#what did you guys think if youve read the manga ?

[akaakeis]

gnawing at my nails rn i miss my bf (i dont have one) how do u pick like,,, one person to selfship with bc⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️

like there r so many options ushijima i dont even know who's my favourite character rn ushijima like guys☹️⁉️⁉️

BUT I cant wait for savyaku😼😼😼😼😼 SOCUTE

goshiki is my babey though he is sososososososososo cute and i would want him irl and i bet i could even pull him irl toooo

yk what this type of starting is called! a HOOK sentence cuz u got HOOKED and now ur reading this long ass ask. WAIT FUCJ mattsun guys hear me out here ANYWAYS. HRU SAV!!!!!!!!!!!! its 4am for yew rn right!!

anyways.. its 4pm havent had lunch yet am so fucking tired but soft rice.. soft white rice.... i want to sleep but rice....... call me basic but soft white rice is the best fucking thing in the entire world right after u. teacher gave my english composition an 80 i think ill end up on the news. i just stood up abruptly and the world went 🌀🌀🌀🌀 should i be worried..!!!!

THERE WAS AN OWL ON OUR ROOF THE OTHER DAY SO COOL i almost started writing akaashi hurt comfort (???) at school today but i didnt get time and now im Too Tired :(

im reading and the mountains echoed by khaled hosseini and erm. the plot is so questionable at times like wdym the guy was in love with his chauffeur wdym she tried to kill her sister and changed her mind last second so it was only paralysis but its ok bc she killed her fr next time. wdym this one girl dated her moms ex and then married her friend's ex like guys.. guys i have Questions..

IDK IF U READ JJK MANGA BUT U SHOULD READ JJK MANGA

i cant wait for ur birthday #weirdkidthings Im So Funny Guys Im So Funny

im going to sleep so hard tonight grrgrgrhrgrg i had ice cream on the way home from school YUM and then math kid era p2 i finished this one thinf before everyone else even started and the teacher asked if i did it qt home cuz wtf. ew now i remember her using her nail to create indentations in the paper and i feel nauseous my skin is crawling

WHATEVER eRmmrmrm im sitting on the stairs rn hashtag procrastination ahahahahah ive been writing this and zoninf out for the past 7 minutes yyyyyippeeee

im so tired guys let me sleeeep

my parenrs were supposed to find baby gender today but the little shit kept its legs shut and didnt let them see (just like me frl)

correction im lying on the stairs rn ..

honestly me x goshiki would be Bomb why is he so unpopular all his fics are mid or questionable so far,,,, anyways. konoha is so beautiful i would want him excpet i have like no grip on his character so #tweaks. i hate andrew tate so fkn much. i cant wait till i turn 16 idk i feel like life will be significantly cooler then. anyways bb i take my leave gotta go eat lunch

i hope youve eaten by the time ur reading this!!! stay hydrated and safe and dm me to be silly together whenever >:]]]]] i hope u have a WONDERFUL day sav!! ily <3

look at my man hes so gorgeous btw

alina... bf... :D alright then! umumumummm honestly there were many characters that i wanted to do a selfship with but i didnt want to be self shipping with the same character that someone im following consistently self ships with LMAO cause i feel like it gets weird for me at that point cause all the hcs in my head get mixed up? ANYWAY i just think of selfships with any character im hyperfixating on at that very moment... in fact my selfship very well may change!!!

anyway since im replying after you decided on yuulina... NOYA AGHHH U GUYS WILL BE SO CUTE TOGETHER!!! IM UR NO 1 SUPPORTER THIS IS YUULINA SUPPORT CENTRAL‼️‼️‼️

savyaku sounds so funny i need to thank of something that sounds better stop rn 💔 BUT I LOVE HIM SO SO SO SO SO MUCH IM SUPER EXCITED TO DO SOME SELFSHIP STUFF :))

u would so pull goshiki irl 🙂‍↕️

HELP thanks for the english lesson lina 😭 those terms always make me shudder because they were drilled into my head in my college comp class it was horrifying. and NO not mattsun i do NOT approve of that at this point in time!!!! AND IM OKAY!! tired as hell and i have 3 projects to work on <3 (i stacked my classes this year, im not proud.) IT IS NOW 3 PM AS I ANSWER THIS ASK SO SORRY IT TOOK ME LIKE 12 HOURS WOAH

honestly u were probably tired because you didn't eat but i digress... AND SOFT WHITE RICE HAS MY HEART IT MAY BE AN ASIAN THING?? and awh stawp😋 ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THE ENGLISH TEACHER THAT YOU CORRECTED IN CLASS? THE ONE THAT CANT SPEAK AS WELL AS YOU?? insanity 😨 i may end up on the news as well. AND YOURE PROBABLY HUNGRY AND DEHYDRATED GO EAT AND DRINK WATER IF YOU HAVENT ALREADY WHAT??? PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!!

WHAT AN OWL ON THE ROOF THATS SUPER COOL!! bro i love owls :( and ugh i get what u mean i feel like sometimes the time just slips away... but its okay! you'll have time at some later date <3 make sure you rest enough!!

guys what my jaw just dropped?? THOSE WERE THE MOST RANDOM PLOT POINTS YOU COULDVE LEFT ME WITH. NOW IM JUST CONFUSED? KINDA WANNA READ IT NOW (my readlist has 100+ books on it)...

AND IVE READ SOME OF IT BUT IM NOT UP TO DATE RN I HAVENT HAD MUCH TIME TO CATCH UP RECENTLY

im excited for your bday too!! im trying to math away the time differences in my head so like i would dm at 12 pm the day before your bday so i would catch u at midnight i THINK.

i hope u are having an AMAZING sleep rn alina!!! and u are so smart <3 barf ur teacher needs to stop doing that thats lowk unsanitary? in my book

HELP ME NOT THE JS LIKE ME FR 😭😭 hopefully u guys are able to figure out the gender soon!! im so excited for you guys <33

goshiki is under appreciated as a character honestly and i think its cause of his fuckass haircut 😭 NO OFFENSE TO YOU WHATSOEVER IM SORRY!! HES CUTE BUT THE HAIR IS NOT FOR ME. when i saw him shirabu AND tendou i was like "what the HELL is wrong with shiratorizawa they are all fucked" no they werent they had semi and ushijima BUT THAT WAS FIRST IMPRESSION ANYWAY also konoha UGRHSHSBNDMSJABD hes so!!! so!!! yeah!!! i love him sm... also how did we get on the topic of andrew tate hes such a weird guy i dont like him 💀 AND SO REAL im excited to be 16 <3

AND I HAVE!! make sure u eat something nutritious before school! and drink some water!! i hope your day is lovely <3 ily!!

[yuukei-yikes]

It’s me back in the ask box again for another super important question:

What “cringe” fandoms would the mekadan have been into as kids. Like we know Marry was a black butler girlie but I need to know the rest. Who was deeply invested in the fnaf lore, who was cosplaying as homestuck trolls, who was shipping creepypastas. I am desperate for answers only you can provide.

EXCELENT question. i ADORE this question.

ayano is into homestuck. used to role play warrior cats. loves the marvel cinematic universe, and just any superhero comic book stuff in general. canonically into jojo.

kido's is BANDS. specifically bands considered emo back in 2013 or something. my chemical romance. blink 189. black veil brides. that was their shit. also im sorry but they were a superwholock. sorryyyyyy i also think they'd be into medical dramas like grey's anatomy and dr house LMAO

i dont think seto did or does fandoms. i think seto goes outside too much. he's the only one who has no idea what being in a fandom is like, also the least online definitely (I'll get to mary)

kano would be into youtubers/celebrities. he's so into celebrity gossip it's impossible to talk to him he knows of names youve never even heard of.

like u said mary is a black butler girlie but i guess she could like other mangas... i also think she'd watch medical dramas with kido. BUT she doesnt internet so she has no idea about any of it she just lore dumps everyone instead about any book she's reading. she finds out black butler is actually animated and forces everyone to sit down and watch it with her

momo was the one shipping creepypastas btw. i also think she's a sims girlie she's obsessed with its lore and loves making ocs in there and ends up obsessed with her own sims families (commissions haruka a bunch)

shintaro is into magical girls animes. like any of them. but i also think he'd like some popular cartoons like steven universe LOLLL he was probably furiously defending pearl online. also i think he used to make youtube poops and sparta remixes when he was like 14

haruka and takane are the fnaf lore guys especially haruka i seriously think he arrives to school one day after he stayed up all night watching fnaf lore videos and told takane all about it. they're the ones lining up for the movie rn. they also probably roleplayed undertale together in highschool. also i think takane likes analog horror which is horrible for haruka bc i think he hates horror but he's also weirdly fascinated by it so he's watching through his fingers anything takane puts on lol. they tend to share their fandoms especially in hs because haruka was furiously googling anything takane mentioned to have conversation topics with her

hiyori's obviously into idols. i think like kido she loves bands too but she's from the directioner bts stan vibes. and hibiya i LOVE to make jokes abt him being into whatever 12 year olds are into (fortnite, among us, fnaf) and seriously i do love that and i think gamer hibiya is possible with the power of him making the effort to learn to use his phone and the internet bc all his friends live far away and in the process learns abt all that. but before that he was like seto he has no idea what it feels like to be in a fandom and cannot understand hiyori's visions. he's still not SUPER online though

i loved this question. more questions like this i beg

[sabaramonds]

dmdp posting again. hey guys. MANGA SPOILERS !!! ive rambled about this on discord and on twitter in bits and pieces but it haunts me so im going to talk about it again here. so theres this song i heard a month or so ago, turtles all the way down by sammy copley, and every time i listen to it i start tearing myself apart at the seams over the corpse god and his emperor (and once again i will be referring to them strictly as their titles because, again, if you havent read the entire manga and been edged for 80 chapters, it just isnt right...) typical ok this got super long so im actually putting it under a cut this time but 👇 go forth if you want to be subjected to the depths of my illness

anyway!!! i just cant help it. everything about it perfectly encapsulates their relationship from corpse gods perspective. like

im not well as you can tell by the way i havent looked you in the eye im about to lie and say im fine but inside you and i know thats not true but its either this or let my burden weigh on you and that i just cant do so ill choose for the both of us and youll just go along because youve trusted me for no good reason here i am, committing treason force the last page of our story one more boring allegory hope to god youll rise above me; always bite the hand the loves me mine, mine is the unkind kindest cut of all and ill watch you fall

i feel crazy. “but its either this or let my burden weigh on you / and that i just cant do / so ill choose for the both of us” because corpse god doesnt want to burden his emperor more than he already has; his emperor has already dirtied his hands for him. thats already too much. “youve trusted me for no good reason / here i am committing treason / force the last page of our story” because he feels as if he is unworthy of his emperors love and trust and kindness and that aside from what hed done under a foreign necromancers influence, the grief and rage that possessed him to act in violence made him even more unworthy - made him a traitor to his masters teachings, to his emperors affection... even before we got further context for their relationship in the last few chapters of the most recent arc (civil having his #girl moment) i wrote in “the ghost of who you were” that corpse gods escapist fantasy of seeking out a world, or creating one, where his emperor would never have to dirty his hands on corpse gods behalf - or on the behalf of any child subjected to violence by adults who should love them - was an impossible dream he chased in an attempt to outrun the forgiveness of his emperor (though, to his emperor, there is nothing to forgive at all) also “hope to god youll rise above me; always bite the hand that loves me / mine is the unkindest kindest cut of all / and ill watch you fall” so fucking prophetic. to me. about corpse god choosing for both of them (sealing away his emperor and other spirits hed contracted with deep within himself so they could not reach out to him and judge him for what he had done) and the fact he did, indeed, watch his emperor fall; he had done it himself, with his own two hands, as unwillingly as it had been.

and i am aware that its not fair to bring you here then send you on your way you had so much to say and to ask like, “why am i not cut out for the task of loving you forever, of holding you and never wanting less?” well, i can take a guess see, i could choose for the both of us and youll just go along because youve trusted me for no good reason love, no matter what the season; force the last page of our story youre my favorite allegory hope to god that youll forgive me; my mistakes will long outlive me mine, mine is the unkind kindest cut of all and ill watch you fall

ripping my face off as i listen to this song and think about them right now. as we speak. “and im aware that its not fair / to bring you here then send you on your way” like every single part of this. “hope to god that youll forgive me / my mistakes will long outlive me” corpse god binding his emperors soul to him (consensually) only to push him away in the aftermath out of guilt and grief and feelings of inadequacy. his emperor never stopped wanting him, not even when corpse god became one of the undead himself; not even when he was nothing but bones held together by his masters magic, a brain in a jar kept cradled close to his frail, fleshless vessel... in his emperors own words: “no matter what youve turned into, the empire and i are always on your side.” in chapter 80, he says to corpse god, “being alive isnt about whether or not youre dead body. its about whether youre looking to the future or not.” he follows this up by addressing corpse god not by the title he himself had given him, but by his name (BRAIN DAMAGING) (I WAS ON THE FLOOR WRITHING LIKE A WORM)

and i dont know if this makes it any easier perhaps youll find comfort when i say: you and i are nothing more than meteors, never meant to live long past today yes. ill choose for the both of us: youll just go along because you trusted me against your judgement you deserve someone who doesnt force the last page of your story no more boring allegories hope to god youll rise above me, though youll always be part of me mine, mine is the unkind kindest cut of all ill watch you fall now watch me fall

most of the song i feel very strongly reads as corpse gods perspective but “perhaps youll find comfort when i say / you and i are nothing more than meteors, never meant to live long past today” feels like such an emperor thing to say. when you are a child emperor, you are braced for political assassination; when you are from a land where necromancy is a real and thriving art, your fear of death can be softened by the knowledge that if the one you love outlives you (even if their own flesh, too, is long gone) then your voice will still be heard by those who matter. though even then, the emperor is quite a funny guy. he loved corpse god before he was corpse god; he loved him when he was flesh and bone, loved him when that flesh dissolved and he was left as just a skeleton of who he had been; he loved him when corpse god killed him, loved him when corpse god bound them together. and always, he waited for when corpse god would be ready to face him, waited for him to be able to live. because corpse god was not alive before. if we go off of the emperors idea of “being alive” meaning “looking forward”, corpse god was always looking down or looking back; caught in his past, his regrets, his fears. i mentioned what his emperor said in chapter 80. in chapter 81, the opening page of corpse god is him smiling at the sight of his emperors back, thinking to himself: “unlike me, you only ever looked ahead. how could you keep your eyes trained forward on what was to come? i didnt understand at the time (and here, we see corpse god as he once was: face hidden by a bone mask and cowl, unsmiling) but now, i think i get it a little.” he thinks this as he watches his emperor dirty his hands on his behalf once again. he called for his emperor willingly, this time; he asked for his help, not as a subject beseeches their lord, but as a friend. an equal, the way his emperor had always treated him; he is ready to be alive, now. he is ready to look forward instead of past, to accept his emperors forgiveness, his love; to think of himself as worthy returning that love and wait i forgot lol i was so caught up in the insanity of the emperors perspective in those first few lines and segueing into corpse gods growth during the latest arc that i forgot to talk about “hope to god youll rise above me / though youll always be part of me” wanting his emperor to have better than what he does (corpse god) but wanting to always keep part of him with him + “ill watch you fall / now watch me fall” literally he killed his emperor with his own hands (unwillingly) and then his downward spiral in his grief and when he eventually went absolutely bananas on those geldwood cultists giving them a brutal torturous death for murdering the orphan children he was caring for at the time and believing his actions had made him unworthy of the power he wielded and (holding my head) as you can tell i think about this song and about them a normal amount. i think ill stop talking here. for now. i just. oh my god. theyve come so far. the fact corpse god is able to face his emperor now. jesus christ 😭 if you think im bad about these two just wait until i start talking about civil. lol

[blueempty]

Due to several sleeping errors, I forgor

My day was alright outside of my stomach waking me up after 3 hours of comfy sleep, and then me falling asleep for a little too long on the couch at work, which is why I don't think i'm gonna have a new kanji for today. I'll probably just practice some other vocabulary and keep hammering in the first half of my katakana

Like I'm always saying, I dont want to vent here but like, its part of my day ya know. And I'm not upset as I write this its just thoughts in my brain. Btw did you know that overexplaining yourself is an autistic trait? Anyway, I've been thinking about my brain and its problems because my partner has a new work friend who is also autistic, but her and I followed different paths. She seems to be on the Naruto Uzumaki grind of saying exactly what she means and is thinking at all times. The barrier between her and other people made her more forward and blunt, which is probably good. I however went the conflict avoidance route, where I got tired of trying to be understood so I've just spoken less and less over the years. I used to be very social but lately I'm going whole days saying almost nothing to anyone

Its largely because of the specific people I'm around every day, cuz my mom doesnt care about whatever the fuck I'm doing in Onimusha or Splatoon. I've learned what stuff people outside my fixations would be equipped to find interesting. My mom listens, but I dont want to waste her time or bug her while shes working with stuff that isn't relevant to her. And my brother is the most equipped to have conversations with but he's also on a different autism wavelength that seems to be becoming incompatible with mine. Like earlier today I said I was getting really tired of him and our friend being so fuckin negative about everything all the time and then like 2 minutes later he said I was a bitch for paying attention to what skills I have on in Monster Hunter. Something just ain't lining up in our conversations

BUT, thats all to say, my response to that comment wasnt to push the point further, instead I just stopped talking. Because I've learned that he in particular seems to have lost the ability to argue or discuss in good faith when it comes to specific topics. And because of that I sit there and filter everything I think about saying. I have a thought about something in the Splatoon DLC and before i say something I think "my brother doesnt like Splatoon anymore so at best he'll ignore me and at worst I'll get into an argument about whether or not skills are stupid"

So you the reader at this moment may be thinking "this sounds like a problem with you and the 3 people you talk to every day" and you'd be right. But this learned silence has got my ass unsure how to speak in general, so idk how to make new friends or how to interact with old ones. Its quite the pickle oh yes

Again this is literal hashtag thought posting, I'm not trying to complain but this is just stuff thats been on my mind since like January. And now this new friend that my partner has made me think damn I couldve just pivoted into an assertive style autist but I assumed a defensive posture. The human mind truly is fucked and full of terrors

But all that shit aside Dungeon Meshi is amazing, the whole crew is great. I am concerned that I'm getting incorrect localizations on their names cuz i'm reading it on manga dex. So I've just been calling the hobbit Chalk. I'm on chapter 15 now I think. Kensuke is my MVP right now I love that little guy

And finally the moment youve been waiting for yes its true I only have 4 weapons left to go in Side Order. I was spoiled on the name of Eights pallette weapon and it didnt tell me anything but it made me want to get it as soon as possible to see what the fuck it is

My partner also brought me a big sammich at work and it was good. I lob her

Peace and Long Life

[placidsloth]

things customers have said to me

im actually done collecting pokemon cards, shoes are kinda like my passion now. plus id rather drive my car down to florida full of shoes rather than my pokemon cards (its two binders dude its literally smaller than one shoebox)

get anything new in? (greg you were here yesterday, nothing has changed)

do you have this comic book store specific cover variant of this comic that came out today? i know its not this comic book shop, but i figured you might still have it (we're a very small store ha ha... that means no)

could you get me this 20 year old comic? your distributor should have it right?

yeah this comic has an important first appearance in it, i'm surprised you guys have any copies left. (yes because avengers #58 or whatever that came out 3 weeks before is such an important issue, thats why we only ordered one and sold none)

do you even know who damian wayne is? you know dick grayson isn't robin anymore, right?

do you sell manga? (sir this is a comic book store, any manga we have is entirely an accident)

you know, they use anti-depressants to keep sexual deviants and sociopaths like ted bundy from wanting to have sex while in jail, i dont understand why they dont just give everyone anti-depressants because literally every person is a little bit of a sociopath. i think putting anti-depressants in the water supply would probably reduce the number of jackasses in the world (terrifying thanks)

i thought that guy was gonna come at you when you said your boss was going to come talk to him about his order lol. i work with cops a lot and he reminded me of a junky looking to score a hit. but you handled that really well! good job! (way to make me feel safe dude)

no but the bionicle comic was one of the top selling comics of the year when it came out (somehow im not so sure about that.)

i wish there was a comic with like the members of the batfam you don't get to see usually (well actually there's an ongoing batgirls title, and tim drake has a mini-series-) no but like a good one, you know? (-.-)

how am i supposed to know what comic this is? (did you try looking at the back? it should have the name there) yeah it wasnt there (are you sure? flip it over for me?) okay i swear that wasnt there before

oh wow why is this comic so expensive? why would anyone pay $500 for a comic they cant even read? (i ask myself that every day)

damn i thought that guy was gonna lose it at you when you said you didn't have that item haha

nah man i just want venom stuff. i like to think of myself as the anti-hero of my life (i had to drop my stapler and lean down to pick it up so they wouldnt see me laugh at them)

wow, in the time ive been here, youve gotten hit on by three different guys! does that happen a lot? (i do not remember being hit on, i remember helping customers and chatting with them?)

so you're like 16 right? how long have you been working here? (4 years... i'm 23...)

oh i wasnt expecting to see a girl working here! are you the owners daughter/girlfriend/wife? (no thank god)

man if only my mom/wife/girlfriend/mother-in-law didnt give away/get rid of/lose/burn/throw out my comics/pokemon cards/magic cards i could be a millionaire right now (x to doubt)

[25ticupsinacupboard]

Haha ignore the fact this is multiple days late, got busy and then forgot about this convo 😅😅

I started reading the manga during my small moments of free time and goddamn I still repeat “he’s just a little guy” over and over about vash like I did with stampede 😭😭 and I just finished volume 1 so when they were on the sand steamer and even just the part where he was shooting the big guy I was sitting there in shock because he looked like he was killing him even tho I knew he probably wasn’t I was just blown away. And then like five seconds later he was beating up the kid for being sentimental akjdkaks. The whiplash I’d get from being on the edge of my seat from a battle to cackling at a little comment from vash

Tho I will admit I’m having a bit of trouble following along at times. Sometimes there’s so much going on on a page that I can’t tell what’s happening or I can’t understand what’s happening in a panel. I’d sit there for a few minutes just studying the page to try and find out what’s happening 😅 everything just seems to move so fast but honestly it’s a little nice knowing that one of the small gripes I had about stampede was part of the manga, so I know it’s not like bad writing. It may also be the fact I don’t usually read manga but stampede was like that and I have read small parts of other manga before and I don’t remember them moving so fast

Gosh I feel a little sick just thinking about it still. Like I didn’t even remember the plant part ngl just where nai was changing vash’s memories and using him to open the other dimension. That’s why I usually prefer reading stuff like that cause then I can just skim the page and get a vague idea of what’s happening and don’t have to pay too much attention but with tv you have to watch to understand, and I couldn’t even look away and just listen cause I watch sub not dub (tho I really hope the dub comes to Hulu at some point I think this is the first time I’ve ever wanted to watch a dub of an anime the clips I’ve seen are just so good) but I’m glad I’ll be able to just skim the page when reading the manga and it gets uncomfy

I kinda can’t imagine him getting so aggressive which is probably why I was so shocked by the manga. Like I can’t remember too many moments from what I’ve read that he stopped to try and “talk it out” (tho that could also be me just missing it from fast-pacedness) I still think of him almost never pulling his gun when I have read him doing it over and over in the manga. Honestly I’m a little scared for when nai arrives in the manga because 1, youve said vash gets scary and 2, I’m genuinely worried nai will be a lot worse in the manga tho I have no reason to think that yet. Maybe it’s cause of the talk of stampede just being a prequel so nai might get worse (if he’s alive but like ?? He’s gotta be right??? No way he just died idk I have a feeling he’s alive or smth)

Oh god the FEATHERS I was wondering what that was when I was watching stampede and then the wings appeared in the manga and I was like OH MY GOD. And now I’m even more worried because he can’t control it??? So people fear him???? Not my boy don’t do this to him he don’t deserve it 😭😭

I can’t tell if the manga will heal me from stampede or not cause apparently vash stands up for himself way fucking more than in the show which I’m extremely happy about but also sounds like he goes through so much more trauma which I cannot deal with he needs all the hugs 😭😭😭

Hey besties I have a question

Do I read the manga or watch the anime of trigun first? I wanted to read the manga first but the only way I know to access it is through the trigun manga overhaul account here on tumblr but i don’t like downloading stuff from random people on the internet

So if you say manga first, is that tumblr account a good and safe way to access it online or is there a better place?

[mushroom-winners-proof]

i finished reading the CoM manga and my thoughts ????? it was a fun read

post gets kinda long so thoughts are under the cut

the manga takes a more comedic approach to the game which is pretty funny considering how dark CoM is. it really breezes past the story, though it does offer really great fight scenes- in general the art style, shading, and paneling is probably some of my favorite that i’ve seen in manga. 

unfortunately the only major battle that gets proper page time is the second fight against larxene: fights against vexen, lexaeus, marluxia, and even ansem are pretty much cut or are much shorter than they should be for a final fight. 

on the topic of ansem, i did like how there were times he had a sort of lingering, foreboding presence to riku’s story, but it only happens once or twice before their final encounter. i didn’t have issues about zexion’s fight being nonexistent however: zexion isn’t really a fighter, he relies on illusions and tricks to win. he’s more of a tactician than a hands-on person. so for his segment to just be the sora illusion part was pretty fine with me (though i wish it lingered just a bit longer and “sora” guilted riku more, just to really push riku into the mindset he’s nothing but darkness).

riku’s story was never too long in the actual game: playing through it only takes about nine hours, so i wasn’t expecting it to be terribly long. my only issue with its pacing is that i feel like there was a missed opportunity to expand on how isolated riku was by not showing at least one world and showing just how empty it was compared to sora’s (maleficent got to show up though so i mean points for that. it was cute seeing riku’s room in hollow bastion again too)

it doesn’t tackle the serious tones of the game too much. for one thing repliku’s arc is significantly trivialized, not even getting a proper resolution until a gag comic at the very end (he doesn’t even directly interact with riku in the main story).

i’m not going to make this super long since i’m not making a Review review right now, i’m just giving my right-after-the-manga thoughts. my overall conclusion is that i did enjoy reading it: the visuals were captivating, both comedically and just enjoying the art style. the book definitely gives a lighter tone, so it’s certainly something i’d revisit if i just want to have a laugh or a smile.

[jadenvargen]

Idk if youve made a post like this but any m4m animes/mangas you recommend? Im trying to find stuff thats not overly romance focused or like. Idol groupey?? Like ikemen. Also watched kaiji because I saw your art and my soul hurts from the first arc alone

IM SORRY FOR THAT KAIJI IS SO MUCH uhm... i think i know what you mean? i don’t read too many gay manga( bcs i have hard time finding ones i like also😭) but there’s some i really recommend! Been a while since I read some of these so I’ll try my best to warn but I might have forgotten something ;; ! anyway I have a few to reccomend!

Shimanami Tasogare

you’ve probably heard of it, it gets recced a lot, but it’s for a reason. It weaves an expert narrative, focusing on a small community of LGBT+ (an older gay man, a pair of lesbian wives, a transgender bicyclist, the mysterious agender leader, and a young child who’s unsure of their gender identity and presentation) people and how they navigate the world. Its POV character is a young closeted gay man struggling with self acceptance, and finds family and love within this group. 

warnings:

Homophobia, Bullying, Transphobia as central and constant, but also mentioned suicidal ideation, pedophilia, parental abuse, as well as cancer.

What did you eat yesterday?

If you’re not much for romance, this one’s definitely for you! Not to say the romance isn’t there- it’s just very casual. A fun and honest tale about a gay odd couple and their day to day struggles, from light to major, told with the help of food recipes that they eat for dinner every day. Very comfy. Also has a delightful live action show!

warnings: Homophobia, grindr-esque fatphobia at times, domestic abuse(one of the men is a lawyer and deals with lots of types of cases), and the biggest one would be a bad bit in Chapter 2 where a woman thinks our protagonist is going to assault her while he thinks she may be homophobic. I would honestly skip this chapter. 

Hare no Hi

A one-shot about a gay divorced dad learning his son is gay too, and struggling to know how to help him. Since it’s so short, I won’t say more but I think it’s really amazing!

warnings:

the son has a crush on the dad’s friend, who’s an adult. this isn’t encouraged by him or anything(in fact explicitly rejected) but warning just to be safe!

I hear the sunspot/ Hidamari ga Kikoeru

A HoH university student recruits the help of a go-getter shonen protag classmate to take notes, and their friendship and feelings for each other develop along the way. It’s more about the HoH guy’s struggles to fit in and what to do in life, and how to fit in a relationship in all that. I’m not HoH myself, so while I cannot definitely decide if it’s perfect representation by any means, I think the story and characters are very real and wonderful to follow. 

(The reading order is all out of whack for a lot of chapters uploaded though so I’d reccommend checking a read order thing before starting lol...Also, the last chapter is gone from most scan sites for some reasons, but just searching “chapter 29″ should lead to plenty of downloads.)

warnings: ableism, bullying

Blue flag:

Not my personal favourite, but a lot of people swear by it! Different strokes, so it might be for you. Basically: Boy likes Girl, who Likes Boy’s friend, who Likes Boy, then other complicated factors start to enter the picture. It’s a sort of relationship drama between every character in their large friend group. 

warnings: homophobia, bullying, sexual assault mention, i think i remember some weird homophobic rhetoric that was like endorsed but maybe i’m mixing things up, katy perry and taylor swift pro gay mixtape.

not a lot because i’m kind of picky and i tend not to like a lot of what i read ;_; a lot of gay stuff is just bad yaoi, hard bara which is fine but not like.. a story lol. or like.. super focused on highschoolers and i don’t care for that. some general lgbt manga i’d reccomend other would be: 

double house (character study of trans woman cis woman roomates.. and then more:) ) 

i wanna be your girl!(cis girl in love with her real girl childhood friend but struggling if these feelings mean she’s invalidating her gender but Actually she’s just bi... the t girl is straight though so be warned.) 

Ohana Holoholo (2 ex girlfriends become roommates to raise the child of one of them, and rediscover old feelings along the way.)

Koi Ga Ochitara is explicit, 18+ but if you’re an adult gay man it is. Somehow very touching and relatable.

[touyaz]

Ok but what is soft Gojou like in your mind bc as much as I love reading about him being a smooth fuckboy, I also know deep down that that man is an absolute BUFFOON when he’s in love

i cannot seriously imagine him as a fuckboy bc like..... he's got trust issues + no time to play around lmao. it's still fun to read tho !!

ok only after writing it all did i realise you asked for soft gojou and this is more........ my version of him being in love, and it's like,,, a lil goofy and realistic?? not necessarily /soft/ so i apologise akjshda if u want soft specifically lmk !!

MINORS, AGELESS & BLANK BLOGS DO NOT INTERACT. 18+ ONLY.

+

WHEN IN LOVE THO HE'S SO !!!!!!!!! god. goddddd. definition of a menace but we already know that. he has little time to spare, so he will take up all of yours whenever he can. will take advantage of the fact that higher-ups cant really say no to him (or they will but he will ignore them <3) and drag you on his missions just to spend time w you. will take you to his favourite places to get some food, and then head somewhere a little more exclusive. kinda strikes me as the guy to go on reddit and find obscure/ hidden places where you two can chill for a little while together, like a lil adventure + picnic date daskjhd he's cute <3

i also think he's a movie buff + so you'll have a lot of late night dates w takeout and film marathons. he barely sleeps so he'll tuck you in when you fall asleep and continue watching without you </3 threatens to spoil the film if you dont listen to him the next day. i can see him being someone that talks a lot in films, but i prefer imagining him quiet during those times bc its like a way for him to unwind and relax? he'll tease you a bit/ make lil jokes throughout, hog the popcorn but otherwise he's actually a decent guy to watch films with. v knowledgeable. theres little he hasnt watched. can give good recs, but would rather make u waste ur time on some shitty film :/

massive foodie + he's got a.... weird obsession with handfeeding you lmao. is v playful, pretending to feed you then pulling away. stealing food off of your plate and denying it :| 100% wipes sauce off of your lip then licks it off his thumb. slurps obnoxiously loud + grins when ppl stare at him. when he gets a foam moustache from drinking smth creamy, he'll try to lick away and he just looks like an absolute fool. kinda cute tho. if you want him to share his food w you, youve gotta give him something in return (usually a kiss, sometimes a quickie lmfao).

his phone lockscreen looks like a default pic (a beach in okinawa, he says), but youre his wallpaper!!!! it's probably the worst picture he has of you, but he will insist that you look cute :/ he looks flawless, smirking at the screen, and your face is beside his, w his hands squishing your cheeks. u look v disgruntled and funny. no amount of bargaining will get him to change it until yall get a wedding pic or smth </3

i've said this before but he has the worst pet names. v cringe, food-related names like cupcake, sugar pie, honey bun, gumdrop. SWEET CHEEKS. SWEET CHEEKS IS HIS FAVOURITE!!!!! he's so fuckin loud as well, he doesnt care if youre in public/ around family or kids, he'll scream that to get ur attention. has no shame. the only normal pet names he'll use are babe/ baby, honey, sweets. says your name in a really teasing tone, like yknow when manga characters' speech goes like this~♡ that's how he calls you. also sarcastically calls u your highness/ majesty + he'll call himself ur humble servant. gojou u r the court's jester know ur place :/

loves calling you to hear ur voice. will video call u and ur like ?? arent u on a mission rn? and he's like yeah watch this bb <3 its the easiest way for him to spend time with you when he cant be there in person :(( kinda cute but then he'll make u watch him eat your fave food + say that if you wanted to eat this, u shouldve joined him on the mission. when u hang up on him he'll buy you it tho :( <3

i could go on abt how he's part of the biting + licking love lang group, how he likes drawing a bath for you when he's feeling melancholy, how his fave position is missionary, how his favourite place to kiss you is your forehead but i will shut up now <3

here are some other posts if u want more of my hcs for him !!

+here

+love lang

[i-simp-for-gintoki]

Visiting Yuji in Tokyo

“yuji x reader where she was childhood friends with yuji and its basically the friends to lover sort of thing? and basically reader is visiting tokyo and meets up with yuji for the first time in months?? bonus if gojo and megumi are there :)”-anon

Damn its either super short or long no inbetween huh? Sorry if this isn’t exactly what you wanted! Some of the characters are little ooc (when are they not when i write them-).This turned out much much longer than it needed to be

You and Yuji have known each other since kindergarten

He’s such a sweet kid its always really fun to hang out with him

You guys play lots of video games together and are basically inseparable

Constantly reading manga or watching anime its great

Your parents disapproved of you hanging out with a dude all the time but you could care less

Why should you only be friends with your own gender? Thats so stupid

You always wondered about why yuji had such great strength and speed but he says he was just born that way

Hes just built different

Around middle school his grandpa’s health had dropped and was moved to the hospital

You did your best to make sure yuji stayed in good spirits and often visited the older itadori with him

He’s not the best at wording things but hes always there for emotional support

Maybe it was around 7th grade you noticed something was different around yuji

Like he himself hasn’t changed but whenever you look at him your heart just melts

Your thoughts or compliments seem more filled with love for him and thats when you realized you started to fall for him

Thinking the crush would go away you didn’t act much on it

Oh what a fool you were

Around 8th grade yuji had started acting kinda weird around you

He’d be much more easy to fluster and tenses up for a second if you ever make contact

You confronted him about it and cue the very awkward and middle school like confession

“I really like you!

You were so happy you confessed back and said that the only reason you didn’t before was because you feared to ruin your friendship

He says even if he somehow didn’t like you back that something like that wouldn’t effect anything

From then on you guys are such a wholesome couple

All the cuddles

No fancy dates just casual arcade or movie sort of things

His grandpa gave him a hard time but approved of your relationship

Throughout 8th grade summer and the beginning of highschool everything was going great

But a few months into highschool lots of things happened

Yuji’s grandpa had passed away, he and his friends in the exorcist(?) club had gotten hurt and after that night he had weird markings on his cheeks right below his eyes

And to top it all off now he was supposedly moving to tokyo??

“Yuji why are you moving away? My parents would gladly take you in you know”

He tells you he can’t explain why which breaks your heart

“Who are you staying with then??” he stops for a second and it pains him to lie to you. “A distant relative of mine, he works at a private school and thats where i will be going from now on.”

“But what about us?”

And so you guys decided to do a long distance relationship

Every night when you can you call and chat for hours

But thats not enough

You want to be held or hold him, you want to just cuddle or atleast be in the same room

It pains you to have a relationship through a screen and you grow respect for those who do

Trust isn’t an issue since you know yuji wouldnt even think to cheat at all

Probably doesnt even know what the word means

But after a few months you decide to go to tokyo for a few days

With the help of your parents you rent a room in a hotel and head there

Were just gonna pretend your parents are super super chill(and slightly uncaring like my parents would never let me) and lets you go to a whole city by yourself for several nights

You were super nervous and excited

Its your first time visiting a huge city like tokyo and its gonna be the first time you see yuji in months

Itadori was super excited that you were in tokyo

So excited that he got lost trying to head to the hotel you were staying at

After an extra hour you guys finally meet

He walks through the hotel lobby doors and gives a smile and a wave

In an instant you tackle him in a hug which he GLADLY hugs back in

After just holding each other for a while he decides to show you around

Hes still clearly learning the area himself but he’s very excited to show what he does know

“The place over here makes amazing sushi! Oh! And over here they sell little action figures! Oh oh and over here the steak is kinda bad but its cheap so its worth it! And-” you could only smile as he pointed in random directions with one hand, the other was busy holding yours

Buying food from a bunch of random vendors and wearing silly getups you guys take loads of pictures

Tons of hugs and cheek kisses

Yes its frowned upon to be touchy and stuff in public in japan but honestly you guys could care less

The sun was setting and you guys were currently sitting at a park munchkin on some crepes when you turn to him

“Yuji, do you think i could visit who your staying with? I’d hate to impose but i just wanna know if your in good hands”

His chewing pauses

Its not like he didn’t want you tell about jujutsu

But he doesn’t want you to be apart of that world, he wants you to stay as safe as possible with no harm ever headed your ways

With him being a vessel for sukuna gojo had told him that he and his friends could potentially be targeted

Theres a reason sorceres put up cloaks when engaging in battles and its so normal civilians can continue living in peace without the knowledge these monstrosities actually exist

“Mm its a bit sudden and he’s out on a mis-er meeting right now so maybe tomorrow?” he says

You frown, you can tell he’s lying but he wouldn’t do it without a reason

“Fine. But Yuji. Just know that if you ever feel unsafe or want to come back your more than welcome too. There will always be a spot for you at my home” you say hugging him

You both kinda forgot you were holding crepes and when you pulled away from each other laughed as the ice cream and sauce was smeared all over your shirts/jackets

He walks you back to the hotel and says goodnight with a kiss

The next two days went by in a flash

Just spending time with itadori, even if it was just sitting in silence has been the most fun youve had in months

He had showed you many places and has boughten many small trinkets for you to remember

Your phone has grown about 300 photos just from the past couple days with him

It was about midday of your final day in tokyo and so you both wanted to make the best of it

You both where sitting inside a cafe exchanging stories and just chatting when suddenly two people walked in the cafe

One was very tall and had spiked up white hair and was wearing a blindfold, and the other had spiky/messy black hair

You didn’t think much of it at first but did question the blindfold

‘A fashion choice?’

Turning your attention back to yuji you gave him a soft smile as you listened to his ramblings about a manga

“I love you” you said cutting him off

Immediately his face turned red and whatever he was just saying turned into stuttering nonsense

Before he could respond he let out a short yell when someone placed a hand on his shoulder

It was the two dudes who walked in from earlier

“So this is what you’ve been doing.” “Fushiguro! Gojo sensei!”

The shorter one who looks yuji’s age started talking about how it wasn’t good to turn his phone on mute and go out the whole day

The tall one gives you a wave

“Sorry to interrupt your date but we gotta take yuji away for a bit” he says grabbing yuji’s collar

“Wait who are you guys?” you ask and they pause to give short introductions

“Fushiguro Megumi.” “Gojo Satoru, nice to meet ya miss girlfriend” “How did you know??” Yuji says making gojo laugh

“Its pretty obvious, you didn’t do much of a job hiding it” he says pulling yuji a little bit more.

“O-Oh im L/n Y/n, nice to meet you” you say realizing you forgot to introduce yourself

As the three chatted along with each other, you sat in silence as you tried to remember where you heard gojo’s name from

‘Oh yeah, he’s the one who yuji described as his relative. Even if it was really fast since he tends to change subjects whenever i ask’

“Wait Gojo? White hair...blind fold..are you Yuji’s relative?” you ask making both of them pause

They both turn towards yuji who gave a sheepish smile

“Thats me, im his mothers little cousin” Gojo said, a very quick and random asspull

“So why does he call you Gojo-sensei instead of uncle…Satoru?” “Well if im his moms cousin that would make me his cousin once removed wouldn’t it? And he calls me sensei since im a teacher at a school he goes to”

“And what about you?” you ask the other boy

“A classmate.” he says in a very short and uninterested tone

“Welp lets go” Gojo says dragging yuji but he quickly resists

“Wait wait! Sensei can i please stay? Today is her last day here and i don’t know when i will be able to see her again”

The teacher and student stares at each other for a long time

You have literally no clue what the blindfolded man could but thinking its so hard to read him

Then again you just met him so

Gojo sighs and lets go of yuji

“Just this once, and only because im the greatest sensei you’ve ever had. Lets go megumi. See ya miss girlfriend” gojo says walking away with a wave

Megumi looks surprised but follows him “really?” “Yeah yeah its fine, its only a couple of grade 3’s anywa…” as their voices faded when they left the building you gave yuji a look

“Are you going to get in trouble?” “im probably going to die in training…” “huh?” “nothin”

The rest of the day you guys hang out and its mmm

Yuji would be such a good boyfriend hes so wholesome

When its time for you to part he give you a big hug, kiss and ‘i love you’

You do the same and tear up a bit

With one final photo you head back to your home town

You make it a mission to visit tokyo more often and yuji tries to visit you whenever he can from then on

[magesup]

hey hey hey again- i’m the nervous anon from a while ago that thanked you for your bokuaka stargazing post ahfhsjf. i’m kind of interested in reading chainsaw man soon because of your art (which is amazinggg btw), and i wanted to ask what makes it so good? (once again, thank you for your art-)

AAH I REMEMBER!!! welcome back stargazing anon ^^ im so happy youre interested in chainsaw man too, thank you OTL!!! but first i have to preface that chainsaw man definitely isnt a series for everyone, its super raw but i promise that if you read all the way to the end it is a wonderfully written story ;v;

usually the main reason why i like series is because of the characters, and the cast in csm is absolutely AMAZING!!! but in chainsaw mans case the plot and tiny details played more of a factor as to why i love it so much ;v;

the plot is....chaotic 0_o but for how chaotic it is still somewhat structured, like the flow of events transitions smoothly. i can definitely say this for sure: youve never read a manga like chainsaw man before. it just goes...SO off the rails. for lack of a better term, it is a mindfuck to read. i was absolutely brainfried at the end. i dont know about you but i really love series that mess with my head?? haha if you like dark series like that then i think youll like csm TvT theres a lot of violence and blood in it, and also a element of horror. its not like jumpscare horror, its like tension horror. like you dread to read the next panel and turn the page. haha i hope im not scaring you from reading it ;;o;; (i did that to my friend and now she refuses to read it now 😔)

and theres so many deep themes explored in it! like manipulation, sex, and purpose. its almost like a movie! some chapters theres barely any dialogue, just still panels. i think its really beautiful, im not a big fan of those classic shonen monologues in the first place, a single expression can hold so many words after all. 

theres so many tiny details and foreshadowing in it, which is why its so fun to reread TOT and also the development of motifs!! the mangaka, fujimoto, thought out the entire story beginning to end (hes also a huge movie fan) and he puts in a bunch of symbols and motifs and its so fun to see them pop up and discover their meaning TOT haha i love analyzing literature, so i super super love fujimotos writing style. and the way he plays with panels! he truly uses the medium of manga to his full advantage, its so creative youll notice if you read OTL

lastly the characters. i love...every single character. no joke. theres such a wide cast of characters, and all of them are bastards. haha theres not a single vanilla character in sight, which i really really like cause i get tired of “pure, do no wrong” characters sometimes, its nice to see characters that are good, yet do bad things sometimes :,) theyre flawed, which actually makes them more realistic. and the development????? dont even get me started 🤚 the character arcs in chainsaw man are just *chefs kiss* SO beautifully executed. especially the main character, denji, he goes through SO MUCH development in the last part of the manga. its really beautiful to see :,) lmao you might hate him or find him annoying in the beginning, i promise you he gets better OTL

alright last thing, the girls TTOTT!!! its so rare to see a shonen series where every single female character kicks ass, and are actually stronger than most of the guys??? if there was a power ranking in csm, they would hog the top spots. chainsaw man is truly just i believe in women supremacy. they are ALWAYS dominating over the men, its so cathartic and nice to see TOT!!! not to mention they are all hot and strong??? AND!!! THERES A LESBIAN!!! SHE HAS FOUR GIRLFRIENDS!!! her name is quanxi :,))) here is she

ok quanxi was my last selling point, i just love her so much. anyways hahaha i hope this essay of an ask helps ;v;

[hustlerose]

ok heres the rambling i hope u like reading

seriously some of you guys claim to be progressive but youve managed to dredge up the old “video games/ movies/ comics/ magazines/ books/ hoop and stick games are the reason our kids are violent” argument lol. i keep seeing ppl say every piece of art that depicts bad things is unequivocally bad and its so stupid. first of all, you should be able to understand that fictional characters are not real people and their actions don’t take place in the real world. on top of that, you should understand that just because someone made art depicting something bad doesn’t mean theyre bad, and just because someone enjoyed it doesnt mean theyre fucked up and evil and literally condoning blah blah blah. when you say this shit, you sound like a boomer 

at some point you should be mature enough to see a piece of art and engage with it beyond the level of “i’m going to write a callout post for pearl from steven universe”. and more than that, you should accept that art is subjective and other ppl are gonna experience it differently than you 

i’ve been a horror fan for a long time and i love seeing fictional violence. blood, gore, torture, lies, cheats, dirty deeds, sexual assault, extreme emotions, extreme trauma, unreality, and morally gray characters. when handled well, these things can be dramatic, shocking, and emotional and i love it. 

i understand that some ppl would rather avoid these things, and i think content warnings are a good thing. if my friend has an anxiety disorder and epilepsy i’m not gonna force them to marathon all my favorite horror movies with blinking lights. you should be able to pace yourself. but the flip side of that is: some people don’t need those warnings. some people actively seek that stuff out and enjoy it. and just because it’s not for you doesn’t mean it’s not ok for someone else to love it. there are tons of normal level headed ppl who enjoy things that are way more extreme than your average disney channel show, and enjoying those things doesn’t make them problematic or suspicious or whatever, they just have different tastes than you 

example. one of my favorite characters is guts from berserk, one the best manga series of all time. in berserk, guts attempts to sexually assault another character, kills hundreds of people including a child, and serves in a war under a proto-fascist warlord. does the fact that i enjoy berserk mean i condone murdering hundreds of people? no, i wouldnt hurt a dragonfly and im also a tiny baby. does liking berserk mean i cant criticize the parts that are genuinely bad?? also no, the series basically treats casca (our main female lead) as a lamp for half the plot, and the part where guts tries to assault her is framed as an edgy character moment, which is pretty misogynistic if u ask me. again, if any of that turns you off, you dont have to read it. but i did read it, and i got a lot out of it and learned a thing or two about how not to write about women. 

with any piece of art, you should bring your own morals into it, and engage with its ideas. art is not always good or evil, it’s a dialog between you and an author. you NEED to be able to appreciate these things without resorting to insane reactions and in-group/out-group shenanigans 

you know that kid you knew in 9th grade who you could ask “do you listen to [band]” and they would always say yes no matter what band it was, just because they were terrified of the idea that someone else might be different than them in some tiny way? thats some of yall except youve formed a hivemind around it and appropriated a bunch of liberal academic terms lol 

[haikyuu-drabble]

Hi! Of you are taking requests may I have a #2 or #26 for miya atsumu please.

hi! so like u this ended up being 22 pages lol.... i just really have a huge crush on atsumu so god help ME!!! **MANGA SPOILERS IF YOUVE NOT READ UNTIL CHAP 378***

THANK YOU FOR REQUESTING!!

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

atsumu x reader | change

26. i think i’ve been holding myself from falling in love with you all over again

word count: 8607

“Aren’t you going to head to the meeting soon?” your coworker called out to you.

“Ennoshita!” You were gathering some things off of your desk, “I was just headed there, right now.”

“What was the meeting going to be about again?” he asked you.

“The company that hired us to write the script for that commercial wants us to meet the person they chose to sponsor.” you explained.

“Right! That ramen company.” he clapped, “They’ve finally chosen who would really suit the image for it. I’m glad you were picked to write for this project!”

“Thanks.” you laughed, “I’ll see you later. I’m heading over!”

“Tell me who we ended up choosing once you find out!” Ennoshita called out.

You gave him a thumbs up in response and headed out on your way.

Your boss had finally given you a chance to prove yourself, and there was no way you were going to let this opportunity pass you by.

In the beginning of the meeting, your boss went over the normal procedures. However, he added, “Our clients want you to get to know the athlete better and edit the project to fit him more.”

You easily agreed to that. You felt that there was nothing that your boss could have said that might have stopped you. That was until they introduced who was going to be starring in all the ads that you’d be designing.

The person who walked in was none other than Miyu Atsumu. His shocked expression when he saw you must have mirrored yours because he was the last person you were ever expecting to see in this room.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” you muttered to yourself.

Your boss looked in your direction and asked, “What was that?”

You feigned a smile and said, “Great choice for this project!”

Once the meeting was concluded, your boss looked at you, “Can you exchange numbers with Miya? That way it’ll be easier to get into contact with each other.”

Atsumu smiled at your boss, “That’s quite alright. I believe we already have each others numbers!”

Atsumu looked at you and smirked, and you looked at your boss, “We’ve been acquainted for some time actually. I don’t know if getting to know him a bit better would actually be necessary.”

“Sorry, no can do. It’s the clients request, and I’m not going to be the one to tell them no.” he responded.

You nodded at your boss, and he exited the conference room, leaving you and Atsumu alone. You rubbed your temples, “I can’t believe this is happening.”

Atsumu grinned, “Who would have believed that I’d be working with my ex for my first commercial?”

“I could literally say the same thing.” you sighed, “Look. Can’t we just tell my boss that we meet up and stuff? Then, I’ll edit the script a little bit, and we all win in the end. You don’t have to see me, and I don’t have to see you, but everyone thinks we did.”

A devious smile grew on his face, “You know, I’m feeling like it’s time I straighten myself out.”

“What?” you deadpanned at him, very confused.

Atsumu continued, “I really think that I’ve got to stop lying. ‘Samu’s always on me about that, and I just think today is the day that I change that. We should really listen to your boss and hang out for that script of yours.”

Your shoulders dropped, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“It’s been a while since you’ve seen me. I could’ve changed here or there.” he smiled.

“I doubt it. It seems like you like to rile me up the same way as before.”

“Well, I guess I’ll just have to tell your boss that you aren’t doing what he says.” he smirked, “Hopefully, they’ll still accept you as the writer for the commercial.”

“Fine! Fine!” you gave in and pulled out your phone, “What’s your number?”

Atsumu raised a brow, “Seriously?”

“I deleted your number when we broke up. I never expected I’d be needing it ever again.” you admitted.

He begrudgingly grabbed your phone out of your hand and entered his number, “I hope to be hearing from you soon!”

“Don’t wait too long.” you sighed.

That night was a work department dinner, and you ended up at an izakaya. After a couple of drinks, everyone was starting to get a little chattier and louder. Ennoshita exclaimed, “Wait! You dated The Miya Atsumu?”

“Not so loud!” you covered his mouth with your hand, “It’s really not that cool.”

He pulled your hand off him and whispered, “You’re kidding, right? He literally has a fan club dedicated to him and just had an article written about how he’s one of the top sports bachelors.”

“Him? Really?” you snorted, “Wait, how do you even know that?”

“I hear stuff!” he shrugged, “But still, I can’t believe you! How did you two even meet?!”

“We met through common friends, and it just kind of happened.” you took a sip of your beer.

Your friend rested his chin on his hand, “So then, how long did you two date?”

“Almost four years.” you answered.

“Four years?!” Ennoshita exclaimed.

“Can you relax!” You looked to see if anyone overhead and stared at the foam in your glass, “It was a long time ago.”

He asked, “So, how is working with Miya Atsumu?”

“It’s interesting,” you veered.

“Intersting?” he chuckled, “What do you mean by that? Are things awkward?”

“Not really.” you shook your head, “Atsumu isn’t the type to let things like this really affect him.”

“What about you?” your friend asked, “Are you comfortable working with him?”

You rolled your eyes a bit, “Sadly, that doesn’t matter. I feel like if I really want to be respected as a scriptwriter, I have to deal with all the punches I’m dealt. If I don’t, no one will take me seriously.”

The next day, you were at your desk looking over some paperwork when you got a text from Atsumu. He was telling you to eat dinner with him. You replied, “No way! This is so last minute. I have things to do.”

You sent the text and put your phone face down on your desk. While you were dating, maybe planning things last minute was fine, but you didn’t owe him anything anymore.

You went back to reviewing some of your work and had gone uninterrupted for a good fifteen minutes. That was when your phone started ringing. You peeked at the caller ID and saw Atsumu’s name.

You grabbed your phone and headed into the hallway. You answered the phone, “Atsumu, are you being serious right now?”

“Yes.” he replied, “Let’s get sushi tonight. I’m craving fatty tuna.”

“I told you that I can’t. I have work to do tonight.”

“Well, I could just go to you, and tell your boss that you’ve been too busy to go on dates with me.”

“Dates?” you repeated, “We are not going on dates.”

“Dates or spending time… same thing isn’t it? I mean, I can talk to your boss about it the whole thing later when I stop by.”

“No! Don’t do that.” you looked at your pile of work on your desk and gave in, “What time?”

“Great!” he cheered, “I’ll send you the address, and let’s meet at seven.”

“Okay.” you sighed.

“See you then!” you could hear his grin through the phone.

You hung up your phone and tossed it to the edge of your desk. If you were going to get anywhere close to finishing all your work you had to get rid of all distractions.

You found yourself speed walking to the restaurant that Atsumu sent you. You managed to finish all your work, but you did have to stay just a tad bit longer at work than you expected. When you got to the restaurant, you told the hostess Atsumu’s name, and she led you to your table.

At the table was the familiar blond. You sat down and tried to catch your breath. He tilted his head, “Why are you out of breath?”

“Because I know how much you hate waiting, and I am barely capable of dealing with you normally, much less a grumpy version of you.” you answered.

“That may have been true before, but next time don’t rush.” he opened the menu, “I can wait a couple minutes.”

You raised your brow and picked up the menu as well, “Looks like someone has changed a little bit.”

Without looking up from the menu, he chuckled, “I told you that you that I’ve changed since the last time we saw each other.”

When the waitress came to take your drink orders, Atsumu answered, “We’ll have one Asahi and one Sapporo.”

You looked at the waitress and smiled, “Actually, can you make that just two Asahis?”

She wrote down your orders and left. You looked at Atsumu with a smile, “You’re not the only one who has changed a little bit over the years.”

He looked at you and chuckled, “So, what have you been up to now?”

You were looking at the food options on the menu and replied, “Well, I’ve been promoted here and there through the years, and this commercial that I’m writing for is the first one they’re letting me put my hands on alone, finally. So, don’t mess this up for me.”

“I could say the same thing.” he chuckled, “Don’t make me look like a scrub.”

You rolled your eyes and sarcastically answered, “How could I possibly make one of the top pro athlete bachelors look like a scrub?”

Atsumu grinned, “True.”

“Right.” You rolled your eyes, “How about your team? How’s the good old Bokuto?”

Astumu showed an irritated expression, “He’s the same as always. Annoying.”

“Glad to see that he hasn’t changed at all!” you laughed.

“That makes literally only one person in the whole world.” Atsumu deadpanned.

“He’s not that bad!” you responded, “You guys just have two very different personalities, so of course things can get volatile. Though, it’s mostly from your end.”

“I resent that.” Atsumu sighed.

When the food came, you couldn’t help but feel the hunger in your stomach. It just dawned on you that you had to forgo lunch because of all of today’s deadlines. You started digging in as soon as the food was set down and Atsumu watched you with a smile, “Let me guess. You skipped out on lunch?”

With a full mouth, you answered, “Well, I had to finish all my work since someone wanted to get dinner last minute.”

Atsumu scoffed, “We both know that’s not true. You’ve always had the terrible habit of skipping meals in general.”

You stuck another piece of salmon sushi in your mouth, “What can I say? Eating comes second to my work.”

“Well, if you had better taste buds, you’d actually enjoy eating more.” Atsumu placed a piece of fatty tuna from his plate onto yours, “Salmon sushi is subpar.”

“Whatever~” you sang as you took another bite.

“As long as you’re eating. You and I both know that without food, you can’t have the fuel needed to perform well. ”

You picked up the sushi he gave you and smiled, “Your athlete is coming out, Atsumu.”

When you both finished eating, Atsumu offered to take you home, “Yoyogi, right?”

“Ah, not anymore.” you shook your head, “I moved to Shibuya.”

“Even better. That’s where I live, too.” he grinned.

On the train ride home, since it was past rush hour, you two were able to find seats. You looked outside of the window and watched the buildings quickly pass by you. At one of the stops, you noticed a mother carrying her baby went onto the train. You stood up and were about to give her the seat, but Atsumu pushed your shoulder down. He stood up himself and smiled at the mother signaling for her to take his seat. Atsumu ended up standing in front of you. He faced you, and you smiled at him. He mouthed, “What?”

You only smiled and shook your head in response.

When you reached your apartment complex, you said, “Even though, this was last minute, and I had to rush all my work, tonight was fun.”

“Of course, it was. You spent it with me.” he smirked.

“That being said, if you ever do this again on a work day, I am going to kill you.” you warned.

“Fine. Fine. Got it.” Atsumu put both his hands up, “Speaking of,” he took something out of his pocket, “Here.”

You looked at what his hands held, and it was a ticket for one of his games. You asked, “Really?”

“It’s for this weekend, and it’s in Tokyo. Since I’ve given you a couple days of warning, there’s no reason for you to not come.” he replied.

“I’ll see if I can make it.” you looked at him, “But seriously, no promises.”

“Whatever.” he chuckled.

He turned his back and started to walk away. You called out, “Have a good night, Atsumu.”

He didn’t turn around and just put a hand up to signal goodbye.

The next morning, you couldn’t stop thinking of the ticket. This time he wasn’t really forcing you to go, so there was no pressure this time. But why did you feel even more inclined to go?

You brought it up later with Ennoshita at lunch. He asked, “I mean, you two are friends, and from the dinner you two had, it doesn’t seem like it was awkward at all.”

“I just don’t know what he wants from me.” you replied.

“Has he hit on you at all?” he questioned.

You shook your head. “See.” he pointed out, “There’s nothing to worry about. Maybe he just wants to repair some burnt bridges. Besides, isn’t it better if things go normally for the commercial?”

“That’s… true.” you admitted.

“Why are you so resistant on mending your guys’ relationship? Did the breakup end badly?”

“Not at all really.” you answered, “The relationship itself was actually pretty easy. He was definitely a brat. He’s definitely still a brat, but we got along well and had fun.”

Your coworker raised a brow, “Then why did you two break up?”

You shrugged, “We just drifted apart. He got busy with travelling for his team, and I--” you hesitated, “I just wanted to focus on my career, too. I guess we just weren’t in sync anymore.”

“Well, it seems like neither of you have any desire to date again, so if you’re really asking for my opinion then I say go. But at the end of the day, if you really don’t want to go, then don’t.”

You pouted, “That doesn’t help at all.”

“I’m not going to force you to go if you don’t want to!” he laughed.

You groaned and put your head on the table.  Ennoshita then suggested, “Just go. If you feel like leaving then leave. At least you can say that way you went, and both parties are satisfied.”

“I’ll… think about it.” you replied.

Despite your words that same weekend, you found yourself in the city’s gymnasium. The smell of icy hot created giant waves of nostalgia. Before you got there, you reminded yourself that you could leave at any time you became uncomfortable. The issue was that you felt even more comfortable being there than you expected.

You looked around, and the crowds of people made it harder to get around. You checked the time, and you showed up a little early. You decided you might as well go around and get some food. While looking at the stalls, you saw a familiar face. You approached the man, “Osamu?”

Osamu looked up and gave you a shocked expression, “Hey. I haven’t seen you in awhile.”

You awkwardly laughed, “It has been a long time. I’m glad to see that your onigiri business is doing great still.”

“I’m glad to see it, too.” he replied, “Are you here for ‘Tsumu?”

“Uhh… kind of.” you chuckled.

“You guys dating again?” he asked.

“I-I see you still get to the point quickly.” you tried to laugh, “But, no. We aren’t dating.”

Osamu raised both his brows, “Interesting.”

Osamu passed you two onigiris, and you pulled out your wallet to pay. He held his hand out to stop you, “Don’t worry about it. Just take it as an apology for whatever Atsumu has done to inconvenience you.”

“Well,” you joked, “Two onigiris should do it for now, but we’ll see how much you owe me in a couple of days.”

You walked out to find a seat and tried to avoid the cheer area for Atsumu’s team in fear of running into anyone you knew. While looking over the crowd, you smiled. There were so many more people cheering for Atsumu’s team than before.

When the teams came out, you saw all of Atsumu’s teammates. Some were familiar, some new, but your surrounding incited a sense of excitement in you.

You could see Atsumu looking through the crowd. When he faced your direction, he stopped and smiled. It felt like he was  looking straight at you, but you knew it was impossible for him to find you in this sea of people.

While watching the game, it reminded you of how much you used to love coming to support him. He’d taught you all about the sport, and you were glad you still made sense of everything. What was also crazy to see was how much better he’d gotten… you didn’t even know that was possible. You thought of telling him about how much he’s improved, but you know that guy did not any more fuel to add to his ego.

At the end of the match, you could feel yourself getting a bit anxious. You had hoped slightly that he’d text you where you were, but that hope caused fear in you as well. Fear that you wouldn’t get that text and then be filled with disappointment.

You decided to just text him that it was a great game and to thank him for the ticket. Just when you pulled out your phone from your pocket, you felt it vibrate. You checked it, and on your screen was a notification for a text from Atsumu.

You could feel yourself feeling not only relieved… but happy. You tried shoving those feelings as far down as you could. There was no way you were going back there. You couldn’t.

You finally managed to read the text, and it read, “Come and meet me in the back.”

You smiled and typed, “How do you even know I went to your game?”

Within seconds, he responded, “You would never miss a chance to watch me play.”

You closed your screen and scoffed to yourself.

Despite your reaction, you decided to meet him. You were leaning against the wall waiting for him to come out, and you were surprised by someone putting a cap on your head. You looked up and saw Atsumu, who was also wearing a cap. You laughed, “What is this for?”

He put his hand over your head and said, “Just trust me on this.”

He started to lead you to the exit when a familiar voice behind you exclaimed, “Hey! ‘Tsumu is going off with another person!”

You took the cap off and glared at Atsumu, “‘Another person?’”

Atsumu looked up in exasperation, “Now? Of all times?”

“Oh!” the voice announced, “It’s you!”

You looked behind you and smiled, “Hi, Bokuto. Long time no see.”

Atsumu glared at Bokuto, “What do you mean by another person?”

“Well, earlier you went off with the sports doctor for your knee.” Bokuto explained.

You looked at Atsumu with slight panic, “What happened to your knee?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Atsumu put the hat back on your head, “It was a minor injury, and the doctor just wanted to make sure it was totally healed.”

He looked over Bokuto, “And you! Stop saying such misleading sentences!”

Atsumu grabbed your hand and headed towards the exit. Bokuto called out to you, “It was good seeing you!”

You grinned and waved, “You, too!”

Before Atsumu opened the door to leave the building, he looked at you, “I know you’re cute and all, but try not to draw any attention to yourself.”

You could feel your ears go red, “What are you talking about?!”

He smirked at you and led you outside. When you got outside, there were crowds of reporters and paparazzi but they were all waiting at another door. You looked at Atsumu in front of you, “Where are we going?!”

He laughed, “Just shut up and follow me!”

Atsumu led you to a parking structure, and he walked up to a car. He let go of your hand and opened the driver’s side door, “You coming?”

“Y-yeah.” you nodded.

You got inside the other side of the vehicle and buckled your seatbelt, “When did you get a car?”

Atsumu turned on the ignition, “Not too long ago.”

When he started to drive, you said, “You know, you only asked me to go to your game today. I didn’t realize that included plans after.”

Atsumu snorted, “I’m only driving you home, dummy.”

You scratched your head and looked out the window, “You can’t expect me to think that knowing you.”

“I just wanted to see you at least one more time today.” he commented.

“One more time?” you asked, “When was the other time you saw me?”

“I saw you in the crowd.” he laughed, “Didn’t you see me looking right at you?”

“Someone’s back to telling lies.” you sang.

“You were sitting on the back left side of the cheering area.” he refuted.

You pouted, “Lucky guess.”

Atsumu looked at your expression and chuckled.

Once you reached your apartment, you thanked him for the ride home and opened the car door. Before closing it, you laughed, “Life has gotten slightly more interesting since you came back, Atsumu.”

“I think that’s how most people feel about me.” he mused.

“Bye.” you chimed before closing the car door in his face.

The next following days were filled with more work, mostly about Atsumu’s sponsorship with things regarding budget, location, etc… When you finally managed to catch a break, you were resting at your desk. Ennoshita came up to you and placed yet another file on your desk, “So, how’d the game go?”

You opened the files that he placed on your desk, “It-It went.”

“Went?”

“I don’t know!” you cried, “I keep getting these weird mixed signals from him. At times, I think he’s flirting with me, but then it turns out he’s just being nice. Even then, him being nice is a rarity, so I don’t--”

“Relax!” Ennoshita laughed, “Breathe.”

“Right.” you looked around to see if anyone noticed your complaints, “It’s just there are these moments when I just find myself being swept off my feet, and then back into reality by his casualness about it all.”

“Well, you dated him before. You should be more or less familiar with his style.” Ennoshita pointed out.

“That’s the thing.” you sighed, “This Atsumu is someone who I’m not familiar with at all. Before, he was so straightforward with his feelings, so I never really doubted him. If you were to ask me now…”

“How do you want him to feel about you?” Ennoshita examined.

You put you head on your desk, “That seems like the answer we all want to know.”

You sat up and looked at Ennoshita, “Well, whatever. It doesn’t matter how I want him to feel. There’s no way he holds feelings for me anymore, so I’m not going to worry about it. He just wants to be friends.”

One of you coworkers came up to you, “Hey, boss wants to see you in his office.”

You looked at Ennoshita and mumbled, “Not a word to anyone about this!”

Ennoshita saluted at you, “You got it.”

You walked alongside your other coworker and asked, “Did he say what it would be about at all?”

“No clue.” They shook their head, “Good luck, though.”

You got up from your chair and headed to his office. When you knocked, he answered, “Come in.”

You tried to smile, “You asked me to stop by?”

“I just wanted to see if you’ve made any updates on the script yet.”

“Just a little bit here or there.” you lied.

“Great.” he nodded, “Can you finish it by this weekend and have it on my desk by Monday?”

“Monday?” you fearfully repeated.

He raised a brow, “Is there a problem with that?”

You instinctively shook your head, “Nope, Monday sounds great.”

When you left your office, you sighed. You’d normally set up time to edit at your desk, but in each session, you couldn’t manage even one change. How in the world were you going to edit this script?

That weekend you shut yourself in your apartment and didn’t let yourself leave your desk until you managed to finish the script. That being said, grabbing some inspiration from playing on your phone wasn’t forbidden. You were in the middle of checking twitter when you got a text. You were smiling after seeing who it was from.

Rather than texting back, you called them. You heard his voice through the speaker, “Hello.”

You smiled, “Atsumu, what did I say about asking me to hang out last minute?”

“Hmm…” he pretended to think, “I really can’t remember what you’re talking about, though?”

“Regardless of whether you remember or not,” you sighed, “I am not free for dinner tonight. I have to finish the script for your commercial by Monday.”

“That’s too bad.” he quickly responded, “Maybe next time.”

You were shocked by his quick concession, “Yeah. Uh, maybe next time.”

He hung up the phone, and you stared at the screen. You were caught off guard by how quickly he accepted your no. It wasn’t that you were used to people not insisting, but you just weren’t used to Atsumu giving in that quickly.

You put your phone down and stared at your computer screen once again. If you were going to feel any relief this weekend, this script had to be done… that’s what you said, but here you were sitting at your computer… still with no edits.

Your lack of any sense of creativity was interrupted by a knock at your door. You figured it was your neighbor probably passing you your mail that might have ended up in their box again. You opened it, and to your extreme surprise, you said, “Atsumu?”

He looked you up and down and smirked, “You look… comfortable.”

You looked down at your pajamas and fuzzy slippers, you muttered, “What are you doing here?”

Atsumu lifted up his arms that carried a bag of food, “I figured if you were crammed up in your apartment, you definitely weren’t eating.”

He walked past you and into your apartment, “So, shall we take a break and eat?”

You closed your front door and sighed, “Not like I was getting anything done anyways.”

He placed the food on your dining table and pointed at your laptop, “This where you’re editing the script?”

You grabbed the to-go boxes of food, “Yup.”

He pulled the laptop, so he could see the screen. He looked up at you with a disgusted expression, “Slurps Up?”

“It’s the sponsor’s catchphrase. You of all people should know that.” you snorted.

“I’m getting paid to promote the product, not actually consume it.” he replied.

“Well, that’s the one thing I can’t change out of the script, even though, I wish I could.” you joked, “Other than that, I have no idea what to make different.”

Atsumu read through the script again and suggested, “What if I read through everything, and whatever sounds off, you can change.”

“I mean it can’t hurt.” you nodded.

Atsumu started reading through the script, and you were taking notes on different things like his tone and the words he was emphasizing. When he finished, you asked him to read it one more time. Atsumu shook his head, “Finish eating first, and then I’ll go through it one more time.”

“Come on.” you begged, “It’ll only take like three minutes.”

Atsumu closed your laptop and glared at you, “Eat.”

“Fine.” you pouted in response.

You tried eating all the food that Atsumu brought you, so you could you start working again. Now that you knew what you wanted to do, you felt the need to get it done as soon as possible in fear that it would all disappear from your brain. Once you finished, you opened your laptop and pushed it in front of him, “Read through it one more time.”

“I’m not even done eating yet!” Atsumu blurted.

“Just three minutes of your time, and I’ll let you eat in peace!” you insisted.

“Fine.” he wiped his mouth and started reading.

Once he went through it, you grabbed your laptop from him, “Perfect!”

You quickly typed and changed the wording in random spots. When you passed him the laptop to read through it one more time, he deadpanned, “Let me finish eating this time.”

“Right.” you giggled.

You continued to read through the script making sure things flowed well, and when he finally finished eating, he took the laptop from you. He started reading it.

When he finished, you asked, “So, what do you think of it now?”

“I think it flows a lot better, and strangely enough you used words I actually use normally. Hopefully, the filming for this will go easier than normal.” he replied.

“Wow, is that a compliment from The Miya Atsumu?” you laughed.

He patted your head, “Don’t get too carried away.”

You stood up from the table and ran to your kitchen. You pull out a couple of cans, “This calls for a celebration!”

You tossed a can of beer and sat on the couch, “Seriously! I feel really good about this script. I hope my boss accepts it.”

Atsumu moved to the couch to sit next to you, “Well, if you’re that confident, I hope he takes it too.”

You crossed your legs and face him. You held out your beer to cheers with him, and he clinked his can to yours with a side smile.

You took a couple of gulps from your can and released a breath, “There’s seriously nothing better than a cold can of beer.”

Atsumu took a sip of his and set it down on the coffee table, “I’ll agree with you on that.”

You were still facing him and asked, “So, I know we talked about what I did in the past couple of years. How about you, Atsumu?”

“I’ve just been traveling and touring a lot for volleyball games.” he answered, “Same old, same old.”

“You act like being adored by fans and getting paid thousands for sponsors is normal.” you snorted.

“It’s not why I play.” he responded.

“It’s been a while, but trust me when I say I know that much about you.” You took a sip of your beer, “Your nearly insatiable hunger for getting better and winning is the reason.”

Atsumu held his can out for you to cheers it, “That’s correct.”

You hit his can once again and laughed, “Did you know that when you drink, you have a tendency to cheers quite often?”

Atsumu turned red, and you cackled, “I’m guessing you didn’t know!”

You stood up from the couch and asked, “I’m gonna get another one. Do you want one?”

Atsumu’s eyes went wide, “You already finished one?”

“It’s been stressful these past couple of days!” you defended, “Today is probably one of the only days for awhile that I can enjoy drinking, so I’m gonna enjoy every minute of it.”

He grabbed the TV remote with his other hand, “I’ll get one when I’m done with this.”

“Suit yourself.” you walked towards the kitchen.

You sat down on the couch again with your drink and watched Atsumu flip through the channels and asked, “Out of curiosity, have you dated anyone since we broke up?”

Atsumu nearly choked on his drink, “W-What are you talking about?”

“Well, have you?” you asked, “I mean, you can’t be dating anyone right now considering you’re at my place on a Saturday night.”

“Says the person crammed at home by herself on a Saturday night.”

“Hey! I had work to do.”

“Oh?” Atsumu raised a brow, “Are you living a fruitful dating life then?”

You looked back at the TV and leaned your back against the couch, “It’s been a busy time with work.”

Atsumu laughed, “I see.” he started flipping through the channels again, “But not really. I’ve been busy with work too.”

You could feel your stomach starting to knot. There you were again starting to feel hopeful. You wanted to shove those feelings far down. To distract you, you ended up chugging the rest of your can. Atsumu looked at you, “You good over there?”

“Great!” you grinned.

You walked over to the fridge once again, and Atsumu finally stood up and said, “Wait, just a second. Should you really be getting another one?”

“Why?” you snorted, “You worried about me?”

“I mean, yeah.” Atsumu started, “Beer has a lot of calories, and you aren’t as young anymore--”

You slapped him in the stomach, and he flinched. “I am not fat!” you opened the fridge, “I bet that I can finish this beer faster than you.”

When he managed to catch his breath, he said, “You and I both know that’s not true.”

You placed a can in his hand, “Talk is cheap.”

You walked over to the couch and heard the sound of a can being opened. You smiled at yourself for knowing that Atsumu could never step down from a challenge.

After several more drinks and bottles, you felt yourself slump on the couch. Atsumu was leaning back too, his stomach sticking out completely due to all the liquids. He groaned, “Why do you have so much alcohol just for one person?”

“In the workplace, ice wine and champagne is the normal gift to give for birthdays or other celebrations. So, I have several bottles stocked up over the years.” you laughed,.

“And no one to drink with?” Atsumu teased.

“Nope.” you openly admitted.

After that, only the noise of the TV filled the room. Atsumu was first to speak, “Hey, I’ve always wondered. Why did we break up?”

You looked over at him, “Really? You’re going to ask that now?”

“Well, it’s either now or never.” he chuckled.

If either of you were sober, this conversation never would have come up, and you most definitely wouldn’t have answered his question. But you were very far from sober. “You were travelling all over the country, and I was just starting out on my career. You got all these great new opportunities, and yet you were stuck with your significant other who was getting nowhere with their life. You were growing, and I just felt like a thorn at your side.”

“You were never a thorn at my side.” he retorted.

You could sense the tension in his voice, and you tried to calm down the situation, “Well, regardless, we are friends now, and I know that’s what you want. Sometimes, I’m pretty sure I get carried away though because of how easy it is for us to be together. I think I’ve been holding myself from falling in love with you all over again.”

Atsumu asked, “Why hold yourself back?”

You looked at Atsumu expecting to have a smile on his face, but he was completely serious. You couldn’t find the words to reply. He continued, “You were never a hindrance. Why didn’t you just tell me how you felt?”

“I don’t know.” you could feel yourself choking up, “I just couldn’t.”

“I suppose you mean to tell me that you broke up with me for my sake.” he fumed.

You couldn’t look him in the eyes because that was always your excuse: you ended the relationship for him. But you knew that was never the truth. You were terrified that his motivation would one day want something that no longer included you. So, you cut him off before he could ever get the chance.

Atsumu stood up from the couch, “I never wanted you to leave me. You’ve been one of the few people who I genuinely enjoy spending my time with. You loved me for me, and you’ve never asked me to change, despite my horrible personality. Even now.” he turned to face you, “You admitted yourself that being together just feels rights. Now that you’re where you want to be in your career, could you even just consider us again? If I were to ask you to give me another chance, would you?”

You saw the earnestness in Atsumu’s eyes. When you hesitated, the pain that then filled his eyes caused your heart to break. He turned around and headed to the door. When he touched the doorknob, Atsumu faced you one more time, “I know how hard it can be to deal with me, and that’s what I always thought it was. This whole time, I really thought it was me who made you unhappy. But you know, I can tell and show you that I love you as much as I can, and it still won’t be enough. Because your source of unhappiness isn’t me, it’s you.”

When he finally opened the door, you tried to call out to him, but he slammed it behind him without hesitation. You were left alone with only the small sound of the television.

The following Monday, you submitted the new script to your boss. You sat in the breakroom alone, staring at your black coffee. You were surprised by Ennoshita’s voice, “Hey! Did you actually manage to make some edits that make a difference?”

You stirred your coffee, “I guess so.”

Ennoshita sat on the chair across from yours and tried to get a look at your face, “Everything alright?”

You feigned a smile at your friend, “Yeah, just had a long weekend full of work.”

Ennoshita leaned back in his chair, “I don’t know about that. I’ve seen you after a real weekend of work, and you don’t look this miserable.”

“Gee, thanks.” you mused

“You know what I mean.” Ennoshita rolled his eyes, “What happened?”

“Atsumu and I got into a fight this weekend.” you revealed.

“A fight? About what?”

“Why we broke up.”

Ennoshita tilted his head, “Isn’t that conversation literally years overdue?”

“But it’s a conversation we never had.” you sighed, “He told me he still loved me, and asked to try us out one more time basically, but...”

Ennoshita scanned your face and figured how you must have answered Atsumu, “Do you think you made the right decision?”

You rested your chin on your arms on the table, “Not at all.”

“Then, what are you planning on doing?”

“I don’t know. Maybe fall into a hole for the next year of my life.” you groaned.

“Who knows? If the boss hates your new script, you may actually get the chance to do that.” Ennoshita replied.

You looked up and glared at him, but he smiled at you, “Look. We all know that your new script is going to get a pass from the boss. What you should worry about next is how you’re going to deal with Atsumu when he films it.”

“Do I have to go to that?” you whined, “I mean I did my part. I wrote the thing.”

Ennoshita stood up, “Wow, you just officially became a writer, and you’re already turning into a diva.”

You looked at him, and he gave you another smile, “Just feel better.”

You smiled back at him, “Thanks, Ennoshita.”

“Anytime~” He sang, “That reminds me, I actually came here to tell you that the boss approved of your script, and production starts in two weeks.”

You stood up from your seat, “Ennoshita, couldn’t you have opened with that?!”

“I don’t even know why you’ve been so scared to get kicked off the project. You’re one of the top writers at this company.” He turned around and shrugged, “Besides if I brought up the news later, then I wouldn’t have learned what happened over this weekend!”

You instantly grabbed your phone and were about to send a message to Atsumu, but you quickly stopped yourself. You looked out the window and sighed. He was probably the only person in the world who you wanted to share your news with.

The next two weeks were extreme times of work. You were alongside the production company making sure everything was going to plan. It wasn’t necessarily in your job description, but you just had to get something to distract you. If you didn’t, you might have gone crazy from anxiety waiting for the day you were forced to see Atsumu again.

When the day of filming finally was nearing, you nearly begged Ennoshita to join you the day of set. “Please, Ennoshita, I do not want to face him alone. Besides, you’ve always wanted to get to know more about the production side of things, right? Today’s the day!”

Ennoshita cringed, “Fine. Fine. Just stop acting like you’re doing me a favor.”

You grinned, “Thank you!”

“Please, don’t mention it.” he deadpanned.

The daty had finally arrived, and you were there bright and early on set. You were sitting next to the director, and you two were going over the checklist. You checked the time on your phone, and if things were going according to schedule, Atsumu should be in makeup.

You called Ennoshita over who was eating the set food. He jogged over to you, and you asked, “Astumu is getting his makeup done, right?”

“Yup!” he grinned, “Just checked.”

You checked your watch, “Great. Then he’ll be out there in 15 minutes, and I can leave.”

The director interrupted, “I was told you were staying today in order to help us if we have questions about the script.”

You could feel your stomach drop, and for once you were upset that you couldn’t push this onto a co-writer. You smiled at the director, “I’ll stay then.”

You immediately looked over at Ennoshita with slight panic in your eyes, and he pat you on the back, “Everything’s going to be fine.”

“Right.” you breathed, “Things will be great.”

In a couple of minutes, Atsumu finally came out, and you tried to hide yourself. The director told him to move to the set, and Atsumu immediately locked eyes with you when he did. You expected him to at least acknowledge you, but there was nothing. You knew you didn’t deserve it.

Filming for the most part was going smoothly. When the director called for a break, the director went over the next part of the script with you. Ennoshita asked you, “You want anything from the set food?”

You smiled and shook your head, “That’s alright. I’m not hungry.”

Ennoshita looked at the set in front of him, “Despite you having bad reasons for bringing me here, I’m actually glad you did.”

“And why is that?” you rolled your eyes.

“You were right when you said I have been wanting to get into the production side of things, but it’s great watching you work too.”

“I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing since I can’t ask a co-writer for their opinions.” you scoffed.

“I don’t think you need a co-writer at all. It’s kind of clear to everyone here. If the director thought you weren’t capable, he would not have wanted you on set. You’d just get in the way.” he tapped your shoulder, “Have a little more faith in yourself.”

You looked in Atsumu’s direction and scratched the back of your head, “That seems to always be my issue.”

When the director called for things to start up again, you watched everything roll out once again. However there was a part in one scene that another person just wasn’t getting right. When the director called cut, you asked, “If it’s alright with you, can we roll that again? But have the other person talk just a little louder.”

“Yeah, that’s fine with me.” the director nodded.

When the day finally ended, Ennoshita came up to you with a plate of fatty tuna sushi. You took it and laughed, “They had fatty tuna on the set table? That’s fancy.”

“No, actually. Atsumu passed it to me to give to you.” Ennoshita replied, “Even though things are rough between you two, I think you should go talk to him. The whole time today he was looking at you, and when you told the director to redo a scene, he smiled at you. I kind of pity the guy.”

You chuckled, “I don’t know if you’ll be pitying him after seeing the fat paycheck he’s getting from this.”

“At least my relationship isn’t in the rocks.” Ennoshita joked.

“Ennoshita!” you exclaimed, “That relationship involves me!”

“Just talk to him when you get the chance. I think he’ll be willing to listen to you.” he laughed, “Anyways, enjoy your sushi, and have a good night.”

“Night.” you smiled at your friend.

The same evening, you were at your dining table staring at your phone. You had been trying to gain the courage to text Atsumu for the past hour, but you were horrified. What if he didn’t reply and no longer wanted anything to do with you?

You sighed. Frankly, it’s what you deserved. He already gave you a second chance. Did you really deserve a third?

What you did know was that you owed it to yourself to finally try to speak your mind. You hesitantly grabbed your phone from off the table and dialed his number. It rang three times until it stopped, and the call was picked up but no one said anything. You called out, “Atsumu?”

“Nope. You got Osamu.” he answered the phone, “Though, you may want to come over to Atsumu’s soon.”

“What’s wrong? What happened?” you panicked, “Is everything okay?”

Osamu scoffed, “He’s fine. He’s just--”

He stopped, but you could hear in the background Atsumu telling him to shut up. You tried to redirect the conversation, “Is it alright if I speak to Atsumu?”

Osamu continued, “I think you should just stop by. I’ll text you his address.”

“I-- Alright.” you nodded.

You hung up the phone, and soon after got an address. You grabbed your things and headed to his place. It was a quick ten minute walk since he really did live in the same district as you. When you got there, you knocked on the door, and Osamu was the one to open the door. “Is he alright?” you said out of breath.

“Why are you out of breath? Did you run here?” he asked.

“Kind of.” you answered.

“‘Tsumu, see!” Osamu looked behind him, “There’s nothing to worry about. They ran all the way over here.”

“Just go!” Astumu yelled from behind.

Osamu let himself out of the apartment, and you let yourself in, “Atsumu, are you here? Why are all the lights off?”

“Don’t look at me!” he yelled.

“What are you talking about?” you felt the walls for a light switch.

When you finally felt one on the wall, you pressed it. Finally, the apartment’s lights went on, and you could see. You saw what was way too familiar a scene. Atsumu was sat on the couch nearly lifeless. You chuckled, “Why are you so sad?”

He mumbled, “I told ‘Samu not to pick up the phone, and what does he do? He picks up the phone.”

You sat on the couch and said, “Whatever it is, it can’t be that serious.”

“This is totally embarrassing!” he groveled.

“What are you talking about?” you exclaimed.

“I’m talking about at the shoot today. I tried to be cool, and I kept messing up my lines. Why did we have to do the ‘Slurps up!’” line so many times?!” he exclaimed.

You laughed, “That’s what has you all depressed? Really?”

He glared at you, “I didn’t want to look stupid in front of you, and I did just that! I bit my tongue when I first opened my mouth! After everything, I was too embarrassed to even give you the food I prepared for you. I ended up giving it to one of your coworkers!”

You were listening Atsumu vent about his issues, and you could feel yourself calming down. You took a deep breath and started talking about the things you wanted to, “Atsumu, I came over to… tell you that I’m sorry.”

He opened his mouth, and you shook your head. You continued, “I love you, and I never stopped. You make things so much more fun, and you always managed to keep me on my toes. Like today, for example. I could feel my heartbeat raise just from looking at you, and I was expecting you to be mad at me--”

He interrupted you, “I am still mad at you. I only got you food because I knew you wouldn’t have eaten otherwise.”

“Right.” You smiled at him, “You also frustrate me to no end, but the way you make me feel is incomparable to anyone else.”

“I’m not as courageous as you.” Tears were starting to fill your eyes, “I’m a coward, and that’s why I ended things before. But I don’t want to be anymore. So, if you’ll take me as the coward I am now, I promise that in due time, you can proudly call me your partner.”

Atsumu wrapped both his arms around you and tucked his head into your shoulder. He whispered, “Coward or not, I’ll always be proud to call you mine.”

You wrapped your arms around him, “I love you, Atsumu.”

He pulled away slightly from your embrace and kissed you softly on the lips, “I love you, too.”

~~~~LATER~~~~

“Atsumu, hurry up!!” you called out from the couch, “The commercial is going to show soon!”

He ran over to his couch and sat next to you. You leaned your head onto his chest, and he asked, “Have you really not watched the commercial yet?”

“No because I wanted to see it with you for the first time.” you smiled, “That, and you would have begged me to show you before we released it officially.”

“I wouldn’t ask you--”

You covered his mouth and shushed him, “Be quiet! It’s starting!”

You watched the whole thirty seconds of it, and for the final scene, Atsumu gave the camera a big grin and exclaimed, “Slurps up!” followed by an overexaggerated wink.

You looked up at your boyfriend, and his face was completely red. You couldn’t help but burst out in laughter. The horror in Atsumu’s face was pure comedy. You could tell he was going to get in one of his moods again, and to prevent that from happening, you said, “There. There. That final scene was great. Everyone knows how cheesy catchphrases are.”

He looked at you with wide eyes, “Do you really think so?”

“Of course.” you pecked him on the lips.

Then you stood up from the couch and winked, “Slurps up.” before jetting away.

Atsumu stood up from the couch and chased after you with a grin, “We’ll see how much longer you’ll be laughing when I catch you!”

[sunseteyes]

@liliannyah : I luved to read all of your simps paragraphs 😔👌 i honestly love so much when ppl care that deeply about characters, bc i feel at home. Yes, we are simps but they deserve it!

Oh, about the emoji, you can choose, im curious to see what i will b 👀👀

Before i start with my simp paragraphs, i just wanna say that YOU MAKE ME SO HAPPY WHEN U SAY NIA NOYA SUPREMACY BCUZ I LUV HIM AND SMSMSNSKSJKS OOF THATS IT, U MAKE ME RLLY HAPPY

Imma start with my main bby Nishinoya! Honestly, i fell for him the exact time he appeared in the anime, idk, i just loved how confident and cool he appeared to b, but it wasn't rlly strong, it was just a "Whoa, he is cool af". After that, things went like a slow burn for me and him, bc i started to notice how he cared deeply about his friends and how he was always energetic and ready to help them up!! Like, God, he is a libero so his buddies can do craziness without worrying too much bc he is there! Asahi is always putting himself down, but oh, there it is Nishinoya telling him to stfu bc he's great. And he is so cute and humble about his abilities too. My smol bean is so impulsive and happy, he definitely made me a different person. He just makes me laugh so much, and my heart definitely goes ❗❗❗ when he do his clown things. Oh and we both share the same desire to travel the world (he did it, and i hope i do one day too 😔👌)

Now, Tamaki! I think he entered my heart because i saw myself on him. But the main difference was that i wanted to help him, hold him and say that everything is going to b fine. He doubts himself so much, but he is so fucking talented and worked so hard to be were he is, i mean, have you seen him fighting??? I want to make a cheer squad for him with Mirio and Kiri bc he deserves so much! He also teach me that anxiety isn't a bad thing, you can be amazing even if you don't believe. I also find his backstory so lovely, he is a real Sun, he just have to accept it 😌👌.

I think the last one is Atsumu, he is one of the characters that relax me. I know, ppl say that he is arrogant and a asshole, but i see him as someone confident, who doesn't care about what people say about him. He is also a little childish, and I think thats what attracts me to him, he is young and he have so much space to grow, even as a adult, he can have a big character development, without leaving his personality behind, yk? And his voice is so good to hear, it really calms me down.

Omg, i rlly did a essay about them help JDKSBSKSBSJBDKSBDJ i hope you didn't mind, i got rlly carried away!

I luved to b a simp 😔👌 i simp for Bokuto too, but he is more like my bff along with Kuroo (I deadass think that me and the two would b a great squad idk JSKSJKSSKSJ)

—god i feel soooo bad to only reply to you this time because i filmed myself monologuing for sum stuff at school & was finishing up a couple of fluffvember jxjdjdj

oh god reading your essay is like-god i totally agree! these boys deserve so much more and that’s one thing that i really love being a writer. because i could write for them and make them shine. that’s my main goal. for me, the reason why i don’t bias much about my faves is because i treat all of the characters the same, equally and even if i love that other guy most, i appreciate the others ones too.

what i really love about noya is that he has such a great impct on the team, much like daichi in my opinion. he keeps the ball rolling and that means he’s the “glue” of the team. i liked how they emphasized that in the first season but as time passes by i think noya was kind of being overshadowed for me but nonetheless i’d really love for him to have more screentime. he deserves so much more.

tamaki! yes another one of my comfort characters too. god i love how you said he inspires you because yES that means he’s one hell of a great character. i think tamaki is one of the characters in bnha that shows real life struggles, much like ura with their financial problems, and bakugo with his temper management. god i loveee how he developed in even such a small screen time it’s insane how i never expected him to grow that fast. plus the name suneater is totally badass.

lastly atsumu i honestly havent known much about him college is keeping me from finishing the manga im so mad but from what ive seen and what youve described him to be he sounds like an amazing side character plus im sorry atsumu i have a bit of a bias on osamu my boy jdjsjd

all in all, thank you for reading me and nia’s pep talk. i think this can pass up as a drabble.

plus ohgod i totally feel you about bokuto i see him as an amazing bff i want a bff like him lmao.

[marshmallowdonutsprinkles]

would you be willing to give a quick intro to the animes youve been watching/blogging lately?

I suck at that, but I'll do my best 😂

1. The Promised Neverland, Season 2 - Emma, Ray and the other children escape the Grace Field orphanage and aim to find William Minerva. Before they can set out, they are attacked by monsters and demons, only to be saved by 2 mysterious people. Who are they, and why would they risk saving Emma and co.?

2. Re:Zero, Season 2 Cour 2 - Pain. After several gruesome, futile deaths, Subaru learns he can rely on friends for help. This time, he'll save Emilia and the girls at the mansion before it's too late.

3. Project Scard - ????? Honestly I'm not sure rn? Surface level is Pretty Boys the Series but it's more than just fanservice for people who love 2D men. MC is saved by the Hero of the town, only to die shortly after giving the MC his powers and telling him to protect everything in his stead. MC works together with the Hero's allies to do so.

*If you watched K project, then Project Scard is by the same animation studio. The anime after K have been straight misses imo, with pretty animation and dry af plot (*cough*Hand Shakers and W'z*cough*). but it seems interesting compared to the last 2 anime from GoxHands, so I'll see what happens here.

4. I'm a Spider, So What? - MC is a highschool student who gets killed in an explosion along with her classmates and teacher. She is reincarnated into a spider (while her class is reincarnated as human beings/elves etc.) and she is determined to survive by learning how to live as a spider.

*I think out of all my years of watching anime, this is like my 2nd-3rd isekai (I just don't like the genre) my best friend recommended it to me, and I'm glad he did cuz it's hilarious. The MC is voiced by Aoi Yuuki(?) Who voices tatsumaki from OPM and Tanya from Youjo Senki. She makes it really enjoyable with her expressive voice acting.

5. Skate Leading Stars - If you've been on my blog for a bit, this was one of the first anime I've been blogging about this year. Skate Leading Stars features a 16(assuming, since he's a first year in high school and in Japan that's around 15-16 y/o) year old boy named Maeshima Kensei who quit figure skating after losing to his rival when was, like, 10. He finds out his rival is also quiting figure skating, but is moving to a similar sport - Skate Leading. (Basically, Skate Leading is Figure Skating, so imagine Sychronized Swimming, but on the ice). Coincidentally (or probably not) he runs into a guy who pushes him back into skating for his own personal vendetta, and also for the chance for Maeshima to face his rival one the ice again. After joining his high school's Skate Leading team, he works with them to go to Nationals and compete with his rival's Skate Leading Team. There are 2 episodes out now, so you can watch them to get a better feel for it compared to all the other anime with 1 ep out.

*before you ask, no this is not like Yuri on Ice.

6. Sk8 the Infinity - Not entirely sure rn, but MC is Reki Kyan who enjoys Skating (not ice skating, the skateboard. Tony Hawk things). By chance he runs into the transfer student Langa Hasegawa, who came from Canada (🇨🇦 intensifies) outside of class. By chance, Langa is hired by Reki's boss, and his first job is to deliver a skateboard to a customer at the (currently) most famous rink in Okinawa. There Langa experiences the sport of Skating and thus start Reki and Langa's adventures as idiots skaters.

*honestly I like this anime the most this season. It's an anime original, so no manga. The animation is smooth, the main characters are expressive and enjoyable, and the one of antagonists are voiced by Dio. The plot seems light hearted so far (if you ignore the burning skateboards and misogynistic insults from one of the antagonists) so if you don't want anything too depressing, this is a great sports anime to dive into.

7. 2.43 Seiin Volley Ball Club - Explanatory in the name: it's a volleyball sports anime. Based on the first episode there's a more mature vibe to it compared to the other sports anime out rn as, for example, it mentions a teammate attempting suicide because of one of the MCs. If you want to compare its vibes to another sports anime, I think you'll like this one if you enjoyed Run With the Wind, or better yet Stars Align. I think Dive!! and Tsurune were on the serious end of sports anime, too, but not like Stars Align. The manga for this series is 4 chapters long, and it's supposed to be about MC and his childhood friend aiming for Nationals with their volleyball team, iirc.

8. Attack on Titan Final Season - Idrk know how to explain it so far, just know that it's crazy and confusing for me even though I read the manga. Eren goes to another country during a 4 year timeskip all in the name of seeking revenge and starting a war. Mood

 9. World Trigger Season 2 - Season 1 was like, 5-7 years ago lmao. From the top of my head, I think season 2 will cover rank wars to determine what teams are eligible for expedition to other worlds. Mikumo is determined to get on the expedition squad with his team.

10. Jujutsu Kaisen, Season 1 Cour 2 - Honestly I skipped like 6 episodes because I was preparing for Christmas/job so I don’t remember where the anime is at right now. I think it’s the Tokyo Jujutsu School vs. Kyoto Jujutsu School..with other things (I don’t reread manga, so I forgot what happened this entire arc)

That's it! Hope this helped anon

Edit: Totally forgot until it popped up, but I’m watching Kemono Jihen! It’s about a boy who’s half human/half beast and his bullied by his cousin and aunt because of his biracial nature. He’s taken in by someone who is a tanuki, and they start the adventure to find his parents/origins

[thewebcomicsreview]

please do in fact make a comparison between homestuck and naruto now that youve mentioned it i need to read it

Honestly, I don’t want to read the entirety of Naruto for this, but the more I think about it the weirder the comparison gets. Homestuck has an infamously bad opening and then gets really good around Act 4, stays really good for a while, and then crashes hard. Naruto starts off great, and then slowly putters out as Kishimoto runs out of ideas (and hands!). I think the first year or so of Naruto is legitimately great, and is starts puttering out around the Chuunin exams

I think this is legitimately the best first page of any comic ever (even though it’s technically the second page). There’s just so much in these two panels. You’ve got the ninja village, you’ve got the most striking visual image in the whole series with ninja Mount Rushmore, and there’s a kid drawing dicks on it and laughing maniacally. You learn so much about Naruto’s character, his world, and his relationship to that world in a single page with no real dialogue. It’s excellent.

Now, granted, this chapter also introduces a crystal ball that can scry on students, which you’d think would come in handy later and is never seen again, but still. Good opening effort.

dustybins said to thewebcomicsreview:

oh man do you wanna shit on Naruto? together even? like how Chakra Natures, an integral part of the setting and something constantly used in combat is largely unexplained til like two thirds of thew way into the manga? about how the big climactic battle is with an enemy that appears from no where has no character and is of little consequence after she is beaten? about how Sasuke's whole arc becomes a FARCE after the timeskip? how about the HUGE disservice that the manga does to its characters?

A smarter nerd than I did exactly that, and it’s a good video if you’re in to that kind of thing. But there’s maybe another anime that’s a better comparison

Bleach was only slightly less popular than Naruto at its peak, and was one of the last anime I was really into as I transitions from “high-school weeaboo” to “college student who fell out of anime immediately after joining the anime club but that’s where my friends are so okay I guess”. While Naruto started great and slowly declined, Bleach followed a more Homestuck trajectory

Initially, Bleach was a lighthearted monster-of-the-week story about anime ghostbusters. The plot was kind of meandering, but it was carried by fun characters and a humorous tone. 

Then it introduced a bunch of kind of alien characters, about a dozen weridos, and their society. The series took on a darker tone, and this arc, the Soul Society arc, lasted as long as everything before it put together. People went nuts for it. And they especially went nuts for the Shinigami, and started making what we’d call Shinigamisonas (Shimisonas? Chimichangas?) today. And they were helped in that endeavor because the Shinigami as a concept were very modular. If you made a Shimisona, you basically filled out a character sheet with information like which of the thirteen groups of them you were in, which would indicate what your characters basic powers were

and then you’d get to the cool shit like the number of Katanas you had. (In Bleach, instead of characters themselves going super saiyan, their katanas did, which is the raddest idea ever, so everyone got to make three with an evolving concept). You had structure, but not so much structure as to limit your creativity. 

Bleach kind of lucked into that aspect, but Hussie’s big genius idea for marketing Homestuck, moreso evan than the shirts, was leaning in super hard to this idea. Troll blood color, classpect, even stuff like “what you put in your Kernalsprite” that didn’t catch on, were all intentionally made modular so that you could more easily make fanfics and personas (Hussie says this explicitly in one of the books). I doubt he pulled it from Bleach, but the same idea turned up. 

Anyway, Bleach made the transition to a dark battle shonen, Shinigami were massively popular, and the Soul Society arc is widely beloved by nerds of a certain age to this day. If the Ghostbusters stuff was Acts 1-4 of Homestuck, the Soul Society was Act 5.

But there was a problem.The Ghostbusters stuff set up a ghost called Grand Fisher as the main bad guy. He’s leading a bunch of ghosts, he killed Ichigo’s mom, Ichigo is the protagonist. Boom. Obviously, the guy who’s the strongest guy around who killed the protagonists’ beloved guardians was going to be the bad guy, right?

But then Shinigami got cool so they spent time on that and Ichigo was explicitly more powerful than any ghost about their powerups before the ending, so Grand Fisher can’t be the bad guy since Ichigo would squish him, so he’s out. He ultimately gets defeated by someone else who also has a beef with him but is in no way shape or form a protagonist

There’s a new villain, Aizen, and he’s got a new evil plan, but it doesn’t affect Ichigo at all and he kind of doesn’t give a shit about it. 

So there’s no narrative momentum anymore. Ichigo is going to fight the new bad guy because he’s the new bad guy, but there’s no in-story reason for it, and also once he does the story will be over, and it’s a really popular cash cow. You know what that means! 

Pointless

Fucking

Around!

Elements of worldbuilding were brought up and expanded upon, like “Wow, the Shinigami created artificial people for fun and now wants to kill them all! How villainous! How are we going to resolve this?!” and the answer being “lol vampires”

This is where teen me tapped out. The Mod Soul storyline, itself a filler arc, is aborted in favor of forty-odd episodes of vampires that never get mentioned again because it was a filler arc while the anime desperately waited in vain for something to happen in the manga. The Homestuck equivalent would be Openbound, but Homestuck is worse because at least you knew at the time that Vampires wouldn’t be important later

So you got less of the slow decline of Naruto or My Hero Academia or most popular long-running series, and more of the series getting bigger and more popular until suddenly crashing completely because something was broken on a fundamental level that was preventing the protagonists and antagonists from ever actually coming into conflict

This scene, in Act 7, four minutes before the end of the series, is the first time in the entirety of Homestuck that a main character interacts with the main bad guy.of Homestuck. 

Of course, the economics of Shounen Jump meant that Bleach could stay collapsing longer than Homestuck did, but once Ichigo killed the Vasto Lorde, which was right before the Soul Society arc even started, the die was cast and the series was doomed. Likewise, once Lord English usurped Bec Noir as the main bad guy of Homestuck, the story was broken on a fundamental level, and while Hussie going up his own ass about metanarrative didn’t help matters, nothing would have. Once Bec Noir left the medium, the story slowly died, like it was infected with some kind of slow-acting disease where the host body kills itself. I’m blanking on what the metaphor is I’m looking for. Help me out, Karkat.

PCG: AND UNLIKE A NORMAL DISEASE, IT WOULDN'T GRADUALLY KILL ITS HOST FROM WITHIN PCG: THE CANCER LEFT THE BODY PCG: CHASED OUT, AS IF BY AN IMMUNE SYSTEM. PCG: BUT THE PROBLEM IS PCG: IT WASN'T ANY LESS DEADLY ON THE OUTSIDE PCG: AND NO LESS DETERMINED TO FINISH THE JOB.

PCG: SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE IT COULD BE PCG: WHAT'S WAITING FOR US AT THE END OF THE COUNTDOWN. PCG: JACK WAS EXPELLED FROM YOUR SESSION SOMEHOW PCG: HE THEN METHODICALLY DESTROYED ALL OUR PLANETS, PROSPIT AND DERSE, AND TRIED TO WIPE US ALL OUT PCG: SO THAT WE COULDN'T DO THE SAME THING TO HIM AGAIN PCG: BUT HE WAS ALWAYS SAVING HIS TRUE TARGET FOR LAST PCG: THE ONE HE HATED MOST. PCG: JACK WAS THE LIVING EMBODIMENT OF THE DISEASE ALL ALONG.

PCG: NOIR IS THE CANCER.

PCG: IT'S HIM.

Yeah, that’s it