#because being a ''good person'' just simply isn't how you play this game

[thirdtimed]

thinking about the jimmy scar pearl venn diagram and absolutely just disintegrating over it

[mollypaup]

i think a really great aspect of oofuri is how much it gets mihashi's ass for being overly timid and dependent. it would be really easy to write off the way he and abe interact as being abe's fault because he is overbearing, and a lot of people do, but it has some really great moments of going "hey, you cannot hide behind abe or depend on him to make every decision. it's not good for you, or him, or the team."

[strawberry-hachi]

Nekoma falling head over heels for their manager? Yes.

It was just a coincidence that you were transferring to a different school in the Tokyo area. It was just a coincidence that you happened to like volleyball. It was just a coincidence that the school in question was Nekoma, which was closest to your guardian's work.

What wasn't a coincidence however, was getting kicked off the girl's volleyball team for retaliating against some girls who were picking on you for coming into the school year late.

So now your only way to really do anything volleyball related was to do it outside of school or become a manager for the other team.

Nekoma hasn't had a manager in who knows how long so of course they jump at the chance when you are somehow brought along as one of Kuroo's many friends.

He was able to convince you with the allure of skipping class for games as well as more help with homework and who would pass up good grades and the chance to play volleyball? Not you.

Kuroo has always had an eye for you, believe it or not. He is a logical person, even underneath all that mischief and wild flair. He had a way with words and an even better way with figuring people out. So it's no wonder he would attempt to talk to the new person who suddenly appeared at Nekoma one day. Even less surprising was him falling face first when talking to you.

All you did was help him when his school supplies got trashed from a particular nasty fall he took early in your time at Nekoma, and that was it for him. He was stuck to you like a parasite despite the different classes and year. He was hooked.

He was a logical person until he wasn't. Such as when Kenma oversleeps on purpose to avoid playing games, or when Yaku gets on his nerves for the nth time that day. He was logical with certain people, and perhaps a bit of a menace with others. He isn't really sure where you fit in his us vs them mentality and he isn't sure if he wants to find out. Not when you glance at him while walking through the hallway that sends a chill up his spine, or when your arms or legs brush together when you are studying together that has him shoving his head into his pillows at night, or even that one time when you had shoved him and you into a locker that was much too small for both of you so you could avoid the girls on the volleyball team. Yeah. Perhaps it's better if he doesn't figure you out just yet.

And it wasn't long till he began bringing up the idea of manager, even more so since you got kicked off the girl's volleyball team.

So now you are being introduced to the team as Kuroo practically vibrates with joy because his favorite people are coming together for something he loves.

And it's not long till Yamamoto tries to approach you. Despite his rather intimidating demeanor, he is a sweetheart and a bunch of nerves at heart. He could only keep his eyes off the ground when talking to you once and so you simply gave him the space he needed. He was obviously overwhelmed and somehow, this was all he needed to have confirmation with himself that he liked you.

Just like the Humpty Dumpty duo at Karasuno, he can be a bit overbearing at times. You can't seem to exactly shake him off even when he is practically dying on the floor.

You need to refill the water bottles? He can help if you let him! You need to help plan the team schedule? He has the entire night! You need to pick up some groceries? He's already got it!

You know who is just like Yamamoto but x10? Lev. He is such a sweetheart but goodness gracious sometimes he needs to take a step back otherwise he will take all your personal space.

He first approached you about a week after you joining the team and it was because he almost fell onto you while trying to get his water bottle. He had apologized, of course, but not without taking note of how nice it felt to hug you.

Lev, as you learn later, has always been the affectionate sort and it grew from his older sister, Alisa, who would constantly dote on him. You met her much later during nationals, which you had attempted Lev to try and set her up with you but it resulted in absolutely dreaded failure because Lev immediately passed out upon the request and Kuroo, upon hearing said request, attempted to take Alisa's place.

Lev, as he later learns, is that he developed much more than a stupid puppy crush. He isn't sure exactly when it started. Maybe when he first met you and how he almost crushed you under himself, or maybe a bit later on when you two accidentally got locked inside the gym because you were practicing late together, so you two talked until dawn. It could've even been the instance when you taught him how to do a floater serve and he clearly remembers how your hands held his and your body up against his back as you focused on the ball instead of his red face.

It was from then on you didn't escape practice without Lev trying to glomp you at least once, and you aren't entirely sure if you hate it or not.

Someone who does hate it would be Yaku, who can't seem to stop yelling at Lev each time he goes rushing to you for help with his spikes and receives.

The first time Yaku interacted with you was a little after Lev did, with Yaku scolding the boy for trying to "run you over" (you could probably tackle and eat Lev alive if you really wanted to but you didn't mention it).

Yaku has told you that you are too soft on the boy and he needs more discipline if he wants to be good, but you honestly don't have the heart to be as mean to him as you would be with actual teammates.

Yaku, quite frankly, finds it infuriating how soft you are with Lev, and the team in general, but he won't say anything about it if it means that he gets to call you in the middle of the night after a particularly rough practice to hangout. If it means he gets to see you look at him with such a soft smile on your face that he seldom sees during school, he is more than willing to let it slide.

And if you two accidentally get trapped in the storage room one day, it isn't exactly his fault if you two decide to use each other as warmth until they unlock the door. His face was red anyway, he's sure that you won't think twice about it.

Fukunaga on the other hand, is someone who probably over thinks every single little thing you do in relation to him.

It was around the time you met Inouka that you met him. You were helping Inouka with rounding up the stray balls when you had responded to one of Inouka's questions about your volleyball skills with a joke (as you often do because why go into detail about how often you had beef with your own teammates?!). It was then that Fukunaga had fired a quip back and turned the question once more onto you had you two finally learned of each other's existence.

Perhaps it's why you two are so aware of every little thing either of you say.

You said hi to him, does that mean anything? Oh you helped him with his serves, that must mean something right?

However, just because he is prone to overthinking (just as you are with him) doesn't mean it's his whole character. More often than not he is trying to come up with jokes for you and is probably the one you talk with the most if Kuroo wouldn't constantly stalk (he doesn't actually and he swears by this but Yaku and Kenma find it funny as it is something to hold over his head) you.

It's odd to say the least. He is usually the most detached of all the people in Nekoma's team and yet despite this, you find yourself absorbed in conversation after conversation with him. It was a matter of time till he started looking for you in every single room, unconsciously or not.

Liking someone is a foreign concept, especially in the way Fukunaga sees you and so you can't blame him when his jokes slowly turn to pick up lines every so often or he replies to your quips with compliments to throw you off. It's not like you can blame him either when he decides to try and plan your conversations ahead of time so he can catch you at every single front. Perhaps even get you flustered in the same way you do to him he so often finds.

Someone who doesn't show his emotions, however, is Kenma, who you've never really gotten a good read on.

He was perhaps one of the last ones that you had truly met before things kicked off with the team.

You'll admit, the way you met him wasn't the best. It was after practice and it was particularly stormy that night. You had an umbrella but a certain somebody didn't.

Kuroo, bless his heart, had left earlier before the storm came full blast to get something back home, and so Kenma was planning to walk through the rain until you offered him your umbrella.

You had more than once ran through the rain because of practice running late and so you thought nothing of it, but instead of him going with it, he simply took it and glued next to your side until you got home yourself.

It was an awkward walk as you stood shoulder to shoulder, and even more awkward when you got home as he bid you goodnight like some boyfriend and walked home; umbrella still in hand.

It was a Friday and so you did not see him or your umbrella until Monday, and so when he gave it back during class it was quite the sight. Yet, he did not seem fazed from all the stares and whispers. Not a bit.

You don't think you'll ever be able to read his expressions.

Him on the other hand, finds you quite the enigma. You were known as some wild dog since you had attacked three of the members on the volleyball team at Nekoma your very first day, and yet had acted so kindly, if not reserved, as a manager.

Even more so when he saw the way some other members looked or spoke of you.

He caught on quickly with the other's feelings for you, and he wasn't sure you'd ever come to realize, but that's okay. It's perfectly fine if it means he can take you to the rooftop to hangout without any pressure of another. The moment he perhaps truly fell head over heels, however, was during their summer camp that Karasuno was invited to. You had met Shoyo and hit it off, and he, somehow, was able to convince you to teach him how to serve. Something perhaps all of Karasuno + Kenma knew how bad Shoyo was at it.

It was then he fell, he thinks. To see someone so straight laced and aggressive during school hours willingly help someone with a smile on their face? Yeah. He fell hard.

And he struggles to show this to you and not others, especially considering how Kuroo has attached himself at your hip and Lev at your arm. Especially considering how Yaku always tries to find time to hang out with you and Fukunaga talks to you all the time. It infuriates him to no end but yet you still have patience for him even after all that socializing. You still have time to watch as he beats a level you were stuck on. You still have time to get him that game he has been looking at and for once, he doesn't mind the company.

He really doesn't mind, even if the side effect comes with wanting to kiss you breathless and have you look at him the way he looks at you.

[insolentgod]

reminder extremely tough and maybe a little harsh.

a lot of folks gotta work themselves to death just to have a halfway comfortable life, some don't even have the basics. many will have to do crazy stuff for money and others dream of giving their loved ones a good life but can't. some will only be able to see luxurious lifestyles on phone screens or in other people's TikTok accounts. and others don't even have the money to pay for internet to see that.

lots of people will spend years hating themselves, hating their appearance, personality, social life, social status, skills, everything about themselves. many live with insecurities, feeling like a supporting character in their own story, some have things that bother them but it's "impossible" to change them so they'll just have to live with it. others spend a fortune on surgeries or treatments to change something about themselves, and many die because of it.

many people will have to live trying to recover from traumas and bad things that hit them, without knowing how to simply erase them from their lives, and unfortunately, some prefer to end their own lives so they don't have to live with those burdens.

many people will have to face horrible diseases, some they simply can't get rid of and others that are incurable. suffering, waiting for a miracle to free them from this torture.

some folks may never achieve their personal goals and dreams, out of fear, lack of opportunity, lack of means, or because they think it's impossible for them. so consequently they will have to surrender to a mediocre life that they hate.

many people will have to spend years in shitty relationships without knowing how to get out, others will see the love of their life being happy with someone else, others will think that love only serves to deeply hurt them, and others will accept horrible things from their partners because they think they don't deserve anything better.

a lot of folks unfortunately live out there lonely, without love, without a good social circle, without friends, with an abusive family, with people who don't want the best for them, with people who only hurt them and make them think that's what they deserve.

you might think I'm a jerk for talking about such harsh examples and I'm sorry if I hurt anyone, but damn..

all these examples I mentioned are really sad and they leave us with a heavy heart thinking that a lot of people go through this. I think everyone deserves a dignified and happy life, you deserve a dignified and happy life. you don't deserve to be like those people in the examples I mentioned, and you're not. because you have a key in your hands. it's like life is a damn game and you have all the hacks and cheats to simply WIN and do whatever you want, while other people don't even dream of that or are too skeptical to try.

but you know what's funniest about this? it's that this shit ain't just any game, it's your life. it's literally your damn life and you're there playing with the law? saying "oh I can't" "oh persisting is too hard" "I think I'll never have my desires".

girl, I'll kill you if you keep thinking like that.

there are folks who just don't take the loa seriously, and that's why they never fulfill their desires!!!!!!!!!!!! and they won't have anyone to blame for their failure but themselves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the LOA community is very small, discovering about it was extremely lucky. so tell me a good reason why you know about it and simply can't manifest? exactly. there isn't one! you can and you should.

I'm not here to judge your difficulties in manifesting (even if I judge everything and everyone), because having difficulties and keep trying is one thing and simply giving up and saying "I can't manifest" is another.

it was a blessing from the universe, God, higher power, whatever you believe in. you discovering LOA was the damn greatest blessing of your life, don't you see that? don't you really see how blessed you are? maybe in the past you've been through hell, but now, my love, the sun is shining for you, you just have to want to shine. unfortunately a lot of people will never have that luck, there are people who would kill to be blessed like this. so please, I beg you... use this tool and have the damn happiest life you can, enjoy it and stop playing with the law.

tell me what do you really want? a true and light love? have a look that would never make you feel insecure again? being the pride of mommy and daddy and having their love? having that beautiful house and a happy family? finally healing from depression or other mental disorders and finally being able to live to the fullest? friends who really care about you? want to meet that idol you've been a fan of for a long time and that everyone thinks your passion for him is silly? want to live in that country far away from everyone? want to stop feeling that guilt or any other bad feeling that has been tormenting you for a long time? want to be truly happy for the first time in your life? want to be rich, a millionaire, billionaire, trillionaire? or just have enough money to lead a comfortable life and never have to work again? go ahead, tell me what you want. you can have it.

stop suffering, you don't deserve to suffer. enough torture. take what's yours and move on. you're strong enough for that. the game ain't over for you, you can't just give up like that. the game is yours, it obeys you, and it ends when you decide. take freaking control.

i suffered a lot in life, i hope one day i have the courage to tell you about my success here. and I simply don't know what I would do without finding out about LOA, just thinking about it fills my heart with gratitude. I feel like a winner. you deserve to feel this peace of having won too.

God bless you. take care of yourselves and put your head to work.

i ain't that selfish. if you need some backup, im here for you, babe. I wanna see you win. 🌟

[totalswag]

how much did you drink? — RAFE CAMERON

authors note hi loves!! i know i disappeared for awhile, my personal life got extremely busy and i never had time to write on my computer. i'm so excited to be back and writing for you guys though. this fic has been in my google doc for small minute and i got a request from an anon somewhat similar to this fic too, lol.

summary y/n getting a little too drunk at a party and rafe has to come pick her up

warnings drinking, swearing, smoking, sexual tension, implied smut?

Lets face it, you were drunk, like really drunk.

You made the decision to come out on a Saturday night with Sarah to John B’s. People dancing, making out everywhere, smoking, drinking, along with loud music.

As the night progressed you were on the table dancing with your best friend with bottles of tequila in your hands, everyone cheering you two on as you continued dancing.

“I’m having so much fun tonight” your words are slurring at this point. 

“Me too,” your friend giggled.

Topper and Kelce shook their heads while they stood near the kitchen. Rafe, your boyfriend, told Topper and Kelce to watch you simply because he wasn't at the party.

“She's about to do something dumb” Topper murmurs, and Kelce nods in agreement.

Kelce replies, "I think it's time we called Rafe."

Topper calls Rafe, while Kelce tries to get you off the table but fails when you say no and to go away so you can drink more. Kelce turns around, sending Topper the clear message that Rafe needs to arrive as quickly as possible.

"Yo, Rafe, sorry for bothering you, but Y/N is really drunk and dancing on the table, and she won't listen to us" Topper scratched his chin, glancing at Kelce, who was attempting to get you off the table.

"Are you being serious?" Rafe must have been in a deep sleep based on the sound of his voice. 

"Yeah, could you pick her up?" He begs.

Topper can hear Rafe's end shifting, "I'll be there soon, just keep an eye on here, please." Rafe sighs and hangs up the phone. 

Meanwhile, Topper and Kelce were eventually able to get you off the table by claiming a drinking game was about to begin, which was correct. You stood in the kitchen with the guys and few other friends watching while others set out the red solo cups on the board.

Your friends came into the kitchen to see what you were doing and they were worried about you because they couldn’t find you.

"These two have me on lock down so I don't drink anymore but oddly waiting to play a drinking game," you add, staring at the girls before wandering your gaze over to Kelce and Topper, who are in the middle of a conversation with a few of their buddies.

Your friends laugh, shaking their heads, telling you, you should still be drinking and having fun.

"I'm so drunk right now, it's not even funny," you hiccuped as your body swayed back and forth, almost knocking you off your feet.

Topper leaned over the counter, grabbing you before you fell.

"Y/N, please drink the water," he says as he puts the water bottle out to you, you look at him, shaking your head as you push it away with your hand.

"Drink the water now, Y/N, we're going home," your boyfriend said, filling your ears. You circle around, placing your arms around his waist, excited. 

"You guys are no fun," you scoff.

"That hangover isn't going to be fun in the morning," Rafe responds. 

“How much did you drink baby?” he asks, lifting your chin up, making eye contact with you.

“I drank a lot and smoked too” you answered truthly, hiccuping.

"You are so hot, I could just fu-" you run your hands down his stomach, removing his shirt a little and gliding your hands on his exposed skin. Rafe stopped you before you could complete your sentence.

Usually when you drink too much and Rafe’s around you get very touchy with him and start saying unholy words from your mouth which leads to fucking or you need to really sober up. You can’t stop but think of how good he looks right now.

Rafe comes to these types of parties with you but tonight he wasn’t feeling it. He trusts you going to parties with your friends or the guys cause he knows you would never do anything that can hurt your relationship.

"All right, that's enough for the night. "Seriously, drink the water," he says, twisting the cap and handing you the water to sip. You realized nothing else would work, so you drank the water.

Rafe watched as you drank the water. When you get this drunk no one else can handle you unless it’s Rafe because he’s been around you enough to know. Your best friends get drunk with you so them being drunk trying to help you too doesn’t make the situation better.

When you finished the water, you wrapped your arms around Rafe, nuzzling your face in his chest mumbling words. He took it as a sign that you were ready to leave the party.

“We’ll walk you two out” Topper suggested to Rafe.

“Yeah that would be helpful, thank you” picking you up in braid style.

You lifted your head from Rafe's chest, confused as to why he began guiding you from the kitchen to the front door. "Why are we leaving?" you asked as you pulled away. "I want to stay," you protest, pointing back to your friends. 

Rafe sighs, closing his eyes, "baby you are drunk and have been drinking a lot" he pauses, "you need to rest too" you pout.

“Say goodnight to them real quick,”

When you walk back to the kitchen your friends eye’s light up but faces drop when you tell them you were saying goodnight. They told you to be safe and see you tomorrow.

“I better get dick out of this” you sarcastically state, making the girls laugh.

“I love you girls” you wave as you leave the kitchen.

You flip Rafe off as you walk past him, giving him a blank stare. He throws his hands in the air, shaking his head, then follows you out the door.

The car ride to his house took five minutes. You were knocked out in the passenger seat curled up in a ball. You woke up when you felt the truck come to a complete stop. Rafe opened the door, carrying you inside.

You start singing a song from the party when you enter the Cameron household. Rafe chuckled as he locked the door then came behind you.

“You need to stay quiet because everyone's sleeping,” Rafe whispered softly.

“Oh my bad” you quickly stop, putting your hand over your mouth.

He lays you on his bed and goes in his closet for clothes for you. He comes back with sweats and one of your favorite t-shirts of his. Before you could lift your shirt, he stopped you.

“Let me do it please” he kisses your cheek.

He led you into the bathroom to remove your makeup and then dab water on your face to freshen it up before taking you into bed. When you spent the night, there was Advil and ice water on your side of the bed. 

Rafe could tell you were still drunk by your facial expressions.

In your drunken state, seeing the Advil and water on the nightstand warms your heart, "Thank you baby," you look up, then pop the Advil in your mouth and take a long sip of the water. 

"Need to make sure my girl is okay," he grins.

"How about we get into bed and sleep?" He then pulls you both into bed.

You quickly close your eyes when your head makes contact with his chest.

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[suiana]

Hiiiii :3

I just bing read all of your stuff and to be honest, the student council president totally has my heart <33

Like, omg?? Imagine having the top student at your school wrapped around your finger?? The idea makes me so happy. Like, i can imagine if you start/ are in a club he'd probably give whatever funding you asked for (but idk if he would be too jealous to let you be in one tho, he might make it disband to have you all to himself. Or not! Lemme know what you think)

also i luv your work, im so excited to see what you write this year 💛💛💛

(yandere! student council president x gn! club leader reader)

"man there's no one coming..."

"then i suppose i am simply invisible, hm?"

you sigh, turning your head to stare at the student council president beside you. his face displays a gentle smile, but you know it is nothing more than a facade.

"you're different. you follow me around everywhere."

you mumble, groaning as you bury your face in your arms. that's right, he did follow you around wherever you went. said something like how he needs to keep an eye on you or something...

seriously, he might've been the reason your club has no people now! you know how scary he can get towards others. but he wouldn't do that, right? he's not that crazy... plus he's the one who approved of your club in the first place! he wouldn't do something like that! erm actually ☝️🤓

"yeah but that's only because i need to make sure that you're safe..."

he hums, caressing the back of your head with a tender hand. you only grumble in response to his words, finding no comfort in his touch.

after all, your club was on the verge of disbandment just a month after it got approved. initially, the club had lots of members, all coming to each club session. but as the weeks went by the numbers slowly dwindled and now you're left with no one. well, apart from the damned student council president of course.

you had always wanted a club. but now that you had one it was on the verge of disbanding? how could you feel happy?

"ugh safe from what? there's literally no one around me to even talk to now..."

"hm..."

he hums while watching you grumble to yourself, resisting the urge to smile. why? because it was precisely his plan to isolate you from others. but he wouldn't want to do it in such an obvious way, no not at all! you'd hate him!

instead he played the long game, agreeing to your silly little idea of starting your own club. at first he didn't want to agree. why start your own club when you could join him? you could be like, his honorary assistant or something. besides, being around others would only poison you. they're filthy pests.

but then he saw the way your eyes twinkled at the very idea of having your own club and... he decided to indulge you a little. you were just way too cute to reject!

he had expected maybe one or two people to be interested in your club but who would've known that your idea would've interested half of the school population? he was horrified. he could tolerate a small group of friends but half the school cohort?

so he did what any reasonable person would do and... slowly destroyed your club. come on, what else could a man in love do when his love was being threatened? of course he had to get rid of the competition. you could've fallen for one of your club members if he had just stood by and allowed such treachery to occur!

threatening your club members, forcing them to quit... it was all necessary to ensure you'd never leave him. not like you'd ever want to leave him anyway. he made sure you wouldn't have any hard evidence of him doing anything to threaten your club.

i mean, he's nice and sweet, isn't he? he allowed you to start a club, joined each and every one of your sessions, and even helped you advertise your club! how could you ever hate him?

really, he's just a nice president who's a little bit touchy, is all :) he's doing all this to protect you! so when will you realize that the presence of other people will do you no good?

[blockedbykei]

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐅 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐈 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔 ?

🏐 — kageyama tobio x f!reader

— synopsis: kageyama always had one agenda in his life: volleyball. it just so happens that you seemed to challenge him even more than the sport has ever done in his life.

- warnings: pro player!kageyama, frenemies to lovers, volleyball player!reader, swearing, kageyama being too obsessed with volleyball while also being obsessed with you, angst to fluff. lyrics taken from "slut!" by taylor swift but the story isn't actually based on the song lol

— parts: i, ii, iii, iv

i; being this young is art

kageyama only had one agenda settled in his life: volleyball.

every day, every second and every minute that took up his life, he'd spent it with his feet on the court, his sweat dripping down his body, his eyes on the ball, and his ears listening to the sweet sound of the ball richocheting off every corner of the gymnasium.

he felt like he couldn't live without the feeling of the blue and yellow leather being spiked with his palm, or the way it felt on his fingers when he sets it, or how the impact felt on his wrists. it was his craving, his air, his life.

was it an exaggeration? others may say so. kageyama thinks it's simply his passion.

and then he would eat and eat until all that food would turn into muscle. on mornings he would go on jogs, afternoons would be spent in courts, evenings would be spent planning how his next game could occur.

serve. set. receive. spike. repeat.

it was a cycle he'd run around until his heart would stop beating and his legs had run out of life. he never had any other responsibilities to stress himself out on (except his studies, of course). his love, attention, and care– all on volleyball.

so it was no surprise if someone were to find him spending his free time in the gym, with waterbottles aligned by the net, practicing alone because his team decided to use their rest days to actually rest rather than exert all their energy in practice and lose it all when the game arrives.

"oi, kageyama!"

to his surprise, he looks at the doors and sees hinata's bright tangerine hair illuminating the room. kageyama didn't expect that his rival stood at the doors of his team's gym, let alone see him in casual clothes rather than the ones he wore when he played.

"what are you doing here?" he snickers, catching the ball he had previously set before the interruption. "this isn't your team, dumbass."

"i know that," hinata snarls. "come join us! our teams are gonna go out and have some drinks."

"what for?"

"to celebrate our victory."

kageyama groans. "boastful dumbass."

"do you have any other word in your vocabulary other than 'dumbass'?"

"yes," he throws the ball and shoots it to the cart of other balls, picking up the waterbottles aligned. "idiot."

hinata charges at him.

his small albeit heavy body topples kageyama to the ground, his back hitting the floor and the bottles thrown astray from the impact. kageyama groans and pushes him off when hinata's knee presses accidentally on his stomach.

"get off me, you tiny dumba– idiot!"

a couple minutes of rowdiness created by the pair, and kageyama finds himself stepping foot into a small party surrounded by people he has grown up with– those who taught him how to be better, to be a good sport, how to win.

he was clad in a blue simple shirt and jeans, feeling a little underdressed by his friends who wore casual yet elegant clothing that suited their personalities best. he approaches atsumu first, the blonde twin smiling brightly at the sight of kageyama nearing with his hands in his pockets.

"tobio-chan!" he exclaims, an arm extended to wrap around kageyama's shoulders. "take it you were practicing again, huh?"

"yes," he answers, taking the beer bokuto enthusiastically offers him. "i don't want to waste my free time not practicing."

"you spend so much time improving yet you remain mediocre at best," tsukishima snickers, taking a light sip of his beer. "at ease, your majesty."

"i'm 21!" hinata pleads, showing the bartender three valid ids. "i'm of age! i'm allowed to drink! atsumu, please tell him i'm of age."

"give him something to drink," atsumu smiles. "it's past his bed time so he's talking nonsense. give him apple juice and he'll think it's beer."

"atsumu-chan!"

kageyama hollers, the warm liquid inside the beer bottle sloshing from his jovial movements. it all feels nostalgic– he feels as if he's back at training camp, except with the presence of atsumu and sakusa, whom he had met at the all youth training; with the addition of ushijima and oikawa's presence.

everyone was here– those he had considered rivals at the opposite ends of the gymnasium, now sharing laughs and stories like they had all been best friends since the beginning of volleyball's existence.

divided by talents and hard work, united by volleyball.

and he was there for hours, talking about nothing but volleyball, except the occasional school talks. kageyama's body unwinds at the familiar environment, the alcohol in his system temporarily taking over his usual tense demeanor.

kageyama was in the middle of ordering another drink when he sees you.

his chest fumes.

you're a seat apart from him, elbows on the counter, dress tight around your body. the scarlet hues of your attire reflecting beautifully underneath the dim lights of the bar. your hair hangs loosely over your shoulders, and suddenly you looked entirely different from the woman he sees on the court– sweaty and tired, bare faced, hair up in a ponytail, agitated yet pumped up with adrenaline at the same time.

your red lips leave a stain on the rocks glass. kageyama clears his throat.

your head darts to his direction. and your eyebrows shoot up in amusement. "kageyama tobio. what a nice surprise."

"nice to see you're dressed like a girl." kageyama puts his elbow on the counter, a strand of hair touching the space above his left eyebrow. your chin tilts up at his backhanded compliment.

"nice to see you have your head out of your ass."

"it happens once in a while." he shrugs, placing the rim of the beer on his lips. you mirror him, sipping on what he assumes to be whiskey. it leaves him impressed. "you're a hard drinker."

"you drink like you're a teenager." you snort. "beer, really? you're at a classy bar and you're drinking beer?"

he cocks his head behind him to show his tipsy friends, cheeks reddened from the alcohol that is taking over their senses little by little. "it's what they offered me."

"you're here to celebrate the black jackals' victory, right?" you spin on your seat, fully facing him. your legs cross and your heel bounces on your bare leg, leg jerking. your nail traces the lips of your glass. "did it hurt your tiny little ego, tobio-chan?"

"i want to hurt your little ego."

"seems like i just hurt it again."

"(y/n)!" kuroo booms behind kageyama, his arms spread to approach you into a hug. you accept it, wrapping your arms around his buff figure, your head in the middle of his chest. kageyama clutches his bottle tightly. "nice to see you here."

"victories should be celebrated," you smile up at him.

kageyama remembers the recent victory of your team in the women's division, ranking second. you were their wing spiker, the main source of the team's consecutive scoring; albeit you weren't their ace, so that fact was enough to lighten his spirits.

"oh! congratulations then, pretty girl," kuroo combs your hair and kisses your cheek. this bond that he sees remains to leave his queries unanswered– he doesn't know when and how you became close wth kuroo, but he knows damn well it didn't happen during high school.

kuroo's lips on your cheek, the smile on your face, the innocence, the close friendship. something pokes on kageyama's brain, and his eye twitches.

"thanks, kuroo."

he walks away and leaves the two of you again. your body rotates to face the counter fully, letting kageyama stare at the sides of your body. he huffs. "where's your team?"

"over there," you cock your head to the side. his eyes follow the crowd of girls laughing somewhat drunkenly, talking loudly about the recent events of your match. "left them alone 'cause i needed another drink."

"okay," is all he says. it's all he ever really says to every person. though the silence that follows is comfortable to him, because kageyama was never really a talker unless it was triggered by anger (thus, he only ever really yelled at hinata, which makes up the most of his loud moments).

you didn't seem to mind the silence, either. you twist your wrist to see the ice cubes rock against one another in your drink, lips pursed, your tongue poking the inside of your cheek. when you bring your glass up to your crimson lips, kageyama speaks again—

"do you wanna get out of here and play with me?"

you almost choke on your drink, eyes widening as you slowly spin to face him. he sees a slight disturbance in your eyes to which he can't figure out the reason why. "what?"

"you know, like, play volleyball with me?"

"oh," you laugh. "we're here at the bar for a reason, tobio-chan. we can't always play volleyball for every second of every day."

kageyama scoffs. "lame."

"excuse me?"

"LAME," he says loudly.

you seethe, eyes narrowing. you slam your glass on the counter, a light rattling sound emitting. you grab your purse that was on your lap tightly, hopping down the seat.

"me? lame? guess which one of us won." you poke your tongue at him. "i'll show you who's lame, loser. calling me lame. who the fuck are you calling lame?!"

you mutter the last sentences, though kageyama laughs behind you as you trail away from him and towards your teammates, bidding your goodbye. their drunken states barely brought the thought of questioning into their minds as they mindlessly let you go.

kageyama, on the other hand, seemed to find difficulty into making the situation innocent— bringing a girl home you met at the bar wasn't a situation that lacked innuendo.

"kageyama, you're bringing a girl home?" hinata pips in surprise. "is- is that (y/n)? you're going to bring her home?!"

"i won't bring her home, dumbass." he snarls. "we're just– gonna toss balls at each other."

"what kind of foreplay are you into?" atsumu snorts. "you're supposed to let her touch your balls."

kageyama shivers. "that's disturbing."

"oi, asshole," you throw your coat on you, easily slipping your arms into each sleeve. kageyama thinks the coat you're wearing was something you grabbed last minute; it did nothing to contrast nor match your dress. it makes him raise a brow. "ready to go?"

"yes," he takes his coat from one of the couches his team sits on. he claps ushijima's back to nods in acknowledgement, ignoring the teasing hollers of his tipsy friends. you blow a kiss to kuroo that sticks a stem of thorns on kageyama's eyes.

🏐 —

the cold never seemed to leave japan no matter the weather. despite this, you're both still comfortable enough in your thick coats that covered your thin clothing.

the snowflakes fall on your hair, melting tiny wet spots at your scalp. there are some that fall on your eyelashes, at the tip of your nose, but it's nothing to you now.

you didn't expect kageyama to bring you at an alleyway beside the bar. you didn't expect that this is what you would be doing at an alleyway. the fact that kageyama had a ball in his car was expected, but it was something you found endearing nonetheless.

your instincts allowed your wrists to seamlessly catch the ball kageyama tosses to you.

"you know, i'd expect that you'd bring a girl back to your apartment, share stories, maybe give her a kiss or two–" kageyama begins to blush, "–but i also don't know why you bringing a girl out to play volleyball does not surprise me."

"just like i always tell you– i don't like spending my time on things that won't improve my skills."

"take it easy, dude," you catch the ball with your hands, keeping it between your palms. "at this rate, you're going to die a virgin."

"who says i'm a virgin?"

"i see you almost piss yourself when you talk to a girl," you snort, tossing the ball back to him.

"i don't piss myself when i talk to you."

"well, thank god you don't." kageyama sneers. "you'll make yourself look even more like a loser. loser of all losers."

the sneer on his face softens just a tiny bit, which is caused by the way you smile at how you had to bend your knees to receive his petty toss.

his heart mimics skipping stones at a quiet lake.

"'m not a loser," he huffs. "dumbass."

you catch the ball between your hands and hurl it at him. "don't call me a dumbass!"

kageyama ducks, yelping loudly. when he returns to his usual stance, he offers you a threatening glare that makes you spin on your heels and bolt, exiting the alleyway. he yells for you, following suit, almost slipping on his shoes from the melted ice on the cemented ground.

your laugh echoes in the midnight streets of tokyo, roads idle and buildings closed. the sound of your heels meeting the cobblestone ground taps his ears like a rhythm, your giggles akin to melodies of a harp. kageyama barely spares a pant, his feet almost catching up to you.

your hair blows past your face, your coat floating in the air; and the wind leaves cold kisses on his face, getting inside his nose that makes it turn red, his sinuses hurting from the crisp impact. he yells your name and you flip him off.

perhaps it was the beer in his system that makes him woozy, the glow of the streetlights becoming blurry. maybe it was because of the sudden whiplash he faces when you duck and he accidentally topples over your bending body, landing on his back on a loud thump.

your laugh scratches his ears irritatingly.

"do you see what i mean?" you bend, placing your hands on your knees. "take it easy. you're too in the moment that you end up hurting yourself."

the pain trembles on his spine, his hair damp on his forehead. he glares at you, his breath evident as it leaves his panting mouth. you offer your hand and he takes it. "don't tell me how to function."

"alright man," you drop his hand, and kageyama falls to the ground again as you raise your hands in mock defeat. "just a friend looking out for you."

kageyama groans, standing up and dusting his pants off. "you're not my friend,"

there's barely any hurt that flashes your eyes; you know he's joking. "ouchie, tobio-chan." you pout, hands clutching each other over your heart. "you really do know how to hurt a girl."

he huffs, like a petulant child. "let's go back to the bar."

you don't realize how far you've gotten away when you begin to walk, your elbows brushing against his, hands warming inside your coat's pockets. kageyama was no longer scowling, his lips pressed into a flat line and staring right ahead.

to your surprise, he asks: "how do you– function without playing volleyball?"

you feel yourself calm down, body relaxing at the warmth kageyama radiates. you look up at him. "there's more to life than volleyball, 'd you know that?" you start softly. "there's nothing wrong with playing a sport for the rest of your life, but i'm just longing for this sense of accomplishment that's different from what i feel when i win a match."

kageyama stares blankly at you, though you could see the gears spinning slowly behind his eyes. "you... you want to be more accomplished?"

"yeah." you let out a sigh. there's hesitance when you open your mouth, like you're unsure if kageyama is the person you should be telling it to.

he hopes you tell him.

that sense of accomplishment— he doesn't know what you're talking about. he's only ever known the elation of winning a match, the confidence that he gains knowing everyone else was also relying on his decisions, realizing that each choice he made brought his team to success. that feeling was addicting, like a drug, something that he chased over and over again.

the feeling of winning in volleyball was all he ever knew. but now—

now he wonders if maybe that feeling was something that's not permanent; that maybe he should be looking for more than just that rush. he wants to know what you're thinking and see what he's missing in his life.

"it's why..." you blink, eyelashes grazing your cheeks as you do so. the gloss over your lips has matted from the cold air, bottom lip getting lost between your teeth. you let out a shaky, nervous sigh. "i'm quitting volleyball."

kageyama snaps his head to you. "what?!"

"yeah," you laugh nervously, shoulders raising. "i've been playing volleyball since i was middle school, tobio. i'm 21, i think it's time to start something new."

his eyebrows furrow. "okay... w-why?"

"kageyama," you say softly. "we can't always live on the rush we get everytime the whistle blows and we've won. there's always more than just tossing balls in a match."

he's a little slow. "uhuh..."

you laugh tiredly. "what i'm trying to say is that volleyball isn't the only battle we have in our life. and i want to win those other battles." you say, then add: "you know, in an analogical kind of way."

"okay." he says. "i get it." just a little.

"which is why tomorrow, i'm officially retired. we're not only just celebrating our victory, y'know," there's a small skip in your step, and when you sniffle, it's a little blocked. "it's kind of like a... what do you call it? going away party? no, that's not right..."

kageyama tunes out the rest of your loud pondering. despite finding you the most irritating being in existence, he feels the slightest bit of dejection at your departure. and he thinks he may lose you the minute you step out– that he'd no longer get to talk to you, practice with you outside of his team;

that after all the years he's known you, he's afraid you're turning your back on something you've both bonded on.

"work with me," he steps in front of you, stopping you in your tracks. you give him an incredulous frown.

"what?"

"be my personal trainer then."

"kageyama, i didn't quit volleyball just so i could work in something related to volleyball. i'm trying to swerve from the sport, y'know?"

"you're not going to train me volleyball." he shakes his head, his hair falling to his sides, ending just above his ears. "you're just... going to help me... be interested in something other than volleyball?"

"so you want me to take up a job where i'm like your concerned mother who wants you to have a life, is that it?"

"n-no! fuck's sake..." you raise your brow at him. "i'm saying that... that you will be like- my- um- personal... assistant?"

"fuck no," you guffaw. "you're ridiculous! are you even going to pay me?"

he stiffens. "i... i'll have to ask m-management for that."

"geez, tobio," you look to the side, baffled by his abrupt conditions. "you know i could just help you find other hobbies as your... acquaintance, right? i don't need to have an official position for you or anything.

he flinches at the word acquaintance.

"besides... why me?"

"because..." he breathes out, like he's been holding his breath for a long time. "i've known you since high school and... you're the only one i'm not shy to look embarrassing to."

your face softens, eyebrows raising. your hand comes out of your pocket and places itself on his bicep. his blush is overpowered by the cold's brutal nipping.

"i can't help you, tobio," you tell him, your lips turning into a flipped smile of empathy. his shoulders slump. "see you around."

you walk past him, and he turns his head to watch you walk away. kageyama thinks he's seen this before, that bite in his heart from seeing your back to him because of something kageyama has stupidly caused. it's all too familiar.

a little too painful.

and he's scared to lose you again.

🏐 —

his phone dings at 4:30am.

you. Am i going to be paid? 4:30am

the sleep on his eyes are flickered away from his sudden energy. kageyama sits up and props himself against his bed frame, clumsily holding his phone between his calloused fingers.

kageyama. like i said, i'll have to ask management. why the sudden question? 4:31am

the gray bubbles on your side appear and disappear for what seems to be five excruciating times. his heart pounds rapidly, fingers trembling.

you. Realized I can't get a good job immediately, lol. This could be a good starter. I'm sacrificing all the ego I've built over the years just so I could work for you. 4:33am

kageyama. WITH me. 4:33am

you. Okay. 4:33am

there's a pause. he doesn't close his phone yet because he knows you're staring at your phone just like he is.

he likes it when he's correct too.

you. Please text me immediately when you've asked your management. Look forward to working WITH you. 4:34am

there's a sense of hope fluttering in him.

suddenly there's a path opening from the cycle he's been running on since his youth. he brazenly follows it.

this is a series haha i won't be telling you how they already know each other u guys just have to wait for the next part

reblogs and feedback are appreciated <3

[ame-perduexx]

Astrology Observations🦋

*as always* take what you want, leave what you want

*based only on my personal experiences with people with these placements*

🧚🏻cancer venus: if you've ever felt love from a cancer venus then i hope you know how special it can be. does it feel like love-bombing at times? sure. But i find it beautiful how unabashedly they throw themselves into someone they like. can it be suffocating to someone who isn't fully ready to commit? sure. but its impossible not to root for them.

🧚🏻taurus venus: wonderful, incredible, sensational style sense. thrift shop royalty. impeccable taste. can look good in anything - simply because it looks like a carefully curated outfit when in reality it took them probably 5 mins to throw together.

🧚🏻gemini venus: attracted to people who show them endless fascination. enjoys playing questions games to get to know people. knowing someones favorite color or season may seem pointless but they genuinely find a person's answers interesting.

🧚🏻as a fixed sign .... i have found i clash the most with cardinal signs. they infuriate me to no end. I enjoy the dynamic nature of mutable signs more.

🧚🏻Leo sun/moon: listen....even when you meet one and they tell you: "i'm like the most un-leo, leo ever! I hate being the center of attention!" they are LYING. either to you or themselves or both. i understand why taurus get the bad rep for being stubborn but leo's are stubborn in the way they believe they fully are the best person in the room at all times....which in a way i am almost envious of them? they have a kind of self-love that is unflinching.

🧚🏻virgo suns: make extremely well bosses. are very diplomatic and fair in how each worker is treated and never takes anything personal.

🧚🏻Sagittarius suns: for some reason.... the ones i have met and been around (ones who all identify as women) present themselves as extremely proper and pious in social settings. they love to be seen as the most put together one - especially in work-place. quiet in work environment ... but will talk your ear to death if you're sitting next to them at a dinner party

🧚🏻*trigger warning for SA* 🧚🏻scorpio placements. particularly sun,moon and mars. experience deep sexual trauma. over and over and over again in their life. started at an early age. continues to be taken advantage of throughout their lives. easy for them to associate self-worth with being sexually desired in a negative way. doesn't trust a person if they seem innocent at first, it always turns into some form of a violation.

🧚🏻gemini placements: listen to more lofi style music or instrumental. music without lyrics.

🧚🏻gemini moons: i know i've said this before in a post, and its a common understanding with gemini placements, but they genuinely are extremely talented with foreign languages. learn them quickly. hear them spoken for a while and can pick it up naturally.

🧚🏻moon opposite saturn: i'm so sorry. i know how hard it is. the depression, the anxiety, the constant self-doubt. you are truly your own worst enemy. i'm sending every person with this placement all my love.

🧚🏻libra sun & moon: have i ever truly had a deep convo with these placements? no. do i still love their company? yes. but it tends to feel surface level with them. they are not talented in expressing their thoughts in a spoken or written way without it sounding....childish. maybe its just me .... either way they would still be the first person I invite to my party. they make me laugh. maybe it's their childish naive view of the world i love. maybe I wish i could see it that way.

[pumpkinhimiko]

"Mistranslations" that are not mistranslations

Now with an additional part 2.

NISA has made plenty of mistakes while translating the Danganronpa series (and I've complained about them before), and so they have a reputation of being untrustworthy. But because of this reputation, I feel like fans are too quick to trust whatever anyone that isn't NISA states as absolute fact. So, I want to examine some instances of fan translators claiming NISA has mistranslated something, when, no, actually, they didn't.

Kokichi's last words

人にやらされるゲームなんて…楽しい訳あるかよ… A game you're forced to play... how could that be fun...

This is probably the most widespread myth in terms of "mistranslations that aren't", with the original post that makes this claim having over 2k notes: that Kokichi in the original Japanese actually says, "How could a game where you're forced to kill people be fun...?" Unfortunately, it's just not true. Fortunately for me, there's a reddit post here that breaks the line down in detail, so I don't have to do any work.

Anyway, I really wanted to make this post because of this thread, which makes several false claims.

 Kokichi says he's afraid of friends in general

オレは、そういう『仲間』が他人よりも怖いけどねー。I'm more afraid of those kinds of [friends] than strangers.

So... souiu, meaning that type of/that kind of is right there, directly before nakama (which can mean friend, especially if it's in a shounen anime, but can also just mean companion/member of a group). I don't understand how you can miss this. Not only is it right there, this claim on its face doesn't make sense. Why, in this context, would Kokichi suddenly blurt out that he's afraid of having friends? It has nothing to do with the conversation they're having.

Shuichi's words to Kokichi after the 4th trial

王馬くん、もういいだろ ? Ouma-kun, isn't this enough? その話を聞かせてくれよ。Tell us about that.

Okay, you've probably heard the phrase mou ii a lot if you watch anime, and it's almost always accompanied by a frustrated huff. Because it is, in fact, something you say when impatient, fed up, what have you. It literally means "good already", carrying pretty much the identical meaning of the English phrase, "that's enough" or "I've had enough". Shuichi does not say it's okay as in it's daijoubu, which is the word you use when trying to comfort someone. He is very much frustrated here and telling Kokichi to fess up.

Citation needed

I couldn't find a line like this in Kokichi's FTEs, but maaaaaaaybe I missed it? Shuichi's narration comments quite a few times on Kokichi acting childishly throughout the game, but I couldn't find anything like this in specific.

EDIT: Correction, I did find it, and it's covered in part two. Suffice to say, the OP got this line completely wrong.

That Kaito thing

Yeah this is patently false. It's also already been touched on in this thread with comments backing it up, so there’s another thing I don't have to get into. I'll put the text here though.

オレはテメーみて一に胸クソ悪い真似までして、If I have to mimic your sickening behavior, 生き残りて一とは思わねーんだよ。I don't think I want to survive.

Shuichi's words to Kokichi after the 4th trial part deaux

I've seen varying claims on how these lines were translated, from them being slightly tweaked, to the claim they were completely butchered to make Saihara too aggressive. I'm just going to leave it here and let you come to your own conclusions.

ダサいのはキミの方だよ…王馬くん。The lame one is you... Ouma-kun.

百田くんの周りにはいつも人が集まってくる… Momota-kun always has people around him... でも、キミの周りには誰もいないじゃないか。But, there's no one around you.

キミは…その程度のヤツって事だよ。That's... what kind of person you are.

This is snappy in its own way, though, if you consider that 程度 is closer to meaning grade/level/degree rather than simply "type of". "That's the level of person you are," basically.

And if you doubt me on any of this, I encourage you to do your own research, get second opinions if you can. I know not everyone knows Japanese, in which case you can't really help but rely on someone else and hope their translation is accurate. That said, at the bare minimum, I think people should provide screenshots and the original Japanese text if they're going to claim something is a mistranslation. Like, I don't think you should be able to say "actually in Japanese Kokichi says he volunteers at animal shelters in his free time but NISA cut it!" and have half the fandom believe you with no proof.

[shiurkoma]

Take: chaotic evil Yehonatan, in which he knew David is meant to replace him and his father from the very start.

TLDR: Yehonatan is as, if not more likely to be the abuser in their relationship because it is plain unfair to overlook how humongous their power gap is, and he is abused enough to be at least a little unhinged in his noggins.

Warning: dead dove do not eat. Im going to entertain an idea where Yehonatan is definitely not a good person. If you have a problem with that, or have issue reading fictional underage abuse and emotional manipulation, please stop reading. Finally, nothing about this is meant to be serious interpretation of the original text, it's all plain headcanoning for fanfiction.

(For the record, i seriously do not consider David (even close to being) a morally good individual in any possible sense of the word. It doesn't make any of this ok tho)

Some fanfics i've seen paint the davinatan ship as a manipulative one, with david being the seducter that manipulates Yehonatan into simping for him, only to discard him after David achieved his goals. Even outside of fanfictions, i know of people who view Yehonatan as a tragic victim. While i appreciate David's more malicious side being acknowledged, and agree with it more than depicting them simply and benignly loving eachother(tho i appreciate that too), I can't help but think how both protrayal down plays just how utterly creepy yehonatan's part in the relationship is.

Like, Yehonatan, a middle aged man with wives and kids, went ahead and basically stripped in front of a teen the first night they met then gave him some really personal and valuable gifts. If thats not a red flag i don't know what is.

Yehonatan is someone you do not want to cross, maybe even more so than Saul.

It is easy to forget that, holding the title of eldest son and legal heir to the throne comes with immense pressure, responsibility and danger, and dealing with all that takes more than just a thick backbone. With a deranged father as king, people around him are constantly plotting to take the throne for themselves. All bets are off in the war for the throne, even if Yehonatan doesn't actually want to be king, his competitors (which includes but not limited to his entire family) wouldn't rest until he is dead. He isn't in a position where he can just back off: it isn't unheard of that princes and kings renounce their positions, retire, and end up getting assassinated or executed anyway. Because king or not, they are still legitimate heirs to the throne and therefore a potential threat.

Basically, Yehonatan lives in a situation where he simply cannot afford to show weakness or hesitation, not to his subordinates, not to his brothers, not to his father, not to anyone. What doesn't kill you makes you dangerous, and Yehonatan is deadly in that sense.

(But its not to say all that didn't take a toll on his mental wellbeing. Yehonatan has no business being mentally ok. He watched his father ascend to the throne, watched as Saul sunk further towards insanity, and had to endure his often psychotic abuse for years. I don't believe one bit that he isn't depressed and at least a little messed up, especially in a time where mental illnesses aren't even acknowledged yet.)

To sum it up, as a weathered crown prince, Yehonatan would logically be a person who is reasonably paranoid, moderately ruthless, extremely strong willed and more than competently intuitive about the motives and intentions of people around him.

David on the other hand (at the start of their relationship anyway) had no prior experience mingling with politics, no ties in the palace, was never regarded with importance by his father or brothers (meaning he had zero exposure and no one ever invested in him), young and inexperienced (meaning vulnerable to manipulation), stands no chance against Yehonatan if he were to play mind games on him.

David could pull an Esther on Yehonatan. But keep in mind Esther and a lot of other femme fatal spies in history had ties that helped pull strings from the outside, they are often not the master mind either. David had himself, and practically nothing else.

This is why Yehonatan helping him matters so much. Useing weak willed and easily manipulated individuals only works for you if you are already a powerful dictator. If you have absolutely nothing you need powerful allys.

The most straightforward option for dark Yehonatan is just to kick the creep element up ten notchs. David tries to seduce Yehonatan, then immediately realises he bit off more than he could chew: he is just too possessive to be controlled. Yehonatan in this scenario probably somewhat resembles that purple creep from Tokyo ghoul, entertaining while the shock value lasts, but after that it gets pretty shallow. I hate this approach tbh.

Or, him seeing David that day was Yehonatan's last straw(what i doodled basically). He stops giving a sh*t about everything, and thought since he is so "in love" he might as well groom and sodomize David. Its a petty way of getting back at God for making him fall for the boy, and for making his life miserable in general.

He uses his charms and presents himself as a saintly figure to appeal to David's more religious side, then proceeds to not only make sure that David is emotionally dependent on him(i won't elaborate how but its easier than you think), but also plans to make it so that if he dies it will f*ck David in the head. He enjoys this, because for once in his life he feels a "real" sense of control, albeit a twisted and perverted one.

(Maybe he will feel shame and regret eventually, but thats another talk for another day.)

I'll borrow my friend's comment to sum up the take: "a broken abused individual perpetuating a cycle of abuse to an ambitions sociopathic twink, each making the other worse just through being together." Another reason i prefer this version of dark Yehonatan is cuz it restores some agency Yehonatan desperate lacks.

Strayed quite far from his canon image with my shameless slandering but yeah that's about it. For now. Might explore David's pov in this later.

[colorful-bees]

One of the many parts of N's character that makes me a little unwell is the infantilization of him done by Ghetsis. I think about it so often.

N is twenty years old at the time of Black and White and he still uses his childhood bedroom; we know he still uses it in recent times because when interacting with the train set inside during the final stretch of the game, the flavor text say the trains look recently played with. There is no doubt that this is the room that adult N stays and lives in.

The first thing that really sticks out to you is that N is an adult and his room is clearly not fit for one. The second thing you might notice is that it doesn't really look like a bedroom, it looks like a playroom. You get a sense of discomfort from the room and that's partially due to knowing who it belongs to but I also think it has to do with the fact that it doesn't even look like a bedroom; it doesn't look suitable for a child to necessarily live in.

N's room ties back into the themes of "innocence" surrounding N; children and childhood often represent purity and innocence, things N is expected to be. It's like he's expected to remain in this state of childishness as a way of him "staying" pure.

And it's not only within the environment that N lives in that you see this, it's with Ghetsis' dialogue towards N as well. There are a few instances where Ghetsis refers to N when he's not around; saying he once "set up a certain man as king" but when he's talking to N after he loses at the end of Black and White? He's belittling him and only calls him "boy". He's being condescending, he's telling N exactly how he feels about him and while berating him, that's the choice of words he uses.

Ghetsis doesn't see N as a human being and he also doesn't see him as an adult. It draws to mind the kinds of adults who view children as lesser than, people who don't have thoughts or autonomy of their own. And at the end of the day, it all ties back into Ghetsis' manipulation of N. He needs him to remain naive and unquestioning; he wants him to be that same child he found in the forest. It doesn't do him any good if N is a free thinking adult. It's just easier to force him into the role of a stupid, malleable child instead. An adult gets to have their own thoughts and feelings, gets to be their own person and those are privileges N isn't afforded.

It fits in perfectly with all of N's themes of inhumanity and lack of autonomy. No one ever sees him as simply a person. He'll always be a stupid child, a glorious leader, a freak without a human heart, a traitor and people are always telling him what he needs to be or what he already is. Ghetsis refuses to let N be fully human, to have full autonomy over himself whether that's treating him like an inhuman freak or a stupid child who doesn't know any better; he'll never be a whole human being.

[babyrdie]

ALERT OF HADES II SPOILER

Okaaaayyy....seeing a considerable number of people act shocked at how Odysseus is in Hades II and think it's something against Odysseus, and now I'm wondering if they actually paid attention in the first game…I know everyone talks a lot about Hades' art, but I didn't think that was because it was the only thing you guys were really paying attention to.

It makes sense to be disappointed that the characters weren't treated the way a fan would have liked (for example, I'm not a fan of Hades, but I don't really like the idea of him in the game although I understand why he's the way he is), but I think it's weird to be that surprised by it or treat it like it's personal. Hades never fully followed the myths. They didn't do this because they haven't read Homer or because they don't like Penelope or hate Odysseus…it's simply because they don't follow the myths authentically. They don't specifically have anything against Odysseus or Penelope, it's just the way they do things. If this were the first game, I would understand this being unexpected… but it's the second game, we already know that they won't faithfully follow the myths because they didn't do that in Hades I.

I'll admit that I also didn't expect what was done with Penelope and Odysseus, but it's not really such a "wow! I could never imagine!" when it comes to Supergiant (I'm playing the technical test, for context). And I hoped they would already be together without relationship conflicts, because I really wasn't looking forward to a repeat of Nyx and Chaos, Patroclus and Achilles, Orpheus and Eurydice. I know most people wanted this, but I think it would be lazy to repeat this and I'm still hoping to not have this quest, whether with Odypen or other characters. And yet, even if I didn't expect it, I don't think it's as unexpected for Supergiant as some are making it seem.

Examples:

Melinoe and Zagreus are children of Persephone and Hades, and in mythology they aren't children of Hades.

Zagreus and Dionysus aren't the same person. The game makes humans believe that they're because the two played a prank on Orpheus, which made him invent a song with that story. Clearly a joke on the Orphic hymns.

Theseus is proud to be a demigod, but Poseidon denies that he's his father. Clearly a joke with the different versions of Theseus' birth, in which some he is Poseidon's demigod and others he's mortal.

Persephone is the daughter of Demeter and a mortal, not Zeus. For that reason, she and her children bleed red rather than gold.

Persephone isn't actually kidnapped by Hades. The kidnapping was an act that went wrong. Yeah, Odysseus wasn't the first character to have his non-con and dub-con aspect erased.

Achilles has a different personality than in myths. The game explains this as him maturing in the afterlife.

Patroclus is distant instead of communicative as in the myths, also explained by post-death events.

Asterius (Minotaur) is much more humanized than in the myths and he and Theseus are best friends.

There is a character heavily implied to be Medusa (Dusa) and she definitely doesn't behave like a monster.

Sisyphus is a kind and helpful guy, which is explained in the game with him having regretted his actions after his years of punishment.

Artemis and Callisto are on good terms even though they ended tragically in mythology.

Hades has a much more difficult personality to deal with than in mythology.

Thanatos, Megaera (one of the furies) and Zagreus are in a romantic relationship, which definitely doesn't exist in the myths.

The last aspects of the weapons to be unlocked do not even make reference to Greece, but to other figures. For example, the Twin Fists have the "aspect of Gilgamesh", a figure who is definitely not Greek.

Aphrodite says "You do know that I'm married, don't you love? I forgive you if you didn't. For my husband, he's always... busy with his work. I'm grateful that you are there for me to talk to" about Hephaesthus...her husband, she says. Hephaestus and Aphrodite are often divorced in mythology, including in Homer. And it's not because it wasn't yet at the time they got divorced, after all the Trojan War had already happened and they were already divorced at that time.

Also, they clearly don't use Homer as their only guide, so I don't know why you guys are saying "but Homer!" Patrochilles is there and not really canon in the Homeric tradition, but in Classical Greece they were considered a couple in certain sources (Aeschylus mainly). They use the name Asterius for the Minotaur (something Pausanias mentions, for example) although it wasn't the most common, they play with the various versions of Theseus' lineage, they reference Orphic hymns, etc. Like…it's really VERY obvious they took inspiration of more than one source.

On the Supergiant website, part of the Hades presentation is "Greek myth comes from stories of ancient gods and heroes filtered through new points of view; we’re excited to share ours." This already makes it more than evident that certain aspects were purposefully changed. It wasn't a surprise even before Hades I was released, for anyone who bothered to read it.

On Twitter, Kasavin (Creative Director) has already said that "it is a concerted effort over time, although Hesiod and Homer were very significant among the many authors we explored", which makes it clear that they don't focus on a specific source, although he recognizes that Homer and Hesiod are very influential.

In an interview available at Rock Paper Shotgun, he even said that he read more than one translation of the Odyssey and cites other sources like Diodorus Siculus.

Also, Odysseus cheating Penelope isn't even a modern invention, there were already versions of this in the Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus (I'm talking about Callidice). And giving an unpopular opinion here: while I agree that Calypso in The Odyssey is undeniably an SA situation, Circe is more debatable than you guys like to make it out to be, it isn't undeniably. Both the interpretation that there was SA and the interpretation that there was no SA are valid, because the text itself doesn't make it explicit as it does with Calypso. In Circe's case, not necessarily not making it a relationship with SA makes it something that deviant from the myths.

Again because I don't want to be misinterpreted: what I'm taking issue with here isn't the disappointment in how Odysseus was portrayed. This is valid! I'm questioning the idea that this was done because they don't know about the myths or that it was something specific to Odysseus and Penelope. They know the myths, they just purposefully choose not to be completely authentic. They have nothing specific to Odysseus and Penelope, which is precisely why they aren't exempt from the changes they also made to other characters. They are no more special than Persephone, Hades, Zagreus, Melinoe (to name a few who had changes), that's why they receive the same treatment (that is, being changed).

I would never recommend Hades to someone who wanted complete authenticity to the myths. I wouldn't do that because I KNOW that's not the game's purpose. I thought everyone else knew too. You don't go to a vegetarian restaurant that you knew was vegetarian because you had eaten there before and be surprised because they don't have real meat dishes, be serious.

Edit (01/05): guys, you're talking about Epic, but I admit that I've never even heard that musical and I'm not part of the fandom. So I don't really know if Epic has an influence on that mindset 🤔and also my reblog develops a little more what I think based on Hades I if anyone is interested in theories for the narrative.

[pleasestayawayidonotlikeyou]

Hi there! Good day or night! I hope you're doing well! May i request romantic headcannons for Wine and Coffee with a reader who's kind and generally a pacifist, separately. Plssss?

Hey travelers! Your requests are pretty similar so I hope you don't mind me merging your asks. I've been wanting to write them for some time now, so I hope you enjoy the headcannons!

Featuring: Wine, Coffee.

Masterlist

Wine

Assuming you both met at the underground, he straight up thinks it's a facade the first time he meets you.

But when he does realize it isn't a facade and that's just how you are, he's very confused and a bit concerned.

How did someone so kind ended up in the hell hole that is the underground?

It does not matter, at this point he has already taken you in along with Chara.

And some time later...Chara now treats you both as their parents. Congratulations..?

Wine's demiromantic, so he won't fall for you right at the start, he only considers you as a friend.

Though when he does catch feelings for you, he waits until the monsters get freed from the underground, he knows if anyone finds out he fell in love with a human you're gonna be in great danger.

Even on the surface, Wine still has a lot of connections and is still very important, not that he'll ever tell you what he does.

Loves the fact that you get along with his brother, if you didn't he wouldn't even be with you traveler.

His ecto-body is hot, not like that traveler, and he adores when you snuggle him at cold night, he thinks it's adorable.

Chara has asked for a sibling multiple times, Wine never gave them a proper response.

"Dad?"

"Yes sweetheart?"

"I want a sibling."

"..."

"Dad answer me!"

Coffee

Oh lord. He's so in love.

It's just so difficult to find someone who actually respects him for who he is and not because they're scared of his brother.

He doesn't really speak much, except if you manage to be close to him, Coffee mostly communicates by notes.

Though if you ask about a game he likes, he can go for hours straight telling you all about it, to the characters to the mechanics and what's the lore behind it.

Even if you simply watch him play, he still enjoys it, it makes him feel warm inside.

Coffee definitely leaves notes around places he knows you'd see, just simple reminders and compliments like "HAVE YOU DRINKED WATER TODAY?" or "I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU TODAY BUT I KNOW YOU LOOK BEAUTIFUL <3" and then have a sketch of you filling the rest of the note.

If you're ever being stalked or someone's being a little shit to you, Coffee will tell Wine, your brother in law still has connections after all, it won't take long for that person to leave you alone.

Loves cuddles, it does not matter where, on the couch, the bed, the floor.. anywhere that isn't public he'll cuddle you.

Also loves to play with your hair, he thinks it's just so soft! If you let him he'd be with his hands all over your hair while cuddling.

Coffee stays awake late a lot of the time, sometimes you wonder how he didn't die from sleep deprivation.

Please help him regulate his sleeping schedule, it's all fucked up.

His face turns yellow when you compliment his art, and he malfunctions.

"That looks so good dear!"

"..."

"dear?"

"..."

*Coffee is overheating

"Oh god i think I broke him.."

[llamagoddessofficial]

Okay, but can you Aggre/ the cryptid boyfriends?

The boys are cryptids who live together for convenience's sake. Mc moves in with her three very normal, very Not Unusual roommates, who definitely are not at all strange or bizarre or dangerous.

Sans: A close friend of Mc's that used every trick in the book to slide into her life. He's good at studying people, good at mimicking acceptable behaviours- so good, in fact, that all of his slightly stranger qualities are passed off as just Sans being weird. One time he mistook a ketchup bottle for a drinking bottle, and downed the whole thing, but everyone just thought he was doing a bit so everyone just laughed. When he acts bizarre, it's simply Sans being Sans. The others could reveal they're cryptids and Mc would still think Sans was the odd one out.

He seems so normal, so funny. But he's been her cryptid for a long time, following her, absorbing her interests and tastes in partners to try and win her over. He's playing the long game- and it's working. He acts weird around her all the time and she's just accepted he's Like That. She's even somewhat honoured by the fact that he feels relaxed enough around her to be weird; he brings out the weirdness in her too. They're weird buddies.

He'd very casually tell her he can 'shapeshift'. But he'd be reluctant to show his true form- let alone reveal he's a cryptid.

Red: A serial flirt, popular and handsome, constantly out on the town. Unlike the other two, who need breaks every now and then, Red can hold a different form for days on end with only minor slip ups.

... Deep down, though, he's incredibly insecure about being a cryptid. He hates the way his cryptid body looks... the way it warps and frightens people, looking like he crawled right out of a nightmare, too much of some things and too little of others. 'Red' is his ideal body, a handsome badboy, the one who's surrounded by adoring humans. It's the only way he feels loveable.

He wants to be a person. He wants to be part of society, he wants to be loved like a human, that's why he constantly seeks out human flings and one night stands. To him, being in bed with someone signals that he's winning, and his act is convincing. He doesn't want Mc to ever know he's a cryptid, because in his eyes, nobody could ever love a thing like that.

Skull: He isn't good at acting like a person. He 'hides in his room' a lot, going out of his window at night to hunt and then returning to sleep through the day. At first, he just crushed on Mc from afar, silently following her around at night or peering through her window... but because of his feelings, because of her, he starts trying to be more humanoid.

He learns some words. He figures out how to eat human food. He practises 'smiling' in a mirror for hours, to make sure he doesn't look too frightening. And it can't be said that he isn't charming, a lot of his genuine struggles with acting like a person just come across as sweet-natured shyness or social anxiety. He pulls his hood over his face every time she smiles at him; a little because he's flustered, mostly because when he's flustered he loses control of his face and his features start shifting and melting in disturbing ways.

Mc likes him a lot. She's none the wiser that he's the reason she feels those chills running up her spine whenever she passes the woods.

[homunculus-argument]

Unless you're doing math or baking, or something where there's an exact way to reach an exact goal, it's generally good to bear in mind that most things can't be done wrong, just in different ways, and if the same goal can be acheved multiple ways but you're not achieving the goal, the issue isn't about the wrong method but the wrong approach.

Most difficulties people have with social interactions isn't that someone is bad at talking with people, just that people are used to different ways of talking with people. There's good social skill in learning to observe how people talk, and learning to adjust your approach to match someone else, but if things like pleasant conversation just aren't happening, it's good to just be able to shrug and accept "maybe this is just how things are done where this person is from." Conversations are like tossing a ball back and forth, but the rules of the game are different from person to person, and from place to place.

Like talking pace. There's both cultural and personal variation in how quickly the turn to talk is switched, and people who are fast-paced will often find themselves stalling and struggling to come up with something more to say when the person they're trying to talk with seems to be dead silent, and on the other end, the slower-paced talker is struggling to get a word in, because the pause that they see as the natural pause between turns to talk is interpreted as an awkward silence by the faster talker, who struggles to fill the gap, usually unintentionally interrupting the slower talker just when they were about to start their own turn. Both parties are frustrated.

The way of talking I was raised with is talking about yourself. Like if we're talking about work, I'll talk about my own work, and then when the ball is thrown back to you, you talk about your own work, back and forth, so while we're both just talking about our own thing, we're still both talking about the subject of work. It would be rude for me to talk about your thing as if I knew anything about it as well as I know my own personal thing, so if you describe something in your own job, I'll go "oh, so is it similar to - " and describe something that I see parallels for in my own work thing.

And for people who don't do this, talking only about yourself comes off rude, like you're not listening to what they're talking about and are constantly trying to change the subject back to yourself. The rules they are playing by are different - you're not supposed to take the ball, you wait for it to be handed to you, and someone dominating the conversation is hogging the ball, and being inconsiderate. I've had to learn to pay attention to this more, and see if the person I'm talking with is trying to politely let the conversation be All About Me, and is simply politely waiting for the ball to be handed to them.

If you have no idea why something isn't working the way you think it should be working, it's sometimes good to pause and remind yourself that you're probably not doing it wrong, but that it's probably time to check that you're not trying to play two completely different games with different rules.

[tobiasdrake]

I know you haven't done your deep-dive fighting style posts in a while, but I was curious if you'd want to do one for Cell? I think his whole deal as a composite of multiple powerful fighters could be interesting to consider...

Oh, sure. Let's talk about Cell.

Cell is a complicated creature. The surface level is just that he's a regenerating bio-android who can use everybody's attacks, but we're gonna go a bit deeper than that. The first thing to note about Cell is that he, very unusually, does not have a ki signature. Rather, he has five ki signatures; One for each of his five genetic donors.

There is no distinct "Cell" ki the way there is for "Yamcha" ki or "Gohan" ki. Cell reads like Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Frieza, and King Cold are all standing in a circle holding hands or something. But this isn't just a neat detail; It also informs on his fighting ability.

Cell is able to use moves like the Kamehameha because he has their wielders' ki. Which has wild implications for how ki and martial arts works, if we're being honest. Apparently your techniques are stored in your ki like genetic muscle memory. He can also perform the Taiyoken/Solar Flare because that, too, is stored in Goku's ki.

Cell taps into one of his five wells of ki to call on that person's moves. But that comes with drawbacks. Cell's Kamehameha against Piccolo was weak and unimpressive because the well of Goku ki he has inside of him was taken from the fight with Vegeta, and we're a long way past that.

Cell-Goku's ki just isn't strong enough to power a very impressive attack, compared to the Nameless Namekian.

Further, because these abilities are stored like genetic memory, Cell himself doesn't fully understand what he's capable of.

He knows what these abilities are on a conscious level. He knows that he can do them. But he lacks experience. He has a wealth of technical knowledge without practical understanding of how to apply it.

He has a good laugh at Trunks over this shit.

But when it's his back against the wall, he's no better than Trunks.

Cell may have Goku's, Piccolo's, and Vegeta's ki, but he is no Goku nor Piccolo nor even Vegeta. He doesn't know how to fight when he's on the backfoot. He doesn't know how to turn things around when the tide shifts against him. How to plan his moves out in advance and then execute that plan to overcome a superior foe.

Because for all his advanced knowledge, he's still green.

He's sitting in an engineering workshop with the best tools that billions of dollars of wealth can buy and a middle-school education. He only knows how to dominate.

Which frequently bites him in the ass.

Likely as a consequence of how many raging egomaniacs are packed inside of him, Cell has a severe overconfidence problem. He conducts himself as if he were invincible, at one point even going so far as to let Vegeta hit him with his best shot and very nearly paying the ultimate price for his foolishness.

Sometimes it's only Piccolo's regeneration that keeps him from losing fights that, with his power, he should be winning handily. He coasts a lot on being very hard to put down.

Cell's comfort zone is when he can step out onto the field, having leveled up so far that nobody can touch him. He's not playing a fighting game. He's playing an RPG. If the fight turns against him, if he can't overwhelm his opponents, he turns his tail and runs for his life so he can grind some XP and try again.

And when he can't do that, he turns to more desperate measure like crying about the unfairness or trying to nuke the planet to murder-suicide his opponents. Thought, admittedly, the former was a ploy to manipulate Vegeta.

Cell's an extremely sore loser, is basically what I'm getting at here. He has a hard time figuring out ways to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, instead preferring to simply ragequit when fights turn against him. While also going out of his way to help his opponents power up, secure in the misguided belief that he's untouchable.

Cell has two modes: "I am invincible!" and "Oh no I'm vincible what do I do!?" The latter of which is a problem Goku, Piccolo, and Vegeta have all faced over their lives and come up with a variety of answers to, but for which Cell mostly falls back on "I need a level-up so I can be invincible again."

Cell's fight with Goku is his best. It's the one fight he has that genuinely feels like he and his opponent are both giving as well as they get.

It's this fight, keeping pace with Goku, that pushes Cell to his most interesting places as a fighter. Though, conspicuously, he's sandbagging and secretly this is yet another fight in Cell's comfort zone, where the true threat to him is minimal.

Uh, except when Goku outplays him.

See above, re: Cell nearly losing fights he should be winning handily.

Nonetheless, we get to see Cell at his best here. Which still pretty much consists of the basics: Punch, kick, Kamehameha here or there. And at one point pulling 17's force field out from desperation.

Cell's inexperience leads him to have difficulty anticipating his opponents' moves or gauging their strength.

And, fitting for a copycat fighter, he also has seemingly no capacity to innovate new ideas, strategies, or techniques for himself. Over the course of the Cell Games, he pulls "My Kamehameha will destroy the Earth if you don't stop it!" three separate times.

He really has no better ideas than this one. Which he stole from Vegeta.

But he also doesn't make a lot of use of his copycat abilities either. He mainly relies on the easy ones: The Kamehameha and Taiyoken, both of which are described as pretty simple and easy to perform. Though this isn't because he can't do more complex moves, as we see him break out Frieza's Death Beam in his fight with Gohan.

He has other moves. He just doesn't use them much.

(This is not the case in the anime, where he not only makes far more use of his technique pool but also they increased his number of donors to give him a wider pool of moves to copycat.)

I would be loathe to describe Cell as lazy. He puts a lot of effort into grinding XP in his own special way so that his Android manhunt can go off successfully. But his art is lazy. His style. His technique.

Out of all the major Dragon Ball characters, Cell is the most complacent. He was born already knowing everything he thinks he needs to know, and demonstrates little to no desire to refine his abilities on a technical level the way Goku, Piccolo, Vegeta, and even Frieza do.

He has a built-in roadmap of shortcuts to power, and so far as he's concerned, that's all he needs to become unstoppable.