idea that your feelings would make you just as undeserving and incapable of salvation as he was. What’s a little sacrilege to a monster like him?

~While Dimitri wouldn’t actively keep you near him, or even acknowledge that he’d want your company to the point of being rude about you forcing it on him, I can see him being really passive aggressive if you decided to comply with his proclaimed desire for solitude. Like, talking about how weak you were, so you should have been training for the upcoming battle and not wasting your time doing silly and frivolous things with the others. He’d hear you laughing and having a good time? Big mistake. There’s no time for levity, and he’d call you selfish for indulging in it.  

~As with the other post, just imagine everyone’s reaction to this. Some of them pushing you further towards Dimitri in the hopes you’d help remind him of his humanity (maybe it’s terrible but I see Gilbert being the biggest one to do this, considering how little he cares for anything outside of Dimitri) and then you’d have the others who’d be truly afraid for you. And Felix, angry that you’d enable Dimitri in such a way. 

~Then, Gronder Field hits and we get the best voice acting I’ve heard since Mariya Ise’s Killua (Chris Hackney’s performance is like 60% of my love for Dimitri tbh) and Dimitri’s change of heart. Because this is self insert and yandere, we’re just gonna say that it’s you who approaches him before he leaves for Enbarr because the whole emotional thing is the fabric on which his yandere tendencies are embroidered upon. 

~And then, after that, guilt. So much guilt. Even more than in the actual game which is really sad, but oh-so delicious because it creates a situation where he’d feel very fervently about atonement for his behavior towards you specifically. Whatever that means. 

~To sum up how I think Dimitri would feel in this Phase Three Yandere state, I’d point to his Goddess Tower line “The goddess just watches over us from above… That is all. No matter how hard someone begs to be saved, she would never so much as offer her hand. And even if she did, we lack the means to reach out and grasp it.”, because that feels particularly compatible with his line “Your hands are so warm, have they always been?” in the scene in the rain. Reaching out a hand is basically a staple for strong emotional moments with Dimitri, and in that scene he’s quite literally being saved by you. Even playing as Byleth in-game that felt idolizing (honestly, a lot of this is already in-game text in his supports with Byleth, it’s really not that hard to read it as yandere), and Dimitri definitely has a record of putting people he feels strongly about on a pedestal.

~Dimitri would love you. Absolutely. That’d be a pre-existing thing he just never got around to realizing before the war because he’s emotionally clueless and afraid of feelings. However, he’d also see you as a symbol of sorts. Warmth, compassion, someone who, even at his very darkest, was looking out for him. A co-dependent emotional manager, to say it bluntly. Not just love, then, but adoration and need to an unhealthy degree. A worshiping sort of clingyness. 

~The whole fully formed yan relationship wouldn’t happen all at once after the revelation scene. Fighting the battle of becoming king and winning the war and trying to sort out all of the hundreds of fires he’d left unattended while also trying to mend his broken mind, I think Dimitri’s behavior towards you at first would be relatively innocent. Mostly, he’d just find comfort in having you near him and having you there for ~emotional guidance~. 

~Aaaaand we’re just gonna say that at this point you’d be far too emotionally involved and despite any feelings you may have had about his behavior, despite the severity of his feelings, you couldn’t find it within yourself to step back. But, if you tried, Dimitri would do just about anything to convince you to stay with him. Even if he hated himself for it, even if the guilt was overwhelming, the idea of being without you, the idea of you leaving him and his protection, would be even worse. 

~To this end, I can see him not forcing a romantic/physical relationship. That’d be something he’d want, but his need for you would far outweigh anything like that. To Dimitri, keeping you safe and sound and comfortable and as happy as possible would be the only way for him to make up for his behavior. So he could be overbearingly overprotective, incredibly intense, reverent on the side of uncomfortable, too selfish to let you go, but wouldn’t directly force you into anything.

~Of course he would sense that this was wrong, and feel a huge amount of guilt over it and the possibility that you could be happier elsewhere, but then rationalize that this was best. That he was the only one who could possibly ensure your safety and happiness, that could care about you enough to see it through.

~If you did agree to marry Dimitri, all of these things would only get more intense, but I also think it would lessen a lot of his guilt. If you fully agreed to be his wife, that meant that you were choosing him to give you happiness and safety. Besides, holding you and knowing you were real, that you were his, would possibly be one of his greatest joys.

~The whole overprotective thing would be a huge issue, and arguing with him about it would be pointless because he would never concede to your demands for more autonomy, citing that the kingdom wasn’t exactly safe yet and you would have a target on your head as queen and all of the various yandere excuses to skirt around the fact that his fear of losing you would be absolutely debilitating to him. 

~There’d also be the occasional patch of jealousy, although Dimitri would never doubt or question you, but the intentions of others. 

~I think, sometimes, the pedestal he’d put you on would be pretty awful. Lonely, maybe? His adoration could get cloying, although it could also be wonderful. He’d make you feel well and truly loved, more than anything else in the world. 

~Summing it all up, Dimitri would need you. I think the extent to which he’d feel this way would be very ~~love sick~~, but in reality his behavior wouldn’t be way too extreme. It would only arise in little slip-ups, when his mania would get too intense and his passion would suffocate. 

[nightklok]

YOU KNOW I'M GONNA SAY CHARLES/PICKLES FOR THAT SHIP MEME :D

Shipping Meme [Open]

AAA AND I LOVE YOU FOR THAT- 

My ADHD is incredibly strong tonight so enjoy the rambling headcanons I have because I just love them too much ;^;-

General:

Rate the Ship -   Awful | Ew | No pics pls | I’m not comfortable | Alright | I like it! | Got Pics? | Let’s do it! | Why is this not getting more attention?! | The OTP to rule all other OTPs

How long will they last? - Forever obviously, they’re in it for the long road ahead!

How quickly did/will they fall in love? - I think it was a gradual thing for sure! Definitely met during the SnB era and Charles was the one who fell in love quickly though wasn’t much aware of it until later. Pickles had probably become a bit wearier of falling in love then so it took him a bit longer to admit he even had feelings for him. They probably didn’t even admit it until years later when they began to work for Dethklok-

How was their first kiss? -  they probably didn’t have a first kiss until nearly a decade or two of meeting each other, they were really fucking awkward haha-But I think their first kiss together would be sweet; they probably had a really well needed heart-to-heart talk and just eventually, it happened. 

Wedding:

Who proposed? - Charles 100%-it’s nothing elaborate or extraordinary, just quiet and probably between them while they’re alone or planned with the boys. 

How fancy was the ceremony? - Back of a pickup truck | 2 | 3 | 4 | Normal Church Wedding | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Kate and William wish they were this big.

Technically the rating would be a 2 as their first ‘ceremony’ would be those quick courthouse weddings. I mainly like the idea of them getting engaged and possibly married sometime after Doomstar and before they have to confront Salacia. Kind of in a ‘now or never’ kind of situation but they both would’ve gotten married regardless of the prophecy or not. Though once the prophecy is fulfilled, the boys will insist they have a proper big red wedding

Who is the best man/men?  Pickles initially chose all of Dethklok to be his best men to avoid a battle to the death combat. Though, later on it became safer for him to officially choose one best man and that would be Nathan. For Charles, it was easier and he chose his best man to be Huey Lewis, no explanation further needed.

-Who did the most planning? Definitely not them-the boys, Dick, and Abigail would’ve insisted that they do the planning. Magnus and Murderface were the only ones to actually know about organizing a wedding surprisingly, actually asked for their input but kept it as vague as possible, and despite the ridiculously typical setbacks, managed to pull off a pretty elaborate wedding that they were both pretty pleased with. 

-Who stressed the most? Charles definitely-since everyone wanted to keep it a ‘surprise’ and he knows pretty well that a surprise from them is going to either be really extravagant, out of this world wedding or a Hot Topic Parking Lot wedding. Luckily, they got the first. 

-Who was specifically not invited to the wedding? - Rockso and Pickles’ family for sure. They didn’t even know they got married until it ended up on the Dethklok Minute and they were pissed but Pickles probably got his new family through Charles (if they’re alive and decent?) and by extension, Dethklok so to Pickles, his real family was at the wedding (no matter how many times they tried to argue that to him.) Seth probably sent him that blender as a wedding gift though

Sex:

Who is on top? - Top/bottom roles are non-existent to them; it’s really on whatever they’re up for at the moment. 

Who is the one to instigate things? - Pickles obviously; if he feels like Charles is working a bit too much or they haven’t done it in a while (three days), he’ll definitely instigate. Considering how well he knows him and what gets him riled up, Charles never says no-

How healthy is their sex life? - Barely touch themselves let alone each other | 2 | 3 | 4 | Once a couple weeks, nothing overboard | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They are humping each other on the couch right now 

How kinky are they? - Straight missionary with the lights off | 2 | 3 | 4 | Might try some butt stuff and toys | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Don’t go into the sex dungeon without a horse’s head

How long do they normally last? - It can depend on how horny they both are or if they just want to take their time-probably lasts between under half an hour to an hour. 

Do they make sure each person gets an equal amount of orgasms? - It’s probably hard of them to be completely sure if they’ve been going at it repeatedly but really it’s all up to when one has had enough and the other will stop for the night. Or if the other doesn’t feel satisfied enough, they’ll easily come up with something quick to do. Overall, it’s just making sure that the other is satisfied at the end of the night!

How rough are they in bed? - Softer than a butterfly on the back of a bunny | 2 | 3 | 4 | The bed’s shaking and squeaking every time | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Their dirty talk is so vulgar it’d make Dwayne Johnson blush. Also, the wall’s so weak it could collapse the next time they do it.

How much cuddling/snuggling do they do? - No touching after sex | 2 | 3 | 4 | A little spooning at night, or on the couch, but not in public | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They snuggle and kiss more often than a teen couple on their fifth date to a pillow factory.  (Pickles accounts for like 80% of this, hands down-)

Children:

How many children will they have naturally? -  none-Pickles is a Trans Male is a theory I take to the grave but I do headcanon he got bottom surgery. Even if he didn’t, they’re both too old (fuckin rip), and raising children is way too much responsibility/commitment for their lifestyle and there’s probably that lingering feeling that they might get called to fulfill their roles again so it would be borderline selfish to put kids into trauma/danger. (Charles spent years basically raising man-children he needs the retirement haha)

How many children will they adopt? - I don’t think they’ll adopt either, for reasons I stated above. I kinda like to think that when they retire or move away from Mordhaus to create their own home, they become that couple that opens their home to whatever troubled teens/kids/young adults need a place to stay, no questions asked. They might end up fostering a teen or two or take temporary custody if a situation calls for it. It just never turns to an official adoption and if the kids stay for a longer period of time, they end up making sure they get put in a good foster/adoptive family. 

Who gets stuck with the most diapers? - Probably Pickles though the situations where he had to watch over a baby/toddler while their older sibling went to school/work was very few and far between (the dude lived through the 80s with hairspray and everything, no smell can get to him now-)

Who is the stricter parent? - I think it depends on the situation. Pickles can be a bit stricter than Charles surprisingly because there is no way you’d be able to lie or try and go behind his back. If he sees that a particular kid reminds him of himself, he may just be a bit stricter than usual and it has to be Charles to remind him that the kids are in good hands now. Besides that, Charles is definitely strict but fair. He’s just as hard trying to go behind his back and can actually ground them (he’s not even their legal guardian, they just know he can’t be messed with.)

Who stops the kid(s) from doing dangerous stunts after school? - Charles definitely-But usually he’s the last to find out about it haha-

Who remembers to pack the lunch(es)? - Charles (though mainly he remembers to tell Pickles as he’s the one who has the time to make it in the mornings)

Who is the more loved parent? - They both are for their own reasons! Charles is loved for helping them with advice, homework, whatever they need and being the stricter parent needed for the troubled kids’ lives and Pickles is loved for being the laidback parent who genuinely takes interest in their interests and helps encourage them to follow their dreams.

Who is more likely to attend the PTA meetings? Neither; both are too busy in their own lives. Charles tried once for the hell of it. He realized it was the most difficult meeting he had ever sat through, even hosting meetings for Dethklok. Never again.

Who cried the most at graduation? - Pickles; he’s especially emotional about it if it’s the most troubled kids that invited them. Very proud of all the kids who remembered them enough to invite them to their graduations.

Who is more likely to bail the child(ren) out of trouble with the law? - Pickles-but he might fuck up in the process and Charles would have to bail them both out of jail-

Cooking:

Who does the most cooking? - There are klokateers for it but Charles does sometimes like to surprise Pickles with some of his favorite food!

Who is the pickiest in their food choice? - Charles; Pickles’ food palette is non-existent so he’s willing to eat anything. Charles? Not so much.

Who does the grocery shopping? - Neither; thank god for living in Mordhaus- (And even after that, they just hire someone to do it for them-)

How often do they bake desserts? - Fairly often, it’s become a pretty quick date night for them! They like to make macaroons, pies, or whatever they have their heart set and just enjoy the next few hours of getting some quality alone time.

Are they more of a meat lover or a salad eater? - Meat all the way-

Who is more likely to surprise the other(s) with an anniversary dinner? - Charles once again! Though Pickles does surprise with an anniversary dessert. It’s not really a surprise if they both know the other will cook them something but it’s the thought that counts!

Who is more likely to suggest going out? - Pickles; while it’s fun having small dates inside, he definitely suggests going someplace else whenever they have the time. 

Who is more likely to burn the house down accidentally while cooking? -  Toki 

Chores:

Who cleans the room? - Charles cleans his own room, Pickles gets a klokateer to do it though recently he’s been cleaning his own room? Wow, Charles is rubbing off on him.

Who is really against chores? - Pickles; they can just hire help like the rich jackoffs, who the fuck needs to do chores?

Who cleans up after the pets? - They don’t have pets but it’d probably be Pickles.

Who is more likely to sweep everything under the rug? - Pickles but thank God he’s never really asked to clean much-

Who stresses the most when guests are coming over? - Charles

Who found a dollar between the couch cushions while cleaning? - Whatever klokateer cleans mordhaus and/or their house--

Misc:

Who takes the longer showers/baths? - Charles; he knows self-care very well and often makes sure his schedule has a few hours to himself so he can do just that! Definitely has fallen asleep in the bathtub more than once but Pickles luckily memorized his schedule haha

Who takes the dog out for a walk? - They both would! By the time they adopt a dog, they probably both would have time to do it together :)

How often do they decorate the room/house for the holidays? - They hate the idea of it; probably hire klokateers or whoever to do it for them-

What are their goals for the relationship? - They just want to be able to complete the other without overstepping boundaries. There are probably things that both are afraid of bringing up or reminding the other. It’s no longer become a game of walking on eggshells because they have known each other for so long and know what their intentions will be. They aren’t going to change the other unless the other genuinely wants to change. They will simply help fill in the gaps the other lacks so naturally like they fit in together. 

Who is most likely to sleep till noon? - Pickles, not that Charles lets him anyway-

Who plays the most pranks? - Pickles but even then the pranks are pretty rare or more of ways to get Charles out of the office (’Hey Charlie, Nathan is tryin’ to sneak a whale in his room again’ But then it turns out that Nathan really tried doing that so who knows if it was even a prank-)

[pyrten]

DAZAI OSAMU : QUICK CHARACTER STUDY

(At 3 AM in the morning and that's why it's messy, all over the place and generally, shit.)

Majority of the characters in BSD are morally grey, Dazai included. I'm unable to categorise characters into good or evil, which is what makes BSD really nice to watch.  

Majority of the instances, whenever I have an opinion on someone like Dazai, it's mainly based on their actions. I'll make an exception for his case because I believe he speaks the truth sometimes. 

It's seriously difficult to believe what someone like him says. His weapon is his intellect and his tongue. He could say this and do that instead. Obviously he isn't good at combat, but he could say something and have you on the hook.

He's cunning, sly and in general: a liar (sometimes). As for psychological manipulation… well, it's not something to be looked down upon since it's in our everyday lives.

DARK ERA

He has a more serious aura and was far more suicidal compared to ADA Dazai. He barely flinched when a bullet grazed his cheek. 

I won't even sugarcoat the fact that Dazai is an asshole. 

The way he treated Akutagawa is wrong. The training may have made him resilient, but his mental health isn't in an okay shape. In the end, he even upped and left him without an explanation (although, I think Akutagawa has an idea of why he left).  

Remember when he fired at the GSS captain? If I didn't count wrong, it was 13 shots (my dude over here desecrating a corpse). 

(I couldn't find the GIF of him shooting the corpse, so this is as close as I can get)

He does poke fun at Chuuya, and you can perhaps say that he does some good (but we've only seen a single good deed so far…).

He recognized that Chuuya was being manipulated by the Sheep and in his own way gave him a push. There was the part* when Shirase was talking and it zoomed in on Dazai, who had a wary, analyzing look on him. 

It's clear that the Sheep is quite dependent on him. They believe that Chuuya will be there to save them whenever they fuck up (ex. crossing the river to steal booze, when they know it's near the PM HQ, in result, getting a few of their members captured). They came looking for him to put it simply, beat up and save their comrades, which points towards the fact that they are using him for his ability. 

Shirase also said:

"People who hold more cards than others have a responsibility. Fulfill your responsibility as the one with the trump card called an ability."*

Which again, further points towards the fact that they are using him for his ability and somewhat guilt tripping him. 

Dazai later adds his own input.

"Amusing. You guys are truly amusing. He's by far the strongest among you, but he's like a sheep being stared down by wolves." 

Called out. 

It then changes to show Chuuya's face. Honestly he looks on guard, and I think he knows what they're trying to do, but it's a can of worms he would rather not open, y' know?  

Dazai then later says once more when Shirase is trying to convince Chuuya to kick the PM's ass.

"Give it a rest. He has the freedom to choose how he uses his ability. Even a child would understand that. There's no argument." 

And as a final attempt to convince Chuuya, he pulls the old guilt trip card, which Dazai and Chuuya ignore. 

"Don't forget, Chuuya! The Sheep who took you in when you had no identity and nowhere to go! 

When all of this is happening, Dazai knew Chuuya was being manipulated, and he also watered the seed of doubt with his actions, and in the end the Sheep turned their backs on Chuuya, which led to Chuuya joining the Port Mafia. 

I can say this was a small good deed, pulling Chuuya out, but the choice was Chuuya's and he just gave a push. 

ARMED DETECTIVE AGENCY

Dazai isn't a naturally kind and virtuous person, but he's trying, for Oda (oh boy).

The way he handled Kyoka's situation wasn't all rainbows and confetti. 

I have a feeling he's trying to look at the bigger picture, to save people (perhaps because he blames himself for Oda's death, but I'll set that aside temporarily due to the time), but his methods aren't... nice. Atsushi has gotten hurt multiple times, Akutagawa too. In some ways, I suppose I can understand some things are unavoidable, but still. 

Compared to how he treated Akutagawa, he's far better with Atsushi. He's treating him the way Oda treated him. 

Atsushi has a completely different mindset compared to Akutagawa. He's a selfless person, he fights injustice. If Dazai tried to treat him the way he treated Akutagawa, I can confirm that isn't gonna turn out good. 

Besides, he's trying to become a better person. That, and he owes Akutagawa an apology.

From this part onwards, these are all flash thoughts that I wrote quickly because I'm falling asleep by the minute.

FLASH THOUGHT #1 :

Now that's over with… I don't particularly have anything to add on. So I'm going to move onto… uh, how do I word this, facade?

I said above that his weapon is his intellect. It's clear that whatever he has on can be fake, or real. Y'know that goofy, playful Dazai we all know. 

He's probably able to control his every movement and actions. Like, I cannot imagine Dazai doing something ACCIDENTALLY. Imagine that, someone who can control his own heartbeat, doing something accidentally (unintentionally, he never meant to do it, yeah that would be surprising).

But then again he's human… despite being a strategic and tactical genius… so yes, him doing something on accident would be interesting to watch.

Now if he miscalculated or like mistaken, uh, like that time, with the hiker, BSD Season 3. Then, yes that's understandable. 

FLASH THOUGHT #2:

Mk… facade and accidents are covered… uh… I'll talk about the power he had when he was 14, Dark Era Dazai.

… He had enough sway in the mafia since he was 14 (correct me if I'm wrong). He was allowed to be the sole witness of the Boss's final wish. SOLE WITNESS. A young boy at the age of 14 was allowed to be the sole witness. 

He was considered to be the youngest executive in the Port Mafia. If so, then why didn't the other executives (during the reign of the Old Boss) fight over the choice to be the witness of the Boss's death other than Mori. Perhaps the Old Boss didn't have executives, but that's unlikely.  

Now, that's something.  

FLASH THOUGHT #3:

Talking about suicide… I think Dazai doesn't want to die, but he does. He's failed so many suicide attempts, some of them being sabotaged, but what about the others. 

Since Dazai didn't have anyone around his age constantly (save for Oda and Ango, but several years later… perhaps when he was 16, seeing how Oda and Dazai knew each other during the Dragon's Head Rush), he only had victories of his missions and such to comfort his loneliness.  

I think that it's practically ingrained in him. 

Dying means winning and losing. Your life is finished. 

If that's the case, dying would mean he lost (but won). It's conflicting and confusing as hell, I know ;-; . I'm trying to explain my thoughts the best I can - . 

When Chuuya came around, his loneliness was, um, calmed, a little. 

Oda died and gave him a reason to live.

I think he still feels a little lonely though.

That's the end. I'll be out like a light in about 3 mins so I'll just, drop a GIF and go before I start pressing anything on accident.

Yep, okay, bye bye.

oh, I forgot the hashtags, um .

Hashtags added.

Good night. :D

[hyukmark]

Masterlist | prev. | next

↳ A Reader X Mark swimmer!au series in which Johnny’s little sister Y/N finally moves back to Korea after graduating high school in Chicago. A written/social media fusion au!!  ↲

A/N sorry that it's been a while I've been so busy with school and homework and sis,,, I'm exhausted

-Stroni

---------------------------------------------

CHAPTER TEN

It had been around three months since Jaemin and Jeno had come out to you all, a week later they had told the whole swimming club, the girls included, that they were in fact dating. It was cute how welcoming everyone was to it, in fact Yuta had made a bet with everyone that they were together and ended up rich at the end of the day.

You and Kyungmi were best friends still, you and Hyosonn had also become closer and even Hyunjae made conversation with you. Jaehwa still was off though she put up with you more and both Eunjung and Chunhei seemed to be tolerating you too.

You had become closer with the dream team plus you, Mark and Lucas were practically inseparable now. You'd spend most of your days either at their houses or your own, being wrapped up in a quilt and surrounded by snacks as you'd sit and watch films together. You were mainly all together, the ten of you, including Kyungmi, just snuggled up either on the bed or on the floor and talking about life or how your days had gone.

"Y/N, when are you coming to our college?" Lucas had asked you once, you and Mark were sitting side by side whilst Lucas had taken up his bed with his long body.

You tutted, "Lucas I've already told you that they haven't accepted me yet! They're looking for a reference and don't really want to contact my old school in Chicago so it's taking even longer."

Mark glanced at you and smiled at your pout, "just turn up with us. They'd never know, you'd fit right in."

"Maybe..." You had trailed off, remembering what both your parents had told you.

You heard the bed shift under Lucas' weight as he flopped his head down next to yours, "a penny for your thoughts?"

You and Mark both burst out laughing, Lucas' serious tone entertaining the both of you more than it should have. "Dude!" Mark laughed, reaching over you and pulling him off of the bed with a thump, "that was so cringe."

"Ow!" He yelled, rubbing his head which he bumped on the way down, "hey Y/N looked troubled I only wanted to know why!"

"Idiots," you mumbled happily, this trio was the only thing which made you feel like you were still a kid, "it's just my parents, they don't want me going to this college just because two of my friends go there."

"But this college is like-- the best in Seoul?" Mark quizzed and he wasn't wrong, it was a super good school and you'd have wanted to go there even if you didn't know these two.

"I know, they want me to make a presentation of why I want to go there and they said if I mentioned any of you two then it's an immediate no," you flung your head back onto the bed, the stress of college was hitting you and you hadn't even gone to a single class yet.

"It's fine Y/N," Mark had whispered from beside you, "we can always help you make it, who else is better than two college students themselves?"

And that was when you first noticed your feelings for Mark Lee, that was about a month ago and he had kept to his word. He let you borrow his laptop and came round to give you quotes or photos he had taken around school. Lucas tried to help too but a majority of the time he ended up falling asleep in your bed, leaving both you and Mark to do the presentation yourselves.

Now though you were getting ready to go out to town with Mark and Lucas once again, Johnny was getting slightly suspicious of why you hung out so much but you knew secretly he was just being jealous.

"Y/N!" You heard him shout mid doing your hair, you hummed loudly in response, "where does mum keep the cereal?"

"I don't know Johnny, leave me alone I need to get ready!" You yelled back, you had gotten dressed and done minimal makeup but your hair took time and you didn't want to ruin it.

He knocked on your door, something he does to see if he's able to come in. You sighed but let him in anyway, "why are you going out again?"

You rolled your eyes, here we go again, "Johnny it's called having friends, you might not understand that concept but when you have them- you go out together."

"Ouch," he huffed, sitting on the edge of your bed, "but I mean, you never hang out with me anymore sis."

"Johnny," you finished the final touches on your hair then turned to face him, "I love you okay? You're always going to be the number one man in my life."

He looked at you skeptical, "What about dad?"

"Fine, maybe dad's a little bit more above you...you're a very close second though!" He smiled, opening his arms wide for you.

"Just stop growing up, okay Y/N?" You giggled, slapping his chest lightly.

"I'll see what I can do Johnny."

The sound of your doorbell ringing made the both of you jump, you quickly jumped out of Johnny's arms and ran to the door.

"Very close second, sure Y/N," Johnny muttered under his breath as he trailed after you.

"Y/N!" Lucas screamed pulling you into a hug, "you ready to get your shop on? You haven't eaten today right? We want to go to all those small snack bars and try something from each one!"

"Back it up buddy," Johnny deadpanned, coming up behind you.

Lucas quickly let go and hid behind Mark, everyone knew that Mark and the dream team were the only ones Johnny could tolerate being around you, Lucas would've been too if he hadn't been caught flirting with you by Johnny.

"Hey hyung, we will meet you at the club later alright?" Mark said, doing his usual hand shake with your brother.

"That's fine Mark, see you guys," Johnny hugged you one more time, "have fun Y/N, not too much fun though."

"Yh yh, see you oppa."

You closed the door behind you, giving the two boys in front of you a bright smile, "so who's driving today?"

Lucas gave Mark a light shove from behind him signalling that Mark would be your driver for today. The three of you walked down the few flights of stairs, saying anything random that came to mind and laughing about it like it was the funniest thing in the world.

***

You had gone to multiple shops already, not one of you had bought anything yet but you didn't need to, you were having enough fun chasing Lucas around the different aisles with Mark worrying behind you about being kicked out.

"I'm hungry," Lucas said out of nowhere, eying up the rows of restaurants and fast food chains.

"When aren't you?" Mark smirked, earning a punch in the arm from the taller boy.

"I'm quite hungry too," you mumbled as your stomach rumbled quietly, "should we go to that noodle bar?"

The boys followed your finger and nodded. You three walked over to the place, Lucas opened the door and immediately burst out laughing, "Jisung! LeLe! Kyungmi!" He cried, walking in further so both you and Mark could come in.

"What are you guys doing here?" Jisung groaned, Kyungmi and Chenle were sitting together opposite him. Kyungmi waved, telling you to bring a chair next to her.

Mark too a seat next to Jisung, you sat inbetween Kyungmi and Jisung and Lucas inbetween Chenle and Mark.

"How come you didn't invite anyone else?" Mark questioned, slurping up some of his noodles.

"Same reason you three didn't," Chenle teased.

"You know if you were born in 99 then you'd be able to come on our excursions too," you joked, taking a sip from your drink.

"And if you were apart of maknae line then you'd be invited with us too eonnie," Kyungmi poked you causing you to laugh at her cuteness, "What have you guys done today anyway?"

"Nearly got kicked out of a store thanks to these two idiots," Mark sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Mark getting kicked out of somewhere? That's unheard of," Jisung laughed.

"I know right? But I'm full, when you're all finished you wanna head to the club?" Lucas asked with a raised eyebrow, "I wanna race Y/N again."

"You're on pretty boy," you smirked, you weren't going to lose this time. With an extra three months training on your belt you were sure you could beat him now.

***

"On your marks," Chenle started, you slid your goggles down and made sure your hat was on tight.

"Get set," you readied up, smirking one last time at Lucas then concentrating completely on the water around you.

"Go!"

You set off with a backwards stroke. You blocked out everyone's yells and ignored the splashing of water that came your way as Lucas powerfully attacked the water. You blocked him out completely, it was just you and the water.

Not wanting to lose this time you tried to be even more in tune and to have a rhythm to your strokes. You were practically glaring at the ceiling as you sped down your lane.

You quickly flipped, using your legs to boost off of the back wall and transfered into a front crawl. This was your strong suit.

You quickly edited your rhythm in your mind, remembering to take an ample amount of air when you looked up from the water. Instead of the ceiling being the target of your vicious glare it was now the floor of the pool, and occasionally Lucas if you looked up in his direction.

Before long you hit the finish, flinging your head back out of the water you took the time to catch your breath before tuning in on everyone shouting at you.

"I can't believe I lost..." You heard Lucas pant beside you, his hand running through his hair. Wait, had you won?

"Eonnie! You stormed ahead of Lucas, that was so cool!" Kyungmi yelled as she ran across to you, almost slipping into the pool herself but Chenle steadied her from behind.

"I- I won?" You were dazed, of course you had wanted to win but you never expected that you would.

"Yes dumb dumb, did you not notice?" Chenle laughed, offering his hand to you to lift you out the water, "Lucas was so far behind you!"

"Is anyone gonna help me out?" Lucas grumbled, watching as Jisung also came to grab your other hand.

"I gotchu bro," Mark chuckled, lifting his friend out of the water, "you still raced well, I think that's your fastest time yet."

"Thanks man," he was back to his normal self now, the compliment making him less grumpy, "guess it's one to one now Y/N."

You shrugged, "we should have a decider one time, don't get hurt if I beat you again though."

Kyungmi made a series of 'ooh' noises and Chenle joined her, both finding fun in teasing the older boy.

"I think this loss means you should buy us food hyung," Jisung offered, also taking the time to bully him.

Mark doubled over laughing at Jisung's cheekiness, "he's got you there," he cackled, slapping his friends arm.

Lucas ran his hand through his hair again, his attention focused on you, "fine but you're all limited, Y/N though, you can have whatever you want babe."

"Ewwww Lucas is trying to flirt," Kyungmi scowled in disgust, standing in front of you protectively.

You glanced warily at Mark who had suddenly stopped laughing, "he always does Kyungmi, never learns even after I do this."

Lucas looked at you confused, "do what?"

You slapped the top of his head making him fall back at the sudden pain, "do that!" You howled, the smile returned to Mark's face and the younger ones started crying out of laughter.

"Now...last one to the cafe has to split the bill!" Jisung yelled, dashing towards the doors with everyone else following close behind him.

It seemed like everytime you were going to eat together, it always ended like this. You weren't going to complain though, you enjoyed it.

[ducknotinarow]

[2k12]

Casey knew if he just talked about everything he would feel better. If he let someone in, like his crush best friend hear what he was dealing with, had been dealing with for so long, things may feel okay for once. But he doesn't. Casey doesn't because he'd taken on this role of protector; of someone that has to make sure he's okay to convince his little sister that everything's fine. And somehow, that extended to proving to his friends that everything was okay.

Shame it was the further thing from the truth.

A heavy sigh escapes him, Casey quirking his mouth from behind his mask as he walks up behind his friend; Case hadn't been with it all night,

"Hey, uh, Raph?" He speaks up, voice slightly muffled thanks to his mask, "So uhm, you uh, yer aint gonna see me 'roun' for a while."

He reaches a hand up, rubbing the back of his neck. Casey would love to leave it there , but, maybe he should give a few details, to try and stop Raphael from being mad at him for blowing him off,

"Look, aint nothin' you guys done, honest!" Casey tries to save face, "But uh, yanno finals comin' up an' dad woul' be real proud if I actually passed so, yanno, gotta like, focus an' stuff."

Yeah that sounded...so great.

"But hey, it's like, two weeks max! Once I'm done I'll be back to knockin' heads with yer!"

|Muse interaction

Wasn't that exciting of a night mainly they were just scooping things out tonight seeing if anyone was up to anything wrong. Just looking to give him a reason to start pounding fists into skulls. For a quite night they had ran into a few numbskulls to deal with well Raph dealt with Casey? Sure he was there right by Raphs side the whole night, but eh something didn't seem right with them. Casey felt off? distracted. Raph liked going out into the city with his brothers but going with Casey was just a bit more fun, the guy just got Raph in a way no one else did so he was who he preferred to hang out with even if it was only two days outta the week. That Raph may or may not look forward every week. Even if everyone went out he tended to make sure he was with Casey. Cracking once lines and such just to get a glimpse at Casey's smile, they always had great follow ups but tonight? Hmm it's like he was a million miles away. Kind of put a damper on Raphs fun, sure he could maybe ask but..well emotional support? wasn't something he was all that great with. Emotions feelings, if he were somethings would be a bit more obvious after all. besides with that mask on it was hard to even guess what Casey had going on. But Raphael just felt like something wasn't right, "Man tonight's been so lame!" Raph voice, as he glance to Casey a moment, huffing a bit over the fact. Quirking his beak when they didn't saw much about it themself, maybe heading back would be better? "Ya, know I think that 'bout all we're gonna find pretty quite maybe we should call it uh?" was how he was trying to extend the offer towards Casey, if he wasn't in the right headspace after all? "Let's head back maybe the others got more going on in the lair." Raph went on to start heading to the nearest manhole cover he knew was somewhere near them. "There's always next week right?" he tosses out over his shoulder.

"Hey, uh, Raph?"

Pausing as he turned slightly to look at them, "yeah whats up?"

"So uhm, you uh, yer aint gonna see me 'roun' for a while."

"What?" He said it a bit harsher than he meant, as he turned around "What do you mean I ain't gonna see you for a while? Why? and how long in a while?" Arching up his brow as he quizzed them. Okay maybe a more rational mutant would list of questions right away but...Raph couldn't help it. Watch Casey closely right now, trying to get a uh read on their body language he guesses, he didn't say nothing till Raph mentioned heading back. Crossing his arms over his plastron now, that little protective bit him flared now. "What you don't wanna hang out with my brothers or me now or somethin'?"

"Look, aint nothin' you guys done, honest!"

Casey was fast to speak up when asked, hmm okay so it had nothing to do with any of them? Raph as least felt that was crossed off but still, he fixed Casey with a questionable stare slightly tilting his head to the side well he listened to them explain further.

"But uh, yanno finals comin' up an' dad woul' be real proud if I actually passed so, yanno, gotta like, focus an' stuff."

"finals?" more questioning what that was over confirming that what Casey was hung up over. Call it hunch but that didn't seem to answer much, sure Casey seemed to care about school but didn't quite seem like it be this much for him to be so off like tonight.

"But hey, it's like, two weeks max! Once I'm done I'll be back to knockin' heads with yer!"

Raph just kept staring at Casey for a moment, he just couldn't place it something just wasn't right. Maybe all the ninja training or maybe cause he spent so much time looking at Casey..scratch that now it was the ninja thingy only clearly! But yeah something wasn't adding up here to lead to this answer. "Yeah guess school dose keep you guys pretty busy now uh?" he offers at least throwing Casey a bone here more fishing on his own end before he steps over closer to them. Setting his hand on Casey shoulder. "why don't you head off gotta get started soon right?" pressing a bit as he leaned in a little trying to get a good look at Casey's eyes just trying to see if anything gives the slightest hint away. Was he buying anything of this? Fuck no. He knew Casey enough to understand they weren't being honest well fully honest. He bought that they had these 'finals' enough but he didn't buy it explaining what was up with him. If Casey felt he was being watched closely now? Well then they were in for a bit more of that, Raph already scheming to himself as he pulled back dropping his hand from their shoulder to only then make a fist and give them a gentle punch in the forearm, gentle for Raph at least as he pulled a grin. Clearly getting a kick out of the easy hit just now. "I guess I'll make due for two weeks, not as much fun without you but hey gotta do what you gotta do." He voiced, shrugging his shoulders. Needing Casey to think he was getting away with this. Raph just had a feeling trying to ask wouldn't go over well, Casey was similar to himself in the way after all. He did want to at least show he would be missed of course.