#what comments might it garner from my parents ....... idk

[talkorsomething]

We are NOT talking about the sleep i really need to get. That aside.

I keep giving my haircut a chance when at this point ... it's either style it or look Bad but i can't style it. It lends itself to half a million awkward stages, i guess.

... well, when did i ever care so much about how people see me? Nobody's made fun of me for it, really*, but i'm worried any attempt to cut it myself will look bad and be pointedly commented on. Like ................. my plan is a buzzcut. Literally. Impossible to fuck up.

("But what if!" Highly unlikely???)

*roommate's comment from a few months ago aside

[kadajsbitch]

Fresh Air (P.t Two)

Pinocchio x Fem! Reader

Warnings: Language, mentions of smoking and drinking, angst, slight gore but mostly having to do with the puppets

A/n: BRUH. So much shit has been happening in my life atm so I apologize for the hella late update but I decided I want to make this a story so yeah 😭 I might upload this on Ao3 and Wattpad, idk yet but here’s part two!

(P.s: if you read this earlier, I fixed the typos and changed up some words and stuff but that’s all!💀)

•*•*•*•*•*•*•

After he had shut the door behind them, she felt her shoulders begin to physically relax. A tension beginning to ease that she hadn't known her body had been holding…

The doors intricate locks began to whirl, clicking in place and causing a slight echo in the empty entry hall. She gave a sigh of relief, moving her gaze from the floor to meet him.

He kept his eyes on the door for a moment, starring at it almost owlishly as if expecting more… whether that be of the door to suddenly open and allow the mechanoids to infiltrate the hotel, or whatever thoughts he had towards it swirling through his mind, she didn’t know.

However, she watched rather awkwardly for a moment before adverting her gaze, as his wandered to look at his robotic arm as it made a slight noise before it went silent and still. She had noticed it twitching slightly while they had been talking to one another outside, but she hadn’t commented…

Instead, she cleared her throat lightly, the action garnering his attention as he turned his head to look in her direction. "Thank you... I think I'll be smoking from inside from now on." She smiled, joking lightly as he turned and began to walk towards her, a gentle smile on his lips as he nodded in the direction to the stairway that led to the lobby.

"Those are bad for you, you know. Why do you think the men who smoke them are constantly hacking up something before they can properly talk?" At this, she raised an eyebrow, turning her attention away from the door that would lead them to the stairwell.

“That’s not true! My mother smoked all the time back when I lived with my parents. The only problem she got from smoking being the breathe.” She chuckled, looking up towards him catching the way his nose subtly wrinkled before turning to grin at her.

"Well if it comforts you, I don’t plan to be a chain smoker. I just saw the box lying on the ground and chose to take it because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about…” a half truth… and a half lie. She found it yes, but it wasn’t on the ground. It was on a corpse... while it was true she grabbed it out of curiosity, as well as her own excitement at the prospect of doing something she knew her family would have a fit had they been able to see, she wasn’t going to tell him that.

She was surprised when he suddenly chuckled, a light yet almost practiced sound to her ears, and she turned to look at him as they began to ascend the stairs. “And did you indeed see what the fuss was about?” He asked.

She shrugged, shaking her head slightly with a look of disillusionment as she spoke. “Honestly? No. I thought it’d be like alcohol but without the unpleasant taste and feelings you get after drinking it. The first time I ever drank, I got the worse headache after only a small glass. Plus the taste is god awful.” She replied, wrinkling her nose.

He still wore his smile, but it seemed a bit practiced now as he stiffly nodded, his blue eyes turning to stare at hers. “Yes. Very unpleasant. I take it your a drinker then?” The question was harmless and she playfully rolled her eyes but mentally she found the question odd considering she had just described feeling negative towards drinking due to the effects it came with.

“No, I’ve only drunk once in my life, and it was only for the experience. If I’m being honest, I hope it’s the last time though… I would say it will be the last time but I’m indecisive. I take it you’ve never drank before though?” His face was relaxed, and in the stairwells lighting, the shadows danced over his eyes, which in turn held a sharp look as his gaze was directed to her... for a second, he looked uncomfortably uncanny but not threatening… She pushed the thought to the side however as she focused on the steps ahead of them.

“No, I haven’t.” He stated simply. “But if I could I probably would for the experience as well.” he replied back but this only caused her to frown, before a slight smirk found it’s way on her face. “Why? Too scared to sneak a sip from your parents cabinet?”

At this, he raised his eyebrow at her giving her a questioning look and for a moment, she was worried he was genuinely one of those people who were too much of a moral martyr and would look at her oddly for the joking suggestion. But to her surprise, he cracked a quick smile before laughing lightly, a genuine sound as he looked down at his shoes, crossing his arms.

“No, not at all. Other reasons though. I don’t think my father would care much if I did. Matter of fact, I feel he’d be quite intrigued if I ever showed interest to that sort of thing.” He admitted, and she crossed her arms, leaning on the opposite wall he stood against chuckling lightly.

Mentally, she was giving herself a clap on the back because it had taken her a week to muster enough courage to talk to Antonia and Eugenia as she was talking to him. She was so used to moving from place to place, and not seeing the same faces around her that it was almost a bit of a shock when she’d go to sleep, only to wake up hours later, and see she was still in the hotel. As well as the people she had seen the day previously, were still there. It’s because she had to move around so much, her people skills were a bit rusty to say the least but she couldn’t help but to feel relaxed whilst she talked to Pinocchio…

Pinocchio’s eyes scanned her face for a moment, studying her before clearing his throat and proceeding to walk ahead towards the doors that would lead them to the lobby, the amused smile still playing on his lips. “Come. It’s late out and its better to be in the lobby than to be here. There’s a draft.”

She couldn’t help but to feel a bit disappointed that their conversation seemed to be coming to an end, but considering how late it truly was, along with the fact he seemed mad enough to walk around Krat far from the hotel, she assumed he was rather exhausted.

She nodded, pushing herself from the wall before walking alongside him into the hotels lobby.

.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.

While it was true that most of society had given to buying puppets to replace human workers, there were a select few companies that all but banned puppets from entering their facility's even with their owners beside them.

Therefore it really was no surprise that many people in the anarchy ridden city, paired up and had buildings much to their own liking, where they'd enroll those who had survived seeking refuge in bigger groups, to support their cause to abolish puppets. It helped that present day events gave them a broader reason to expand on their reasoning...

A good example of their work would be some of the puppets they managed to dispatch and re-arrange their now unanimated bodies in positions that were eerily similar to what a human might look like after being violently slaughtered…

A good example of this she could think, of was the puppet who had been hanging by the neck over the bridge she had crossed days previously to get to the hotel.

Y/n wrapped her arms around herself, her right hand coming to rest on her left shoulder as she stared out of one of the hallways windows, thinking back to the puppet as she stared at the unmoving one that lie on the outside ground floor… it unnerved her how he looked almost human despite the clear robotic jaw and eyes as well as wires that stuck out from his chest cavity… the puppet equivalent of innards like a humans, and the black oil that it lie in reminded her too much of a humans blood despite the clear difference in color.

The sound of soft footsteps approaching her, brought her from her thoughts however, as she turned away from the window to see who was approaching her, worried that whoever it was would find it odd she was spending her morning staring out at the dead lifeless puppet but then again, there wasn’t like there was much of anything else to stare at scenery wise considering Krat was in ruin.

She relaxed as she came to see it was only Pinocchio and she felt herself becoming happy that he was approaching her considering they’re previous conversation the night before. Finally there was someone her age other than Sophia and Eugenia she could talk to, not that she talked much with Sophia due to her having to constantly focus her powers on patrolling the city of Krat for survivors and other key issues.

“Good morning. I hope you slept well.” He greeted her, coming to stand beside her with a slight smile on his face that she returned happily.

“Good morning to you as well, and I did. Slept well too, I presume?” He shrugged, turning to look outside the window she had previously been occupied with, his eyes scanning the outside area.“Adequate.” He replied simply, and seemingly honestly.

The corner of her mouth lifted into a subtle smirk as she now fully grasped his appearance. Unlike the clothes he wore the night prior, today he wore something a little more formal… He wore a simple chemise white shirt only this time, he adorned a cravat with a gold ruby pendant in the center. This was followed by a red buttoned vest, that seemed to have a pocket watch tucked within, perhaps in a hidden pocket on the other side she presumed.

As for the rest of his outfit, he wore a simple blue long coat with gray breeches and white socks and flat black shoes… He looked quite studious, like the few men from the academy’s she used to be forced to greet when her parents had been looking for a husband for her sister.

“Ah, you’re dressed properly today it seems.” She said, teasing him lightly. He broke his gaze from outside, turning to look at her with a smirk of his own on his face. “You are as well it seems. Better than your nightgown, robe and slippers…” At this, she scoffed in mock offense, before playfully elbowing him, chuckling lightly as she looked down at her shoes.

Antonia had kindly let her borrow some of her old clothes due to the fact the only ones she had were the rags on her back she had wore when she arrived to the hotel… they weren’t literal rags of course, just old and tattered clothes she managed to find once she outgrew her old tattered ones, with uneven patches on them from times she had to sew them when they developed holes… Today however, she wore a simple high collar black dress with slightly baggy sleeves that slimmed down towards her forearms making it easy to perform task without the sleeves being too much of a nuisance. It was a modest dress, stopping at her ankles with nothing else much being special about it. But it was enough. After all, it had been years since she’s been able to wear a dress so it was a welcome change.

There was a sudden small silence between them, a comfortable one albeit, as they stood in front of the window beside one another. Their small smiles still gracing their features as they looked at the ruined scenery before them.

However, her eyes had found the ruined puppet’s body once more and her smile began to fade as she stared at it… or more so him considering it was a male model as was most working puppets.

Pinocchio’s eyes glanced toward her, his own smile faltering as his eyes found what had made her suddenly appear pensive. “That puppets been there since I arrived. There’s no need to worry. Once they’ve been destroyed to the point that this puppet has been, there’s no chance of it being able to turn back on.” He spoke blandly, as his eyes glanced at her for a moment before looking back towards the puppet.

Her frown deepened and her eyebrows furrowed slightly at this. “But I thought it was possible to fix any puppet once they’ve been subjected to damage. It’s head doesn’t seem destroyed. And after all, the head is where their artificial intelligence and memory are stored, right?” While she didn’t understand the full anatomy to the puppets, she knew what little scraps she had read in papers and heard in idle gossip when she would pass through towns.

Pinocchio shook his head, his eyes darting back to the mangled robot. “Due to the virus, they no longer garner the memory of their purpose as well as control over themselves. Even if they were to magically stop their rampaging, the virus has destroyed much of their cognitive abilities to function so they’d be useless.”

“So there’s no way to fix the rogue bots.” She stated plainly, as her eyes found his in which, they were still glued onto the unmoving puppet. He was quiet, his robotic arm emitting a slight noise as he moved it to cross his arms over his chest.

“No. Once Geppetto pinpoints the cause of the virus, these puppets will most likely get sent to be destroyed fully and if there’s a slight possibility that more robots are to be manufactured after all of this, their scraps will be re-used to make more.” Y/n didn’t know why she suddenly felt the urge to shiver at his words but she repressed it. Keeping herself together. She didn’t even want to imagine the process of how they destroyed or dismantled them… while they may be objects in a sense, it seemed morbid to think of a pile of parts that resembled a humans, that were stacked ceiling high, and torn apart.

“Wow…” she said suddenly after a moment of the morbid thoughts flowing through her mind. “That’s kind of macabre to think about.” She admitted, as her right hand played with the collar of her dress.

He seemed to find this interesting as he tuned to face her fully now, his head coming to rest on the right side of the window frame as he gazed at her unblinking with a look of contempt. “Macabre? How so?”

“I mean… look at the situation? Do the puppets even know their being possessed by a virus right now? And if they do, are they aware of what they’re doing? How do they even feel about it? And then imagine, being brutally torn apart because of something you couldn’t control? That’s scary of you ask me.” She replied. She had to advert her gaze from his mid conversation due to his unblinking eyes… she wondered was he aware of his lack of awareness to his expressions.

“Does it upset you?” He asked, his face calm and stoic but his eyes held an unknown emotion she couldn’t properly grasp as they locked eyes with one another, once again. If anything, she assumed he was going to ask her why she thought the puppets held a conscious or their own moral input other than what was implemented in their systems.

She broke his gaze once again, feeling uncomfortable with his unmoving eyes as she looked to her side. She was focused on nothing in particular but her mind tried to process how to properly get her words out as she thought to how to respond.

“It does. I know… that the answer to my questions are probably no, they have no feeling, and they’re made to perform the specific duty they were created for, but you’ve got to admit it’s upsetting seeing something that resembles us humans, even with their clear signs of artificially being created such as their speakers, joints and clothing, being mutilated like that.” she paused for a moment after saying her piece, trying to decide if she should expand more on what she truly wanted to say. Pinocchio seemed to have guessed she had more on her mind because he simply nodded, a subtle gesture offering her to continue.

“…What upsets me the most is not knowing how things will proceed from here on out… The anti-puppet regime’s and groups are now at an all time high, and while I do understand their reasoning for wanting to annihilate them, I can’t help to be disgusted by their methods. We get it, you don’t like them, and now they have further reasons to prove why but to go as far as hanging them, ripping them open and placing their bodies in very humiliating conditions to prove your point? It’s funny… the way they’re going about slaughtering the puppets they can get their hands on, is the same way the rogue puppets are slaughtering us. Only difference is, the human side who are reporting their anti-puppet cause, are going further to treat them more inhumane than they are us.” She finished, still starring down at the ground, whilst her hand played with her collar.

She hadn’t meant to rant, but as much as she was angered by what the puppets were doing, at least they had a reasoning. One in which that by Geppetto’s words, they can’t control.

Prior to the outbreak, the anti’s were already trying to make an example of their dislike for puppets by destroying them and leaving their slogans painted around the scene in which they had committed the crime at... It also didn’t help that some people who neither supported nor disliked the puppets, thought to find benefit in them by buying, altering and using them for things less than what their pre-made purpose was for… almost every paper had an article about underground rings doing less than human things to these puppets or having them do illegal work for them.

Honestly, she wondered if Geppetto was partially lying about it being a bug that was possessing them, and the reality of it was they were fighting back for they’re treatment, but she didn’t voice this.

“Hm…” Pinocchio hummed, the sound causing her to bring her eyes from the carpeted hallway floor, to his attention as he gazed down at the puppet outside once more. “That’s an interesting perspective. No surprise that everyone here in the hotel feels the same. I assumed you’d lean towards the humans who support getting rid of them due to their slaughtering and violent destruction of Krat.”

She shook her had, grimacing slightly. “While the puppets more or less unnerve me, prior to them going rogue I honestly managed better with their company more than I did with other human beings.”

In all honesty, that wasn’t necessarily the truth. The reality of it was ever since she left home, she had to be extremely careful in puppet dominated spaces due to the fact if they recognized her from the many sketches of her on wanted posters, they’d immediately alert those around them as well at the police puppets to come arrest her.

While the sketches and photographs of her were old and she no longer resembled the wealthy, upperclass little girl in the photos, puppets such as police ones had built in facial recognition. All they’d have to do is look at her, scan her face and they’d know exactly who she was and she’s had more close calls than she could mentally count…

Prior to her leaving home however, when it came to the puppets, she was familiar with the puppet servants of her home. One puppet in particular, being her full time nanny from the time she was a babe, up until the day she ran…

She cringed subtly pushing the memories of home from her mind, the action not going unnoticed by Pinocchio who studied her intensely, as his eyes all but scanned over her features, his face a stoic mask of his own. “Um, do you mind us stepping away from the window? It seems there’s a bit of a draft coming from it.” She rubbed her arms slightly, not even waiting for his answer despite asking as she stepped away from the window.

He followed pursuit, walking beside her as they walked down the hall. She glanced at him as the lobby came into view, feeling uneasy by his sudden aloof demeanor as they walked silently beside one another. “What do you think?”

She suddenly blurted out, causing Pinocchio to halt in his tracks while his gaze still remained ahead of them. An action she found rather robotic in itself, but she thought nothing of it as his face turned to meet hers.

“I think… we should focus on the task at hand. If you’re returning my question, than I think the task at hand needs to be dealt with and that’s that these puppets must be stopped.” She frowned, slightly annoyed by his seemingly practiced yet bland response.

“Well of course they need to be taken care of, but what do your really think? About the puppets? Prior to them going rogue and all?” She asked, her eyebrows furrowed as she stared at his unreadable expression.

She was worried that maybe her views had offended him. She tended to stay neutral when it came to politics and things that usually had people torn apart, but when he had questioned her, there was no indicator in his tone or body language that he had been uncomfortable, not to mention, he had explicitly asked her how she felt about them.

She internally cursed herself, wishing she hadn’t over shared. After all, he had approached her on his own accord, and prior to their conversation the mood had been light until her focus fell to the mangled puppet outside…

“What I think about my kind doesn’t matter.” His answer was quick, and despite his same calm tone of speaking, she couldn’t help but to feel like there was an underlying sharpness to his tone as his eyes all but bore into her now, unblinking.

She stared at him, her eyes scanning his face for any hint of humor or lie yet she couldn’t find anything behind his stony stare.

He broke his gaze from her, before walking deeper into the lobby, heading towards Sophia who had been pacing in her usual spot, but she had stopped at Pinocchio’s arrival.

He was a puppet…

[herotheshiro]

ok discovered the side story for the manhwa antimony (it’s localized as another name) and i was like ok this looks cute, i like the dynamic i’m being shown even though i literally don’t know the characters bc i never read the main story of antimony and don’t really plan to. and you’ll know that now i have even less desire to once you finish reading this rant post lmao.

anyway so i didn’t really know any relationships in-comic (bc they assume you know it already) so it wasn’t until i read reader comments that established who these ppl were so quick summary for those like me who don’t know shit

red-head actor: apparently tried to kill the main character during the main story. currently under social fallout after his almost-murder(s?) were found out by the public

redhead’s stepbrother: prob the main antagonist of the main story, but apparently toxic and low-key deranged i guess. idk. also he’s like a ceo or something i guess? anyway he and redhead were in a relationship to some degree, don’t really know; rn at the beginning of the side story i think they’re either on break or just not talking to each other

redhead’s manager: all-around nice or at least patient dude. although i think they were trying to indicate maybe he wasn’t so nice/had ulterior motives but idk korean so i couldn’t garner that. but basically he’s trying to take care of redhead post-fallout

(spoilers for the side story from now on) so the side story starts with the manager taking care of redhead and eventually they hook up bc redhead, in a drunken state, mistakes manager for his stepbrother (afterwards he does realize he slept with the manager not the stepbro though). which like ok so maybe the redhead is gonna move on from his ex and get together with his manager.

skipping through the rest of this like 10 ch side story for this review: they don’t! the redhead ends up back with his stepbrother! and i was so betrayed even though i don’t know ANYTHING abt the main story bc i like stories of nice, patient dudes taking care of tsundere guys. it’s a case of (1) ‘i don’t know what i had until i lost it’ on the stepbrother’s part, he was aggressive towards redhead but when he sees/hears of redhead being with another dude he’s like wait no i want you back and (2) the classic history-beats-all. the final scene where the redhead chooses bw the manager and the stepbro is very much imo the redhead being like yeah stepbro is a bitch but i grew up with him and we’ve been together all this time and i can’t imagine life without you (i’m making this up. idk korean). it was a good scene technically, having it take place on a crosswalk, basically indicating that the redhead has the choice to cross the street towards the stepbro or stay on the sidewalk with the manager (omg wait. now that i think more abt it, is it subtext indicating he’ll be safe with the manager but pursuing a relationship with the stepbro would be more dangerous? i mean idk maybe they explicitly said that in the dialogue but if not wait hold on holy shit) but when they cut to the next scene with the main story’s main character seeing redhead and stepbro smiling happily at each other i was like DAMN..... BRUH YOU REALLY DRAGGED ME ALONG FOR THESE 10 CH TO SEE THIS ENDING ....

also the other annoyance is that they basically removed the manager from the story right after that scene and i’m like bro. his last scene was him watching after redhead when he runs out to the crosswalk after stepbro almost gets run over bc the fucker is standing in the middle of the crosswalk when the light is red. not even a single panel of the manager accepting that redhead doesn’t like him like that. like fine ok in every love triangle that doesn’t end in poly, one person gets left out but at least give them some resolution even if you don’t write a new love interest for them. it’s ok to have them not end up with anybody, but at least let them accept and move on and have SOME degree of closure (if not for them, for the readers who were rooting for them).

i think i got everything i wanted to get out. i prob won’t read the translated ch even though i think some dialogue during the hook-up scene might be important bc ik what happens in the end lol. maybe this is just frequency illusion speaking, but after love or hate ended with (spoiler if you didn’t know) the main getting together with his “stepbro” (i’ll play devil’s advocate though bc TECHNICALLY they aren’t stepbros at the time of their main story relationship. did their parents get back together or not? i didn’t read this manhwa tbh lol. anyway i say devil’s advocate bc y’all should know my stance on these kinds of things by now), i’m like damn are other ppl just like ‘alright i’ve been validated and i’ll do that too!’ but also there was the older manhwa unfather that also ended with the main x his dad (i think it’s old enough that this wouldn’t be a spoiler. also btw i never read that manhwa either bc i tend to drop manhwas when i find out the love triangle involves a relative most of the time, i just found out the ending via IG lol. i’m menaced by those accounts to find out stuff abt stories i have no intention of reading).

other than the incest thing, i mean some reader comments were like ‘the redhead is crazy and so he should end up with his also crazy stepbro instead of the nice, “normal” manager’. which in some cases ok sure that makes sense but also damn just give the manager at least a single panel or dialogue of closure. idk maybe they did give him a dialogue of closure which i wouldn’t know since idk korean but damn. feels bad if he was demoted to only a line of dialogue

[liberty-flight]

I was reading reactions to aoex ch 91 earlier and someone was asking why there is so much Yukio hate when he is justifiably stressed and has no one to confide in. I think it's a combination of Yukio's issues being so complex and fairly subtle and the narrative makes it easy to pit him and Rin against each other so favoring one means being annoyed by the other as theyhighlight each other's flaws. 'Why the Yukio hate?' is a good question and I wanted to ask your opinion too?

Related to the ask about Yukio hate I have another question about the twins. Why are they so often blamed for their weaknesses? Like, does no one remember Fujimoto raised them both to be the way they are? Or that none of the adults who suspect Yukio is having a crisis have done anything? Has anyone truly tried to assess their mental health? And what happened to the other priests they grew up with? I'm just mystified why no one cares about their environment encouraging their flaws? Thank you

I’ll address both asks at once if you don’t mind!

As I’ve stated before Yukio is a frustrating character, because he’s lashing out at other protagonists it’s easier to dislike him. Unlike the antagonists he isn’t supposed to be hurting or impeding the others, yet he is. Which I think makes him a great character! Complex and not black and white when it comes to who the reader wants to feel for. But I can understand why some readers would decide to dislike him. I think that’s fine, even if I don’t agree. Not all protagonists are likable or sympathetic, just as some antagonist can still garner sympathy despite their role in the story.

I don’t know the answer to your question. My guess is that the adult characters don’t care, haven’t noticed, have other priorities, or maybe (and I’m thinking of Mephisto here) have reasons to push them in dangerous directions for some reason. 

I have to wonder about how other characters, especially older ones who have a very different view of Shiro, connect his parenting to the twins. 

Some seem to be suspicious of Yukio because of his connection to Rin (and by that I mean Satan) and Shiro (because he apparently disobeyed orders in order to secretly raise satan’s spawn) added with his youth I’m not surprised he hasn’t made any significant allies that he would trust or that would know/care about him enough to notice his current problems. Shura had a complicated upbringing, to say the least, so I’m a bit hesitant to blame her. Though she has noticed and has tried to bring it up with Rin and has told Yukio, more than anyone else, that he has to address whatever is bugging him. So she tried.

As for Rin very few people actually care because he’s the son of Satan. It adds pressure for him to be perfect because even a bout of teenage temper is him being a demon and a danger to Assiah and people constantly remind him that he’s only not being executed because of their good graces/because he’s useful and behaves. So that no adult would notice or help isn’t surprising. Rin is hiding it and what he isn’t able to hide (mostly his impulsiveness/temper) is held against him.

I have no idea about the culture/stigma/problems surrounding mental health in Japan, so I can’t comment on that. Let alone in the Blue Exorcist universe where I’m assuming would have the added complication of demons in the exorcist world. So...idk

Mephisto has been pulling the string a lot too and has his own motivations that don’t take the twin’s well being into account beyond what he needs them for so there’s that.  In fact he might have an interest in pushing both of them to the edge in some ways, depending on what his end game is.

We actually don’t know much about the other priests relationship with the twins or the restrictions placed on them via demon contracts. We haven’t seen them be super involved in the twins’ lives since they started True Cross (and, again we might have to keep Mephisto/the higher ups in the Order in mind here) so that they’re unaware isn’t super surprising.

No one cares is a bit harsh. I think their friends care, but no one in significant power cares (or even wants the opposite). And they care about each other. I think the little spat Yukio and Rin had after Shura told them about their mother was actually a significant brother moment. Yukio was trying to connect to Rin on the common ground of their mysterious birth but...sorta gave up half way when he dismissed Rin’s opinion because they think differently. 

I thought that was a little uncharitable of him, because for Rin Yuri is just another person, another parent, that’s death was indirectly caused by his birth. The more he knows then the more pain it will bring.

BUT I feel like there’s something else there when it comes to Rin’s reluctance to knowing about his birth parent(s). It’s been brought up twice now by Yukio, in specific contrast to Yukio’s burning desire to know Rin seems evasive on the topic even as a kid which is a little strange. I highly suspect there to be something more there, maybe something Rin found out or suspected or was told as a child that made him shy away from the topic.

Yukio is going down a bad road and fast, and Rin realizes it but feels like he can’t understand him anymore. Every time he tries to reach out Yukio just shoots him down by bringing up Rin’s demon heritage, which might as well be Rin’s Achilles heel when it comes to Yukio, and it derails to conversation completely. No matter how much Rin pushes (or backs off) Yukio isn’t giving anything and Rin isn’t a mind reader and he doesn’t know what Yukio does about Bon and Lightning’s involvement in the priest’s death. It’s tragic because both Rin and Yukio are dealing with problems with the same root cause, one in which they would both benefit from knowing that their twin is on their side no matter what. But Yukio has been sabotaging that.

Yukio is a very difficult place right now but he still needs to be held accountable for his behavior. Namely pointing his gun at places they should never be. At his brother (twice), at himself, at an ally.  And for not letting anyone into his head, not even Rin who would be the best person to understand his situation.