some thoughts on riddle's future career

i've seen a lot of fanart and fics where riddle is portrayed as becoming a doctor in the future, and a lot where he instead becomes a lawyer, and honestly i love it all because i just enjoy any version of adult riddle where he gets to be healthy and happy with his life!! but i've also seen some people say they dislike and/or don't understand why anyone would want riddle to be a doctor, when that's what his mother wants him to be and when he's expressed an interest in pursuing law instead. and i completely get where that point of view is coming from! it's understandable to want riddle to choose a career that's completely separate from his abusive mother, from the plans that she had for him and the trauma she inflicted on him, and it makes perfect sense to have him decide to become a lawyer because of that. on the other hand, though... i don't feel like that would be as easy and perfect of a solution as it sounds, and i also don't think having him be a doctor necessarily means he's just doing what his mother wanted either.

riddle discusses his interest in studying law with azul during book 6, while they're traversing the tower at STYX together. he explains that as both of his parents are medical mages, he'd originally planned to go into the same field after graduating, but now he's unsure whether or not he wants to do so--he says that ever since becoming the dorm leader of heartslabyul, he's developed an interest in law. riddle became dorm leader only a week after enrolling at NRC, and what did he spend the majority of his time doing since then? obsessively enforcing the rules in a way that was both needlessly strict and unhealthy for him, because his mother did the same to him and made him believe that that was the only way to be happy and successful. i'm not saying i think he'd be anything other than a great lawyer, and in fact he'd likely have a heightened awareness of how the law can be twisted and used to cause harm! personally i really like the thought of him specializing in family law! but i am saying that i'm not so sure his interest in the law can be untangled from the abuse he suffered at the hands of his mother anymore easily than his interest in medicine can be. and that i think he'd initially struggle with questions like, is this really the path he wants to choose? is he really passionate about it for his own reasons and not just because of the cruel way his mother raised him? is he really fit for the job given the kind of person he was in the past?

and if riddle decided to pursue medicine, of course he'd struggle with that as well! it's what his parents have always expected of him, and what he'd always planned on doing up until recently when his entire worldview was suddenly turned upside down. of course he'd worry about whether it's a good idea for him to continue following in his parents' footsteps, about the fear of becoming like his mother, and again, about whether or not he's truly interested in it for his own reasons. but i see no reason why medicine couldn't be something he's genuinely passionate about and chooses to pursue because unlike his mother, he's grown into a caring person who wants to take the knowledge and skills she taught him and use them to help others. there are two options in particular here that i really love: first, what if he became a vet? technically still a medical field, but not what people think of when you say you're going to be a doctor (and in fact, vets are often wrongly thought of as not "real" doctors so there's a chance his parents would look down on this decision!). it's distinct from his parents' work and includes his love of animals in his career. or, what if he became a pediatrician? this option is honestly my favorite because it allows riddle, as someone who was a victim of child abuse, to become someone who helps heal kids and does everything he can to make them feel safe when he treats them. he would also be able to recognize the signs of abuse and provide extra help to kids who need it, and there are even pediatricians who are specially trained to diagnose and treat suspected victims and work with child welfare and law enforcement in doing so!

or for a third option, a friend of mine suggested this half-jokingly but i genuinely like the idea enough that i have to mention it: riddle could work in the medical field but instead of actually being a doctor he could get a job as a medical records reviewer, evaluating hospital reports and patient records to make sure everything that occured was fair and ethical and that no medical negligence or malpractice took place. that would allow him to channel his interest in rules and laws into something healthy while working to prevent abuse of the medical system, and combine both of these fields of interest!

he could also just do something entirely different, though i think he would probably struggle at least a little with his feelings about his parents and whether he's making the right choice no matter what career he chooses. but i also think riddle has the skill and the drive to succeed at whatever he sets his mind to--azul said the same thing, after all, and even advised him to try his hand at anything he finds interesting!

goldfishie with goldfish!! peace and love on planet earth...

meow

Grimmy

Bonus

You know Hitchcock’s philosophy about audience suspense?

We got another one boys

physical affection and how it relates to iruma: part 1, parental touch

iruma reads as someone who is touch starved and doesn't like/understand touch until he now has affectionate people in his life. His parents have probably never touched him besides the required amount when he was a baby and maybe a headpat or quick hug (which would more than likely just be a manipulation tactic to get him to do their crazy schemes). They left him alone for days on end, there's no way they even could have been affectionate with him. And it's not like he ever went to school, his "friends" at school couldn't even remember him because of how many days he missed.

Overall, Iruma reads as touch starved but doesn't know he's missing it since he never had it to begin with. Here comes the love trio, the misfit class, Balam and more. Suddenly he has a lot of people in his life who are comfortable with touching him, even want to as a sign of how close they are. And we can see iruma very much becomes happy with it in turn.

That's why Balam and iruma's relationship is important, a parental type person he trusts is actively choosing to be affectionate with him, not to manipulate him but just because he cares about iruma. He even told him the reason is just to bond and get to know iruma, not some sort of underhanded method. This is just Balam's way of connecting. And they are close to each other enough to be comfortable in each other's spaces. Whether Iruma reads balam as a parent or not, balam is very much like a momma bird, keeping him close and safe in his arms. And Iruma becomes more open to it as time goes on with them knowing more about the other.

This is also a great dynamic because balam gives him the affection that he doesn't recieve from kalego, someone he clearly holds in high regard. Almost every time iruma reflects on the people that matter the most to him, kalego is there. which i find fascinating because what is kalego to iruma? on a subconscious level, i think he views kalego as a parental figure to him as well, one of the first to give him clear and concise rules to follow. his parents were just a fucking mess, they barely parented. never really taught him life lessons besides "just say yes" and "run." Kalego clearly cares a lot while also helping iruma navigate the netherworld making it easy for him to project a father role onto kalego

But kalego isn't an affectionate man from what we have seen. And even if he was, he is his instructor first and foremost so he may not feel comfortable being so with iruma (and also imagine the fucking annoying comments about favoritism from the other misfits LOL). Any touching has been fairly limited to him picking up Iruma like during the teacher dorm visits and Kalego's final hours as a familiar. Which honestly make these few scenes even more precious. Because he is actively choosing to be like this with Iruma. Affection does not come easy to Kalego like it does Balam. More than likely because of his upbringing and family beliefs (always needing to remain vigilant, dignified) and him as a person. So while he doesn't touch Iruma often, his one on one moments with him are extremely personal and parental in nature. And when he does interact with Iruma physically, the rarity adds to the specialness.

And then there's Opera. Opera has been especially more affectionate in the latest volumes with hand holding and hugs and all sort of touching. Which is very wholesome to see because Opera wasn't a character that had much of a strong relationship with Iruma at the beginning besides guarding him. I always got the impression that Opera didn't know how to feel about him, not to say they wouldn't protect him with everything they have. But the feelings and affection started up after the battler/batra Party when Iruma grabbed both Sullivan and Opera (though the care for him had been growing steadily before that). I have seen two main headcannons for their relationship, some see it more as a big sibling relationship while others see it as a parental one as well. For the sake of this post, I will be using it as a parent and child one.

Opera has been right there with Sullivan watching Iruma grow more and more confident as time goes on. And through Iruma growing up, we see how proud of him Opera is. From a scared child to a more bold child, Opera has helped cultivate this in him. I also love that whenever Sullivan isn't around, Opera takes over for taking care of him, allowing the two to have solo family time. Obviously their relationship is more of a weird dynamic seeing as how Opera is a security devil, but that doesn't stop the story from developing their relationship. The physical affection for the two is started from both sides, Iruma hugging Opera or Opera holding out their hand to hold as they walk home. In this case, their relationship is the most parent like as the story progresses.

And finally, we have Sullivan who is the most affectionate of the four. Come on, you can't beat grandpa when it comes to love and devotion to Iruma. He is the first one to introduce Iruma to physical affection in the first place. Now granted, in a slightly overbearing way at first because Iruma is not used to this and Sullivan is too happy to have a grandson. But now, we can see the genuineness behind each of his interactions with Iruma. He very much acts like a doting grandfather, and he really does love him too. Touching clearly comes more naturally to him so it's his way of showing Iruma love which opened the doors for more people in Iruma's life to show this too. When Iruma first started touching Sullivan back at the battler/batra party, it highlighted that Iruma is now more comfortable with Sullivan to do so back. He has been taught by Sullivan this way of caring and cares about him in the same way too. There's a lot of mutual love.

They have come a long way as a family unit. Sure, grandpa has always been Iruma's number one supporter, but at the beginning of the story it felt way too over the top? As the audience we were right there besides Iruma in feeling overwhelmed by Sullivan. This far into the story though, the emotional trust they have in each other is beautiful. They are no longer just two individuals thrown together by fate, they are two people who care about the other and their weird little family. And its even more wonderous when we think about Sullivan's past, having lost someone deeply close to him and has no way of knowing if he'll ever return (aka Delkira). From what we know, it seemed that Sullivan truly loved him like a son/grandson/family member and loosing him is still something he's grappling over. And yet, he was still able to create this, push through his pain to make a family with Iruma. He's not a replacement for what he lost, but somone he allows himself to care about in a similar way in the past. By pushing through the trauma, he has been able to give Iruma what he never had in his past life.

I see both Balam, Kalego, and Opera as parents who provide him with different styles of parenting (with grandpa also providing that but also being a "ill give you anything you want" guardian hehe). Through this, he can learn varied viewpoints and, more importantly to this post, the affection he never had as a child. Does it make up for never having grown up with it? No, it never could. But it's not about making up for what it lost, rather its about making new connections and love with what you have now. And displaying that love in small and bigger ways with touch.

URGENT: KOSA GOING TO HOUSE TODAY!!

[ID: a screenshot of a discord message from user @Taikeero-Lecoredier which reads: "@everyone

‼️URGENT: KOSA has been officially introduced in the House as of today.

We need to spread the word on social media and urge people to send emails to Congress through stopkosa.com.

https://www.stopkosa.com/

• There will be a hearing on Wednesday (17th April) where KOSA, along with some other bad internet bills, like the Protecting Kids on Social Media Act could be pushed.

• We will be having a calling day on TUESDAY (16 th April) to make clear to Congress that there is still a ton of opposition to these bills.

https://energycommerce.house.gov/posts/chair-rodgers-and-ranking-member-pallone-announce-legislative-hearing-on-data-privacy-proposals-1

• House Energy and Commerce is holding the hearing so they are the best offices to call this week ‼️

https://energycommerce.house.gov/representatives

DONT FORGET: You can go to what-to-write-and-say and check pins to know what to say !!

• You can use http://badinternetbills.com/ to contact your congress people!

• And https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative to find all of the phone numbers of your House Representative, and faxzero.com to send up to 5 free faxes a day

SPREAD THE WORD !!" End ID]

^^ PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD AND CALL, EMAIL AND FAX YOUR REPS ASAP!!

here's another site where you can find your Reps if the one provided above gives you trouble.

here's a perma link to the Stop Internet Censorship Discord, where there are loads of resources and petitions to sign and actions you can take to keep the Internet censorship free.

edit: to be clear, KOSA hasn't skipped the Senate vote. in order to become law, KOSA still needs positive votes from both the Senate and the House, which is why it is being introduced to the House today. while KOSA still has lots of support from the Senate, much of the House still either opposes it or is neutral.

don't panic, and don't give up! just keep sending emails, faxing and calling. raise your voices! make yourselves heard!

small update from Sarah @ Fight For the Future, since people are getting confused abt what this means concerning KOSA's status as a bill:

[ID: a screenshot of a discord message from sarah @ fight for the future which reads: "FYI: since folks are confused, KOSA still hasn’t had a vote in the Senate nor has it passed the Senate yet. It STILL NEEDS senate approval, but they have to introduce it in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Today, it was introduced in the House. The situation in the Senate is the same (over 60 cosponsors, awaiting a vote). So we are expanding our targets to include the House.

We know there has been so much confusing news about KOSA in the last year (and the US Congress is purposely confusing in general) but we can’t panic, we just have to keep fighting back against these bills when they’re moving. Y’all are doing great work and y’all taking action is the REASON KOSA hasn’t passed yet and has been rewritten so many times. It really is having an impact even if it’s hard to see. Thank you for all you’re doing! Let’s stay focused 🌟" End ID]

i added this to the og post in an edit, the replies, and in a reblog in my own words, but i'm adding this as a screenshot just in case my wording wasn't clear enough. we're doing a good job, guys. don't panic, and don't give up!

Reblog for a larger sample size!

No "show results", if you're not a fanfic writer just be patient.

I saw a post about an anon saying it was embarrasing to have an ao3 account in your 30s (it's absolutely not), so I want to do a poll and see what the age range actually is.

Hate to be like this but please reblog for size I wanna see how crazy this can get <3

i love how people have started to learn how these polls usually go and are starting to try and make them sensible instead

Please enjoy this updated meme:

a modest proposal

[ID text–

Various images of the smiling Pillsbury Doughboy with accompanying text:

End ID.]

All these are references to some belief systems and their connections to food, around the world:

This year (2023) all four of the above religious observances fall within close proximity of each other, in the month of April.

Reblogging because it's that time of year again.

This year (2024) all four of the above are still in fairly close proximity to each other, although they cross over from March into April:

‌

Oh Ramadan already started. Happy Ramadan everyone

URGENT HELP NEEDED PLEASE HELP MY FAMILY TO EVACUATE GAZA

Hello, I'm from Gaza City because of the war,my house was destroyed. We lost everything,my family and I did not have anything left. We left our homes in search of a safe place and we were displaced three times to different places to survive, but unfortunately there's no safe place in Gaza. My mother is very sick and she's a kidney failure patient in need of treatment outside. She suffers from LS. Help me and my family to survive. Please, your small donation can make a huge difference. A friend outside Gaza has come in to help me run the donation program so that my mother can be evacuated

My goal is $13560/17800

CLICK HERE TO DONATE AND SAVE LIFE

This account is a scammer trying to manipulate the situation in Gaza for their own benefit, please report them for spam.

In case you lost it - a link to the eSIM donation guide. Even if you feel sick and powerless, you can at least do this. And even if you really, really can't donate, you can always at least share this and remind others.

https://gazaesims.com/esim-purchase-tutorial/

the lowest tier, which costs 9 dollars, offers a week of connection while the very next, 16 dollars, will provide a full month of contact with the world to someone who desperately needs it. this is not some idle step. an entire month is a huge length of time for people who are displaced, terrified, and isolated.

Have an angsty KHR AU (Playing fast and loose with flame lore and characterization. Also, I haven't figured out what the 10th Gen Guardians are doing during all this, but whatever it is, it involves So Many miscommunications.)

The AU:

Tsuna doesn't want to be a mafia boss. He hates the violence, he hates the danger, he hates knowing that if he messes up, it can get people killed.

But no one really listens to him. Not even Reborn, who just sees Tsuna's whole "I don't want to be a mafia boss" thing as a sort of juvenile rebellion phase.

(But it's not. Every time one of Tsuna's people comes home hurt, every time Tsuna has to inflict harm on the battlefield, every time Tsuna is exposed to the casual cruelty of the underworld, it damages something inside of him. It scars his soul. He hates it. He does not want to be a mafia boss.)

And then Timoteo's health declines. (These next two paragraphs were heavily inspired by Break These Chains on Me by Luki on AO3.) Tsuna, knowing his time is running out and absolutely desperate, tries to make plans to get tf out. Maybe he signs up for civilian university. Maybe he makes plans to travel. Maybe he tries to create a fake identity to just run. And Tsuna, who has learned to rely on and trust Reborn -- after everything, how could he not -- confides in him about these plans.

And Reborn -- who has never really understood why Tsuna hates the mafia -- thinks this is one last (highly irritating) attempt at a teenage rebellion. It's not entirely unexpected, what with the weight of being Don Vongola looming over Tsuna's shoulders. And so, in a true Disappointed Reborn fashion, he responds with a harsh but effective lesson. He plays along with Tsuna's escape plans for a bit, and then. And then. It's the day Tsuna plans to vanish, and Reborn sits Tsuna down at the table, with Xanxus and Timoteo, and tells Tsuna if he doesn't fall in line Bad Things are gonna happen to his people.

(Reborn does not intend this to be an actual threat. It's supposed to be a slap on the wrist. A sort of, "Yeah, you're a teenager, but you need to start conducting yourself more seriously, knock it off before I actually get mad." Sure, Vongola is threatening to kidnap Tsuna's mom, but the kidnappers are just going to take her out for tea and cake and a spa night, and when Tsuna shows up to rescue her she'll be fine. The real punishment will be the physical path to go get her -- Reborn has an Embarrassing Obstacle Course TM planned.

And so on, for all of Tsuna's precious ones.

Reborn does not consider that Tsuna might actually believe the severity of the threats. After all they've been through, after all they've done for each other, Reborn knows Tsuna would never believe that Reborn could actually hurt Tsuna's people.)

But Tsuna. Well, Tsuna's on a different page. This life is killing him, slowly, and when Reborn tells him that he never intended to help Tsuna escape, it hits Tsuna like a full-on betrayal. And while mere minutes before, Tsuna knew that Reborn would never even dream of harming Tsuna's people, Tsuna no longer can trust this. Tsuna fully and absolutely believes that Reborn's threats are real, and that there will be permanent consequences if he doesn't comply.

It gets worse.

Tsuna thought Reborn actually cared about him. Reborn had, slowly but inevitably, become something like a father to Tsuna. But in that moment, Tsuna realizes that he actually was just a job all along.

And Xanxus. Tsuna also thought Xanxus cared about him. He thought they had come to an understanding. He thought they were starting to become brothers, of a sort -- bonded by battle and trauma and shared responsibilities, by nights complaining to each other over dinner or over the phone. And as Tsuna sits across from them, hearing his people threatened and knowing he is, in fact, going to be forced to Italy, he comes to believe that none of that new brotherhood was real.

And Tsuna realizes he has no choice. He never had a choice. He will end up in Italy, as Don Vongola, no matter how much it is going to kill him inside.

And worse: the people he has come to love clearly do not love him back. If they did, they would not be doing this to him. And sitting at that kitchen table, seeing the disappointment in Reborn and Xanxus' eyes, he knows that he is never going to be enough.

But he knows, he knows, that he isn't going to survive Italy without having them in his life supporting him. Because even if they don't love him, he does, truly, love them.

And he comes to the conclusion that if he remains as he is -- weak, useless Tsuna -- not only will he inevitably lose them, but he just flat out won't survive the life stretching out (long, so long, and so so desolate) before him.

So he uses his flames.

He images the mafia boss that they want him to be (as he perceives it). He thinks about all the characteristics they must want him to have, all the things they expect him to want, and he conjures an image of this better Tsuna in his mind. And then he harmonizes with it, becomes one with this false image of himself.

But it doesn't work, not all the way. There are still bits of him, the original, weak, disappointing Tsuna left. He can feel it, in the dread at the thought of the life before him. In the shocked-hurt he feels at this betrayal. In the agony of knowing that they don't care about him, they never cared about him, they only care about his title.

So he puts those bits of himself in ice.

And suddenly, the years ahead don't seem so bad. Suddenly, the betrayal seems reasonable -- after all, wasn't he acting so silly, so juvenile, trying to escape like that. Suddenly, it doesn't matter that they don't love him back -- of course they don't, why would they love him? -- all that matters is he loves them. As long as he keeps himself in check, and matches their expectations, nothing is wrong.

Tsuna looks at them, sitting across the table, and complies with their demands.

Reborn does, for a moment, think that it happens a bit too easily. There's none of the usual screeching, no dragging of the heels, no protests. Right then, Reborn fully expects it to boil over at some point in the future. (He thinks, maybe, that Tsuna is playing along now, but will have a teenagery-protest again as it gets closer to the time they leave for Italy.)

(It never happens.)

Reborn thinks, merely, that Tsuna has put on the mantle of maturity. It's a little ahead of schedule of what he was expecting, but then again, Tsuna has always exceeded expectations.

Time passes. Timoteo's health declines. He dies. Tsuna goes to Italy, and becomes a mafia boss.

(It's a golden age. Tsuna is just as compassionate and selfless and determined as Reborn always knew he would be. There is a peace, unlike anything the underworld has ever seen, because of his rule.

This peace is a result of the core of Tsuna peeking out. It always would have happened.)

It's five years into Tsuna's reign before people begin to realize that something is really, really wrong with Tsuna.

They do figure it out, eventually. And when they do, when they realize what happened and what caused it, it breaks them, just as much as they broke Tsuna all those years ago.