#there was DEFINITELY war in that background check!!!

[temozarela]

-> miss you already

GETO X READER MDNI, smut, slow burn, fluff, angst, soft geto, comfort, mutual pining

geto finds you after his defection to say goodbye

WORD COUNT: 4.5k

inspiration (@ayyy-pee)

part 2

ao3 version

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The beginnings of dusk settled over the mountains, soft lavender clouds blushing as the amber sun settled behind them. You were settled at your desk, pen loose in your grip as you stared out of your window. The breeze was cool on your cheeks and you knew that it was probably time to pull the windows closed since the remnants of Summer were scarce, only obvious through the very last of the green leaves, of which were tinged red at the very tips. You could see the main courtyard of Jujutsu Tech from your room, meaning that you often knew who was present and where they were. Previously that day, you had watched Geto leave at 7am, then Nanami at 2pm, and Shoko and Gojo- presumably to the bar- at 5pm. You didn’t get offended about the lack of invite, after all, you often said no these days. Since Geto didn’t choose to go out much, you often chose to stay back with him instead. It was nicer than the sweaty noisiness of the bar Shoko liked. It was her special discovery in second year- a bar that didn’t ask for ID. The others quickly adopted it too, and despite them now being of age, they never grew out of it. You guessed they were emotionally attached to it now, despite the poor quality of the drinks. Geto and you often read together on those quieter nights, or you watched shitty horror movies. You had a tendency to be shyer around bigger groups, so being able to have time alone with Geto was nice, and you felt a lot closer to him because of it. You weren’t an idiot though, you knew he got a lot of female attention. It wasn’t uncommon for you to get glared at when you went out together, and there were occasions where girls had come up to you for permission to ask him out. Truthfully, these girls were often stunning, and part of you even resented Geto for being the one who got their attention, especially since he always politely apologised with a bow- or on his lazier days, he gave them Gojo’s number instead. What a waste.

You had been expecting Geto back at 4pm, but you hadn’t seen him come back yet. In an act of desperate boredom, you’d even checked his room, the training areas, the vending machines, and even the classrooms. Nope. No Geto in sight. It was a shame that he wasn’t there for a ‘just us two’ evening, but that concern was long gone by 6pm. Where was he? You had tried texting and calling him. No response. You had even texted Gojo about whether he’d contacted them.

Nah but u sure he isn’t stuck in the toilet or smth? xoxo

And Shoko.

nope.

not since tues soz

So there you were, sat at your desk, anxiously watching the school entrance. For a second, you had wondered about reporting him missing, however you shook it off. What could the police do that a special grade sorcerer couldn’t?

By the time it was dark, your back ached and you hadn’t made any progress on your homework for at least 3 hours. 9pm. Something was definitely wrong. You tried not to fret, you had noticed how tired he’d been lately- maybe he had chosen to stay in the city for a while to get his mind off things. You groaned, burying your head in your arms. You really missed him, and the worst part was that you were the only one.

See, Shoko and Gojo had the mindset of ‘if it was something he couldn’t handle, it’d be all over the news’, and you were more sensitive than them- you knew that- but it hadn’t stopped you from turning the news on anyway, letting it drone on in the background. Just in case. However, after a while, the hours of constant murmuring about war, murders, a girl being kidnapped, and heavy rain forecast for the next few days wasn’t doing much for your emotional state, so now you finally reached for the remote, turning it off, and by consequence, plunging yourself into deafening silence.

It was late and you were still in your uniform, you noted. You were tired too.

With a hefty sigh, you collapsed onto your bed, staring at your ceiling. The wind whispered, lowly outside, causing goosebumps to rise on your arms. You idly chided yourself for forgetting to close the window, but you couldn’t find the energy to do anything about it.

Finally, after a few deep breaths, you found solace in sleep.

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You narrowed your eyebrows as you felt your body being jolted, large hands gripping your face, and then your shoulders. Groaning softly, you turned in your sleep, trying to make sense of the voice fading in and out of your brain. It didn’t sound like it was from your dream… It was hushed… low… soft…

It sounded like your name.

Cold hands touched your face again, turning your head. In response, your eyelashes fluttered open. You were surprised, in your groggy state, that you couldn’t see your room. Was something blocking your view? Then, regretfully, you noted that your uniform was sticking to your skin, and that you never did change.

Also, it was freezing.

“Hey.”

You jumped.

“What the fuck.” You croaked, squinting upwards. “Geto?”

“Yeah-”

“Finally.”

“Look-”

“You fucking stink.”

“Ok, just-”

“No seriously, it’s rancid. Hang on, let me get the light…” You mumbled, blinking sleepily.

“Wait, first I should tell you-” Your numb fingers found the light switch, and you flicked it on.

“Ok, ok,” You paused, eyes widening as his figure was illuminated, and suddenly you were very awake. “What the fuck.”

Geto was dripping with blood. His face, his shirt, his trousers- drenched. You studied his face, head cocked. He thinned his lips, looking… mildly unimpressed.

“As I was trying to say,” He started, “I’m leaving.”

“You… just got here.” You muttered, squinting at him.

“No, I-” Geto sighed, running his dirtied fingers through his loose hair, “I’m leaving Jujutsu Tech.”

“Why?”

“I want to create a world of only Jujutsu sorcerers.” He swallowed, hands clenched by his sides. You stilled, mind buzzing.

“How…” You rubbed your temples, looking around, “How… did you get in here?”

Geto stared at you, dubiously. “That’s what you want to ask?”

You nodded. “I have other questions too, but I lock my door at night and now I have safety concerns.”

“Your window was open.”

“Oh yeah.” You mumbled, running a hand over your face. “Fuck.”

“I’m tired of the higher-ups avoiding the root of the problem, so I’m leaving.” Geto continued, carefully.

“Oh.” You said, struggling to find words. “Right now?”

Geto looked at you strangely, then nodded.

“Do the others know?”

Geto shook his head.

You stared at him for a second, eyebrows furrowed, a pensive frown fixed on your face.

“Holy shit!” You sat up, eyes wide with realisation. “Whose blood is that?” You raised your voice, gesturing at his shirt. You were so used to seeing gore as a sorcerer, it hadn’t even occurred to you that the blood on his clothes was anything strange at all.

“Don’t be so loud.” Geto hissed, “It’s just from some non-sorcerers.”

With a raise of your eyebrows, you scrutinised him, “Just some non-sorcerers’?” You scoffed. “Just? How many?”

He swallowed, “112.”

You blinked at him.

“Just… 112… innocent people?” You replied, slowly.

Geto breathed, deeply, “I had to.”

“What would’ve happened if you didn’t?” Your voice climbed as you gestured frantically.

“I wouldn’t have solidified my resolve.” Geto’s shoulders tensed.

You almost wanted to laugh.

“It’s always you and your fucking resolve, isn’t it?” You muttered, dryly. Geto watched you, uncomfortably, his arms hanging uselessly by his sides. A heavy silence hung in the air like a toppled vase, microseconds away from shattering on the floor.

You sighed heavily, crossing your legs, “So… what now?”

“Come with me.”

“Excuse me?”

Geto crouched to your level, hands reaching for yours, “I don’t care if you hate what I do, just come with me.”

You froze, fingers twitching between his clammy hands.

“You’ll have a home, an allowance, I’ll try to give you the best life possible. I don’t want to leave you here to work 50 hours a week and then to die at 26.”

He had a point.

It was a good offer.

Your eyes darted between Geto’s dark ones. “Why me? Shouldn’t you take Gojo?”

“I couldn’t, even if I wanted to.” Geto squeezed your hands tightly. “Satoru enjoys it- fighting with the higher ups and spending his free time exorcising curses. It’s who he is. It’s not who you are, though.”

“It’s not.” You agreed, softly.

Geto moved to perch on your bed, but you swatted his shoulder, silently gesturing at his bloody clothing. He nodded, an amused glint in his eyes, as he moved to politely kneel on the floor. You climbed out of your bed to sit next to him, shivering slightly at the iciness of the wooden floorboards. Stretching your legs in front of you, you slowly exhaled.

At least he was safe, right?

To be honest, you still didn’t really know what to think of it. It’s not something you had even thought to prepare yourself for. You’d miss him if he left, you knew that. He knew that you didn’t enjoy being a sorcerer, and you were a little pissed that he had used it against you, but he wasn’t wrong. Being a curse user with him didn’t sound half bad, either. It wasn’t an easy decision to make though and he had to understand that.

“We need to get you out of those clothes.” You murmured.

Geto looked at you, “Do you even have anything I can change into?”

You shook your head, “I can stop by your room, I’ll get a bath running.”

“We can’t.” He replied, “I don’t want to be seen.”

“It’s 2am, Geto.” You said shortly after sparing a glance at your clock, “We’ll be fine.”

Geto looked hesitant as you stood up, offering him a hand.

The walk to the bathroom was silent as you snuck past the dorms. Gojo and Shoko were long asleep, so being caught wasn’t too much of a concern. After retrieving a few bits from Geto’s room, you crept into the bathroom, locking the door behind you. The tiles were cold under your bare feet, but you paid it no mind as you turned the bath tap on, waiting for the water to run hot. Behind you, Geto changed out of his ruined uniform, and you willed yourself not to look. Silence settled over the two of you again, but you knew this time it was because you were deep in thought. Once the tub was full, you turned the tap off, stepping back to allow Geto to climb in. He thanked you softly before stepping in, but your eyes were fixed on the floor as your cheeks heated. When you looked up again, you saw that he was mostly submerged by the water, the ends of his inky hair soaked and curling as it floated in the crystalline water. He watched you expectantly, his gaze sweet and warm, like honey, as you rolled your sleeves up.

Carefully, you poured some of the water over his hair using a cup. You then reached for the shampoo. After pouring a dollop onto your palms, you massaged it onto his scalp. He leaned back, sighing softly as you washed his hair, fingernails gently scratching his skull.

“Where are you going next?” You started, continuing to wash his hair.

Geto hummed pensively, “Who knows… Where do you want to go?”

Your hands froze in place. “I never said I’d go.”

“Right,” Geto said, “but you will, won’t you?”

“No.” You replied, defensively.

“No?” He sounded amused.

“Nope.”

“In that case, maybe I’ll go abroad…”

You swallowed, “How far?”

“Maybe somewhere pretty like Croatia.”

“…That’s far.”

“It is.” Geto agreed.

“Can I convince you to stay?”

“Nope.”

“Ok.” You frowned, resuming the movement of your fingers in his hair. After a moment you stopped again, “What if I promised to join you later?”

Geto sat up.

“I have too many loose ends,” You added, “I don’t want to regret this.”

“How long?”

You exhaled, slowly, “Maybe a year or two?”

Geto looked at you over his shoulder, his stare dark, “That’s long.”

“Well,” Meeting his gaze, you raised an eyebrow, “I hope you’re willing to wait for me, then.”

“I am.” His response was quick, maybe even too quick as it took you off guard.

“Ok.” You nodded slowly, “That works.”

The rest of the bath was quiet, the two of you in contemplating the decisions being made. Only the lulling waves of the water, lapping against the white porcelain tub, alongside both of your soft breaths filled the otherwise silent room. Geto’s hair was silky as you ran your fingers through it. In the light of the bathroom, you noticed how the finer strands looked more chocolate than black, notes of hazel glittering amongst the glistening, dark locks. You squeezed the excess water out of his hair, then dried your hands on your trousers. Afterwards, you moved to stand in front of the bath so that you could see his face. He looked elegant. It seemed that he had either lost, or chosen not to wear his gauges as his gaping earlobes hung, empty. You realised then that you had never seen him without them before. It was different. Previously, you had brushed his hair away from his face, allowing you to see him without obstruction, and you thanked yourself for it now. His face was chiselled, everything about him seeming so sharp from his cheekbones, to his jawline. There seemed to be more colour behind his tanned skin, at least more than there used to be. The purple blotching under his brooding eyes was still there from months of exhaustion, but his facial expressions no longer held that lingering fatigue anymore. He looked healthier, happier even, than he had for a while. Geto’s thin eyebrows were raised as he stared at you, no doubt because you were staring at him. You couldn’t help it though, the way droplets tumbled down his broad shoulders was hypnotising and you almost wanted to condemn the water for concealing the rest of his body under a thick layer of bubbles.

“Are you done?” Geto drawled, sounding equal parts charmed and bored.

You cocked your head, furrowing your eyebrows, “No, not quite.” You muttered, absentmindedly.

He really was beautiful.

In that moment you understood every girl who had given you death glares for standing with him, and every girl who had boldly asked for his number. God knows, you’d be too scared to. You pitied that they were never able to see him like this. Every girl deserved this at least once, you thought, it was definitely more therapeutic than anything a psychiatrist could offer you.

Lethargically, you stretched your arms above your head, yawning. “Ok, yeah I’m done.”

For a second, it seemed that Geto was trying to glare at you, but starting with the slight twitch of his mouth, he broke into soft, flustered laughter.

“Fuck,” He ran a hand over his face. “You really are something, aren’t you?”

Suddenly unsure of how to respond, you looked at him, wide-eyed, your cheeks burning.

Geto smiled at you affectionately, “Just pass me my towel, please.”

You nodded, reaching for the white, fluffy towel you had left out for him. When Geto made a move to get out, you covered your eyes.

“I was meaning to ask,” His voice sounded somewhere behind you, “how come you’re still wearing your uniform?”

Oh yeah.

“I didn’t exactly intend to fall asleep like this, you know.” Your hand moved from your face to pull at the creased fabric, self-consciously. “I was kinda distracted yesterday.”

“Oh?” The rustling of Geto’s clothing paused. “How come?”

You scoffed, “Because you went missing? I had the news on and everything.”

“You did?” He cooed, teasingly, pulling a shirt over his head, judging from what you could hear.

“…Yes.” You scowled.

The way he said your name after that was far softer than you had ever heard it before. It made you feel warm in every nook and cranny of your body, like fire spreading from your cheeks, and flickering inwards to consume your beating heart. When you felt his hand land on your shoulder, you tensed, chewing on the inside of your cheek with anticipation.

“I’m sorry.” He said, voice low and smooth.

You turned to see him changed into a white t-shirt and grey joggers. “Really?”

Geto nodded, “I didn’t realise that you’d worry.”

“Of course I would.” You looked up at him, carefully studying his face.

“I know it’s selfish but… I’m glad you did.”

His confession made you smile warmly.

“Stay the night.” It wasn’t a question, you knew that he wouldn’t be able to find a hotel room at this time.

Geto shook his head, “You know I can’t, my room is directly next to Satoru’s. It’s too risky.”

You rolled your eyes, fondly, “Stay in mine, then. Shoko won’t wake up until 3 in the afternoon.”

He opened his mouth to protest.

“This is non-negotiable, by the way.” You added.

His mouth closed.

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By the time Geto had tucked himself into your bed, you had changed into pyjamas. It was cute seeing him snuggled next to your plushies, it just seemed so… right. You climbed in next to him, unable to close the gap between you, despite yourself. Admittedly, you had been expecting some kind of argument over who would take the bed and who would offer to sleep on the floor but end up taking the bed anyway, but much to your relief, Geto seemed too exhausted to care. You weren’t going to complain. For a while, you just watched each other, wordlessly, eyes half-lidded.

“Will you be gone when I wake up?”

You knew the answer, but you asked anyway.

Geto shifted under the covers, brushing his hand against yours. “Probably.”

“Shame.”

He watched you for a moment, moving his hand to cup your cheek. Like many times that night, you met his gentle gaze, leaning into his touch, gingerly.

“A year is a long time.” Geto murmured.

You agreed.

“It’s a long time to wait to do something I’ve been wanting to do for months.”

Fuck anything you had said before about being tired, you were wide awake.

“Excuse me?”

Geto smiled at you, lopsidedly, “Sorry if I read you wrong but… I like you. I really do.”

“And…” You swallowed.

“I want to say goodbye to you… properly.”

Fuck.

“I’d like that, Geto.” You whispered.

Before you knew it, he was on top of you, muscular thighs hugging your hips. You sat up, hands reaching to pull him down by his collar. When your lips crashed into his, you felt euphoric. As his warm lips moved against yours, your hands moved to his hips, slipping under his t-shirt to trace the ridges of his abs. You felt his muscles tense as you touched them, paired with a low ‘fuck’, whispered into your mouth. When Geto leaned back to peel his shirt off, you instantly missed his body, but the sight of his torso in full was… jaw-dropping. Without doubt, you knew that he was the kind of man that the Ancient Greeks erected temples for. Everything about him was beautiful, from the dusky areola which orbited his nipples, to the trail of hair below his navel. You swallowed, running your hands up his torso. In response, Geto leaned down, pressing a kiss to the crown of your head.

Next to go was your shirt, which ended up on your floor next to his. Geto’s hands were quick to cup your breasts, fingers brushing the sensitive nubs as he gently squeezed them. You whimpered, softly, looking up at his focused face.

“Please…” You arched your back, pushing your chest towards him. He swore under his breath before pushing you down so you were horizontal. In an act of fleeting tenderness, he brushed your hair from your face, pressing a chaste kiss to your lips, before attacking your neck with bites and kisses. You gasped as his hands roamed downwards, grazing over your stomach before his fingers strayed under your waistband. He paused his work on your neck to look up at you, silently checking on you with a sweet smile. You nodded, slipping one of your hands into his damp hair as you guided his head back to your neck. Without hesitation, he started pressing open-mouthed kisses to your skin, no doubt leaving a myriad of marks. When his hand breached your pyjama bottoms, cupping your cunt with excruciating affection, your stomach erupted with butterflies.

“How- do you- want- me?” He asked you between kisses, nose buried in the crook of your neck.

You swore, hips uselessly pushing against his touch, “I’m really not picky.” You rushed, becoming more and more desperate for his touch.

Geto snorted, pressing a gentle kiss against the column of your throat, “That’s not very helpful, sweetheart.”

“Just- touch me!” You whined, impatiently, your grip on his hair tightening. As you tugged, Geto made a low noise at the back of his throat.

“Whore.” You laughed breathlessly as he playfully bit down on your neck, his fingers finally slipping between your folds.

Geto smirked into your neck and you could feel it. “I wouldn’t be getting so cocky, if I were you.” He warned, circling your clit with his fingertip.

“Do your worst.” You grinned, pulling his face back to yours to make out with him again. When you pulled his hair again, he moaned against your lips oh-so prettily, fuelling the burning lust inside of you. You were hyper-aware of every graze of his skin against you, somehow his fingers against you felt 10 times better than you own and it made you insatiable. You could feel the coil in your lower stomach begin to snap as Geto’s tongue fucked your mouth, shamelessly moaning against your tongue. You were so close, soso close…

Geto pulled away, watching you with a grin. “Sorry, sweetheart.” He kissed your cheek, apologetically, “I’m impatient, and I really fucking need you right now.”

Despite your initial frustration, his words set your heart alite as you whined. He grunted as he lifted his hips, enabling you to kick your pyjama bottoms off, hastily. When you spread your legs for him, he sat back, using his middle and index finger to spread your dripping folds.

“Fuck.” He breathed, pressing his thumb against your entrance, “You’re soaked.”

Your hips involuntarily jutted into his touch, desperately searching for more.

“Geto, please.” You begged, hands clenching your sheets. His eyes flickered up to yours, his gaze dark.

“Suguru.” He muttered, starting to palm himself through his joggers, “Please. Call me Suguru.”

In the moonlight, the outline of his cock looked more impressive than any Renaissance painting you’d ever seen. You needed him so badly it hurt.

“Fuck, Suguru…” You pressed your thighs together, needily, as you watched him pull his joggers down, his cock hard and heavy, springing to stand against his lower stomach.

He was big.

No fuck that, he was massive.

You knew you had never even tried anything that big in your life, but maybe it was the way his precum dribbled down his thick shaft, you didn’t feel nervous at all.

Geto leaned in to kiss you softly, uttering gentle praise as he pressed his leaking tip to your entrance. Your fingers found purchase around his neck, fingernails digging in at the ache of the intrusion.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck…” Geto groaned against your lips, “Fuck, you feel so good, so fucking wet for me…”

Once he was halfway in, he slowed to kiss your cheek. “Such a good fucking girl.”

Impatiently, you rocked your hips against him, making him slide in further. You moaned, gasping at the feeling of being so full.

Geto wasn’t faring so well either, letting low whines slip as he inched in a little more until his hips were flush with yours.

His eyes met yours desperately, “You ok?” He swallowed, watching you carefully as you adjusted.

“Mhm.” You uttered, weakly, “You can move.”

Geto nodded, cheeks flushed, as he experimentally fucked into you, the steady slapping of your skin speeding up as you begged him for more. With a groan, he buried his head in your neck, releasing soft pants and grunts against your bruised skin. You cried out, nails raking down his back as his pace bordered on lethal as he pounded into you, forcing your body up and down your bed.

“Mhmm, ��Sugu!” You whined, arching your back as he pressed inside of you. Geto nipped your neck, hands securing your hips as he changed his angle, hitting that sweet spot inside of you that made you drool.

“Right there- right there- please-“

You wrapped your legs around his waist as he abused your cunt, the wetness soaking the insides of your thighs and no doubt Geto’s crotch as well.

“Right there?” He teased, but his voice was husky and it was clear he was approaching his peak from the way he grunted after. One of his hands moved from its position on your hips, instead pressing down on your lower stomach. You wailed, thrashing against him as the burning pressure in your lower stomach climbed. You were so close.

“Fuck, please- Suguru I need you-” You were cut off by Geto’s lips as his hand moved to where you needed it the most, his fingers rubbing your sensitive clit. His pace sped up as he chased his own orgasm, the heat of your core irresistible to him.

“Fuck.” Geto groaned, “Can I?”

Your thighs tightened around his waist against your will. “Fuck no.” You hissed between kisses.

“Shit.”

It was too good, you didn’t want him to pull out, and you knew sure as hell that he didn’t either. You couldn’t risk it though.

With a final pinch of your swollen clit, you came, legs shaking and fingers tugging at his hair as you cried out. Geto wasn’t far behind, swearing as he pulled out despite your legs trapping him in.

With a few final tugs of his length, he came on your stomach, panting as he watched his spend dripped down your thighs.

“Fuck.”

“…Yeah…”

You closed your eyes, basking in the sleepiness of the aftermath. Somewhere next to you, Geto moved, leaning over you before you felt soft fabric on your lower stomach, cleaning up his mess on your body and your own mess between your thighs.

“Thanks.” You muttered, sleepily.

When Geto finally lay down next to you, he pulled you into his arms, kissing your forehead tenderly.

“I’ll see you again one day.” He whispered against your skin.

“You will.” You murmured, ignoring the lump in your throat, “One day.”

Geto released a content hum which vibrated in his chest and throat.

“I miss you already.”

[tossawary]

Watching a lot of "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" lately has me trying to articulate a personal rule of thumb for depicting competence. Very basically, if you want to convince me that characters and organizations are not incompetent, then they need backups.

So many of the episodes that we've been watching recently hinge too strongly on single points of failure. If this one element of a plan goes down, then everything collapses. Which is fine occasionally? Cascading failures from small mistakes happen. Shit gets weird sometimes. But the repeated absence of, like, more basic operating procedures like double-checks starts to get annoying fast if we the audience are meant to believe these people are very intelligent and good at their jobs.

After the first few times, Starfleet has got to stop beaming down away teams without a couple plans for what to do if the transporters and communications go down again. "But the chances of that happening on this routine mission are so low!" Don't care. Pick a nearby cave to hide from the ion storm in BEFORE you go. Beam down a little shelter pod with emergency supplies. Arrange a rendezvous with a shuttle. Check in every five minutes so that you know the instant you lose contact. Wear safety gear. Something! Anything!

Admittedly, "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" do this sometimes, which is nice to see when it happens, but not consistently enough. These characters should regularly be considering the worst case scenarios! They should be estimating their margins of error! And sure, unavoidable accidents happen sometimes, human error is definitely a thing, and maybe the backup plans will ALSO fall through for drama's sake, but I would be reassured by the indication that these people at least tried to prepare for things going to shit while exploring the mysterious pit.

"The Clone Wars" show has so far (first half-dozen episodes) been a nightmare of logistics and protocol. Okay, so you let Anakin make a flight plan / attack plan and then... no one checked it over first? Who signed off on this? Anakin: "We're taking X shortcut!" Supposedly more senior character who is on the same mission: "What? Anakin, X shortcut is dangerous because of Y!" And it's just like, "So, you guys just didn't do an actual mission briefing first, huh? Even if it was agreed upon that X shortcut was still the best way, it sure would have been nice to warn the poor background characters about the danger of Y before flying out..."

Yes, characters and organizations making plans at all is the first step of depicting any degree of competence. But the NEXT step as a basic rule of thumb should be them anticipating what can and will go wrong, and what to do about it. After the second time something goes wrong in a very predictable, easily avoidable way and the characters act all shocked about it, it's like, "Yeah, no, this is on you now. Please start making some backup plans in advance."

[in1-nutshell]

Could we get Maxima and Fearless meeting? Whether it’s in TFP verse or on the Lost Light is up to you, I think any shenanigans they could get up to would be legendary anywhere!

I need to make another writing on the specific shenanigans.

Hope you enjoy!

Fearless meets Maxima

SFW, Platonic, Slight Angst, Human and Cybertronian reader

TFP/MTMTE

Fearless was in the lab with Brainstorm.

They were testing a new portal gun when one of the portals dropped a bot.

The bot does a superhero landing before getting up and dusting herself.

The bot looks at them curiously before waving a bit.

Maxima: “Hi?” Maxima jumps at the bot’s sudden squeal of excitement. Brainstorm: “I can’t believe the portal gun worked!” Maxima looks over at the human confused. Maxima: “Portal gun? Wait, where am I? Am I in space?!” Fearless sighs a bit. Fearless: “Don’t think too hard about it. Long story short, welcome to this universe. I take it this is your first time portal jumping?” Maxima: “Not really, but… is he okay?” Maxima gestures over to Brainstorm who is happily running around the lab. Fearless: “Give him a minute, that’s just how he is. So, you got a name big bot?” Maxima smiles at them. Maxima: “Names Maxima, what about you?” Fearless: “I’m Fearless.” Maxima raises an optic: “That’s not a traditional Earth name.” Fearless: “Yeah, it’s just a nickname that’s just stuck around.” Maxima holds out her servo for Fearless to crawl on. Maxima: “I feel like we’ll get along.” Fearless smiles and jumps on the servo. Fearless: “Definitely.” Somewhere on the Lost Light… Magnus and Megatron suddenly look at each other. Megatron: “Somethings wrong…” Magnus: “Agree…” Some other place on the Lost Light… Whirl stops walking with Cyclonus and Tailgate. Cyclonus looks at the copter confused. Cyclonus: “Whirl?” Whirl: “Somethings calling me…” Tailgate: “Maybe we should get you to the medbay.” Whirl: “Nah. I’m gonna go see what Fearless is up to.”

Maxima’s fuel tanks had made such a loud and almost painful sound, Brainstorm and Fearless thought it was best if she refueled.

After a quick check up to see if this universe energon was okay to have the pair set off.

That’s when they met up with Whirl.

It was… eventful.

Brainstorm just watches in the background in horror as the three of them start agreeing and planning activities.

Maxima was the bot of the hour once Whirl and Fearless proudly introduced her.

Maxima was a bit overwhelmed with the sudden attention and the number of bots in one room.

Maxima starts chugging her energon cube. Whirl: “Sheesh! Slow down.” Maxima: “Sorry, its been a while since I’ve had a cube.” Swerve: “Ha! That’s a good one.” Fearless catches the confused look on Maxima’s face. Fearless: “…Primus are you serious?” Maxima just shrugs. Maxima: “Rations are ration Fearless. Am I right?” Swerve nods. Swerve: “Yeah ration taking and skipping wasn’t new when the war was going on.” Maxima nearly chokes on her cube. Maxima: “I’m sorry did you just say ‘when’?” Swerve: “Yeah? What your war isn’t over yet?” Maxima looks like she’s about to have a nervous breakdown. Maxima: “Why didn’t anyone tell me!?”

The commotion gets the attention of Ratchet and Drift and some more bots.

Maxima is relief to find someone close to her universes team.

She gets a bit of a crash course of the war and is still processing.

The group doesn’t miss the little flinches whenever the Matrix is mentioned.

Eventually The Co-Captains enter the picture.

Maxima stays in place staring at Megatron and Rodimus. Rodimus reaches out to shake her servo. Rodimus: “I’m Rodimus, Rodimus Prime, one of the Co-Captains of the Lost Light. This is my other Co-Captain, Megatron.” Maxima wordlessly shakes his servo before standing in front of Megatron. Both stare at each other in awkward silence. Fearless walks on the bar counter next to Maxima. Fearless: “Totally reformed, remember?” Maxima blinks a bit suddenly remembering the talk they had. Megatron slowly takes his servo out to shake her’s. Maxima slowly shakes his servo. She looks at the ex-warlord and gives a sad smile. Maxima: “My Father would be so proud of you Megatron.” Megatron: “And who might be your Father? Terminus?” Maxima shakes her helm. Maxima: “You might have known him before as Orion Pax.” Record scratch. Rodimus: “W-what?” Fearless jumping up and down. Fearless: “You’re Optimus’s kid!? I’m Megs kid!” Maxima: “Huh?! Megatron? Someone explain!” Whirl is cackling in the background.

The Lost Light was in for a long screaming and mental break process before everyone was more or less on the same page.

Maxima was made an honorary member of the ship after the portal gun had spontaneously combusted and was going to need time to fix.

She hangs out with many of the bot she is familiar with.

Yes, eventually Megatron as well.

Megatron is a bit protective of her.

Though he quickly finds out she doesn’t need it.

Does question from time to time if she isn’t actually Rodimus’s child instead of Optimus’s.

Whirl and Fearless are naturally by her side.

The three of them have only been let alone once.

…Never again…

Fearless constantly sits on her shoulder.

Maxima is by far one of the best bots to sit on due to her experience with humans.

They both hold a Q and A about dimensions and how to deal with humans.

Just wait until the ship hears her age…

At Swerve’s… Whirl: “Hey Swerve, two engex cubes and Fearless’s regular.” Maxima: “Just a regular cube for me, Swerve.” Whirl: “Oh C’mon Maxi! Loosen up.” Maxima: “Whirl, I’m not even old enough for that yet.” Swerve and Whirl: “What?” Fearless: “How old—wait—in human years, how old are you?” Maxima: “Hmm… younger than the legal drinking age.” Megatron suddenly teleporting behind them. Megatron: “You’re a youngling?!” Maxima jumps. Maxima: “Where did you come from?!”

[syoddeye]

the christmas party

ceo!price x reader / smut free / ~2.8k words

A very belated Christmas drabble thing. Definitely not inspired by real life events. 👀 Featuring a fem!Reader x Price, background Ghost x Soap, and Gaz, the incredi-boss. Might fuck around make this a series, we'll see! Maybe I'll clean it up and throw it on AO3, too.

CW: alcohol, substance abuse (mentioned) inappropriate comments from coworkers

You came to expect drama at the company Christmas party. It was as traditional as the optional White Elephant gift exchange, the hired group of carolers, and the ugly sweater competition.

Last year, a 'mystery' baggie of powder and a credit card belonging to the former Head of Sales was found in a bathroom stall. Two years ago, it was the unexpectedly raunchy dancing between an engineer and a project manager you swore hated each other. Three years ago, a division head went home with someone who was definitely not her spouse.

You'd seen a lot in your tenure. The good, the bad, the ugly, the hilariously mortifying.

Coming up on your fifth year with The 141 Group, you were a rarity. Most folks job-hopped. More power to them, no shame in gaining good experience after a year or two to leave for greener pastures. The fact you stuck around labeled you a 'veteran', a cheeky if not sensational label, though there were times you certainly felt like you'd seen war. Acquisitions. Rebrands. Reorgs. Yeesh.

But life at 141 suits you. You are an executive assistant, a good one. It helps that your direct supervisor and the VP of Finance, Kyle Garrick, a fellow 'vet', was an incredible boss. He lets you work from when you need to, doesn't micromanage, and treats you like a person, unlike other execs. He had faith in your ability to manage his calendar, prep materials, book travel - in short, you organized his work life. In return, whenever some new hire got too fresh with you, all it took was one teensy mention in a morning meeting, and by lunch, the offending party had only apologies for you. Most importantly, though, the job nets enough money to make rent and let you pursue your hobbies.

With years of Christmas parties under your belt, you were looking forward to tonight's low-grade yet cataclysmic event. Pre-gaming and primping at a fellow assistant's house, Jordan, you clasp the silver holly leaf pendant around your neck where it lies just above your modest cleavage. The dress code was simply 'Christmas Color', another tradition. Formal attire was expected, if not an unsaid requirement, which meant slipping into a gorgeous dark green dress you spied weeks ago in a boutique window. You thank yourself for earning that last pay bump to afford it because you look fantastic, in your humble opinion.

Lacing her leather Oxfords, Jordan gives a low whistle when you turn away from the mirror. "Like a big, sexy pine tree."

You smirk. "Thanks. Remind me why we both couldn't wear red tonight?"

"Because of the two of us, red is my color. Do I not look like some kind of holiday vampire?" She asks, standing with a sweeping gesture down at her deep, red velvet suit.  

"More bellboy, but-"

"Rude!"

The two of you lovingly bicker all the way out to the awaiting car. The 141 Group, ever mindful of its image, always reimbursed rideshares for its company parties. Given the amount of liquor that flowed at these events, it wasn't only generous but smart. Like the higher-ups needed a scandal. The car ferries you across town to the ritzy event space at a local art museum. Leaving your coats at the complimentary bag check, you enter the well-underway party.

The events team needs a raise, like yesterday. The sprawling space was completely done up. Several open bars, a champagne wall, a photo op with a to-scale Santa's Sleigh, and dining tables with place settings that probably rival a monarch. Silvery white birch trees enveloped in lights line the walls, with clusters of small fir trees fully decorated dotting the space. The dancefloor was already busy with a DJ fully dressed as Santa.

Four going on five years, and it was still quite the sight.

You gently elbow Jordan. "So. Cheesy themed cocktails first or canapes?" 

"Obviously drinks. I just saw one with an ornament in it!"

~~

Three hours in, it was a dead heat for Most Dramatic Event. Two separate calamities slowly built throughout the night.

At the nexus of the first, Chad from marketing was almost blacked out. After winning the ugly sweater with a true abomination of a sweater (working lights, a mini speaker, and an ungodly amount of sequins), he celebrated. A little hard. He bopped from open bar to open bar as the bartenders cut him off one by one. He was trying to convince a coworker to grab him another Mistletoe Martini, and it was progressively getting louder.

The second was from the rumor mill more than anything. Apparently, a developer named Scott brought the wrong gift for the exchange. As the story went, his wife used the same paper for an identically sized gift, one of a titillating nature, and now he was visibly paranoid that he nabbed the wrong one on the way out the door. The man stalked the pile of gifts as folks drew numbers.

Jordan bet on the first, and you bet on the second. From the corner, you watch, giggling behind a cup of Prancer's Punch.

The sound of your name drew your attention. Kyle, in a charcoal gray suit with a sleek snowflake tie bar and green tie, approaches with a Tiny Tim Collins in hand. Though you waved hello earlier in the night, he spent most of the evening in the company of who you deemed his 'buddies' - Johnny MacTavish, VP of Technology and Jordan's boss, and Simon Riley, the Chief Security Officer. You learned in your first month to leave the trio to it. 

"Having fun, are we?" Kyle grins and turns to observe the twin events. 

"I love this party. Every year, delivers just like Santa," Jordan gleefully said.

"Someone should stop them," You add, knowing nobody would. At least not Kyle.

And as if on cue, the man chuckles. "Not my circus, not my clowns."

The three of you chat, swapping bits of office gossip collected through the night. Not the most appropriate, but not the worst social crime, surely. You're the right amount of tipsy: warm and relaxed but solid.

The wager came up naturally.

"What do you want if you win, my pine tree?"

"Hmm. It's gotta be something outrageous but not a fireable offense. Hmm. Maybe I'll have you sing on a video call, pretend you thought you were on mute or something."

"...That's boring."   

"Do I want to know?" Kyle asks, sipping his drink. 

"We have a bet on who's gonna be this year's drama - Chad or Scott." You explain.

"Maybe I ought to get back…" Your boss said with a laugh. "Better not witness to whatever you two plan." 

"Might be for the best. Night, Kyle," You accept the brief hug from the man, then poke a finger against his chest. "Listen, if I get one DM about work during the holiday, I'm switching your coffee to decaf."

Kyle claps a hand over his heart as if he's been shot. "Monstrous. Fine, have it your way, no work during Christmas…Now, behave yourself, both of you." 

Watching him retreat back to MacTavish and Riley (who look quite cozy - perhaps another piece of gossip?), Jordan nudges you. "If I was into guys, that's who I'd be into."

"You and like fifty other people here," As Kyle's assistant, you're more than his Girl Friday; you're also a professional gatekeeper. You could wallpaper your apartment with the amount of cringy notes you've stopped from reaching his desk. 

"Not your type, then?" 

You whip your head back to Jordan, utterly horrified. "No way. Not that Kyle isn't an absolute dreamboat; he's just not my dreamboat. Plus, at this point, it would be so, so weird."

Jordan laughs. "Y'know, even though we've been work besties for a year, I don't think we've ever discussed this. What is your type? As dudes are not my specialty, I have no clue."

Your type, huh? As if you don't know. Your type's been the same for as long as you can remember. Big and brawny, the kind of guy who could haul you around. Dark hair. Well-groomed, well-dressed, well-endow–You could still make it onto the naughty list. 

Using better and cleaner terms, you relay this information to Jordan. 

"Huh. A man's man. Whodathunk–oh! Oh shit, look who it is!" The other woman pats your arm and gestures with a nod.

Joining Kyle and his buddies, is none other than John Price - CEO of The 141 Group. Fashionably late (very fashionably late), yet another tradition. Adorned in a Santa red suit jacket and a matching red tie, he somehow makes the boring dress code dashing. Flanking him is a pair of bodyguards. He's just in time for the wager to come to a head. 

God, he looks good. 

As Kyle's assistant, you see John fairly regularly. Not that he sees you. No one above a certain pay grade sees assistants. You kind of just blend right on in. Not even Mr. Riley, whom you've been introduced to a dozen times by Kyle himself, recalls your name. When you tag along to meetings to take notes for the boss man, you assume you're on the same level as a lamp or plant. That doesn't mean you haven't ogled John Price before. Kind of hard to not to, what with his commanding presence. You're kind of ogling him right now.

"Wow, you really do have a type," Jordan hums with a shit-eating grin.

"Shut up," You hiss into your drink and look away, just in time to see Chad from marketing lift a gift box-shaped ice sculpture and smash it onto the ground next to one of the open bars with a frustrated yell. The poor bartender and caterers jump back, and the music scratches to a halt. A thick silence fell over the party, impressive for a crowd of over a hundred, and your eyes flick to Mr. Price.

He glares daggers in Chad's direction, then nods at the taller of his bodyguards. Without hesitation, the man crosses the event space toward a petrified, drunk-crying Chad. As the guard hauls him away, your coworker, or former coworker, you assume, bursts into ugly tears and then disappears from sight. But your eyes are still on John, whose gaze turns to the DJ. The music starts again, as does the chatter. 

"Fuck yes," Jordan giddily whispers. 

"Well, shit."

"You know what this means, don't you?"

"...Unfortunately, yes. Yes, I do," You sigh and down the rest of your drink. "Before you swing the axe, let me grab another punch."

"Hurry back, I've got my thinking cap on," Jordan impishly smirks. 

With a groan, you make your way to the nearest open bar. One far from Chad's little tantrum. Most folks are on the dance floor at this hour, leaving this particular bar quiet. Waiting in line behind other tipsy coworkers, a clearing throat behind you grabs your attention. 

"D'you have a recommendation?" A low, gravelly voice from all your best dreams asks. 

You turn, and the sweet Hallmark-worthy image that blossomed in your mind in the last two seconds promptly morphs into a nightmare. Not a running-for-your-life nightmare, but a you're-the-only-naked-person-in-class nightmare. Laughable, considering the topic of conversation not three minutes ago.

John Price stands tall behind you, arms crossed, testing the fabric of his red suit jacket. He smells like tobacco and something spicy, and his eyes are a shade of blue you hadn't noticed before. You never got this close. They narrow slightly, and you realize you haven't answered him.

"Prancer's Punch." The name sounds cornier aloud.

"Hmm. Brandy or rum?" He sounds unimpressed. Was he unimpressed?

You're quicker to answer this time. Except, you babble. "It's, uh, made with dark rum. It's delicious. I've had a few. The cranberry juice isn't too tart, compliments the sparkling wine and–It's good."

Santa, run me over with your reindeer.

Kyle would be humiliated to have heard all of that. You are humiliated for having said all of that.

To your surprise though, the corner of John's mouth hooks in a smirk, then he chuckles. "How many qualifies as 'a few'?" 

You, apparently committed to acting moronically, answer honestly. "Five." 

It gets you an actual laugh this time. His hand raises up to scritch at his cheek, flashing the band of a watch you're certain is worth more than your life, then juts his chin forward slightly. "You're up, miss."

"Oh, no, Mr. Price, I insist, please-" You start to sidestep to let him up in line, but his hand lowers immediately and stretches out to stop you. He doesn't touch you, but the hair of your arm stands up at the proximity. 

John smiles again, and his head tips toward you. "I insist. Join me, Miss…?"

"Mr. Price?" A voice suddenly interrupts. The taller bodyguard that removed Chad steps up and steals away Mr. Price's attention. "The problem's been dealt with. Regarding…"

You don't hear the rest of the conversation because you hurriedly ask for a punch and bolt back to Jordan. 

And Jordan saw everything. Your heart is racing, and you miss half of her teasing. 

"You made him laugh. Twice. I don't think I've ever seen him smile, let alone laugh." 

"Because I basically admitted to being drunk!"

"Calm down, you're not, you're solid," She reassures. "Besides. You saw that death glare at Chad. If he was upset, I reckon you'd be on the receiving end of one of those."

You groan and take a swig of punch. You hope you've had enough of the good stuff to burn away the memory of your embarrassing rambling. You look back to Jordan to say something and find your friend once again grinning devilishly at you.

"I just thought of what I want for my victory."

Any time, Santa. Put me out of my misery.

"What?"

"So…You know #AskPrice?" 

You know where this is going, and your eyeballs nearly bulge out of their sockets. "Jordan. Please. No. Do not make me post something stupid there." 

#AskPrice was the name of the open channel at work. Anyone across the company could post questions for Mr. Price to answer. More often than not, it was a venue for bootlickers and kiss-asses to rain praises and share bad proposals. Rarely was there a legitimate question or a good idea.

"Darling, of course not. I have something far funnier in mind," She started, and you swore you saw the flames of hell itself in her eyes. "You're going to direct message Mr. Price and ask what he wants for Christmas." 

Jaw, meet floor. "Absolutely not!"

Jordan laughs and hooks an arm around your neck, pulling you in. "Come on. It's harmless. Believe me, I considered making you send a selfie or asking if you're on the naughty or nice list."

"He could fire me!"

"For what? It's just a question! He always says we're welcome to DM him."

To be fair, Mr. Price did say that at the end of every company-wide call or in email announcements. He always harps on 'transparency' and 'open channels of communication', hence #AskPrice. To your knowledge, however, no one ever takes him up on that, at least at your level.

"Jordan…Mercy. Please."

"My sweet pine tree, you lost fair and square," She releases you and pats your shoulder. "If it makes you feel better, I bet he gets a thousand messages a day. The notification will get lost in the noise."

It doesn't take much more prodding and encouragement from Jordan. Your phone ends up in your hand, and you tap into the chat app. Your hand shakes a little when you pull up John's username and open the message dialogue. 

johnprice - invisible Hi, Mr. Price. I was wondering what you want for Christmas?

Short and to the point. Jordan calls it 'boring', but you're already putting your neck on the line for a stupid wager. You're not risking anymore by dressing it up. Bet fulfilled, you press send, quickly turn notifications off, and shove your phone back into your little purse. Jordan rewards you with a squeeze to the shoulder.

"That was terrifying." You whine.

"That was a rush. Come on. Let's dance." 

~~

The next morning, when you're all but molded to your couch and housing takeaway, there's a little ping from your phone. It's the chime of the chat app.

"Kyle, for the love of everything, it's Sunday–"

You nearly drop your phone.

johnprice - invisible Hi, Mr. Price. I was wondering what you want for Christmas? > World peace. > I'd settle for a drink, though.

[wreckedandpolemic]

regret me girlie pregnancy scare after a one-night-rebound with matty that ends up being negative and she's actually unexpectedly sad about it(?)

or

regret me matty and girlie breaking up for good

(I actually love anything angsty so whatever you'll write will be great for me lol)

first of all they’re never breaking up for good it took girlie nearly 15 years to lock that boy tf down you think she’s letting him go again???

but anyways. yes. you’re chucking your guts up for the third morning in a row, which you’d usually put down to some sickness you picked up at a gig in a dive bar, but it managed to coincide with your period being concerningly late. so, in short, you’re absolutely terrified.

it’s matty’s, it has to be, you think, running through the last six weeks or so in your head. you’ve not fucked anyone in nearly a month, too sickly addicted to replaying the memory of matty tying your legs to the bed and taking what he needed, when he needed for hours on end. and, before that, it’s been girls for a long while, so.

you stare at your phone, hovering over his contact, warring with yourself for nearly an hour with silent tears rolling down your face. is it fair? to call him before you even know? is it selfish that of all the people in your life, it’s him you want with you through this? even if you’re not pregnant, it’s his support you crave.

and, fuck, what if you are pregnant? you can’t be a fucking mother! matty sure as fuck can’t be a father, and the two of you definitely cannot be parents together. the fucked-up nature of your relationship suddenly zooms into crystal-clear focus, and you break down all over again. you should call sabrina. or grace, she has a level head. fuck, even george would be better than matty. you cannot call matty.

you hit call. matty declines almost immediately, and you try not to feel it like a knife. you call him back, text it’s important. i’m serious. and wait as he deliberates. the phone rings out, and you give up, scrolling down to find sabrina, until matty’s contact flashes back up. you had better not be fucking me about.

tears well in your eyes at the mere sound of his voice. i, uh… you can hear shrieking and a thumping bass in the background. where are you right now?

none of your fucking business, he snaps. what do you want? he demands, and you hear an obnoxious, drunk giggle of his name. i don’t want your whore of the week hearing my business, matthew. go outside, get yourself alone, you order, and he scoffs. but the bass and the voices quieten, and then a door slams. talk.

i think i might be pregnant, you rush out. silence. matty..? it’s almost a full minute of silence, and you go to check if the call dropped when he speaks. are you sure? what a fucking stupid question. what the fuck does i think mean to you?

why are you calling me ‘cause you think you’re pregnant? matty says, shockingly, bluntly callous. your mouth drops open. i might be pregnant with your fucking baby and that’s all you have to say to me?! you demand. well, what do you want me to do from la? fly back and hold your hand while you piss on a stick? and how the hell do i know it’d be mine, anyway? it’s been a month. could’ve fucked anyone, n’come running to me for the money after the fact.

i fucking hate you. you hang up, numb and livid in equal measure as you tear open the test with shaking hands. the longest minutes of your life are spent with tears streaming down your face and dripping into your hands while you wait for the timer to run out. a single, pink line stares up at you. negative.

i’m not pregnant. and i haven’t fucked anyone since you, for the record.

you wait for the relief to flood you, for the gladness that you won’t be irrevocably tied to matty for the rest of your lives whatever you chose. but the tiny little line just sits mockingly on your bathroom counter, unchanging and impassive. wanting someone’s love is a horrible reason to have a child, you know, and it would never have healed your damage. but still, you let yourself feel the loss as you weep into your hands.

what you don’t know is that matty, now alone in his hotel room, is staring down at his phone and feeling the exact same pain.

[blehdsvvds]

Dazai and chuuya as your parents because I wanna giggle:

Dazai

- oh boy... How do I put this.

- It would be a civil war between you two but sometimes you two gang up on whoever your dad feels like pissing off (COUGH COUGH Kunikda)

- He would be a very cool and chill dad however he knows his limits and knows when to protect you or when to stop to keep you out of harm

- Remember how I said it would be like a civil war between you two?

- He is definitely the type to prank you and record it to post it on tiktok or Instagram with him full on crying of laughter in the background

- He's also the type to record your temper tantrums and put the caption as "define crashout" or "-1000000 aura"

- I headcanon that he bought you a plushie that you like for your birthday but he didn't bother opening the package to make sure it's in good condition just so you could open it so it would be a suprise for both you and him, and it comes out extremely deformed (he's take a photo of it and sets it as all his social media pfps)

- He would make sure you have a way better life than he did <3

- He would always check up on you and make sure you are at least feeling okay because he doesn't want you to turn out suicidal like him

- I feel like he would stop trying to commit when he has you because he wants to be there for you every step of the way

- If you draw the worst drawing he has ever laid his eyes on, he would mention how much he loves it and how he's going to keep it

- He then takes your drawing to the office and photo copies 10,000 of them and covers the entire ADA with those drawings

- He comes back home In a wheel chair with broken legs and arms and bandages covering his face from how badly he got beaten by Kunikda

- Overall he's the funny chill dad but would stop the world for you without second thought :>

Chuuya

- expect a lot of yelling

- He acts like he's annoyed at stuff you do but secretly cherishes it

- SPOILS YOU TO THE MAXIMUM

- If you do anything remotely bad that doesn't involve him like let's say you thought it was a great idea to blow up an ice-cream truck, the worst punishment he will give you is for you to go clean your room

- "You thought it was a FUCKING GREAT IDEA, to go terrorize a nursing home!??!" "Yeah...." "I CANNOT BELEIVE YOU, GO CLEAN YOUR ROOM"

- After he sends you off he would be thinking to himself "that aughta teach em😼"

- You would have to ask him million times to pick you up with his ability

- The entire time just back to back "PLEASE??" "No" "PLEASE??" "No" "PLEASE??" "No" "PLEASE??" "No"

- He finally gives in but does not put you down

- "PLEASE??" "BLOODY HELL FINE" and he does not put you down even if youre screaming and crying, chuuya is at a restaurant having a nice dinner while this kid is floating in the air screaching

- He would argue with you while yourw mid air and then go to being unfazed in a split second

- A waiter will ask him to put you down and he will scream at them not telling him how to parent

- Chuuya throws you a party in apologies

- When he gets drunk he has the biggest mood swings

- He would go from ugly sobbing to trying to fight his own reflection in the mirror

- "Dad what are you doing" "STAY BACK THERE IS THIS MAN BEHIND THIS GLASS AND I NEEDA TAKE HIM OUT" as he proceeds to full on charge at his reflection, headbutting the glass at full speed (he passed out and you have to drag him to the couch)

- Would genuinely kill everyone for you, he loves you too much, would tear down Yokohama trying to look for you because you wandered off to go get some snacks or something :3

- If he decideds to take you to work because he is scared something will happen to you while he's gone he is keeping you FAR from mori

- Also expected a lot of shit talking about dazai

- If you want something he would say no then buy it for you anyways

- "Dad can I please get this" "that's so fucking lame" "awh okay :(" "..give it here *pays for it* "YEAHH THANK YOU LOVE YOU" "shut up. Love you too"

- Overall acts annoyed but is actually a great father who would do anything to protect you :33

A/N: SORRY FOR ANY SPELLING OR ERRORS I HOPE YOU LOT ENJOY THIS, THIS IS MY FIRST HEADCANONS

[xjulixred45x]

I was making some drawings with the story of the Trojan War in the background, when I just got to the part of the sacrifice of Iphigenia (Agamemnon's daughter) so that the ships would march towards Troy.

and it gave me a little idea for this little drabble.

Imagine that the reader is a lover of one of the 3 main members of the house of Hades (Zagreus, Thanatos, Megaera) and one day their family tells them to go to a specific place for a matter of EXTREME importance.

Without knowing it, the reader goes to where they plan to sacrifice them to the gods (you decide the reason).

What the family does not take into account when this happens is that using the Aid of the gods, reader calls their lover to help them (could it be possible? I would be upset if it were).

Can you imagine the reactions of each person when they see that mortals want to sacrifice their partner?

Thanatos is definitely against this sacrifice being made with his partner obviously, and he protects them, but he is the most aware of the situation, that if there is a sacrifice, some god asked for it, and he knows that something that would be worse (especially for his partner) than dealing with mortals, would be dealing with a GOD/GODDESS.

Therefore, Thanatos would try to use diplomacy as much as possible, although he would use force if necessary to defend his partner (if they needs it) and would try to fix the situation without bothering any higher entity.

He is the clumsiest when it comes to comforting his partner, but he doesn't want them to feel bad in the long run, so even after the situation is under control, he takes them somewhere nice to make them feel better.

Zagreus is definitely LIVID with anger when he finds out what is happening, I think he would try at first to say that it makes no sense for them to ask for a sacrifice because the gods usually DON'T LIKE THEM (like what happened with Pelops) but as soon as he sees that that It doesn't work, he goes directly to violence.

Do they want a sacrifice to the gods? Well, let them be it themselves. Besides he gets to show off a little with His partner lol.

although he definitely tries to comfort them emotionally after that kind of betrayal while he can be on the surface (or even offer them some time in the house of Hades, if they want). Good and unusual Badass/angry Zagreus.

Megaera....OF...she jumps right into violence. They don't even have to tell her what's happening, she sees her partner in trouble and distressed and she sees RED. brings out her most violent side.

When it's all over she goes to check on her partner and asks what happened and it only makes her even angrier. Of course it was deadly stupid. But he's glad they're okay. she's not as emotionally good as Zagreus, but at least she comforts her partner because she knows what it's like to feel so disconnected from your "family."

She is definitely going to take the time in Tartarus to torment her partner's family or at least she leaves it to her sisters :)

BONUS:

POLY THAN/ZAG/MEG is a weird mix of all of the above. probably having Thanatos trying to make things "right" Megaera and Zagreus try not to go straight to violence. THEY WOULD TRY.

although as soon as they see that there is not going to be a real negotiation, that they ignore them or, gods forbid, they try to kill their partner EVEN WITH THEM IN FRONT OF THEM Zagreus and Megaera will no longer hold back and will go for BLOOD.

Thanatos, seeing that diplomacy failed, would only dedicate himself to checking on his partner to see if they were hurt or if they are feeling well in general. The man wants ANSWERS of how this happened.

When it's all over, probably the three of them (especially Zagreus and Meg) would be much more vigilant with their partner, it was just a big scare. Besides, lots of hugs and cuddles. I don't make the rules.

Shares, reblogs and comments are very welcome!

This was fun to write:D

[nanamivnemesis]

WxS on a road trip headcanons:

•Driving Priority order:

-Nene

-rui

-tsukasa

-Emu

(Rui and tsukasa can be switched)

-emu is not usualy the one to drive, she’s definitely capable of it and has her license but the group is terrified she’s going to zone out and they will cruise into a ditch when she’s unmedicated. (I believe theirs is thoughts of war behind those big void eyes and therefore she’s the second most dangerous behind rui)

-Nene can drive and usually doesbut she much rather play games and nonverbaly observe conversation, if the others get to tired she’s fine with taking over for a bit, and when she’s down rui usually takes over for her

-Tsukasa can drive and is the third choice driver , boasts about being so good at driving(he failed his driving test twice) then procedes to miss the exit,twice. Rui has to read off the driving app.

-Rui is the second trusted driver of the group ,but his psychopathic ideas make others fear if he is going to stop his impulse of seeing how the airbags work.(hence why tsukasa goes before him) He’s overall good at keeping himself in check tho.

•Seating arrangements and behavior

-•passenger princess priority in accordance to driving priority:

-emu(literally princess I love her so much :D)

-Rui(reads driving instructions to tsukasa otherwise he will miss the exit again)

-Tsukasa (holds onto the celling handle thing the whole time)

-Nene(keeps an eye on emu) (if rui was with emu while driving the chances of their collective thoughts of war increase,nene prevents that)

•when in back row together:

-emu and tsukasa

- read off bill boards and tourism ads and then beg rui/nene to go see them. If rui is driving they are more likely to pull over. Nene will pull over if she decides it’s interesting enough and worth it.

-the WOAHHH!!! WHATS THAT OMG CAN WE GO or like making jokes about weird ass signs

-ba da ba ba ba when the McDonald’s sign

-emu and nene

- are usually playing games together on Nenes phone or switch.Emu loves to watch nene play rhythm games,animal crossing or stardew valley.

-nene listens to emu as she fixates of her favorite villagers and island decor.

-Nene will sometimes share her headphones with emu.

-when they try to get out of the car at stops, 500 different stuff animals they both own start to pour out the car.

-Rui and Nene

Idk if this is already canon but rui made a mini nene bot that is safely buckled in the middle seat. Rui sometimes brings out silly hats to put on it(emu made some of them)

-nene also plays splatoon when he’s in the back

-you can’t convince me rui isn’t playing fnaf or granny for shits and giggles, you cannot

-then nerds out of the stupid ways you can break these games

-emu and rui

Thoughts of war and things that are illegal to construct on stages, these 2 are a dangerous combination without any balance from nene or tsukasa

-elaborately contsructing pranks to pull on tsukasa

-otherwise they are nerding out over over silly shit and having a wholesome time

-if emu sees something cool rui is already on board with trying to convince whos driving to pull over to see the thing.

-Rui and tsukasa

-Rui ,if he decides to take a nap, will kick his daddy long legs on tsukasa lap and there is nothing tsukasa can do to stop him

-“Aw look at that cool car right there I wonder if it would survive the blast radius of a nuclear strike “”RUI WHAT-“

-Rui keep’s proposing increasingly worse and dangerous ideas for shows is tsukasa is like “WHAT” and dumbfounded

-scrolling together through TikTok to see those Reddit stories but they only look at the cool craft videos in the background and don’t care about the story

-tsukasa and nene

-(my apologies this duo I think about the least so my head-canons won’t be as good)

-insult battle where they keep trying to one up the other in more increasingly insane ways, (I think nene wins)

-she isn’t sharing her music or her games with him

-tsukasa sneezes so loud, nene records it so that whenever he annoys her or says something stupid she will play it on repeat

-“Omg look at that””rejected””I didn’t even say what it was yet-“

-if they both see/hear something weird af on the road or on a bill board they just 👀

-tsukasa will try to make jokes to make her smile and she will rate them critically (it’s all fun and games tho)

•Misc:

-nene has threatened to crash the car when the shits gotten to silly

-Emu keeps pulling out snacks from her pockets in unrealistic ways

-Rui brings bags of like candy rocks or candy dice and just eats the em infront of tsukasa and freaks him out at first but then he’s like WOAH and then they are both eating rocks.(don’t mention the chocolate crickets to tsukasa)

-rui has definitely shoplifted at gas stations with nene

-nene handles finding sleeping arrangements

-tsukasa got sick from a gas station hotdog once and he can’t handle takis

-underneath the stuff animals nene is rotting in, there are 17 crushed monster energies and coffee drink cans

-rui is looked to when there is car issues

-nene is basically keeping the other three on a leash at all times but she can’t keep them still and gets dragged along

-the amount of times tsukasa and emu have gotten lost in a gas station is impressive, sometimes rui moves the car while there inside to make them think they were left behind.

{Feel free to request headcannon ideas on my special interests! I’m not the most knowledgeable in other pjsk units tho!}

[siflshonen]

The Greatest Robot on Earth: Astro Boy and Pluto Part I

So you’ve just watched Pluto on Netflix, but you didn’t know that it is the best Astro Boy fanfiction ever made. Great! Or maybe, hypothetically, you’ve read classic Astro Boy but don’t know about Pluto, or, as it was called for the Viz release, Pluto: UrasawaXTezuka. Well, awesome, because I’m about to give you all the details behind their creators and creation and give you a side-by-side of the classic Astro Boy and this new(ish)-fangled Pluto.

C'mon. Look under the read more line. You know you want to.

If you want to skip to the manga side-by-sides, check out part II and part III. Or, you can read the whole thing in one go on Ao3.

Context and Background

Tezuka, Urasawa, and the Showa Era

So, let me start with the basics: What is Astro Boy? What ain’t Astro Boy?

Tetsuwan Atom, known in the west as Astro Boy, is the most well-known manga created by the “Godfather of Manga/God of Manga” Osamu Tezuka in the 1950s, but it metastasized into multiple anime series, games, merch, spin offs of various types, and that one CGI movie in 2009. The series follows the adventures of robot hero Atom (called Astro in the west) as he fights for the benefit of humans and robots to create a harmonious future for both.

Here’s a timeline of Astro Boy- and Pluto-related events to help you visualize what came out when and why there were multiple runs of the Astro Boy manga. For our purposes, the most important thing to understand is that, even though Astro Boy was a kids’ series, its attitude and themes, as written by Tezuka, reflected the incredible shifts in Japan after World War II and the ever-present shadow of it still left in the minds of its citizens.

But before we get into all that, let’s talk about Osamu Tezuka himself.

Osamu Tezuka's Legacy and His Monster

If you, sweet reader, are a self-appointed weeb and you don’t know the name Osamu Tezuka, I’m personally scandalized. Still, here’s the short version: he was a workaholic mangaka that many hail as the creator of modern shonen manga (historians get heated about when, how, and if Japanese comics made the jump to modern manga, so do your own research, but Astro Boy is definitely the most famous worldwide contender for this title instead of, say, Tezuka’s first work Shin Takarajima/New Treasure Island), and he’s the guy who created the world’s first serialized made-for-TV anime with a sequential plot and sold it as a loss leader to get it on the air.

Arguably, the precedent he set in order to get the anime-ified Astro Boy to screens everywhere is a major reason that the anime industry is so unsustainable, but we’re not here to talk about that.

Tezuka-sensei was a prolific, passionate, and deeply beloved artist from Osaka who tackled damn near every manga genre and arguably created some of them before he died of stomach cancer (and overwork, if we’re being honest here.) I’ve only shown a few of the 400-plus titles he created to give a brief overview of the scope of his work. Since I’m talking to you as a fan, not a historian, I specifically chose titles I own or have read most closely.

Message to Adolf, which was also published as Adolf, is about Nazis. Okay, that’s only part of what it’s about, but we’ll revisit this one in more detail later.

Black Jack is probably Tezuka’s second most famous work, and yeah, it’s broadly categorized as a shonen. It follows the adventures of underground doctor and genius surgeon Kuroo Hazama who dresses like a vampire, acts like a black-hearted and preachy douchebag, and endears himself to everyone who interacts with him.

Dororo is a historical fantasy thriller about a guy regaining parts of his sacrificed-upon-his-birth body by slaying demons and uncovering the mysterious past of his companion, the child thief Dororo.

On the flipside, Princess Knight is a shojo for younger kids about a princess with the heart of a boy and the heart of a girl who uses her two hearts to genderbend as needed to maintain her claim over her kingdom and keep it out of the hands of the wicked.

Meanwhile, Ode to Kirihito is an extremely mature medical fantasy drama that questions when and how a person still maintains their humanity and when they become a beast in their own eyes and the eyes of others. As I’m sure you can tell, such themes exploring what humanity means are almost as common to Tezuka’s works as a medical professional featuring as a main character. He needed to use his degree for something, I suppose.

In fact, the common conflict between Tezuka’s bright, young, optimistic, passionate, independently-minded, and opinionated doctor main characters and the corrupt, constricting, slow-moving, old-fashioned medical institution probably offers the most insight as to why Tezuka chose to pursue manga over medicine. I don’t think this was the only reason, but from reading his manga, I feel founded in asserting that the stifling status quo of established medicine was a contributing factor.

Tezuka never made any bones about putting himself and his feelings directly in his work. He spoke what was on his mind throughout his manga, and his introductions to various Astro Boy stories are no exception. He was also transparent about his struggle to make sure his works maintained popularity even when he resented any changes others suggested he make  in pursuit of this goal. In general, Tezuka-sensei didn’t take kindly to the idea of others influencing the direction of his creative visions basically ever, if the story of the Jungle Emperor: Onward, Leo! anime is any indication. (He’s just like me for real.)

If Tezuka-sensei wanted to write about war, he did. If he wanted to write about rape or trauma or abortion or racism, he did. He jumped on the chance to write about sex ed and, well, several of those other topics in Apollo’s Song.

If that scares you, don’t worry. Most of the time, Astro Boy was usually about the nature of war, human rights, the nature of humanity, and robots. It was also written for grade school kids.

Tezuka’s penchant for frank honesty wasn’t limited to commentary made within his manga, but also about his manga, and his statements on Astro Boy are some of his more standout claims on that front. That he called Atom a “monster” and said he created him “for the exposure and the money” doesn’t paint a flattering picture of his attitude towards his most famous work.

But, in truth, his distaste for compromising the truth of his characters at others’ suggestions probably betrays his real feelings about Atom. As much as he may be Tezuka’s monster, he is also his pure-hearted hero of justice and beloved creation. And, by his own admission, his feelings towards his work during the creation of “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, the Astro Boy story on which Pluto is based, were distinctly positive (even if at one point the background characters remark that Atom is a monster!)

The readership’s opinions on “The Greatest Robot on Earth” were likewise pretty positive. Among those readers was Naoki Urasawa, who credits the story with inspiring his deep love of manga. (His recounting of the impression the story left on him in this interview with Netflix Anime is incredibly sweet.)

Naoki Urasawa and His Monster

Who is Naoki Urasawa, besides the guy who co-wrote and illustrated the 2003 Pluto manga? Well, Urasawa-sensei is my favorite mangaka, so jot that down, and he’s known for his suspense thrillers, layered narratives, melodramatic showstopper moments, and also stories about cute girls doing sports. He is also a musician and guest professor alongside his editor and Pluto co-writer, Takashi Nagasaki.

20th Century Boys, named in part for a T.Rex song, is arguably his most famous work and it is heavy on the 1960s-1970s nostalgia, but in a good way! The inherent optimism, kindness, hope, and passion (and sometimes outright cheese) of every Urasawa character and title never feels insincere. The series is a seinen with the heart and whimsy of a shonen (and personally, I feel like such a description holds true for even Uraswa’s darker works.) 

If you don’t want to read 20th Century Boys or its sequel, 21st Century Boys, you can watch the live-action movie adaptations.

Meanwhile, Monster is my favorite manga and anime. Herr Doktor Tenma (yeah, like Astro Boy’s Tenma), a Japanese brain surgeon practicing in 1980s Germany, saves the life of a little boy only to learn years later that the kid is a mass murderer, his murdering ways continue into his adulthood, and he will likely never be caught. Only Tenma knows the truth, so he embarks on a quest to stop the “monster” he revived. 

I have less familiarity with Yawara! and Happy!, but the first is a sports comedy about a girl struggling to balance an athletic career and a normal life, and the second is a sports drama about a girl pursuing tennis to avoid becoming a prostitute. 

Pineapple Army is about an ex-merc’s adventures working as a self-defense instructor. Urasawa illustrated this one, but did not write it. I suppose I could have included Billy Bat as a representative work instead, but I honestly didn’t want to start unpacking that—though I will say that Billy Bat is probably the closest answer Urasawa has to Tezuka’s Message to Adolf since they both spin around the concept of a rumor or idea causing the world to lose its collective mind.

So what motivated Urasawa to add Pluto to his body of work? Mostly his editor/producer and co-writer, Takashi Nagasaki, probably. Er, that’s not very flattering. Let me try again.

Japanese media loves to emphasize passing its passions and convictions to the new generations (source: have you ever read or watched a mainstream action shonen in your life? If you’ve been paying attention to anything I’ve written about My Hero Academia or read the manga itself, I’m sure you think as much as I do that pointing out such a thing feels like beating a dead horse), and Urasawa’s (and later, the M2 team’s) motivation in creating Pluto is no exception. As Urasawa put it in his Netflix interview, “It’s like we received the baton from Tezuka-sensei, and would pass it on to the new generation."

And Osamu Tezuka-sensei’s son, Macoto Tezka (who probably spells his name that way so people don’t get him mixed up with his dad) let Urasawa and Nagasaki do it so long as they made sure the new retelling was something new, exciting, and unique when compared to the original! And while the pressure to succeed in this endeavor probably damn well near killed Urasawa-sensei, I think Tezka made the right call!

But if the goal was to pass on this Astro Boy story, which was written by a REALLY old dude, beloved by kinda-old dudes to the new generation, and practically unheard-of by today’s anklebiters, what kind of direction was the damn thing meant to take?! And why was the answer “fantasy Gulf War Astro Boy fanfiction”?!

Astro Boy in the Eyes of the New Breed

Astro Boy may be a series meant for younger kids, but it didn’t exist in a vacuum separate from the climate of the world from which it came. Tezuka would probably roll over in his grave if it did. The work, its messages, and its sensibilities were grade-A, postwar Showa stuff—particularly its reflections on pacifism, war, and power. 

Nagasaki’s summation from the postscript of Pluto: UrasawaXTezuka volume 8 sums up Tezuka and his generation’s outlook pretty handily, but I think it’s helpful to show exemplify this outlook and contrast it with the outlook of Nagasaki and Urasawa’s generation through manga!

Please observe this key moral-of-the-story panel from “The Greatest Robot on Earth” published in 1964 alongside this panel from late-1980s Dragonball featuring Muten Roshi stating the core idea of his series. I’ve chosen Dragonball as a point of comparison not just because of its notoriety as a big shonen title created for a similar audience as the original Astro Boy, but because creator Akira Toriyama was born in 1955 and, much like his contemporary Urasawa, who was born in 1960, “The Greatest Robot on Earth” left a deep impression on him. (Despite what the caption implies, the photographed page in this tweet actually features Toriyama’s admiration of Tezuka, though I don’t doubt the article from which it is pulled also includes Tezuka’s feelings about Toriyama. I ran it through Google Translate a few times and then laughed when I realized Toriyama made a self-deprecating joke about his poor reading skills, since he points out that he was in third grade when he read “The Greatest Robot on Earth” in the magazine Second Grader.)

To Astro Boy’s Ochanomizu, strength ain’t all that great, and strength for strength’s sake is foolish and vain. In fact, Professor Ochanomizu, who is the moral compass for most Astro Boy adventures, doesn’t value the pursuit of strength the way modern shonen, and several other characters within his own series, do. Hell, he doesn’t give Uran any superpowers even though Atom, the robot boy with nuclear power fueling his 100,000 horsepower (later 1,000,000 horsepower) and seven special powers is her brother! 

At the time of Ochanomizu’s creation, real-life Japan still freshly remembered World War II and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; no the fuck Ochanomizu (and Tezuka, through him) wasn’t about to endorse or create robots that doubled as weapons. That nonsense was for other, “more violent” robot manga, or the slew of other misguided and corrupt roboticists within the Astro Boy canon. Well, except there was that one time Ochanomizu helped create the artificial sun, but he didn’t ever intend for it to become a weapon.

Meanwhile, while Roshi also does not believe in strength for strength’s sake, he absolutely pursues it and encourages his pupils to do the same while fostering their awareness of the hardship, dangers, and fun of their path. Even with his warning, the Dragonball cast’s pursuit of strength is portrayed as alluring despite the double-edge, much like promoting national pride (and power) increases a nation’s convictions in its unity and identity but also draws the negative attention of other, possibly more powerful nations. Andy Yee succinctly frames this still-impending crossroads about how Japan might use its nationalism—its “pursuit of strength” in Dragonball lingo—in his 2013 article “The Twin Faces of Japanese Nationalism”. In it, he quotes this 2012 Project Syndicate article by Joseph S. Nye, Jr. pointing out that nationalism could be a force for positivity if tempered with reform and control, but could also cause the country to start conflict with its neighbors and shit the bed if left to run wild. (The conversation surrounding the topic of Japanese nationalism continues beyond 1980s manga or the 2013 socio-political scene, of course.)

Unlike Atom or Ochanomizu, Dragonball’s Goku finds such attention alluring: his heart’s desire is to fight strong opponents. It is his ikigai (“reason to live”) and at the end of the Cell Games, it becomes his, uh, shinigai (“reason to die”), if you will.

Did I lose you? I just asserted that the messages in these shonen about acquiring strength = messages about acquiring national pride and power. At its best, the Dragonball-esque attitude towards increasing national pride (and combat strength) is empowering, inspirational, and bolsters the good-hearted. At its worst, it could feed into a cycle of toxicity, unproductive self-importance and, ultimately, flat-out Japanese nationalism and war (and at its stupidest, it just becomes Let’s Fighting Love. Protect my balls.) Since classic Dragonball is a gag manga, I doubt Toriyama was ever thinking this hard about the messages of his work in regards to world history, but that’s sort of the point: Toriyama and his generation likely weren’t thinking this hard about it. Dragonball’s authorship lacks the crushing, firsthand memory of the consequences of unbalanced and misused power that the authorship of Astro Boy has.

In other words, Astro Boy’s cast pursued scientific advancement while lamenting the inevitable folly and destruction mankind brought forth with it so that Son Goku could fish naked, kick ass, get his ass kicked, meet god, kick ass, ghost god, ghost his family and friends, come back, kick more ass, repeat this cycle like twice, and get everyone to thank him for it. Dragonball’s more optimistic, power-fantasy-ish outlook broadly categorizes the outlook generation of New Breeds (shinjinrui) born around the 1960s like Toriyama, Urasawa, and Nagasaki before the reality introduced in their emerging adulthood hit them like a fucking truck.

The New Breed generation earned its name because their outlook and values, which were developed during a time of economic plenty and peace, seemed totally divorced from the values of the generations that lived during or immediately after World War II.

“They might as well be a different species,” snarked their elders, probably, though not necessarily out of bland hatred—Yoshiyuki Tomino’s Gundam series portrays his Newtypes, who are meant to be at least somewhat analogous to the real-life shinjinrui, in a generally more sympathetic light and occasionally a positive one (if they aren’t being used by someone else, that is.)

Tomino, who was born in 1941, also worked on Astro Boy at Mushi Pro.

Baggage between generations is not unique to any one country, obviously. But in this case, it seems Urasawa and Nagasaki decided to tap into it and incorporate the core beliefs, hopes, and grief of their generation and those of the generations before them into Pluto. 

Taking this approach was also the perfect excuse for Urasawa to distill everything he knew and loved about Tezuka’s works into one transformative manga. And don’t just trust Tomohiko Murakami on that—trust me as a fan of both Tezuka and Urasawa. It’s very noticeable that Urasawa and Nagasaki pulled from all things Tezuka to create Pluto even as it incorporated new ideas, including criticism of the Gulf War.

…So it’s probably a good thing I took the time to explain all this stuff to you so that you can now start to see it too! You can thank me later. Let’s see how the classic “The Greatest Robot on Earth” compares to Pluto.

[hannicorpse]

ʚ♡ɞ hopelessly devoted to you : episode seven - fboys

previous | masterlist | next

pairing : frat members yang jungwon x female reader

warnings : smoking, drinking, karina says the word fuck a lot

wc : 2k

preview : jungwon was always known as one of the more persistent members of the epsilon nu frat. so when he ran into you for the first time, he just knew he couldn’t get enough of you. even if you couldn’t be together because of your warring friend groups. but that doesn’t mean they had to know. right?

taglist ! @firstclassjaylee @13tter @yjwxfxr @nctislifue @yizhoutv @jwonistic @seunghancore @sol3chu @qettalos @unhakki @i03jae @gyuvision

from niya ; the song referenced is fck boys by blxst

just as promised, you were getting ready to go to the party hosted at epsilon nu’s frat house. or as they called it, the ‘traphouse’. you and karina always found that corny. nonetheless, you’ll still attend.

as soon as you walked out your dorm with ning, you saw the rest of your friends already waiting outside.

“i’ll drive?” you said, grabbing your keys before closing the door.

“i mean, you’re the only one who knows where it is.” aeri grimaced.

the final destination was not far from the girls dorms, but it was still far enough off campus that you wouldn’t be able to walk.

as soon as you parallel parked the car off the sidewalk, you led your friends towards the front door of the house.

“it’s so weird being here after so long.” karina mumbled, as minjeong, ning, and aeri admired the scenery in awe. “sometimes i forget that you guys have never seen the house.”

“i mean, we weren’t necessarily invited. like, you were heeseung’s girlfriend. and i swear sunghoon has been trying to get with y/n for ages.” minjeong pointed out as aeri agrees.

“seriously? i pretty much grew up with sunghoon. i can’t say he’s ever seen me like that.” you scoffed, before going up to the ‘bouncer’ who stood by the front doors.

“name?” he asked.

“y/n lee?” you questioned, assuming your name should’ve already been on the list. you ignored the complaints from your friends in the background as two random girls shoved past you, immediately being let in.

“there’s no y/n on the list.”

“you’re kidding. can’t you just let us in? i know sunghoon. mark lee is literally my brother.”

“nice try. you don’t know how many times i’ve heard that tonight. can you just tell me what sorority you’re in?” the bouncer says as he looks you up and down.

“alpha epsilon.” you groaned, growing annoyed as he turns around to make a call.

“i’m being told that no one from alpha epsilon is allowed into the epsilon nu frat house as of last year.”

“this is ridiculous..” you mutter, pulling out your phone to text jungwon.

barely a minute went by before your knights in shining armor came out from the house. “yo, what are you doing? they’re with us. did you even bother to check that exclusive guest list?” jungwon scolded the bouncer, as he tapped on the top of the clipboard, which clearly read your names on it.

sunghoon peaked his head out from behind the door, motioning for you all to follow him into the house while jungwon dealt with the bouncer.

“sorry about that. he’s a transfer student. normally we don’t hire freshmen but, duty calls.” he shrugged. “there’s a cooler out back, non alcoholic drinks in the fridge, and food on the island. welcome to the traphouse. didn’t think you guys would make it.”

“wouldn’t miss it for the world.” karina rolled her eyes with sarcasm, before waving her hand for you and your friends to follow her to the kitchen.

before you could follow, sunghoon grabbed your arm. “i got you a little something.” he winked, pulling you to a more secluded area.

you walked with him as he pulled you, but you turned around to look for your friends so you’d know where to find them later. at a party like this? they wouldn’t leave their spot. but you didn’t miss the way they all looked at you suspiciously, whispering amongst themselves. “they’re definitely fucking.” minjeong muttered.

sunghoon sat down on the couch, gesturing for you to sit next to him.

you put your head on his shoulder as he rolled a blunt for you, leaning into his warmth. “why aren’t you looking for jungwon?” he whispered teasingly.

your face fell. “who told you?” you asked, almost immediately dropping the lit joint he held out to you when you jumped up from your seat.

“riki.” he shrugged, taking a hit since you didn’t seem to do so yourself.

“he told riki??” you exclaimed in fear, running a hand through your hair. “this is bad. who else knows?” “just us. but i pretty much found out myself. you guys are really obvious.” he murmured, blowing the smoke past his lips before holding the blunt up to yours.

you took a long drag, blowing the smoke up towards the ceiling. “nothing even happened. all we did was talk. do you know what would happen to me if they found out? my friends already hate me for talking to you. what am i supposed to do?” you ran on, visibly stressed.

sunghoon grounded you. he was always good at that since you were younger.

“can you relax?.. this,” he emphasized the joint he held between his two fingers as he let you use it, “was supposed to calm you down, not rile you up. i’ll help you with jungwon. it’s clear you have a fat crush on each other. so don’t stress. and your friends? they need to learn the world doesn’t revolve around them and their feelings. you knew me before you met them anyway.”

“you.. you’re actually right. but, still. i’m just scared. i really have no idea what would happen if they knew. like, karina literally loses her appetite if you mention anyone in epsilon nu.” you sigh, allowing yourself to sink into the leather couch.

“your usual goods doesn’t seem to be working for you.” he teased.

“i’ve grown a higher tolerance for this.” you scoffed, playfully flicking his shoulder.

“i’ll swing by at lunch to drop off a new strain next week. we got some of that strawberry cough stuff.” sunghoon laughed. “stay here, i’ll be back.” he informs you, putting out the forgotten joint.

as soon as he left, karina and ning came up to you. “don’t tell me you’re fucking park sunghoon.” karina sighed in frustration, speaking through her teeth.

“i’ve said this before and i’ll say it again. he’s practically a brother! i’m not even interested in anyone right now.” you frowned.

“you can fuck whoever you want. but it can’t be someone in epsilon nu.”

“i’m not trying to?” you exclaimed in genuine confusion, almost anger. karina was ready to talk again, but immediately stopping herself, closing her mouth as sunghoon came back.

“we’ll talk later. come on ning.” karina scoffed. you watched as ning gave you an apologetic look, gesturing how bad she felt.

“karina seems to be on one.” sunghoon joked, attempting to lighten the mood. “how would you know?” “she doesn’t really talk when she’s mad.”

you stared blankly at him. “how would you know?” “seriously? she was here almost every day because of heeseung.”

sunghoon sat down on the couch with two red solo cups in his hands. he held one out to you, letting you smell it before you took it.

“gosh, that’s strong. the hell is this?” you grimaced at the alcohol stench.

“vodka. grey goose, specifically.” he smiled. “no kidding.. this is crazy. that’s like, 6 shots in one cup.” “it’ll definitely get you there. that’s what this is for.” sunghoon emphasized the other cup, raising it to show that it is half full with strawberry fanta.

you hesitate at first, but pound the vodka before immediately taking the chaser.

“that was terrible.” you coughed out.

“one more?” “..”

by the time the party was already over, you were crazy drunk. your friends were already waiting in your car. good thing you gave ning the keys.

sunghoon offered to walk you out, but jungwon came racing towards you to beat him too it. “nooo, i’ll do it!” he slurred, probably more drunk than you were.

“where were you the whole night?” you whined, as he held your waist to help you get up from the couch.

“sorry babyyy i was dealing with the guy that was giving you a hard time.” he chuckled, pressing his nose into your neck as you walked towards the door.

“thank you wonnie.” you smiled, before reaching up to cup his cheek.

you stared into his big and round eyes. jungwons pupils dilated as you looked at him, his cheeks flushing a rosy color.

his breath hitched as he felt you coming closer, before you eventually sealed your lips together into a soft kiss.

you could taste whatever he was drinking at tip of his tongue. you were practically leaning into jungwon now, so his hands held your waist to prevent you from falling over.

jungwon pulled away, licking his lips before letting you go, holding the door open for you.

“such a gentleman.” you laughed as you were stumbling over yourself.

ningning was waiting outside for you, ready to catch you and walk to the car.

“come on, you’re drunk.” she smiled, helping you settle into the car next to aeri, who gave you a neutral look.

“we’re never coming back here again.” karina sighed, putting the car in ignition before turning out into the road.

[average-mako-enjoyer]

So, I've seen some interesting posts about Spacer Shepard and Colonist Shepard and the struggles they had to face, so I just want to ramble about my favorite Earthborn, why I think it's such a powerful background and what makes it especially heartbreaking.

It's easy to guess why both the Colonist and the Spacer chose to become soldiers. For the Spacer it was the most obvious choice available (and we see a lot of these "dynasties" in the game: Ashley, Kaidan, Tali, Jacob…), for the Colonist it was revenge, but what about the street kid, the Earthborn? What kind of hell was the Earthborn living in that the only way out was to join the fucking military? Were they even 18 when they enlisted? Shepard calls the place they grew up a "war zone," so you can draw your own conclusions.

We kind of get the inside scoop on Shepard's gang days thanks to Finch, and this whole quest really got me thinking: what kind of stuff was the teenage Shepard involved in that Finch (and I don't think he's a stupid guy) really thought he could blackmail the first human Spectre?

Also, how did gang life affect Shepard? Military training must have been hell for them, because it's based on trusting your squadmates, your commanding officer, the whole chain of command, and gang life is pretty much the opposite: trust someone and you're likely to get fucked.

And what about the whole "Take Earth back" thing? There was a very interesting thought in the post about the Colonist, asking why Shepard should care about Earth at all when their own home was destroyed and their parents were killed? And it got me thinking about the Earthborn: why should they care? They saw the absolute worst that this planet can be: they were an orphan in a war zone, forced into the gang just to survive. Someone like Kaidan is fighting for his family, for his orchard and the view over English Bay, and what is Shepard fighting for? For the slums where they grew up?

What I love about this background is how well it fits the Paragade route and how well it explains some of the moments in the game.

Shepard charming the Citadel shopkeepers into giving them a discount? Street kid moment.

Shepard getting really excited about finding the credit chit between the couch cushions? Street kid moment.

Shepard fleecing their own engineers in the sci-fi poker game (after telling said engineers not to be so hard on the rookie)? Street kid moment.

Shepard getting all sarcastic around C-Sec officers? Shepard scolding mercs? Street kid moments.

Shepard checking wall safes and pockets of people they just killed? Still a street kid moment.

And you know exactly why Shep is so good at hacking and lockpicking, and why it takes some devilish concoction to finally get them drunk.

It's also the reason Shepard can't dance, hums or scoffs rather than laughs, and smirks rather than smiles.

I honestly have so many headcanons about the Earthborn that I could ramble on all day. Also, following this topic, there's a point to be made about how Bioware handles the issue of sexism in their own games, but that's definitely for another time. Bye.

[jellicle-chants]

I love this explanation, and I hope you don't mind if I use this space to gush a little about Lumi myself, since I don't get many opportunities to do so 😅

I definitely think that belief in the Force is a core aspect of Luminara's character, even more so than other Jedi. I have to assume this comes from Mirial's cultural traditions -- even before she discovered her sensitivity, she probably would've been taught belief in the Force's omnipresence, a teaching that only strengthened during her time in the Order. (This could also explain, tangentially, why she has such a mastery over object manipulation. Although I think it's been relegated to Legends, the book scene where she manipulates thousands of sand grains at once is a key moment for me.)

Another part of her character that I interpret from her that's very much informed by her belief is her humility. Not just being willing to admit her mistakes, which we see in the show, or letting others take the lead even when she's perfectly qualified to. (It might be personal bias talking, but I think that Luminara could easily be on the Council if that's something she aspired to -- she's in the same age group as most of the other members, and she's clearly highly respected amongst the Order. So there must be some reason why she's not up there, and I think this interpretation fits nicely.)

More than that, I think what this artwork and your explanation brilliantly illustrate is Luminara's cosmic humility -- her ability to see her place in the greater plan of the Force, to know that she'll need to make sacrifices for the good of all life in the universe. It's an incredibly hard truth to bear, and she has fostered an incredibly strong will to adapt to it, which is also why I think she's so willing to stick to her convictions and practice what she preaches, like you said. I love the idea that she foresaw the downfall of the Jedi while looking into an eclipse, as it's one of the most powerful images of the enormousness of the universe I can imagine.

🟢A Luminara in honor of the clone wars podcast I'm listening to 🟢

[ninja-kitty-more-like-no]

Okay, so. The idol in Aeor that the Hells found-- the one the liveshow will presumably be focused on-- we all think it's Gruumsh, right?

I have some evidence to the contrary.

So the symbol we saw is a small circle inside a larger circle with lines radiating outwards between them. We've never seen this associated with Gruumsh before, but it sparked something in my memory. I think I found it.

We were first introduced to this deity during the Search for Grog liveshow, when VM found a small shrine to her in Pandemonium. She has not been mentioned since.

Everyone, meet the Lady of Pain.

Small circle. Bigger circle. Lines radiating between them. Hell, here's a stylized form of her symbol:

But the blood and eyes that Liam's been posting on Twitter-- definitely Gruumsh, right? Well, maybe not. On a hunch, I went to the Lady of Pain's wiki page and hit ctrl+f for the word "eye," and this came up. "The face of the Lady of Pain served as the logo for the entire Planescape Campaign Setting and thus appeared on every sourcebook or accessory. Her image in the logo was intentionally removed from the Faction War sourcebook, but it appeared in the background with a bleeding eye."

Okay. Okay. Cool. I found the Faction War book.

OKAY. OKAY. COOL. UM. So it could be Gruumsh!! Could be!! Two instances of connection is still a coincidence. But three?? Oh, I'd really have to wrack my brain to come up with three connections, right???

WRONG. CHECK THIS SHIT OUT.

"According to the great wizard Mordenkainen, the Lady of Pain had some sort of connection to the Raven Queen, another enigmatic character. It was said that only the Lady of Pain knew the Raven Queen's true intentions."

So. Uh.

I'm gonna be very interested in seeing the results of that liveshow.

[sherwood-scribblings]

Sunrise on the Reaping theories + thoughts so far (pt 1)

here's a collection of the most likely and most interesting head-canons and stuff I've seen, both fandom-made and my own

NOT MINE BUT EXPANDED & CONNECTED BY ME:

• Tigress pov, as an audience member, maybe she's Haymitch's designer

• we got a tribute pov, a mentor pov, now we could get an audience pov because of the themes of propaganda she emphasizes... we could also get multi pov if she wants to do smth crazy and appease all fans

• Unreliable narrator, perhaps screwing with the reader's head on what actually happened in the games, capitol editing footage out

• Perhaps Tigress observes the games and originally starts off oblivious to the truth but the more she watches and helps Haymitch the more she begins to see the truth, and so the capitol punishes both her and Haymitch for it

• Lucy Gray is midnight, Haymitch/Maysilee is sunrise, Katniss/Peeta is sunset (symbolic of the progression of the games. Lucy Gray wiped out and forgotten, Haymitch the escaped glimmering sliver of change, Katniss the blazing fire and finale)

• Maysilee wore the mockingjay pin in the arena but the capitol edited it out of all the footage

• Themes of light vs dark, truth vs lies, the audience starts out unaware and conflicted but comes to see how things really are

• Katniss parents could appear??? Maybe we'll see Mr. and Mrs. Everdeen fall in love??

MY THEORIES + THOUGHTS:

• (canon) The arena is an illusion. Flowers, water, fruit, mountains, animals. It's beautiful, heavenly, too good to be true, it doesn't seem real... well, it's not real. Everything seems normal and like you know what it is, but the Entire Setting is actually poisonous and deadly. JUST like the theme of propaganda and lies, she says the book is about. The arena itself is a meta layer to things not being as they appear.

• the cover will have a mockingjay and a sunrise or sun-flare, gold against purple

• the "sunrise" in the title is symbolism, for a person and a theme, likely symbolic of Maysilee Donner because of her kindness and humanity and spirit casting light in the face of violence and war (the reaping). A light the capitol would've snuffed out, to hide the truth. (I have a whole essay on this + maysilee's importance pls check my feed)

• Maysilee is the real mockingjay, and very important, not just a random dead background character who passed down the pin to Katniss. We know how Collins' brain works. Look at TBOSAS. Look at how she foreshadowed Lucy Gray as early as the first book. 

• the mockingjay isn't just one person, but a symbol of resistance and goodness and freedom, that anyone can take on as a mantle, an idea rather than tied to one thing or person. Lucy Gray, Rue, Katniss, and likely Maysilee.

• a rebellion almost happened with the mockingjay pin and Maysilee and Haymitch and perhaps Tigress seeing the truth last minute, but the capitol snuffed it out and destroyed all the evidence of such a thing ever happening, including Haymitch's family and punishing Tigress, leading Panem and the readers themselves in the dark and at peace. Maysilee is the warm sun to bring the spark of a fire, her pin symbolically passes onto Katniss through her niece, thus passing on the resistance and legacy. ....symbolic of how the mockingjay had the will to survive, even when it was destroyed and wiped out.... It escaped and became stronger in the face of its enemies....

• ...for all we know, Katniss' dad didn't die in a coal mining accident, but perhaps was a rebel himself and the capitol planted explosions in the mines to get rid of him. we can't just blindly trust the narrative.

• If Haysilee is a parallel to Everlark, what if Haymitch's girlfriend is a Gale figure? This isn't just because I'm a haysilee shipper I'm built to be a multishipper I'm FIGHTING not to be biased I'm openminded, but i feel the haysilee content in my bones and it's definitely a possibility

• the capitol (and Snow) believes that humanity is vile, that humans will always give into instinct and fend for themselves, that you can't trust or love or anyone lest it lead to your downfall. So... If Ballad was about humanity's corruption, perhaps Reaping is about humanity's goodness (the bond between Haymitch and Maysilee, Tigress seeing the truth despite being a capitol/audience member, perhaps the Capitol cut the footage of that bond to prevent a rebellion like Everlark's relationship later induces) 

• Most people are saying this book will be super depressing and focused on the capitol's propaganda succeeding to stop a rebellion, and I do agree, but, that doesn't cancel out highlighting themes of goodness and friendship but rather enhances them. Perhaps that very thing is what we're missing from the footage, what the capitol succeeded in covering up, raw humanity being the thing that defies their propaganda the most, and punished anyone who acted otherwise (Haymitch, Tigress...)

PART 2 IS COMING SOON to address the fandom discourse with my personal thoughts on whether this book will be about Haymitch and if we need more District 12.

and why Collins would logically choose to tell this story (regardless of pov because that could be anything at this point she'll upset someone either way)

[slugtranslation-hypmic]

Hihi slug, I love your work, and thanks for everything!! Since Matenro season is nearly upon us, I was wondering if we could get your opinion on the solo snippets🤞🤞

Matenro's new solo previews are SO GOOD, what do you think of them?

Thank you both for notifying me about them! Taking a look now...

(The album is probably already out now, but... better late than never...)

Jakurai's A Majestic Figure

Title note: 4-kanji compounds are like the SAT vocab words of Japanese; they're not super common in everyday speech and can evoke a literary or sophisticated feeling. This one is...interesting. To the best of my knowledge, it isn't a standard compound (I'm also not getting any hits when I Google it) and I wonder if that's significant. It's just two words strung together to make the appearance of fanciness, perhaps. I couldn't say for certain. At any rate, both 威風 and (especially) 颯爽 describe a majestic, often captivating appearance. This isn't to say that such qualities of dignity or majesty aren't real, but I definitely feel like both terms are defining a subject from an outside perspective. These aren't terms I would ever expect someone to describe themselves with, which makes the song title sound like it's an outside observer commenting on Jakurai instead of Jakurai talking about himself. We see this happen a lot in Hypmic, with people putting Jakurai on pedestals or Jakurai struggling to see himself as the same grand figure others perceive him as. As a result, I wrote the song title as "A Majestic Figure" to emphasize the appearance of majesty, whereas the character of the figure is unknown. Anyway, let's dive in and see what this is all about.

(10 seconds in) Vibing with these instrumentals

(19 seconds in) Not vibing with these "ah"s... but we can't have everything in life

(43 seconds in) I'm a little too tired to fully keep up (I'll look up the lyrics when I'm done) but I REALLY like the urgency in the delivery, which is so at odds with the flowing, dignified background music. In JPN fiction as a whole, flusteredness/desperation is contrasted with calmness as a synonym for imperfection and perfection. Jakurai is, honestly, really kind of a desperate character...yet one that appears outwardly calm/perfect to most of the rest of the cast, so it's interesting that we get to see his desperate nature on full display right at the start of the song.

(1:26 in) Hand motif mentioned *Cinemasins ding* (of

(End) Thank you uta-net for having the lyrics up already; ily. Let's see now... Interesting. I'll have to read them again in more depth later, but it looks like a call to forgive past wounds and seek out a better, less painful way of existence--in a societal sense, a religious (as in like, ascending or becoming enlightened) sense, and a personal sense. All great things to see Jakurai expressing. Again, it's interesting to see Jakurai expressing this with such urgency, even if these are things we know he really, really cares about. That coupled with the background music seems to match a bit in the lyrics that says "And [to end war within society, paraphrased] I take grand, dignified action mixed with the discord and noise of Shinjuku, a samsara spiral of cacophonous echoes." Mixing the stately and the chaotic, the "imperfect" and the "perfect." Really interesting stuff!

Hifumi's The Beginning of the Last Song

Title note: "Last Song" is English and written in katakana, which is a sharp contrast to the style of Jakurai's title. Creates a much younger and casual feel appropriate for Hifumi. Not much else to say here, so let's jump in.

(10 seconds in) Modern indie pop song on the radio feel. I'm not a fan of autotune in general so I'm not in love with this, but I'm hopeful it'll pick up soon.

(22 seconds in) I listen to so much "soft hiphop" (for lack of a better term) during work that my brain instantly catapulted itself into work mode and stopped paying any attention to the words. Coffee mug? Check. Emails? Check. Anxiety? Check. Let me rewind and listen to this properly.

(32 seconds in but for real this time) So far, very Hifumi. Opening verse has some fun figurative language but essentially says Hifumi's suit is pure courage he dons like a suit of armor. In doing so, it masks him and makes him become like a whole other person. From there, he switches to addressing a listener: "I want to soothe your mental wounds. I want to change your frown into a smile. I won't let go of your hands, and no, I'm not doing this for a reward." It's something that Hifumi should be saying to himself (something Hifumi wants to hear, maybe?) and yet he says "To [Host!]me, this is happiness."

(59 seconds in) Hmm... I was going to say this song feels sad to me, because all these positive messages of "Keep going! You're safe now!" are framed as being directed at other people, and I was like..."Hifumi, who's going to say that to you? Who's going to help you feel that way?" but then the line "You made me realize I'm not alone" radically flips the framing so that it DOES become things Hifumi is saying to himself, too. How nice. :) I would not want to translate this, personally... Haha it's using the vagueness of Japanese grammar and lyrical conventions to great effect, but I don't feel comfortable touching that personally.

(1:02) Hell yeah, belt that shit, homie

(1:32) So it's a last song in the sense that it's a farewell or the final song of his old self. Now he's the new, healing Hifumi. We love to see it 10/10 bravo. The song is also a happy, heartfelt thank you to the unspoken listeners (presumably Matenrou) who helped him feel less alone. That's cute! I like it. I probably shouldn't go here, but I find it intriguing how the vagueness of listeners is utilized. The first time the listeners are addressed, the language is...if not borderline romantic, pathos-filled to the point where it's definitely evocative of his host job (hence why he's not seeking compensation for handholding, an often romantic gesture). Yet it's borderline enough that it wouldn't be inappropriate to imagine it being addressed to Matenrou instead of his patrons. Hahaha. Again, another reason I don't want to go near this one.

(Overall) I like it! A nice ballad for Hifumi.

Doppo's Andante

(5 seconds in) For a song called Andante, this has a faster tempo than at least one other song on this album lol. But it's much less frenetic than Doppo's other solos, so there's that, I guess.

(7 seconds in) This delivery is giving me anime ending made by a 2010s rock band vibes lol.

(14 seconds in) Damn there's a baller line here that I'm stumped on how to convey in Eng in a way that's both baller and sensical. Meaning wise, it's like "I want to take back the things I shouldn't have said and give them as a present to you" and in figurative language it's like "Once, I used to fire words into the air [speak things in anger or carelessly]. Now, I want to gather them up [esp. like a bouquet of flowers] after their flight and use them to decorate you [again, like flowers or like a piece of jewelry--it's a positive connotation]" Pop off, Doppo

(40 seconds in) Oh this is killer and also going to need some major explaining. Doppo's name is literally "he who walks alone" which is usually considered a positive thing--someone who "walks the path of life" alone would have gotten there by outstripping the rest of the pack. In Doppo's case, though, this is a negative thing. I think it's not as obvious to Eng-only fans, and I know I didn't really think about it for a long time myself, but Doppo considers himself a "loser" bc he didn't follow a conventional life path. It's considered atypical to switch employers, especially very early on in one's career, as he did when he stood up for Hifumi and got himself fired at his first job. Part of why he puts up with shitty treatment at EL Medical is because it's one of the few places that would hire someone who switched employers at such a young age. (Sidebar: My (probably flawed, as I don't live in Japan) impression is that this is becoming less and less of a thing as time goes on and the economy goes to shit, but I think it's the self-stigma more than anything else that's affecting Doppo. To me, it feel similar to the societal pressures in the US to attend and graduate from a four-year college. Plenty of people don't for all sorts of reasons, but because that's so ingrained as the default life story for Americans in a lot of communities, Doppo's dealing with the kind of disappointment and self-hatred someone who dropped out before getting a four year degree might feel.) Doppo beats himself up about that a lot, but here we get that lovely line of "In the waves of people (hitonami) passing all around me, I no longer see anyone who looks like me. It's a shame, because I always wanted to be just like everyone else (hitonami)." Outside of that beautiful wordplay on hitonami, we're also treated to the figurative language of hitonami being literally "in line with others." Doppo, a character who walks through life alone, wanted to walk through life at the same pace/reaching the same milestones at the same time as everyone else.

(1:04 in) "Life is a tightrope act; it's like walking a balance beam [lit. "average beam" aka a beam where everything is averaged/balanced]. In a country where not everything can be average (narasarenai) and where even if the things that [I] can accomplish (narasareru) don't matter [in the eyes of society], sometimes the sounds I want to make don't come out right (narasarenai). When that happens, I can call myself pitiful--or I can feel the breathing of the beautiful flowerbed that is this city, and when someone's humming under their breath disturbs that short break [lit. breath], I ask them 'So, what is this happiness thing anyway?'" I would rather die than TL this song but I'm LOVING the creativity and depth of the lyrics.

(1:27) WILD! FUCKING! CHEERING!!! "You fake smiles in a mirror to make other people happy and call it love. It's a form of hypnosis, and I've made a go of falling under its spell because I just want to be equals [on par with, balanced], and so if you and I can walk these crowded streets together, then I think I don't mind as much that I'm always walking alone." THE GROWTH! THE GROWTH!!!!

Damn, this album's lyrics go hard. What a feast.

[hanafubukki]

Rereading the new EN update for Twisted Wonderland as well as the finale section of Lilia's dream made me think about something

"Why does Maleficia keep the Senate around despite her doing stuff behind their backs when it concerns Lilia and her grandson?"

Especially since

1. She snuck Lilia into the castle to help find a way to hatch Malleus

2. Through Malleus the castle sent baby food to Lilia in order to help feed Silver so she definitely knew her grandson was checking on him

3. She was openly on board with Malleus attending NRC despite the school being filled with humans and beastmen and the Senate actively opposed this idea

Now this is my personal theory but I don't really think she likes them that much. It's likely that the Senate consists of ancient and powerful fae that have served the Draconia family for many generations with absolute loyalty and from a political standpoint, it wouldn't make sense to fire them out of the blue. So I think the Senate are more like co-workers she's forced to work with even though she doesn't like them.

Though I do like to think that once Malleus gets home, he's for sure going to have some choice words for the Senate and how they treated Lilia

Hello McDingus 💞🌺🌷

(Cute new icon btw 💞💞)

I think this is the biggest question of all. Why does Maleficia let the Senate have so much control? Why does she have to go behind the Senate’s back to support/help Malleus and Lilia? Does this have something to do with how their kingdom is run? The system currently in place?

We know Briar Valley is old and runs on customs of the past and change…is not easy. I mean look at it even now. In the story, we know that they have no internet and primarily run on magic.

I wouldn’t put it past the Senate being the main reason why it took the fae and humans so long to make a peace treaty after centuries. Because they don’t like change and are stubborn.

Change cannot happen drastically and honestly can we blame the fae for not wanting to get along with humans?

But change is needed and it was pushed for since Levan’s time. Levan pushed and taught fae the human language. He saw a future where they might get along.

Of course this was all set back because of the war. But then restarted and slowly pushed forward due to Lilia’s and Maleficia’s actions.

In the newest Halloween event in JP, we see how ghosts are treated, and I believe this is also how the Senate are treated as well.

In the event, despite there being good and bad ghosts, the twst characters believe they should be respected on Halloween.

Now I think this is their way of telling us this is how and why the senate are treated the way they are.

As you said, the senate are old and loyal and probably those who have more power collectively than the queen does. In a way, they might just treat Maleficia (and Meleanor as we see in part 6) as these powerful queens and “perfect” figure heads. While they try to run the kingdom in the background to suit their own needs.

It goes to show why the Draconias are royalty doesn’t it? When they have to deal with stubborn fools like them?

But now the question is, when is it enough? When can you step forward and rebel against these ideals and customs? When can a Queen, no a mother and grandmother, stand up against the very beings who’s hurting her family?

A queen whose temper is worse than Malleus. (Well, meleanor and maleficia are worse lol)

Yes, she’s been going behind the Senate’s backs but when will she step up beyond that??

Like personally for me, and this is a bit off topic so not going to talk about it too much, I can look at Maleficia two ways. I can look at her as the queen of briar valley but I can also look at her as a grandmother.

Let me know if you want me to expand on this take, but as someone who…well, understands Malleus and kind of grew up the same way - parents too busy working and being isolated etc.

While the Senate needs to burn in hell, Maleficia is not without blame as Lilia is also not without blame either.

There’s a reason why Malleus is angry at the end of part 6 and rightly so. Considering how he grew up and followed the rules placed before him. Only to learn what he does? He has every right to be angry.

I hope Mallues is the change, the one who will not only help his kingdom in this new age, but the one who will depower/restrict the Senate. I hope that Malleus can express himself and can scold them for how they treated Lilia.

I think we’ll learn more about the potential future of the Senate through this Halloween event, namely by seeing what happens to Skully who has these…very conservative views. 🤔

(Sorry I know I went out of topic a bit there lolol)