#being a no sabo kid is going to haunt me my whole life

[grim-has-issues]

Todos los dias, tengo que hablar español.

Pero no yo hablo español.

Yo entiendo español y escribo en español, pero no lo hablo

What even is the point?

[touchmycoat]

I was wondering if you have any headcanons on how MAS would handle subdrop and aftercare?

MMMMHHHHH an excellent question!! i think this is my third prompt for this topic (unless ,, ,it’s been the same anon the whole time,,)

For Ace!! I think he’s the type to handle it himself—not necessarily in a bad way either. I wrote that short fic during kinktober about this, but I think he rides the high of the scene well. It’s a day or two afterwards that the drop, sub or top, hits. The first time this happens I’m sure he freaked and turned all that inward onto himself: why am I so annoyed all the time at Marco? Why am I snapping at Sabo? They did all that work in that scene for me, why am I so ungrateful—? But once they talk through what’s happening, he quickly devises ways to handle it, because if it has to happen, he can for sure manage it (like his narcolepsy). He doesn’t want to manifest any of that negative energy, so he sublimates it through a physical exercise routine even more rigorous than his usual. He probably does have access to sea stone, and is absolutely the type to wear himself completely out at the gym before dragging himself to bed at the end of the day completely empty and exhausted. Marco and Sabo worry, but this kind of pain management?? Ace has got it in the bag. He’s used to fighting for his life, fighting to prove himself—fighting to get rid of negative emotions that can hurt Sabo and Marco?? Fucking easy as hell, in comparison. He’s genuinely happier and healthier working through subdrop alone.

For Marco, he needs aftercare more immediately than the other two—it’s more obvious after he’s subbed, but it’s still true for when he doms. Like, he understands Ace & Sabo’s personalities and factors those in, but it absolutely does help him afterwards to hear that he did well (for subbing), or that they had a good time (for domming). If he does go through sub/top drop, he knows what’s going on, and just immediately pulls out the List of Things He Can Do, which ranges from peeling endless buckets of root vegetables for Thatch to patching up hard-to-reach bits of the Moby’s exterior. He seeks out company to be around and busies his hands, but is just there to absorb and be, not to participate. Sabo & Ace have to keep an eye out for when he does drop, because sometimes he doesn’t make it obvious and he doesn’t have the best boundaries when it comes to telling Sabo & Ace no for the night. So they make it best practices to 1) be present for Marco after a scene and, 2) to always explicitly ask Marco about this, if they sense anything is off about him.

For Sabo... He’s the type, sometimes, to deny aftercare, because he’s just Like That™. It’s not always a bad thing, and he’ll take hugging and shit from Ace but not for long, and there’s like, one night every other month he’d actually be cool about cuddling up to Marco—so to him, it’s not like he’s missing out on a lot, when he skips almost right after a scene. Sometimes though, with or without aftercare, he gets into a very bitter headspace. Everything that can haunt him does: Ace & Marco are crewmates and together all the time, while he’s off running about. Ace chose Marco, and it’s not like Ace really got much of a choice getting stuck with Sabo as a kid, did he? And Marco—well surely, any day now he’d be finally fed up with all of Sabo’s shit, and just convince Ace to kick Sabo to the curb. His dealing with subdrop looks like finding Koala or Ace or Marco and inciting argument: “I dare you to convince me I’m wrong about any of this.” And they do, after a lot of work, and Sabo finally deflates and gets to the energy of, “yeah I know I’m being stupid and wasting your time,” at which point the best thing to do is really just roll their eyes at him and put him to work on something else.