#bitterdee

[bitterandsugary]

two seasons into bungou stray dogs is like excuse me I just wanted to watch an anime, I didn't sign up for a 20+ authors reading list

[bitterandsugary]

my headcanon is that when Ranpo and Chuuya are transported into Poe's novel it's THE KNIVES OUT STORY and I cAN'T CALM DOWN about it

[bitterandsugary]

Inosuke: [Accidentally hits Tanjirou in the face]

Inosuke: [Trying to decide between saying 'I’m fucking sorry' and 'Are you okay']

Inosuke: ARE YOU FUCKING SORRY?!

Tanjirou: What’s wrong with you?!

[bitterandsugary]

Inosuke: If Monitsu and I were both drowning, who would you save?

Tanjirou: I don't know, both of you.

Inosuke: No, if you could only save one of us.

Tanjirou: Well, I'll save Zenitsu because he can't swim and I know you're an excellent swimmer!

Inosuke: What if I was holding a rock? Who would you save then?

Tanjirou: Why don't you just let go of the rock?

Inosuke: It's a lucky rock!

Tanjirou: I'm leaving.

[bitterandsugary]

also it's amazing/borderline insane how Kendall was able to hug Shiv after that letter she released. He has a big heart, I mean yes, he's delusional, but he has that childishly naïve side to him. He believes in the best of his siblings and expects them to show up and love him even when they are literally at war. I think this is what those words 'you're not real' that he says to Rome are about. In his head, Kendall sees a completely different version of Roman, a much-better one (or the 'real' one, but that's up for debate), so he just tells himself that all that shit his siblings do to him - it's not real.

[bitterandsugary]

what I like about Kuroko no Basuke (it was on Netflix, so, well...) is how it portrays defeat and the mental trauma associated with being in sports as a teenager. Yeah, I know, there are better shows out there. Of course, the portrayal of emotion in KnB is sometimes exaggerated or shut down for the sake of the plot, but that's a part of it being an anime. hear me out.

It feels like I've started to actively search for this kind of thing, with age, especially. But now I really appreciate every moment of weakness shown on screen. Every time characters cry (male characters, in particular - please, make this normal). Every time someone has a breakdown, storms out, feels like this is the end of the world - or when they stay silent, unresponsive, distant. This is real.

So, in no particular order, here are some emotion-related things that I really liked in KnB.

1. Kasamatsu crying after the match with Touou.

This was as impressive as the match itself. Extremely cinematic, a painful silent cry - but it's also so real. As a devoted captain, he supported his team until the end and let his emotions out later so as not to hurt his team's spirit.

2. Takao and Midorima crying after losing to Rakuzan. I like Takao's development as much as Midorima's. He lost to Midorima in the past, and he's a keen player, he loves the game, - and he's proud. It must have been insanely difficult for him to admit his weakness compared to Midorima. But he did it, yet training to reach his best. So the defeat is bittersweet here - yes, they lost to Rakuzan, but they've really reached a new level of teamwork and trust. It takes a lot to cry in front of your teammates.

3. I don't know if it's intentional or not, but we do see more tears on screen as the show progresses. We see crushing defeat. We see people giving up on the game after losing (my first call in any difficult situation, tbh). It's natural to give up! I like seeing words crush people's spirits so that they can't play anymore. This is real life, this is humane. We see people losing their will to play after matching with someone way out of their league. It's normal. In most cases facing a superhuman player does not inspire you to get better, you just want to get out of there.

But back to Seiring, even with their strong will - they get crushed, too. They get low in spirits. They were all so uptight in the beginning as well, trying to seem cool to each other, but towards the last game they're becoming closer, more relaxed, and they start to cry more. It's the ultimate display of weakness, as often seen by our culture/media.

They do use tears as a tool to contrast Kuroko to the other, 'strong' players. In the Teiko flashback, Kuroko cries more than once, compared to his completely emotionless teammates. I don't particularly appreciate using tears in this sense, but I suppose we could read it as the demonstration of Kuroko's 'humanity.'

4. Ok, this is a big one: Aomine's depressive tendencies.

I'm not in any way qualified to diagnose anything, so I won't go as far as to say that he has depression. This is bordering on the headcanon territory (all of what I write is. To me, the author is dead the second I see the product of their creation).

So, Aomine is too strong. Jesus, this was cringey. I could barely watch the flashbacks, but also, in a weird way, it is what makes the situation realistic. As a teenager, Aomine is more likely to think of the world in absolute terms. He truly feels like he's the strongest. Competition is what's charging his drive to play, and without it, he somehow finds himself lost, aimless. This was the trigger, as we were shown. And his condition seems to worsen as he moves on to study at Touou. He's shown becoming increasingly distant, quiet (doesn't even snap), somewhat aggressive. He's not okay.

And after losing for the first time, he doesn't magically heal. He smiles, yes. But smiling does not necessarily mean recovery. In fact, a brief mood improvement could precede a relapse (ok, my headcanon is depressed Aomine, I'll

stop, I promise). So, during the final games of the Winter Cup he's shown as mildly more open, communicative etc. But he doesn't change too much, he's still distant and brooding.

5. That part when Akashi completely breaks after a minor defeat. Wow, that was good. Shoving aside his sort-of-dissociative-identity-disorder (and also the fact that he managed to return to the game afterwards), this was SO real. Kids who are super successful in everything they do (or, rather, just are naturally more suited for what is deemed 'good' in academic and physical sense) tend to fall apart once they face defeat. Defeat makes us stronger -- or, again, I'd like to word this differently, defeat makes us understand what's required by the social norms and adapt to it. Either way, sports are good for developing adaptation, but Akashi's skills are so specific and elaborate, that in no way could he imagine being defeated. We've got all that crap he's been telling himself, 'I am absolute', loss of his parent and the expectation to always win. Of course he'd crumble. In fact, I'd prefer that he'd crumbled harder, but then again, he's been training in basketball for years, so he's got resilience.

6. How antisocial, weird and generally unsuited for regular life the GoM are. This feels true to me. Focusing on one thing so much completely drains the energy. I also like that we're not shown the parties, the fun, the exciting life of high schoolers or what have you. Because if they're submerged into the sport so much, they... don't have time for anything else.

Except for Kise-kun, who's got time to be a part-time famous model. Well, it can't be helped, he's just too good!

[bitterandsugary]

✨ Midotaka headcanon ✨

Well, more of a justification. I really needed to understand why I like these two so much together.

It's late at night, so, it's time for me to confess my love.

I love Midorima. Out of all bois of KnB, he is the only one I'd want to watch a spin-off story of. I've given this a lot of thought, believe me.

Midorima is such a gentle, hurtful soul. He's tender. He's awkward, and lean, and too tall. Secretly he's scared to not fit it. He's a bit lonely. He doesn't really know what to do with his body. He's all sharp lines and edges, hiding-behind-glasses, flushed face.

He pairs so perfectly with Takao's roughness. Takao may be not as good with cool three-pointers as Midochin, and he's not a ✨miracle✨, but he's got an immense strength of a character. they both do. Takao's street smart, speaks easy, moves fast, he's smooth - contrasted to angular, shy-ish, long Midorima.

They just work well, you know? They are both very good at basketball, they've got killer instincts, they're proud. Yet they both are willing to sacrifice their pride for improving together. I think out of all player-pairs that I've seen in this show, this one is the most organic. They fit each other. And they grow, together and independently.

Also I'm this close to diving into the pool of reader x midorima stuff on here, so help me god~

[bitterandsugary]

okay I know the forehead kissing scene was exciting, but Greg's eager 'Prove it!' had me screaming

[bitterandsugary]

me: I can't stand Sasuke he's so mean and hates everyone

also me: 🥰 daddy Madara 🥰

[bitterandsugary]

Hayato: there's only one thing about Halloween that scares me

Tsuna: which is?

Hayato: how did you know? are you one?!

[bitterandsugary]

Having finally become the official Vongola boss, Tsuna has to give a speech at a formal meeting of the family & allies for the first time, and he starts it by saying...

'so, I just wanted to get the gang together early in my tenure to say uh... yo.'

[bitterandsugary]

okay just throwing it out there, but-

Reborn AU inspired by Succession. where Vongola is a massive business empire and Tsunayoshi is the 'rightful heir' done wrong kind of like Kendall Roy??? I know it doesn't perfectly line up with Tsuna's character, but I just had this mental image of Tsuna being fed up with the family biz and going against them

'Have you managed to stay close with your family, with the Varia?' 'uh-huh, absolutely. I'm just really really happy in my headspace, I hope they're happy in theirs'

And Fran casually mentioning to Xanxus over breakfast, 'hey, how's your headspace?' with a subsequent frenzy of rage on Xanxus'es part because he is the good son here which he hates

and Tsuna is loveable but cringe, like I can see him rapping or outsourcing jokes

'okay Hayato get me some jokes. Not jokes, like funny as fuck shit but not in a stupid jockey way'

[bitterandsugary]

also wow Hayakawa-senpai is brow goals 👏

[bitterandsugary]

I pretend I haven't spoiled myself the ending yet

& spelling Bertholdt's name is still a struggle clearly fml

[bitterandsugary]

if u need 5927 fic recs, Sefiru on ao3 has a series called Hidden Sky and it's so so so good!!

Thank you! For such a big (fundamental!) pairing, there's surprisingly few good works out there...

Edit: if anyone wants to share their 5927 fic recs, please do! My faves are all in Russian from >10 years ago, and I'd love to expand my reading library

[bitterandsugary]

im sorry