#mid timeskip

[flyingwargle]

atsumu probably fell in love with omi before their first date.

although they were both in tokyo, with atsumu in a div. 2 team based in shibuya and omi attending waseda, their free time was limited to an hour or two on the weekends. they usually meet at a coffee shop for omi to do homework and atsumu to people watch, occasionally going to parks or exploring the lesser known parts of the city. neither had time to think about their relationship.

until omi taps on his shoulder and moves his hands to sign, “will you go on a date with me?”

atsumu stares at him. they’re at a café, a quiet spot hidden in the alleyways. a cat weaves between their legs. the barista flirts with a customer, also college aged. there’s no one else around.

omi’s brow crinkles together. “i’m sorry. did i sign that wrong?”

“no…no, ya didn’t. i just…” atsumu shakes himself. “ya…wanna go on a date? with me?”

“yes…? that’s what i signed, didn’t i?”

“yeah, ya did. are ya…are ya sure? me?”

“yes…? why do you sound so surprised?” omi tilts his head, a sliver of light beaming across his beautiful face, highlighting the moles over his eye. “i’d like to date you, if that’s all right. if not, this is fine, too. i don’t want to pressure you.”

atsumu shakes his head frantically. “no, no, i wanna date ya, too! it’s…” he points at himself. “me.” he points at omi. “you.” his hands touch. “together.”

no one has ever wanted him like that.

once the initial surprise wears off, omi asks for his preferences. “nowhere too loud, or i won’t be able ta hear properly,” he says. “but nowhere too quiet either, ‘cause o’ the same thing. if it’s a movie, there has ta be captions, so concerts an’ stuff aren’t that great. an’-“ he cuts himself off. “shit. i’m just makin’ it harder. we can do whatever ya want, omi. i’ll adjust.”

he shakes his head. “there’s no point if you can’t enjoy yourself. i’ll plan something appropriate. i’ll let you know closer to the day, okay?” atsumu agrees, and they fall back into an easy silence.

a week later, he receives a text. how do you feel about a magic show? omi writes. we can eat dinner beforehand and get dessert afterwards. magic, huh? osamu went through a phase when he was fascinated by card magic, except it required a lot of talking for the misdirection to work. atsumu could hear him when he’s up close, but when he’s in the audience…

his phone goes off with a secondary text. there won’t be any talking involved. this is the magician. there’s a link. atsumu opens it, reads about the magician who performs in complete silence and only uses body language to convey what’ll happen next. he sends a thumbs-up. sounds good.

they meet outside of the venue, a small performance hall in ginza. omi signs a greeting, atsumu signs back. he holds his hand while omi shows the bouncer their tickets, leading him inside.

the crowd is modest, two to a table. the stage is small, with a few props left in the open. a quiet buzz hangs in the air, not so overpowering that atsumu can’t hear omi. “how’d ya find this guy?” he asks.

“motoya had a magic phase. out of all the videos of magicians he sent me, this was the only one that stood out to me.”

“funny that ‘samu also had a magic phase, ‘cept his was all card magic.”

omi smiles. “motoya’s was stage magic. he would’ve loved to saw me in half.”

the show starts, and the magician steps onstage, dressed in formal wear. he bows to the polite applause, raises a hand for the music to start. the lights dim, and the show begins.

atsumu is enthralled. at such a close range, he can see the magician’s every movement, yet also not. he sees him reveal his empty hands but not how he palms his cards. he sees him reveal how ordinary his book is but not how it transforms into a stack of bricks. each prop reinvents the stage from a magic show to a hidden flower shop in the back corners of a city, decorated by a beautiful array of flowers. “thank you for coming,” he says in conclusion, blowing on his sunflower. petals fly toward the crowd, painting the room bright yellow.

“that was beautiful.” atsumu can’t contain his excitement, vibrating as he and omi walk down the street in search of dessert. “like, ya see magicians with their card tricks an’ vanishin’ acts, but this guy told a whole story with magic. that’s cool. damn. i should learned card tricks with ‘samu.”

omi chuckles. his mask is tucked beneath his chin, hands in his pockets. “it’s why i like him so much, also because they’re much quieter and more intimate. show magicians tend to get loud and typical, but his performances are never the same twice.”

“ya watched him more than once, huh?”

“his shows calm me. but now, there’s someone else who calms me just as well.”

they find a taiyaki stand but all the seats are filled, so they take their treats to a nearby park. sitting side by side, they quietly eat their dessert, basking in the city’s noise. “thanks fer tonight,” atsumu murmurs. “i loved it.”

“i’m glad. next time, let’s do something you like.”

“yeah, fer sure.” he leans back, blinks at the sky. “a girl asked me on a date when we were in high school. did the typical thing o’ watchin’ a movie. she got mad i could barely understand it.”

“i’m sorry. that sounds shitty.”

“i told her i needed captions an’ she said they were available, but they weren’t, so…” atsumu shrugs. he’s lived his entire life surrounded by people who treated his hearing loss as trivial, not something that actually affects him. to finally meet someone who takes it in stride and finds activities that he can also participate in is…nice.

he catches omi’s eye, turns to face him. “i will say that i’m not perfect,” omi says. “i’ll make mistakes. we won’t always be on the same wavelength nor understand each other, literally and metaphorically. but i’ll do my best for you, so long you do the same for me. can we do that?”

the sincerity in his voice makes atsumu’s heart throbs. he nods. “yeah. i’ll do the same, omi. thank ya fer understandin’.”

“any time. thank you for joining me tonight.” omi touches his hand, gives him a smile. “here’s to many more to come.” and if that doesn’t motivate atsumu to do his best, then nothing will.

[ironworked]

I'm interested in seeing where The Baking Thing goes from here, because up until the hiatus it has meant a very very specific thing:

"Since Tommy dumped me. I've been on this baking kick; any time I get the urge to call him I just channel the impulse into something positive" [When did he become a Master Baker] "Uh when Tommy dumped me. Now whenever I feel tempted to reach out to him I just -" "Bake?" "I know, it sounds dumb." "I almost relapsed. I almost called Tommy, so I baked every speck of flour I had in the house and I'm still jonesing for it."

So far it hasn't just meant that he didn't know what to do with himself, or that he was lonely. Every time so far in 8.07 and 8.08 has meant that he was keeping himself busy to avoid reaching out to Tommy.

Unless they specify otherwise moving forward, that's what baking signifies, so I wonder:

if it will evolve to invoke a more general 'Buck is lonely' sentiment,

if it'll be consistent, or go away then reappear, or completely disappear past 8.10. Especially if there is a timeskip.

By the way we can see that it's serving its purpose but that it's taking a lot of work (by the number and difficulty of items produced), and also that it doesn't distract him (he keeps checking his phone, and he says he's still 'jonesing' for it, for example).

[apollos-boyfriend]

Also. Horrifying realisation. Ticci Toby was 17 when his creepypasta took place. He is older than the majority of Slender Mansion. Whuh.

ITS SO. the fact that he’s like 17 and one of the oldest members is so funny to me. from the usual lineup he is in the top 5 for oldest members. top 3 even if you’re a stickler and don’t count tim and brian due to them not actually being proxies. slender “mansion” be for real. that place was a fucking K-12

[ghoulytheghost]

osamu acting like that guy from the bear everytime suna and atsumu try to help him

[maybe-a-dinosaur]

oikawa’s birthday today the seijoh 4 are ordering large pizzas to share they compromise on toppings preferences by getting everything but they pick off the olives and onions on tooru’s pieces so he doesn’t have to do it himself he tears up. also they get him a cake that says “pretty boy” he tries to complain but is smiling So big he takes lots of selfies where only he looks good and posts them all iwa comments “??” logs off. the next day hajime walks him home and carries his bags matsukawa says “gay” then walks hanamaki home

[taraxacum-vulpes]

why is everyone pretending like cyberpunk edgerunners is good. the writing is so bad i hate it

[totally-not-an-awkward-okapi]

The recent Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero conversation once more got me thinking about my old pitch for if SubZero’s existence hadn’t been so violently rejected, so here’s a model sheet that’s Totally Definitely 100% Official.

[dirtsoilmulch]

can i say this is old man yuri. because it is now.

[seiwas]

The captains canonically play card games together!

REALLY MINT 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 omg even oikawa?????? 🥺🥺🥺🥺

[flyingwargle]

sakuatsu week day 7: mid-timeskip

after moving out on his own and settling into a routine, atsumu decides to make a completely responsible decision of purchasing a tablet, along with an attachable keyboard and stylus, because why the hell not?

“why not a laptop?” omi asks during their call. atsumu has propped his phone against his water bottle while he fiddles with his tablet’s settings.

“it’s lighter, an’ doesn’t take much space.” after setting up his account, he opens the app store, greeted with endless possibilities.

"what do you plan to use it for?"

“doin’ stuff online, i guess. beats doin’ taxes on a phone.” for fun, he looks through the fitness and wellness section, finding trackers, guided mindfulness apps, and... "ooh, this looks cool."

"what?"

“this journal app.” he holds it to the camera for his partner. “ya can share it with other people. ya got a tablet too, right? we can use this ta write ta each other!”

omi frowns. "can’t we text like usual?

"this is different! look, there's all these stickers, an' ya can upload pics an' videos. it'll be like a digital scrapbook. have ya ever made one?"

"no."

atsumu grins. "ma has one from when we were younger. s’fun ta look through sometimes.”

"this is coming from someone whose high school motto was that you don't need memories."

instead of a retort, atsumu falls quiet. "we won't be able ta have a lot o' that while yer in school an' i'm here. at least with this, we can still be connected in some way." they agreed to give long distance a shot, knowing that it won't be easy. although in the grand scheme of things, four years is inconsequential, but anything can happen in that time, both good and bad.

omi softens his expression. "you have a point. what's the name of the app? i'll look it up."

they set up a shared journal together. atsumu writes the title of the cover with his stylus. 'tsumu and omi's journal!

the next day, he writes his first entry. i accidentally sprayed my deodorant in barnes' face and thought i poisoned him. bokkun wouldn't stop laughing but i was seriously afraid that i lost brownie points with barnes. he was super chill, though! he adds a picture of the jackals' changing room that he took when he first started, along with a selfie of him and barnes from a bar night earlier in the month.

before going to bed, he checks the journal, heart jumping at omi's entry, also handwritten like his. typical day. i had practice in the morning, then three lectures and a lab. ate cafeteria food for dinner. i need to buy more protein powder. lab report due tomorrow.

omi added a few stickers but no pictures. atsumu checks his entry again, eyes widening at the scrawl beneath his last sentence. the locker room looks nice. is that bokuto from fukurodani? you should be more careful.

atsumu writes a reply, then comments on omi's entry. make sure you get lots of rest!! i'll link you some powder that my teammates recommended. it's pretty good!

the journal becomes part of their routine. some nights, they spend their video calls writing their entries and commenting on what the other wrote. not every entry is lighthearted, though. atsumu, after injuring his back, writes about the reckless play he tried, and how he's out of practice for a few days. omi calls him that night. "how are you feeling?"

"not good," he admits quietly. "bokkun's gonna help me 'round the house 'till i don't hurt as much."

"i'll send you a care package with some cream to help. i hope you'll feel better soon." when he's no longer hurting, he sends his own version of a care package in return.

atsumu knows the end of the semester is approaching because of omi's either very brief entries or very long rants about his professors, classmates, or teammates. one particular entry, though, makes him frown in concern, and he dials his number.

no answer. he tries again. declined. atsumu checks the app, sees that omi is also online. he writes, you okay?

nothing. then, the strokes come, one at a time. no.

this time, he gets a call. “omi?”

a pause. “sorry.” omi sniffles, his voice weak. “i wasn’t…i wasn’t in the right condition to pick up earlier.”

“s’okay. talk to me? what happened?”

he hears him suck in another breath, shuddering and low. “everything is so hard. i don’t have time to do anything, my classmates are the laziest fucks in the world, and all my teammates do is party and get laid. i can’t practice with the regulars because i need to prove my worth, whatever the fuck that means, even though i was recruited. did i tell you that my mom tried arguing with my professor the other day because i got a b on my quiz? it’s because i didn’t study, i had to do everything in my group project for physics, and-“

a sob. atsumu feels his chest tighten. “i miss you,” omi cries. “fuck school, i just want to play volleyball with you.”

“oh, omi.” going to university wasn’t omi’s choice, but his parents’, even though he received just as many offers from pros after high school. “i’m sorry, wait fer me, okay? i’ll be there tomorrow. i’ll be on the first shinkansen after practice. i’ll stay with ya all weekend. i’ll help ya get through this, i promise.”

atsumu is allowed to leave practice early, and he takes the shinkansen to tokyo. he waits for omi outside of his biology lecture hall to surprise him, wrapping him in a tight hug as soon as they make eye contact. “you really came,” omi whispers through his tears.

“obviously. if ya need me, i’ll come.”

they spend the night huddled on omi’s bed in his dorm room, exploring the journal’s features to create a pseudo-planner and calendar, one that they share. “do ya feel better?” atsumu asks, after they planned out the last few weeks of his semester.

omi nods, head resting on his shoulder. “a bit. i don’t know if i’ll follow this, though.”

“i know what ya’ll follow, fer sure.” atsumu swipes to the next month, where he’s penciled in omi’s arrival in osaka, and the circled days where they’ll have together. “you’ll be fine, omi. yer gonna graduate at the top o’ yer class, an’ be the best athlete in the collegiate league. yer gonna get so many offers afterwards, an’ we’re gonna either play together or against each other. we’ll get through it.”

“i know, and i love you for it.”

atsumu kisses the top of his head. “same with ya, babe. love ya with all my heart.”

[dreams-and-honor]

HELLO???

[ofengineers]

CONFESS YOUR SECRETS TO ME AND I'LL TELL YOU WHAT YOU NEED TO HEAR

this does not have to be the end of you

you did not deserve that, you did not deserve any of that. one of these days you will feel safe again, you will open your heart and you will find it everywhere. do not be afraid - there is so much love and warmth searching for a way to get to you.

tagged by: @creatrix-mea, thank youuu 🥰 tagging: @bymargrace @lastingsparks @eikonbound (benna) @adureus @nievea @ofmoonlily @royalight @drakonairs & YOU ;D

[pleuvoire]

2-year timeskip in the middle of the series that's crazyyyyyyyy. well let's see how it goes

[solcarow]

.

[eastgaysian]

What made you mad re: FE3H? Not being able to gaymance Dimitri and Claude is a given but what else?

girl the racism...

[gameboyhamazing]

I can’t believe there’s not a single crossover I can find of golden sun and avatar it would be so fun

someone out there understands the vision I have, I know it