#but seriously... HOW GOOD WERE THOSE FINALES?

[frmisnow]

✧˖ ?! — I LOVE TO LOVE YOU! (SMUTTY)

summary. agreeing to finally spend the weekend over at your boyfriends, you find him clingier (& hornier) than ever!

notes. let me tell you i've been STRUGGLING w writers block but i just wanted to give yall smth bc i have like 2 TOUGH weeks of exams coming up :( so i do hope you enjoy, much love!!! ₊˚⊹

warnings/includes. bf bf non idol? jungkook x f! reader, he's clingy & horny so basically the summary!, established relationship (she just doesn't live w him), a drabble, giving head + kitchen sex mentioned

when you once again agreed to spend the two free days with jungkook, you were as always not prepared for him rotting around you the whole time.

it didn't matter where you were — preparing something for dinner? you bet your ass he was hugging you from behind, evidently slowing down your cooking progress, giggling manically. typing it away on your laptop, trying to get a school paper done? he'll magically show up from behind (you swear you did NOT hear any footsteps), closing the laptop carefully while leaning over the chair to place tiny kisses down your neckline, mumbling something about you not being supposed to work since the weekend was there for him to love you.

and let me tell you: jeon jungkook takes his loving towards you during saturday and sunday (pun intended) VERY seriously. I'm telling you: consider yourself lucky if he even lets you out of bed!

he has to have his hands on you 24/7 and if he doesn't he'll swear he might just die at least that's what he always says.

you have to take 'he loves to love you' pretty literally because when it comes to jungkook and your special little weekends together, he always always puts your pleasure first.

jungkook bets he could eat your pussy for hours at a time and he'll go to many lengths to prove just that, he'll overstimulate you on accident- and then looks up to you with his boba eyes all inoccently like he actually didn't mean it.

i swear he always gets a boner around you! and he'll full on blame you for it! 'it's just cause you look like that!' adorned with that silly pout but be careful with how you respond- he might just fuck you on the kitchen counter... that man has no mercy.

all the way at night on saturday, when he's done with you, tucked you into bed, snuggled up to you all tightly, he'll whisper: "it's so sad that you don't live with me" into the air, every fucking time.

but maybe it was good that only those two days belonged to him since you really didn't knew what kind of animalistic human you'd turn into if you did the things you did together, seven days a week.

[merbear25]

Monster trio, cross guild, and Ace reaction to seeing their s/o being good with children and having a strong maternal instinct when she sees children? And also her having baby fever every time she sees a baby lmao xD

Hello there! I thought this was a cute idea! I got a bit emotional thinking about this Anyway! Since you had more than 3 characters, I chose the ones I had the most ideas for. Thank you for sending in this request. I hope you like what I've written for you 💜💜

CW: fem!reader, fluff, slight angst, headcanons

A natural mother x Cross Guild

Mihawk

Despite not having considered starting a family prior to meeting you, it was difficult for him to ignore how much warmth he felt when he saw how sweet you were with children. You were in your element when you were with them. There was no denying that.

Each laugh you shared with them, each cuddle only deepened this feeling growing inside him. There were times you fawned over how cute this or that child was, talking about how lovely it would be to start a family. Although he didn’t contribute much to those monologues, he took each word you spoke seriously.

The times you held babies you looked down at them with such softness and spoke to them with such care. They were so small and fragile, but in your arms they looked safe.

This eventually led to a long conversation; one that needed to be had. You both took the time to discuss the possibility of starting a family together. He wasn’t opposed to the idea at all. In fact, he felt there was no one better to have one with than you.

Crocodile

He never saw himself as a potential father. It wasn’t something that he thought would be in his cards, so having you as a s/o was making him put more thought into whether or not it was something he wanted.

The moments you shared with some of the children you encountered had him questioning his stance on raising a family. He’d sneak glances every now and then, not wanting you to catch him admiring your patience and care towards them.

Although you were admittedly a natural - born to be a mother in fact - he was apprehensive. It wasn’t that he thought you wouldn’t make a fabulous mother or that he didn’t want to see little versions of you running around. He just didn’t quite see himself as a father figure, at least not yet.

When you finally talked about it, there were slightly hurt feelings. He wasn’t exactly saying no to having a family, but it wasn’t right for him now. He reminded you how much you meant to him, and if there was anyone who would bear his children, it would be you.

Buggy

There were many things he thought were wonderful about you, one of which was your natural talent dealing with children. Even if he got irritated with kids every now and then, he really did like them. They were just tiny people who wanted to have fun and enjoy life after all.

That being said, he had his reservations about being a father and seeing you be the most well-suited future mother he’d ever seen really put those to the test. The gentleness in your voice, the time you took out of your day to draw with them, and how excited they got when they saw you, all of which were moments that stood out to him.

He felt guilty to an extent. Here you were, this beauty who had a heart of gold and so much love to give not being given the family you so rightly deserved. Even with these moments of self-doubt, he loved watching you with them.

Eventually, you took notice of the growing dark cloud over him, which led to this important discussion. You reassured him that he would make a wonderful father. He wanted to take your word for it. If you thought that about him, then surely it was true.

[sigmasemen]

WHEN THEY GIVE YOU THEIR COAT. (2/2)

multiple blue lock characters x reader

tags: established relationships, tooth rotting fluff, short headcanons

taglist: n/a currently.

characters: jingo raichi, meguru bachira, yo hiori, kurona ranze, sae itoshi, gin gagamaru, michael kaiser, kenyu yukimiya, alexis ness, gender neutral!reader.

word count: 2348

extra notes: reposted from my wattpad ^- ^ !! older work... you cannot get me to read this shit. had to post it in multiple parts sorry y'all!!

MICHAEL KAISER:

- Dating Kaiser was an entire rollercoaster, so getting around wasn't too hard. He had the money to afford limousine after limousine for you two, except when you two chose to go out on a hiking trip. "Good for training!" He said. He lied.

- Now here you two were, dashing home in the rain as makeup dripped down both of your faces. Kaiser had attempted to carry you, yet nearly slipped so you refused to get back in his arms.

- Around 10 minutes of moving, you realized how deep in this trail you were. It seemed Kaiser noticed too, as he sighed and finally paused.

- "Follow me!" He grasped your hand and ran you to a small cave. It was the sort of thing you saw in those stereotypical movies. It even made you wonder if Kaiser had purposefully planned this. Still, you got in.

- "Seriously? A cave?"

- He laughed, "Well, I'm not sure we have much of a choice, now do we?" He reached towards his own front and quickly unzipped his jacket to put around your shoulders. 

- "For you."

- You pause and softly laugh, "I'm not some damsel in distress. Besides, this is soaked too."

- Kaiser just shrugged, getting closer to your warmth and leaning his head against your's. His arms soon wrapped around you as well. "Well, I might as well warm you up with my body."

- It wasn't like you had any complaints with that.

KENYU YUKIMIYA:

- You weren't aware of who Yukimiya was beyond Blue Lock before this. He was one of the top 6 to you, one of the people who had been an essential part to the U20 match. Honestly? You hadn't ran into anyone from Blue Lock since this break had started.

- However, you had chosen to go outside now of all times in a brightly lit street with gleaming lights hitting your eyes. Even so, it was raining. It dropped off the signs and right onto your faces. You were one of the few people that didn't have an umbrella and didn't see any holders in sight.

- So, for 10 minutes, you walked through the freezing cold rain. You allowed the rain to make your shirt stick to your skin and make you shiver. The dissatisfactory feeling haunted you as you walked past a bowling place.

- Your eyes eventually landed on Yukimiya. You didn't expect to see him of all people out here, but it wasn't the best time for you. You didn't look good at all.

- But, of course, he had to notice you. His eyes narrowed as he saw you, giving a short chuckle and walking over to pull off his bright orange scarf over your head and dark grey coat over your shoulders without a word.

- He paused, "You shouldn't get yourself like this, you might not be able to face off against everyone in Blue Lock."

- "Wouldn't that be better for you?"

- "It would, I would just hate to see you like this." He reached up and pushed through your wet hair, "You should focus on getting home. It's getting dark."

- You paused to stare at him, before nodding, "Right, thank you Kenyu."

- "It's my pleasure. I'll see you tomorrow?" He smiled, starting to walk off yet looking over his shoulder to wave.

- And you matched that, tightening the coat around you to make a dash for your place once more.

ALEXIS NESS:

- Oh how Ness is so doting over you. Every little thing, he wants to make sure you're perfectly pampered and feel special during the entire date! He's planned it out in his head for months, researched this festival multiple times, he won't let anything go wrong!

- Until it rains.

- You remembered being under one of the tents as it started to pour down. You just sighed and looked at your boyfriend. Yet he seemed pissed. He was biting his lip, staring at the ground and having issues with calming himself. 

- You take his hand and laugh. For a second, he doesn't notice. Until you slip his jacket off his shoulders and pull it onto your head, covering yourself from the rain.

- Ness then notices, he seems confused until you speak again. "Oh my! Thank you Alexis for giving me your jacket."

- He pauses, softening his bite as his eyes light up. "Of course!" He adjusts it, holding it on your head and wrapped his upper body around you. "Let's make a run for it to our car, alright?"

- And minutes later, Ness is running and getting soaked while you're comfortable underneath his jacket. "Thank you..." 

- "For what?"

- "For saving my perfect date." He smiled and pressed a kiss onto your forehead.

[archivistofnerddom]

The Batch + Life In Retirement On Pabu

Slightly AU: Tech lives, though he’s got a prosthetic leg as a result of his fall.

Hunter’s fashion sense swiftly nose-dives into that of every dad at an amusement park. Don’t ask why that happened so quickly. It just did. He’s rocking cargo shorts, corny shirts, and comfy shoes like they’re going out of style. (Crosshair gave him a tactical fanny pack as a joke. Hunter wears it all the time with all due seriousness.) It takes years for the rest of the Batch to get him to branch out from that.

Tech alternates between his space jeans and sweatpants, depending on his mood. The sweatpants were necessary when he first got his prosthetic leg during his post-Eriadu recovery process. He too starts wearing ironic shirts, but somehow makes them more fashionable than Hunter.

Crosshair has the widest selection of island-appropriate hats and sunglasses anyone has ever seen. No one knows how he gets so many, and he’s certainly not going to tell on himself. Omega is the reason why he has so many floral-print shirts though.

Wrecker discovers overalls and pretty much lives in them. No less than half of his overalls have the legs cut off at the knees. This is more practical than fashionable though. He’s just so big that he has a hard time finding pants that fit him at the waist and have a long enough pant leg.

Omega finally gets to decide on her preferred style now that they’re permanently in one place. She still wears a lot of hand-me-downs from her brothers though. Omega spends a lot of time helping out around the island, so she needs clothes that no one minds her getting dirty or ruined when she’s working on a project.

Echo has an extensive collection of sarongs he stores on Pabu that he only busts out when he’s visiting. Rex knows not to ask Echo to do anything if he sees him wearing one. (Visiting the family on Pabu is the only time Echo gets a break or a chance to relax and destress.)

Batcher gets a pretty collar and a massively cushy bed. Someone starts bringing her sweaters to wear when she gets cold. (Crosshair is the leading suspect. Hunter won’t confess to anything.)

Wrecker has an extremely extensive cookbook and recipe collection. He picks up cooking as a hobby post-retirement, and he is really good at it. Given the diversity of people and species on Pabu, Wrecker spends a lot of time learning different recipes from across the galaxy.

Crosshair and Wrecker go fishing together pretty regularly. They don’t say a lot during those times, but that’s okay. Crosshair enjoys spotting where the best fishing areas are. Wrecker just sits back and lets his baby brother take the lead on this. (He brings snacks and a cooler of drinks to keep them fed and hydrated when they decide to make a day of it.)

Tech upgrades the Archeum to improve how things are stored and protected. Omega helps out. They spend a lot of time adding details about the specific items housed therein, including any historical details, cultural relevance, and any notes about how best to handle the items. They’re working with Phee on an oral history component to the Archeum as well, so that the stories about the items in the Archeum and the residents of Pabu are preserved.

Crosshair makes hammocks and strings them up around the island in random places. He says it’s so that he can take a nap wherever and whenever. Really, it’s just his contribution to life on Pabu. (Plus, making hammocks were good physical therapy when he got his new prosthetic hand.)

Omega instituted regular family game night. (Echo is expected to be there as his work with Rex allows.) Depending on their moods, Batch family game night is either extremely chill or extremely cutthroat. There is no in-between.

Wrecker is the first one to “move out” of the shared family house. It’s only because he built an upgraded kitchen with a huge family room attached. The shared family home couldn’t accommodate those upgrades. His house is two houses down and is still where everyone eats dinner almost every night.

Tech moved out second. He moved in with Phee. It was a combination of their evolving romantic relationship and him wanting to be closer to the island repair shop that he runs in his spare time. (Tech became the island’s mechanic once he recovered from the injuries he sustained on Eriadu.)

Hunter develops a massive green thumb. The family shared house (which eventually is just him, Omega, and Crosshair full-time) is overflowing with plant life. He built and maintains a greenhouse for Wrecker to grow speciality plants for his cooking.

Echo usually crashes with Wrecker when he comes to visit. Wrecker renovated part of his house to be prosthetic leg friendly and got a really comfy recliner for Echo. Crosshair put in a hammock for Echo in the backyard.

Crosshair, Hunter, and Omega go on early morning runs together. It’s their bonding time.

Tech upgraded the whole family’s prosthetic limbs many times over the years. Hunter made a point of keeping the older models as a reminder of how far they’ve come since they retired.

Batcher is the most spoiled dog on the island. She adores the attention and winds up becoming the unofficial therapy dog for every new resident and refugee who finds their way to Pabu.

[urfavstonr1]

Unsweetened Lemonade

Series- Delicious In Dungeon

Pairings- Chilchuck Tims/reader

Word count- 4698

Content Warnings- mentions of trauma

traveling alone was never easy, especially in the island dungeon. when (Y/N) finds herself a new party can she handle resisting inner-party relationships? maybe finally sharing her past will make her strong enough to overcome it, or will it only make it harder?

I have no clue how long this is gonna be yet lmao some things are being left out for a few reasons, mostly cause my memory is shit and I don't feel the need to rewrite scenes already in the anime.

Chapter 1

The dungeons were harsh to say the least, but that didn’t seem to matter to (Y/N). A mage without a party wondering the third floor, how she made it that far only she knew. Maybe it was luck or maybe it was fate, but here she was. Reaching over her shoulder she grabbed a map from her bag, finding where she was and where she needed to go. 

Lifting her head to commotion just ahead of her, was that talking? Slowly approaching what was now a source of light with her hand on the hilt of her dagger, monsters didn’t usually start bonfires, especially not on the third floor. Other adventurers? Most likely, but who knew if they were friendly. The closer she got the louder the voices were, the more clear the conversation got. She knew one of those voices…

“Marcille?” (Y/N) asked, looking through the doorway at the blonde elf. 

The conversation turned silent as all eyes turned to her, making a shiver crawl up her spine.

“(Y/N)?” Marcille slowly stood from her seat on the floor, before running and nearly launching herself at her, wrapping her arms around her in a tight hug, “(Y/N)! It’s been ages! And you haven’t grown a bit!” Marcille laid her head on top of (Y/N)’s as she held the short mage tightly. 

“Thanks..” (Y/N) tried to laugh off the remark on her height, returning the hug happily, “I didn’t think I’d see you down here.”

“Fate brought us together again!” Marcille loosened her hug and pulled back to look down at (Y/N). “Where’s the rest of your party? Did you make your way down here all by yourself!?” 

“Well I-“ before she could finish, a blond tall-man approached them. 

“Who’s this Marcille?” He asked, looking over the elf’s shoulder down at (Y/N). 

“My name is-“ she was cut off again. 

“This is (Y/N)! She went to school with Falen and me.” Marcille beamed, pulling back to show off her old friend to her party. (Y/N) gave a wave to the tall-man before looking to the rest of the party, a Dwarf and a Half-foot. The dwarf looked happy to see her and the half-foot looked less than pleased. 

“I-It’s nice to meet you all. I’m (Y/N) (L/N).” She gave a friendly smile as Marcille ushered her into the room. 

“You should join us! We were just about to start eating.” Marcille stopped herself, “actually, I don’t think you’d want to eat this..”

“What’s wrong?” (Y/N) looked up at her confused before whispering, “is their cooking that bad?” 

“I pride myself in my cooking.” The dwarf remarked. 

“It always tastes good but I don’t think you’d like the ingredients…” Marcille mumbles, trying not to stare directly at the dinner that awaited her. 

“You make it seem like the worst thing in the world.” (Y/N) rolled her eyes, “what are you eating monsters or something?” She mused, only to be greeted by silence and a guilty look from Marcille. She let out a laugh, “seriously? I’m sure it tastes great!”

“Not you too..” Marcille whines as (Y/N) walks into their camp. 

“Is it alright if I join you?” (Y/N) smiles warmly at the party.

“Of course! I’m always happy to feed the youth!” The dwarf, she assumed, smiled at her, “I’m Senshi, it’s nice to meet you young lady.”

(Y/N) let out an annoyed laugh but joined the group on the floor, sitting herself next to the half-foot, Senshi handing her a bowl of whole stewed cabbage, “Thank you Senshi. This looks great.”

Marcille sits of the other side of (Y/N) and gives her a smile as she digs into the food gratefully. 

The Tall-man places himself back on the floor, “I’m Laius, and that’s Chilchuck to your left. How long have you been in the dungeon by yourself?” 

(Y/N) thinks to herself for a moment for swallowing her food to answer, “uhm. I think a few weeks? My party wasn’t making enough money so they fucking dipped out on me and I’ve been down here alone since.” She shrugs and takes another bite of her food, thankful for the warm meal after having run out of food 2 days ago. 

Chilchuck still hadn't said a word, just stared at the (H/C) haired mage next to him. Looking at her pointed ears and (E/C) eyes. “You know you’re pretty short for an elf. If Marcille hadn’t said you went to school together I would’ve thought you were still a kid.” He snidely remarks, earning him a glare from (Y/N). 

“That’s big talk coming from a Half-foot, for a second I thought someone brought a child into the dungeon.” (Y/N) returns the attitude before thankfully handing her empty bowl back to Senshi, “it was delicious, thank you again.” She gives him a smile and turns to Marcille, ignoring Chilchuck’s angry mumbling. 

“For your information I’m 29, which might not be old compared to an elf, but maturity wise I’m far older than you.” Chilchuck huffs out, crossing his arms over his chest as he glares smugly at (Y/N). 

An agitated laugh leaves her lips, not even turning to look at Chilchuck or dignify him with a response for that matter. “Chilchuck, I think it would be best if you dropped it..” Marcille tries to cool the air, feeling (Y/N)’s malice emanating from her body.

She takes in a deep breath before blowing it out and smiling at Marcille, “as I was saying, I thought Falin was at your party?” Her question was met with saddened looks throughout the party. 

Marcille lets out a sigh and explains what happened to Falin, their fight with the red dragon, and their mission to save her. 

(Y/N) pulls Marcille into a tight hug, “I know how much she meant to you…” she pulls away, (E/C) eyes staring into green ones, “if you’ll let me, I want to join you on your journey.”

Before Marcille could answer another snide comment came from behind her “yeah, like we have the money to pay you.”

(Y/N) whips around, glaring down at the chestnut haired Half-foot, “this isn’t about money, this is about saving my friend. Not that you would know much about friendship with your attitude.” She nearly growls at him, her (E/C) eyes ablaze with anger and determination.

“Well, if you’re joining us, I think it’s time we all get some sleep. It’s been a long day.” Senshi speaks up, the group nods as Laius digs into his back, pulling out sticks to decide the order of watch.

“Please, let me take first watch, it's the least I could do after you guys fed me.” (Y/N) speaks, holding her hand out to pause him.

“Uhm, sure. Sounds good to me.” Laius returns her smile, holding the sticks to the rest of the part. Marcille taking second, Laius third, then Senshi, and lastly Chilchuck. Not that he’d be sleeping much tonight anyway, he never did. 

Everyone rolled out their beds, settling in for the night. (Y/N) dug through her bag, retrieving a ball of yarn and a crochet hook.

“I didn’t know you knew how to crochet.” Marcille comments, brushing out her hair before laying down to sleep.

“Yeah, it’s a hobby I took up during-” She cut herself off, “I picked it up not too long after school.” She feigns a smile, beginning her work on a new project, “It helps keep me occupied during breaks.” 

Marcille nods before laying down. “Good night (Y/N), wake me up in a few hours, kay?”

“Yep, I will. Goodnight Marcille.” (Y/N) smiles at her school friend as the party slips off to sleep. She quickly got to work on her new project, a dark blue scarf from yarn she had dyed herself on the surface. Little did she know brown eyes were watching her from just beyond the light of the fire. 

Hours had passed when she finished the scarf, sealing her work with a slip stitch to secure it. Setting the scarf back into her back she crawled to the sleeping elf, gently shaking her awake, “Wakey wakey Marcy~” she sang in a hushed tone.

Marcille stirred awake, looking up at (Y/N), “Is it time already?” she yawned, sitting up to stretch.

“I let you sleep long enough to finish a scarf, it's honestly about half way through your shift.” (Y/N) chuckles, sitting back to lean on her hands, “God I could use a drink.” She breathes out a sigh.

As Marcille crawled out of her sleep roll she stretched again, “Hey, I just wanted to apologize for Chilchuck earlier, he’s not exactly friendly towards new people.”

(Y/N) lets out a snort of a laugh, “It’s ok, I think it's a half-foot thing. We know my dad wasn’t the friendliest either.”

Marcille laughs while sitting next to (Y/N), “I remember my first time meeting him, I was so terrified.”

“Aw come on, he was a big softy once you got to know him.” her face turns from a smile to melancholic, “I still miss him everyday.”

“We should go visit him when we Falin, I know she’d want to go too.” Marcille gives (Y/N) an empathetic look, leaning against her for comfort.

“Sounds like a plan.” (Y/N) smiles, laying her head on Marcille’s shoulder as they watch the fire. After a few minutes passed (Y/N) finally pulled herself off the floor to ready herself for bed, kicking off her boots and setting them next to her bag. Pulling her jacket off before finally reaching her pants and stripping those off as well.

“W-what are you doing? Someone could see you!” Marcille whisper yelled at the short mage.

“What? No one else is awake, and you’ve seen me with far less clothes before.” (Y/N) shrugged it off, fully pulling off her pants and letting loose her undershirt. Thankfully it reached her mid thigh and covered everything she deemed private.

Marcille groans and rubs her temples, “You’ve never been the modest type have you?”

“Nope!” (Y/N) laughs as she gets into her bed roll, snuggling into her blanket with a satisfied sigh. “Oh how I’ve missed you~” she mumbles into her blanket. Closing her eyes she prayed for sleep to take her, and hopefully she wouldn’t be plagued with nightmares like usual.

After hours of thankfully dreamless sleep she was woken with a shake, sitting up urgently only to knock foreheads with whoever woke her up. Bracing her head with a pained groan she looks around, no one else was awake. Turning to her attacker she found Chilchuck, knocked back on the floor with his hands on his forehead.

“Shit I am so sorry!” She blurted out quickly before moving to check on him, reaching out a hand only to be swatted away.

“Do you always wake up that violently?” he groans, opening his eyes to glare at her only to be greeted with a concerned (Y/N) and her cleavage in full view. The top buttons of her shirt had come undone in her sleep and left nearly nothing to the imagination. She was on her hands and knees, her face still filled with concern as she looked at the mark she left on his forehead, she probably had her own matching mark. “And for god's sake cover yourself up!” Chilchuck said sternly, looking away from her as his ears and face turned red.

(Y/N) looked down at herself before scrambling to find her pants, “W-why isn’t anyone else up yet?” she pulled her pants on, trying not to look at Chilchuck as she got dressed.

“You were so exposed I wanted to make sure no one else saw..” He mumbled sparing a glance at her only to be faced with her ass as she pulled her pants on fully, only making his blush worse. She must have thrown her blanket off during the night. Ugh. 

“Thanks.” She managed to squeak out, clearing her throat as she turned back to him while buttoning her shirt, “About yesterday-”

“Forget about it.” He waved her off, still not looking at her. Trying to get the images of her out of his head, “You said it yourself, half-foots aren’t too friendly with new people.”

(Y/N) breathes a small laugh, “I didn’t think you were still awake.” he only shrugs in response as he stands.

After waking the party Senshi got to cooking breakfast, after the meal the party picks up and gets going. Finally making it down to the fourth floor. 

“That's a lot of water..” (Y/N) mumbles, looking out across the lake before them. Staring down into the depths of the water brought a shiver up her spine. Whatever conversation was being had was tuned out through her deep thoughts, staring endlessly down into the deep- she jumped as a hand touched her shoulder.

“Are you ok (Y/N)?” Marcille looked down at her concerned, “I was going to cast water walking so we could cross.”

“Y-yeah, just lost in thought.” She smiled up at Marcille who smiled back. Tapping her staff to (Y/N)’s head she was enchanted by the spell, finally pulling her back to reality. “Is that a fucking kelpie?” 

“Language!” Marcille nudges her with her staff, giving her a glare.

“I’m not a child, I can use whatever words I want..” (Y/N) mumbles, walking closer to Senshi and the Kelpie, “I’ve never seen one this up close before.” reaching out a hand to touch it before retracting, “Don’t these kill you if you touch them?” 

Senshi reaches out and pets its snout, “I’ve been bonding with her for a long time, she wouldn’t hurt me.” his words were filled with such confidence and yet (Y/N) still felt a ball in the pit of her stomach watching him touch it.

“You don't plan to ride that thing do you? Please tell me you’re joking.” (Y/N) shudders at the thought, staring skeptically at the kelpie.

“I really don’t think that's a good idea.” Laius speaks up, “They are known for luring their prey into a false sense of security.”

Senshi, ignoring their comments, climbed upon the Kelpie anyway, beginning to ride it across the water before plummeting into the depths below. 

“Shit! SENSHI!” (Y/N) began to run after the diving kelpie only to stop herself on the edge of the water, anxiety and adrenaline shaking through her body. 

“What are you doing!? We have to go after him!” Chilchuck yells at her as the party runs after Senshi. 

(Y/N) trembles as she stares into the water, “I-I can’t!” She breathes out desperately trying to will herself to run out onto the water. The deep, dark water…

“What do you mean you can’t!?” He stops, turning to yell at her. 

“She's scared of deep water.” Marcille yells over her shoulder, trying to think of the best way to save Senshi from his watery doom. 

“Then use your magic! You're a mage aren’t you!?” Chilchuck looked between the terrified (Y/N) and the rest of his party. 

“My magic doesn’t work well under the water!” She yelled back. ‘Shit shit shit. Fuck.’ Was all that ran through her head, before clenching her eyes shut and running out onto the water. Trying to keep her screams of fear trapped in her throat.

When the kelpie emerged from the water she finally let out a scream directed at the monster, the sound waves quaking through its body as it collapsed to the surface, allowing Laius to stab it with his sword and thankfully killing it. 

“What the fuck was that?!” Chilchuck looked astounded at the scene.

“Magic?” (Y/N) responds, a questioning tone to her own words. Carefully opening her eyes only to close them again, “Ohhhh fuck.” 

“What kind of magic was that?” Laius stares with wide eyes at (Y/N), “That was so cool! You screamed and it collapsed! Can you do that to any monster?” he kept asking more and more questions as he walked closer, rambling further about his theories.

“Someone get me off of this water and I’ll tell you!” She tried to breathe deeply, putting her hands out to balance herself in her blindness. She felt a hand grab her own, turn around, and lead her back to shore.

“I think we should set up camp for the night..” Senshi suggests, a melancholic tone laces his words as he looks back to the kelpie he believed he befriended.

“Sounds good to me, anything to get away from this water.” (Y/N) mumbles, trying not to look into the water.

“You’re supposed to tell us what that was.” Chilchuck grumbles, releasing her hand and looking away with a grunt, trying to hide his pink tinted cheeks.

“She will after we eat, she’s shaken up enough as it is.” Marcille defends, wrapping an arm around (Y/N)’s shoulders and leading her further away from the water.

“Something tells me Marcille knows about her magic.” Laius thinks aloud, bringing a hand to his chin as he thinks.

“No shit, they went to school together.” Chilchuck rolls his eyes, walking after Marcille and (Y/N).

After finding a spot to make camp Marcille left Chilchuck and (Y/N) to return to Senshi and Laius.

“So… water?” Chilchuck begins, only to be cut off.

“I really don’t want to talk about it.” (Y/N) objects, taking a seat on the floor and taking deep breaths to calm her nerves. 

Chilchuck nodded, seating himself on the floor nearby. (Y/N) lets out a breath and looks at a spot on the floor, tracing out a summoning circle on the ground before splaying her hand to the spot and speaking, “Fire.” with her words a fire lit in the circle and she moved away, trying not to burn herself for the thousandth time she’s cast the spell.

“That’s… a unique magic.” Chilchuck tries to joke, attempting to lift the mood.

“Heh.. yeah. You could say that.” She gives him a lazy smile before looking back at the fire.

It was a while before the rest of the party rejoined them, Senshi appreciating the fire for cooking, Laius still rambling about monsters and (Y/N)’s ‘new magic’. The party chatted amongst themselves until dinner was served. 

As everyone began eating (Y/N) took the opportunity to explain her magic. “At the school we went to, they had many different tracks to take. I took the bard class. No matter your specialty there are always base classes to learn about magic, one of them being how to channel your magic. Marcille uses her staff to channel her magic, in the bard classes you’re taught how to channel your magic into other things, some people use instruments and some choose to channel it into your voice. It’s not as strong on its own but when paired with an instrument you can cast very strong spells.” she explains, trying to recall as much as she could.

“How exactly does that work?” Laius couldn't keep himself from asking, desperately wanting to learn more.

“Instead of using incantation we learn to cast with intention. I channel my magic into my vocal cords and guitar, as long as I speak or sing with the intention of the spell I want to cast it does not require an incantation.” (Y/N) nods to her own words as she speaks.

“So you’re less a mage and more a bard.” Chilchuck says bluntly, taking a bite of his food.

“Yes, but being a bard isn't the only magic I know, it's just the one I choose to use the most. And bards don’t get a lot of respect compared to mages.. If certain people were to find out I was a bard I think it would make my personal life a lot harder.” She lets out a laugh, scratching the back of her neck.

“And her magic is very strong! You saw how just her scream made the kelpie collapse.” Marcille praises, gushing about her friend’s talents.

“And I didn’t even have a true intention behind that scream, I was just scared.” (Y/N) laughs again, finally digging into her food. Another delicious meal that she relished in, cherishing every bite.

Setting up their bed rolls (Y/N) volunteered for the first shift once again, the party agreed and set up to sleep. Once she was sure they were sleeping she pulled her guitar from her pack, gently strumming the strings, playing a soft melody she hoped wouldn’t wake anyone. Humming to the melody as she tried to come up with a new song, a song she deemed her strongest. A song to slay even the red dragon.

When her shift ended she carefully walked to Chilchuck to wake him for his shift. He lets out a groan as he wakes, having probably the best sleep he’s had in awhile after being lulled to sleep by (Y/N)’s playing.

“Please tell me you aren’t going to strip down like you did last night.” He grumbles, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Too late.” (Y/N) snickers, already having her boots and pants removed.

“What if Laius or Senshi sees you!?” he begins to yell before quieting his voice, “Do you have even an inch of modesty in your body?”

“I literally saw the outline of Senshi’s dick today, I think that boundary has already been crossed. And it’s not like I’m completely exposed.” she brushes out her shirt, making sure it covers everything before Chilchuck can catch a glimpse.

He lets out an agitated groan while rubbing his temples, “You are unbelievable.”

“You try pushing out a kid in a room full of people and still find the will to care what people see.” (Y/N) scoffs before cursing herself at her words, turning her eyes to the floor in disappointment with herself, trying to stave off the memories.

Chilchuck stays silent as he climbs out of his bed roll, “Get some sleep, you need it.” choosing to push her words to the back of his mind.

“Yeah..” she speaks quietly, laying in her bed roll facing away from the fire. Away from chilchuck.

Sleep was not an easy task, her mind plagued with thoughts of her past. Her failures. Her massive fuck ups. How could she ever forgive herself?

What felt like hours passed before she finally drifted to sleep. Her dreams filled with images of a baby boy, with the most beautiful blue eyes and tufts of brown hair. An elf with those shared features by her side. Until he wasn’t.

(Y/N) awoke with a gasp, having been awoken by a familiar blonde elf.

“Good morning (Y/N)~” Marcille greeted with a smile. The rest of the party was slowly waking up themselves and preparing for the day.

(Y/N) felt a cold sweat drip down her face, using the back of her hand to wipe it away. 

“More nightmares?” Marcille looked at her with concern, reaching out to help her stand. 

“Not quite..” (Y/N) shrugged it off, reaching for her clothes to get dressed. Her mind never strayed from her dream. 

“Woah hey!?” Marcille uses herself to Shield (Y/N) as she stands, her shirt one again not leaving much to the imagination.

“Huh?” She looked at Marcille in confusion, pulling her pants on, still in a state of tired oblivion. 

“What if one of the boys sees you? You’re completely exposed!” Marcille whisper yells, glaring down at (Y/N) who only tilts her head to the side. 

“I feel like I just had this conversation…” (Y/N) blinks away the sleep as she speaks. 

“We had the same damn conversation last night.” Chilchuck grumbles, trying not to look at (Y/N), still being able to see her despite Marcille’s efforts. 

“I still don’t exactly see the problem, I mean. Who wouldn’t want to see me half dressed~?” (Y/N) lets out a laugh, pulling her boots on and pulling Marcille’s arms back down from shielding her. 

Chilchucks blush only brightens as he lets out a tsk. 

Marcille lets out a whine, “what happened to the sweet and innocent (Y/N) I went to school with?”

(Y/N)’s expression turns cold, “I genuinely don’t think you want to know.” She brushed past Marcille, walking to help Senshi prepare breakfast. 

Marcille stared after her, worry and sadness laced her features. What she didn’t know was a certain Half-foot shared in the worry. It’s been two days and yet (Y/N) already seemed like someone to worry about. 

Standing back at the edge of the water sent chills down her spine, “ha. Hahaha no. Nope.” She turned on her heel only to be caught by the shoulder and turned back around. 

“If Senshi can get over his thing with magic you can get over your fear of water.” Marcille smiled but spoke sternly. 

“Marcille, I-“

“No. No buts.” Marcille cast water walking on the party and began pulling (Y/N) towards the water. 

“Nooo no no please no.” (Y/N) whined, digging her heels into the ground to no avail. 

“You're such a crybaby.” Chilchuck grunts, walking ahead out onto the water.

(Y/N) let out another cry, clenching her eyes shut. “You're gonna be fine, stop whining.” Marcille says while tugging on her hand.

“How can an adventurer be so afraid of water?” Chilchuck asks over his shoulder, looking back at the terrified (Y/N) and Marcille pulling her along. 

“It’s a long story and I don’t think it’s any of your business.” (Y/N) shouts back, peeking between her fingers at her surroundings before closing her eyes again. 

Making it safely across the water (Y/N) collapses to the ground as she breathes through her anxiety. She felt herself get pulled up by the collar of her shirt and set back onto her feet.

“We gotta keep going.” Laius says as he lets go of her shirt, “The water is behind us now, you’re ok.” He pats her head with a smile only earning him a frustrated pout and his hands swatted away.

“I’m not a child!” (Y/N) nearly growls, marching forward as she rolls her eyes, “Thank you.” She says over her shoulder to Laius before catching up to Marcille.

“You’re being quite the grump today.” Marcille giggles, grabbing (Y/N)’s hand as they walk.

“I didn’t sleep for shit so that doesn’t help.” (Y/N) grumbles, trying to suppress a yawn.

“Maybe if you didn’t stay up past your shift you’d sleep better.” Marcille scolds, looking down to her short friend.

“You weren’t complaining when you got to sleep in.” (Y/N) nearly snaps back, trying to watch her tone.

“Sacrificing your sleep for others is only going to hurt you in the end.” Chilchuck interjects, side eyeing the two mages.

“I hate that you’re both right.” (Y/N) mumbles, glaring down at the floor. “Sometimes it’s easier to stay awake than it is dealing with my dreams.”

“Do you have nightmares in your pillow? We can help get rid of them.” Marcille asks, taking a peak at the pillow that was wrapped in her bed roll.

“No it's not that, I’ve already looked.” (Y/N) sighs.

“Dreams are often a way our brains use to try to cope with things that have happened to us.” Senshi begins, “it sounds to me you have unresolved issues. Talking about them sometimes helps.”

(Y/N) shakes her head, “I’m fine. I don’t have issues I need to talk out. I’m a big girl, I can handle them on my own.”

“But (Y/N)-” Marcille starts before being cut off.

“Just drop it ok? It’s not like now is a good time to hash up bad shit.” (Y/N) states, hopefully finishing the conversation. Marcille nods and looks to the side, hating that she pushed enough to make her this upset. What could possibly be bothering her this much?

[soulmatesinc-if]

oh my god i just played soulmate inc for the first time today and i. i am SO MAD HOW COULD YOU MAKE ME FALL IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE WHO IS FRENCH (this is a joke i love all and every frenchmen out there 💕💕💕) but seriously my god. i was not expecting for wyatt to come out with the steel chair?? i seriously felt like i was my mc and that we were steadily developing feelings over the course of our work together 😭😭. i love the art route, and getting to kick wyatt is always a plus LOL but the game route has my heart i think. making a character together (particularly normal about the option of making a mini wyatt and they name it after you), getting a game addiction, controlling an army of bots, getting wyatt banned LOL it was really really good and i had so much fun. i was supposed to study for my finals but i am now obsessed with a. wyatt THANK YOU they are perfect. and thank you for making such a great game!!! i am so excited to see whats next

Wyatt is only 1/4th sure what a kilometer is, come now 😁

i love the art route, and getting to kick wyatt is always a plus

The entire committee lunch scene was fun to write, but Debbie/Brian breaking character solely to mess with MC and MC looking like this 🙂/😐 as they kick them for it is just my personal highlight.

i was supposed to study for my finals but i am now obsessed with a. wyatt

Thank you, I enjoyed reading about your experience in the game so much! And I hope you ace those finals, anon 💚

[mytalemyworld]

AND YEAH LET'S TALK ABOUT ASI AND ALAZ MORE. Because hell, if this episode wasn't about the whole idea that "how this ship ruined our lives and theirs", I don't know what it was. Yeah, we got that, thank you, no need to be too merciless, everyone is still traumatized.

When Asi said there was something they had to talk about, the first thing that came to his mind was that she was breaking up with him. For good this time. And he said he wasn't surprised, this would happen anyway. He even didn't give her an opportunity for a break up speech, tried to save her the trouble.

Then...

Asi: I am pregnant.

Deep breath…

Yeah, this scene was already shown in the fragman and thanks to the leaked scenario I knew what would happen but believe me I was definitely not prepared for what happened later.

The way he acted like how this should have been the right reaction and the way she just waited for him to finish his heartbreaking play…

The moment the play ended, the moment his eyes turned dead…

FML.

Alaz: This is how I am supposed to react, right? But I am not that man, Asi. I don't want another family that I will be drown in. Asi: Maybe I want a family. Can't I? Alaz: You can. You can because you don't know how a family can be a swamp. Look at the person in front of you. I am Alaz Taklacı. Do you think this world needs another Taklacı father? Isn't it unfair to the baby inside you?

Oh timing is so wrong, it's just so wrong. They both are right.

Now there's a chance that she will have a family no matter how wrong timing is. It's not like she isn't realistic, it's just this might be only possibility. And knowing how she is sensitive about unwanted children and babies, I think she seriously doesn't think in a logical way.

But he is right too. Because the state he is in definitely isn't ideal to talk about this. They're young and not ready, of course this is another thing, but they're not addressing that issue. His thoughts about being a father are just wrecked and even if they were older, I think he still might not want to have a child.

They're the cause of my current state of emotional distress.

Asi: Look I know you're suffering a lot. I know you fall apart after every upsetting thing you go through. Because all your wounds are inside of you, in the deepest part of you. Even though nobody sees it, I do, Alaz. I know you. With your goodness, with your bad-self, with your sins, with your wrongdoings, with your wounds..I love you.

BEST LOVE CONFESSION EVER. He couldn't believe he got that confession -an epic one- after everything he did.

And I want to cry.

Alaz: Wow, finally you said those three words, huh? When you said it for the first time, we were in a storage room, at a point where everything was over. And now we are again at the point where everything is over. Asi: But we survived it. We got out of there and kept going. Alaz: I can't keep going, Asi. Because I'll say go and get rid of this baby and you'll hate me. Asi: Is that it? Alaz: It is. Asi: Okay. I promise I will hate you. I'll hate you so much that I will never see your face again. The moment I get rid of this baby, I will have gotten rid of you too.

OH MY HE TRIED TO SWALLOW... This ruined him the most.

Alaz: This would be the right thing to do, rebel girl.

I AM DYING AGAIN.

THEY MADE A F.CKING PARALLEL WITH THIS SCENE

AND WITH THIS SCENE

Because she screamed after him. Because she said "save me from you". Just like he said "save yourself from me" in ep 18. But just like how she went back to him back then, he went to her a couple of hours later, too.

Oh my god, they really wrecked us, didn't they?

[dazais-guardian-angel]

Okay, a good amount of time has passed, and after having seen this post by @weretiger-be-my-horse , I've been turning it over and over in my brain going absolutely feral over this concept. I need to expand upon my thoughts on this idea and all the evidence there is pointing towards it, whether that be actual tangible things, or purely strong vibes I have.

First of all, full disclaimer: I did not like the season 5 finale, and how it wrapped up the DoA arc. To say that I "disliked" it is putting it extremely lightly, in fact -- I absolutely hated it, and I am still, to a degree, in disbelief that I actually even watched those 24 minutes with my own two eyes, and that it somehow wasn't a complete fever dream. While I'm not going to go in long-winded detail into all the ways that I feel like the finale almost completely bastardized all of its featured characters and destroyed any and all buildup we've had going on in this arc for 50 some chapters now, because that's not the main point of this post, I will not make any attempt to hide the fact that the theory-crafting I'm about to pose here is partly influenced and prompted by how much I hated the finale, and how much I desperately hope that it will not end up being manga canon. Therefore, if you enjoyed the finale — and that's fine! — and don't want to read any negativity about it, then I would not recommend reading any further (I mean, you've probably already left by this point, which is fair lol), While obviously it's important that I be as objective and unbiased as possible when explaining my thoughts, some of my negative feelings about the writing will be a part of this analysis, even if this isn't going to be a full-blown rant. Just know that if you proceed.

With that out of the way, let me continue.

So. In the aforementioned post, the theory presented is that the anime may be operating on an alternate timeline, and that this will become evident once we read the upcoming October chapter, wherein things will go completely differently post-chapter 110 than they do in the final episode — probably for the worse, with the s5 finale intending to lull us into a false sense of security and make us assume that everything in the manga arc finale will wrap up as smoothly and consequence-freely(? lol) as it did in the anime one. It also suggests that the Fukuchi we see at the very end that sskk are fighting came from the manga timeline, where he won, and that he used the Book to jump to a timeline where he lost, the anime one, proven by the fact that this Fukuchi is wearing a mask with the same design on it as the mask Fukuchi is wearing on the chapter 110 DoA color spread/title page.

First of all, I want to note the fact that it's not just the mask design that's the same: the entire outfit is roughly more or less the same as well. It's not completely 1-to-1, because the anime can never fully match the intricacies of Harukawa's beautiful outfit designs, and the Fukuchi in this scene has the kimono half-off because of the... super saiyan mode he's in, but most all of the main pieces of clothing are there. Any small inaccuracies could also be attributed to the fact that Harukawa probably didn't have this finalized art ready back when this episode was being made, so the animators wouldn't have had the complete design to work off of. But in general, because it's all so similar, I think we can quite confidently say that the ending episode Fukuchi is meant to be the one from this manga art.

Also, people have pointed this out, but it's worth mentioning that the mask Asagiri wore at Anime Expo in July was referencing this Fukuchi. It's not a crucial detail, but it just proves more that Asagiri is a gigantic fucking troll, and that he clearly wanted to draw attention to this Fukuchi design. It's important. He describes the mask here as made in the motif of an ellipses inside a speech bubble... could that perhaps be referencing meta aspects, like the Book?

Next, I want to talk about the even bigger elephant in the room, which to me is the most damning and undeniable piece of evidence there is of the anime operating on a completely separate timeline from the manga:

This Fucking Hand™️

As we all know, in the anime, Fyodor injures his hand when the password input device blows up, and as we all know, this does not happen in the manga. In the last episode, Dazai claims that the final nail in the coffin of his impromptu plan to kill Fyodor relied on this hand injury: because Fyodor couldn't pilot his escape helicopter himself, he would ask one of his Meursault vampires to do it for him, unaware that Bram and thus this vampire was now on the ADA's side, and said vampire could kill him while his guard was down.

Ignoring how utterly stupid and contrived this plan is when you stop and think about it for more than two seconds, the fact of the matter is that something that initially seemed like nothing more than an odd but inconsequential anime original addition ended up snowballing into being the entire reason one of the big bads was brought down. If Fyodor hadn't hurt his hand, he wouldn't have needed another pilot, and so the traitor vampire wouldn't have had an opportunity to get near him and kill him without him expecting it even though said vampire was presumably with him as they were leaving Meursault, and was probably already a traitor by then, so there was plenty opportunity for him to still die. not to mention by Chuuya's hands at literally any time he wanted to, because Chuuya was coherent the whole time. Also there's absolutely no way Dazai could have known exactly what Ranpo would do, no matter how smart he is and how much he trusts him. idk it's fucking dumb, just roll with it. Therefore, putting aside all other variables for now, we can conclude that, on the most basic level, this signifies that no hand wound = no death.

And let me tell you, this hand wound bothers me. It really, really does. Because they focus on it a LOT — they go out of their way to draw attention to it MULTIPLE TIMES, from the moment it first happens to the end of the season. Fyodor even talks about it to himself, about Dazai being able to cause him tangible, visible, bodily harm, (something that, again, as far as we've seen, has never happened in the manga). Hell, even after Fyodor's death, they're still drawing attention to it, because his right arm is all of him that survives, and Dazai picks it up and gives it to Nikolai to do his hilarious sad little gay fondling of it played completely straight even though there's nothing straight going on here at all! It's like it's a big red flashing sign at all times going "you see this injured hand? This is important. Are you picking up that it's important? Are you taking note of it?" Why is that? Obviously, it serves to give us the lore crumbs about Fyodor and "that man", but that's hardly the main, much more glaring reason, as I've already mentioned.

Fyodor doesn't hurt his hand in the manga. Fyodor won't die here in the manga. I am so dead serious by this point about this, and it's not just simply the fact that this was absolutely not at all the time for him to die, or the fact that his hand is the reason for his death in the anime in and of itself, but how much EMPHASIS they place on this, and on the hand in general. What would be the point of adding something like this, if it's not meant to alert us to the fact that it has a major impact on how the story plays out? We all know Bones: they struggle to get right and include everything that's already there in the source material; they would never go out of their way to add something this noteworthy if there wasn't a very good reason for it, if it wasn't absolutely necessary. I've seen a few people bring up the fact that Fyodor gets shot in the shoulder by Sigma and that that could lead to the same outcome in the manga, but I disagree: although he has blood on his shoulder in the manga, it seems like the bullet just grazed the top of it, because his arm and hand appears completely functional afterwards (not hanging limp by his side or anything). But that doesn't even matter, because this isn't even about the semantics/logistics of how the hand wound caused Fyodor's death because again, it's a stupid outcome, or what could serve as a substitute in the manga — thematically, this is a textbook example of the butterfly effect. Countless parallel universes exist within this series, ones where even the most minute differences lead to a majorly different outcome: this just happens to be one of them. There's no reason to think it isn't, and there's no reason to not think that the anime wants us to clue into the fact that things only went as smoothly as they did on the Meursault side because of this wound; in other words, that things will go very differently in the manga thanks to the absence of said wound. They wouldn't have added it in the first place and put such clearly deliberate emphasis on it otherwise.

Things are going to happen very differently in the manga, at least when it comes to the Meursault crew (but then, if you assume that, you then naturally assume it all will be very different). This is the only conclusion one can come to with the presentation of this anime-only wound, combined with the fact that parallel universes are a very real thing in BSD.

I'm going to go on a bit of a tangent, so bear with me. I play a lot of visual novels, and although such concepts aren't really as original now as they were a while ago, some of my favorite and some of the very best VNs out there are the ones that break the fourth wall and make the visual novel branching route format directly intertwined with the story: you know, the ones where the characters go "if only I had done things differently, maybe everything would have turned out better...!" in a wink wink nudge nudge moment, and the ones where the characters are aware of the different timelines, even, or even have the ability to gain information from their selves in said alternate timelines to influence events in their current one (I'm intentionally not naming the games I'm thinking of for the sake of spoilers, but if you know, you know lmao). It gets very meta in this regard, and this is how I started viewing BSD through the lens of ever since I first learned about Beast: like a visual novel with many branching routes, and only a few routes that feel entirely "right".

When I first read Dazai's Entrance Exam, I was struck by how unnerving the ending sequence in the abandoned hospital felt. Obviously, Kunikida's internal struggle over Sasaki's actions and motives is him still desperately clinging to his ideal world that does not exist, but the specific type of phrases he uses — "who is wrong?" "[who is] the cause of all this?" "there has to be an ideal world" "there has to be something, I'm sure of it" "There must have been something we could have done!" — and the framing of the scene in general, is eerily reminiscent of a bad ending in a visual novel, to me. There's a haunting, looming, bleak sense that a different outcome could have been achieved, if different decisions had been made, or if things outside of anyone's control had been different... and we know that this is true, because in Beast alone, Kunikida never goes through the Azure Messenger incident, because Dazai doesn't have his entrance exam. Hell, you could even consider the anime's version of the Azure Messenger arc an alternate timeline in of itself, if you really wanted to, long before we even arrive at season 5.

When it comes to Beast, this timeline has almost the opposite feeling of what I described above, that I've also encountered in visual novels: the idea of a "good route" or "good ending" that still doesn't feel quite earned, or as perfect as one would expect. Beast is presented as the "ideal" timeline purely for one sole reason: Oda is alive. It is the only timeline where he's alive, and keeping Oda alive is the ultimate goal Dazai wants to achieve, the only reason this timeline exists; therefore, disregarding all else, Beast should be the best timeline, because Oda's death is the greatest devastation in the series to date. We all want him to live, so why wouldn't the timeline where he does be the best one? And yet... of course, it isn't. Dazai is alone, and steeped in darkness and loneliness without Oda, and dies by the end of the story for Oda's continued living. Atsushi has Kyouka still, but he's suffering and more traumatized, and unable to heal while stuck in the mafia, and neither can Kyouka. Akutagawa is living a much better life in the ADA... but without his sister, and without what he has from his bond with Atsushi in canon, that isn't replicated in Beast. And Oda... Oda is alive, and he has his children and his novel, but there is a feeling that he is aimless, that something in his life is missing. He has everything he ever wanted, but all that means nothing without what he truly needs: Dazai, and his time with Dazai and Ango at the bar. In this way, things going well and us getting what we want — in this case, Oda living — goes against how it's supposed to be, the natural order, which is why it feels so hollow. In the specific visual novel I'm thinking of here as a comparison (again, shoutout if you know), there's an alternate ending that involves you inputting information you gain at the end of the game very early on in the game, wherein the protagonist now has memories of the future and is able to bypass and prevent all of the events that take place normally. This means that people who die or are hurt somehow in general are saved from that fate, and nothing bad ever occurs; everything wraps up neatly and nicely... but again, there's an undeniable, unsettling feeling of emptiness, of a victory that rings hollow, because what's the point if everything is simply handed to you easily, where's the sense of accomplishment, without any struggles to achieve said victories, or any growth along the way? How can it feel earned if one doesn't have to, in Dazai's words, "scream within the storm of uncertainty, and run with flowing blood"?

You can probably already see where I'm going with this.

This finale feels weird. Really, really weird. It feels too cheap, too simple, too unsatisfying. So much so, in fact, that for almost the entire runtime, as I was bombarded with resolution upon resolution one after another, I kept thinking "There's no way this can be real. Where's the catch? When is the "gotcha!" moment gonna happen? The "it was all a dream" reveal?". And this isn't just because I hated the writing, and that it really did feel like a fever dream watching fanfic levels of bad (actually, that's an insult to fanfic writers, tbh; they could do better) — no, it genuinely feels so incredibly fake. Even upon rewatching it and already knowing what happens, my brain still naturally keeps expecting some kinda of "sike, you THOUGHT!" moment to suddenly appear. It just.... feels "too good to be true". Dazai and Chuuya come out unscathed, and it's revealed that they were never in any real danger to begin with. Fyodor, one of our biggest threats, is dealt with supposedly for good (I say "supposedly" only because of the Jesus line, but if anything imo, I think that's just a hint that this won't be the canon ending in the manga, so in a sense he's going to "come back to life"), and Nikolai seems somewhat at peace with his death. The other biggest threat, Fukuchi, is also dealt with, and he and Fukuzawa get their final moment together of closure. Yes, Sigma is left in Meursault don't even get me started on how angry this alone makes me, and Fukuzawa loses Fukuchi, but overall, everything is portrayed in a positive light, and any negatives or losses are quickly glossed over. Everything is tied up nicely, neatly, and smoothly. ...And that is exactly what makes it feel so wrong, and hard to trust in.

I'm not sure if this will make sense, but to me, the finale is so incredibly poorly written that it almost feels.... intentional. It's so bad to the point of feeling self-aware in how bad it is, how unrealistically happy and convenient an ending it is. It had to end this neatly in order to rush to wrap up this arc for the season finale and not leave the last episode on a cliffhanger — which imo is chiefly the main reason it turned out this way, and, if this whole theory is true, Asagiri just used it to his advantage — and I'm not saying this was probably an effect Bones had in mind intentionally, I'm sure they just threw shit at the wall and went with whatever stuck, maaaaybe with some suggestions/approval from Asagiri, but the result is that you have a conclusion that contradicts so much of what was set up before and goes against so many character arcs, making some characters so out of character and even regressing in their development Dazai. I'm talking about Dazai abandoning Sigma, because he would never; hashtag #NOTMYDAZAI. Also Nikolai, Nikolai for most of that is so ooc I can't even begin to describe it oh my god. Everyone is OOC to a degree though lmao, and opens so many plot holes, to the point that it's impossible not to watch all that and get the feeling that it is subtly saying to you "did you really think it could be this easy? It feels wrong, doesn't it? It doesn't feel satisfying. It feels unearned." I find it incredibly interesting and suspicious in particular that they confirmed multiple theories people had about soukoku in Meursault: that Chuuya slowed the elevator's fall so that Dazai wouldn't die from it, that Chuuya slowed down the bullet so that it only penetrated Dazai's skin and not his skull, and that the both of them used Fyodor's camera angle to their advantage because they knew he wouldn't be able to see certain things from his view. I'm not saying that Asagiri trawled BSD twitter and tumblr after those chapters dropped for the most popular theories before the final episode was made lmao, there was no time for that (imagine though lol—), but I do think it's highly likely that he already had in mind exactly what theories would be made about these parts (I mean, the evidence for the gun scene was all there), and that Dazai rattling them off in his long monologue to Fyodor at the end is essentially him speaking to the audience and going "yeah, that's what you would predict, right? Those are the clichés, after all", much like him suggesting earlier that he can maybe bring Chuuya back to himself with a few moving words and the power of friendship, and Fyodor using the split personalities trope to fool Sigma. We expect these tropes to be true. Of course we'd fall for them, as Fyodor tells Sigma, especially if the evidence is right there. But Asagiri himself has explicitly said that he likes doing the opposite of what people expect. And so just because people predicted correctly with the three things I mentioned in this timeline... doesn't mean they'll be true in the manga's. Things happened how we wanted and expected it to, and everything turned out happily. So we can relax now, right? Everything will work out just as easily in the manga, right? Or... is the reason most of this finale feels so fake and unsettling and unsatisfying because it's meant to lull us into a false sense of security before all our heroes lose in the manga? Because deep down, we don't want an ending that's this simple, because we'd rather have a conclusion where our characters have struggled more and grown more and come out the better for it, and we know it?

After rewatching the episode a lot, and watching some other videos, and doing a lot of thinking, I am pretty confident in suspecting that the only part of this finale that is actually from manga canon, aside from Aya jumping off the building of course, is Fyodor and Nikolai's exchange after Fyodor leaves Meursault — specifically, them talking about Fyodor leaving Sigma behind, and their "new game" and Nikolai being excited at the prospect of it. This little conversation actually feels in character for them, and it's easy to tell this when contrasting it with everything that happens immediately after, wherein Fyodor is fatally stabbed, and Nikolai, completely at odds with what he was just talking about, just... stands there and watches Fyodor die while Dazai monologues lmao. I'm not sure if the helicopter is still a factor, but I would bet good money on Fyolai getting out of Meursault being manga canon, and that Dazai and Chuuya getting out as well and killing Fyodor + everything with FukuFuku, is part of the anime original ending, in order to wrap up everything positively. It makes much more sense if you think about, in reality (aka in the manga), Dazai and Chuuya still being left behind in Meursault (where they can eventually try to get Sigma), because none of it was an act and things did not go according to plan, and Fukuchi having an entirely different goal that doesn't feel so stupid and contradictory to his character, and Fukuzawa possibly dying — everyone seemingly loses, with Aya still being the last hope, perhaps by awakening her ability like we all speculated.

There's a youtuber I watch who covers BSD in-depth, despite being an anime-only (she reads the respective manga content after each season, though). Going into this finale, she knew about the fact that the anime had overtaken the manga, though she didn't know where the cutoff point was; despite that, however, she made predictions about what was from the manga so far and what was anime original, and it was almost entirely spot-on, based mostly on what she basically described as "anime original dialogue." She talked about how you can always tell when dialogue is veering into the realm of anime-original, because the sentences are very short, choppy, and slightly out of character, but generic enough to not be TOO out of character, and so that anyone can easily write said lines, even if they're not extremely familiar with the character like the original author would be. And when I heard this explanation, everything clicked — because so much of this finale has dialogue like that. The Fyolai scenes just feel peppered with it, around the lines I mentioned earlier, the Dazai dialogue does too, and ESPECIALLY shit at the end like Fukuchi and Fukuzawa exchanging the cliche death lines to end all death lines: "Are you there? I'm a little tired." "Rest up." That just isn't Bungou Stray Dogs. That isn't Asagiri. BSD is cheesy at times, yes, but it isn't like this; it's smarter. The dialogue is smarter, the explanations/plot twists are smarter, Asagiri is smarter, and the aforementioned youtuber I watched agreed. She's a pretty casual fan of the series, so if even she could pick up on these things, I think it speaks volumes.

I mentioned this briefly earlier, but this theory makes sense if you consider that this situation probably came about because of Bones wanting two seasons back-to-back when they did, and this arc being as long as it is. Season 3 aired in 2019, and I imagine Bones would have wanted season 4 in 2020, and might have then been willing to wait a bit longer for season 5 in order for more of this arc's manga chapters to come out — but then covid happened. Because of that, season 4 was delayed to 2023, creating the longest gap we've had between seasons, and I wouldn't at all be surprised if the delay made them want season 5 right together with it, after getting so far "behind", so to speak. S4 was announced in November of 2021, and roughly around that time, Asagiri was finishing up writing the plot of the DoA arc. If Bones came to him sometime in late 2021 and said they wanted two seasons now (so basically, one giant two cour season), Asagiri would know that not only of course would this arc not be finished publishing in the manga for a very long time yet, but that roughly 20ish episodes would not be enough to cover it all to the end, with this arc being longer than any arc the anime has adapted to date. Because of all this, and the arc manga chapters being nowhere near fully drawn to completion, he'd have to make a decision about what to do, and what to give Bones. Without ending season 5 on a massive cliffhanger that wouldn't be resolved for years until an eventual season 6, the only other option would be to rush towards an anime-original ending for the DoA arc.... and for Asagiri to take advantage of that, and integrate it into BSD's lore. Thereby creating a truly unique cross-media experience that utilizes the different mediums to create multiple timelines, that could make both the anime and manga interact with each other and become part of a bigger picture (not that you'd need to see both to get the full experience, mind you, just that it'd provide a little bonus if you did).... and would without a doubt be Asagiri's biggest surprise yet.

...I feel like at this point I'm starting to ramble, and my evidence become more and more incoherent and less substantial lmao, so I should probably end this post. 💀 Thank you if you've read this far, and hopefully it made some semblance of sense, despite not being structured very well; I know I promised at the start to try to be as objective as possible and curb my negative feelings, but I'm not sure how well I succeeded in that regard. If it weren't for the Fukuchi thing and the Fyodor hand thing, I probably wouldn't take how wrong and strange and bad the finale feels to me as serious evidence about it being an alternate timeline, especially since I seem to be one of the only people who actually hates all of it.... but combined with everything else, I am just so convinced of this theory being true. It started off as pure copium, but as more time has gone on, I fully, 100% believe in my bones (ha) that there is no way that finale is the same Bungou Stray Dogs I know and love, for so many reasons. It just isn't. It can't be. I know BSD better than this, I know Asagiri better than this, and I know that it's absolutely in the realm of possibility for him to cook up this whole scheme to completely blindside us with in the upcoming chapters, because that's exactly the kind of shit Mr. "Please Be Surprised!" himself would pull. If I end up being completely wrong, I guess I'm wrong, and you can laugh at me all you want then.... but I just know that ages ago people were teasing the idea of the anime operating on a different timeline from the manga, and I truly do think that only now are we finally seeing that idea come to fruition, as a setup for Asagiri going full-bore insanity with the Book in the upcoming arc(s). if I and the OP of that theory end up right, this will be the wildest time in the BSD fandom's history.

Like. I cannot even emphasize how hard they are trolling us at this point. Something is going on. Something is being cooked over there, the likes of which we've never seen before... and I don't think any of us are ready for it.

Oh yeah, and one last thing of note: both Fyodor and Nikolai here have their right arms hidden from view. Is that alluding to anything? I'm not sure. I also think that since chapter 110 was so short, next chapter will likely be 110.5 instead of 111, and if that's the case, this title spread could still technically be associated with the next chapter... wherein we might see this Fukuchi, who ends up wreaking havoc, right before he jumps to the timeline in the anime, as we see him at the end of the s5 finale.

I guess we'll find out on Tuesday.

[l-tora-l]

Hello (again :6) !!!

[cowardlylearningtobebrave]

.

[01tsubomi]

every cartoon in the past 10 years has been like “here’s one of our protagonists, a happy-to-lucky oddball preteen girl who’s optimistic to a fault” and every time i’m like alright yes yes keep em comin

[dragons-and-yellow-roses]

.

[p3terparker]

𝗯𝗮𝗯𝘆 𝗺𝗲 - 𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿

𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆: peter wants to be babied.

𝘄/𝗰: 0.5k

𝗮/𝗻: hey guys!! it has been nearly a year since i’ve last written and i just wanna say i’m sorry for leaving for so long </3 please do bear with me, this may not be that good judging by how long it’s been since i’ve last written. i hope you enjoy though! also for everyone who has requested something, i haven’t forgotten about you! i’m getting to those soon :)

“please hold me” 

it’s nearly 1am and you’re sprawled out on your bed watching some random movie that was playing on tv. you’ve been up waiting for hours for peter to come by after patrol, and now he’s finally here sneaking in through your window.

“are you okay baby? you finished up pretty late” you question softly as you take off his mask and brush his hair out of his face.

“i’m fine. i just want you to hold me” he says tiredly and practically puts all of his body weight on you, causing you both to fall back onto your bed.

adjusting yourselves to get more comfortable, you’re now laid back on your pillow as you hug peters large frame while his face is nuzzled in your chest.

you two lay silently as you rub his back until you decide to break the silence.

“you know, you’re still in your suit. you’re getting my bed dirty.”

“you just want me to take it off so you can see me naked”

“you’re done” you say before attempting to push him off of you. peter quickly caught your hands before you could even try.

“how did you–”

“i’m spider-man, baby”

“clearly” you chuckle, referring to him still being in his suit.

“since you want to see me naked so bad, i’ll take it off” he groans as if it’s the hardest task in the world. “happy now?”

“very. now come lay back down”

you don’t have to tell him twice. he quickly gets back into the position you two were in before and enjoys the warmth and comfort you bring him.

“you’re so perfect petey, did you know that?”

“mmm” he groans into as he nuzzles his face further into your chest, enjoying the sudden compliment.

“i mean seriously. you’re so smart, so strong, so caring and so funny. you being handsome is just the cherry on top”

“stoppp” he whines. “i’m blushing.”

“okay fine, i’m done”

“nooo, i didn’t mean it! keep going please” he cries as he lifts up his head to look at you.

“you are truly such a big baby”

“i’m your big baby. now continue please, i love being praised by you.”

how could you deny him?

“i love how cute you are. you have the prettiest brown hair and eyes. your face is perfectly sculpted too. i don’t know how i got blessed with the most handsome boyfriend in the world.” 

“mmm” he groans again in complete ecstasy. hearing your compliments is like music to his ears.

“you’re so cute, i just want to squish your cheeks” you say before lifting his head up slightly and squishing his cheeks together.

you cannot believe he’s letting you baby him like this.

“aww petey, you’re so adorable” 

“thank you” he says with a pink tint on his cheeks as he rests his head on your chest again, suddenly feeling sleepy.

you two sat in silence for a few more minutes and he peacefully drifted to sleep.

you were definitely going to make fun of him for tonight in the morning.

[doobea]

YOU'RE A MEAN ONE, MISTER GOJO ─ SATORU G.

synopsis: satoru gojo is spoiled and arrogant. he's also the next in line to inherit his family's fortune. his father sends him far away in a small town for a week in hopes that he'll 'change' for the better. instead of the usual five-starred hilton hotels, he stays at a local inn and starts to befriend the owner's daughter.

tropes: small town romance, christmas au, golden retriever x black cat

MILESTONE EVENT || MILESTONE MASTERLIST

contents: fem!reader, spoiled rich boy!gojo, acts like an ass to everyone but hopelessly falls in love with you at first sight, feels like a really bad hallmark movie, mentions of wealth class differences, reader isn't a tsundere - she's just indifferent for the most part and introverted word count: 7.5K (idk i will uh make the fics shorter in the future) a/n: thank you anon for requesting this!! idk if this is what you wanted but hopefully you like it!! :3 everyone also give a round of applause to @popponn for beta reading this big mess LMAO

Satoru Gojo has a lot of expectations, but this certainly isn’t one of them.

He isn’t particularly excited about spending a week away from his big city penthouse to be rotting in a small town motel in the middle of nowhere but, his father, CEO of Gojo Corporations, heavily insisted that he ‘needs this’ and that ‘it’ll be good for the company’ — whatever that means. Satoru is confident that his father thinks he’s incapable of running the family business after last month’s run with the paparazzi and his third fling of the month. It wasn’t his fault that they got caught doing drugs at one of Zenin's parties, everyone else was doing the same thing, it just so happened that the cameras were only focusing on him. 

Well, that’s what he gets for signing up to be the son of one of the richest men on Earth.

“You need to start taking this seriously,” he recalls his father slamming his fist down at the desk before throwing a bottle of Henessy at the wall. “I don’t want this company to go bankrupt just because I have a son who only thinks with his dick.”

Ouch… but he’s not wrong about that.

So now Satoru finds himself driving up a winding road somewhere very deep in the mountains. Exactly five hours away from the city. And, for the past three hours, all he’s been seeing are miles and miles of pine trees, sheets of snow, and — he had recently learned this from Suguru — sugar shacks. Apparently when you’re out over a hundred miles into wilderness territory these sap houses are littered everywhere.  The fact that Satoru is beginning to count more shacks than designer cars on the road is really starting to get to him. 

“This whole thing is so fucking stupid,” Satoru has also been talking to himself throughout the journey in order to not lose his mind. “He could’ve just sent me door to door caroling instead of whatever this is.” Satoru doesn’t know how to sing well, but he does know all the lyrics to ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ and that usually gets him all the tips. He wonders if he can manage to make a small side hustle when he starts wasting his week here.

He takes a sharp turn up around the hill before finally recognizing a big red sign with the name ‘Mistle Town’ as seen on the postcard his dad left him before leaving. It takes him another five minutes of driving through said small town, which is quite literally something out of one of those really bad holiday movies that his mom would force him to watch when he was little, before arriving at the inn. Upon arriving, Satoru is noticeably disappointed at the lack of valet assistance and, the size and design of the inn, is rather lackluster. 

First, it just looks like a regular white farmhouse. Maybe having a max of ten rooms, none of them being penthouse sized, Satoru assumes. There are a couple of flowerbeds out front, all covered in a couple of inches of snow, and there’s subtle signs of holiday decor slowly bleeding its way outside. He sees someone dressed in an oversized puffer by the entrance, arms occupied with red tinsel and large white ornaments, and figures that the first nice thing he’ll do is to help out a random stranger — just to prove something to his dad.

Satoru parks his Rolls Royce in a spot furthest away from everyone else in the parking lot and sends a ‘im alive and well’ text to Suguru, because he’s very much so going to be in frequent contact with him for the remainder of the trip, before heading up.

“Need a hand?” He points out the obvious but still manages to throw a smile as if he’s already fixed the situation unfolding in front of him.

Satoru’s presence seems to pull you from your busy trance. You wiped your body around, nearly smacking the damn tinsel in his face, and made a small surprised noise.

“I’ve got it,” you muffle out and he looks entirely unconvinced but, whatever, he tried anyway.

Satoru gives you a few encouraging pats on the back before heading inside, failing to realize his strength and causing you to lose your balance, making a few ornaments tumble to the ground. Thank god they’re all plastic though.

He pretends to not hear you yelling after him as he enters the double doors, immediately greeted by the scent of roasted coffee beans and leather. It’s the precious hour in the morning where nobody comes by, right after the cleaning staff had just finished vacuuming, when he struts in. He immediately spots someone vaguely familiar by the front desk. Long black hair, a red poofy bow tie in the back, and a distinctive scar across her face. The woman isn’t working alone, a man with another facial marking is next to her, brewing two cups of coffee by the espresso machine. 

Satoru looks at the woman again and outwardly smiles. “What are you doing here?”

“Ugh,” Utahime’s composure immediately falters at the sound of his voice, not that it’s a big shock. “Helping the family business, what else?” she throws back with a certain sharpness to her tone, and waves off the casual talk. “Have you even mentally prepared yourself for what you’re getting into?”

Satoru simply shrugs and saunters over to a nearby seat by the counter. “Nah, honestly just planning to fuck around till I get back.”

Utahime flushes a little, though it’s mainly from frustration. “Satoru Gojo, you really are—”

“Utahime,” the man next to her speaks, handing her a cup of coffee, and slides Satoru a freshly brewed one, too. “I can explain the details to him, if you would like?”

The older female rubs the bridge of her nose and exhales a long, overdue sigh. “Please do, Choso.”

“Yeah,” Satoru leans into the counter, lips pointed down at this new face. “Please, do tell.”

“You’re basically our little Santa helper.” A new voice rings out from behind him. It spooks Satoru from his seat and he whips his head around to be met with your narrow eyes.

“Huh?”

“Also think of this as an unpaid internship.” You start laughing when he gags on his own saliva at your statement. “Okay, you don’t have to be so dramatic about it.”

Satoru swallows. “U-Unpaid…?”

Now it’s Utahime’s turn to speak, she huffs and tosses a couple of stockings into his arms. “Your father sent us a lengthy email a few days prior regarding your bratty behavior. So, of course, we came prepared.” 

“Prepared…?” He feels the fabric in his hands and whines at the grainy texture. This is so not 100% real wool.

If Satoru thought he had any chance of actually taking over his father’s company, because he knows the difference between supply and demand, he’s wrong.

Customer service is not his forte. He’s always thrown emails and sponsorship paperwork at his many assistants, and Satoru doesn’t even know his own email log-in password. So, when you walked up to him first thing the next morning with a brown apron, the inn’s logo large and embroidered in the center, telling him how to function all these coffee machines that he’s seen behind hundreds of counters, it invoked some fear into his already wrecked nerves. Plus, no one dared to warn him about the clientele during a holiday rush.

“I want a venti peppermint frappe with two pumps of chocolate, three pumps of hazelnut, replace it with almond milk, one shot of espresso, and top it off with a drizzle of caramel on top.”

He slumps against the counter. “You sure you want all of that?”

“Can I please get a half dozen sfogliatella and a cannoli?

He starts picking at his cuticles and sneers. “Sorry, I don’t speak Italian.” 

“My change is supposed to be five dollars, you only gave me three back?”

Satoru groans. “You’re trying to scam me, aren’t you?”

By the end of his four hour shift, Satoru feels like he’s just done more charity work than he’s ever done in his life — actually, maybe this could also be comparable to the time where he did the ribbon cutting ceremony at Chanel; gotta support small businesses, right?

“Gojo.” You’re seated across from him behind the counter, arms crossed and pursed lips.

He barely spares you a glance as he idly plays whatever shitty mobile game that’s number one on the app store. “Mhm? What is it?” He clearly knows you’re upset, your voice practically screams ‘I will end you’ in the most monotonous way possible. But can you blame him? Of all places, Satoru does not want to spend his winter break here.

You jerk your head to the side, fingers rhythmically tapping away on the counter, clearly unimpressed. “It hasn’t even been a full day and you’ve managed to piss off every single customer.”

Satoru expression shifts, brow creasing, and sighs, grabbing a handful of mint chocolate from the freebie candy jar by the register. “Don’t be dramatic,” he rolls his eyes and shoves three pieces in his mouth before jabbing a finger at a young man. “I didn’t piss him off!”

You glower, cheeks slightly puffed out. “That’s Yuuji and he’s practically a family friend and Choso’s little brother, so he doesn’t count,” you explain before adding, “Plus, he’s literally nice to everyone. You’re not special.”

And for a second, Satoru considered arguing that fact. Having been born into wealth, granted whatever wish he wanted, his butlers and maids are always on speed dial, that’s the lifestyle he’s used to. Placed on this tiny rock called Earth just to take over it one day, is what his father used to always say to him. But how can he, Satoru Gojo, take over when he’s stuck working a minimum — scratch that, unpaid — wage job as punishment? 

Instead of fighting, Satoru slumps against the counter and pouts, like a little kid who just got their toy taken away. You and your sister Utahime have a clear advantage over him, by somehow being close, yet distant, friends to his family. Maybe karma is real. 

“I’m putting you on ski lessons later.”

Satoru’s ears perk at this. “Oh, so I get some employee benefits, right?”

You roll your eyes, digging deep in your pockets to pull out a sheet with his name next to a list of others. “Wrong. You’re in charge of teaching five year olds how to ski.” 

“Huh?”

Somehow that sounds even worse than being a barista. Kinda. 

By the end of his first day of unemployment, Satoru tries to convince himself that a full change of scenery is nice. Well, he has to convince himself, otherwise he’s stuck dreading each coming day for the rest of the week. 

“Tired yet, Gojo?”

You flop down on a spare armchair in his room, squishing his Canada Goose jacket underneath. He’s too tired to yell at you to get off and tumbles onto his bed, feet dangling off the edge, letting out a loud groan when his face immediately makes contact with the rough wooly blanket. Surprisingly to him, everything just feels so comfortable that the quality of the products doesn’t even cross his mind.

Sure, the air in the room is a bit musty, and he can feel his cheeks flaring up from the sudden change in temperature and the dull aching nag in his legs from demonstrating ski tricks to toddlers, but there’s an odd sense of fulfillment swelling in his chest just about now. He almost suggests taking over Choso’s lesson but, according to the hotel pamphlet, there’s going to be an ice fishing tournament tomorrow and he kinda wants to check that out, too.

“Exhausted,” he mumbles into the sheets, eyes squeezed shut. Satoru wiggles his body around for a few moments before slipping out of his snow boots and stares out the window, noticing flickering green and purple lights in the night sky. “Woah, are those…?”

He hears you laugh beside him. “Yeah, northern lights. We see them all the time during the winter.”

“Only seen them bitches in ‘Polar Express’.” Satoru finds himself saying whatever’s on his mind right now, his brain too whipped out to control his mouth. “You guys are lucky to see this every night.”

“I know you’re all pooped out from today but,” he feels the mattress dip by the edge and your fingers poking at his thighs. “Did you wanna head up to the balcony and watch them for a bit?” you say this experimentally, waiting for his reaction. 

Satoru might be a stranger to most natural phenomenons, having to zone out all the time whenever he did go on family vacations to a fancy national park when he was younger. Though, during the short time of spending his time here, it makes him think about packing up and leaving behind the fast paced city life for a bit of natural beauty and brightness.

“Carry me?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, you’re like a giant.” 

He manages to gather some energy to sit up on his elbows. “You should at least have some form of hospitality to a family friend, you know?”

You eye him for a long moment, and then finally huff, breaking the contact to kick your feet into the festive carpeted floor. “Alright, just don’t lean your whole body weight on me.”

“Wouldn’t count on that.”

Both of you end up tumbling onto the balcony rails around one in the morning. As expected, Satoru couldn’t keep to his promise, throwing his ridiculously long arms around your shoulders, and whining the whole way up the stairs. It’s not his fault that the inn didn’t have an elevator installed. In all, it’s not a bad day — a bad night, even. 

You straighten him against the railing before throwing a blanket over him. The fabric is thick and heavy, and Satoru forgets the ache in his limbs as he watches the way your eyes focus, eyebrows knitted, when you’re making sure he stays bundled up against the winter air. Once upon a time, Satoru never would’ve thought he would actually enjoy being in the company of someone who’s actively trying to teach him a lesson.

“Okay,” you say suddenly, almost like a reminder that you need to breathe, and pull away from him once he’s wrapped tightly like a swaddled baby. 

You both sit in silence for a moment, and Satoru feels the urge to fill all that silence. He supposes maybe that’s why most people find him so annoying. He never really shuts up, always wants to add the last comment to everything. Though, with the help of Suguru by his side, it’s gotten slightly easier and bearable for others but, when his head is big and full of loud thoughts, it’s so hard trying to calm the buzzing noise in his head and —

“Gojo, look,” your pointer finger darts at the illuminated skyline in the distance and he snaps his head, following the trail, before gasping.

He feels your other hand tugging at the blanket when he finally makes out two faint bright lights in the distance. You squirm slightly next to him, to the point where your shoulders touch, and Satoru finally breathes, because suddenly, there’s heat rushing in. The loud, rough winds around him seem to die down and he’s aware of the slightly gazed expression on your face as you look into the far distance.

“Did you make a wish?” he finds himself whispering.

You grin. “Yeah, gonna make you work here for eternity,” you reply back in good natured spirit.

Something stirs inside Satoru. Something important. Well, Satoru-level important, so in the grand scheme of things, not very — but still. He unravels parts of his blanket and throws it over your head, making sure that it messes up your hair, and laughs when you throw him another pout. 

“Did you make a wish?” you adjust the blanket so it covers your shoulders, moving a little closer to him, avoiding the cool breeze.

Satoru nods but presses a finger to his lips. “Not telling, though. Might not come true if I do.”

“Oh, shoot. Maybe I should’ve kept mine a secret then.”

He rolls his eyes and nudges your waist with an elbow. “You will definitely not see me here again.”

Satoru realizes, very fast, that his life has become very different, very quickly. And it might not be the bad kind of different. 

Over the course of the next few days, he’s practically glued to your side as you’re showing him all things related to hospitality that his father tried to drill into him when he was a pre-teen. Obviously, it didn’t work at the time. Satoru’s known for being defiant just because he wanted to, and eventually his father stopped with the after school etiquette lessons. You, on the other hand, unfortunately have him tied around your fingers.

“You need to tidy up the edges more, Gojo.”

“There’s barely a wrinkle in these sheets!” He points at the bed sheet on the mattress, the one that he’d been working on for the last ten minutes in vain while you stood next to him with slightly concerned eyes. It’s a room service type of lesson today and, even though Satoru has never made his own bed before, he’s positive that he didn’t leave behind any smudges that might catch anyone’s eye.

“Did you check tuck in the sides? Or are you trying to get off easy for today?” You say, there’s a mild accusation in your tone when you speak, smiling as you step aside. 

And, despite the warm smile, Satoru frowns a little, because guess who forgot to tuck in the sides? 

When Satoru ducks his head around the mattress and sees a good loose chunk of the sheets hanging off and groans when you’re right. “It’s not my fault that they’ve made them so big for no reason,” he replies, somewhat embarrassed, rubbing the back of his head and messing up his already ruffled hair.

You roll your eyes and stick a tongue out. “You’re getting the hang of it though, maybe even faster than Yuuji when he first offered to help.”

He flushes at the unexpected praise and quickly fixes the sheets, turning his whole entire body away from your sight. “Better than Yuuji, right?”

“Oh? So, you only work better with compliments, Gojo?” You sound amused, as if a lightbulb just popped on top of your head.  

Satoru flattens out the bed once more, strangely now feeling satisfied with the final outcome before turning around, sticking out a tongue of his own. “Only if it’s from you,” he answers, honestly. 

You laugh, and hopefully it’s not at him. “I thought you would be more annoying to deal with.”

“So, I’m just regular amounts of annoying?” He points out, with a fake frown, his fingers fiddling with the edges of the sheet.

You turn your gaze, seemingly in deep thought, before responding with a small shrug and grin. “Possibly a perfect amount of annoying.”

Satoru feels the blood rushing to his cheeks, again. “Well, of course, it’s the perfect amount because I’m perfect,” he replies, instantly, but suddenly he’s shy and feels the need to go to the next room to fix their stupid sheets before he combusts in front of you.

“Gojo,” you say, almost hesitantly. 

He swallows and rubs the back of his neck, wiping off evidence of his sweaty palms. “Yeah?”

“You missed a spot,” and your pointer fingers direct at the far right corner of the bed frame. He must’ve pulled the sides too hard and it caused the other side to flip over. Ugh, he’s not cut out for this at all.

“I’m… uh, still better than Yuuji, right?”

“Mhm, getting there, Gojo.”

By day four, Satoru has surprisingly adjusted to the rules and responsibilities. He’s not entirely sure what’s gotten him mildly well behaved, Suguru is a bit surprised by the daily updates being less… aggressive and whiny. What started as long vent paragraphs about the lack of heated flooring and needy customers, soon turned into photo albums of kids face planting into the snow and unconsented selfies with you in the background. Satoru absolutely makes sure you end up looking the worst out of the two because he’s gotta let his best friend know who’s the prettiest and he’s definitely racking up a blackmail album of all of your worst moments in case anything happens in the future. 

It’s closing time and he just got back from the reindeer shed out in the back, covered head to toe in all things hay and snow. First things first, and no one bothered to tell him, but reindeers smell bad. Like, really bad. Especially at the end of the day, where their pens are covered in shit and countless carrots and apple bits from the little kids overfeeding them. Satoru is vaguely aware of the fact that he smells, just like he’s vaguely aware that the hotel lobby is oddly quiet from the usual banter between you and the usual workers.

Utahime and Choso are sitting by the cafe bar, seemingly deep in conversation about ordering more supplies for next week. Satoru thinks about interrupting their session with probably an unrelated dumb question, but the idea dies when Utahime notices his presence and motions him to come over. 

“You stink,” Satoru casts a half-glare at Utahime and begins picking out some of the scattered hay pieces stuck to his sweater. 

“For the record, I became good friends with Rudolph and Vixen today,” he grumbles back and Choso throws him a pat on the back.

“Hey, I don’t mind your stink, by the way. Smells kinda nice,” Choso offers up, but Satoru only shoots him a very unhappy look.

“If you think I smell nice then I’m really worried about what you think smells bad,” then he turns over to Utahime again, who’s engrossed in whatever is on her clipboard right now. “So, what did you need from me?”

“My sister,” she starts and taps away at the clipboard before handing it over to him. It’s pages upon pages of invoices from the past month. “Could you hand this to her? She should be in the back.”

“You treating me like an errand boy?”

Utahime scoffs. “What? Don’t wanna see her?”

“No, I do,” he responds, a bit too fast for his own liking, and straightens out. “Uh, is that all?” Satoru hopes his face doesn’t betray how much he’s a bit excited to interact with you, given that today was a full day out in the trenches, and he absolutely needs to hear you say his name at least twice a day in order to have a good night’s sleep.

Choso is trying really hard not to laugh, and Satoru takes it as a sign that he currently has a cheesy smile on his face — go figure. “One of the corner rooms upstairs requested a weighted blanket, mind also doing that too?”

There’s a certain relief that floods through Satoru and he thinks maybe he can take on a few more tasks for the night if that means spending a little more time with you, even if his body is screaming that he needs to take a two hour long shower. 

“Hey,” he starts to say when he rounds the corner, “Where’d you put those weighted blankets again?”

Satoru expected to walk in on you neck-deep in paperwork. You’ve mentioned earlier in the week that this year would be the busiest and there’s a bunch of stuff due. Something about end of the year tax returns and inventory counts, it all goes out his ear but he remembers something similar that his father told him in a prior conversation. He thinks he could probably help you figure out some of it, but that might be a bit much.

What he walks in on, thought, is you sitting in your little makeshift office. You’re on your laptop, the screen’s tilted just right enough that he gets a glimpse of what you’re looking at. You’re looking at flights and hotels, even got a whole spreadsheet on the second monitor. From what he’s seen of you so far, you didn’t come off as the type to talk about your future that much.

His voice catches you by surprise and your expression flickers from something vaguely focused to embarrassment real quick. You hastily close out the tabs and go back to the hotel’s homepage.

“What is it, Gojo?” And there’s this awkward, oddly frantic moment of you fumbling around with the keyboard and mouse, like a teenage boy who’s just got caught looking at porn.

“Ah,” Satoru thinks seeing your flustered side is rather adorable, to say the least. “You tryin’ to plan a vacation or something?” He struts over to your desk, placing a firm hand onto the back of the chair, and there’s this smile on his face that just screams ‘gotcha’.

Your face scrunches up but it’s not out of annoyance. “Kinda?”

Even with a grumpy look, it’s a good look on you. Makes you kinda dark, brooding, and beautiful, and it turns your eyes into dark storm clouds, or some other weird, waxy poetic shit that Satoru can’t figure out the words to. Either way, Satoru thinks you look cute and can’t stop noticing your little facial movements. You’re more expressive than you would probably imagine.

“Ooh, where to?”

You sigh and start playing with your thumbs. “Malaysia. My friend told me great things about it and I’ve been meaning to go for a while now but time and money are always iffy.”

“Makes sense, I can imagine that being an inn assistant doesn’t pay all the bills.”

That was probably the wrong thing to say. You huff and glare, an icy-death glare, at him. If looks could kill, Satoru is sure that he’ll be six feet underground by now. 

“Weighted blankets are on the second floor closet by the laundry room,” you answer his initial question curtly before shutting the laptop. “Don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

“It was just a question,” he mumbles slowly, and maybe even a little dangerously. “If money’s an issue—”

“Gojo.” Your voice is fixed and rigid, one that leaves absolutely no room for debate. “Your dad was right about you; you always just fall back to your fame and wealth.”

As you’re busy staring, Satoru realizes that you’re kinda being a total ass to him right now.

“That’s not fair,” his voice is rising and can’t seem to put a stop to the words spilling out. “Don’t bring my dad into this conversation.”

“Or what? You can go back to your privileged life anytime you want. This is just a field trip for you while others actually have to try hard and make a living.” You spit out. 

“No one forced you to become an inn worker, you know? If you’re so worried about money then you could’ve just found another high paying job.” Satoru wrinkles his nose and his volume continues to rise. 

You immediately offer him a dark glare and it comes off in a cut-throat way that shuts Satoru up mid thought. The rest of his counters die in his throat when you start making hand gestures at the office exit and he gets the hint: ‘leave before I lose my shit’ is the calling he sees.

And it works, because he finds his tone shifting a little, awkwardly kicking the floor and backing off. “Whatever…”

That was last night and, by now, Satoru is realizing that he’s kind of a giant asshole and the guilt is slowly eating away at him. Was he always like this? It couldn’t have been — he’s only met you a few days ago, and this is only meant to be a quick, ‘vacational’, getaway. Sure he might be a bit selfish and a dick, but he had been able to function perfectly fine before all of this, hadn’t he? 

Satoru’s not really sure.

It’s noon, and he’s lying in bed. Choso had asked him to cover his shift at the cafe, and he’d agreed, readily, even though it’s supposed to be his day off, because you’re working. Choso had texted him, though, saying that you had simply said you’d work the entire shift by yourself.

Of course. It’s absolutely not funny anymore.

Satoru sighs. He’s going to apologize, that’s for sure. It wounds some of his pride, yeah, but whatever, this tension between you guys, though, isn’t worth it. He finds himself wasting his entire morning away rotting in bed. There are things that he could be doing, that he looks forward to, like feeding the reindeers or demonstrating basic ski moves to little kids. Choso and Yuuji totally got him addicted to yelling out ‘pizza’ and ‘french fry’ at every chance he gets. They also got him addicted to a shitty relationship forum they both browse, but somehow the idea of reading other people’s relationship drama, when he’s facing drama of his own, is kinda mentally exhausting.

On second thought, maybe he should post on that forum, actually.

It might not be such a bad idea.

Or maybe he could reach out to Suguru and ask how to apologize? 

His best friend is a bit more grounded and attuned with other people’s feelings compared to him, afterall. Satoru’s not good at this stuff and he’s always just cut others off whenever they do argue, but this feels different. And, well, for the first time in forever, Satoru is desperate. 

“I fucked up big time and I need to apologize, help me out here?”

Suguru scoffs over the line. “Wow, what happened to saying ‘hello’ or ‘how are you’?”

Satoru rolls his eyes. “Hi, hello. How are you? How do I make a sincere apology?”

“I’m good, thank you. Now, for your request, depends on how big the fuck up is.”

He bites his tongue, finding the right words to essentially not sound like a huge dick but, no matter how he wants to rephrase it, the outcome is the same. “I might’ve implied that she’s poor and needs someone to take care of her?” It sounds so stupid, so mean, and so degrading now that he’s saying it out loud. 

He hears Suguru sucking in his teeth and sighs. After a couple of pauses, his best friend finally speaks. “That’s pretty fucked up.”

Satoru frowns. “Okay, yeah, it is,” and he sits up in his bed when a snowball makes an impact against the window. It’s Utahime. And, currently, she’s throwing him the nastiest glare that a woman has ever given him in his life. “Um, I’ll call you back, buddy…”

“What? I haven’t given you—”

“Don’t have time for unwarranted advice right now.”

“You called me!”

“Bye!” Satoru ends the call before shuffling towards the window, swallowing a hard lump, and inches the glass panel just small enough for him to hear coherently and not big enough for her to punt him across the face. “Lovely morning, isn’t it?”

But Utahime is in an obvious shitty mood and Satoru’s lack of charming antics aren’t going to work this time. “I’m going to apologize, I promise,” he tries to insist.

“This is all your fault,” she immediately gets to the point and it makes him shrink back just a tiny bit. He’s starting to see that the bluntness runs in the family. “Just get your ass to work.”

“But my shift doesn’t start till—”

“Doesn’t matter,” Utahime starts to form an even bigger snowball and raises it to the window panel. “Ass out of bed, now.”

Okay, so as much as Satoru had tried to tell himself that this week wouldn’t be bad, it’s really starting to get fucking awful.

Everyone’s in a shit mood. Yuuji tries to crack some jokes but the usual crowd isn’t having it. You’ve been throwing Satoru dirty looks while working behind the cafe counter together and he’s been put on drink duty — which is his worst nightmare — while you’re attending to the customers because you’re young and cute enough for them to be nice to you. Satoru has spilled hot coffee and chocolate on himself like four times so far, and the shift just started. He’s terrified that the rest of this week is going to be like this.

“Can we talk?” Satoru whisper shouts over the espresso machine.

He sees your shoulders tensing up but immediately relaxes them afterwards. “Did you hear something, Yuuji?”

The boy looks up from the bar counter, it’s his day off and he’s catching up on some homework, but the seemingly growing tension that’s unfolding in front of him is making it painfully hard for him to focus on anything engineering related. Yuuji scratches the back of his neck before darting his eyes back and forth between the two of you. Normally, he would be the voice of reason, but Satoru doesn’t blame him when he shakes his head.

“N-Nah, must’ve been the wind or something...” 

Great, he’s been reduced to an air draft.

“Mhm, that’s what I thought,” you agree without missing a beat. As the next customer in line spends an eternity holding everyone up, debating whether to get the seasonal muffin or french toast to go with their drink, you continue, “Thought I heard a rotten brat for a second.”

He absolutely doesn’t expect the harsh insult. Satoru widens his eyes at the outburst and there’s a small pause, the silence ticking in between everyone, and he’s sure that you’re glaring him down somewhere in a small reflection on the counter. 

Satoru debates whether to call out your name and shake some sense into you, but Yuuji quickly swallows and makes a motion with his hands to his throat, a universal signal saying — ‘I wouldn’t test the waters, if I were you’.

And, after the customer finally decides that they didn’t want any pastries with their coffee order, you finish the transaction before announcing that you’re going on a small fifteen minute break to “stretch”. Though, anyone could see that you’re planning to cool off before you manage to actually blow up in Satoru’s face.

“How the hell am I going to talk to her?” he groans to Yuuji once you’re finally away. He’s managing the cash register and, surprisingly, finishes taking the remaining orders quite smoothly compared to his first day. At least he can pat himself on the back for this. 

“You’ve really pissed her off, dude,” Yuuji replies and Satoru just rolls his eyes because that’s all he’s been hearing from everyone else all day today. “You should talk to her when she’s not… charged up.”

“Way to point out the obvious.” Sometimes he forgets that Yuuji is a bit oblivious. How is he doing so well as a mechanical engineering major? 

Yuuji makes an audible ‘pop’ and whistles. “What did you even say to her?”

Satoru groans into his hands. “Did she not tell you?”

“Well, she wasn’t exactly in a chippy mood to talk about anything this morning — outside of work, that is.”

“Here’s a little TLDR version: might’ve said something classist.”

“Might’ve?”

“Okay, definitely said something classist.”

“Then…” Yuuji drums his fingers against the counter, deep in thought. “Y’know, whenever me and Megumi fight, I always invite him out to the movies to try and cheer him up. Might not be applicable to you but…”

Satoru blinks. “Are you suggesting a date would help?”

“Maybe not a date—”

“No, I’m sorry for calling you dumb, you’re so right—a nice date might work!”

“You never called me dumb, though?”

“Yeah, okay, whatever you say, kiddo.”

Satoru unravels the ribbon on his apron and throws it in Yuuji’s general direction, not caring if he tossed the stained uniform directly in his face. He hops the counter and pats the younger male on the shoulder, flashing him a genuine smile because, hey, maybe Yuuji actually is smarter than he looks.

“Gonna totally invite you to the wedding.”

It’s no secret that Satoru Gojo hasn’t been on a proper date in a pathetically long time.

He has swiped right on a number of highly influential celebrities and figures on dating apps before. Matched with nearly all of them. Gone on…maybe a lot of first dates with not a lot of second dates coming right after. Who cares though, everyone’s just there for the photos and followers anyway. Satoru knows that he’s attractive and that he personally loves big, lavish dates but, at this point, he knows you enough to understand you absolutely hate big gestures. 

After a short winded conversation with Suguru and Utahime, separately, Satoru has concluded on not buying you first class tickets to Malaysia. 

“Are you trying to get her to hate your guts?” Was the general consensus of the conversation with said people. 

So, what’s the next best option if he can’t fly you out to Malaysia? The answer is pretty simple — bring Malaysia to Mistle Town. And no, he’s not going to be relying on his black card for anything, even though the back of his mind is telling him otherwise. 

Choso blinks several times at Satoru’s printed out proposal. The colorful letters and Google image photos of beaches and coconuts slapped poorly onto the document screams back at Choso and Yuuji, bright and early on Christmas Eve. 

It’s unusual for Satoru to be bouncing excitedly in place for someone other than himself. So this catches everyone off guard. 

Yuuji whispers something intangible to Choso, but Satoru is able to make it out as, “Do we even have coconuts here?”

To which Choso replies, “It’s winter, so I don’t think so.”

And Yuuji moves onto the next question in queue, “What should we do about the lack of palm trees?”

A patient sigh from Choso, “We could always trim the pine trees outside?” He lamely suggests. 

“It’s a good idea, no?” Satoru jumps right back in, completely missing the flat vibe from the brothers. He frowns. “Why are you guys giving me that look?” 

And, like his best friend and your sister, the brothers throw him a confused head tilt. 

“Well,” Yuuji weakly starts, “Your plan ‘Project: Bring Malaysia here in hopes of Y/N falling in love with me’ doesn’t really sound that great… even on paper.”

Satoru grins, fully expecting that to be the response. “I’ll order the things, don’t worry about it. I just need to borrow your lungs for this project.”

Yuuji scratches his cheek in confusion, laughing nervously again. “Our lungs…?” he echos. 

“How long do I have to keep this dumb blindfold on, Choso?”

“U-Um,” Choso shoots Satoru a brow as he carefully guides you through the hotel lobby. 

It’s currently decked out from head to toe in all things yellow, green, and pink beach themed inflatables. Choso and Yuuji reminded Satoru last night that maybe two flamingos would’ve been enough to get the message across, but seeing that he ordered a whole colony? Yeah, he’s sending the rich boy prayers as he reels you in further, avoiding collision with the colorful balloons and seven-foot tall palm trees, too.

“Choso?”

He squeezes your shoulders when Satoru shoots him a thumbs up. “Ten seconds.”

Satoru quietly walks over to both of you, tip toeing so the sounds of his loafers are minimized against the flooring. Once he’s inches away, Choso retreats off into a different room, mouthing to him words of final encouragement, which Satoru gladly took. 

You appear restless under the blindfold. “I swear to god, if I take it off and there’s a giant pile of reindeer shit in the middle of the lobby I will actually kill somebody—”

And Satoru quietly debates whether or not he wants to keep you like this for a little while before revealing the big surprise. Seeing you flustered and confused is a very cute look on you, after all. But, he’s gotten you this far and it would absolutely kill him to leave you on such a bad notice. It’s now early evening, and the sun’s just starting to set enough that the golden rays illuminate your features from this angle. It takes Satoru back to his first private meeting with you on the balcony and he remembers why he’s even doing this in the first place.

Carefully and slowly, he slips down the blindfold and softly calls out your name. “Hey, take a look around you.”

Your eyes are blown wide when you see his face. Anger and frustration dissipate from your face when you soon realize that Satoru carries a soft expression. He watches as the emotions wash off as quickly as they came. Then, you finally take a look around your surroundings and gasp. “You—You did all of this for me?”

Satoru tenses a little, a bit on the edge. “You want the short or long answer?”

You don’t notice because you’re too preoccupied with the numerous fake flamingos around you. “On second thought, maybe no answer would also work.”

He laughs at this, slightly, before turning shy again. He feels silly, ashamed, and it makes his cheeks flush. “I wanted to say sorry again for what I said earlier.”

“You finally want to talk about it?”

He looks at your idle hands and then back to your face. When he sees that you don't move them away as he inches closer, he takes both of them into his palms, giving them a tight squeeze. “Yeah, I was a big idiot and I thought I was trying to help in the beginning but I just sounded—no, I am—a giant ass.” Satoru concludes. 

The atmosphere grows quiet and heavy again. The air humid and thick despite the opened windows and you’re looking at him. Then, there are tiny little smiles that break out on your face, like freckles and stars in the sky. 

“You’re such a pillow princess,” and he outright blushes ten shades darker at the nickname, “you’re lucky you’re cute.” Coming from you, that’s as good as a love confession.

I like you, he thinks, but doesn’t say it. He really likes you and doesn’t want to fuck this up.

But, everyone knows that Satoru Gojo is a child at heart. 

Satoru doesn’t know who gives in first; realistically, it might’ve been one of those stupid, rare, impossible moments where it’s completely shared. Suddenly the gaudy blow up palm trees and inflatable pool blur from his vision and he feels the world roaring around him when your palms rest on his cheeks. He ducks his head down but you’re the one who closes the distance between. 

You taste like strawberries and lavender, smell like warm cocoa, and feel softer than any sherpa blanket he’s had. Satoru closes his eyes and his vision goes white, his hands shakily snake around your waist, pressing you hard against his chest as if you might disappear at any moment. Satoru sighs into the kiss, it feels pleasantly warm, that throb in his chest, it’s a slow, steady thrum of simmering desire and comfort. He’s pretty sure he’s adding way too much tongue, the drool and saliva that comes dripping between you two will be uncomfortable soon, but for now, it adds to the blissed out, satisfaction you’re both basking in.

Finally, you pull away, shortening yourself a good several inches from planting the rest of your feet on the ground. Your eyes are glossed over, watery and looking at him without vexation. “You’re something else.” You say, but there’s no bite.

Satoru doesn’t speak for a moment. He’s too focused on the feeling of your warm fingers sprawled all over his heating face. Too focused on the dull pulse of both nervousness and infatuation slowly spreading through his body because you’re giving him that look. This all feels romantic and stupid, he thinks.

“I’m sorry, again.” The words are quiet, hesitant, and Satoru almost regrets them the moment he speaks.

You shift around a little, now dancing on the balls of your feet, but the grasp you have on his cheeks is still relatively firm, even applying a bit of more pressure as if it’s your way of showing reassurance. You tip your head; your eyes are so vivid and bright, it sends a shiver down Satoru’s spine. In this moment, he remembers every single thing between them in shocking detail — the awkwardness, the tension, the frustration, the dumb banters, and suddenly he’s overwhelmed.

“I’ll forgive you if you give me a private city tour,” you laugh. “And come back to work with us again next year.”

Satoru offers a small smile. “Unpaid?”

“Will you say no if it is?”

He hugs you tighter, a chuckle bubbles in his throat. “I don’t think I can say no because it’s you.”

Though, while some might think that Satoru is the real loser here for being whipped so hard over a small town girl, you know that deep down the real loser is you. Because you managed to have the son of a CEO wrapped around your fingers and now you will never know peace again. But you’re not really complaining; instead, you’re working even harder to save just enough to eventually see your dream destination while Satoru whines and sends an ungodly amount of selfies everyday when he’s back home. And you won’t allow yourself to get snappy because, well, you’re very much head over heels for him, too.

© 2023 DOOBEA. do not copy any of my writing and translate/repost.

[wrioluvr]

flirty playboy x mature male reader

this stupid ass meme had been on my mind forever and i realised how funny it would be to have a slutty playboy who just sleeps with anyone to seriously pine over a more mature, secure guy who doesn't fall for any of his shallow charms and tricks.... here are just some blurbs of their dynamic (˵ ¬ᴗ¬˵)

his name is roman. he's a little toxic, but he just wants to be loved.

cw: some smut, top male reader

it all started with a little night out. you didn't do those often, due to devoting most of your time towards work and earning a stable career, but finishing this particularly gruelling assignment called for a celebration. at the bar, dancing with your friends, a good-looking man with a playful glint in his eyes approached you full of bravado. he told you how handsome you were, and had been eyeing you from across the room for a while now. but from a single glance, you could tell he was the type to break hearts. beach-blonde dyed hair, a tight fitting tank top revealing his muscular build, an eyebrow piercing, the way his mouth curled up so subtly into a little smirk.... he was everything you knew to avoid getting serious with. but a little hookup couldn't hurt, right? you deserved a little fun.

and it didn't hurt you at all. a few failed relationships had made you wise beyond your years, knowing to easily seperate the good guys from the bad. you knew your self-worth. roman, on the other hand, was absolutely smitten. no other man had fucked him THIS good, gave him such gentle aftercare, and even let him stay as long as he needed. the way you so effortlessly lifted his legs up to thrust in and out of him at a rhythmic pace, or fondling his tits and squeezing his nipples softly while you hit it from the back, or tenderly running your fingers down his spine, arching it sensually.... he loved it all. it was clear to him that you prioritised his pleasure as much as your own, and it showed in how he orgasmed several times before you even came in him once, panting breathlessly while wearing the sluttiest expression of his life. it was nothing like any of the men he had sex with before. afterwards, you let him stay the night in a guest room, and even brewed a cup of coffee for him in the morning.

roman was damn near tears when you offered to drop him off at his house before you headed off to work. if he was being honest with himself, his insecurities were the root of his constant need for sexual intimacy, so being treated with genuine kindness for once was new to him.

"is dropping you off here alright?" you ask, turning into the road of his apartment complex.

"y-yeah...." he looks out the window, unsure how to look you in the eyes.

"okay. thanks for last night. stay safe." your words carried an air of finality to them, like you were so sure the two of you would never cross paths again. he didn't like that.

"uh, uh......" he stuttered, all his usual flirtatiousness thrown out the window as he couldn't meet your gaze. "could i... get your number?"

your friendly smile froze on your face. "uhhhh.... sorry, i'm not really looking for anything serious right now."

he quickly regained his composure, charm turned up to the max. shifting his tank top so more of his chest was exposed and you could notice his nipples protruding, roman whispered in a low tone, "that's okay! we can just be casual... and fuck anytime you like." a wink. a hand on your thigh.

"jeez... okay, no offense, but i've heard rumours from my friends that you're a bit of a... playboy. i'm not interested in being your toy, sorry."

roman's face flushed in embarrassment, knowing what you said was true. except the part on him seeing you as a toy. that was untrue. he could feel a warmth growing from the pit of his stomach at the thought of spending more time with you. were these... butterflies?

maybe begging would work.

"okay fine, i am a bit of a player... but please, please, pleaseeeeeee.... let's be in contact, okay? as friends?" roman sniffled pathetically, shaking your shoulder in desperation. he needed to be in your presence. why weren't his usual maneating tactics working?!?!

"alright. here you go. just don't spam me or anything, okay? i gotta go for work. see you." you sigh, a little exasperated but choosing not to let it show. he immediately lit up, typing your number in his contacts and saving many hearts next to your name. you prayed your acts of basic human decency wouldn't cause him to catch feelings. you needed to focus on your job right now.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

3:02pm

[romanbabyxx]

hiiiiiii

[romanbabyxx]

i know you said not to spam you but like

[romanbabyxx]

i miss u

[romanbabyxx]

can we meet up at the bar for drinks or something like that? please?

3:10pm

you check the messages on your phone, rolling your eyes and ignoring them. he was probably sending this text to at least three other guys right now. he had a history of cheating, based on what you heard from your friends. you weren't going to be another one of his victims.

5:35pm

[romanbabyxx]

are u ignoring me?

[romanbabyxx]

im sorryyyyyyyy

[romanbabyxx]

pls hit me back when ur free

7.30 pm

[name]

sorry, just got off work. will be super busy this week, so not free. mb.

[romanbabyxx]

oh, its okay! next week then?

[name]

i'll see

this went on for a few weeks, you constantly evading his invitations, being polite and professional, never too intimate over text. roman was starting to get fed up. he's so used to getting everything he wants, he doesn't know what to do when he actually has to work for the one he desires. he actually hadn't hooked up with anyone since your one night stand, but you didn't believe that.

roman was at his wits' end. he could only think of one final plan to get your attention.

trying to make you jealous.

over the next week, he hooked up with any and everyone he met in the bar, not bothering to keep his slutting around discreet. he wanted you to hear the rumours. he wanted you to feel a sense of unease within your very being. he wanted you to feel possessive. he wanted you, to want him. the whole time, even as he was getting fucked, he could only imagine you caressing him, holding him close, loving him.

his deeds didn't go unnoticed. your friends told you about it, yet you didn't feel anything in the slightest. you were right, after all... he forgot about you within a week and moved on to whichever poor man he would leave high and dry next.

the next time you bumped into him at the bar, roman was his usual, party-loving self, excitedly slinging an arm around you, a drink in hand. his plan had to work, surely? you would be begging to have him back. but yet, when he offhandedly (yet so intentionally) mentioned how much dick he had been getting the past week, anticipating your change in expression, nothing happened. "oh. good for you." was all you said.

he sputtered, flustered by your calm demeanour. didn't you care? at all?! "but.... but.... aren't you jealous? that i've been hooking up with other guys?!"

you stare at him, a genuine quzzical expression plastered across your face. "why would i be? it's not like we're dating or anything. it was just a one time thing."

your words hit like a knife through his heart. he clutched his chest dramatically, a pout forming on his lips. "i'll be faithful! i promise!" his words came out more desperate than he intended. he felt so vulnerable, so naked, yet you were the face of serenity. your unimpressed eyes stared through his soul, as if you were scrutinising his very core. he knew you could heal him, make him feel loved, but he was starting to doubt there was any possibility you would feel the same.

"i'm sure that's what you said to the last guy you cheated on."

.

.

.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

i intended for this to be lighthearted but why was it actually kinda depressing tbh

[chastiefoul]

—finally giving up on your unrequited love ft. alhaitham

a/n: ouch i hurt myself writing this. wc: 1.6k words of yapping about unrequited feelings

once upon a time you were grateful for alhaitham’s indifference, the lack of anything he was being when you’re badgering him with chatters, a detailed description of your day, concerns over him, and the occasional gifts.

it seemed like a blessing once, like acceptance. the slightest open of the door, thinking you could invite yourself in and he’d embrace that fact. but as his apathy remain constant and unchanging, you’ve come to realization—an embarassing one at that.

that indifference, that should’ve been a sign for you; alhaitham will never return your feelings.

-

 a stroll a day, keeps the stressful thoughts away.

however today’s walk is just not doing it for you, once you decided to wake up from the dreamland you thought you’ve been living in. a faraway and unrealistic vision of a life where you end up together with the akademiya scribe. an exaggerated sigh escaped you at your own daydreaming. usually by now you’d be quick on your feet to visit the scribe, however the overdue revelation you had last night made you finally think twice before doing it. and only because of that now you’d realized just how much of your life was centered on the grey-haired man, which was a scary discovery, knowing just exactly how little you mattered to his.

you found an empty bench mid-walk, immediately sitting on it. you leaned back, both of your hands holding your weight as you look above. the sky was clear that day, but your mind was clearer, as if a thick fog has finally been lifted.

seriously, what have you been doing all this time? giving your all to someone who wanted none of you. alhaitham’s curt nod, his brief and short responses really should’ve been a clue as to how he felt about you. yet you kept being stubborn, and sometimes hope was human’s greatest enemy. what should have been a bare minimum gesture he did, your mind managed to twist it into something more; clinging to it like a water on a desert. when it turned out that was exactly all there was to it—a mirage.

you chuckled sadly. even remembering those pathetic displays, you couldn’t bring yourself to fully regret having this feeling towards alhaitham. those moments where you’d steal a glance at him and felt like the world was okay. you would not allow yourself to forget that as you became more selfish, wanting him to look at you and feel the same. but here you were, reluctantly learning to accept the fact that he may never does.

suddenly a shadow loomed over you, shielding you from the sunlight you didn’t realize was so bright.

a familiar blond invaded your vision. “(y/n)?” he called out unsure, not expecting you to be there. “oh hi there, kaveh,” you lightly said, as if your heavy train of thoughts hadn’t existed at all. you adjusted your sitting position, shifting yourself to the side as you spare an empty spot beside you for him to sit. kaveh swiftly took your silent offer up, making himself as comfortable as he could on the wooden bench. “i spotted you from afar and you seemed a little troubled, hopefully i was wrong?” the ever so kind kaveh spoke up, and you couldn’t help but smile. kaveh always felt like a friend more than alhaitham ever was, albeit knowing him after you got to know the scribe. you weren’t even sure if the grey-haired man would ever mention even a word about his roommate if it wasn’t for you hanging wround on his office on a peaceful lunch break when the fuming blond barged in and yell at him about a key.

as it turned out, it’s a known fact that most people became quiet irritable when it comes to being in contact with the curt and aloof scribe, since kaveh has been nothing but a good friend since the day he gave you a weird look about wanting to get close to the acting grand master.

“it’s kind of complicated to say,” you started, thinking of the words as you went on. “let’s just say i’m having a quite bittersweet moment.”

you rested your gaze on the bustling street in front of you. he nodded in reply, “i’m guessing it’s more bitter than it is sweet?” he asked genuinely as you smiled once more despite not feeling a drop of mirth. “i suppose so,” you replied curtly, not knowing what to say to his keen observation. keen and exactly correct.

it’s the kind of bitterness that lingered. a kind of flavor you’d expected, since you’re the one who put it in. still, when that sharp taste hit your tongue you couldn’t help but flinch. after all, things don’t stop affecting you even though you saw it coming from miles away. you just hoped the sweetness will get stronger overtime, overpowering as it wash down the unpleasant aftertaste.

kaveh mirrored your smile in return except his looked particularly patronizing, as if he could sense your helplessness.

“will you tell me what happened?” his voice sounded gentle, a care you’ve never heard from the man you’d give a limb to for him to say things along that line. how do you even begin to answer such a simple question? nothing happened, and that’s why it was the problem. the fact that you’re the only one who’s mulling all over this, being so conflicted to what he thought must be nothing. a pain so overwhelming that’s swirling all over your chest while his biggest inconvenient that day was probably a typo made in a document made by a lousy student.

the whole thing just sounded so... pathetic.

“nothing happened... it’s just, i have decided to finally give up on something,” you try your best to sound nonchalant despite having no bravery to look at him, scared that he didn’t look like he believed you.

“well, i might know a thing or two about it. sometimes when an architecture project is too... unreasonable,” kaveh paused, the word tasted like a sour lime on his mouth. “there’s no way but to give it up. especially if you take a step back as take the whole picture from many aspects; in my case, there are budget, location, materials, and so on. there would definitely be some regret about letting go especially an ambitious task, however i think many of my past-self would really like to give the present-me a big gratitude for not forcing it through,” he rambled on, despite having no idea what were you referring on. “even sometimes, the reward was just not worth the risk, you know?” he ended it at that, throwing the question at you.

you swallowed on nothing, but you needed that to let out a reply.

“yes, i do know.”

“yeah? does this mean in your case, whatever you were fighting for was not worth it in the end?”

oh, that’s the worst part. you knew, you knew it with your heart, body and soul that it would be so worth it if there’s an outcome, a scenario where alhaitham might return your feelings. oh it would be so worth it. you could smile, just imagining how worth it would it be.

but that was all it was. an unattainable imagination. an ending that you couldn’t allow yourself to be so cocky to reach.

kaveh waited for your respond patiently, but when the silence had gone for too long he moved his stare to you. he widened his eyes, his gaze softened.

“i don’t think you’re as okay as you made yourself to be,” he said softly, as you felt your cheeks wet by the uninvited tears, running along freely across your face. yet, you couldn’t make an effort to stop them, your heart knew more than anyone you needed that. to feel the sadness, to recognize it.

to let go of the fact that alhaitham will never return your feelings.

kaveh was just quiet as you sobbed quietly, putting a handkerchief silently at the space between you both. there is no empty consolation, no comforting words, no small pats on the back. there’s just silence, a little safe bubble for you to cry in without people coming over to you and asked why.

giving up is such a funny thing, how could doing it hurt more than to keep trying even though you received no sign of reciprocity at all? but you knew the answer of that.

when there hasn’t been a rejection, it’s in everyone’s nature to have hope. a hope that there’s a chance of obtaining something you’ve wished for. a chance that something could happen.

giving up means finality. a state of accepting an outcome you hadn’t wanted. a result you never asked for. an ending where all that’s left was what should have and what could have. a harsh reality people could only accept as it dangled the possibilities and visions of what ‘could have happened’ if you’d just kept trying right in front of your eyes.

like chasing your own shadow; a fun thing to do when you’re a child, but now it’s just a fitting metaphor, reminding you of a fool’s way who love in such a pathetic way.

-

once upon a time you were grateful for alhaitham’s indifference, the lack of anything he was being when you’re badgering him with chatters, a detailed description of your day, concerns over him, and the occasional gifts.

but now it’s definitely a curse. after all, anything that has to do with love was not indifference.

it was never, indifference.

---

the urge to write this in alhaitham pov........................ should i?