#i can't believe i have an actual tag for a cursed object

[tempenensis]

Akutami Gege-sensei talking about Prison Realm Boundary!

(Bonus of JUMP GIGA 2023 Early Spring, translated below)

“Prison Realm Boundary” is a special-grade cursed object that Kenjaku prepared to seal the strongest jujutsu sorcerer in the current era, Gojou Satoru. Kenjaku uses the body of Getou to successfully seal Gojou.

Q1: Kenjaku has said that Prison Realm Boundary is “the remains of the living barrier Genshin”, did Genshin create it? A: Genshin sealed numerous curses inside his body using his barrier technique. After he died, (his remains) became a cursed object. (img point: Prison Realm Boundary holds great capacity in sealing. Genshin must had been a considerably talented person)

Q2: In the history so far, was there anyone trapped inside Prison Realm Boundary? A: There was. Basically, it only has capacity of one person, it can’t be used again unless the person trapped inside committed suicide, or the gate open and they got out. (img point: Because Gojou is sealed inside, the Prison Realm Boundary can’t seal anyone else)

Q3: Time doesn’t pass inside Prison Realm Boundary, does the person inside don’t feel hungry? How about going to the toilet? A: Because time doesn’t flow inside it, they won’t feel the need to eat or defecate. I haven’t had the chance to include it in the main story, but when a jujutsu sorcerer goes to a long mission where eating and defecating might be difficult, they will put a special “insect” inside their stomach.

Q4: What are Gojou doing inside Prison Realm Boundary? A: Because if he thinks too much he might be going crazy, I think he’ll just be as absent-minded as he can.

Q5: Jougo has said that he wanted to “add Prison Realm Boundary to the collection”, what does Akutami-sensei think about the “collection of things” that it was added to? A: It’s (collection of) huge one-of-a-kind stuff that can seal anyone as long as the conditions are met (with the backside looking like a freebie).

[livelaughlovesubs]

Heeeeya, Nini! How's it going? I can't believe its already been a year! I've been here since before that time you accidentally deleted your blog XD. Congrats! you've dominated the sub! bsd tag for forever and I'm living for it XD. For the event, can I please request Fyodor (bsd) with the prompt, 'Keeping their hands bound to make basic tasks difficult or impossible. Bonus: punish them for failing or making a mess'. Bro, I have an inability to be all that sadistic, even in fiction TwT, so for the punishment part, can I request something like tickling? Is that allowed?! LMAO- As always, feel free to delete/decline this if it makes you uncomfy, and have an awesome day. And again, congrats on one year!

AHHHHH DONT REMIND ME OF THAT TIME can’t believe how dumb I was 🥲 but thank you for being a long time follower hehe, the idea with tickling is very cute I love it

Dom!reader x sub!fyodor - reader is gn

Warning: humiliation, teasing, a tiny bit of degrading, tickling >:)

Anniversary event

Thud thud thud

Someone was hammering on your door in the middle of the night, and they just didn’t stop. You’ve been trying to ignore it for the past minutes, but the sound only got louder.

Thud thud thud

“Ahhhh which fucker is it?!” In the end, you gave in and cursed, stomping to the front door before opening a small crack. “What is-” to your surprise you knew the person behind the door, it was fyodor, your boyfriend. “Huh?? Fedya? Why didn’t you use the bell?” You immediately swung the door open and invited him in, he gave you a bashful smile before entering. Then you shut the door behind him.

“You see…” he said, while he let his coat slip from his shoulders, revealing his hands which were bound tightly behind his back. “It proved to be pretty difficult to ring the bell three times, so I thought kicking the door would suffice.” That was the secret code you two agreed on, so that you’d know if it was him who’s standing on your doorway. “Ah…” you stared at his restricted limps, then at him, giving him a questioning glance. He didn’t provide any explanation or answers.

The male turned around to face you, who were still standing next to the door. “Well? Aren’t you going to help me?” He rushed you, but kept his soft smile. “Actually no, not yet.” You replied, crossing your arms in font of your chest. That attitude, were you mad with him? “…y/n, what do you want.” Finally he dropped the good-guy act, seemingly irritated by your behaviour. Normally you’d help without being this difficult, except when you aren’t in a good mood, something that seems to be the case here.

You walked past him and sat down on the couch, making yourself comfortable before saying, “bring me the remote.” Fyodor looked a tad baffled, though he didn’t think too much about it and walked to the shelf to the left of you, pondering for a moment on how to grab it, before using his mouth to bite the object. Then he brought it to you like an obedient puppy, right into your hand and cheeks flushed a bright shade of red. “Good job.” You praised him, scratching the underside of his chin a bit, intensifying his blush.

“Now bring me a scissor to cut those ropes. You can find it in the kitchen.” He glared at you when you didn’t stop ordering him around, especially since he found his actions pretty shameful. Nevertheless, he bit back his complains and went to the other room to get whatever you wanted. Once he found the scissor, he bit the handle of the tool, and carefully got back to your side. “That took you a while.” You chuckled, to which he scoffed, “are you done with the games now?” How furious he sounded, he wasn’t having half the fun you had huh?

You tilted your head to the side, acting like you were thinking about it, then said, “one last thing.” Before giving him a big smile. The male rolled his eyes at that, at least internally. “Bring me a glass of water, that’s my last request, promise.” After you finished your sentence, you raised your pinky finger, then said, “ah silly me, you can’t reciprocate it after all.” Fyodor mumbled, “you are unbelievable.” Then he made his way back to the kitchen. What else was he supposed to do, he needed your help.

Through much resilience and great efforts, he managed to get a cup out of your shelves. And he even managed to fill it with tap water! Afterwards he bit the handle of the cup, finding that to be the easiest course of action, and slowly walked over to you. This was now his third time running a stupid errand for you, and he really hoped this would be the last. On his way back, he accidentally spilled the water in the cup all over himself and the floor, causing him to yelp a little, “hmmm..!”

You turned your head to the source of the noise, giggling at the sight but not helping him. His blush darkened even more, and he closed the last bit of distance between you two. Without any commentary, you took the cup and put it on the table, grabbing the scissors and cutting through his binds. He didn’t expect you to not make fun of him, so consider him grateful.

Though after you were done, you got up from your seat, grabbing his shoulders as you sneered, “gosh, fyodor, you couldn’t even bring me a glass of water?” Guess he jinxed it. Even though considering the circumstances he was in, failing his task was a very possible outcome, he still felt humiliated by your words, or at least embarrassed. He wanted to argue, to try and keep some shreds of dignity when you bested him to it, saying, “shouldn’t you get a punishment for that?”

“A punishment?” As soon as these words left his mouth, you pushed him into the couch and tickled him. Attacking his stomach while responding through a huge grin, “yep! A punishment you can’t evade!” “What- ha- ahaha.. no, wait haha…! Stop!” He laughed involuntarily, kicking his legs around and trying to peel your hands off his body. “Haha.. s-stop, hahh.. really, hahaha~ I can’t-!!” Tears were forming in the corners of his eyes already, his clothes and hair all disheveled. “Hehe.. alright, the punishment is over.” You eventually said, reaching out to his face to wipe his tears away.

As if hit by the realisation, he abruptly stopped smiling, still blushing furiously as he gasped for air. When he breathing calmed down, he pouted, then wrapped his arms around your neck as he gave you a quick kiss on the lips, “you-… you better make it up to me for being mean.”

[moonlitinks]

Writer Q&A Tag Game

Thank you to bestie @writingbyricochet for tagging me! CAN WE JUST START OFF WITH THAT LITTLE WRITING SNIPPET (AND THE KISS SCENE) THAT HAD ME SQUEALING??? I AM SO, SO EXCITED FOR PARADISE LIVED AND DIED. for anyone interested in this amazing writer, her answers are linked here!

1) What motivates you to write?

Whenever I sit there and read a good book in one sitting for hours. The magic. The characters. The romance. The ACTION. It just makes me realize that I want to ignite this same feeling to others, and I want to make my book feel like a second home for them to escape to <3

2) A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud/happy of. If not maybe share a line of someone else's work you love (just please credit them)

This is my most recent writing snippet that I'm just SO HAPPY TO WRITE I DON'T KNOW WHY

“Well, I think you’re a selfish—” Rip. The sound of her skirt tearing caused her to pause, and the magpie picked and picked at the edges of her dress. What was it doing? Bari grabbed at the remaining pieces before she exposed herself and got kicked out due to indecency. He stared at her with indifference, scowling like he could not take her at all. “There,” he said. “Now you have no reason to cling to me.” He snatched the magpie from the air and Bari cried out in alarm. Even the bird seemed to sense the dangerous aura that the he emitted, pecking at the space in between them. Altair paused at where the magpie pecked, and his gaze slipped for a second, enough to Bari to snatch her bird back, and the lantern in the other.  She really did need to get rid of the lantern, but it wouldn’t move because, apparently, even an enchanted object believed that she didn’t know what she wanted. “Tell me to take a voice.”

3) Which OC makes you smile every time you think/talk about them and what are they like?

Altair, because he's so complex. I always love a character that is more mysterious and has a lot of history to unpack behind them because of all the awful things they've done, but a lot of guilt and regret following them, too. Seeing their transformation arc is BEAUTIFUL.

4) What process of writing do you enjoy the most?

Drafting and creating plot twists! And brainstorming / daydreaming about ideas. If you can't tell, I'm not much of a plotter haha.

5) What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)

Inner dialogue! And I think I really like getting in depth with characters, so you really know them.

6) What is something in the writeblr community is most enjoyable?

I think I love it because we're all honest about the writing process. Writing is really lonely and it actually can really drain you mentally without the right mindset. Personally, I have a lot of anxiety, so seeing people that understand me really makes me feel like I can write and simply enjoy it. It also makes me feel less alone.

7) A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)

Scrivener, my love. I also love watching author interviews like Chloe Gong and Stephanie Garber and just seeing what their drafting and publishing journey has been like, and it inspires me to write! Pinterest is also great for aesthetics, and Spotify is the best for playlists <3

8) A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law etc)

I love the Enchanted Kingdom (soon to be named...) I've built so far. It's filled with curses that have been unresolved in the first lives that these gods have lived, and now have reappeared to kinda ruin the Kingdom. My world is very fairytale slash studio ghibli esque, so I'm having so fun with the tidbits now!

9) What piece of advice would you say to encourage others to write if they are having a rough patch?

Oh, God. DO I KNOW THIS PERSONALLY. I swear my rough patch hasn't ended... writing after nearly not writing for a good two years really does something to you.

Writing is all about mindset. It doesn't matter how much of an oddball idea you have. If you don't believe in it, it'll never get finished. Every time I doubted myself, my anxiety got so bad I shut down immediately. And I was so worried about what other people would think when reading my books, that I stopped myself from writing the books I want to write in the first place. Whether you have people around you discouraging to write, or can't believe in yourself, at the end of the day, it's just you and your book. And what's the point of writing if you're just following a trend? Or slugging yourself to finish a book you can't even connect with? Each book is a piece of yourself, and I think the greatest realization I had is to write the story you want to read. And it doesn't matter if it's about some girl who makes a deal with a god to save her sister, or about some alien on a spaceship, or about carnivals! Writing is so amazing because you can connect with readers who enjoy the same things you do, but it all starts with believing in yourself first.

When you get stuck, don't panic. If you haven't read an article about how Boredom Leads to Creativity, maybe take a quick break about writing that first! Writing isn't about who finishes the book first, but it's about quality and a game of luck. Maybe you need a break away from writing. Maybe you need to reconnect with your characters. Maybe you're just tired of toiling over and over again on this plot line.

There is no set method to returning to your project. But what has helped me is learning why I want to write. It doesn't matter how much I return to my world, or try to force my characters into more trauma if there's no reason why I'm writing this. Like, is it to enjoy it? Is it to have people experience these feelings I've felt months ago, and hold importance to me? Even the simplest reasons are the deepest ones. <3

And finally (sorry this advice is literally a hundred pages long, can you tell I'm procrastinating right now?), writing is meant to be serious, but it's also meant to be fun. The draft is simply just that: a draft. You can get ideas from random lines you wrote, or even take out characters to write a different book about! Don't ruin the one thing you've learned to love. Personally, writing in fun / ugly fonts: Arial, Comic Sans, etc., has really helped me focus on what I want to say instead of whether this book will ever get queried or not. Set a routine. Write everyday, or don't if you're more of a mood writer. The instant you feel the itch to write, JUST FUCKING DO IT, OKAY. THIS IS A SIGN. It doesn't matter if it's a scene in the third act and you're only on chapter 1. It's a sign that the story wants you, and only you to write it.

FINALLY FINALLY, I swear this is my last piece of advice, and the shortest: Believe in yourself, even when no one else does. Writing is hard, but rewarding. I believe in you. <3

wowooww that was long, tagging @orphicpoieses @macabremoons @halfbit @leisoree @sleepysuiteheart @the-chaotic-writer @heymacareyna @hallwriteblr @sculpture-in-a-period-drama @pixelw0rds @thetruearchmagos + other mutuals and anyone who wants to participate! i would love to hear your responses, PLEASE.

[tsukimefuku]

❅ Sand and Snow | Chapter 5

ALL CHAPTERS HERE | PREVIOUS CHAPTER HERE.

In the city of Odate, Akita, there have been multiple deaths in the past few weeks. The first-grade sorcerer Nanami Kento is sent out to investigate the snowy city, not knowing that it would be his last mission as a Jujutsu High student.

OR

Why Nanami left Jujutsu High to become a 9/5 corporate slave.

Tags: Murder/mystery, canon typical violence, POV Nanami, Post Star-plasma Vessel Arc, Canon compliant, Angst but I'm not Gege

Gojo Satoru is a little shit. OC's are a dynamic duo as well. We meet the last targets and find out more about the cursed objects.

WC: 3.75K | on AO3 here.

"Shit, what the hell?" Shiori said, as she fell ass-first on the snow for the tenth time. "How are you so goddamn fast?" She had barely been able to reinforce her arms with cursed energy before he threw a high kick at her, knocking her off her feet and onto the ground. Gojo had briefly explained his techniques, but never mentioned it made him move at the speed of light or anything of the sort.

It was early in the morning. They were outside, Nanami was sitting down on the porch sipping tea peacefully, watching the whole scene, as Gojo trained Shiori on the basics in protecting herself from strikes using cursed energy. She had already demonstrated her innate cursed technique, but it was clear she had no fine control over the specifics of it — if it always had the corrosive element or not, how much cursed energy was spent, how long it took for exploding, and how strong each grenade would be. This was unexpected, considering she had a pretty good grasp on cursed energy manipulation for defending herself or even imbuing objects.

"Well, you've got a defense, and you can actually take a hit. That's good." He said, putting his hands on his waist and tilting his head to the side. "But do you know how to hit someone?"

"Not much, that was my brother's strong suit, not mine." She admitted, starting to worry if she'd survive this "training" session. Shiori wondered if he was just looking for an excuse to kick her ass for calling him 'pretty boy' earlier.

"So, let's try that. Come, hit me." He said. "Come on... Here. Here. Hit here." He pointed at his hand stretched forward, like he was talking to a five-year-old.

This dude can't be for real, Shiori thought, as she got up and punched his hand. It was a terrible, limp and poorly executed punch overall.

"I meant with cursed energy, though I don't think cursed energy could've saved whatever that was."

"Well, why didn't you say so!?" She started pouting. "Your teaching skills are terrible."

"Speaking of which, surprise quiz time!" He said. She started asking herself if it was really worth the trouble. "Question number one, what do we have for breakfast today?"

"Eh?!" She couldn't believe that. "Are you serious?!"

"Terribly." He replied.

"Well, nothing. There is nothing anymore." She said, sighing deeply.

"Precisely! And why is that?" Gojo asked, putting on a 'very serious teacher' voice.

"Because you ate everything!"

"No, wrong answer! Because you have no money for groceries and still refuse to work as a jujutsu high employee with us!"

She threw a better punch imbued with cursed energy directly at his face, hitting the infinity. "I'm poor, leave me alone!"

"Well, that's a little more like it!" Gojo said, smiling lively. "But your attacks are still half-assed as hell. You should focus on defense for now." He cleared his throat. "You know, about the food, people need potions if they want to have MANA!"

"Fine, let's go to town and buy something to eat!" She yelled, walking away, cursing Gojo under her breath.

"Why are you insisting she goes to Jujutsu High, even though her family and the institution have a terrible relationship, and after she explicitly told you she doesn't want to?" Nanami asked, putting his tea cup away.

"Well, I have a dream, and to fulfill it, I'm going to need good allies." He pointed in her direction. "Her combat skills are awful, but she's got potential as a healer. I'd like to see if she can learn reverse cursed technique from Shoko. This apparently is something that occurred more frequently in her clan, according to Ijichi's findings."

Nanami could see Gojo was brewing something. He definitely wasn't the same Satoru Gojo that failed Riko Amanai years ago — Gojo was growing into a fine sorcerer. Maybe Nanami could respect him a little, after all.

"Now, let's go, Nanamin! Did you know that pastry making is more suited for cold weather? Yes! That is why-" Gojo started blabbing about food and customs to each location, and what he wanted to eat before they left Odate. Nanami sighed as he changed his mind.

***

"Please, could you do it?" Shiori asked.

"No." Nanami replied.

"Please? Even if I promise I'll stop calling you a stalker?" She said, trying to convince him.

They were outside Odate Ryokan, and Shiori's phone was dead. She didn't want to go in to ask for Yoko to lend her some money, wanting to avoid encountering Yoko's grandmother. Nanami thought that was foolish and refused to help. Gojo was behind a wall of girls fawning over him and heard nothing of the conversation.

"I'm listening." He said.

"You just have to go inside and let her know 'her friend' is outsi-"

The hotel's door opened, and Yoko came out. "Shiori! I thought I heard your voice!" She said, as she hugged her friend.

"Yoko! Hi! I need to borrow some money!" She exclaimed, hugging Yoko back.

"Again?! And also, you're terrible, at least ask me how I'm doing first!" Yoko replied, somewhat offended.

"I'll pay you back, I promise!" Shiori said, with a wide smile on her face.

"Oh, I have heard that so many times before..." Yoko replied. She finally noticed Nanami was there. "Oh, hey! I'm so sorry for what happened here at the hotel."

"I have recovered fully." He answered.

"Well... Where are you staying?! We can pay for any hotel in the area. Please, accept it as our apology."

Nanami pointed at Shiori. "At her house."

"What?!" Yoko said, incredulous, as she thought he would only be getting treatment for his wounds and wait for his colleague there. She then turned her face into a mischievous smile and approached Shiori. "So, he is sleeping at your house?"

"I'll slap you." Shiori retorted, annoyed.

Yoko chuckled. "Just teasing you." She gave Shiori a little forehead flick. 

"Hey, how about you pay me for his stay at my house?"

"Never gonna happen." Yoko said. Shiori had no talent for money making. "Uh, and what about him?" Yoko said, pointing to Gojo, that was still getting fawned over. The girl screaming around was loud.

"Hey, pretty boy, come over!" Shiori yelled. "Let's go grab something to eat."

Satoru waved, as if he was saying goodbye to his loyal fans, and moved over to meet them. The group of girls left disappointed. "So, what are we eating? I'm starving!"

"Well, there is a great bakery just around the corner that serves amazing options for breakfast!" Yoko replied. "Should we go there?"

"About that..." Shiori replied, grabbing her empty wallet.

Yoko sighed. "Fine, I'm paying for you. But only you!"

"It's ok! Pretty boy and stalker guy can foot their own bill!" Shiori said smiling, while pointing to Gojo and Nanami.

"Please, stop calling me that." Nanami said.

"Stalker?" Yoko asked, puzzled.

"Well, I can start calling you 'side bangs' if you would prefer." Shiori retorted jokingly.

"I would not." Nanami responded, irritated.

"So 'stalker' it is!" She concluded, grinning widely.

Gojo and Yoko were at a loss for what was happening.

They made their way into another restaurant, which had similar features as the previous one Shiori and Nanami had been at. They all sat at the table and placed their orders.

"So, are you two private investigators?" Yoko asked.

"Yes, they are." Shiori replied.

Yoko looked at Nanami, seemingly puzzled. "Aren't you a little too young to be investigating people dying? Also, I thought these people died because they were bitten by a venomous animal. What is the investigation?" Yoko was a very curious person, and never really thought much before speaking. It was a family trait.

"He's... The intern." Shiori answered.

"That's right! He's my promising intern looking for a position at my private investigation business." Gojo answered, putting his arm over Nanami's shoulders with a smirk on his face. Nanami sighed.

"Oh, I see." Yoko answered. "But why are private investigators looking into this, anyway?"

"One of the deceased's widowers asked us to see if there was any foul play." Nanami promptly made up on the spot. Gojo and Shiori were impressed.

"Oh. And there was?"

"We unfortunately can't disclose that information." He answered.

"Hey, Yoko, stop interrogating them." Shiori said, smiling uncomfortably. "Their work seems so stressful already, how about we talk about something else, shall we?"

Yoko was disappointed, but nodded. "It's just that nothing interesting ever happens here!"

"Yoko, 9 people died." Shiori said, stunned.

"That wasn't interesting, that was terrifying. Having private investigators around, however, is something interesting." Yoko started pouting.

"Yoko, nothing interesting happens to you because you're still in Odate working for your family with that old hag on your case." Shiori said as their food arrived. Yoko was frowning and seemed slightly offended, but knew her friend was right.

Gojo had ordered an assortment of sweets, meanwhile Nanami ordered his classic deli sandwich. Shiori and Yoko both ordered a bread basket with different types of toppings to put on. Shiori did her previous 'mix absolutely everything you can', taking a spoonful out of each topping, putting it over some toasts in a profane way and began eating the desecrated bread, eliciting the same appalled look from everyone at the table. How can she taste anything?

With her mouth full, Shiori started speaking again. "And Odate is boring, anyway. After Shiro is back, I'm going to travel. I've never been to the beach!"

"What? Noshiro is very close, like an hour and a half away from here." Gojo replied, a little incredulous.

"I know! It's just that..." Shiori sighed, embarrassed. "I'm always broke." She smiled as Yoko facepalmed.

"Shiori, why are you still in Odate?" Yoko asked. "Anyway, at least something exciting happened to you! You're fostering two good-looking men in your house."

Shiori nearly gagged. "Yoko, what the hell?!" Gojo was very pleased with himself behind his glasses, and Nanami awkwardly moved around in his seat while looking away, nearly blushing. She really had no filter.

"What?!" Yoko protested.

Shiori sighed. "Yoko, it’s not appropriate to comment on someone’s appearance to their face." She replied.

“I see no problem if it’s a compliment.” Yoko retorted, crossing her arms and lifting an eyebrow as she looked at the guys. Gojo was even more pleased, and Nanami felt even more embarrassed.

Shiori sighed yet again, and decided not to address that. "And I'm only waiting for Shiro to come back. I know he will."

Yoko looked at her with a hint of concern in her face as they all started to eat.

***

"So, what do you think we should say? The truth?" Shiori asked, as she accompanied Gojo to Ayako's house. Nanami went to see how the situation was at Miyuki's house. They got a call from Ijichi shortly after breakfast, who gave them their locations.

"Whatever will make her let us in and help." He responded. "Don't you know these people?"

"I had so many relatives. These two particularly, I don't remember, since I was very young when I stopped having any relationship with the family. My brother and I just received some financial aid from an aunt that died around 2 years ago. They might know who I am, though." She shrugged. "Even if we don't get to do anything, I believe we should tell them they're in danger and that they should go to the police for protection or something."

"Maybe, maybe not." Gojo replied.

"Why is that?" Shiori asked.

"The curse user. He's killing these people and clearly doesn't have much of an issue invading enclosed spaces. He might even be using his shikigami for that."

"I see. What do we do, then?"

"We kick his ass and take him to Jujutsu High. Or kill him." He answered. Gojo had that same menacing aura as he said that, even though his face was covered with a frivolous smile. This guy must be monstrously powerful, Shiori thought.

"And about the cursed object thing..." He started saying.

"Rescue ladies first. Find my brother second. Every information you could hope for third." She replied, fearing for her physical integrity as she did. The world was definitely lucky this guy wasn't a genocidal maniac.

He just sighed and answered "Fine." Gojo thought for a moment. "That girl, Yoko, is she a close friend?"

"Yes. She's actually my best and only friend." Shiori responded. "We've been friends since middle school, when kids used to bully me and my brother because of my family. Yoko stood up for me." She said, smiling to herself.

"I see." He answered, reminiscing his own school life and most recent events for a moment. Satoru sighed silently.

"She has a lifelong crush on my brother, even if her comments about you and Nanami didn't make it seem like it." Shiori chuckled. "Those two are really something."

Gojo laughed softly. "Your friend is definitely a little loony." He then changed his tone to something more serious. "Shiori, what will you do if your brother never comes back?" Gojo asked, looking at her directly.

"He will come back." She answered straight-up. Even if Shiori was saying that, though, she had said that so many times it started to sound fake.

"You don't know that. What if you're stuck here forever, always holding onto people who left, when you could be doing something better with your life and your abilities?" 

Shiori was silent. She knew exactly why she never left Odate, or her parents' house, for that matter, even when all of her uncles, aunts, cousins and such were going away to live their lives in other places all throughout Japan.

As they got to the door to knock, they saw the lock was bust open.

"Shit!" Shiori exclaimed. 

They both bolted inside, and saw a woman with long black hair lying on the ground over a puddle of blood. Beside her, was the already familiar wooden box, completely empty. Shiori crouched beside her to check her pulse. There were cursed energy remains all over, and some holes in the walls around, covered with a thick black corrosive substance — the same type Shiori's grenades would leave behind.

"Gojo, she's still alive!" 

When she rolled the woman's body, it was possible to see that Ayako had no bite marks on either wrist, but a deep cut in her torso area, which had just barely missed her internal organs. Shiori turned her with the stomach area up, so the blood would stop leaking to the floor, and started trying to wake her up. The woman wasn't moving.

"You, go after the one who did this!" She shouted. "I'll take care of her and call an ambulance. Go!"

Satoru ran outside and focused on trying to find someone, but the surrounding area was already empty. Nothing, not even cursed energy traces for him to follow. Given how they found Ayako, the curse user didn't use his technique this time around. He went back inside the woman's house, and saw that Shiori had already packed her wounds with some gauze she found. She was applying pressure and had the woman's blood all over her coat. 

The lady started to wake up, just barely.

"Ms. Ayako, stay with me. Stay awake!" Shiori shouted.

"Hm... Who, Itsuki?" Ayako was slowly coming back to her senses.

"No, it's Shiori."

"You... Itsuki's daughter?"

"Yes! Good to see you're awake. Stay with me." Shiori was still keeping pressure on the wounds.

"Who did this?" Shiori asked.

"Sh… Shogo…"

Shiori tensed up immediately. "Shit." She looked at Gojo. "Call Nanami."

***

Nanami knocked on Miyuki's door, and the woman promptly answered. Shiori had instructed him to use her parents' name if necessary, or even her own, to gain the woman's trust in order to help her.

"Hello, how can I help you?" she asked.

"Hello, Ms. Miyuki. My name is Nanami Kento, and I'd like to talk to you about something regarding Yamada Itsuki."

She got visibly tense and stared at him for a few moments.

"Why?"

"Her daughter, Shiori, asked me to come and see if you were fine." He replied. "And you might be in danger. You probably know about the recent deaths occurring in Odate." 

She was still very unsure about opening her door and letting him in.

Nanami's phone rang. He answered, it was Gojo.

"Gojo, I just got here at Ms. Miyuki's house."

"Tell her she is in danger, and that the culprit's name is Yamada Shogo. Ayako was hurt pretty badly and was nearly dead when we arrived here." He replied.

Nanami stared at Ms. Miyuki. "Do you know an individual by the name Yamada Shogo?"

She widened her eyes. "Yes, I do."

"Apparently, he just attacked Yamada Ayako. Do you know her?"

Miyuki's face was hard to read, but she seemed to be... angry? "Yes, I do." She inhaled deeply and closed the door. Nanami called out to her, and she simply screamed from inside the house for him to leave her alone. He sighed.

"Gojo, please ask Shiori to come." Nanami said on the phone.

"She is holding the woman in one piece here." Gojo replied.

"Hey, you just have to apply pressure. Come here!" Shiori yelled at Gojo. She grabbed the phone and started talking. "Tell me, what is going on there? Is everything ok?"

"For now, yes, but she didn't let me in. I believe it would be better if you sorted this out with your relative."

"Ok, I'll be there soon." She replied.

"What? What do I do here then?!" Gojo asked on the other side. 

"Just keep applying pressure until the ambulance arrives so she doesn't bleed out! Have you never had any basic first aid training in your life, and you're a jujutsu sorcerer?!" Shiori yelled, incredulous.

"I've never had to learn that! That is not what I do, I fight and use reverse cursed technique on myself!" Said the most powerful jujutsu sorcerer of our era.

"Well, just do something about it! Nanami, I'm on my way right now." She said as she hung up the phone. Shiori then removed her coat and left it covering Ayako's legs, trying to provide some warmth. "You will be fine, okay? I'm leaving now, but I already called an ambulance." Shiori said beside Ayako.

As she was getting up, Ayako grabbed the end of Shiori's sleeve. "You're... Itsuki's daughter?"

"Yes, I am."

"Be... careful." Ayako said.

Shiori and Gojo looked at each other, and she seemed concerned. Ayako was drifting in and out of consciousness. Shiori finally made her way out of the door.

***

"Well, this is bad." Miyuki said as she lit up a cigarette. She opened the door as soon as Shiori got there and told her everything Nanami said was true.

"You're really in danger, Miyuki." Shiori said. "We need to get you out of here as soon as possible."

Miyuki was a woman in her early 40s, with the same black hair and green eyes that Shiori had — there was a clear family resemblance. She got up, went inside her bedroom, and came out holding the same wooden box the other Yamadas had. She handed it to Shiori. "Please, take this and leave."

"Miyuki, you're not listening. If you stay, you will die, having this around or not!"

"I have my unresolved business with Shogo, though." She answered, furious. "How does he know all that, anyway? Everyone that he has to go after?"

"I don't know, but I don't think it matters." Shiori replied. "What unresolved business?"

"Do you know why he was cast out from the family?" Miyuki asked.

"No."

"Well, then. Let me tell you." She inhaled deeply. "Well, the Yamada family and the Jujutsu Society run by Tengen are not on good terms. That is because a member of the golden clans got our family's leader killed centuries ago, and Tengen thought it'd be better to just let it go instead of taking action and punishing someone. So you can imagine the disappointment we felt when Shogo was working alongside them. Worse, retrieving our cursed objects for them, right under our noses!"

Shiori and Nanami were silent, taking in the relevance of all that just had been said.

"Well, that's not all of it, though. He relayed the information about the veil realm to those little shits. So, we cast him out and had to disband the entire family." Miyuki looked at Shiori and sighed. "I never got the chance to tell you, but I'm truly sorry for your parents leaving."

"Veil realm?" Nanami asked.

Shiori was taken aback. Clearly, her parents left to protect her and her brother, as well the cursed object Miyuki had just mentioned. She took a few moments to ground herself back to the conversation after hearing everything Miyuki told them. "Yes." Shiori said. There was not much of a leverage anymore. "Veil realm."

Miyuki started explaining. "It's a special grade object that has infinite space for storage of curses and cursed objects once you open it, but, to open it, you need 15 different keys. We have been passing them down generation after generation." She pointed to the box. "Mine is in there. We all take a binding vow to give them to our first child as soon as they are born, just to be sure it is kept within the family."

"I know." Shiori answered. She pulled her own key from inside her clothing. "I keep mine with me all the time."

"Where?" Miyuki asked.

Shiori blushed. "None of your business." She sighed. "And there is no changing your mind?"

"Unfortunately, no."

"We can use this to our advantage, then." Nanami said. Shiori looked at him, incredulous, as she realized what he meant by that.

"You can't possibly be suggesting using her as bait!" Shiori said angrily, looking at him.

"That is not a bad idea, actually." Miyuki said. "And I can hold my own pretty well. I have our inherited cursed technique, melt grenade."

" Me too." Shiori answered. "But this is still a bad idea."

"Ms. Miyuki, we're in the middle of a residential area. You can't use that very effectively to defend yourself without collateral damage or attracting too much attention." Nanami replied. Ayako clearly had tried and failed miserably.

"Oh, true." She replied. "What do you suggest, then?"

"Just come to my house. We can sort this out there. And when he comes, we will be ready." Shiori said. She looked at Nanami. "What do you think?"

"It's a plan." He replied.

End notes:

To avoid postponing posting this one, I just decided to not proofread it to exhaustion. It is written, it is here, and if it has anything poorly written, I'm sorry, but I won't be going back to fix it anytime soon 😅

[lmelodie]

Lucy Headcanons

Because I can and because she's a peach

She has a million and one nonsense bumper/car stickers, ranging from cute to cursed.

For one Halloween she couldn't decide between being all three Mario princesses at once. Charlie had to be the one to choose for her and she went as Peach.

Her Favorite type of french fry is the potato smiles! The ones shaped like little happy faces.

She really likes romance/drama tv shows. ESPECIALLY the hospital romance ones. Medical dramas with romantic overtones between two pining doctors have her in a CHOKE HOLD.

If Steven Universe collects mom figures, Lucy Miller collects uncle figures. An disgruntled, emotionally constipated older man anywhere in her vicinity is just an uncle she hasn't met yet.

She loves novelty shaped bags! Backpacks or purses that are shaped like lemons or ghosts is her whole vibe. She loves a quirky bag and owns many that are shaped like different objects. She probably has one for every possible occasion/season/holiday.

She's very creeped out by centipedes. Can't stand how many legs those things have and thinks it was gods mistake for them to exists like that.

Genuinely cannot decide what her favorite season is. She sees and apricates the merit of all four and doesn't think any of them are better than the other. Jack has tried convincing her to root for team winter, but it hasn't worked so far.

She's a big fan of novelty flavors for food also. The stuff that's real gimmicky to sell a quick buck for the strangeness of it, but she tries just about any weird, flavored thing for the experience.

She likes the sheer number of different KitKat flavors they got in Japan; she's tasted a lot of different cereals over the years, and she's actually a pretty big fan of sugar cookie popcorn.

(She would've been ALL OVER the Starbucks unicorn frappuccino thing that happened.)

She ends up going into the psychology field as an adult. She finds people very interesting and likes getting inside their heads to see how they work. Neil is very happy about this, and Laura and Charlie are only a little put off by being psychoanalyzed from two angles now.

She is a SELF CARE QUEEN! Will advocate for self-care until the day she dies! She recognizes that it doesn't solve all your problems but is a die-hard believer in the power of a warm drink and an even warmer bath.

Some other hobbies that she will eventually grow into are as follows:

She gets into yoga when she's older. Does Tai Chi with Mother Nature on occasion.

Learned the basics of archery from Cupid at some point and has kept up with the skill after he pointed out that she should learn to use and actual weapon instead of using the nearest object to bludgeon someone with.

She has matching star shaped sunglasses with Jack. Hers are pink and yellow and his are blue.

After she moves out, she gets takes a gap year and travels the world. Goes to a few different places in Europe.

When she ends up getting her own home, she puts a hammock both inside and outside. Jack has claimed both of them as his own.

Her star sign is Cancer :)

Her favorite Ghibli movie is The Secret World of Arrietty.

Adamantly watches Bee and Puppycat.

She has an account for just about every social media app, including Tumblr. She has a specific tag for things that remind her of Jack (#popsicleman)

[about-faces]

I honestly wouldn't bother watching gotham knights for any reason, i'm caught up but i'm also doing a watch party where we pirate it and we just make up jokes from it. tho you /have/ missed the show making harvey cuck lincoln march (...ok on the real never thought i'd type that out and now im laughing at the absurdity of it) and him going "actually yeah joe chill is right i think he's innocent" because for some??? reason??? joe chill never pulled the trigger and the gunshots came behind him????? to which harv deduces that sounds?? forensically correct??? also stephanie loves her dad???? and he's not abusive?????

this show is slowly melting my brain i swear to god. between 'joe chill is innocent', 'harvey does a cucking' and 'talon is stopped by mahogany doors' i honestly could make a game where i make things up from this show and STILL have all the answers actually be correct.

Normally I would heed this advice, but unfortunately, I am burdened by blorbo compulsions to seek out anything related to Harvey. If I couldn't avoid sitting through the Long Halloween movie, I'm not gonna be able to avoid this. As annoying as I find all the above you mention, I can deal with most it by skimming through the non-Harvey parts.

(That said, I don't know if I'll ever understand why Steph is such a beloved character, but even on principle, WTF? Making Arthur a good dad is so fundamentally against the core of her character. It's like how they made Jesse Custer's dad a religious asshole in the Preacher show, it's just such a wrong choice that completely breaks and betrays the fundamental spirit of the source material)

Also, I'll be honest, I hate the Court of Owls so much for several reasons, so I find the prospect of making them ridiculous to be VERY appealing. Seriously, mahogany is their weakness? That's objectively hilarious. I love that. It's one step closer to my ultimate wish to see the Court revealed to be a bunch of rich, stupid, loser weenies who have only gotten as far as they have on good PR.

But at the end of the day, I need to see it for Harvey. And based on the three episodes I've seen, this isn't even CLOSE to being the worst take on Harvey Dent I've encountered. There's enough here for me to chew on, even if/when it's bad. Like the cucking, sure, okay, we're doing that, okay.

(Note: based on the reactions in the GK tag, I had been misled to initially believe that Harvey fucked Lincoln March's MOM, not his wife. I am very, VERY disappointed that wasn't the case.)

On top of all this, the inclusion of Harvey's dad is too personally relevant to me to avoid. Removing (?) the alcoholism but keeping the mental illness and the fears of inheriting mental illness is a problematic choice, but it sounds potentially closer to what I've needed to see from Harvey's dad than most stories, which just have him as a physically abusive alcoholic. I've needed to write about Christopher Dent for ages, tying in my own personal experiences, and this (likely bad!) use of him is something I'm going to want to take into consideration. I can't NOT see it.

This is my gift curse. This is my curse. It's a double-curse. Which tracks.

[doofnoof]

Hey Bug I read your tag response to the oc post and I have a question you’re not obligated to answer!

Pronouns and gender interest me, especially when people use ones that aren’t the same as/associated with their sex, and I’m curious if there’s a reason why you use both it/its and they/them?

It/its is commonly used to refer to objects, and I’m wondering if you use those pronouns because of that (the association of something outside the binary) or because it’s just gender neutral.

This is very random and I hope I worded it okay :)

I was writing a longer thingie here, but I'm shortening it here because I could talk for Hours about Gender. So. For me, gender was always a prison. I was expected to be a Girl, and as a girl I could really only reach for Second Best most of the time. It sucked.

I finally felt like myself when I made friends (real friends) for the first time in Washington, which was a much more liberal area than where I had been raised. Nobody really bullied me any more, and I finally found someone that made me feel like I didn't have to be afraid to be Myself. Eventually I found out that I liked girls and that it was an okay feeling for someone who was also a girl to have. I made friends with my friend's friends and their younger sibling, who I got along with as a Fellow G1 My Little Pony Fan And Toy Collector.

Something still didn't feel right though. I was finally Myself, but I still woke up every day cursing god that I was a girl and was expected to do and want girl things. It sucked. I didn't wanna be a girl. I didn't wanna be a boy either, I was just trading out glittery pink princess shackles for metallic blue football shackles. Shackles are still Shackles no matter how cool they look, and I'm not one to just go along with what everyone else wants me to do, at the very least I'll fight the whole way.

One day, my friend's younger sibling pipes up in our group chat and says "Hey I'm Nonbinary and use They/Them Pronouns, please call me [Name] instead of [deadname] from here on out." I didn't know what all of these words meant at all. So I messaged them and asked, because what else are ya gonna do?? They filled me in on the whole thing with Gender being a Spectrum, and they were simply choosing No Gender With Left Beef. Once they were done explaining I almost couldn't believe what I'd heard, it was like they'd taken every secret desire in my heart and said "hey this is possible and also super cool and you can do what you want actually." Like it really did just all fit into place for me. A little while later I came out as nonbinary because I didn't wanna steal their thunder but I was 110% ready to be Done with the whole Girl Thing. Didn't decide to go by a different name until I told my mom that I'm nonbinary. She still doesn't get it and won't use the name I've chosen even to this day, but you can't win 'em all, and I'm glad to finally know who I am.

I don't feel a lack of gender though, if anything I feel Almost Too Much Gender. White isn't the absence of color, but it's actually all colors at once. When light shines through a prism, it refracts into a rainbow. That's the closest I can get to explaining my gender. I'm genderfluid, so some days I'm more purple than blue, or more yellow than green, but they're all there in different amounts, you just can't see it unless I shine a light on it, really. They/Them also works because I contain multitudes. It's Great. Gender is a Spectrum and I'm a Rainbow.

Onto the it/it's thing. I've always loved insects and little creatures Too Small and Strange to Put a Gender To, most people can't look at a Roly-Poly and say Oh That's A Girl Insect, they just hold it up on their finger and admire it's cute little antennas. I've Always Fucked Heavily With That. But that's not what fully It/It's'd My Gender. I was at college and having moved to a Much Less Liberal Place Than Washington, there was a group of girls making fun of trans people for Anything They Could Think Of because they're bigoted and slurs are funny or whatever. I mentioned that I'm gay and use they/them pronouns, and cracked a few Tumblr Jokes™ like the good old "I'm about to make your pronouns was/were," and got a few laughs. And then the girl that started this whole mess was uncomfortable that the spotlight wasn't on her anymore and said some unfunny shit like "lol this table's pronouns are it/it's!!! Lmao!!! how ridiculous 😂🤣😂🤣" and I decided then and there that those are gonna be my pronouns. And funny enough, even after I left college, the pronouns stuck, I really like them! They feel comfortable, like the right pronouns for a Bug such as Myself.

My Gender Journey has mostly been stumbling into different Gender Things and trying them on, and if I don't like it then the gender goes back on the rack. If I do I just take it home with me and style it however I please. Gender doesn't have to be a prison!!!! Sometimes it can be your fucking home!!!!!!! It's Great!!!!!!!!

TLDR: friend freed me from gender prison and I found they/them pronouns bc I have lotsa the Gender Fluid in me, someone made fun of it/its pronouns so I decided to make it uncomfortable for them to be transphobic, ended up Liking it/its pronouns.

Can't believe that this is the shortened version of my original post. Thank you for asking Minty!!!!!! This was a fun trip down memory lane :)

[vaspider]

#for real#been seeing a huge influx of right wing esque propaganda being parroted but wrapped in liberal wording lately#really echoing 2016#and some of this is such obvious stuff like just slow down and use an ounce of critical thinking please….#politics#important

Okay, so, I'm not picking on you, and I'm not yelling at you, but there's something in this line of thinking that it's really important that we stop, just as much as we need to stop just mindlessly reblogging stuff without checking it:

All of the examples that I anonymized above? Those were things which were posted by long-time known leftists, and I came to know about how the stories are circulating because I heard the stories repeated by an extremely left-wing family member of mine as absolute fact.

When I say 'you are not immune to propaganda,' yes, I mean that we do have an issue with actual Russian disinformation bloggers on Tumblr -- like, that's a thing that happened in 2016, we know it -- and there are people who sneak their regressive politics into progressive spaces -- again, we know it happens & TERFs who wrap their bioessentialism in progressive language have been caught out time and time again...

... but I also absolutely mean well-intentioned leftists fucking flying off half-cocked after they read a newspaper article which has been tweaked in its headline and its lede to piss people off, because people are hungry for attention, for clicks, and for ad revenue. I absolutely mean people who don't check what it is that the Houthis are yelling or have on signs and forward on as praiseworthy messaging that includes the words "curse the Jews." I absolutely mean people taking the word of a politician from another country who has his own agenda as iron-clad proof of what Biden said decades ago without even so much as asking, "What does this person stand to gain from framing things that way? Was there anybody else there? Can someone corroborate what was or was not said?"

Part of not getting led down the garden path by people requires you to realize that your side has an agenda too, and that because of that, people will frame things to benefit their agenda, regardless of whether or not they're perfectly true. A lot of the time, people don't even do it on purpose. We just ... do that. We frame things to fit the narrative we desire.

It is poisonous to think that '"our side" has a Good agenda' means '"our side" is presenting things from a totally objective position and any bad information must be coming from Outside.' Not only does that make it easier for you to incorporate incorrect information into your worldview, because you won't be looking as closely at information coming from an established left-wing blogger, but it's a sort of abdication of responsibility. "Well, if there's any bad information, it's coming from Them, not Us." (And no, person whose tags I am not saying you are directly saying this -- I'm saying that this is the end point of that line of thinking, and that's really really dangerous.)

I have seen people presenting as unique evils to Biden things which have been part of regular US government function for longer than I've been alive, and doing so because they read an article on a well-regarded newspaper which presents those actions as though they are illegal or as though Biden is doing them differently from other presidents before him. I have seen people saying 'Biden can just -- ' about things that are absolutely not within the President's remit, things he can't just do on his own, and saying that because a popular left-wing blogger or YouTuber said that the president can absolutely just... I don't know... set a maximum house price per city, or allocate money in the federal budget, or whatever. I don't know if they say these things because they just want them to be true, or because someone else told them and they believed it, or... I don't know, maybe what the YouTuber said was something like 'the President should put political pressure on Congress until they reallocate this money, because it's the job of Congress to blah blah blah."

Whatever the case, this bad information gets out there, and it stays out there, and it continues to bounce around the internet. Whether or not it's malicious -- and some of it surely is, and some of it surely isn't -- doesn't really matter. What matters is that in this environment, you owe it to yourself if to no one else to slow the fuck down and ask yourself, among other things:

Does this confirm something I already believe to be true? Might that be why I am quick to take it on board?

What are the consequences if I'm wrong?

What are the potential biases of the person telling the story?

What other motivations (like driving traffic to the paid ads on their news site or pleasing bosses or other authorities) might they have to present material in a certain way? That is to say...

What are they going to get out of invoking a particular reaction in you? What does that reaction benefit them?

Can I find this story presented by a totally different source?

Can I independently verify the history or backstory behind this situation? For example, if this is about how something gets done in the US government, can I find information easily about what that procedure is, how long it's been around, and who's in charge of it? (There are some very complete Wikipedia articles which have a lot of good sources explaining how a lot of the US government's basic functions work, for example.)

Does this person maybe carry some unexamined bias that they're pushing into the conversation? Even the best-intentioned of us carry baggage, and we're human, so a lot of us are varying degress of good-intentioned. There are plenty of dirtbag leftists who are incredibly misogynistic, for example, or are really transphobic.

Yes, it is absolutely crucial to be wary of right-wingers trying to propagandize in progressive spaces. As Patton Oswalt points out really clearly in Talking For Clapping, it's very easy to dress up regressive talking points if you know the right words to use, and the words to not use. It's also crucial to realize that even the best, most progressive person you know has unexamined biases, has agendas, and when they talk to you, when they convey things to you, they want you to come away with a particular thought in your mind. They wouldn't be talking to you about what the fuck is going on in the world if they didn't want to convince you of something. Speech is for communication. That is its sole purpose. Even the babbling of an infant is an attempt at communication. We don't talk unless we're trying to say something to someone about something.

And it's crucial to realize and admit that someone can be not-right-wing and have shitty opinions. It's crucial to realize and admit that not all shitty opinions are right-wing opinions. Not all theory is good theory, not all praxis is good praxis. I sure as fuck am not right all the time, and I sure as fuck have my weak points and my biases. I have not always been the kind of progressive that I want to be, and I know in the future I'm going to disappoint myself again, because I am a human being.

Regardless of whether or not I'm correct, the things I say contain my point of view. They cannot do otherwise. I cannot communicate with you in a perfectly objective way. That is completely impossible, and to believe that a human being can communicate any complex concept in a totally objective way is the absolute height of hubris. The minute you believe that anything about current events or politics can ever even be communicated fully objectively, you open yourself up to someone taking advantage of that and pushing their agenda on you.

Also, before someone jumps in and says that saying this is irresponsible because people can spiral about it, or whatever -- look. This is the truth: nobody ever communicates fully objectively. It's impossible. I'm sorry if that is scary, upsetting or triggering to worry about. That doesn't make it untrue.

Be reasonable amounts of suspicious, and if you have trouble determining what a 'reasonable amount' is or find yourself repeatedly spiraling over fears that people are trying to overtly manipulate you in everything they say to you? Please address that with a mental health care professional so that you can build up a toolkit of coping strategies and create a network of supports for yourself, including, perhaps, someone you can check in with if you're worried that your thoughts are becoming unreasonable.

I am begging everybody, fucking begging them, to slow the fuck down and fucking look things up. Right now, there are a lot of people who are making money off of creating headlines that are meant to make you mad, and it's going to get worse as we get closer to the election.

If someone tells you that there's a secret conspiracy to [do a thing you don't like] and that it's unique to Biden, you better fucking look that thing up, because chances are you're going to find that it's been happening under every administration for the last 50 years. Is that good? No! Should you want to change it? Probably! Is it a unique crime to Biden? Nope!

"Biden said [bad thing] [X] years ago." Well, this bad thing he said happens to be true, but it looks like it was 45 years ago, and he changed his stance 40 years ago. "Biden said [other bad thing] [Y] years ago." What's the source on that? So there's one person who says he said it? And nobody else who was there has corroborated that account? Who posted the story?

These are all random examples of things I've seen over the last couple of weeks, with the details slightly changed from the Tumblr posts and news articles I've seen, because the point isn't the details of the particular story, so I don't want to get bogged down in particulars that don't matter to the point I'm making.

The point of this post isn't the specific things I'm referencing but the fact that in each of these cases, the reality was not what was initially presented. Either the reality was wildly different, or this story can't be corroborated and was told by someone with a clear and very well-known agenda of their own, which means that at the very least, the story should be treated with extreme suspicion.

And on that note, please don't believe that because you're a leftist that you can't be radicalized in the same way that right-wingers are. You aren't immune to propaganda either. I'm not saying you have to like, or should like, any particular politician or political entity. I am saying, however, that you should view a lot of the news with a gimlet eye, and that goes double for anything that makes you real fucking mad.

You need - need - to stop and read the whole article and ask yourself if you can verify the claims and who benefits from this making you mad.

Please. For the sake of the people around you who have to patiently explain to you that you've gotten fucking bamboozled again by propaganda if for no other reason. We're all very tired of you thinking that leftists can't be propagandized.

[gillianthecat]

my thoughts after watching The Eclipse episode 11. i don't want to put it in the main tag (at least not yet) because it's just confused ramblings, so it's below a cut so y'all can avoid spoilers.

hmm. I'm not sure what I thought of this episode. I mean, I had many thoughts, but they are contradictory and confused. There were many individual moments that I loved, particularly the ones between Akk and Ayan. After finishing the whole think I still think it felt rushed and crammed in. I think that I will have to watch the next, final episode before I'm really able to evaluate it, episode eleven really doesn't feel like it stands on it's own. Threads seem to be tied up, but not actually, other completely new threads are introduced (the creation of a BL drama).

Thua. I am most confused about my feelings about what happened with Thua this episode. I can't decide if his actions make sense to me and feel true to his character. Part of that is I'm not sure if a) continuing to act as the curse is at all a logical way to get the truth behind the curse revealed, and more importantly b) that I think that's something that Thua would have believed.

My initial reaction was that it felt totally out of character for Thua to do this, but now I think that maybe it fit. The whole time he's been show to be... not calculating exactly, but calm and observant and thoughtful. He's shy and quiet, so I think we in the fandom (and maybe his friends too?) have gotten this idea of him as a poor little meow meow, but looking back, that's not actually who he's been shown to be. I don't know, I really have to think on it more.

I do wish the show had spent more time dealing with the emotional repercussions of all these revelations instead of moving right on to making the movie. That's a big thing that felt rushed and deflated the energy for me. These five boys all discovered that someone they were close to was lying about something huge! That's going to shake their relationships in a way that won't get fixed by a quick conversation. Kan and Thua in particular - they went back to being at ease together way too quickly for me.

As for the making of a BL film - my initial reaction was oh no! not another self-referential BL show within a show. But I'm starting to like the idea because it's not just about making a BL, it's about making political stories. It was the line about BL being Thailand's soft power that got me to think maybe Golf et al. were going somewhere interesting with this, that's its not just about BLs themselves, but about the influence they hold and what can be done (what Golf et al. are doing) with that. Wat leading them to do intimacy exercises while the camera was rolling was a little odd, but he's an untrained teenaged filmmaker so the oddness kind of made sense.

And while I'm generally not a fan of characters re-enacting scenes from their lives, Akk and Ayan's conversation afterword was so cute that I can't object. Them! The way they look at each other! How much Akk loves being teased by Aye!

I haven't watched the "coming next week" part yet, so I don't know what's planned, but I hope the stuff with the Suppalo and the protesters haven't been dropped, that this was just an oddly paced interlude. Because it really feels incomplete and like it needs to be dealt with. And in such a political show I can't imagine that it won't somehow be dealt with. And I'm less hopeful that this will happen, but I would really like for their to be some emotional fall out to all the lies and betrayals that were revealed. I'm not saying the characters wouldn't be friends again, I think they would! But the shift back into normalcy feels unfounded.

Thoughts on Chadok and Dika. I think I liked it. I think it felt mostly right. It was just another thing that felt too rushed too be as effective as I wanted it to be. It was too much of an outline of a story rather than a story itself, and it needed more substance to carry the weight of Dika's suicide. I don't know what I wanted more of in particular, but I felt like I needed more of something. But now it makes sense why the notebook was so poorly hidden under his desk; Chadok didn't hide it there at all, Thua just slipped it in (and I still don't really understand what he thought that in particular would do? The only reason that makes sense is he was acting out of anger toward Aye, but if so that needed to be addressed in some way). And congratulations to the brilliant minds who saw the Dika-Chadok romance coming. (And the geniuses who predicted that Thua would be the one carrying on the curse.)

What else is on my mind? Kan publicly proclaiming Thua has his boyfriend. Again, I think I liked the scene for itself - Kan having come so far that he's ready to do this, the echo of him taking Thua's hand but this time holding on, their joy in being able to publicly claim each other. But again I was distracted by the fact that Kan and Thua never dealt with Thua being the curse and hiding it. It made it hard to feel the joy with them that I wanted too. And I'm not sure what I think about all the surrounding students seeming to be happy for them. On the one hand, that's so wonderful! On the other hand, Suppalo students have been explicitly shown being homophobic, so what's changed? I'm not saying that that change is unlikely, just that I want to see what happened to believe and understand it.

The Eclipse as a metaphor - the whole thing with the principal being beholden to the investors and the way money ultimately is the real power. I have thoughts, but I don't feel like writing them now. And honestly, there was a lot less of a focus on that this episode than I was expecting. Again, hopefully we get more of this in the final episode.

Akk and Aye moments I loved: all of them! everything with the pin, the way they looked at each other during the ceremony, all of Aye's support and the way he kept reinforcing that he loved Akk no matter what. This is a couple that I truly believe love each other, in a way that I don't always with onscreen couples. I have vague plans to write a post about that eventually. I just love them so much!

I still love this show! I'm confused about this episode, but i'm withholding judgment until the end so I can see how it fits into the series as a whole. And probably until after I re watch it. I focused mainly on the negatives here because that's what I needed to work through in my mind, the positives don't require thought.

Ok, that's all my thoughts for now. I probably repeat myself a lot and this may not make any sense, but I'm not going to even re-read it let alone edit it.

[yeongwvnhi]

ᴸᵒᵛᵉ ᴬᵍᵃⁱⁿ

Pairing - Baekhyun x fem reader -> exes to lovers | Genre - Angst, fluff | warnings - none | taglist - @twancingyunhoe @trashlord-007 @tiddy-boys | synopsis - when Baekhyun and you broke things off a year ago, it felt alright, but you came to the painful realization that nobody could ever replace him or love you like he did | word count - 2.1k | thanks to @tiddy-boys for beta-reading ♡

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It's days like these, rain hitting the window in harsh taps and angry wind blowing, when the nostalgia hits the hardest. After all, you were always one to dwell on the past. It's just what you do. 

Every day felt the same after the two of you broke things off. You don't even remember why exactly you even ended it in the first place. The pain still sits deep, coming to haunt you when you least expect it. 

Rainy days like those just trigger the nostalgia, the memories and bygone feelings. 

It's 12pm when you check your phone, yet you're still laying in bed. The lack of motivation due to this sudden wave of sadness is something you're not experiencing for the first time. 

And it's killing you slowly. These feelings are eating you up from the inside out. 

Without even realizing, tears are running down your cheeks in even, salty streams. 

"Why am I even crying…" You mumble and lift your arm to cover your face, trying to make it stop. "God, I'm so pathetic" 

You try to manage to stop your tears, wrist harshly rubbing your eyes. After a minute or so, you succeed in stopping them. 

instead pick up your phone, unlocking it and opening Instagram. 

One peek won't hurt, right…? 

His name at the top of your searches seems to be mocking you as you hover your finger above it. Should you really do it? What if he found someone new and his profile is filled with couple pictures? Or what if he feels nothing and is glad to be alone? What if, what if, what if…

"Fuck it" you hiss and tap on his username, his profile popping up after a brief second of loading the page. 

He… hasn't posted anything for a few months, his last post being from October last year. 

Oh for fucks sake… is this a good sign or not? It could mean he's been seeing someone new, but it could also mean he's just been living his life like usual. 

So many possibilities, yet no resolution seems to be in sight. 

"This is so annoying, oh my gooood" You groan and smack your head into your pillow, laying sprawled out like a star with an annoyed pout on your face. 

"It's been a god damn year," You grumble, "why do I still feel like this?" 

The sound of your fist hitting the mattress of your bed is dull, not the way you wanted it to sound. "I hate this, UGHH" The frustration in your voice is for sure loud and clear, accentuated well by the 'ugh'. 

This whole situation is stressing you out. "I need a shower.." You mumble, absent-minded, as you fling the covers back and swing your legs over the edge of your bed. 

—

Despite the gloomy weather, you decided to take a walk outside. The rain still hasn't let up, droplets of it occasionally hitting your face. 

"Why is it so cold today? It's already spring…" You mumble quietly to yourself, eyes strictly trained on the path in front of your feet and head held low. 

You're so lost in your thoughts, you don't see the person headed your way. 

And apparently, the person doesn't seem to notice you as well. So your shoulders collide and you stumble, umbrella falling out of your hand and fast quick steps to regain your balance. 

"I'm so sorry! Are you al-" The man rushes to apologize, but his words get stuck in his throat as he takes in who he just, quite literally, stumbled into. 

Rain has hit you mercilessly, soaking you from head to toe within seconds as you stand there, paralyzed. "Baek…Baekhyun?" 

His eyes are wide and mouth slightly open in shock as he doesn't know what to say or do. 

He hasn't seen or talked to you in at least nine or ten months for sure. What is he even supposed to say? "Yeah… it's- it's surely been a while" he dumbly answers. "Ah! Your umbrella!" Baekhyun rushes to pick it up and hold it over your figure. 

But the damage is already done. 

You're shivering, dripping with water but still you've a tiny smile on your lips at the sight of him. 

You delicately take hold of the handle, fingers gently enclosing around the man's hand. 

He doesn't move to let go, just standing there and staring into your eyes. "I-" 

You cut him off by mistake with a sneeze, the cold creeping in deep. It feels like your bones might freeze, grasp around both Baekhyun's hand and the handle of your umbrella tightening, muscles contracting to desperately stay warm. "S-Sorry for interrupting you" You say, teeth clattering and eyes averting. 

"No no don't worry about it!" He insists, "but we should get you home, your hand is cold as ice, Y/N" 

"Ah… you're right" You nod and he flashes you a warm smile. 

"Do you still live in the same apartment or did you move?" Baekhyun asks, back to being concerned about your wellbeing now. 

"I- I still live in the same place" You reply, your free hand holding onto your jacket for warmth, but in vain. 

"That's too far away, my place is way closer" He objects and gently pulls you along, "come on, let's get you freshened up before you really get sick" 

You only manage an awkward nod and let him lead you along, a surprisingly pleasant silence engulfing you two. 

—

Baekhyun unlocks the door to his apartment and firstly puts both of your umbrellas away, taking off his wet shoes in the process and you follow along. 

"Come on, I'll show you the bathroom" He says and you tag after him. 

He opens the door, turns on the light and quickly pulls out two towels for you. "You can just use my shampoo, I don't have anything suitable here for you, sor-" 

"Thank you" you break his rambling. "You wouldn't need to do this, so thank you" 

Baekhyun smiles softly, although his eyes tell a different story. "I'll bring you some clothes in a bit, okay?" 

"Mhm" you nod and give him a curt bow before he leaves the room, shutting the door behind him. 

You waste no time in stepping out of your soaked clothes and into the shower. 

You set the water to a nice warm temperature and rinse off the cold first, feeling relieved. 

Then there's a knock. "Hey Y/N, I'm putting some clothes on top of the washing machine for you now" he announces before opening the door, doing as he said and then leaving just as quickly as he came. 

"Still the considerate guy he always was…" You mumble with a sad smile, old memories coming back to haunt your mind with sweet images of the two of you. Him always knocking before he'd enter a room you would be in to announce himself. 

You loved that about him, he was always mindful of others and you're happy to see it hasn't changed at all. 

—

You finished quickly and put on the clothes he gave you. Some boxers and a way too big on you, black shirt. You dried your hair as best as you could with the towel he gave you and made sure you don't look like a lion by patting down your hair a bit. 

"Baekhyun?" You timidly call out after opening the door a bit. 

"Yeah?" He replies and you hear his footsteps approach. "What is it?" 

"Uhm- Where to put my wet clothes?" You ask. 

"Oh- Hold on, I'll put them in the washing machine" He says with big eyes and opens the machine for you to put them in. "I'll dry them after they're washed so you can change back, alright?" 

You nod quickly and thank him quietly. He opens the machine and you put your clothes inside, him doing the rest. 

"So, uh-" 

"Do you want some water?" He quickly asks, ears flaring red as he avoids your eyes. 

"Sure" you squeak back and follow him into the kitchen. He gets a glass out of a cupboard and fills it with water before handing it to you. 

You nip at the liquid as Baekhyun leans against the countertop adjacent to you, eyes taking in your figure. 

He missed seeing you in his clothes, you always looked so good in them. He just missed you in general. 

The reason why the two of you broke up a year ago? 

Baekhyun remembers it all too well. 

It was a work related thing actually. The two of you worked in different shifts and barely saw each other, yet alone had time for any couple stuff. 

Free days? Spent alone or arguing about never seeing each other. 

And at one point you had said to just break up. In that moment Baekhyun felt like he was hit by lightning, body stiff and eyes wide. He couldn't believe what he heard. Baekhyun felt anxiety cursing through his veins as his brain processed your words.

You had told him that you wouldn't hate him, but that your situation at that time just didn't allow any dating. The two of you never had hard feelings about the outcome, but it was hard to suddenly go back to being alone. 

And now you're here, in his apartment, wearing his clothes and smelling just like him. He can't believe this is happening. 

"Uhm, so" You speak up after setting the glass down on the other counter behind you. Your hands come up to grab the surface besides your waist and you avoid the man's eyes. 

"Yes?" Baekhyun can't help the hopeful hint in his voice as he urges you to continue your thoughts. 

"How has life been for you?" 

A chuckle escaped his lips at your question, shoulders jumping up and down in the process before he answered. "It's been rather boring but nice, if you get what I mean? I found a different job and work from home now" 

You nod quietly, "I've also found a new job and my shifts are less hectic" 

"Have you… found someone new?" 

You halt at his inquiry, gears in your mind temporarily stopping and he seems to take the lacking answer the wrong way. A frown pulls at his normally friendly and soft expression, making him look grumpy and bothered. "I see" 

"No, no! I- I haven't found anyone!" You quickly say, "I just… I couldn't move on" 

His expression changes to a sad smile, although he's kind of glad you're still somehow his. "Me neither" 

You scoff lightly, a cheeky smirk suddenly on your face. "No wonder, nobody could put up with your annoying ass anyway" 

"Hey!" He exclaims in shock. 

"I'm joking, I'm joking!" You insist, holding your stomach and laughing. "You're bearable most of the time" 

"That doesn't make it any better!" Baekhyun whines and you laugh out loud, hand flying up to cover your mouth. 

"Still the cocky little girl you've always been" He fires back and you snort. 

"Like you're one to talk" You roll your eyes at him and he exhales through his nose. 

His hands grab you by the collar of his shirt you're wearing and unexpectedly pull you into him. You squeal, hands shooting up to brace against his broad chest and you look up to be met by his cocky smile. "You never knew when to stop, no change at all there" he playfully nags. 

"Shut up" You weakly fight back. 

Baekhyun chuckles and you feel the rumble drumming against the palms of your hands. "How come you haven't moved on?" 

You lower your head, hands fumbling with his shirt. "Well… I came to the conclusion that just nobody could replace you. Nobody could love me like you did…" You mumble against his chest and Baekhyun feels a smile creeping up on his face. 

"I felt the same" He whispers back and his arms move to pull you into him more by your waist. 

After hearing that, you look back up at him with big eyes. "Really?" 

He nods and flashes you a bright smile. "Even though we fought a lot and barely had time for each other, I never stopped loving you" 

"Shut up" You almost whimper and move your hands to pull him closer by the back of his neck, lips meeting in the middle. 

Baekhyun's eyes almost fell out of their sockets before he came to his senses. 

One of his hands found its place on the back of your head as he moved his lips against yours with fervor. He greedily breathes you in, not wanting this to end as moves his mouth against yours. 

You shiver when his tongue meets yours and that's when you draw the line… for now. 

He chases after you for a second and you chuckle, dazed eyes meeting yours. "Slow down tiger" you say and peck the corner of his mouth. 

"Okay, okay" He smiles and pulls you in for a hug, "will you let me love you again?" 

"You bet" 

[suganovakawa]

i have been holding this idea to myself for an entire MONTH AHAHA but here we are , i’m a big gorl now and i really wanted to share the angst — along with finally starting a blog on tumblr . so yeah ! i’m new , pls be kind to me , i have food 👉🏼👈🏼 i hope you enjoy my first story !

𝐒𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐀𝐃𝐄 .

PAIRINGS : tooru oikawa x fem! reader

GENRE : angst , romance

TRIGGERS : bits of cursing here n there , ig ?

SYNOPSIS : tooru doesn’t understand how special you are to him until he comes close to losing you forever . as he struggles to comes to grips with his feelings and balance it with his future , you still have to recover from your own injuries , but without your memories to assist you .

[ 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄 ] > 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐓𝐖𝐎 .

the beginning of a storm ; why was tooru at seijoh so late ?

word count : 1.9k .

saudade masterlist.

SAUDADE

( 𝐧 . ) a nostalgic longing to be near again to something or someone that is distant , or that has been loved and then lost ; “ the love that remains ”

⠀"tooru? i've tried calling you for almost an hour now... what are you still doing here?" the janitor had allowed you an entrance inside seijoh, your light jacket pressed against your body as you scuffled through the gym doors, your tongue clicking as you eyed a certain brunette captain serving his god-knows-how-many time of deadly top-spin serves.

⠀his eyes darted in your direction the moment your voice filled the echoey gym walls, your concerned tone ringing back and forth as his brown irises glared at you through narrow eyelids. a nervous lump grew in your throat, your stomach understanding the regret in the decision you made. oikawa was in one of his moods again; you should've known better than to barge in during his serving practice.

⠀still, even with your boyfriend acting the way he was - without saying a single word - there was no use in just leaving aoba johsai as quickly as you arrived. you came to check on tooru, and that was exactly what you were going to do. "it's late, tooru. we still have school tomorrow! you need your rest, please give yourself a break, it'll do more harm than good for you."

⠀"you say that every time, y/n." oikawa rolled his eyes as he bent down to grab a nearby volleyball rolling at his feet, palming it in his right hand and pointing it at the net. his focus was intent - you knew exactly what he was doing. for the past couple of weeks, the captain focused his practice on serving, locking in and applying all of his power to one spot on the court only. it was a feat not many could accomplish, but tooru was scarily coming close to mastering such a challenge. it required extra practice, of course, but certainly not to this extent.

⠀"as your girlfriend and as the manager of the aoba johsai volleyball team, i'm worried about you, you know?" taking a deep, brave breath, you stepped further into the gym, your footsteps creating more echoes for the two of you to listen to as you approached the sweat-covered third year, who had paused his serving practice to watch you come to him. his lips were pursed - and not in a way that sent your heart aflutter. oikawa hated when you disturbed him and tried talking him out of practicing; he'd give any reason and excuse to avoid it.

⠀"just one more serve, alright? then you can drag me out, whatever. i don't really want to listen to your self-health lectures right now." his free hand rested on his hips, the volleyball now resting between his waist and underneath his arm, interrupting you as your mouth opened to say something more. you had grown accustomed to tooru's mood swings as time went on; he didn't mean much by it, and you understood his position. his passion towards the sport was what originally captivated you towards the captain in the first place. you weren't exactly part of his fanclub, per se, but you sure as hell were close enough as a member. the only difference between you and the other girls was that you were lucky enough to snag the job as the volleyball club manager.

⠀"one serve, tooru." your arms crossed as you bit back his nasty glare with one of your own. most of the time, it worked. "push your luck and i'll call iwaizumi here to drag you out of the gym himself." you and hajime were always a tag team whenever it came to putting an iron fist down on tooru, though the stubborn male usually only listened to iwa, since he was the one who packed a nasty punch. oikawa did listen to you occasionally, just not as much as you would've liked.

⠀he rolled his eyes and turned away from you in place of a reply, holding the ball out in front of him. he was silent, and so were you. this was his routine for practice, all of his dirty talk could wait for the matches. you moved to his sports bag, sighing to yourself as you saw his cellphone plopped on top of his club jacket like a cherry on top. he must've had his ringer off, which would explain why he didn't pick up any of your calls. crossing your arms lightly over your chest, you watched with intent eyes as your boyfriend tossed his ball into the air, his gaze directly focused on nothing else but the flying object. he began his standard approach, your breath held as the gym exploded with the sound of his palm coming in contact with the volleyball. your eyes could hardly follow its path; you blinked once, and the ball was already bouncing against the wall.

⠀"damn, another fluke." you were about to compliment tooru's killer serve before you listened to him reprimand himself - you could tell this wasn't the first time he scolded himself for a mistake only he could identify. you noticed him walking to grab another ball, but you ran out to him, kicking his targeted ball out of reach before looking up at him and pressing a finger to his chest lightly.

⠀"enough, tooru. you promised me only one more serve. you've done that already, pack up so we can leave already. you have tomorrow to continue."

⠀"what the hell, y/n? i was just going to-"

⠀you knew him way too well to believe his next lie. "don't even try and say you were going to start picking up volleyballs. i see that look in your eyes, as clear as a cloudless day. you were intent on serving again, tooru; you can't lie to me. you-"

⠀"could you just stop already? who are you, my mother?" he clenched his jaw as he swatted your finger away from his chest, storming away from you as he bent down to pick up another ball, just right behind the boundary line. "i know you care, y/n. you make that very clear. but i can take care of myself, okay? just go home."

⠀"tooru-"

⠀"go, y/n."

⠀oh hell no you weren't.

⠀not without him leaving too.

⠀you turned the corner and pretended to leave seijoh, your face faking its exasperation. leaning against the wall right outside of the gym doors, you reached into your front pocket, your phone warm in your hand. unlocking the screen and searching through your contacts, you tapped the call button for the one person that had the ability to drag oikawa out of the gymnasium.

⠀"hello?"

⠀"iwa! thank goodness you answered."

⠀"it's so late, y/n. do you need help burying a body or something?"

⠀"i wish. i hope this isn't too much to ask, but could you please come to seijoh? tooru refuses to stop practicing, and he won't listen to me."

⠀"god, again?" a sigh could be heard from the other line. "yeah, i'll be right there. open the door for me, will you?"

⠀"thank you so much, iwa. i'll be at the door."

⠀you hung up the call, your eyes gazing at the doors as you waited for your friend to appear. you bit down on the side of your cheek and listened to every sound of contact tooru made with every serve. nothing could get him out of his moods - at least, not anything verbal. you'd need physical force to actually get him to step out of the gym doors. hence, why you needed hajime here.

⠀you heard a knock at the door a few minutes later, and you just about sprinted, a gracious smile stretched upon your lips as you allowed iwaizumi into the school. he looked like he rolled out of bed, his mouth in his natrual scowl. when his eyes laid upon you, his glare softened when he looked at your smile. "alright, where is he?"

⠀"in the gym, where he always is."

⠀"allow me." rolling up his own sleeves, the spiky-haired ace marched through the gym doors with you in line behind him, peering over him to look at oikawa's face the moment he was in the setter's line of vision.

⠀"oh, it's iwa. i'm not surprised, y/n is too stubborn to listen to me."

⠀"you're one to talk, shittykawa. don't you know what time it is?" taking out his phone and shaking it to make a point, he wasted no time in walking towards the brunette. you were nervous; usually oikawa would falter at the sight of hajime alone, but tonight seemed to be different. instead of giving in, he merely gave his new company a dirty glare. "go home already. it's late, we have school tomorrow, and the playoffs are soon. you're just going to tire yourself out, and i'll beat your ass if we don't face the other teams at our best." he then chuckled. "i've pulled you out of here myself multiple times, don't think i won't do it again."

⠀oikawa turned his icy stare at you, before glancing back at hajime with a bored yawn. "fine, fine," he retorted, throwing his calloused hands up in mock surrender, "you win, y/n. happy? i'm leaving the gym now, so don't be any more pushy than you have been tonight. it's giving me a headache."

⠀those words hurt more than you thought they would, tooru antagonizing the fact that you were only trying to care for him. your eyes rested at your feet, letting your hair rest in front of your face as you listened to tooru's volleyball shoes walk across the gym. you could hear iwa's as well; the two of them were picking up the volleyballs around the court, but your legs were in no position to help, not with how fragile they felt.

⠀you looked up on time to see oikawa slinging his bag over his shoulder, his nasty little glare plastered all over his face as he began to walk out of the gym. "goodnight," was the only thing he muttered as he brushed against your shoulder with his own on his way out. your head whirled around as you watched your boyfriend walk away without another word. you didn't have it in you to reply.

⠀"are you sure you two are in a relationship?" you jumped at iwa's voice, just noticing him standing beside you. "he didn't even bother asking to drive you home. some boyfriend he is."

⠀"ah, don't be like that, iwa." you forced yourself to laugh at the situation in a desperate attempt to make light of it, but the effort was futile, and utterly pathetic. "tooru's a good boyfriend! he just gets in his moods sometimes, but it happens to the best of us. nothing i can't handle. after a good night's rest, i'm sure he'll be back to normal in no time."

⠀"i hope you're right." he turned to face you, peering down at you before placing both of his hands in his pockets. "do you need a ride home? i know you live close by, but it's gotten colder now, and we can't have our manager catching a cold on us."

⠀this time a real laugh left your system, shrugging your shoulders as you looked to the outside, before back at hajime. he looked pretty serious, despite looking fatigued. "are you sure, iwa? i don't want to bother you with it."

⠀"nonsense." he shook his head. "since your boyfriend couldn't do his job in taking care of you, i'll just drive you home tonight. okay?"

⠀your heart dropped at his words.

⠀your boyfriend couldn't do his job in taking care of you.

⠀"... yeah, okay."

a / n : JFJSJFJFJF i wrote just a wee bit much , usually i’ll aim for around 1k , maybe a lil less on lazy days . anywho ! ty for reading , i hope you enjoyed part one 🥺