#not that it really seemed to change his disregard for emotional intelligence

[byakuwan]

what is the gesso fam and what are they about and what is going on there? i havent thought up any solid hcs or something but let's give it a first attempt.

from what little i can actually recall offhand:

it had the big house/mansion/whatever byakuran was hanging out in when uni came over to figure out how to deal with him long-term (lmao)

"New Family!" -- shoichi i think?

then there's whatever happened with squalo and genkishi.

idk i think it was baishana who shouted something like "the rich rule the world and everyone else are servants!" or something. during him vs ryohei fight.

they had like 4723476437 troops in white spell so i assume they had military ties??

byakuran had so much Power and a Huge AF Skyscraper to vibe in, so i guess it'd make sense to make a mafia family out of people who had a lot of sway in italy.

good lord what the hell did this guy even Do to get that far. his sweet talk charm people-smarts must be level 99 with how many people fell at his feet one way or another............

no wonder uni was the only one that could deal with him family-wise LOL

[ckret2]

I sympathize with you wholeheartedly because of how disappointing it is to have to change around the flatland-inspired lore of the fic because bill's homeworld doesn't seem to follow it. I will however say that as someone who was forced to read the book in high school geometry and hated it entirely for its powerful sexism, I'm kinda glad that it's not exactly the same thing, even if I do think a lot of the lore is cool. It was just such a male-centered book and seemed so smug about it, it was really hard to ignore.

The book is satire & critique of Victorian era social conventions, including the rigidity of its class system and how people defended it by saying the nobility were inherently "better" than the commoners (number of sides); the abuses of the poor & disabled, including euthanasia, and how they were written off as inherently stupid & criminal to justify their low position (isosceles triangles & irregulars); and, the way women were trapped, talked down to, treated like unthinking irrational animals, ignored when they spoke so they couldn't prove their rationality and dismissed when they got furious about this as just being too emotional.

In the book itself, the Sphere openly looks down on the Square's society for its disregard of women.

The book isn't smugly sexist; the book is mocking guys who are smugly sexist by exaggerating it to enough of an extreme that even Victorian era men would be able to see how messed up the system is.

And it apparently worked, since in a later edition of the book Abbott had to add in the intro that he doesn't believe those things about women, perhaps Mr. A Square has absorbed too much of his culture's propaganda about women? (Which means it succeeded in riling up readers—and also it sounded similar enough to the extreme end of real Victorian-era attitudes that some readers thought it was the real thing instead of satire, which tells you what kind of culture Abbott was up against.)

The book is openly advocating for increased respect for women's intelligence and autonomy by pointing a light on how horrible their treatment is.

[3hks]

Types of Protagonists

Merry Christmas, everyone! For this special day, I decided to release a hopefully more interesting and helpful post! As always, I made up MOST of the names to get the general idea across. (The internet is only so helpful and only so specific.) But having said that, here are some different types of main characters!The Hero - We all grew up with this one, this character's whole goal is just to be able to make a positive impact on the world. They're often caring, sometimes unnecessarily so, kind, and determined!

>>> The Antihero - An antihero is a character whose actions are morally wrong, as they seem like they'd be villains in any other story. However, they do everything with a positive purpose and motive in mind! Lastly, this character is usually more ruthless and apathetic towards others than the common person.

>>> The Villain - Were you surprised? Yes, a villain can absolutely be the main character of the story! They're simply the antagonist, but with the story based on their point of view. Despite that, don't get this mixed up with an antihero! A stereotypical villain really doesn't have much good behind their motives.

>>> The Average One - This character is meant to connect with the readers. They aren't anything special and don't stick out in any particular way, as their emotions and responses are meant to be relatable to the majority of the audience. They may have a couple of exceptional traits, but those are typically supernatural and don't interfere with their personality!

>>> The Cold Calculator - This is one of the more specific types that I couldn't research explicitly about online. The Cold Calculator is a character type that is, well, cold and calculating! They have an impressively high amount of intelligence, which they use to achieve their objectives. Additionally, they are able to manipulate people, yet there's a lack of empathy for them. They are self-centered and focus only on their goals, disregarding those around them. Normally, this character isn't meant to stick out too much from the crowd, but naturally, there can be exceptions!

>>> The Hidden Genius - To be honest, I don't see much of this character type in American novels, but I think that they could really use some! The Hidden Genius is usually found in fantasy-oriented stories, where they have an extraordinary ability, but hide it for private reasons. This could be because it's dangerous, they lack control over it, it's peculiar, it requires specific settings, they're unaware of their ability, or that they simply don't want anyone realizing the power they have!

>>> The Changed One - This is a protagonist who's actively trying to change themselves from who they previously were! They're trying to escape their previous life and connections because they realize that what they were doing was, well, wrong. (Example: a thief abandoning his job to simply become a normal citizen, or a socially awkward student trying to overcome their anxiousness.) Still, their history does have an impact on them and affects them as a person! Honestly, it doesn't have to be a major change either, the point is that a character is just trying to alter themselves for the better!

>>> The Second Best - This character is incredibly impressive at something--very well above average--but there's another character who's simply better and tops them. The second character is normally some kind of rival for the protagonist to overcome. The two's relationship is typically rather complex, as it's often composed of learning, growth, competitiveness, and acceptance! This character is usually found in a school setting, revolving around academics or sports, but it's definitely not limited to that!

>>> The Almost Perfect Character - When introduced, this protagonist is seemingly perfect in all aspects of their life (at least in the eyes of others). However, as the story continues, little flaws are revealed and the readers are now aware of the underlying depth of this protagonist's life. Throughout the character's journey, they overcome their doubts, accept themselves for who they are, and learn to appreciate their imperfections!

>>> The Not-So-Gifted One - This character is pretty much summed up by the name: they're not very talented and lacking in several different, important skills. They are below average compared to other people their age, and struggle to meet expectations. Their story is typically about self-improvement, change, and acceptance!

Whew! That's ten different types of protagonists that can definitely be used in your works! I hope that these serve as inspiration and some kind of guide to those struggling to come up with an original main character! Thank you so much for those who bothered to read this unnecessarily long post, and happy holidays!

Happy writing~

3hks <3

[cityzenshark]

If S2 doesn't improve the story focus...

Decepticon fan speaking here. I love them, I want to see them getting the limelight, but Earthspark isn't their show. It's about the Terrans and their relationship with the Malto family. There are over a dozen other media where your favourite classics get their spotlight but this show might not be one of them. We have to accept that.

However, EarthSpark's big problem is its disregard of its own main characters to the point the audience care more about the side characters.

Long ramble ahead.

.

From Season 1, Earthspark has the tendency to disregard their own main characters for the sake of already existing ones. Thrash, Robby, Jawbreaker, and the parents are big victims here.

Thrash, despite being the other first Terran, gets little to no development. He only had one focus episode that shifted his positive view of Cybertronians yet it didn't affect his characteristic or the family dynamic whatsoever. He could've been involve in other episodes focusing on the triplets, specifically with Nightshade, like Twitch with Hashtag, but he doesn't. In the end, his canvas is just like his paint job -- empty white.

Robby could've get 4 episodes about him only for 3 of them to be shifted to Twitch & Wheeljack, Starscream, Mo. Never mind the Wheeljack episode and "Prime Time" but "What Dwells Within" is the worst of them all. Now it appears Season 2 is heavily focusing him after S1 dismisses him multiple times.

Starscream, I'm sorry what you've been through, but that episode should never be about you. Robby is sick, the Terrans got rocky with other due to the lost link which triggered Hashtag's trauma of getting possessed, and then they lost their LIFE SOURCE WATER. Earthspark wanted the audience to side with Starscream so bad they put him in the pity light instead of laying out hints of his past in previous episodes and allow the viewers to decide for themselves. The dude's a millennium old soldier, not another Terran.

EDIT: The same case goes for Grimlock. As bad as the dude has gone through in "Home", he's also a millennium-old soldier. He knows he's going through PTSD but Jawbreaker doesn't. JB is a newborn. Instead of celebrating JB when he finally got his alt mode, the moment made viewers hate him because it focuses on Grimlock's point of view.

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR JB FANS: DO NOT GO TO TRANSFORMEMES SUBREDDIT!! RECENTLY, A USER THERE CAUSED TERRAN HATERS TO POP UP AND WISHING J.B TO DIE A HORRIBLE DEATH BECAUSE HE ACTED LIKE AN OVEREXCITED KID]

The parents... Oh dear their potentials are wasted soooo much. Ignoring Dot's relationship with Megs, they've become mere placements to remind the audience that Robby & Mo aren't poor orphans.

Dot being a veteran is to make her relationship with Megs sound plausible, that's all. Meanwhile Alex's profession in Cybertronian history is only relevant in the pilot episode and he only told the most basic one in lore. They never fuss about the cybersleeves, they seem available all the time but not really, they're ignorant of their children's activities, completely fine with them becoming child soldiers. Dot could've been the one to beat Mandroid to pulp in Prime Time like the Mama Bear she's described to be but no - let the nine year old beat him with alien powers. Alex could've played a bigger role for the Terrans to know about Cybertronians in general; for Nightshade especially by being the one who enables their intelligence and tinkering skills - not just leading them to finding their alt mode.

The show should've made Mo the same age as Robby. You can't ignore that they act like twins more than Twitch & Thrash despite the 5 year age gap. For a nine year old, she has high emotional intelligence yet so inconsiderate and naive at the same time in certain episodes. Pick one personality, please.

Finally, why oh why didn't they fix her face and head size? It looks a lot worse now.

TLDR; don't be surprised by the sudden change in character of the Cons. Earthspark doesn't respect their own main characters except Twitch. So let us heed Season 2 with low expectations.

[ruwriteshours]

HIT THE BLOCK! SERIES

status: ongoing

summary: It seems as if the group can't catch a break; from having those five seconds of fame, to illegal money lendings to financial issues and now... they're studio is destroyed! Someone is out to get them and they're going to make sure that they'll get those bastards, along with making a name for themselves again... by signing a contract to become ballet teachers? Oh boy, how they've officially lost it.

or in other words..

a group of unprofessional dancers tries to manage a ballet class... who would've thought that it will somehow backfires?

➢ pairing: nct 127! x fem! reader(s)

(each member would have their own love interest so it's not poly)

➢ genre: street dance AU, crack, fluff, cheating, slight angst, toxic friendships, alcohol, swearing, smut (MINORS DNI)

inspired from the movie 'street dance' but VERY loosely based on it.

THE OPENING:

Life always had its ups and downs. It took Lee Taeyong through hell for him to understand. He was reckless and frankly, impulsive. He often thought things ideally, not thinking of the consequences. Afterall, he was only a teenage boy looking for a dream. Moving out when he was barely the legal age, ready to make those dreams come through. Little did he know, that he would make one of the most life-changing decision when he decided to audition to one of the most shittiest companies known to man-kind. Partly an exaggeration, but he would be lying if he said he liked being there.

Moon Taeil had dealt with hard decisions in his life. Leaving university to pursue his passion, not knowing if it would backfire on him.

Newsflash: It totally did!

But he was no quitter, an obstacle perhaps. Taeil tries to be a positive thinker. Practically having his life fall apart, from catching his cheating girlfriend, to blindly following Taeyong in a path to their new journey; consist of illegal gambling, unnecessary fights and late night smoking sessions. But hey, it was better than that shithole. Those nights where he would drink away into total abyss, forgetting about his shitty ex. Indeed, he is no quitter!

Years and years had passed by, Johnny Suh watched people come and go. Those eight years of experience taught him a valueable lesson. People are only temporary and he was not gonna take the chance to warm up to anyone anymore. He was officially done with that shit. You'd think those eight years would've given him some patience but Johnny is having none of it. Of course, it's no suprise for the hot-headed man to not hesitate to curse out his instructor before walking off, following suit with a group of people who share the same frustation: FUCK THIS!

In contrary, Kim Doyoung was the complete opposite. A little too patient for his liking, he hated that he held in most of his emotions. His pride was stronger though, more determined to prove those fuckers that he can take their mistreatment. Even when Johnny had practically forced him to stand up to himself, he refused to stoop low. Well, guess we'll see how tolerable he can get before it all blows up. And it's gonna be hell when it gets to that point.

Did I mention that he was a patient man?

Yuta Nakamoto has always had a flirty exterior. That was when he wanted something he knew he could get. Deep down, he was a master manipulator (of course, for a good cause). He knows his charms and it doesn't hurt to have a little fun with it. It becomes a little too tiring when it becomes easy, Yuta wasn't one to favour something being handed to him in a silver spoon. He wants to fight for it. He wants to have that taste of glory and satisfaction to a challenge. He is a hardworker, if you'd ask me.

Studying abroad, Jung Jaehyun wonders if he had made the right choice. He is a handsome man and a handsome man can make someone disregard their intelligence. He really did wonder if becoming a dancer would strip away his self-worth. The company practically set him up to be this hunky dude with no brains. Girls fawning and drooling on the floor over him. He hated that his job scope included fan service: AND HE'S NOT EVEN AN IDOL. Maybe one day, he'll show them that he is way more than his looks.

Dong Sicheng is hated by all. It's funny considering that it's not like he wanted to be here in the first place. In fact, that thought never crossed his mind until his friend encouraged him to, telling him he needed to let loose for once. He was semi-glad that his friend had pushed him into this path, but he wasn't so sure if he actually wanted it. Barely given the chance for the try-outs and yet was accepted pretty quickly. Maybe that's why he had so many issues with his steps, maybe then, he wouldn't have to deal with the constant insults thrown his way. Oh well, guess he'll have to try harder next time!

Kim Jungwoo was set up to fail. Or so he thinks. He's quite a pessimistic though, it might come as a shock considering his bubbly personality. A replacement, is what he felt. That small chance of recognition is purely by luck and it was very evident from the way everyone seemed to have these look of envy in their eyes. Even when he felt that shred of success, everyone seems to claw it all up and tear it down, giving him nothing but disappointment. Maybe he is a failure, afterall.

Fame comes in easy for some people, Mark Lee is one of those people. The people where other people think that they don't work hard for their position. When in reality, people like Mark are pouring their blood, sweat and tears for it. But in human's selfish nature, they always assume the worst of others. Mark Lee was never an exception and he had to live down to it. Fuck the fact he moved all across states to come here, fuck the fact that he spent nine hours training which, mind you: when he was only sixteen and fuck the fact that he had been hospitalised for weeks because of it. Who cares?

And last but not least, Lee Donghyuck—though would recommend to call him Haechan, youngest of them all. The mood-maker, they say. The jokester is what people think of him. It's not like he minded, until it became too much. He hated that people never took him seriously because of that. Even when he shifted his entire personality, everyone would crack a smile and told him to stop being a wimp. He was more than that too, you know. Well, at least his friends took him seriously and that was enough for him.

No thanks to the company, the group managed to uphold a greater offer for themselves than that shithole ever will. But they couldn't take the full credit, at least the shitty building did something right by bringing them together in the first place. The only thing they did right.

chapter i.

more chapters coming soon...

©ruwriteshours

[astrologiadivertida]

Liam Gallagher Chart Analysis : Destined to be a Star-pt2 part1 :

https://www.tumblr.com/temblando/767731729970626560/liam-gallagher-chart-analysis-destined-to-be-a?source=share

Sun sextile Neptune:

Very creative. He has a lot of potential in creative or artistic areas. He’s really good at visualizing stuff in his head, then manifesting it, art-wise.

He’s really sensitive to other people’s emotions. Also, he can be very soft and sensitive.

Mercury in 10th house:

This is so Mercury in 10th house coded. He knows himself so well sometimes it’s really kind of funny😂 He loves talking about his career. He will probably love talking in a podcast or a talk show.

Mercury square Jupiter:

Ooh. Maybe not. I feel like he was never appreciated for his intelligence. And he might view himself as a stupid person.

His style of learning does not fit the traditional way of learning, so he might have felt a lot of frustration at school. His lack of interest in school might have led him to drop out or not go to college. His level of intelligence does not match his level of learning.

People might think that he’s being overly loud and grandiose in his words when he’s not. People might not get what he’s saying because it’s too over the top.

Mercury sextile Neptune:

I feel like he is very good at writing fictional stories. He is very imaginative and creative. He probably daydreams a lot and often makes differentt happens in his head. He versions of wha lies to himself about the things that happened.

His voice is very easy to the ears, very melodic and soft. He has a lot of potential to be a good singer.

Mercury conjunct Pluto in the 10th house:

Mercury conjunct Pluto, their words are dogmatic. He forces his ideas and thoughts onto others. He is quite stubborn about his own ideas and will try to teach people(or argue very harshly with them) if they think differently.

Sun conjunct Pluto in the 10th house:

He changes his public persona a lot. His personality changes are there for a lot of people to see.

He can also intimidate people. His presence is very dark and mysterious, very Pluto-like. This could have scared or thrown off a lot of people he met in his career, like his music producers or his band members, etc.

He's also his own boss, and he hates it when people tell him what to do. He's very stubborn and he wants to get things done in his own way.

He also can attract a lot of obsessive people(gaslighters, narcissists, etc) in his career. Even if he did, he’d recover and be born again. That’s the power of this aspect.

Pluto in the 10th house:

He is obsessed with fame. Achieving fame, recognition and all sorts of things. He would have always wanted to be a celebrity so bad.

He’s probably highly sexualized as well.

He’s also kind of hated by some, and loved by some. Public is polarized about his image.

ex. He won third place at Britain's most hated person when he was on the peak of his career. I think it was because of his rowdiness and his blatant disregard for rules -pluto in the 10th house, pluto+mars MC

He probably got the evil eye a lot, because a lot of people are jealous of him for him being so young yet massively successful.

Jupiter square Pluto:

He’s like really stubborn. When he decides to believe an idea, no one can shake him out of the idea. There is no way of persuading him out of his ideals, beliefs, etc. He can be a one tract, one mind kind of a person. He can have tunnel vision.

Pluto conjunct m.c:

He’s kind of a troublemaker. He doesn’t have a good reputation. He has the villain image. Or he goes out against the rules.

Probably perceived as a really rebellious person.

He might have been an outcast and he is not here to continue that. He has the ability to change society for better or for worse.

Uranus in the 10th house:

He changes his looks a lot.

pretty boy era

John Lennon era

old man era

knitted sweater era

Manchester Lad era

Willy Wonka Era

Zoolander era:

He also seems unpredictable to the public. Or maybe just really restless. Nobody really knows what he will do next. Will he do music? Acting? Maybe that’s what makes him so interesting. He is tabloid gold. He has the ability to change music forever(and he did, didn’t he?)

Mars conjunct m.c:

He is perceived as a violent person. He always seems to pick fights and throw hands at people. He can never sit still. He always has to do something to someone. Also people can think of him as a sexually potent person, people might think of him as a sexual and powerful man. I feel like the mars and Pluto conjunction to his mc made his whole rock star persona valid.

Moon in Pisces in 3rd house:

I still don’t know how Pisces moons work. I don’t even have an inkling for it. But all my life, I have been attracting Pisces moons as friends. So I think I know their vibes but I don’t know how they work. Pisces moons seem like they’re not paying attention to what you say. They always look like they’re dreaming and they have very feminine and soft energy to them. They like expressing themselves through some form of creative endeavors though.

They were mostly introverted, but Liam Gallagher is not an introvert for sure. 😂

His moon in the 3rd house makes him like those really friendly white dudes who can strike a conversation up with strangers at any given moment: at the airport, at the mall, at the gym, etc, etc....

He lives off the liveliness of the conversation, the back-and-forth banter is what makes him feel alive. He loves expressing himself but he also loves listening to other people when they talk.

But he hates it when somebody criticizes his intelligence. He can be very sensitive intelligence-wise. His siblings or his school friends could have been quite moody. His mood can change a lot, and he can be a bit neurotic and always on edge.

He might be very emotionally connected with his siblings or his childhood friends.

Moon square Neptune:

He’s always so moody. He feels things very deeply, so small things can hurt him a lot. He has mood swings and he’s very confused about his own emotions. He might probably resort to drugs or alcohol because of this.

3rd house ruler(Saturn, Uranus) in 7th house/10th house:

His siblings or his close friends at school could become his business partners. It’s really interesting because he got to work with his own brother. And he got really famous for it. It’s his job now, working with his brother.

Saturn in Gemini in the 7th house:

He always seems to attract strict people in his long-term relationships or his business partnerships.

I think is actually great for him because he’s not a grounded person at all.

His business partners or his open enemies can be very manipulative people. They can also be very good with words. They can be very authoritative towards him as well, such as “do what I say, or else”. This wouldn’t make him really happy though, because he has to do everything by himself. He wants to be his own boss.

Maybe this is why he fights with his brother all the time..

like or reblog for part 3

[kinkandkreep]

More Random Doramai Thoughts (continuation of the previous blurb)

Thinkin' 'bout the darkest possible ending for the Doramai college ABO blurb I posted the other day.

CW: noncon, drugging, kidnapping, mention of murder, mention of s**cide

Let's say that the newly obsessed Mikey has never truly experienced deep affection or attraction to anyone before, and for even more added spice, let's chalk this up to his Dark Impulses, which in this au he was born with as a result of some fumbling on the part of his father. (I'll let you decide what exactly that entails. I've got some ideas so if anyone would like me to share, I can do that as well.)

Anyway, when Manjiro finally realizes the depth of the emotion he feels of Ken, he doesn't immediately know how to process it, and so he lets his instincts lead.

And instinct says to claim the Alpha.

By any means necessary.

Mikey is cognizant of the fact that Ken is a catch, technical status as a "loser" aside.

He's strong, he's very good looking, he's decently intelligent, especially where it matters, and he's dependable.

That's more than can be said for a whole lot of guys, Manjiro would know.

So, he knows it won't be long before someone else realizes this and tries to snatch his Alpha away from him.

And Mikey's not normally one to believe, but he can't help but think that the fact that no one has taken Ken yet has to have been fate. He was being saved especially for him, and Mikey has also never been one to let an opportunity go to waste.

He does try at first, to pursue Ken normally.

He does the typical Omega things: dresses more feminine and daintily, acts more demure and reserved, uses scent enhancers.

All that is well and good, but it doesn't net him the results he was expecting.

Other Alphas fall all over themselves to get to him once he makes these changes, but his intended couldn't seem to care less.

Manjiro makes repeated attempts to approach and express his feelings to Ken, but each time he's either disregarded or outright shot down.

And the worst part about it is, Ken's never cruel in his rejection, just very straightforward and honest.

It drives Mikey insane.

Why doesn't Ken want him?

They'd be perfect together, can't he see?

Their pups would be perfect; good looking, strong, just like their parents.

Mikey wracks his brain trying to come up with a solution.

Until one day, after months of trying and failing to "court" Ken...

He catches him hugged up with some other Omega.

The Omega is very pretty, and Mikey recognizes him as Seishu Inui, a rather quiet guy, someone who never really caught Mikey's eye outside of his looks.

He and Ken are currently engaged in a heated lip lock some distance away from Mikey, and before the smaller blonde Omega realizes what he's doing, he's marched over to where the couple is, eyes ablaze with anger.

"How fucking dare you?!"

Ken and Seishu separate, looking as confused and annoyed as they feel.

Once he recognizes who it is, Ken sighs.

"Mikey, what are you doing here?"

Ignoring the question, Mikey continues.

"So this is why you've been rejecting me? Because of him?"

Seishu's brows furrow, but he doesn't speak.

With another sigh, Ken answers. "Yes and no. I rejected you initially because I simply am not interested in pursuing anything deeper with you. Seishu and I only just recently started dating, not that it's any of your business."

Mikey is taken aback, and he can feel tears wanting to well up in his eyes. But he refuses to cry in front of this asshole and his little bitch, so instead he takes a step back, before quickly turning on his heel and briskly walking away.

He keeps moving until he makes it home, and once he's safely inside his room, back against the door, he bursts into tears, sliding to the floor and wrapping his arms around his knees, into which he's buried his face.

‘But I was doing everything right. I changed so much for him. I love him! Truly, truly love him.’

At this point, Manjiro has begun to feel something...strange begin to flood as heat across his body.

He suddenly feels hungry, but not for food, and not even for sex.

This feeling is dark and possessive, almost entirely foreign to Mikey, as he’s never cared for anyone like this before.

Lifting his head, his expression has flattened, his eyes dull.

"I love him, and he is mine. I will not allow anyone or anything to come between us."

Fast forward, Manjiro decides the easiest and most familiar course of action to separate Ken and Seishu is to ruin Seishu's reputation around the school and run him out of town, but when that proves less than fruitful, he, influenced by his desperation and Dark Impulses, resorts to killing him.

To avoid suspicion, he leads the, admittedly minimal, evidence trail back to a Beta named Hajime Kokonoi, who everyone knew had a serious crush on Seishu.

When word gets around that the students and investigators suspect him, the pressure, in combination with his deep sorrow over the fact that the love of his life is dead, drives Hajime to take his own life.

Mikey didn't predict that it would work out that way, but it thankfully makes Seishu's murder look like an open and shut case.

For all except one person.

Draken knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that Mikey is the one who killed Seishu, but he knows it would be next to impossible to convince anyone else of that, especially now that the case has officially been closed.

At this point, Mikey, in his delusional mind, is certain that now Ken will come to him willingly, but when he's proven wrong, things escalate even further.

Long story short, Manjiro ends up drugging and kidnapping Ken, then waiting until he wakes to go on his whole spiel about why they're perfect for each other, and how he never wanted to hurt Ken, or anyone for that matter, but that Ken forced his hand.

When he realizes how unreceptive Ken is being, Mikey decides to show him how good he could make him feel, deliriously hoping that it'll cause him to fall in love in return.

While Ken is bound and gagged, Manjiro takes his time "pleasuring" him, riding his cock and rambling the entire time about how beautiful their children will be, how perfect their shared home, how everything's going to work out fine if Ken would just get with the program.

I like to think that it takes a while, but eventually a frustrated and somewhat exhausted Mikey finally gets an orgasm or two out of Ken, who doesn't cry, but becomes unresponsive as a result of what's happened to him.

There's several ways this could go, so I'll leave it up to y'alls imagination for now, but if anyone would like me to continue or even potentially make this a full story, don't hesitate to let me know.

Thanks for readin'! Ari out! ✌🏾

[aperfectcircle10]

I am not always wrong. My perception isn't always wrong. My intuition isn't always wrong. My feelings are valid and have a reason for existing. I am a middle aged adult and I can say No to anyone.

When you have to start making lists like this to hold onto your sanity you know you then are not in a healthy relationship with any future. Is nothing but survival. YOU MUST DETACH. 🔁

🫀🧠🫀🧠 🧠🫀🧠🫀

-The controlling, doubting yourself, constant pressure to change your mind - understand this person's behavior is literally how you developed mental health problems to begin with. Denial of a self. I am whatever you say I am. (AND keep saying)

-calling my mental health episodes

- Using Rachel and harassing me at work after I quit ameripet (extremely unreasonable)

The feeling I can't even work to support myself without being harassed and degraded is absolutely abusive behavior and evidence of what could happen when he doesn't get his way.

-Avoiding communication with me about any previous scenarios over the years but still demanding I engage and give him attention (literally like a child throwing a fit and dictator keeping control at the same time.)

-Not knowing when I'm truly hurt /lack of emotional perception. (I'm not to be babied but he is? CATCH YOURSELF!)

-Only honors his facts. When I say you had a child that's a life altering fact - I'm dismissed. Gaslit. This really creates an extreme cognitive dissonance in me. Because I know his logic doesn't make sense is unreasonable. I have my own mind.

- Seems he wants to destabilize my whole life. Disregard for the status of my real life completely in place of his feelings...meaning my family connections, my work, finances, health, home. Does not matter. Annihilating all.

Rachel is a smoke screen illusion for caring. Isn't real when all these other factors are considered.. is also felt. She's just a tool. Turned into a weapon.

-I see how he uses my family and Rachel as weapons is because if you look at his actions there's no concern for outcomes. They are just tools he senses. Caring about outcome is DIFFERENT.

-KNOWING I can't access many different emotions in myself or express them because I'll be punished. Fear conditioning. (And he said things like don't hit your kids so he actually thinks his own behaviors aren't damaging which means they won't change)

-Sadistic - tito ... felt and heard energetically.

-Can not trust him in any type of disagreement.

-Demanded accountability and thinks there should be no *relationship* effect. This is subtle but very very telling of emotional intelligence and relationship compatibility. Having to sift the humanity from the robot.

-Have to explain way way way too much. In loops without resolution just like Nik. He avoids resolution by calling it a point. Again the reasons he can't be trusted in any type of disagreement. "You are actually always the problem, you should know. Stay humble"

-Bringing Victoria into the picture to make me feel ugly. Completely inappropriate for someone expecting you to care about them. Again major lacks of emotional intelligence.

-So much fighting to the extent nothing feels meaningful almost not even my relationships with my family.

-My head literally hurts from overthinking as though I've been hit many times in the head. The expectation is to do better. The demand. But he will keep swinging. So there's no real thinking happening at all. Has been so quite awhile. Same as nik.

-His anima is actually not kind or feminine at all. There's duty and extreme hostility. (Part of the reason I'd never be stuck trying to raise kids with him)

-He never stops arguing. So I am forced to alter my own not only beliefs but also feelings to endure him and ANSWER him. I knew quite awhile ago I was done, had made firm decisions on the future of the relationship. I am not allowed to actually make decisions. They are uprooted and compared and trashed. The way our communication is.

-He demands I am strong but takes strength at the same time because he has to feel stronger and right. So i work twice as hard to be strong.

-I can't ever express myself without feeling the need to tell him it's OK because I know I'll get backlash. Although none of this is actually ok.

My REASONING and my EMOTIONS are eroded. The reason I have to reflect on these issues knowing they are significant to me even when he makes everyday hard because life has to get better and I am not choosing him.

-I literally can't think or feel..as soon as I do anxiety and defeat take over knowing I'll be dissuaded and everything turned into a joke shortly. It's not just masculine control either its everything.

And this is especially dangerous if I'm financially dependent which seems the way he preferred me to be. Because he has no respect or consideration for me working. Any power I have is a threat I think.

-Anything he doesn't like is labeled political. There's no point to talk. At all. Because having a point is also labeled wrong. But I also can't not talk to him because he will harass me.

-Basically everything is political because he also says don't let emotions lead you. Gaslights my intuition. So if I'm not supposed to believe in my emotions, my intuition, and all my thoughts are political garbage - how does anyone function with those narratives? That's life with him. I am made into nothing.

-I have no Lauren Eden to offer because everything is political and I shouldn't have a point. So I have nothing to offer him. But that makes me bad too. There is literally no way to satisfy him other than let him feed on and destroy me.

He absolutely has to work on himself. But saying so I am a hypocrite liar fraud whatever else.

-His Anima DEMANDS space - but refuses to give me space - even under these conditions.

-How slick do you hoes think you are? "Don't slip"

- Everyone has their own energy. I cannot "empower" myself or "recall my energy" in his story I have none. That is the cycle of every toxic relationship. Where they end.

-You should never be afraid and have to be careful with your partner or friend the way you are with him. Is not healthy or acceptable or funny. Never again.

-He destroys my ability have any confidence or belief in who I am from overtthinking and he is certain I am a robot he can push until I break and somehow that's a sign of something healthy? Endurance? Rather exhaustion and damage.

- REMEMBER YOU LITERALLY OBSERVED YOURSELF GO FROM A HEALTHY HIGH HEALING VIBRATION in FEMININE energy to the lowest and you seen exactly how and who did it. There is no mystery. The downward spiral masquerading as an easy path. Just like every other time you'd wonder what happened.

Is so much more than the umbrella of accountability he tries to use to control you.

- I've been here 8 years. I exist. I have value these are things I do. PFT POLITICS!

[alpha-of-chicago]

"I have been reasonable." He said stiffly. "I've been reasonable by allowing that boy to keep his life! I've not taken blood which is in my right to do! You know Pack Law!" It came out more as a snarl. What he didn't say was that is was his daughter's feelings that kept him from doing that. "Nephilim kill shifters, Juliet. You know this. Your silly little ideations are lacking any common sense at all!" Adam clenched his jaw so tightly it left streaks of white against his reddening skin. "You don't know that!" He snapped. "Any one of those nephilim could have hurt her and I don't give a damn how honorable you think that warlock is, he is not pack and therefore can choose to betray you at any point he chooses to do so and I have absolutely no loyalty to him or any of your ridiculously defiant friends! You'll be the death of this pack! Do you even know that?"

Her continued defiance did absolutely nothing to calm his rage. "You make friends with everyone but that doesn't mean everyone is friends with you!" He wanted to curse and rage. But Adam never cursed around a lady and he wasn't about to start now. Not even livid as he was. "I am ALPHA!" He seethed. "I don't have the luxury to worry about feelings. Not even the ridiculous teenage ones my daughter seems to have! You know that! And if you don't know that then you are obviously not as intelligent as I give you credit for." He was being deliberately hurtful at this point. Spiteful really. But her blatant disregard for his wishes was absolutely unacceptable.

Adam gave her a cold and unforgiving glare with as angry as he was. "Then why don't you start acting like it?" He demanded. "Obviously. I know nothing anymore as I am the last to know about anything that happens under my own roof because of you." The emotion in her eyes was hard for him to take. Really hard. But he remained stoic because he had to be. "You have this ridiculous notion that you need to have everyone's love over their safety. When that is not what being the alpha's mate is about so grow up, Juliet. Stop this incessant tyrade of flaunting yourself around for all the world to see when you HAD all the love already. You HAVE it. So stop undermining me at every chance you get and walk beside me for a change!"

"I am only the bad guy here because you are making me out to be!" He growled, lurching himself out of the bed and stalking into the bathroom and slamming the door so hard it shook the entire pack house. "I want you gone." He shouted at her through the door. "Go find your comfort from one of your obnoxious friends and leave me and my pack alone!"

Juliet bit back a scoff at the statement. "Since when are the nephilim our enemies, Adam? Please be reasonable. The actions of one individual do not speak for their entire Institute," she retorted, using logic to disarm the argument in a way that would make Kyle proud. "She was completely safe. Above anything she's a human, most importantly. They wouldn't harm her. And Magnus was with her, like I said."

She did scoff a bit then. Because dismissing Magnus to his title on top of the additional arguments was a little insulting to Juliet on some level. "My dear friend was involved in something that was my business, yes. And I don't need your forgiveness for something that caused no harm to anyone involved. Magnus holds no ill will towards anyone, or biases either, if his guest list wasn't obvious enough proof on that score. And Jessie's life was never in danger over the course of any of it." She scowled at Adam then. "Her feelings are just as important Adam. Surely you understand that."

His tone broke some straw within her. Because she felt utterly dismissed, and that wasn't how this was going to go. She wouldn't sit quietly. "I never told you you couldn't be angry with me. I told you I expected it." She fixed him with a more pained expression now. "But I will argue with you if you think for a second that what I did was anything but good for Jessie. I would never put her into any situation that endangered her. I'd die before I let anything happen to her, and you know better." Juliet blinked back tears, but her voice quivered in a bit that betrayed her then. "Because as much as she's your daughter, she's mine too. Blood or not, I take that seriously."

[sugarylawliet]

can I request light dating L’s younger sister (if that’s ok with you)

YEAH :D made them headcanons i hope that's cool

warnings: a makeout scene lol

- When L realized that he didn't have anyone on his intelligence level that was fully on his side, he decided to bring you onto the investigation and invited you to headquarters, as not only could he 100% trust you, he knew you were as smart as him.

- However, his hopes of having someone as smart as him on his side to help him were soon diminished when he noticed how close you and Light were to each other.

- You and Light weren't dating at first, in fact you would never even consider dating the man your brother suspected as Kira. however, at work, you couldn't deny the deep sexual tension between the two of you. His touch would linger too long when he placed his hand on your hip to move past you, his touch was soft when he handed you documents, he often spoke low and directly into your ear. He was quite the persuasive man when he wanted to be, and you soon found yourself falling for the man you thought you hated.

- When L noticed the tension between you and Light, of course, he wasn't pleased, but he didn't bring it up with light right away. He decided that, regretfully, it may be useful as Light might entrust you with information about Kira, at least for now.

- However, he didn't tell you that, of course. He often chastised you when the two of you were alone, reminding you that Light is absolutely Kira and I need to protect my little sister from evil.

- While it was true that you couldn't deny the suspicion and circumstantial evidence against Light, you defended yourself by telling L that you're grown and don't need him to look after you, that you can think for yourself.

- "If you could really think for yourself, you wouldn't be dating Kira," He sighs, "I really thought better of you, Y/N. Fooled by attractiveness and charm? That's not the detective I know."

- "I am not fooled by anything, L. Can't you just stay out of my personal life? And we're not even dating, anyway."

- Well, that would change with time as the weeks went on, Light had asked you out privately and, against every bone in your body, his soft hazel eyes and the purr in his voice were always too enticing, seeping into your emotions and pulling out the answer he wanted. You accepted.

- While nobody else on the task force was quite observant of your mannerisms enough to suspect you and light of being a couple, except for maybe Matsuda, that hopeless romantic, as the investigation continued, the task force spent most of their lives together, even residing in and sleeping in the new headquarters, and thus it became harder to be so subtle with your boyfriend. Typically the two of you kept PDA outside of work, however nowadays there really wasn't a personal life, only the Kira investigation.

- This of course ticked L off to no end.

- He would often shoot glances and dirty looks if you even went near Light. Light would often call you over to ask your opinion about something he was looking at on the computer, and everytime you leaned over him or placed a hand on his shoulder, L, sitting next to light, scowled audibley. you rolled your eyes, wondering if anyone else noticed the tension between the three of you.

- In private moments, Light sometimes brought up your brother.

- "Hm, I wonder what Ryuzaki would think of you like this, all over me..."

- "Hah, what would Ryuzaki think, his little innocent sister in love with me, the man he suspects of being a mass murderer."

- It seemed Light got off on the thought....

- Of course, as one of the greatest detectives in the world (second only to your arrogant brother but still above your bratty heirs), you had your suspicions and doubts about Light Yagami, however somehow they always seemed unimportant when he walked into the room; they melted away when he kissed you and they outright didn't matter when he touched you. You somehow always managed to push them aside.

- Soon enough, Light trusted you enough to reveal that he was Kira, however you decided not to tell your brother. It's not like you were on Kira's side, in fact at this point you found yourself on neither man's side. You wanted your brother to win and Kira to lose, of course, but you were also involved with Light and casually decided not to tell L about Light's confession. You rationalized it in your mind by thinking that if L was worthy of his title, he would prove Light to be Kira without your help.

- One evening when the rest of the task force went out to order food for everyone, you and Light volunteered to stay at headquarters to guard the place and get some more work done. This plan obviously was disregarded soon after everyone else left in favor of straddling Light in his chair and making out.

- Light bucks his hips upwards, earning a sharp gasp from you. You moan slightly, beginning to roll your hips and grind into him.

- You break the kiss, Light deciding to kiss your neck instead while you talked, "Light, they'll be back... what if they walk in?"

- Light smirks against your neck, grabbing your butt to push you harder to grind against his crotch, causing you to moan. He chuckles, "You say that, but you sound like you sure don't wanna stop."

- "Light, what if they see..."

- "Let them," He continues nipping at your neck as his hands move to your hips, encouraging you to keep rolling against him "Let Ryuzaki see his innocent little sister desperate in Kira's lap, at my mercy..."

- Let's just say both Soichiro and L were not so pleased when they walked in. Matsuda, however, was squealing like a little girl about "young love"

- You hopped off of Light right away and returned to your work as if nothing happened, but the tension in the room was undeniable. And as Soichiro scolded his son about "acting professional in the workplace", L called you into the other room for a talk.

- After a joking threat to send you back to the Wammy house, you agreed to not date Light anymore, however that of course didn't happen, you only limited your PDA with him in front of L.

[bakujho]

Another rant about some Shady Eels

So, back again to talk about the shady eels though this time focusing on how with the information we’ve been given we can pretty well confirm the Leech family are mafia. We’ve gotten a few solid gems of information the last little while, pretty well confirming what we always figured. Octavinelle has got that mafia theme, so everyone expected some shadiness, but the info we’ve been fed about the Leech parents really brings home that it’s not just the dorm theme, and that the twins and Azul aren’t just “cosplaying as mafia baddies for aesthetic”. 

So what exactly do we KNOW? 

The twins were taught self defense by their parents from a young age. (Jade voice lines)

When they were children their parents ‘associates’ would buy them luxury or rare  birthday gifts...then were made to sign waivers saying that the gift had no ulterior motives and wouldn’t constitute a favour in return.  (Jade birthday)

Their father has told them that appearances on land are important, and to pay close attention to the little details. (When Idia asks for further clarification, he cuts Floyd off before he goes further saying that any further and he feels like he’d be “ensnared by darkness”) (Floyd dance and wishes wish)

There were many parties back in the Leech household, but they were more formal in nature. (floyd birthday)

Eels have a “tough guy” image in the sea, and them being carnivores doesn’t help. (floyd birthday)

Mama leech worries about her babies and contacts them often (jade birthday)

That they have a family run business, that has contacts with a LOT of kinds of different people. Jade tells us it’s VERY normal. (jade birthday)

Leech parents have spoiled their kids before, so they’re likely fairly well off. (floyd birthday)

Floyd seems to have a bit of a sore spot regarding humans (floyd robes) 

So obviously, without 100% confirmation, it’s impossible to say MAFIA LEECH ARE CANON, but with everything we’ve been given I’m pretty confident in saying it’s damn likely. That’s not even the fun part, cause it’s so surface level obvious considering Octavinelles theme, I decided to jump into it more. @chillableu​ had posted a comment in a shared discord that really got my brain whirring about WHY the mafia fam is maybe a bigger thing than just aesthetic, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. Headcanon accepted, chilla. I thank you. (I took out your name in case you didn’t want anyone on discord to find you by it)

  I’ll put the rest of this under a cut since it’s really just me theorizing and head canoning a whole ton of shit about the Leech fam based on humans treating fish as lesser beings incapable of the same level of emotions and intelligence as themselves, adding in bits from other media that has mermaids, mythology, and a touch of the history of the mafia.

Not even really sure where to start with this, but here we go. So, What if the Leech fam (be it great grandpa/grandma leech or current Leeches) started the mafia as a way to protect themselves due to the mistreatment of merfolk that were more “monster” like than the regular human kind mermaids we’ve only seen up until now. Its reported that the original Sicilian mafia started as a way for certain families that were facing persecution from the rest of the towns that eventually spiraled into the crime syndicates we all know from various media today. Outside of the twins and Azul, all the other merfolk that have been shown in game have been the “fully human on top, fish bottom” type, and with Azul being bullied because we was a rare 8 legged mermaid, and the magicamonsters from the Halloween event seeing merfloyd and remarking how RARE it was to see one, so I’m thinking that maybe the Leech fam started as a way to protect themselves, since if carnivorous merfolk are seen as more brutish, they may have seen a lot of discrimination from other merfolk and humans alike. 

It’s no secret that Toboso has been covering a lot of heavy topics dressed up in Disney clothes, and has already addressed discrimination and fetishization with the scarabia, savanaclaw, and more recently Diasomnia boys (well, mostly Malleus in the halloween event being treated like an object). So what I’m thinking is that there’s an underlying problem in the twstverse, where non-humans are treated badly, and non-humans with monster features even more so. So the leech fam bands together with whatever other monster like merfolk families there are and create their own little area in the coral sea, and eventually expand out into other types of business until they’re in a comfortable enough position to not really worry about any backlash anymore. Floyd has shown some distaste before about being ordered around by humans, which could be an ingrained quality from his parents, or he himself may have experienced some form of mistreatment at the hands of humans before. If the leech fam has a lot of ‘associates’ I think it’s safe to say that they weren’t the only ones feeling abandoned by the normal merfolk and humans .

In Japanese folklore there are creatures called Ningyo (basically human fish), which were both feared as creatures that would bring calamity and misfortune, and prized as their flesh was supposed to be sweet tasting and grant near immortality if eaten. Mermaids in a lot of more modern media are also more nuanced than the “beautiful fish that sailors fall in love with”. Even in One Piece, there’s the mermaids that are captured and sold off to the rich as prize objects to collect and display, and the Fishmen, which are the strong brutes that are ostracised by nearly everyone in series for them simply being fish. If Toboso wanted to touch on the mythology in TWST it would make sense that the more monster-like mermaids have created their own sub-society separate from the regular merfolk. During the Halloween event, the children seem to be pretty scared by Floyd because he’s huge, so what if that’s nothing new for him and why he’s so good with kids? Cause as a mermaid they’re used to people being openly scared of them without any good reason outside of their appearance. I also suspect that Floyd and Jade have a few more siblings, since in one of Floyds home screen lines he says that he’s not the youngest nor the oldest, and tbh, eels lay thousands of eggs, so it wouldn’t be surprising that he knew how to deal with the kid without any struggle. 

What if, when the eels are first hatched they’re a lot smaller than they were and like in the original article that started all of this, humans were needlessly cruel to them and many of them died out of sheer neglect, or that humans just didn’t think merfolk as capable as having acute emotions and saw them as lowly fish rather than sentient beings. We saw with the Magicamonsters that there’s a complete disregard for the feelings of Malleus when they made it a challenge to touch his horns and get a picture, so I imagine that has to extend to merfolk as well when they’re actually seen. That same mindset could have extended to the regular mermaids as well, which is why mermaids like Azul were so tormented for being different, even though they’re all fucking mermaids at the end of the day. So bringing this back to the Leech fam, they decided that they weren’t going to stand for the same level of discrimination from humans and other merfolk alike and began building their own empire. They have contacts in the sea that extend to those on land (otherwise how would the twins get the rare land items for their birthdays), and have an extensive network of associates, with the added bonus of brilliant mermaid twins, one of which is incredibly cunning, the other quick to violence and both of them raised to defend themselves should the need arise. 

So basically, I’m fully on the “Mafia Leech Fam is canon for real” train and at this point it’s going to be very hard to change my mind. I feel like there were a few more things I wanted to touch on with this but they’ve poofed themselves into the depths of my mind somewhere, so I may have to come back to them later. If you have anything to add, please let me know cause brain rotting about the Leech fam is honestly one of my favourite past times right now.

[darkcircles4lyfe]

retrospective & predictions

Since we're on a hiatus week (between 320 and 321) I feel like waxing poetic about the depth and growth of bkdk for a bit. Especially because it seems like we’re right on the edge of their biggest development yet, I’m getting the urge to lay all my perspectives and insights I’ve picked up from others out on the table. This is ultimately only my subjective interpretation of subtextual material in canon, though. If you’ve never quite understood what people see in their dynamic and you’re actually open to hearing me out, maybe from this you can at least see where we’re coming from. And if you don’t like my takes after all, well, we’ll see who’s right in the coming chapters, won’t we? What I have to say can be taken platonically or romantically; I appreciate both. 

putting it under the cut, since it’ll be long:

At the risk of projecting, I want to start by examining a couple things based partly on personal experience.

From many different directions, I often hear people expressing that Deku’s persistent attachment and admiration for Bakugou is baffling at best. Despite the bullying, despite Bakugou’s loud, rude, and uncompromising personality, he still puts effort into their relationship and frequently describes him as amazing. It seems like Deku himself is aware of this as he’s said things along the lines of how he’s difficult, BUT... etc. Although I don’t think it’s exactly that Deku finds Bakugou’s personality hard to be around, but that he’s deliberately expressing patience for Bakugou’s emotional turmoil. 

I have to say I know what this sort of patience is like, as I went through it with someone I love. I only chose to put up with their behavior because I decided the possibility of what our relationship could be was worth it. I wasn’t blind or submissive to how they treated me, and I wasn’t coerced. I simply expressed myself and established my boundaries while still allowing them the opportunity to join me in my world once they got over their own hangups. And guess what? It worked out in the end. That doesn’t mean there aren’t circumstances where it’s better to cut ties, but I want to stress that true reconciliation is possible sometimes. I used to worry that other people around me thought I was delusional for seeking it, but what really helped was my therapist reminding me that I’m smart and strong. So I think Deku deserves to feel the same. In a way this is his whole mission in life, his approach to being a hero as well as his personal relationships.

Let me also be clear though that I don’t mean Deku is only tolerating Bakugou’s personality, his mannerisms, the parts of him that will likely never change. I’m drawing a line between those things and his emotional state (they so rarely align anyway, but I’ll get to that later). In fact, I think Bakugou’s general attitude is part of what Deku admires. This is gonna be hard to explain without inserting personal experience too, sorry. As a writer myself I’ve noticed I’m drawn to writing characters that are brazen and bold and don't mind telling people off. Really it’s because I operate in the world in the polar opposite way. I try not to draw attention to myself, I’m quiet, and I’m a people-pleaser. People who project confidence, especially in an impolite sort of way, fascinate me. It’s good to take cultural context into account, too: I've heard people who’d know better than me that part of the reason Bakugou is the most popular character in the Japanese fandom is likely because he contradicts a lot of their social norms. His disregard is refreshing and cathartic. I can speculate that Deku has a similar point of view based on what he thinks but does not admit about Bakugou being his image of victory and how this sometimes makes him mimic Bakugou’s speech and mannerisms: 

There’s also the bit in this fight where Deku realizes he's the only one able to receive Bakugou’s emotions. This is because he’s the most intimately familiar with him and his situation, but I think there’s another layer. Deku, as we know, has a self-sacrificing tendency, and in the current chapters we’re seeing the worst side of that. But let’s also not forget that to an extent, it can be a positive trait: resilience. When it comes to Bakugou, he has an almost comical ability to dodge the potential fallout of his outbursts. The example we all jump to (and fight about..) is how in ch1, apart from the initial shock of Bakugou suggesting he jump off the roof, the most he reacts is to criticize him for saying such a ridiculous thing. However, I think their interaction post- sludge villain is a lot more interesting:

Note two things: 1, in his head, Deku is practically making fun of how Bakugou’s acting as he stomps away without waiting for a reply. It doesn’t faze him. 2, Deku thinks, optimistically, that he can now focus on a different career choice. This is astonishing really. Up to this point, none of Bakugou’s attempts to put him down have worked; he just kept pursuing his dream. The only reason Deku concedes in this moment it because for the first time, he has been shown that he really couldn't do anything in a fight against a villain. All Might told him he couldn't be a hero (although he’s literally about to take that back in the next few pages lol) and the other heroes at the scene gave him a lecture about it too. It was those experiences, and not Bakugou’s words, that truly affected him. And when All Might tells Deku he can be a hero after all, it’s not thinking of Bakugou’s bullying that makes him sob and fall to his knees, it’s the memory of his own mom never telling him those words he so desperately needed to hear. Having spent most of their lives together, Deku must have been aware all this time that Baukgou was influenced by larger societal forces rather than a core judgement, so he didn’t take it personally. He separated the person from the action, and because he’s resilient and patient, he is thus equipped to handle Bakugou’s emotions. It’s a testament to his maturity and emotional intelligence, really. 

But I can almost hear some of you saying, “that doesn’t mean Deku should have to be the bigger person here!” Correct! Just because Deku is perfectly alright bearing all of that, doesn’t mean atonement-era Bakugou sees it this way. We can track his awareness of Deku’s care and selflessness as follows-

The bridge scene, when they’re little kids: Bakugou conflates Deku’s heroism with pity, and subsequently thinks Deku is looking down on him because Bakugou’s own insecurity makes him defensive.

The Sludge Villain, and also Deku vs. Kacchan Part 1: Bakugou witnesses first-hand how easily Deku jumps to risk his own life, but still thinks he’s being looked down on. 

The Sports Festival: Bakugou fights Uraraka and recognizes her endurance strategy and refusal to give up as very Deku-like. He’s half right. He thinks Deku advised her in the fight, when in reality she just mimicked Deku because she admired him. I want to draw attention to his very sober comment about her not being frail. It’s a great endearment of Uraraka’s character and Bakugou’s respect for her when others didn’t take “fighting a girl” seriously, but it also reflects on his opinion of Deku. Deku isn’t weak either. He never was.

Deku vs. Kacchan Part 2: Deku finally corrects him about the whole looking-down-on-him thing, and Bakugou is informed that Deku’s selflessness is in fact the reason All Might chose him. Since Bakugou had been in search of what he himself was “doing wrong” for All Might to favor Deku over him, he now has to reconcile the fact that selflessness is a heroic trait, and moreover something he lacks. This is also possibly the first time Bakugou is able to see his past actions toward Deku as bullying since he previously thought it was more mutual. Additionally, Bakugou can now link Deku’s selfless behavior to what he perceived as pity/contempt, and realize that Deku has been giving him A LOT of grace. Maybe too much. Maybe more than Bakugou deserves, and definitely more than Deku should have to. Holy heck- now Bakugou has to figure out how to live up to all the faith that’s been placed in him. 

Subtextually, we can see Bakugou’s feelings about atonement reflected in the Todoroki family:

1, Shouto is another example of Deku growing a friendship using his selflessness (since their fight in the sports festival) and their relationship is being acknowledged here where it hasn’t been in Bakugou’s situation. Perhaps Bakugou is wishing it could be so simple for him, to be able to thank him for being his friend like that. Deku saying the pleasure is all his also probably calls to mind how a mere apology from Bakugou would probably be dismissed because that’s just the kind of accommodating person Deku is. Bakugou has to operate more quietly in order to actually make up for their past. I personally don’t interpret this scene as Bakugou being jealous of Deku and Shouto’s friendship, exactly, just the lack of emotional baggage. Side note, Deku and Fuyumi are kinda similar in their desire to repair relationships. I like that she’s the one to give him some credit. 

2, With the common terminology, this can be interpreted as Bakugou receiving a model for atonement, one that is about action, and nothing to do with receiving favor or forgiveness. It’s a sense of duty. 

Many of the above sentiments are repeated in the flashback conversation between All Might and Bakugou right before Bakugou’s sacrifice. 

Bakugou acknowledges his bullying and that it happened because of his own insecurities, but aside from that, it’s interesting he neither confirms nor denies All Might’s suggestion that he’s trying to atone, or that Deku doesn’t see it that way. All Might is a bit of an unreliable mentor sometimes, but I don’t think he’s misreading here. Rather, Bakugou is displaying his tendency to hold back when talking about things that would make him really emotional. Besides, admitting to what he’s doing kind of defeats the purpose. He isn’t seeking acknowledgement. All Might has gotten to the crux of the issue here when pointing out that Deku doesn’t recognize the atonement, likely because Deku doesn't think Bakugou even needs to atone. Am I reading into it too much to say Bakugou looks wistful at this? It’s kinda frustrating sometimes trying to interpret Bakugou’s actions because he’s so paradoxical. Loud and in your face, but also extremely reserved. Sometimes I feel like I’m grasping at thin air, but hey, being hard to figure out is part of his intrigue as a character. The simplest way to look at him is to assume that unless he’s really showing vulnerability, he’s probably deflecting and hiding something.

Speaking of Bakugou’s tendency to to hold back emotional stuff, there’s his apparent lack of issue with Deku calling him Kacchan. Maybe to begin with, in his warped perception of things where he thought they hated each other, Bakugou saw it as Deku’s way of getting back at him for calling him “useless,” and didn't dare give any indication that it actually bothered him. However... consider how betrayed Bakugou has appeared when he was noticeably thinking Deku was looking down on him- the bridge scene, and the beginning of their first year at UA when he thought Deku was hiding a quirk all along. He looks shocked and hurt. That kind of emotion couldn’t be invoked by someone Bakugou didn’t actually care about his relationship with. “Kacchan” comes from a long time ago, before their relationship was strained, so it’s connotations are pure. Maybe somewhere deep down, Bakugou has always been hoping that Deku’s continued use of the nickname was not simply a matter of habit or teasing, but a vestige of friendship they’re both clinging to, and Bakugou himself was too afraid to admit to himself that he felt this way about it, so he mostly ignored it. (These are not original thoughts I am having here lol, this is a common interpretation. I’m just laying everything out like I said.) 

And now we turn to the current situation. Personally, I’ve been looking frantically back and forth between them wondering who’s going to break down first (Deku vs. Kacchan Part 3, this time it’s just a fight to get the other person to cry? ha.) Both have looked like they’re approaching a breaking point for some time. Also, I’ve addressed this before, but I think it’s significant that Bakugou is no longer wearing his mask with his hero costume, in contrast to Deku recently donning his own. It feels symbolic of Bakugou about to be upfront about how he feels.

The question is, what is it going to take to get Deku to accept help? If you ask me, Deku has dug himself so deeply into the I’m-doing-this-for-everyone-else’s-safety-and-smiles hole, no common sense argument can possibly reach him. By the end of 320, Deku’s mask is off, and we can see how desperate he truly is. But he has not cried, yet. I predict we’re going to see a bit more of his defiance, this time on full display on his face as the remaining class members and his other friends take their turns. But then I think Bakugou has to be the one to break down so Deku can witness his actions having the opposite effect he intended. People have been pointing out that Deku is currently ignoring Bakugou, and oof, that’s gotta be intentional. Regardless of what Bakugou says, it’s going to be wrapped up not only in his understanding of Deku’s self-sacrifice, but also the betrayal Bakugou feels at being ignored/left behind that ironically echoes his previous perception of being looked down on, as well as a need to express how much he cares about Deku before it’s too late. He must show that the two of them are inseparable because they both act to save each other without thinking, and both feel like losing the other would be like dying themselves. All Might may have been right when he told them they could learn from each other after Deku vs. Kacchan Part 2, but he didn’t fully realize that idea by making sure they stuck by each other for support and balance. 

I can’t wait to see what it’ll be like when they do finally get to that point, totally in synch and in tune with each other. They’ll be a powerful force no one is quite prepared for. Who knows when that will be, or even which chapter will be their big showdown, but I know the day is coming.

To speculate even further, I think the 2nd user is going to be really important really soon. And no I don’t mean to suggest that the 2nd user is Bakugou. But I do think their resemblance is key. Okay this is gonna be convoluted...

See how 2nd is the only one still standing? I think that’s symbolic of him withholding his quirk. Deku may not even know what it is at this point, let alone have unlocked it. Given that 2nd approves of Deku’s strategy at this point, it seems odd for him to withhold his quirk based on lack of faith. I think if his quirk was something that would help Deku in combat, he would have shown it to him already like the others did. So what if those gauntlets of his are support items that are meant to make up for his lack of a combat-oriented quirk, rather than to augment it? Mind you, I still have no idea what his mysterious power might be, but I’m dead set on it not being explosion-y. Regardless, I think 2nd looking like Bakugou is more about aiding some grand visual parallel, so! You know how 2nd and 3rd were probably intending to do away with Yoichi but 2nd changed his mind as soon as they made eye contact? This is really a long shot, but I wonder if 2nd’s quirk has something to do with that exchange. Maybe it’s something psychological, or some 6th sense about people he meets. So... in that way 2nd’s quirk could play a role in bkdk reaching a deeper understanding? Idk! But it could be significant at least that 2nd left Yoichi’s question about why he reached out to him unanswered. 

One more thing- while I was gathering screenshots I found this. I think “you’re the last one I’m telling” might be foreshadowing for Bakugou revealing his hero name to Deku and it being a Big Deal:

As for other lingering threads in the overall plot right now, such as the UA traitor, Stain, whatever Tsuyu is apparently about to do, All Might’s car maybe in the background of the last page of 320... man I have no idea. All I know is there’s literally 320 chapters’ worth of build-up to this confrontation that can’t be interrupted. 

See you next week <3

[mbti-notes]

Anon wrote: Hi. I hope you had/are having a great summer break. I (INTP) am hoping for some perspective about an issue. Recently, my mother, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, became incredibly frustrated that I corrected her with an alleged “I know everything” attitude.

It’s an issue of concern because she revealed that I always do this. I guess this was the straw that broke it, especially given that what we were discussing was very trivial. (Maybe the frivolousness of the subject is precisely what made my correction seem more pedantic, unnecessary, arrogant.) She says that my attitude disregards her long life experience, and that if she were a stranger, she would think of me as a “snot-nosed brat who knows nothing about life” instead of as a “wise young person”, which is the viable alternative. She said that I am closed-minded and that I shoot everything down. (The problem of small-mindedness is what you addressed the only other time I wrote to you.)

I don’t know why I come off as arrogant. I’m sure that I’m not. I asked my mother what it was that made her think that, which she thought was a silly question because what she sensed was a general demeanor rather than specific behaviors. In the end we were only able to establish that my lack of eye contact was one of those factors. I can work on that, but surely that’s not determinant. What makes people think of others as arrogant? Should I stop correcting people? I don’t correct others in order to feel superior to them. I do it because I like to debate, in order to keep my thinking sharp, and because there is something painful about friends/family having false notions. I think it’s fair to say that my intention isn’t rooted in arrogant soils.

Granted, my suggestion of stopping correcting people is black-and-white, given that there is the grey option of changing the *way* I correct people. I’m just wondering if it’s an unhealthy habit in the first place. But given how prevalent a thought process it is (i.e. questioning people’s statements and finding faults), the process of getting rid of it may be akin to self-directed psychological violence. I mean, this is the same mode of being that makes me good at what I’m good at. (There’s also the option of keeping the thought process, but not correcting people aloud, but I don’t know what else there is to talk about other than analyzing ideas and their faults. Maybe I should analyze ideas for their strengths too, and express that side more than the faults.)

So anyway, let’s go with grey: So far I’ve tried thinking of an arrogant person that I know in order to understand my behavior, but I can’t think of anyone. Also, no matter how hard I try to put myself in someone else’s shoes in order to simulate an interaction with myself, it doesn’t really work, and I can’t see the arrogance, except if I were to just tell someone “that’s wrong” without any explanation. (I wonder if that’s what went wrong in the conversation with my mother.) Either way, this whole issue boils down to the fact that I’m not arrogant by any reasonable criteria that I found online, but that I come off as such. This was longer than intended. Thanks for your kindness and help.

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

Here are some questions for you to reflect on. They are meant to increase awareness of your underlying assumptions, beliefs, and values. Answer honestly:

Do you care about your mom? Do you care about how she's faring, what she's experiencing, what she's thinking or feeling, what she needs and desires, what she hopes for or aspires to, etc?

If you care, how do you SHOW your care to her?

If you don't care, how does that affect your behavior toward her?

Do you believe that the mother-child relationship only goes one-way? (Is it the mom's job to do for you but you owe her nothing?)

You say you like to debate to sharpen your mind. Innocent enough. I like to roller skate to keep myself physically fit. In an ideal world, I would never take my skates off. Does my enthusiasm for roller skating mean that I slap my skates on anywhere, any time? No. Surely it is inappropriate to skate around a hospital or the supermarket. Not only could I seriously harm myself, I would also be exhibiting flagrant disregard for the safety and well-being of others.

What you like to do for yourself sometimes comes into conflict with other people. If you care about people and hope to have healthy and happy relationships with them, you have to take their needs and wants into consideration in every interaction. You have to abide by ethical rules and principles that allow your needs to be met without neglecting the needs of others or interfering with their ability to get their needs met. Without ethics, society wouldn't be able to function, because it would just be a free-for-all.

You mention small-mindedness. It is quite small-minded to walk around the world only thinking about what you need/want. In the best case scenario, you are completely oblivious to others, and they will perceive you as clueless or self-absorbed. In the worst case scenario, you only interact with people for your own personal gain, and that would make you an exploitative or even abusive person. Is that the kind of person you want to be?

Do you basically treat people as though their sole purpose on earth is to debate you and help you sharpen your mind - to serve you? Do you launch into debates with people without asking for consent or checking to see if they want to be corrected? If you do, they will call you arrogant, not because you've put yourself on a pedestal and call yourself superior like an evil cartoon character, but because you are communicating to them that your needs/wants are most important AND you don't give a damn about theirs.

Webster's definition of arrogance: "an insulting way of thinking or behaving that comes from believing that you are better, smarter, or more important than other people". You believe that you know better, otherwise, you wouldn't grant yourself the social authority to intrude on people's boundaries, invalidate their experience, and correct them uninvited. You believe that you are smarter, otherwise, you wouldn't automatically assume the dominant social role of corrector. You behave as though you are the more important member of the relationship because your main priority is YOUR need to feel better (about your skills or about what others believe) while overlooking the other person's needs. Seems like you fit the definition quite well.

Despite that, I wouldn't call you arrogant because I understand that small-mindedness is a difficult problem to overcome. I see the effort that you're putting in to understand it. I'm charitable because I'm not the one who was hurt by your behavior. When people feel hurt, they often have difficulty expressing it. Maybe it comes out clumsily or they aren't able to explain their hurt without hurting you in return. Expressing one's true feelings is to make oneself vulnerable. If someone doesn't trust you to understand and validate their feelings or, worse, they believe that you will attack them for their feelings, they will not be completely honest with you. Your mom is trying her best to give you the benefit of the doubt by saying "if you were a stranger...", but she doesn't feel comfortable enough with you to express her hurt fully and explicitly as it happens. Why? Because the very reason she is hurt in the first place is that you have shown very little regard for her feelings. Following from the previous post of yours, the root of the problem is that you have such a poor understanding of feelings to begin with that you view them as inconsequential in yourself and others (very immature Fe).

I believe you have no ill-intent. I have said before that the typical Ti dom never sets out to hurt people on purpose. Rather, they hurt people unintentionally because their perspective is too small: 1) they don't grasp that other people's needs may be very different from their own and thereby fail to consider them, 2) they don't know how to empathize with different perspectives and validate them, and/or 3) they don't understand that SHOWING love and care is necessary for people to justify continued investment in the relationship.

In other words, Ti doms tend to hurt people out of negligence or acts of omission. Some of them get frustrated at not being able to solve their relationship problems. They might try to convince themselves that doing nothing means that no harm can be done, so they adopt a passive stance in the relationship and perhaps even train themselves to keep their mouth shut (self-violence). They fail to understand that there's more than one way to cause hurt. Instead of learning better relationship skills, they check out mentally and emotionally. Being checked out only makes it worse because you hurt yourself and you keep hurting others by being even less attentive to their needs.

The foundation of meaningful relationships is showing care. In a healthy relationship, people trust you to care for their emotional needs and not violate their personal boundaries. If you only attend to your own needs/wants in social interaction, you are signalling that you don't really care about the other person. This problem with your mom shows that you give little to no consideration for emotional needs and personal boundaries. If you don't want friends, it's entirely your choice to be alone for the rest of your life, pretending that you never leave any footprints behind you. If you want friends, you'll have to put out more effort to be a better friend, by paying more attention to the consequences of your behavior.

Doing things that violate trust and boundaries, even if unintentional, causes hurt. When people feel hurt and don't feel safe to express the hurt, they are liable to say/do negative things. To have good emotional intelligence is to see past the surface of their negative words/behavior and grasp the underlying emotional needs that were unmet and/or the personal boundaries that were violated. Only then can you be a morally responsible member of a relationship, in terms of owning all the ways that you impact people, both positively and negatively.

Arrogant people don't care about the social impact they produce. As long as they get what they want and don't lose anything, the existence of others is of little importance to them. If your mom is important to you, then learn how to show it better by listening to her when she tells you about her needs/wants. You hyperfocus on the literal meaning of the word "arrogant" and whether it is true/false of you, as though proving it false means that there's nothing wrong. You need to listen to the people you have hurt, if you want to understand why your behavior is hurtful. Alternatively, you need to educate yourself about emotional needs, interpersonal boundaries, and what constitutes un/ethical behavior and why.

[azucanela]

SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE

PAIRING: SUGAWARA KOUSHI X FEM!READER

REQUEST: if you’re feeling into it a suga fic where they like dated during high school and later get back together after college would be awesome!! maybe fem y/n was manager for karasuno or something and they just broke up bc of distance! and if you don’t want to do this that’s perfectly okay! take care of yourself, you’re an amazing writer!!

WARNINGS: ANGST TO FLUFF. KISSING. MILD TIMESKIP SPOILERS.

WORD COUNT: 1.9k

A/N: i love suga, SUGA SUPREMACY, thank you for the request it was fun to write!

HAIKYUU!! MASTERLIST

HE LOVED HER AND THERE WAS NO DENYING IT, but it wouldn’t be the first time that two people very in love had been forced apart for whatever the circumstances. 

You could see it in the way he forced her onto the inside of the sidewalk— a small thing done in an attempt to keep her safe from possible incoming cars. You could see it in the way Sugawara’s eyes fell on her absently, so encapsulated with her words and the passion in her voice. You could see it in the way he seemed to light up when he saw her in the stands of his volleyball games, even though he likely wouldn’t be playing. 

And oh did Y/N L/N love him as well. Her sad smiles at the mention of his name were evidence enough, and if not, it was the way she frequently asked Daichi and Asahi of his health full well knowing the boy had a tendency to forego taking care of himself when he was so caught up in the well being of others.

Kageyama had observed it early on— or more accurately, Hinata had observed it early on, pointing out to the young setter that his senior was obviously enamored with their second manager. Hinata’s emotional intelligence had always been far ahead of Kageyama’s, although Kageyama had noticed the difference in... treatment between the pair, he had never truly realized they were dating.

But it soon became abundantly clear that they were in fact, together. And Y/N L/N wasn’t just the other manager of the Karasuno Boy’s Volleyball Team, but the girlfriend of Sugawara Koushi.

Which is the main reason why Kageyama had suspected she hated him early on, after all he’d taken her boyfriend’s spot on the starting line up, and he had bluntly pointed this fact out to her by the vending machine one day. Though Y/N had simply laughed it off, bringing a hand to Kageyama’s shoulder and offering him a smile.

Just like Sugawara had. Maybe that’s what made them the perfect pair, Kageyama wasn’t sure. But anyone with a set of eyes could tell they were a disgustingly perfect couple. 

Which is why Kageyama had never imagined they would break up. Nor had anyone in the club really. Even Asahi and Daichi were left in shock as the pair went their separate ways. 

It was supposed to make things easier, leaving. They would both be abandoning everything they ever knew and heading off to college after all, and seeing as they’d both ended up at different colleges... well, how plausible was a long distance relationship? 

It was a mutual break up. That they mutually did not want. 

Not much changed if Y/N is honest, and maybe that’s why she didn’t find herself sobbing in her bed until she actually got to college. It was just a label, but at one point... the change became alarmingly clear to her— the fact that she and Sugawara Koushi were no longer together.

Sugawara felt it in the little things, when he went to message her good morning and remember that... they weren’t together anymore. Did Y/N even want a good morning text? Maybe she was receiving one from someone else now. 

Talking wasn’t awkward, with the silent agreement that if they ever needed someone to talk to, they would always be there. But the change was painful enough to drive them apart in a way that wasn’t just physical. 

It’s not until she’s seeing him again that Y/N is reminded of that very pain once more, though the smile on her face is still very genuine and authentic as she throws her arms around the three boys from her third year. 

Sugawara holds on for a little too long. 

“It’s so good to see you guys! Are we all excited for our boys’ final tournament of their third year?” She exclaimed as she wrapped an arm around Kiyoko.

Daichi ruffles Y/N’s hair as he grins, “of course I’m excited to see them win again.” Comes his reply.

And of course, Asahi finds himself beaming with an albeit nervous smile as he agrees, “definitely! I believe in them.”

“I dunno guys, maybe Hinata will forget to spike again,” Sugawara chimes in, jokingly of course, while Kiyoko nods along with the rest of her friends as she offers them a small smile. Her eyes drifting to the arm that Sugawara throws over Y/N’s shoulder. “It’ll be just like old times!”

Just like old times indeed.

Daichi finds himself giving Asahi a look, that is returned with a look of confusion until he gently shoves him forward, a look of realization washing over his face as he begins to walk faster and Kiyoko says, “why don’t we head on over to our seats guys?” She turns to Y/N and Sugawara, “would you mind getting us some snacks from the vendors?”

The pair exchanges looks momentarily before Y/N offers Kiyoko a smile as she nods, “yeah, of course. Any preferences?”

“The usual!” Daichi replies, waving them off as he drags Asahi away, winking at Sugawara before disappearing around the corner alongside Kiyoko as well. 

Sugawara simply raises a brow, opening his mouth to say something until Y/N’s hand comes to grasp his own— loosely holding the one wrung around her shoulder as she begins to speak of which vendor they should visit.

But the only thing he can focus on is the ring she wears. For a moment, he panics, thinking that someone else has already snatched her away, that he lost the woman he loves.

Until he looks a little closer and recognizes the very promise ring he’d given her in their third year, almost identical to the one he was currently wearing around his neck, attached to a chain he’d purchased shortly into his first year of college. After all, he couldn’t bring himself to take it off either. 

Y/N seems to take note of this, pausing before noticing where his gaze has fallen, her cheeks warming at the realization. “I’ve been meaning to return the ring to you, sorry about that.” She releases his hand with a tight lipped smile, moving to remove the ring, only for Sugawara’s hand to come over hers as he shakes his head.

“Keep it. What would I do with it anyways?” And who else would he give it to?

Y/N pauses, eyes drifting between the ring and Sugawara for a moment before replying, “okay.”  

It’s not that they hadn’t talked at all in the past few years, just that things had changed and now neither of them new where the boundaries were. What could they do? What couldn’t they? Where was the invisible line between friend and former lover? It was a line they danced around in each interaction and today was no different.

Y/N finds herself desperately needing some space as she inhales deeply, perhaps it’s because she’s shocked by how easily he’d wormed his way back into her heart in the five seconds they’d been together now. Or maybe it’s the reminder that nothing had changed, she was still going to college across the country.

It’s not until they’re seated beside each other once more, two years later, that Y/N realizes nothing had changed. 

It’s a party they’d thrown for the New Year, and practically a get together for their teammates, new and old. They pair had managed to get onto professional teams— to no ones surprise. Although the fact that they’d be opposing each other was a surprise. 

Somehow, Y/N and Sugawara had found themselves on the balcony of the home, fresh out of college— which had really been the only thing keeping them apart up until now.

So, something had changed.

“You’re officially a teacher!” Y/N exclaimed, beaming at Sugawara with a smile that he quickly returns, drink in hand. 

He’s leaning against the balcony. eyes drifting towards the lively city as he replies, “kind of. I was lucky to even get hired so soon after graduating.” He takes a sip of his drink, “I just hope next year is better.”

A small laugh escapes Y/N as she downs what is left of her own drink, “me too, Suga.” Their eyes meet, and she can see the way he stiffens at the name, it had been a while since she’d called him by anything other than his first name. Though Y/N disregards this fact as she asks, “so what school are you working at?”

Y/N can see the passion in his eyes as he begins to speak of the school he’ll be working at, nodding along until she realizes, she recognizes the name, mouth gaping open as she asks, “are you serious? I recently got a job at one of the corporations in that area!” She exclaimed. Sugawara is opening his mouth to say something when they suddenly hear the people inside cry out—

10.

“Oh! I didn’t realize it was that time.” Y/N mumbled, looking inside to see their friends— new and old— congregating together around the TV. She wonders how time could’ve passed so quickly, it feels as though she had only ventured out to the balcony a few minutes prior because last Y/N had checked, it was barely 10PM.

9.

Sugawara allows a laugh to escape him as he nods, “time flies by when you’re having fun right?” And Y/N finds herself in shock momentarily, wondering if maybe he’d read her mind.

8.

Y/N turns to him, offering him a small smile as she nods in agreement, “it does. Doesn’t it?” And Sugawara is left feeling breathless, even after all these years, her smile still seems to have that effect on him. 

7.

“I did, have fun. By the way.” Sugawara says, eyes darting between the door of the balcony and Y/N. His words are true, he did have fun, of course Sugawara would never consider lying to Y/N. And even if he did try, Sugawara had a feeling she’d be able to tell. 

6. 

“We should head back inside.” She continues, eyes drifting back towards where their friends are calling out the countdown. Huddled together, Y/N finds herself smiling at the sight of Tanaka’s arm around Kiyoko’s shoulder.

5.

Y/N meets Kiyoko’s eyes momentarily, and the look Kiyoko gives her is one of urgency, one that tells her, “don’t you dare come back here right now.” But Y/N finds herself rolling her eyes as she begins to head back inside. 

4.

Their relationship had been over for years, and yet Kiyoko was still trying to convince her that the boy’s feelings never changed. Though Y/N wouldn’t deny that she would always love Sugawara— and she had no doubt that he still loved her— those feelings were probably purely platonic now. Right?

3.

Right. Y/N shakes off the feeling as she continues inside, until she feels a hand wrap around her wrist, keeping her from carrying on inside and yanking her backwards. Y/N finds herself colliding with Sugawara’s chest with a gasp.

2.

Sugawara’s eyes meet hers, a clear question within them as he wordlessly places his drink on the rim of the balcony. The hand on her wrist still firmly placed there as Y/N nods slowly.

1. 

And suddenly his lips finds hers, Y/N’s arm winding around his neck with her drink still in hand while Sugawara’s hand comes to her waist in an attempt to pull her closer. Almost desperate to be closer to each other as the crowd inside begins screaming and cheering. Y/N frees her other hand from his grasp and brings it to his shirt to tug him even closer while his other hands comes to her cheek.

When they pull away, Sugawara is grinning as he says, “happy new year, babe.”

[pinkchanelbag]

— there’s no one else; chapter two. 

a jean kirstein x reader mafia au.

last | masterlist | next

series summary: a boy caught in a web with his survival depending on balancing niceties between his predators. a prim girl on thin ice that leads down the path of least resistance. no one too close and no one too far, no allegiance unquestioned, and no child whose value and future goes without evaluation like a playing card that determines their worth. to be destined for big things is more like being doomed to them, but that’s the way it goes. it’s just family matter.

chapter summary: the party begins.

wc: 1.9k.

cw: still nothing lol

note: putting this out short notice cause it’s JEANBOYS BIRTHDAYYY BABYYY anyway enjoy heeheee and my apologies for the slow plot thus far i swear it picks up trust me bro.

the venue is obnoxiously grand. the garden is more akin to a football field than anything else. there is no central lighting, but rather pure white string lights everywhere, everywhere. tucked behind and underneath tables and wrapped around trees and laying in the overhead greenery and in the bushes that act as walls. wherever you look, your eyes are strained, and you’re sure the dining hall can be seen from the moon. 

speaking of the dining hall, the organizers cleverly blocked off the front entrance to the building so that one is forced to walk the expanse of the entire garden—surely to ooh and aah at its elegant taste—in order to get inside through the back door entrance. in other words, having to greet every single member of the family before so much as putting your clutch down. 

you apply a friendly, attentive expression to your face each time pieck stops to greet someone new, having mastered the art of being engaged but not so engaged it’s troublesome, while in reality being completely disengaged in any way. as pieck converses with a bulky man drinking wine and you pick apart the key points (“we don’t got the ammo to make deals with top contractors—legal team in shambles—not good to have a weak spot”), really you are letting your eyes wander over the shrubbery which has been trimmed to perfection. yes, the lights are a pain and the band is too loud so early in the event, and there is not enough walking space between the bushes so people squeeze together to reach the large clearing of the garden. a perfectly obnoxious party, except you can’t help but appreciate the greenery. somehow, it is the only thing about this evening that doesn’t seem ridiculous. or maybe you’re just unusually irritated tonight. 

your eyebrows knit so slightly at this realization. why are you being so disagreeable? impatience and intolerance seem to grow in your chest for no particular reason. you make a note to identify the source of your mood, and quickly resolve it. there’s work to be done.

karina braun is a kind, opinionated sheep of a woman. she is liked by all, and not because she’s particularly easy to like, but rather because she’s hard to hate. stuck in her times and not having much intellectual value, she is possibly the most important woman in all the families. being the mother of reiner braun and the head of the braun-galliard family, gives her luxury without responsibility. you’ve only met her once before, and she possessed the kind of ignorance many privileged older women have. but still she’s kind, so you can’t justify how she makes you weary. 

her birthday, funnily enough, constitutes one of the very few gatherings that frowns upon trying to discuss family matter during the events, unlike a young girl’s birthday. it has to do with respect, you suppose. 

you spend your first half-hour at the party hovering around pieck as she makes small talk with associates, becoming increasingly nervous at your lack of breakthrough in communication with the family. you know the most important thing is your encounter with karina, and that will open up further talks with others, but you stall to approach her, imperceptibly steering pieck further away from the centre table where the older woman sits. not yet. 

“are you going to keep leading me through the same semi-circle, or are you just going to go talk to her?” pieck asks calmly. you curse her intelligence in your mind. 

“i’m just nervous,” you murmur, smiling politely at a group of men at a distance that eyes you like the business deal you are. 

“you should be, but that doesn’t change that you have to do it.” your eyes flick to look at the woman beside you for a moment. her expression is not encouraging or consoling, nor is it unsettling. it’s fitting. what you and pieck have is less than friendship but more than acquaintanceship. often you feel as thought she’s reading your emotions like an open book, which can be scary considering how many of them you really hide. but if and when she sees them, she doesn’t seem to care, whether they’re incriminating or worthy of sympathy. she sees you, and that is all. it’s not a comfort, nor a curse. 

“what are you waiting for?” she says, but it’s a genuine question rather than a push to complete the task at hand. you realize you’re waiting for porco. you want porco at your side. you want his strength and his jagged-edged ambition, and the forcefulness that makes you do the things your heart has no energy for.

“i just think it would be better if the boys were here,” you breathe. again, pieck sees your meaning, and your fright, and leaves it be. 

for the next eternity, you drink champagne and stretch back your memory to know if all parties are this boring once you become an adult, or if the braun family has a particular talent for making you crave the sight of paint drying. the closest thing to entertainment—and not the hired folk who attempt to call themselves singers—is gabi’s voice, which can be heard no matter where in the garden you stand. she tells stories, strikes up arguments, and gathers food and drink with her friends, all at top volume. for some reason, you don’t find amusement in this either, and really start to worry about this attitude problem you’ve got this night. to add on, porco’s meeting seems to stretch painfully long. it was a short-notice meeting, which either meant something very very good or very very bad—more so when he told you he was being picked up for it by reiner, colt, and annie. some of the most important family members gathering for an emergency meeting means trouble. your anxiety bubbles in your stomach, and you worry that your not approaching the woman of the hour is reaching a point where it might be seen as—rude. 

the guests are alerted that dinner is ready. it’s not long before each person has situated themselves along the tables that line the large garden. the seating plan is loosely maintained, but you have nowhere near the entitlement to mingle among other tables. you find yours and stay at it, and it’s only then that you get an idea of just how many people are at this event. each table is packed, holding roughly six people, and there are too many to count in the chaos, but they create a semi-rectangle in three respective rows. you make out countless bodies but few faces, just an endless sea of tuxedos and lovely dresses. at the front of the garden is the head table, where karina sits alone save gabi’s bouncing body going back and forth. your table is is only a few feet from hers, but you take a seat that puts your back to her front so you don’t make the unforgivable mistake of accidental eye contact. you’re to sit with porco, and his table—the galliard table—is the one closest in importance to the braun table. you are the only one at the table, further reminder of porco’s tardiness. the longer you fiddle with the white cloth on the surface, the more you worry about what exactly the meeting could mean. 

and then pieck comes and sits across from you without a word. as always, you know it’s only family matter—the concern that you look out of place—motivating her and not your obvious discomfort, but you’re grateful nonetheless. 

as the servers stream into the garden like white-clad troops armed with dome platters, a champagne glass’s unmistakeable ding ding ding catches the attention of the guests. a table near karina’s opposite side, not quite flanking her but near enough to display some importance. a man stands with his glass raised, looking unfitting for the position with the way his arm hesitantly dips and re-straightens. bertholdt, yet another notable name in braun-galliard (and it’s your job to know all the names), seems to be the only person around able to give the welcome speech. it’s easy to listen only selectively to the announcements and shoutouts, disregarding all the thank yous and remember whens and listening in for honored guests (who are honored because they’ve proven themselves useful). luckily for you, bertholdt’s clumsy speech has a clear distinction between the two categories, his eyes downturned to cards in which he lists off important guests and whatever thing they did to end up on he list before him. 

“a special welcome to general theo magath of the mexican military, who has been so generous to the family’s trade routes…” bertholdt’s words are careful, partly because of the nature of the things he is sharing, but also because all his actions have been careful since his fall from grace. formerly one of the most reliable heavy men in the family, bertholdt’s reputation was shot to hell when an important—very important—family member was killed on his watch. despite having happened years and years ago now, it took extensive efforts to just convince the higher-ups that he wasn’t in bed with the killer. it’s common knowledge that bertholdt’s incident was the first and last time someone “had it easy” from braun-galliard due to his close friendship with reiner himself. 

“an especially relieving guest to see here tonight—“ 

and—finally—the stragglers stalk into the clearing. like most others, you hear of their arrival from the ripple of murmurs long before you see them, seeing as their whereabouts are blocked off by tables and bushes. a few people stand up, but are quickly beckoned to sit down again and redirect their attention to the speaker, who clears his throat nervously. 

“carry on, bertholdt,” reiner’s affecting voice breaks through the space, and it’s enough to settle the audience, or at least have them pretend to pay attention while the late-comers shuffle through the outskirts of the tables to find their seats. bertholdt proceeds slowly. 

“…a person i’m sure we will all come to rely on during this chaotic time…”

you catch the first glimpse of porco as he turns the final corner of the rectangle, reiner walking before him and colt and annie just behind. reiner is the first to arrive to his table, the invitees seeming to hold their chests a little taller for the family’s true head—in every way except on paper—as he slides into his seat and presses a kiss to his mother’s cheek. 

“…a great legacy behind him and a bright career ahead, and we’re surely glad he’s kicked it off in our company…” bertholdt goes on. you and porco’s eyes meet, and immediately you know something is the matter; you’re just not sure if it’s fury or ecstasy in his gleam. 

colt and annie find their seats in the table just after yours, and finally porco is near enough to see—and ignore—the look of alarmed curiosity on your face. he arrives to the table, giving pieck a look of “we’ll talk later,” and briefly stopping behind your chair. his calloused hands are on your arms for a moment, running up and down comfortingly. 

“—a happy welcome to—“

“hey, doll.”

“—jean kirstein.” 

and your eyes flick away from porco’s and into the crowd of faceless bodies, and the anxieties that kept your brain buzzing with life halt and collapse to the floor of your mind like dead flies.

jean?