#[ because texting in japan is basically email ]

[causalitylinked]

    Given the fact she was such a hopeless romantic, hearing Rindo confirm he meant it in a platonic way did admittedly sting, but at the same time, Herja believes it was for the best; after all, even if he did happen to reciprocate her crush on him, she probably wouldn't be able to juggle both work and romance at the same time. To that end, she'll then wave her hands this way and that to assure him it was alright. "I-It's fine, truly! I simply have a habit of getting lost in my delusions; besides, it was my fault for daring to get my hopes up to begin with," Herja insists before furrowing her brows and perching her curled fingertips beneath her chin in pensive rumination.

    "...Interesting. Then since there isn't a dress code, I shall wear what's most comfortable according to the weather at the time," she decides. Of course, aside from gym clothes or fitness wear, Herja didn't exactly have any outfits that weren't considered professional attire, but she figures as long as it wasn't too hot or cold, she could pull off a green wool pantsuit without drawing too much attention to herself.

    "Still, I never realized cafés were establishments that contained beds for customers as well. Why, it makes me wonder exactly how big Enchante must be if there's enough space to house both a dining area and living quarters... but I digress! Anyways, regarding the matter of location... would you be comfortable picking me up at a condominium apartment called Sadohara Flats? It's near Sotobori-Dori Road... though, if you would much prefer me emailing you the address, I have no qualms doing so." Naturally, she'll begin pulling out her phone just in case Rindo required an address, but held off on doing anything until he either told her he knew where that was or needed a proper address so he wouldn't get lost.

Rindo smiled sheepishly as she went through her outburst, preparing to apologize for using that word again. It was a little frustrating how he kept making that mistake knowing the implications it held to her. But that smile faded a touch when he overheard her muttering about returned feelings. He wondered if he was really leading her on with all of this, though he couldn't deny the way his own heartbeat seemed to quicken at the knowledge.

Even still, he knew better. Even if she was involved in his life now, he didn't want to get her deeper in than she had to be. And he lived a dangerous life. What was he going to do if he was killed on the field someday? What was she going to do if she lost him to a nonhuman...? Type 3 nonhumans were still a major problem in the world, even if their most recent debacle had been held with Type 1s. Or even worse yet, what would happen if he somehow ended up in the same situation as Shizuku...? He didn't even want to consider that potential.

Furthermore, there was also that to think about. Herja didn't know about Shizuku yet, and if they were to enter into a relationship she would almost certainly have to learn at some point about it. How would she feel about him then? Would she hate him? Would she demand he do something about it? What about Mikado? Would she do something to him, too...? He hadn't even hidden how he felt about Shizuku or her current form in front of Kotone. He certainly wouldn't do as much in front of Herja...

Even if he cared about her, even if he wanted to entertain the idea of a relationship, it was just too risky...

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I keep using that word when I know how it makes you feel. I do mean as friends, as usual, and I will endeavor to stop using it if I can. I don't want to hurt you at all. As for what to wear, you can choose anything you're most comfortable in. I myself will likely just be in something like this, since I'll technically be on work duty. Enchante is a classy establishment, but since everyone who frequents it lives there, the air is very casual. Next Saturday... Yes, I think that'll work just fine. I'll set up my calendar to make sure I'm going to be visiting on that day. Would you like me to pick you up from anywhere?"

[centrally-unplanned]

Japanese website Forest Page is shutting down ~today, a tragic loss of "Heisei otaku memories", as so many are calling it. Launched in 2003, Forest Page was a "Geocities for mobile", a site that hosted user-created websites and gave them tools to allow non-coders to make them. In practice, it became one of the premiere places for fanfiction in Japan, with the stories hosted on author-created sites.

It wasn't quite the Fanfic.net of Japan, as for one the Japanese fandom just never centralized quite the way the 2000's western one did, instead being spread out over a half dozen or so sites. But additionally, it wasn't initially popular for fanfic so much as cell phone fanfiction, because in 2000's Japan the "cell phone novel" was a specific thing. These websites were being made for flip phones, not smartphones, and not only would people read them on those phones, they would often write them. None of that was very conducive to the creation and consumption of a "traditional" novel; so starting in the 2000's Japanese writers started making stories fit for the medium, namely:

Very short

A huge focus on dialogue and inner thoughts, with no/minimal description or scene detail

Using a limited POV of a specific character

Often employing the medium-as-message, like using emojis, structuring the story as IM's or emails, etc.

Also they all had huge gaps between lines, I'm not really sure what that is about:

Probably for readability on the phone given the small screen size? But it was absolutely part of the genre. A few of these novels actually made it big, got movie adaptations, people wrote articles about the "cultural phenomenon", it was the 2000's so Hiroki Azuma had a take on it of course, and so on. It slotted neatly into the vibe of the time of technology changing culture, paralleling discourse around otaku in the same era.

In fanfic those trends met up, and anyone familiar with fanfiction probably read that list of traits of the cellphone novel and thought "oh, this is perfect for fanfiction". Skipping out on description? I don't need it, I know what they look like already. Focus on conversation and POV? Perfect for shipping fics. Short lengths? Yeah, we are shortcutting to the good stuff, that is the point. Mirroring trends in the west, Forest Page's userbase was ~95% female, and the most common content on the site was romantic or edgy-dramatic stories in the franchises you'd expect. The closure page linked above actually summarizes the site's history by year, and lists the biggest fandoms:

Which is exactly what I would expect from a female otaku fanfiction website. Congrats to Pirates of the Caribbean for making it though, freeaboo's represent.

I do think the fact that the site was a website hoster as opposed to a fic hoster did align with the way the Japanese fandom was more "creator focused" and embraced the media mix more. There were "fic circles" a la doujin circles who made their own pages, people would make fanart, fan video games, and so own to host alongside it, and all of it was centralized to the creator; it made following them-as-a-person just a little bit easier. Most websites were simple text, but others did have the full Geocities experience:

Something that was somewhat common were basic visual novel concepts where the reader could make choices, or even insert their own name so they would be the "MC" of the story:

(Dream novels are in fact their own thing in Japan) My understanding is the site was quite popular through the 2000's and into the 2010's, though over time the "cellphone novel" as a concept fizzled out. People got smartphones, more people got PCs, and the constraints didn't make sense anymore - you can read ebooks and normal websites on your phone now after all. You can probably draw a line between these kind of stories and the webfiction/light novel boom of the late 2000's/2010's, something that was equally born on the internet, that streamlines the novel to "shortcut to the good stuff" but without the need to fit on a flip phone's screen. Though I will admit my own understanding of their histories shows them more as two sides of the same "youth demand for new literature" coin.

In 2017 Forest Page launched Forest Page Plus, a new service fully optimized for the smartphone era; but it did not transfer over all the old content, starting the clock ticking on the original Forest Page. My understanding is that in June they announced Forest Page was officially closing down; and from what I have gathered from reminiscing writers on twitter, they did not provide any easy, one-touch way to save any of the content, so people are archiving Wayback Machine links or sharing tips on how screenshot-save stories (I think the rub is they gave people a way to transfer content to FP+, but most don't want to do that, as places like Twitter & Pixiv are the content kings of this era).

As of tomorrow I would bet the large majority of the content will be gone; quite sad given both the quantity of stories there and how many got sometimes millions of readers. I am sure most of the biggest stories are archived at least, but particularly the early stuff was a very ephemeral genre, one that doesn't make sense to revisit once you aren't a 16 year old teen writing and reading fics on a flip phone in between classes. Which means another legion of the ghosts of the Wired is being born today. May we pour one out for a fellow online community that lived and died!

[lycheesuwa]

Sunrise Part 1: First Spring 

Listen to: Cruel Summer (Taylor Swift: LOVER album), August (Folklore Album)

Osamu x Reader x Suna [Fluff/ Angst]

Summary: You're childhood friends with Suna Rintarou, hoping it could lead to something more.

This story is heavy Suna in the beginning (Osamu does not appear until chapter 3)

Featuring: Wakamoto Family (random family name)

(2234 words)

Part 1: First Summer 

Ice-blue frost crunching under your feet for the third week of March between school years was a dreary way to end junior high. The worst part was that he hadn't even told you it was his last day, even though you believed to be his friend for the past six years.  

Suna Rintarou was moving from Nagoya to Hyōgo.

You didn’t keep up with him in highschool well because you couldn’t bring yourself to text him first and Suna was not great at messaging. You did find out through a bit of digging on twitter that he was on the Inarizaki volleyball team, and they even made it to the quarter-finals in your first and third years. After looking through the 60-odd accounts he followed on twitter, you stalked the few that looked interesting. The first was Miya Atsumu, and who you assumed was his brother Osamu. Then there was a guy who was notable in Japan as a national under-19 Ace named Watanabe Tenji, and the last was a girl who had only her profile picture and one retweet on Inarizaki getting third in your final year of highschool. She only followed Suna, but the rest of his teammates followed her. You hoped she wasn’t his girlfriend, although you were certain that Suna would be more public about it if he did have a girlfriend. 

The blue bird leered at you as if to tell you that of course Suna would tweet about it. Of course. 

When taking exams for university, you settled on applying to schools in Hyōgo, specifically with good volleyball teams too. You could try and convince yourself it wasn’t for the possibility of seeing Suna, but you knew the truth, and you’d never win that argument. Luckily, you got into Kobe University. You’ve just gotten the acceptance letter, gilded in gold, and are checking your phone in your room to see your emails.

“(Y/n)!” Your mother calls you. “There’s going to be a party at the Wakamoto’s house this weekend, and there’s a rumor that the Sunas will be visiting— you remember their son, Rintarou, right?”

Your mom is asking as if you could forget. His lazy gaze as he lifted his head to pretend to engage just a fraction in classes he was interested in, but his hair nesting into his arms for literature. How he was one of those kids who was always just a little bit taller than the rest of the grade. He was your first crush. You were one of the only girls he talked to (because you talked to him first once, to ask what he was listening to on his music player), and as a result you became friends. He’d share new music he found, even if the songs were released the day before or ten years old. You kept up with music as you could, although you weren’t particularly blessed with musical talent yourself.

When you were ten, in your head, Suna had basically been your boyfriend.

So seeing him, all 185cm of him, in the Wakamoto’s backyard, at 18 years old, muscles hidden under a dark blue hoodie but his body structure burned into your brain as you trace his shoulders and biceps with your eyes, is a surprise. A treat too, but a surprise. You spend most of the night sneaking glances at him, his phone held in hand as he slouches against a lawn chair. His thumb is mindlessly scrolling across his phone screen, a small pinch in his brow as his finger swipes.

You’ve debated breaking the illusion of Suna Rintarou in your mind. Would he be anything close to what you assumed he was like in your head? Would he even entertain a conversation with you? The only way to find out would be to initiate the conversation, but even that might be too much. He’s so different although still he acts the same. You can barely see how golden-green his eyes look in the sunlight with how heavy his lids are as his thick lashes obscure his orbs further.

Yeah, Suna’s an enigma to you. You’re infatuated with a version of him that’s fake, and you want to change that. The night is falling quickly though, and a bonfire begins to form as kids run off into the woods to gather sticks, but before your mother can make you clean up with the Wakamoto kids, you head over and sit opposite Suna in a lawn chair. His eyes flicker to your face but then back to his phone.

“Hello, Suna-san,” you greet him.

“Hey,” he says back, looking up to stare into your eyes. “(Y/l/n)... right?” 

You know he’s being polite. There’s no way you’ve changed enough for him to not recognize you, plus you were awarded last year with a follow back when you retweeted something he posted about a band you both like.

“It’s… been a while,” you awkwardly rub your hands together.

He nods, and the corner of his mouth quirks up for just a second.

“How have you been? It’s been a while since we last talked,” you say, desperate to move the conversation anywhere other than not talking at all.

“I’m good… still playing volleyball,” he offers.

You smile at him, giving him what you hope is your prettiest smile and that he notices. “I saw you got third at nationals this year! Congratulations.”

“Thanks. I think I’m going to continue it.” He sticks his hands into his pockets, phone discarded as he tilts his head towards you. “I’m going to Kobe University.”

Your mouth falls open. “I got accepted there, too!”

Suna’s half smile is there again, and he nods slowly. “That would be cool if we went to school together. It’d be like the old times.”

“I agree,” you add, shyly. 

Suna runs a hand through his hair, the back sticking up more even though he tried to flatten it with his fingers. He looks like he wants to say something but can’t find the words to.

“Wanna steal a beer bottle and sit on the roof?” you ask.

The corner of his mouth lifts again. “Sure. I’ll meet you up there.”

“I’ll get the beer.”

You scramble to acquire the necessary item, and meet him about ten minutes later. He’s laying across the roof, away from the back yard so no one sees you guys. Even though he had to climb out of the bathroom window, he probably did it more easily than you since he’s tall. That or he climbed the trellis on the side of the house near the wisteria plant.

From your own lavender hoodie pocket, you pull out the single can of sapporo premium beer you found in the garage refrigerator.

Taking turns with the can, you begin to loosen up. Talking about music helps too since you’re both interested in the same bands, although the tastes have split a little bit. You’re still very much into (insert favorite genre), and he’s more focused on EDM edits, but of course you still like his artist suggestions, and he seems to reciprocate yours.

The night is falling fast, stars littering the sky as you eventually finish the can and lean back onto the cold shingles of the roof.

“Kinda wish you moved to Hyogo too,” Suna says. “Or we were in the countryside, because the stars out there are way more gorgeous.”

“I don’t think I've ever looked at the stars like this,” you admit. “It’s just something that I read about.”

“Falling stars are the best,” Suna says, surprisingly gently, even with his raspy voice that sort of keeps your senses heightened. His voice had dropped beautifully, and you’re jealous that it’s so perfect for his laid-back personality.

“I’ve never seen one,” you say.

“Just keep watching. I’m sure you can.” Suna puts his arms behind his head to elevate himself a fraction.

You watch the sky instead of Suna since he’s stopped talking, and feel yourself drifting to sleep. The night is dark and endless, a deep purple-blue haze behind your eyelashes. As your eyelids flutter between threatening sleep and your consciousness reminding you that you’re on the roof, a single star bleeds across the sky.

“There!” Suna points, like he’s eight years old again and watching a V. League game for the first time.

You follow the star as it falls towards the right, and your gaze lands on Suna. His eyes are fully shut, a small frown marring his features as his eyebrows push together in concentration.

“What’s wrong?” you asked.

Suna waits a moment before his eyes open a crack and he sheepishly says, “I was making a wish.”

“Looked intense,” you say, but smirk at how cute and childish the gesture is.

“It’s something another friend of mine started, and like a dog I start salivating when I hear the bell, except it’s making a wish on a falling star.”

You’re surprised he can even reference the psychological experiment of Pavlov's. Maybe you hadn’t given Suna enough credit when you were younger. You always assumed he hated school, especially a class lesson like psychology. But, afterall, three years is a long time to change.

“Are you seeing anyone?” You ask quietly, apprehensive of what comes after, a breeze stinging your face as if to remind you that you're approaching a pipe dream, and to settle for the harsh truth that someone like Suna Rintarou won't see you like that.

“Dating is overrated,” Suna shrugs.

“I don’t think so,” you say quickly. You don’t want to give up on the chance that Suna could be your first boyfriend. He could be your first and only boyfriend… if he’d like for that to be true too.

“I guess I’m just thinking more about volleyball than a relationship, so it’s not for me,” Suna says.

You don't mean to pout.

He turns to look at you and gauge your reaction. That smirk is back as he props himself into one arm, and looks down. “Seems like you're thinking hard.”

“Well yeah. Here's this guy who I used to be friends with and he's a grown-ass man now,” you retort. “but he's telling me he cares too much about an inanimate object to—”

“You wanna make out?” Suna cuts you off.

Your eyes widen but you reach your hand towards his face. “Yeah.”

Your teeth clash before your lips can meet and after only a second he shoves his entire tongue down your throat. It's messy, and sloppy, and there's saliva dripping down your chin— but you're kissing Suna Rintarou.

And he's kissing you back. 

The wind stills since you won against the universe telling you otherwise. You won't let Suna be an enigma.

The spring break goes by too fast. You're… sort of dating Suna? Is that what you call it? It's not like he takes you on dates, but rather his family is staying in Aichi for a few weeks to help their cousins who are moving to Nagoya, and he'll ditch his family to go to your house. 

There you cuddle and learn about his friends from highschool, mostly the volleyball club, and after a sufficient amount of small talk, you'll lean in or he will, and make out.

For the entire summer your lips taste sweet with Suna's saliva. He doesn't go further though, and only having recently turned 18, you're not sure you want to yet either. But your hands will travel across his toned body, biceps, pecs, abs, thighs— nothing escapes your touch. Suna’s equally as thoughtful in making sure to touch you; your chest, back, stomach, legs, and sometimes his hands will fall against your neck and his thumb will gently massage the other side, his long fingers making it so easy to gently choke you. But that's as far as it goes.

“Ne, Suna,” you say. “It's almost the end of break… are we going to continue this?”

You're wrapped under his arm as you lay in your twin bed, head on his chest, an earbud in and listening to a new J-pop ep-album he found recently.

Suna lifts his hand to grab his phone and pause the music. “Hmm,” he hums in thought. “I guess long distance would be hard.”

“Long distance? I thought we were both going to Kobe.”

“I got a better scouting offer from Shizuoka,” he admits. “I… I should have told you sooner, I guess.”

“It's fine,” you say. It's not. You hate the fact that you're going to school to be near him, and he's going to be a four-hour drive away. It's cruel of him to leave like this, but you understand that he wants to pursue his career. 

“Sorry,” he mumbles.

You shake your head. It's not even like you're really dating. Although… maybe you should clarify with him. “What was this break? What… What are we, I guess?”

Suna doesn't respond for a long while and you tilt your head up to make sure he's awake still. His eyes are staring into the ceiling but he looks like he's in thought. “I don't know,” he says finally. “Guess we're just friends who make out a bit.”

“And when we go to school we'll be friends who don't make out a bit?” You prompt.

“Sure,” he agrees, and he pulls you in for another kiss. “But we can make out now.”

--

AN. Characters belong to Furudate, I do not own haikyuu

[queenbumbles21]

ʟᴇᴛᴛᴇʀꜱ ɪɴ ꜰʀᴀɴᴄᴇ, ꜱᴏ ʟᴇᴛ’ꜱ ᴅᴀɴᴄᴇ ✰ ᴋᴀᴛꜱᴜᴋɪ ʙᴀᴋᴜɢᴏ

Theme: Fluff

★ Letters to your series

A/n: sorry I haven’t been posted in a while, collage is really takes up your time and give a lot of work in just one day, I kind of expected this though, so I might not be able to post as much as I used to, but I’ll try my best. I hope you understand!

Dear Brat,

I’m writing you a basic ass letter because the dame power in Japan went down.

We were informed that people won’t be able to communicate through messages any time soon, it might take a year.

Get used to these shitty letters cause I won’t be able to text you back that includes emails.

And with that being said, how is the internship in France with that extra pro hero- whatever their face is.

It's a bit weird not seeing you around, cause ya always around to annoying the hell out of me.

I'm not sure how to end these letters so, you better come back safely, or I’ll kick your ass.

—

From - your Suki (what a dumbass nickname you gave me... your always on my mind)

[queenbees21]

ʟᴇᴛᴛᴇʀꜱ ɪɴ ꜰʀᴀɴᴄᴇ, ꜱᴏ ʟᴇᴛ’ꜱ ᴅᴀɴᴄᴇ ✰ ᴋᴀᴛꜱᴜᴋɪ ʙᴀᴋᴜɢᴏ

Theme : Fluff

★ Letters to you series

A/n : sorry I haven’t been posted in a while, collage is really takes up your time and give a lot of work in just one day, I kinda expected this though, so I might not be able to post as much as I used to but I’ll try my best. I hope you understand!

Dear Brat,

I’m writing you a basic ass letter because the dame power in Japan went down.

We were informed that people won’t be able to communicate through messages any time soon, it might take a year.

Get used to these shitty letters cause I won’t be able to text you back that includes emails.

And with that being said, how is the internship in France with that extra pro hero- whatever their face is.

It's a bit weird not seeing you around, cause ya always around to annoying the hell out of me.

I'm not sure how to end these letters so, you better come back safely, or I’ll kick your ass.

—

From - your Suki (what a dumbass nickname you gave me.. your always on my mind)

[pinkczennie]

Male escort | Johnny (m)

Summary: After getting your heart broken, you hire a male escort to spend Christmas with you.

Pairings: male escort!Johnny x female reader

Genre: fluff, a tiny bit of angst (breakup), smut

Word count: 5k 

Warnings: mature language, explicit sexual content, fingering, protected sex

Notes: I don’t know how escorts work completely so I’m just using my imagination and assuming based on a film I was inspired by. This is my first fic in a while so I hope you guys like it! 

Tag list: @commentgirl​ 

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

Great. Just great, you thought to yourself.

Today is December 19, just a few days away from Christmas. You just finished work for the day and you were counting down the days until you get to spend Christmas with your boyfriend.

That was until your boyfriend said he wanted to break up with you.

You felt your heart shattering as he broke the news to you and tears threatening to escape your eyes. Honestly, you should have seen this coming because it explains why he hasn’t been spending much time with you lately and the texts became less frequent but you just assumed he was busy. 

You walked back to your apartment that day feeling completely numb. You couldn’t believe your boyfriend of two years just broke up with you, a few days away from Christmas nonetheless. That evening, you stayed in bed crying your eyes out. Thankfully, your roommate was staying over at her boyfriend's apartment for the night, so you wailed and cried your heart out. You didn’t eat or drink anything at all and you probably would have dehydrated and starved yourself had it not been for the ping coming from your phone, signaling a text message.

You peered at your phone, a piece of you hoping it was your boyfriend messaging you to say that he’s sorry, that he made a mistake, and wanted you back.

Unfortunately, it was just your roommate.

My joy, Sooyoung <3: Hey can you open the door for me pls? I need to grab something real quick from my room but I forgot my keys at jaehyun’s apartment as he was driving me here lol

Wiping your tear-filled eyes, you got up slowly from bed with what little strength you had left and dragged your feet out of your room and to the front door without checking your appearance in the mirror first. 

You arrive at the front door and open it for your roommate to enter. 

“Hey girl, sorry about th-”

When Sooyoung and Jaehyun both got a good look at you, their eyes widened at the sight of your appearance.

There was a crumpled up tissue in your hand, your hair was a mess, and your eyes were red.

“Y/n...are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Her question triggered tears to flow out again. No, you were not okay.

“Lucas, broke up with me,” you said quietly, trying not to have a breakdown in front of the two.

“What?” Sooyoung gasps. “Oh no, y/n...come here.” 

Sooyoung engulfs you in a giant hug and you lean into her body as you silently cry into the tissue in your hands, not wanting to stain her jacket and hair with your tears.

“I’m sorry, y/n,” Jaehyun says as he places his hand on your shoulder. 

“Thanks, Jaehyun,” you croak out.   

“Do you want to talk about it?” Sooyoung asks. 

And that's how all three of you ended up in the living room. You sat on the couch with a bottle of water in your hand, which Soyoung thankfully got for you from the kitchen. Sooyoung sat by your side and Jaehyun sat by her side as you explained to the two about what happened.

“That piece of shit,” Sooyoung mutters, “I’m going to kick him in the balls if I ever see his face.”

Jaehyun rubs comforting circles around the top of Sooyoung’s hand with his thumb, trying to sooth his seething girlfriend. 

“It’s okay, Sooyoung. You don’t have to do that. He was a great boyfriend to me.” You soften as you reminisce about all the good memories you had with him during those two years, which only made your heart hurt more as you remember. 

“I’m just upset at the fact that he broke up with me so close to the holidays even though I had all these plans I made with him already. I bought us two tickets for the Christmas fair, I made prepaid reservations at a fancy restaurant, I even booked a hotel....” Your voice lowers to a whisper as you said that last part. 

“I don’t know what to do now since my flight to visit my parents won’t be until the day after Christmas because I already told them I was going to spend Christmas day with Lucas. All he could say was ‘sorry, but I don’t think I can continue with this relationship any longer’.” 

“I’m sorry, girl,” Sooyoung pats your shoulder. 

“It’s okay,” you sigh. “I guess I’ll just figure out what to do with the ticket and reservations since it looks like I’ll be spending my Christmas day here, eating ice cream and binge watching anime until my flight.” 

You’d offer it to Sooyoung and Jaehyun but you already knew they planned to go to a ski resort during Christmas, so you’ll have to find someone else who would want them.

“Is there maybe some other guy you could possibly go with?” Sooyoung suggests. 

You shake your head. “I’d rather not go with anyone I know just so it doesn’t get awkward and no one gets any strange ideas that I might be interested in them.”

Sooyoung turns to Jaehyun. “Hey, you have some single guy friends, right?”

“Yeah…” Jaehyun hesitantly nods.

“Do you have any guy friends who might be able to go with her? Like...Yuta?”

“He already went back to Japan to visit for the holidays.”

“What about Sicheng?”

“His flight to China is in three days.”

“Mark?”

“Canada.”

“Doyoung?”

“He’s recently been seeing someone.” 

Sooyoung sighs and taps her chin as she thinks of any other possible solution while you internally groan at the thought of having to spend Christmas single AND alone.

“But, if you want,” Jaehyun speaks up after a silent pause, “why don’t you hire a male escort?”

Both you and Sooyoung perk up at Jaehyun’s suggestion. 

“A male escort?” Sooyoung questions.

“Yeah. I knew one of my frat bros from college who hired a female escort. And don’t worry, escorts aren’t just for sex. You can just hire a guy as your fake boyfriend for a day just so you could have some company and your plans don’t have to go to waste. I can even ask him for the website he searched on.”

Sooyoung looks at you. “It’s just a suggestion. You don’t have to do it though.“  

Maybe it was just the loneliness that got to you, but you were honestly considering it. “I’ll keep it in mind.” 

After an hour, you felt bad for holding them up so you decided to end it there. At first, Sooyoung was hesitant to leave you alone, but you insisted because you already felt bad for making them stay for a whole hour listening to you.

“Alright then, we’re leaving now,” Sooyoung said at the door before gently squeezing your arm. “Make sure to eat something, drink some water, and shower before you go to bed tonight. And call me if you need anything, okay?”

“I will.”

And with that, the two left. 

You did as Sooyoung asked. You ate some ramen noodles because you didn’t have the stomach to eat much or cook anything, and finished a bottle of water. Then, you took a nice, warm shower, changed into a comfy pair of pajamas, and went to bed. After the rough day you had, you were able to knock out pretty quickly from exhaustion. 

------

You woke up the next day with swollen eyes, probably from all the crying last night. Instead of getting up, you just laid in bed staring at the ceiling. Your body felt heavy and you lacked any motivation to get up.

After a few minutes, you reached for your phone to check the time and any messages. It was currently 11:16 am. You received a couple of notifications since the last time you checked your phone. 

After looking through all your notifications, you decided to check Instagram. When you clicked on Lucas’s profile, your heart sank when you saw that he had already blocked you. You probably assume he already blocked your phone number and other social media accounts too. 

You were about to cry again at the thought, but then you remembered what Jaehyun said. 

A male escort.

Jaehyun sent you the website link the night before, just in case you wanted to take his suggestion. 

It took you a moment, before you said fuck it. 

You sat up from bed to retrieve your laptop on your desk beside the bed and brought it to your lap. You turned the laptop on and typed in the website link. 

Seekingescorts.com  

There were hundreds of escorts to choose from. Each of the escorts had pictures attached of what they looked like and basic information listed, such as their name, age, height, etc.

Thankfully, there were filters presented for you to narrow down the choices of escorts, such as gender preference, age window, and within a certain distance of your location. After filtering your preferences, the escorts were narrowed down to just seven people. You looked through the profiles of the available seven escorts and the third escort instantly caught your attention. 

 Name: Johnny Suh

Age: 25

Height: 6’0”

He looked extremely attractive in the photos provided, not that the other escorts weren’t attractive, but Johnny just seemed more your type.

After looking through the other escort’s profile, you knew for sure your mind was set on Johnny. You pressed on his profile, filled in the necessary information required, and clicked submit. 

Thank you for your submission. You will receive an email confirmation and a message from the escort you have chosen shortly. 

You did it. You actually hired an escort. 

A couple hours later after going about your day, you receive a text message from an unsaved number.

Hello, this is Johnny Suh. Thank you for hiring me as your escort on December 25 from 1pm to 11pm. I have read through the information you have given me and look forward to spending my time with you. Please let me know where you would like for us to meet and any other information I should know. 

After reading through his message, you reply back to him with the meeting location.  

There wasn’t any other communication sent between you two after that, other than a I’ll see you at 1pm, so you just counted down the days left until you would be spending Christmas with Johnny.

-----

Today is December 25. 

You looked at your phone. It was currently 12:58pm, two minutes before the time you were supposed to meet Johnny. 

You had a light layer of makeup on and dressed as nice and warm as possible because it was pretty cold today. Your heart pounded from nervousness as you thought of all the possible scenarios as to how the day will unfold while making your way to the designated meeting point that you and Johnny agreed on. Once you arrived, you stood there and stared at the people passing by as you waited for Johnny to arrive. 

As you stared at the people passing by, you suddenly began to hesitate, feeling dumb for hiring a male escort to pretend to be your boyfriend so you can spend your plans with someone that were originally supposed to be spent with your now ex-boyfriend.

What am I doing? You thought to yourself. This is stupid, I can’t believe I’m doing this. This was such a selfish and impulsive decision just because I didn’t want to be alone on Christmas. I should have just stayed home, not go out with some male escort I don’t even-

“Y/n?” 

You turn around at the mention of your name. 

Whoa. 

You stare up at the man that just called your name and you were absolutely speechless. 

Johnny looked just like in his photos, maybe even better in person. He could even pass off as a model. His hair was nicely styled and he was dressed in a long, beige coat, and black jeans. He was tall, had a sharp jawline, and the most mesmerizing eyes that you were slowly getting lost in. There were no words to describe this man other than absolutely stunning. 

“Are you y/n l/n?” Johnny asks, snapping you back into reality.

“Y-yes,” you stutter. 

“Hi, I’m Johnny.” He extends his hand out for you to shake with a gentle smile on his face. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.” You shake his hand. 

“You look really pretty today, y/n.”

You blush at the compliment. “Thank you. You look really good too.”

“Thanks,” he smiles. “Are you excited for today?” 

“Yeah. A little nervous as well,” you honestly confess. “I’ve never hired an escort before so I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

“Whatever you want to do, just let me know and I will happily do so. Also, if anything I do makes you feel uncomfortable, tell me and I will stop. My goal for today is to be the best boyfriend for you. Alright?” 

You nod, feeling a little less nervous at how easygoing he seems.

“What are we doing first today, my love?” he asks before taking one of your hands in his and presses a kiss to the top of your hands.

You swoon at his gesture before quickly pulling out the two tickets to the fair from your pocket and presenting it to him. 

Johnny looks at the pieces of paper in your hands. “The Christmas fair first? Alrighty then, let’s go!” 

And thus your day began with Johnny at the fair. You two played games, rode on the rides, and ate fried food together. For hours, it was just filled with fun and laughter. 

There were quite a few people, so Johnny would hold your hand to keep you by his side whenever you two would walk by a large crowd, making sure no one strays away from each other. 

For a second, it didn’t even feel like you were with an escort because Johnny was such a natural at playing the boyfriend role that there was never an awkward moment with him. It genuinely seemed like you two were just a couple going on a date to anybody looking. 

If Johnny was made of something, it would be boyfriend material. He was handsome, treated you like a princess, and a great conversationalist so there was never any awkward silence.

At around 5:30pm, it was time to leave the fair because you had a prepaid dinner reservation at 6pm. 

The restaurant was dimly lit and there was a pianist softly playing classical music at the back.

A waiter from the restaurant arrived to escort you both to your reserved table in the middle of the room. The table was surrounded by lit candles, roses, expensive silverware, and a bottle of wine. 

Johnny, like the gentleman he is, pulls your chair out for you to sit and pushes the chair back to the table after you sit down before he takes his seat. The waiter opens the wine bottle and pours both of you a drink. You both clink glasses and enjoy your meals while chatting throughout the dinner.

After dinner, the fancy restaurant was in the same building as the hotel you booked, so you checked in and then headed to the elevators up eight stories to your hotel room.

You both look around the nice hotel room in awe. There was a nice view of the city lights by the window, a single king-sized bed, and a large bathroom by the door.

There were a basket of flowers and a card that sat on the table. You went over to read the card and your heart clenches.

Welcome to the SME Hotel, y/n and Lucas. 

You forgot to call the hotel ahead of time to get his name removed or changed. 

You were so distracted by the card that you didn’t even notice Johnny looking over your shoulder, peering at the card in your hand that has your attention. He reads the card and notices the male name, ‘Lucas’, written after yours. Then, Johnny looks at you and notices your sad eyes.

Johnny walks in front of you and gently cups your face, grabbing your attention as he brings your face up to look at him.

“Is something wrong, my love?” he asks.

You look away from his gaze with a shake of your head. “Nothing’s wrong."

“Are you sure? Because you looked really upset reading that card. You can tell me if anything’s wrong.”

You stay quiet for a moment before you release a sigh.

“I was supposed to spend Christmas with my boyfriend. Well...ex-boyfriend now,” you explain. “He broke up with me a few days ago, even though we had all these plans together. I guess I just got a little upset when I saw his name on this card because I’m suddenly reminded that we’re no longer together.”

Johnny softens at your story and strokes your cheeks with his thumbs. “I’m sorry he did that to you. I know it hurts right now, but just know that the pain will slowly go away with time, and you will find someone new again.”

You nod with a sad smile. 

“But for today, you’re mine. So I don’t want you to be thinking about another man in front of me or I’ll get jealous.” 

You know Johnny is just playing the character of your boyfriend, but you couldn’t help but feel your heart skip a beat at his words. 

He takes the welcome card from your hand and places it back, face down, on the table.

“Come here.” He brings you into his warm embrace. You softly smile at his comforting gesture and hug him back.  

You both just stand there while hugging each other until an idea suddenly pops up into his head. “Hey, let’s get your mind off of him for a moment.” 

You look up at him with a raised eyebrow and tilt your head to the side at his words. 

Then, Johnny takes out his phone and clicks on the Spotify app. Suddenly, Taylor Swift featuring Shawn Mendes’s Lover plays. He turns the volume up to the highest setting before placing his phone on the table. Then, he turns to you and brings his hands out.

“Dance with me.” 

You stare at him for a second before looking down at his extended hands and slowly take his hands. 

We could leave the Christmas lights up ‘til January. This is our place we make the rules.

The dance began playful, filled with giggles and laughter as Johnny spun you around, doing elegant twirls. 

Can I go where you go? Can we always be this close? Forever and ever. 

As the song progresses, Johnny brings your head to rest against his head and you melt into his body. His arms wrap around your back and your arms wrap around him. You both close your eyes and silently listen to the song while your bodies slowly sway to the music.

See I finally got you now, honey. I won’t let you fall.

There was nothing on your mind right now except Johnny and the feeling of his body against yours and the steady beating of his heart against his chest. 

Oh, you’re my, my, my, my. Darling, you’re my, my, my, my lover. 

The music ends. 

You remove yourself from Johnny’s body to look up at him who was already staring down at you with a tender gaze. For a moment, you were both just lost in each other's eyes. Slowly, your eyes went from his eyes to his lips. 

You gulp. The longer you stared, the more you thought about leaning in to kiss his plump lips. Is it wrong to have such a strong desire to kiss another man a few days after getting dumped? 

“What are you thinking about right now?” he asks, his voice one octave lower, making you feel some type of way. 

“How much I want to kiss you,” you confess. You don’t know where this newfound confidence to say that sentence out loud came from, but knowing that you probably won’t be getting another opportunity like this any time soon, you threw all care out the window. 

Johnny leans in dangerously close with a smirk on his face. “Then do it.”

No one knows who leaned in first, but the next thing you know is that you’re both kissing each other. 

The kiss starts off gentle, like two lovers kissing each other for the first time again. Then, the kiss became more intense as Johnny’s arms wrap around your waist to pull you closer into his body and your arms cling onto Johnny’s shoulders.

Eventually, you both part ways to gasp for air without letting go of each other. You look up at Johnny with eyes full of lust and his eyes are just as dark as yours. The sexual tension was lingering in the air and you couldn’t take it anymore. You feel wetness pool in your underwear that you could no longer ignore and you desperately want him to do something about it.

“Johnny…” you breath out.

“Do you want to…” He didn’t finish his sentence but you already know where this is going.

“Are you sure? You’re not obligated to just because you’re-”

“You’re not forcing me to do anything. I want to do this,” he states. “Do you?”

You search his eyes for a bit before you reply, “Yes. I want you too.”

The verbal consent was enough for him to dive back in for another kiss. You wrap your arms around Johnny’s neck as you feel him lift you up with his arms and make his way over to the bed where he gently places you on your back without breaking the kiss. 

You shiver as Johnny stops kissing you and begins sucking open mouth kisses on your neck, but not leaving any marks in case you didn’t want any visible hickies on your skin.

He removes all your clothes, so you were completely bare in front of him. You become shy as Johnny’s large figure looms over you, his hungry eyes raking over your exposed body while he’s still fully clothed.

Johnny brings his face right in front of your chest and cups your soft mounds. A moan escapes your lips as he suddenly takes one of your erect nipples into his mouth and pinches the other one in between his fingers. As he continues to suck on your bud, you feel something poking your thigh, so your hand palms his erection and he shudders at the contact.

After a while, he removes himself from your breasts and starts taking his clothes off but keeps his pants on. 

You couldn’t help but stare at the sight in front of you because Johnny was built like a Greek god, sculpted by the finest artists. 

“Like what you see?” he smirks.

You nod. You weren’t even going to deny it and he chuckles at your honesty.

He brings two of his fingers to your awaiting entrance and you shudder.

“God, you’re fucking soaked,” he whispers into your ears. His sultry voice and fingers rubbing against your folds just made you even more wet.

He slowly pushes his two fingers inside of you and you bite back a moan. Oh god. 

“Let me hear you,” he says as he nibbles on your earlobe. “I want to know that I make you feel good.”

Johnny slowly thrusts his digits in and out of you as you release your moans that you could no longer hold in for him to hear. 

Once he thought that you were ready, he added a third finger and you grip the bedsheet from the additional intrusion.  

“Johnny,” you gasp as he brushes against your walls and hits that one spot that causes your body to arch against the bed.

“Right there,” you chant so he continues to rub against that spot.

You could already feel your orgasm starting to approach as your breathing becomes harsh and your wall clenches around his fingers as the pleasure continues to build up in your body.

You usually last longer than this, but something about doing this with Johnny, a somewhat stranger to you, an attractive stranger might you add, made it so much more thrilling. 

“I’m going to cum,” you warn him.

“Go ahead. Cum for me.” 

After a few more thrusts, you cry out in bliss and release all over his fingers. You pant heavily as you quickly try to recover, knowing that there was more to come. 

As you try to recover, Johnny finally removes his pants and boxers, allowing his cock to spring forward. You look down and your eyes widen at the sight of his erection. Holy shit, he’s huge. 

As you continue to stare, he reaches for the condom in the bedside table drawer he found while looking around the room earlier and rips the plastic open. 

He was able to get hard from kissing and fingering you, so he easily puts the condom onto his dick without any additional stimulation and positions his length in front of your entrance.

“Are you ready?” he asks.

Your heart was pounding, wondering if he’ll even fit inside of you. But regardless, you still nod. 

Johnny slowly enters you and you gasp at the pain and the pleasure. It felt like he was ripping you in half, even after being stretched open with three fingers.

“Shit, you’re still tight,” he hisses as he continues to enter you.

“Too big,” you whimper as your nails dig into the mattress. 

“I’ll go slow.” He kisses your forehead to distract you from the pain and continues to slowly enter you, just as promised. Once he is fully inside you, he waits patiently for you to adjust to his size. “Let me know when I can move.”

After adjusting to his size, you tell Johnny that he can move. 

He begins his thrusts slow just in case it was still too much for you. He was so gentle with you as if you were going to break. You were still slightly overstimulated from being fingered earlier, but you didn’t care and allowed Johnny to thrust inside you. 

"Faster,” you plead and he does as you request. You moan his name, along with a string of curses, as he begins to pick up the pace. 

The room was filled with nothing but the sounds of loud panting, skin slapping against skin, and the bed creaking as Johnny pounds into you. Hopefully, the hotel walls are thick because the people staying in the rooms next door or even passing by would surely be able to hear everything.

It didn’t take long for your second orgasm to approach again and he could feel it too as your walls clench around his length. 

“I’m going to cum again,” you announce.

“Fuck, me too. You feel so good, baby.” Johnny begins to groan and his thrusts become less accurate, signaling that he was close too.

Your toes curl and your back is arching off the bed as you come around his cock. With one last thrust, he groans and releases his seeds into the condom. 

Both of you just stay in your current positions, chest heaving as you both try to come down from your highs. After a minute, Johnny slowly pulls himself out of you and gets up from the bed to make his way to the bathroom. He removes the cum filled condom, ties it up, and tosses it into the trash can. Then, he returns to the bed and plants a kiss on your cheek before wrapping his arms around your body in a warm embrace. 

For the remainder of the time left, you and Johnny just cuddled naked under the blanket until your time with him was up. 

“What did you think of everything?” Johnny asks.

“Are you referring to the date or the sex?” You tease.

Johnny laughs, “The date, you pervert. But yes, I’d like to know how the sex was too.”

Seeing his laughing face brought a satisfied smile to your lips. “I had a really good time today. And the sex? Wow.” 

“I’m glad.” Johnny returns a smile and he brushes a stray hair of yours away from your face. “I had a good time today too.” 

There was a comforting silence before you hesitantly ask, “Do you do it with all your clients?” 

“Not all of them. We have the right to say no,” he replies. “And don’t worry, I always do it protected and get tested regularly just in case.”

A few minutes before 11pm, you both start putting your clothes back on because it was almost time for Johnny’s departure. You were quite sad the day is already over, but today has been such an eventful day. 

Even though you knew Johnny was just a male escort only meant to comfort you by spending the day with you so you wouldn't be alone during Christmas, you were going to feel empty once again. But you were still happy nonetheless. Johnny made you feel so loved, even if it was just temporary. You were so glad to have met Johnny because this will be a Christmas worth remembering for sure. 

You walk him to the door once 11pm hits. 

“Thank you for today, Johnny,” you smile up at him. 

He returns the smile back, “It was my pleasure.” 

Johnny leans down and presses a gentle kiss on your forehead. You just couldn’t get enough of his kisses. 

“Goodnight, y/n. Merry Christmas.”

“Goodnight, Johnny. Merry Christmas.”

And with that, he turns around and walks away from your hotel room and heads to the elevator. You wait until you are no longer able to see Johnny before retreating back into your room and shutting the door behind you.

A loud sigh escapes your lips as you stare at the empty hotel room as memories of your day with Johnny flooded your mind. This day didn’t turn out like you expected it to, but it was way better than what you could have hoped for. 

You were definitely going to have to thank Jaehyun later. 

The loneliness begins to settle in again, so you grab your phone from the bedside table and begin to type a text message to someone, then hit send. 

You: Can I see you again on New Years? 

[taliya-writes]

SO MANY OF THESE THINGS ARE MAKING ME SO CURIOUS! let's do 59. Interdepartmental memos, 62. AokoCOVID, and 148. RoyAssassination!!!

Okay then! Ask about more if you want, I don't mind. :D

59. Interdepartmental Memos DCMK - This one is a drabble series written entirely in email, text messages, and tweets that have to do with the goings on of people involved in law enforcement in Japan. So this would include people like Division One, Division Two, Osaka's police force, Nagano Trio, PSB, etc. It would also include the Boys, and Kaito/KID just because he hacks the system and messes with them. :)

62. AokoCOVID DCMK - This idea is very post-canon, in a setting where Kaito is a doctor in the emergency department of a hospital. It's written from Aoko's POV and describes her fear and anxiety about Kaito being on the front lines of a new global pandemic that is highly contagious with no known treatment and high mortality rates. This idea is basically a self insert of me as Aoko and my sister as Kaito.

148. RoyAssassination FMA - Immediately post-Promised Day (post-canon), Roy Mustang, a colonel in the army who was blinded in the final battle, is recuperating in a hospital when he is kidnapped and tortured as a means of drawing out Edward Elric aka The Fullmetal Alchemist (one of his subordinates) that the kidnapper specifically wanted to kill. His team manages to track him down but are unable to save him since he bleeds out right when the find him after stubbornly refusing to disclose where Ed himself is recuperating.

[cafedanslanuit]

♡   f l u f f v e m b e r   2 0 2 0   ♡ 

♡  week one  —  kageyama tobio   |   long-distance relationship

♡  summary  —   getting into a relationship with kageyama was close to impossible, that you knew. nevertheless, that didn’t stop you from developing feelings for him and eventually becoming more than friends. he was constantly training and didn’t have a lot of time to spend by your side, but once kageyama found himself remembering your laugh on his way home, he decided to do whatever it took to make the relationship work.

♡  playlist

the moon song   -   beabadoobee & oscar lang home   -   bruno major blueberry eyes   -   max & suga

♡  masterlist  ♡

Every morning, Kageyama wakes up at the same hour. He puts on his running shoes, grabs his phone, keys and earphones and hits the streets. It’s been his routine since he started playing volleyball. While he ran, Kageyama preferred to keep his mind focused in his steps, the weight he was putting on his heels and toes, his heart rhythm and his mind replaying the sets he had done the day before. He didn’t see running as something he did before he trained, but as part of the training itself. Kageyama was very adamant against listening to music or a podcast during his morning runs. 

Everything changed after he met you.

Kageyama puts on his earphones and goes through his mail inbox. Like most days, he sees your name on his most recent unopened email. He downloads the audio attachment and presses play before shoving his phone back to his pocket.

“Good morning Tobio!”

His lip twitches upward.

“So, you must be sleeping right now. Which sucks! Because I just got home from work. Yes, I got safe, don’t worry. Mika and her boyfriend dropped me at my place right now. Remember Mika, my coworker? Yeah. Hey boyfriend always picks her up when we have shifts until one in the morning and they drive me home. I’m kind of tired right now.”

Kageyama hears a long yawn on your side, followed by a thud that he imagines it’s you laying on your bed.

“Let me put on some music,” you say, and a few seconds later he listens to a tune he thinks he’s heard before. “Today’s classes were just okay. I got a grade back but it wasn’t what I expected.”

“But, what can you do?” Kageyama mouths along with your voice.

“Work was also okay. Mika and I spent most of the night talking, she had had a small fight with her boyfriend and asked me for advice. It wasn’t really a big thing, you see…”

The next few minutes, Kageyama listens to you ramble about your friend and her boyfriend, but he has to admit he is paying more attention to your voice than what you were saying. He imagines himself watching you talk and the expressions he had seen you make the first time he had seen you. The tip of your tongue sticking out between your teeth after you laughed at something you shouldn’t have laughed about, the slight pout on your lips as you talked about something you didn’t like or the attentive way your eyes fixated on him while he talked about volleyball.

“Anyway, I know you don’t really care about this,” you say. “But it’s really nice to imagine you listening to me talk during your morning runs. Is it already cold there? I hope you put something on if it is. Not trying to tell you what to do. I know you, more than anyone, take your health very seriously, but I guess I can’t help but worry,” you chuckle. You stay quiet for a moment, and Kageyama basks in the comfort your silence provides.

His mind goes back to those Sunday nights when he’s watching past games on his laptop while he’s face timing with you. You are usually taking a cup of coffee, trying to forget you’ve only slept five hours after getting home from your shift at the bar. You know he has to get to bed in a couple of hours so he can get enough rest for this Monday practice, so you treasure those small moments when the time difference and both your busy schedules let you share a moment. Kageyama’s eyes are fixated on his laptop and you take the opportunity to revise some of your lessons, most of the time finding out there was a paper due next week you had forgotten about.

Every once in a while you take a look at your phone and see Kageyama’s dark eyes glued to his laptop. You bury your nose on the Schweiden Adlers hoodie he sent you last month and even if your boyfriend’s smell has almost completely worn off, you still find comfort in wearing his clothes.

When Kageyama comes back to his house to get ready for training, your voice is no longer in his ears. You always made sure not to surpass the usual time he spends running. He takes a look at the dual clock on his phone and realizes you must be still in class, so he refrains from sending a text and hops on the shower.

The fourteen hour difference between the both of you had seemed like a wall impossible to climb. Not only that but his intense training schedule plus your uni classes and your part time job also took most of your energy and it was a rare occurrence that you could sit in front of a computer at the same time.

But the connection was something he had never experienced before. He had been invited to a foreign university overseas for a tournament. The day before it started, the team had gone to the campus to get to know the facilities, and after they were done, Kageyama had left them to buy something to drink from a vending machine. Not being able to find any, he asked for directions and took the elevator to the cafeteria, not noticing someone carrying a couple of books under their arms standing next to him.

Now it seemed almost fate to remember how the elevator malfunctioned and he had to spend the next two hours with you. After pressing the Emergency button and being told it would be a while, you introduced yourself with a smile. He wasn’t really enthusiastic about getting to know each other but it all changed after he mentioned he was there because of a volleyball tournament. Kageyama can still remember your eyes widening and the questions that followed, all centered about his true passion. A few minutes later, you were sitting on the floor of the elevator, while he explained in broken English every position in volleyball and what they were supposed to do. Even though you hadn’t played any sports seriously outside of school, the fact this guy was talented enough to get invited overseas to play had spiked your attention, and you asked question after question so you could understand more about volleyball.

“So the setter is basically the key player, right?” you had asked, while he scribbled on the notebook you had lent him so he could explain.

Kageyama tried not to smile. He really did.

After you asked him about the tournament schedule and wrote down the name of his team, you promised you would do your best to make it to the game. Kageyama had never really cared about people coming to his games to watch but, once he had won the first game as was leaving the court, his eyes unexpectedly met yours and he saw you waving at him for the bleachers with a smile. He nodded at you and as he disappeared through the gym door he thought maybe someone going to see his games wasn’t so bad.

One week later, Kageyama’s team had won the tournament, and since you had asked for his number while waiting inside the elevator, you offered to buy him something from the cafeteria after the final match. This time, he took the time to listen to you ramble about your career, and how enthusiastic you were about it. He didn’t understand most of the things you talked about, most of your words sounding foreign and new to him. But the one detail he did recognize at first glance was the way your pupils dilated while you spoke. Your hands moved faster than usual as you tried to explain, and you even used the salt shaker on the table as a prop to help you out. The glimmer in your eyes was the same nature as the burn he used to feel in his chest whenever he talked about volleyball. You promised to stay in contact and gave him a small but tight hug when it was his time to leave. He hoped you didn’t notice the pink tint on his cheeks before you went away.

Your love confession came two months after he was back in Japan, followed by the longest and hardest conversation the two of you had ever had. He explained his strict training schedule and you talked about your university increasing the hardness of the classes you took and how little time you had left. A long silence filled the room, and you realized maybe you should have kept the confession to yourself. It was never going to work. There were too many impediments so maybe it would have been better to push down whatever you felt. In the end, you two weren’t supposed to meet and--

“I’d like to try it.”

You can still remember the blush on his cheeks and furrowed eyebrows after blurting out those words. You smiled brightly at him and nodded, enthusiastically.

“I’d like to try too.”

It had been one year and six months since then. To find someone who not only understood his crazy schedule but was passionate about their own work felt surreal to Kageyama. Your plan was to finish your career in your home country and then move to Japan. You had been auditing the Japanese classes at your uni and taking a part time job to be able to support yourself as you settled in a new country. All of those changes meant less time to be able to talk with Kageyama as much as you did before. He assured you he understood, even if he would never admit out loud he missed you as well.

The situation prompted you to find other ways to feel close to him, hence why Kageyama woke up almost every day with a new audio file from you. You went from talking about your day to making him listen to music and even took the chance to practice your japanese. His English listening skills had also gotten better in the past year, all thanks to talking with you and how you would slow down your pace and repeat yourself if he ever needed to. While you recorded your audios after work, he usually recorded his after practice while he walked home from practice. Even if he was always a little worried about the length, you always made sure to send him messages about how happy you were to hear his voice while you ate your lunch or walked to your job after your classes.

Kageyama finishes his shower and comes back to his room. He gets ready in less than ten minutes in silence, knowing he doesn’t have any time to spare if he wants to get to the practice in time. Winter break is a month away, and he wants to give his best before he’s forced to step away for a couple of weeks. He has never liked holidays stepping in his routine, but he knows there was nothing he could do but endure and wait for his training to resume.

Before he leaves, Kageyama checks his phone again and opens the newest email.

Congratulations! Your flight booking is confirmed.

Okay, maybe he is looking forward to winter break after all.

[4stars-uswnt]

A Champ and a Superstar [Emily Sonnett x Reader]

requested by anon: could you do a emily sonnett where the reader is her gf and doesn’t play soccer but supports emily and meets the team for the first time :)

You make your way to the private box, guided by a couple of security guards. Taking your seat, you unbutton your black blazer, straighten out your jeans, and take off your sunglasses. You had just arrived at the SheBelieves Cup to watch the US take on Japan, but more importantly, you were there to watch your secret girlfriend, Emily Sonnett.

—————

For the past six months, you had been on tour all across the country for your first album, only seeing your girlfriend through the screen of your phone. But you had decided that in between shows, you’d stop by to watch and support her. Although you were still a small up and coming artist, your debut album had become increasingly popular in not only the states but around the world; there was even talk of a few Grammy nominees in your near future. Therefore, due to your newfound fame, the overwhelming amount of attention you’d received from the paparazzi, and the fact that you were an extremely private person, you and Emily both decided to keep your relationship under wraps for the time being, only telling your family and your manager.

—————

It was about twenty minutes before kickoff, when you receive a text from your publicist, letting you know that US Soccer and Fox Sports had found out about your presence and they wanted a quick interview. You sigh and lock your phone, knowing you won’t be able to get out of this one, as you knew your appearance would be a big deal not only because of your ‘celebrity status’ but also because you had been a huge public fan and advocate for the team.

A few moments later, a woman with a microphone and a cameramen enter your box, upon approval of your bodyguard. She explains to you the basic outline of her questions, and then signals for the camera to begin.

“Thanks, Julie. Today, we’re joined by singer and song-writer, (Y/N) (Y/L/N). How are you?”

“I’m doing good. Pretty excited to watch this match and support the team.” You respond with enthusiasm.

“Yes! I’ve seen your tweets. You’re a pretty big fan of the national team. How did that start?”

You continue to answer her questions, varying from your new album to your thoughts on the team. Meanwhile, down on the field, many of the USWNT players had noticed your interview playing on the big screen. Being big fans of you and your music, they were all surprised and freaking out that you were here watching one of their matches.

“Oh my gosh! Is that (Y/N) (Y/L/N)?” Kelley points.

“Holy crap, it is.” Ashlyn gasps, and Ali rolls her eyes at her wife’s childish behavior, even though she was a huge fan of you herself.

“Her music makes me proud to be gay.” Pinoe smirks triumphantly, proud of the fact that she had been the one to introduce your album to the team.

By now, there were murmurs amongst the team of their favorite new artist sitting in the stands.

Rose pokes Emily on the shoulder, interrupting her juggling session.

“Hey, did you see (Y/N) (Y/L/N) is here?”

Emily immediately lets the ball drop to the ground and turns to her friend, eyes wide open.

“What!?” She exclaims. “She’s here? Like in the stadium?” Why hadn’t you told her you were coming?

“Yes, dummy. Right up there.” Rose points at the big screen, where you were just ending your interview. You give the camera one last smile, before the screen returns to the regular scoreboard.

Emily scans the stadium, searching for you. As soon as she sees you in your box, she finds you’re already looking at her. The defender gives you a small smile before tilting her head sideways, silently asking you what you were doing here. You only smirk and wink at her, before she has to return to the huddle, as the game is about to start.

—————

You sit back and relax, enjoying the play of both teams, occasionally checking your phone and responding to some emails. You clap and cheer at each of the three goals from the US, finding yourself getting emotional over Christen’s goal. As the game is coming to an end, and the US has clearly won, 3-1, you see Emily waving at you, calling you to come down to the field. You beam with excitement, turning to ask your bodyguard to escort you.

On your way down, you are stopped to sign some autographs and take some pictures, as you were easily recognizable, especially after your interview. But once the final whistle blew and the celebrations began, the crowd’s attention turns elsewhere, focussing on the stage where the award ceremony was starting.

Once the trophy was lifted, the players disperse across the field, some still celebrating with confetti, some taking pictures and interacting with fans, and others greeting friends and family. Emily Sonnett was one of the latter, as she made a beeline for you. You lean down over the railing, as your girlfriend approaches.

“Hey there, champ.”

“Hey there, superstar.” Emily smirks, knowing your disdain for the title. She watches as you roll you eyes, but before you could respond, Emily decides to make a bold move. She reaches up to cup your face, bringing you in for a chaste but sweet kiss. You bring your own hands up to the blondes face, caressing her cheeks, as the two of you pull away. Leaning your forehead against hers, you let out a small giggle.

“Did we just do that?”

Emily hums. “We just came out.”

Your smile widens, finally feeling truly happy.

—————

While you and Emily were stuck in your own little world, the rest of the USWNT watched on as the defender started talking to you, their jaws dropping, as the two of you kissed.

“Worms! How does your son know (Y/N) (Y/L/N)?!” Alex turned to Kelley, who was just as baffled as everyone else.

“I—I have no clue.” The freckled woman stutters.

“Wow. Sonny has more game than we thought.” Pinoe exclaims, Ashlyn nodding along in agreement, as the team continues to watch you and Emily.

—————

Your joyful bliss comes to a halt, as you peek over your girlfriend’s shoulder and see all of the players with their eyes on you.

“Ummm… we have a little bit of an audience.” Motioning towards the group of women, disregarding the hundreds of fans in the stadium and the thousands watching on TV.

Emily turns around to face her teammates, cringing at the looks they’re giving her. She looks back at you, nodding her head towards the team.

“You wanna meet them?”

Your eyes almost pop out of their sockets, and a knot forms in your throat. “Um, what?”

“C’mon, they just saw us kiss. They’re gonna wanna meet you.” Emily explains, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

You nod in agreement, too nervous to actually speak. You had been a huge fan of this team and many of the players, like Alex Morgan, Christen Press, Megan Rapinoe, and Tobin Heath, since you were a young girl. These women were not only your idols but also some of the most important people in your girlfriend’s life, so it was no surprise that it felt as you were about to throw up your nerves.

Emily guides you down on to the field, your security not far behind, as you make your way towards the locker room. Walking down the hallway, you can hear the familiar tune of your most popular song, “Never Giving Up,” blaring from the room you are about to enter. You feel your face flush in embarrassment upon hearing your own lyrics. Your girlfriend rolls her eyes at her teammates purposeful choice of song, as she runs her hand up and down your back, trying to soothe your nerves.

“Don’t work yourself up, babe. They’re gonna love you. In fact, I’m pretty sure they’re already pretty big fans of yours.” Emily kisses your blushing cheek.

As you enter the USWNT locker room, all conversation quiets, all dancing stops, and the music pauses, as all eyes were now on you. After a moment of silence, with no one really knowing where to begin, you hear Kelley whisper into Alex’s ear.

“Holy crap. That’s (Y/N) (Y/L/N). We’re in the presence of (Y/N) (Y/L/N).” Alex gives her best friend a slap on the shoulder, effectively silencing her.

“So you’re all probably wondering how I know (Y/N).” Emily starts, addressing her teammates and even the coaching staff, who are now listening. “Ummm, so here’s the thing… it’s just…I didn’t mean to keep this from you guys… but we agreed to keep it private…so don’t be too upset—”

“We’re dating!” You burst, unable to listen to your girlfriend stumble over her words any longer. At the confirmation of their suspicions, the team is left stunned into silence once again.

Lindsey breaks the stupor first. “Wait, let me get this straight. You, Emily Sonnett, the woman who face planted after tripping over nothing the other day, are dating (Y/N) (Y/L/N), the most popular singer at the moment who is undoubtedly up for a Grammy this year?”

Emily, who had been mentally following her friend’s words and connecting the dots, nods in affirmation. “Yup.” She exclaims, beaming pridefully, as she wraps her arm around your waist, kissing your temple.

“How?” Kelley blurts out, receiving another slap from Alex.

“Hey!” Emily protests, while you let out a snicker, poking your girlfriend’s side.

“Wait!” Ashlyn interrupts, and she narrows her eyes at you. “Even though we are big fans of you, and always have your album playing in the locker room, and we appreciate your support, and you’re part of the gayng…wait… I’m getting off track.” She shakes her head. “What are your intentions with our dear Sonny?” The other women, also curious, turn to you, awaiting your answer.

“Uhhhh… well I… ummm.” You struggle to form a sentence, as the gaze of the twenty-two women, many of whom you look up to, crumbles your confidence. It isn’t until you feel your girlfriend squeeze your waist and give you an encouraging smile that you find the appropriate words.

“I love her.” You state honestly, ignoring the look on Emily’s face, as this is the first time you’re saying those words. “Even though we’ve only been dating for a couple of months, I think I’ve known ever since our first date, despite Em almost ruining it by spilling wine on my dress.” You chuckle fondly at the memory before continuing. “She makes me laugh even when I don’t want to, and she comforts me when I’m sad. I’ve honestly never been happier than when I’m with her.” You reveal, and you take a deep breath. “So I guess my intentions are to love her, and exude the same light in her life as she shines in mine.”

Next to you, you see your girlfriend with misty eyes. She buries her face in your neck, peppering you with many kisses beneath your ear.

“I love you too.” She whispers for only you to hear, as she pulls away to gauge her teammates reaction, hoping for their approval.

“Well no wonder she’s a singer and song writer. That was freaking beautiful.” Ashlyn calls out.

“Yeah. No kidding.” Kelley huffs out, wiping her eyes of what you can’t tell to be real or fake tears.

Megan approaches the front of the room, now standing in front of you. “Thank god you’re a good one, kid. We liked you before, but now we absolutely love you. Some more than others.” She smirks at your girlfriend, before she boasts pridefully, “Y’know I was the one who introduced the team to your album.”

You tuck your head, almost not believing that Megan Rapinoe actually enjoys your music. “Thanks.”

“Well, now that your dating Sonny here, you’re officially part of the fam.” She looks back at her teammates for confirmation. “Right guys?!”

You hear a collection of ‘yes!’, ‘duh!’, ‘hell yeah!’, and ‘of course!’ come from the group of women.

You can’t help but beam at the thought of being accepted by the team.

“Thank you.” You whisper, snuggling further into Emily’s chest.

Looking down at you, she sweeps the hair out of your face. “For what?”

“Loving me.”

She softly grins, placing a kiss on the top of your head. “There’s nothing else I’d rather do.”

[ot3tropetober]

Eliot and Hardison are travel journalists for rival publications who keep showing up in the same places 

Fic for this (~3500 words) is below the read more! Some notes: 

[backstory on why Hardison is writing these comes from this post]

[Eliot, Parker, and Hardison are all commenting on this document, think of it like the chat in Google drive? In-document comments from Eliot are italicized, from Hardison are in bold, and from Parker are plain text] 

By the time Will Coffey stepped off the plane in Dallas, all he wanted was a nice long shower and to sleep in his own bed for once. Being a travel journalist for a leading travel magazine had its perks– a month-long trip across Mexico, for example, all expenses paid or at least reimbursed – but after a month on the road he was dead tired and ready to be home. 

Is this supposed to be me? Why am I living in Dallas? 

Yes, and also, you don’t actually live in Dallas, Eliot, you live here, in Portland, with us. 

I know that, I just– you know what, never mind. 

Well, Will Coffey likes Dallas. 

I am Will Coffey!! 

That’s the spirit. 

The other thing about being on the road for a living was that sometimes it felt kinda lonely, and as relieved as he was to be home, the first couple of minutes after he walked in, turned on the lights, and looked around at an empty place, that was always a little bittersweet. But the only other person he’d really seen in any kind of serious capacity the whole time he’d had this gig was a fellow traveler who spent just as much time on the road as he did, so it just kinda was what it was. He set his keys and his bag down and headed to the kitchen for a beer, but he hadn’t even opened his fridge when his phone buzzed a couple times. It was a text from Sarah, his editor. He’d known her forever– they shared a couple classes in college. Now they shared the stress of managing a print publication in an increasingly digital world. 

“Did you see this?” she had written. There was a link in the next message. “How does this guy get this stuff up so fast?“ 

Will already knew what he was gonna find before he clicked the link, and sure enough, it directed him to a popular travel blog called The Travel Geek, which was a ridiculous name for a travel blog but people absolutely went wild for it. Will liked it too, not that he would ever really admit it, but that probably had more to do with the guy who ran it than anything else. They had…not a thing, exactly? It was hard to explain whatever was going on with Jeremy Edwards, who by rights Will should probably hate for stealing his stories and his audience. But the problem with that was mainly that the guy was so goddamn likeable. 

I’m guessing that’s you. 

You would be correct. 

You think I think you’re likeable? 

No, I know it. 

he is pretty likeable

Yeah, yeah. 

Will had met Jeremy a couple of years ago, right when he was just starting out with his blog. Jeremy said he’d been reading Will’s stuff for a while and would love some advice from a pro. It wasn’t like Will didn’t know it was a little bit of flattery, and it wasn’t like he didn’t know it was a little bit of flirting, either. It also wasn’t like Jeremy was bad to look at. So Will said sure, he’d be glad to, and they were in Belgium, so they shared some beers, ate fries from a baraque at one in the morning on a park bench, shoulders pressed together, while Will tipsily rhapsodized about gaufre de Liège while Jeremy laughed and laughed. 

I have never *rhapsodized* about anything in my damn life. 

Have you heard you talk about food? This is not a criticism. I could listen to that all day. 

Nothing really happened, in the end, just a good conversation and the promise to keep in touch. That turned out to be easier than it should have been, because they started covering the same damn things, all the time. One big world, and somehow they were always sharing part of it: Will was in India on a camel safari through the Thar Desert, and Jeremy was there, keeping Will up at night tappity tapping on his keyboard. Or Will was in Oatman, Arizona, for a piece on Route 66, and there was Jeremy, taking selfies with the wild burros roaming the streets of the town. Or Will was traveling around Japan, doing a feature on onsens, and Jeremy was there, too, acting like he wasn’t looking in Will’s direction while they sat, very naked, in the soothing hot water. It went on like that for a while until finally one night in Barcelona, in front of Sagrada Familia, he looked at Jeremy, tall and handsome in this absurd brightly patterned scarf, and said, “This is ridiculous, man,” and pulled him in for a long, lingering kiss. 

Do you honestly think it would have taken me that long? 

I don’t know, baby, it took your cowboy ass five years in real time, so Will’s doing a lot better than you. 

OoooooooOooo 

We had a lot goin on!!! And what is that supposed to be, parker? are you some kind of ghost? 

it made more sense in person 

I’ll take your word for it. 

It wasn’t a relationship, exactly. It was just something they did, sometimes, if they happened to run into each other on the road. It wasn’t like he was getting invited home for the holidays, or anything, and he was fine with that, really. The long and short of it was, they’d basically been circling each other for years now, professionally, personally, whatever, but the professional stuff was definitely getting in the way of anything else. Because Will would sit down and write out his long, detailed articles with carefully selected photographs that would look just right on the page, while Jeremy had already turned out quick blog entry after quick blog entry, listing off places people should visit with witty little one sentence summaries, and people just ate it right up with a spoon while Adventure., Will’s magazine, slowly saw its sales circling the drain. It stung a little. Maybe more than a little. It wasn’t like he could say the guy wasn’t working hard, but damn. Hell, the best selling issue they’d had in a couple years was the one where Sarah had masterminded a collaboration between Will and Jeremy. Blogging was definitely here to stay. 

That night in Belgium was five years ago, and at the time it seemed impossible that the internet would ever really fully overtake print. But bloggers and phones had both gotten smarter over the last five years, and now everyone wanted their news in little chunks that they could read on a screen during their commute, so travel blogs were the hot new thing. Will grimaced as he looked at the blog entries Jeremy already had up from Mexico, where they’d run into each other at least half a dozen times. 

Five Reasons You Need to Visit Mexico City Right Now; What You’re Missing Because You’re Not in Monterrey; Everything You Wanted to Know About Agave But Were Too Afraid to Ask 

“You gotta be kidding me with this,” he muttered, staring at his phone and thinking about the half-written article he had saved on his laptop detailing the history of agave and how to experience Jalisco as more than just the birthplace of tequila. 

He pulled up Sarah’s number and dialed. 

“I don’t know how we can compete with this,” he sighed, when she picked up. 

“We’re going to have to adapt,” she said. “You know that. I can hear you making a face." 

"I don’t want to blog,” he complained. “I like print." 

"I know,” she sighed. “I’m working on it. Anyway, I’m glad you called, I was going to call you. I need you to go to Italy. Flight leaves tomorrow." 

"No way. Not interested,” he told her. “I just got back to my apartment, Sarah, I’ve been in Mexico for a month. I’m beat." 

"It’s not my fault that you spend half your time on extracurricular activities,” she teased. 

“You can just say sex,” he said. “I won’t be offended. And it’s not half my time. Like, maybe twenty-five percent. Anyway, I get the job done." 

"Yeah, and you’re very good at it, which is why I need you to go to Italy,” she said. 

“I’m not saying yes,” he told her, “and I’m not interested. But what’s in Italy that’s so important for me to get to?" 

"You’ll love this one,” Sarah promised. “It’s a food festival." 

Okay, maybe he was a little interested. "Oh?”

“Yeah,” she said. His phone buzzed in his ear. “I just emailed you the details. Including your flight info." 

"Dammit, Sarah–" 

"Oops, emergency, the printer’s on fire, gotta go!” she chirped, and the line disconnected. 

Yeah okay that’s Parker huh

Yep!

I do know y'all a little bit. 

“Dammit,” Will said again, and opened Sarah’s email to read up on his next destination. 

+ 

The food festival turned out to be a week long international celebration of local food from around the world. It only happened once every few years in October, when a world of people descended on the city of Torino, and more specifically the park by the River Po, where they set up tents and stands and served pretty much every kind of food you could imagine, and Will loved food and could imagine a lot, so that was saying something. It was pretty cool, seeing all these people from all over the planet showing off food that was important to them, sharing it with strangers. It really was the whole planet, too, the way the park was set up you could walk through a continent at a time, with all the countries on it represented at their own space. He figured he’d pay his respects to the hosts first and start with Italy, which was definitely the largest section. Halfway through the displays he found a stall with some folks from Campania selling fresh mozzarella di bufala the size of his fist for a Euro. It was speared on a stick like a candy apple so he could walk around with it, nibbling on the sweet cheese as he checked out the festival’s other offerings. Aged cheeses covered in mud and straw from a little town in France. A swanky tent with wood plank floors where the Filipino agriculture offices had a set up with big displays dedicated to traditional food and heirloom crops. Six different kinds of wild rice were layered in a glass display bottle in the booth dedicated to Indigenous agriculture in North America. There were folks from the Yucatan peninsula displaying cured meats and wild honey. There was a whole series of displays about preserving, protecting, and raising Maasai red sheep, from Kenya. The whole event was really impressive, actually, and even though his body had no idea what time zone he was in, he didn’t feel too tired– although that might have been more because he’d been downing every cup of coffee from anyone selling it. 

Okay, this actually sounds pretty cool. But now you gotta fake a whole food festival like this if we ever use these aliases. 

I don’t have to. That’s a real thing. Happens every couple of years. I was gonna ask if you wanted to go to the next one. Parker can probably find us a job after, anyway. 

I’d love– like that. 

Hardison. HARDISON.

Why isn’t this deleting the things I tell it to delete??? 

Ooh, forgot to tell y'all, this chat records your keystrokes? You know. Just in case you happen to type something sappy about how much you love me, and then delete it before you send it in the chat. Pretty much exactly what just happened. 

Dammit Hardison I’m gonna delete YOU

Baby, that doesn’t even make any sense. 

im w hardison on this 1. it’s ok if u love things eliot. especially food . or us 

Just let me finish reading Hardison’s make believe story so I can get back to dinner prep, ok? 

(he loves us) 

I know :) 

Will strolled around the park, snapping photos here and there, jotting down notes. He talked to folks from all over who came here to run their country’s booths, locals who had come out to enjoy the day, and people who had traveled long distances to be there. After a couple of hours and a really good lunch, he found an unoccupied bench near the river and posted up there for a while, notebook open next to him as he flipped through photos on his phone, the story he could tell about this event already starting to take shape in his head, and he had to admit, at least to himself, that Sarah had been right about this one. Nobody else on their staff knew food enough to get this right. But even though he had a good idea where to start, he couldn’t help feeling a little overwhelmed, too. You could spend two weeks here and still not talk to everybody, and it seemed important to try, somehow. 

“Well, well, well,” said a voice, and Will looked up from his phone and his notes to see the tall form of none other than Jeremy Edwards. 

“Dammit, Edwards,” Will swore. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. Again?" 

Yeah it’s pretty much EXACTLY like that every time

Mmmhmm. You talk a big game, man, but no one here believes you. 

What he said ur like that stuff u put on the dessert u made 4 us last wk

Stuff on dessert– the Italian meringue? You really comparing me to Italian meringue?! 

Is that the stuff that was kinda hard and crunchy on the outside but actually really soft and sweet inside? 

Yep that’s the stuff

This is the worst conversation we’ve ever had. 

It’s weird how I can hear you smiling right now, though.

Shut up, Hardison, I’m reading.  

Got him! XD 

"Looks like it,” Jeremy said. He took a seat next to Will on the bench, despite the fact that Will had absolutely not fucking offered it to him. He grinned. Will looked back at his notes before he smiled back. “We’ve really gotta stop meeting like this." 

"Yeah, well, trust me, I’m working on it,” Will grumbled, and risked a look at Jeremy again. Still handsome, and still smiling, unfortunately. He thought about the blog a little and made himself frown. “So, you’re here to blog about this, huh? How many blog posts have you done already?" 

"None so far,” Jeremy said, scratching his chin, “but I am working on one right now. Tentative title, How to Tell The Guy You’re Casually Seeing And Have Been Chasing All Over the Globe That His Boss Sent Me Here To Work With Him." 

Well, there was a lot of information there, but Will decided maybe sticking with the professional stuff was better for now. "I’m sorry, you’re here for what?" 

Jeremy shrugged. "Sarah really liked that collaboration thing she got us to do last year, I guess, wanted to try it again for this. I said yes. It’s good for your magazine and it gives my blog some credibility with all you snooty print folks." 

"We’re not snooty,” Will said, although that wasn’t exactly true. Maybe they were, a little. He unlocked his phone and saw the email from Sarah, the subject line of which read: “DON’T ARGUE IT WILL BE GOOD FOR YOU/US/THE MAGAZINE.” He sighed and looked back at Jeremy. “I can’t believe she sent you to a food thing." 

"I’m offended,” Jeremy said, although it didn’t much sound like it. “I know food." 

"Oh really? So last year when we were in Beijing and you were looking for a McDonald’s that was just you knowing food, huh,” Will drawled.

“Sometimes you just really want a Happy Meal,” Jeremy joked, and Will just shook his head.

“I guess we should figure out what we’re doing, then,” he said, and Jeremy raised his eyebrows. 

“About the story,” he said, “right?" 

"Yeah, about the story,” Will grumbled. 

“Whatever you say,” Jeremy said affably, just like always. 

+

It was actually pretty easy to figure out how to cover the festival now that he had a partner in crime. They worked out a plan that afternoon, sketched out a couple of pieces, a collab for Adventure., a short guest piece for Will on The Travel Geek, and a short story in the magazine for Jeremy. Sarah signed off on everything from afar– “What time is it where she is? Does that woman ever sleep?” Jeremy asked, as they both got email after email. “I don’t think she does, man,” Will laughed– and they got to work pretty quick. There was plenty to do and they were both here for a few days, so they wandered through the park as they worked, stopping occasionally to sample food or take photos.  Eventually they walked all the way out of the park and into the city, up to a big plaza, Piazza Castello, in the center of the historic part of town. They got gelato from one of the many carts set up nearby for the festival, and sat outside, eating and talking as the sun set. 

It was nice. It was always nice, when they ran into each other. That wasn’t the problem. But they’d been stuck in the same routine for years now: they’d find themselves in the same place, Jeremy would laugh, Will would pretend he was annoyed, and then they’d spend a good chunk of their time together enjoying each other’s company in as many ways as they could find, and then they’d head to the airport and go their separate ways. And that was that. This shouldn’t be any different, but somehow it was. Maybe it was the sunset lighting up Jeremy’s skin, or maybe he’d just been lonely too long, but maybe they needed to figure out what they were doing with more than just the stories they were here to tell. 

“You wanna get dinner?” Will said, before he could talk himself out of it. 

“Yeah,” Jeremy said, smiling again, and this time Will let himself smile back. Just a little.  

They asked around for recommendations and ended up at a little restaurant in the city, a few blocks from the Piazza. They split a bottle of wine, a margherita pizza, and some perfectly fried fish, and they didn’t really talk about work at all. 

“You know,” Jeremy said, about halfway through the wine, “not for nothing, but I’ve gotta say, this looks and feels a lot like a date." 

"I wasn’t under the impression that you’d be opposed to that,” Will said.

“Oh, I’m not opposed,” Jeremy told him, “I’m just a little surprised you’re asking. I figured at this point it was gonna have to be me who said something." 

Will eyed him carefully, thought back to a lot of nights on a lot of trips. "How long exactly have you been waiting around?" 

"I mean, don’t get the wrong idea, here, I haven’t been pining away for you like some Victorian in a bad novel,” Jeremy said, and Will snorted. “But yeah. I played a long game, man. I gotta say, though, after that fishing boat incident in Guyana I really thought you figured out we had a thing." 

"Yeah, well, I didn’t have time to notice, I was too busy taking pictures of you hiding behind that skinny British guy when that big old fish jumped out of the water,” Will snickered. 

“Big old– that thing was two-hundred and thirty-four pounds of ichthyological torpedo headed straight for yours truly,” Jeremy said, and Will chuckled. “Big doesn’t really describe it.”

“Hmm. It was kinda wild he thought we were gonna get in the water with it,” Will mused.  He winked. “Glad you finally remembered you owed me dinner for keeping him from pushing us into the river." 

"Ha. You know Sarah wants us to work with that guy again, right?" 

"Aw, hell,” Will said. “Really?" 

"Yeah,” Jeremy confirmed. “She said she was gonna talk to you about it when we got back from this. Canada this time, so when Mister Fisherman tries to throw me in the water at least the hypothermia will probably get me before the monster fish does." 

"Nah,” Will said. “Don’t worry about that. Nobody throws you off a fishing boat. Except maybe me. No. Well. Maybe. No,” he concluded. 

Hah. I mean, okay, that does sound like me. 

Oh, I am aware, trust me. 

“Sarah maybe also mentioned we might do a few more of these little…collaborative things,” Jeremy said, drawing invisible circles on the table. “Maybe even in a more formal capacity." 

Will raised his eyebrows. "No way she talked you into giving up the blog." 

"Oh, definitely not,” Jeremy said. “But funnily enough, people keep sending me emails about wanting a print version of some of my photographs? But I don’t really have the publishing connections. A magazine, though…” he shrugged. “Me and Sarah figured we might come to some kind of mutually beneficial arrangement, somehow. Might be seeing more of you, is what I’m trying to say." 

"Can’t say I mind that,” Will said, and reached out across the table to cover Jeremy’s hand with his. 

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Jeremy answered, and this time Will didn’t try to hide his smile. 

/end 

Okay? 

Okay, what? 

Well where the hell is the rest of it? 

What rest of it? It’s clearly implied that they’re dating now. They’re dating, they’re happy, they’re gonna work together for real, happily ever after, et cetera. 

they should have at least kissed. i would be into that 

This is what I’m saying. Where’s the resolution, here? 

Baby, anytime you want a kiss, you know where to find me. 

What I want is for you to take this seriously since you’re making us read all of it. 

Wow, okay. Here: 

They walked around the city for a long time after dinner, still holding hands, and the kiss they shared later under the moonlight felt like a promise. The Actual End. 

Y'all happy? 

too sappy 4 me but idk what eliot thinks

Not your best work but it’ll do, I guess. 

Are you still in the kitchen? 

Yeah, why? 

I’m gonna come give you a demonstration of my best work, that’s why. 

Bring it on, man. 

do i get a demo too

You know it.

[omoi-no-hoka]

I read your post on how you got started in the translation industry and I was wondering if it is possible to get an entry/basic level translation gigs in Japan with N3-level proficiency or if even those want at least N2 proficiency. Also since you've been living and working in Japan for a long time, what advice would you give those wanting to work in Japan in regards to avoiding black companies?

Finding Translation Work in Japan

Hi there! Thank you for your ask. 

To be honest, “translation” is so very broad that I can’t give you a simple “yes” or “no” as an answer. My answer is “Maybe” with the following caveats. For the sake of this post, I’m going to assume that your native language is English, or that you have native-level proficiency, and you plan to do English↔Japanese translation in a Japanese workplace.

Field of Translation

This is perhaps the biggest factor. I understand that in order to translate legal or medical things, there is a particular certification that you must obtain. This requires N1/native level proficiency in both languages. I have thought of attempting to obtain the medical one, but I’m not ready for it. I would need to study a LOT of terminology in both English and Japanese.

As for other fields, I think it really depends on the company and how much they are willing to teach you on the job. Also, depending on the field, many field-specific terminology may be katakana words derived from English, meaning that while they will be new Japanese words for you, they will not be entirely new words.

But if I were to work in, say, the banking industry doing translation, I would certainly have a hard time learning all the words, especially if I didn’t already have some sort of background in banking in English.

For example, I specifically work as a translator for a company that provides services to other very big companies that you have heard of. Technically, I work for an anti-malware software company and the technical support aspect of it. When a product is updated, I will translate internal manuals and things like that. I also translate the Big Wig conversations, which are done in English since the client and our company’s HQs are in America, so that our local guys know what’s going on. I also create/translate/edit/take minutes for presentations given to Big Wigs. I also handle all IT issues in our project, because our IT ticketing system is 100% in English. ANYTHING English-related is funneled to me.

Contractually-speaking, I do not work for any other clients. But since I’m the only translator in our company in Hokkaido capable of interpretation as well, I am often asked to assist under the table. (Translation and interpretation are two entirely different beasts, btw.) 

While I don’t have a background in IT or computers or anything like that, since most of the terminology is in katakana and I’m not absolutely clueless about computers, my learning curve wasn’t too sharp. I struggled more with bullshit corporate acronyms and the formalities of Business Japanese (sonkeigo and kenjougo). 

A person holding an N2 is considered capable of Business Japanese. Even if you have extensive knowledge in the field of translation, you will have a VERY difficult time adjusting to the Japanese-language workplace if you are not good with Business Japanese. From that standpoint, I cannot recommend someone at N3 to enter a Japanese company to do translation. It will be grueling. I was N1 when I joined the company, and I still had difficulty composing emails and other workplace-related words I hadn’t come across. 

Start with Freelance Translation/Proofreading

There was a year or so where I had N1 but was still teaching English. I found freelance English-Japanese translation jobs online. Lots of them were one-shot things, like “translate this brochure about our little tiny town” or “I am a researcher who has written a paper on Persian-French relations during the 16th century, and I need someone to proofread my English.” Lol that one was pretty specific and paid very handsomely. By doing well on a job, I established a relationship with that client and I would get more work either from them or someone they knew. Prices are fixed before translation. 

The average price for translation is 3-7 yen per character (if the original text is in Japanese) or per word (if the original text is in English). The price increases depending on the complexity of the material. The brochure about the little town was 4 yen per character, but the research paper was 9 yen word (despite the fact I was only proofreading instead of translating because it was incredibly complex). 

Proofreading goes alongside translation. I didn’t really do much of that, but you can see a price range of 1-5 yen per character/word. If you are N3, proofreading is great way to get your feet wet!

NOTE: Do not take on proofreading or translation jobs for a language that is not your native language. No matter how good you think your Japanese is, it will not be good enough to proofread. Even if you have an N1, you will miss things. Even I, as a translator with almost 3 years experience in my field, always have a Japanese coworker proofread everything I translate into Japanese, and 9 times out of 10 they fix at least one thing. 

How to Avoid Black Companies

In Japan, some companies are labeled ブラック企業 “black kigyou,” which means that they violate labor laws in some heinous fashion. Denying pay, benefits, or leave, forcing employees to do grueling amounts of overtime that can lead to 過労死 karoushi (death by overwork), etc. These companies will rob you of your sanity at best and your life at worst, and are to be avoided at all costs. 

When I was searching for a position teaching English, I googled reviews of each big Eikaiwa school, like AEON or whatever else there is. Many previous teachers air their grievances on places like glassdoor.com. It was easy to learn which schools I should avoid.

Also, I applied online to many different big Eikaiwas. Three of them (sorry, I can’t remember which) immediately emailed me back and said I was hired, without an interview or anything. That should be a HUGE red flag to you right there. Why are they so desperate to hire that they’ll take you without even giving you an interview? And even if they do later say, “Your hiring is dependent upon an interview,” that means that their initial contact email was fraudulent. 

Research the company as best you can. See if you can find someone who has worked for them. Beware of smaller, private companies. They tend to fly under the radar and are prone to be even shittier. Then again, there was a woman who died of death by over work a few years ago and she worked for the biggest advertising firm in Japan.

Here’s an article from Business Insider about karoushi and black companies.

A 2016 report examining karoshi cases and their cause of death found that more than 20% of people in a survey of 10,000 Japanese workers said they worked at least 80 hours of overtime a month.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry defines the threshold for karoushi as greater than 80 hours of overtime a month. Since this article was posted in 2018, a new law regarding overtime has been implemented by the Japanese government. Now there is a legal cap on overtime of 100 hours per month (and 720/year) for busier months, with the general upper limit set at 45 hours per month (360 hours/year). 

Even if a company isn’t black, be prepared for overtime. My company makes sure that every employee adheres to the 45 hours per month limit...as best they can. If you follow this blog you know that I have done 60 and 70 hours of overtime in certain months, because I am our only translator and when shit hits the fan I’m the only one who can handle it. 

However, my company is very good about making sure that I receive all of my overtime pay. Every single minute of overtime I do is properly reimbursed. Sometimes this means that if I work 60 hours one month, I will only report 45 that month, and then report 15 extra hours the next month. Or I will take a couple days off but claim that I worked (with my bosses’ approval, of course). 

I can’t speak for other companies for sure, but I fear that when this law was introduced in 2019, many companies did not change their business models and instead forbid employees from reporting overtime that exceeded legal limits, meaning they would be going without compensation. 

So be aware that if you are going to work in a Japanese company, you are likely to have overtime. Some people don’t, and congratulations to them! But it is an extremely real possibility. Make sure that you can handle it physically and mentally, and that you are being properly compensated. After my first month of Big Overtime, my boss told me, “I’m surprised that you managed to do all that. I thought that Americans had a poor work ethic compared to Japanese people, but now I see that’s not true.”

kinda racist, but thx

If you have an interview and it goes well and you receive a contract, ask to take the contract and have time to think about it. Then, have a Japanese person you trust read the contract and make sure there is nothing shady hidden in there. Contracts and legalese are difficult enough in my own native language--I don’t trust myself to catch something in Japanese. 

If your friend thinks that the contract is fair as well, and if you feel like the company has a good atmosphere, take the job. That is what I did, and I am glad I did.

Translation and Interpretation

A lot of people don’t know the difference between “translation” and “interpretation” and use them interchangeably, but they are actually entirely different tasks that require different skills. 

Translation: the conversion of written text from one language to another.

Interpretation: the conversion of spoken word from one language to another.

You will most likely be hired as a translator, because translation is much cheaper than interpretation. However, if your company is like mine, you will have interpretation work to do as well. You may be asked to take part in meetings and facilitate communication between the English-speaking and Japanese-speaking people, or act as a guide to a client from American headquarters, for example.

With translation, you usually have the blessing of time. You can look up a word you don’t know, you can think about the grammar, you can think about tone. 

But with interpretation, you need to be:

Listening to Speaker A’s English and mentally summarizing their words

Starting to say Speaker A’s words in Japanese while holding on to the bits that will come later because English and Japanese word order is so different

Continuing to listen to added speech from Speaker A as you concurrently are relaying their previous speech in to Japanese and retaining the parts that you can’t say yet because of word order.

Then do it all for again for Speaker B’s reply, and repeat. 

Basically, your mind has to be doing three things at once. Does your head hurt? Mine does. If I have to do simultaneous interpretation like that for more than a couple hours I literally develop a headache. 

I will NEVER recommend an N3 person attempt interpretation in a business setting. Nor N2 for that matter. It is hard and you do not have the benefit of time to think and double-check things.

Also, many people don’t understand exactly how difficult it is to do interpretation. I have to sometimes just say “Sorry, pause” to the speaker because my head can’t retain any more, especially if figures and data and dates are referred to. Thankfully my coworkers have come to understand my method and are just happy that I can facilitate communication for them. 

If you have any other questions regarding job hunting, please let me know and I’d be more than happy to offer what advice I have! 💖

[hetaliashitpostingftw]

HETALIA OFFICE MASTERPOST

Lol you know The Office? Its good but what if it was like,,, H e t a l i a?

ALLIES

America: Baaaaasically Michael from The Office. He likes leading and cares about the team, but can be a little... out of hand... sometimes. Canada: He sits in the corner and no one knows he’s there, but he’s always pulling his weight in projects. China: Always calling for tech support. Always. It annoys the heck out of whomever’s sitting next to him. France: Is the one who “accidentally” sends an email around to the people at the office which has “inappropriate” content.  England: Getting up in arms because either America’s being incompetent or he’s fed up with France’s nonsense. Russia: “It’d be a shame if something were to happen, da?” (he doesn’t work well with other people, too many HR complaints).

AXIS

Germany: He isn’t the boss but he is the annoying backseat driver who isn’t even second in command. Italy: “Lets go to a ✨𝒌𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒓✨ after all this guys and someone else can pay!!!11!!” Japan: Forgets about the work and is watching anime with his screens turned away from everyone else.

BALTICS

Estonia: Guess who’s 𝓣𝓮𝓬𝓱 𝓢𝓾𝓹𝓹𝓸𝓻𝓽 👁️ 👄 👁️ Lithuania: "Okay you want me to do that? I’ll do it just dont fire me pls dont” Latvia:"Hey boss what about the fact that you’re doing it wrong?”

EASTERN EUROPE

Romania: Actually does the work but doesn’t tell anyone when he’s done so he can sneak off and do whatever Bulgaria: Microsoft paint obsessed Ukraine: Cares for everyone like the epic mom friend she is Belarus: She doesn’t work there. She’s just there. And so far no one’s had balls enough to tell her to go.

MEDITERRANEAN EUROPE

Spain: "Hey guys I know you didn’t ask but ill make you all lunch! It’s going to be pasta! For the fifteenth day in a row!” Romano: RAGEWORKRAGEWORKRAGEWORKRAGEWORK- Greece: That one person with the “hang in there bby” poster as well as countless cat photos in frames. He also does his work but he’s real quiet about it. Turkey: Likes to hang out by the water cooler and gossip. Cyprus: Best friends with Greece but works surprisingly well with Bulgaria (or, he does, after an incident of him stealing his yogurt). Vatican City: Keeps a bible with him but follows most things he’s told to do. Monaco: She’s a seceratary but only because she’s able to get out of more work that way.

NORDIC EUROPE

Denmark: Keeps a little box of “creativity legos” on his desk which he plays with. He works in Human Resources and loves it. Sweden: Takes orders for the company’s product and is very organized. Keeps a little picture of his family on his desk which he’ll talk to anyone about. Finland: Has his headphones on all the time and sCrEams at anyone who dare interrupt his work. He also coordinates all of the holidays around the office, as well as parties. Norway: He has a thing for the cute guy in HR and keeps trying to meet him “causally” over by the water cooler. Has a plasma ball on his desk because it looks cool. Iceland: His brother got him an unpaid internship (which he hates) and so he spends a lot of time complaining and texting Norway angry gifs while he goes and hangs out with others his age in the breakroom.

LOW COUNTRIES

Belgium: Brings in cookies for everyone every Monday.  Netherlands: Works with Sweden and the two of them have desks next to each other. He helps Sweden when he’s having a prank war with Denmark. Luxembourg: Some higher-up executive who comes down every once in a while to flaunt his awesome-ness and dole out orders.

CENTRAL EUROPE

Austria: Plays classical music off his computer but without earbuds b/c he doesn’t know how. He’s low-key annoying but doesn’t know it. Slovakia: Has the coolest mousepad ever. He also contributes a substantial amount to most meetings. Czechia: Set her space up to be the neatest in the office. She’s one of the more successful members. Hungary: Made a pinterest board of house ideas in her spare time which she makes Austria look at. She doesn’t really care about the work, she’s just there. Switzerland: Financials. He also calls home at 12pm every day to check in on his sister and make sure everything’s okay.  Poland: Decorated the fuck out of his cubicle. Prussia: Has a whole collection of weird-ass ties which he switches. Some say he’s never worn the same one twice!

ASIA

Hong Kong: Also interning, but he doesn’t hate it and takes it instead as an opportunity to take photos of people and make them either cursed or into memes. Macau: Is the second-in-command in the office and basically controls everything since america isn’t great at it. South Korea: Water cooler? He likes to hang out with Turkey. Thailand: Keeps a cool and ornate whiteboard which he likes to take notes on. Vietnam: “What do you mean I have to work with someone else?!?!?!” Taiwan: She works under Denmark in human resources and often has to resolve conflicts. India: Sometimes invites Vietnam to play chess with him online on their monitors.

AFRICA

Egypt: Stole some of Denmark’s legos without his knowledge so he could build too. He’s pretty bored even though he does everything. Seychelles: Sits by the window and doesn’t get her work done since she’s distracted. Cameroon: Playing pranks on Australia when he gets bored, mostly after he’s finished his work.

OCEANIA + CARIBBEAN

Australia: “OY MATE SO YA WANT TO FOIGHT??!!” (he’s on for that prank war) New Zealand: Sits next to Cyprus and sometimes falls asleep, but Cyprus thinks he’s *kinda* cute and doesn’t wake him. Other than that, he’s really good at running meetings. Cuba: Brings fancy chocolates or other things which he takes out to share with special people on special occasions. He’s pretty nonchalant but comes off as intimidating for some.

[genesisgg]

Blog Post Week 12, Due 11/11

Can individuals with a restraining order use social media? 

Restraining orders are court-issued mandates to protect people from physical abuse, harassment and/or stalking. If a restraining order is issued against you, it likely requires you to stay away from and not make contact with the protected person. Violating a restraining order could lead to serious criminal penalties, including jail time and expensive fines. Moreover having a “no contact” restraining order issued against you means that you cannot make any contact with the protected person, including in person contact, social media interactions,  phone calls, emails and text messages. 

Have you always been cautious with what you share online? 

As soon as I got my hands on a mobile device I went crazy, as early as the age of 13 with no limitations. Thanks to being granted complete liberty with the first smartphone I got to be familiarized with social media, the standards, and compliance. All of the norms found online are almost unbreakable because thousands accept and comply thanks to to the norms that are normalized. For example, on Instagram what is 100% acceptable are memes, we all enjoy them and we even make some out of our families and friends. Anyone who has access to your profile and posts have the liberty and freedom to take a screenshot of your photo and add any caption or filter upon your face/body. 

What is a VPN? 

A VPN (virtual private network) is the easiest and most effective way for people to protect their internet traffic and keep their identities private online. As you connect to a secure VPN server, your internet traffic goes through an encrypted tunnel that nobody can see into, including hackers, governments, and your internet service provider. to keep their online activity private and ensure their internet experience is free from outside interference. What is fascinating about VPNs that it changes your IP address, the unique number that identifies you and your location in the world. This new IP address will make you appear to be in the location you select when you connect it can be the UK, Germany, Canada, Japan, or virtually any country, only if the VPN service has servers at that country. 

What did the patriot act do? 

The purpose of the USA Patriot Act is to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world. The sole purpose to strengthen U.S. measures to prevent, detect and prosecute international money laundering and financing of terrorism. subject to special scrutiny foreign jurisdictions, foreign financial institutions, and classes of international transactions or types of accounts that are susceptible to criminal abuse. One that got me mesmerized was the highlight in the measures in place to prevent use of the U.S. financial system for personal gain by corrupt foreign officials and facilitate repatriation of stolen assets to the citizens of countries to whom such assets belong. This country is insanely protective of all that belongs HERE. In other words, what belongs here stays here and no other country can take credit for it. 

References: 

Parenti, C. (2004). The Soft Cage: Surveillance in America from slavery to the War on Terror. Basic Books.

Power, M. (2010, March 11). How your twitter account could land you in jail. Mother Jones. Retrieved November 11, 2021, from https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/03/police-twitter-riots-social-media-activists/.

[okayto]

Mini-Review: Prince of Stride Alternative

Stride, a competitive relay race/parkour team sport, is popular across Japan, and freshman Nana Sakurai chose her high school specifically because of its team’s great reputation. One problem: she finds the team a shell of its former self! Can Nana and fellow obsessive freshman Takeru help re-establish the team, recruit new members, and get the team to the top competition?

Sports anime! We love a good sports anime, right? Stride is fictional, a parkour relay race where runners must “relation,” or high-five within a certain distance of the next section’s beginning instead of passing a baton. This means each team requires a “relationer,” someone who coordinates and communicates with the team (using very accurate GPS and earpieces) about when to start, whether to adjust their speed, and so forth.

The idea is intriguing, honestly. I don’t know if the GPS technology is there yet, but otherwise I could see this being a viable real-life sport.

Being a short (12 episode) sports anime, it follows the typical outline: getting the team together, teamwork problems, competitions, Big Tension That The Team Must Address To Move Forward, more competitions, more teamwork problems, personal doubts, all interspersed with good-humored group gatherings, and an ending that leaves you feeling happy.

I wavered occasionally while watching, though, because the drama of other teams and most of the other teams themselves, are the series’ weak spot. (The main exception is the Designated Arch-Rival Team, who are nice.) Trash-talking obsessive caricatures who raised my hackles, not in a good way. It was just like, Oh, I see the writers can’t find any other way to characterize other teams, so we’re dealing with this again. It took away from the fun of watching Parkour Tag Racing.

Plus one of the main characters is, of course, the guy who is Way Too Serious and hardly gets called out, because being an asshole is okay if it’s In the Name of Sport. True to tradition he learns how to be less of a jerk to people by the end, but still. 

(I will admit that others may not dislike him as much as I did; he could be quite charming and a funny character when the writers were having a good day. When handled well, his inflexibility and one-track mind were hilarious.)

The drama feels uneven. There would be entire parts of episodes where I thought, meh, why should I continue? and then they would be immediately followed by narratives of teammates goofing around, puns, the perfect sports show.

Like, I know it’s going for drama, but there’s a bit where Nana discovers her father is playing a pivotal role because it’s announced at an event she’s at. And I’m supposed to be surprised about this, but mostly I was pissed because dude, seriously you couldn’t tell your daughter, whose phone you called like 10 minutes ago? Couldn’t text? Couldn’t send an email to say “Hey, let’s get lunch”? It’s a small part of the show, but it’s a lazy way to write in shock.

Okay, so why am I complaining so much about something I said I enjoyed? Because I did enjoy it. Who doesn’t love a team of generally nice, quirky people who get humorously enthusiastic about things? When the series focuses on the team together, it’s really good. The first few episodes were rougher, but when the show hits its stride (ha) it was really fun, and I genuinely enjoyed watching it overall. I ended the finale with a big smile on my face.

Verdict

English dub? Yes

Visuals: Fine, with bright colors.

Worth watching? Yes. Look, there are plot points I take issue with, because it felt like the writers put little thought into most things they inserted beyond “this will add tension for this episode.” I long to march back in time, to take this as a first draft, and have people rearrange and re-pace some things so that it’s more even.

Because: I liked it. It was, genuinely, fun. It’s a 12-episode sports anime and the nice thing about sports anime is that you can usually predict the overall way the story is going to go, and end, and that’s not a bad thing.

A very interesting fact I found out after I had finished the series: the Alternative part of the title is because this is based on an otome game (basically, the player would be Nana, and there would be routes to romance various boys). While that answered my question (which was WHAT IS THE ALTERNATIVE, ANIME? TELL ME!), it’s interesting because there’s no way I would’ve guessed by just watching. There’s no romance in the show whatsoever. Nana has a definite personality and is part of the team, but the core of her relationships (and all the other boys’ with each other) is pure friendship. Additionally, she’s not set apart more than any than fellow first-years and fellow main-ish characters Riku or Takeru, as far as story focus goes.

Where to watch (USA, as of June 2021): Funimation (sub and dub), Hulu (sub), Tubi (sub), BR/DVD

Click my “reviews” tag below or search “mini review” on my blog to find more!

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression Ep 12 - After the  increase in drinking at home, Tamabukuro Sujitaro's local Chinese restaurant tv program is hugely popular.

K: Hi, this is Dir en grey's Kaoru, starting this episode of The Freedom of Expression. Joe san, Tasai san, welcome again...Well, how's it going recently? In these trying times?

J: Recently, I've been wearing a mask.

T: Right, your mask.

K: Um, just so i don't cause trouble around me today, Im gonna wear a mask, I thought i should.

T: The distance between us too...We're social distancing.

K: Yeah, kinda.

J: There's more space than usual.

K: So, how's it been?

J: Well, I've been doing radio, but in terms of interviews..its really dried up.

T: Ahh, me too.

J: Well, basically, artists, they're in a situation where live shows aren't happening, so there is no so-called promotion going on.

K: Thats right.

J: So, rather than meeting directly to talk, they are doing interviews by email, or such. I've been spending longer at home, so I've been watching movies, and stuff.

T, K: Yeah.

J: Watching erotic movies and stuff.

K, T: *laugh*

K: Thats just normal for you though, right?

T: Its the same.

J: Well, I havn't changed in that respect.

T: Well, Joe, you've been watching movies. But my kids are also having time off..

J: Oh right.

T: Im with them all day, so i have no time to watch movies.

J: You don't watch them at all?

K: *To J* 'You don't watch them?'??

T: I can't, I don't have time. I take the kids to the park in the morning, I make them run about 5 laps, at least try to wear them out a bit *K, J laugh*

J: You make your kids run?

T: Yeah, if I wear them out, Im thinking how much earlier I can get them to bed. Then I'll have one or two hours to myself.

J: Oh right.

T: And then I'll have an evening drink or something, I do get a break doing this show though, but today I brought some news about how this kind of situation is happening in the world right now.

K: Okay, go ahead.

T: Its really typical Tokyo Sports news, but with this increase in drinking at home, a certain food tv show is very popular...a tv show specializing in local Chinese restaurants. The TV show 'Machi chuuka de yarouze' on BS - TBS has become popular.

J: Local Chinese restaurants?

T: Do you know it?

J: No no, I don't have a tv at home, so I have no idea. But I personally love local Chinese restaurants. Generally, if I go to different areas, if there is a butcher, I'll buy a pork cutlet and eat it straight away, if there is a local Chinese restaurant I'll have fried rice there...its how I test out new areas. 

T: What about you Kaoru, do you like local Chinese restaurants?

K: I love them. I also watch that show a lot. *the others laugh*

J: What type of show is it?

K: Well..they just go to these restaurants, drink beer, pick something to eat, and ???*1

J: Just that?

T: They eat stuff like fried rice, gyoza/dumplings, ??*2, and drink beer.

J: I see.

T: And its like people at home can watch it and drink beer too, its popular.

J: I see. By the way, Kaoru, when you go to local Chinese restaurants, what do you order? Your must have order?

K: Hmm, Liver and chives or..

J: Ohh yes.

T: Yeah, I like that.

J: Thats a good one.

T: How about gyouza?

K: Yeah, gyouza too.

T: And fried rice.

J: Fried rice is my...its my best way to really test out the skill of the restaurant, whether they are cooking properly...its fried rice.

K: But I always eat too much.

J: Yeah, yeah. Its best if you share it with a group*3, but if you are by yourself, and having beer, the calories stack up.

K: They do.

T: After we introduced this topic, Tokyo Sports' Twitter was abuzz with comments from all over the country saying, 'I love this too!'. It really seems like everyone loves these kinds of restaurants.

J: Ahh, really? But recently, it seems like they are starting to disappear a bit. There's this so-called 'successor problem', and especially in the city, and with the run up to the Olympics too, a lot of these places which make me say, 'Ahh, I like this', are disappearing. Its like, 'Oh, that place has gone?! I liked thier daily specials!'. To me, Japan's local chinese restaurants are..???*4

T: But also a lot of places can't open because of Corona.

K: Some are starting to do take-out outside,  right?

J: Yeh, they are.

T: Even with that, its tough for them though. I wish people would go to them *5

J: Yeahh. Don't they have those old style tables with the thin legs? With that, and a beer, and the tv..its a nice image.

T: Its like its unchanged from a long time ago.

J: It is.

K: I also like chinese noodes/soba.

J: Ah, yeah.

T: Those are good.

K: I feel like drinking beer now.

J: Should we do a Freedom of Expression special while having a drink sometime?

K: We should.

T: That would be good.

J: Lets do it sometime.

K: It should be fine. Drinking on air is not banned, right?

J: No, its fine.

T: What do you drink Kaoru? Gari..

K: Gari chuhai (Chuhai with pickled ginger)

J: Gari chuhai?

T: I wanna drink that.

K: Should we do it?

J: Lets do it! Yeah, lets. Everyone's doing online drinking parties now, right?

T: That sounds good.

K: Oh, they are, yeah.

T: There are like zoom drinking parties, using that app.

K: Wouldn't that be interesting?

T: I wonder.

K: There are a lot of people saying its fun, right? Cause they can't really talk properly otherwise.

J: Ahh, probably. There are a lot of days when I don't talk at all, except for if the supermarket staff asks me if I want a bag, and I say , 'No thank you'. Then I think, 'Ah, the only thing I said today was "No thank you"!'. There are days like that aren't there?

K: There are.

J: There are, aren't there?! Kaoru, you must have days when you are working, where you don't speak at all?

K: Yeah, I don't talk at all. I communicate with the members but its all by text..like on Skype's  chatroom or something. I don't use my voice at all.

J: Really?

K: The only voice is from the track im listening to.

J: Don't you ever have the desire to talk?

K: Hmm, you can be more matter-of-fact with text rather than speaking.

J: Well, yes.

K: When you speak..for example, it can sound as if you're speaking with emotion, can't it?

J: Yeah, you attach an intonation to it.

K: Like, 'Hmm, its a bit...' or, 'Yeah, its good...'...Somehow communicating on Line is more...like 'He should talk first', or..

J: I see.

K: If you hear thier voice, you think, 'Oh, he likes it', or 'He hates it'...you attach extra meanings..

J, T: I see.

K: So to avoid that, reading text is better.

J: So generally, the members always communicate by text?

K: Yes. Always like this, using chat.

T: When do you speak then?

K: We don't speak. *the others laugh*

J: You're a band who never speaks.

K: We don't. In our dressing rooms and such, we really don't talk. *others laughing* Really.

J: So when you are on tour, you don't talk about stuff with the members?

K: Really, with our drummer, these past twenty or so years, the amount I've talked with him woudn't fill a day. *others laugh*

J: If you compressed it all together, right? Only about 24 hours?

K: Yeah, yeah.

J: Thats amazing.

T: The Dir en grey members should all go out to a chinese restaurant together.

K: That sounds good.

T: What kind of scene would that be?!

J: I wanna see that!

T: Me too!

J: We need a members' chinese restaurant drinking party someday.

T: That would be great.

J: Tokyo Sports could cover it.

T: Really?

J: An exclusive.

T: Yeah, an exclusive.

J: Wouldn't it be?

K: Well, we've no idea what will happen.

J: True.

K: But there's a possibility.

T: For sure.

J: Well, its an option.

Kami: Um..

J: Oh, its Kami!

Kami: Theres a great little chinese restaurant in Roppongi.

J: Eh? Do you know Roppongi well, Kami?

Kami: Yeah, I do.

J: Whats the place, can you say the name?

Kami: The name...what was it again, I forgot.

J: You forgot?

K: *laughs*

J: He comes in with this, and forgets?

Kami: Um, what makes it great is that its really quick.

J, K: Ahh.

K: Chinese food is good if it comes quickly.

T: Yeah, for sure.

Kami: Its really quick.

T: How quick?

Kami: I timed it.

T: You timed it?!

Kami: The food came out in two mins.

J: What did you order?

Kami: Liver and chives came out in two mins.

J, T: Two mins!

K: Thats quick!

J: It might have been something they had already made in advance?

Kami: No, it was hot, it was really delicious.

J: How much was it?

Kami: The price was cheap too.

T: By the way, what do you like to drink with chinese food?

Kami: Alcohol? Beer.

J: Of course, with chinese food, its beer, right?

Kami: I like gyouza with beer.

T: Gyoyza with beer.

K: Ahh

J: The most basic of basics.

T: So, in this tv show, there's this guy called Tamabukuro. He has a saying that the size of a  large beer, 633mls, should be compulsory education for adults.

J: I see. Well, everyone, please..chinese food..

K: If there's anyone who wants us to go to thier restaurant...

J: Oh, yes! Lets make an appeal!

T: Lets do it! It will be fun.

J: Well, if there's anyone interested, please contact us here *points to bottom of screen*

To any restaurant owners out there.

K: Yes, please....Well, for now..

J: Oh, we're finishing?

K: Shall we finish here?

J: Yeah, cause we're wearing masks, keeping my glasses free of fog is..

K: They are fogging up a bit.

J: They do. Why don't you guys' glasses fog up? Do you use anti-fog?

K: You have to put your mask up, and your glasses on top of it.

J: Oh, is that it? *adjusts glasses*  Like this? Don't I look stupid like this?

K: Well...

J: Is this ok? If I put the mask up..

K: Yeah, thats too far up. *laughs*

J: We don't wear a mask a home though, right?

K, T: No, we don't.

J: Im not that used to it.

K: Oh, indoors?

J: Yeah, indoors. I've learnt how to do my mask now...from next time.

K: Ok, please watch again next time, and please subscribe.

J, T: Please.

K: Thank you very much.

*1,2,4 Couldn't catch these bits.

*3,5 I think thats what is being meant.

[rexcoatlarchive]

Come back to me

A very interesting idea I had, inspired by a horror game somewhat.

After the lostbelts were over with Mash went on to live a mostly normal life in Japan with her other senpais. She had lost her servant powers but was still a relatively skilled fighter. She kept contact with her oldest senpai Rex too. But recently for some reason no one had been able to contact him. No phone calls or texts or emails or anything.

Eventually Mash did receive a text, it was from his number but she could tell it wasn't his words.

Text: help your senpai... come to Mexico. Please. Come alone

Mash knew something was wrong so she decided to go see what happened.

When she arrived at Rex and Quetz's home , during a storm, it was a wreck. Windows shattered, roof partially missing. Something went wrong.

Mash, busting open the door: senpai! Are you in here?!

She didn't hear anything.

Mash: where are you? Senpai!

Eventually a voice was heard from another room

???: Mash?! What are you doing here?

Mash: senpai, I got a message from your phone.

Rex: what?! How the hell?

Eventually Rex came out to meet Mash. He was a wreck. His clothes torn, his face had a long unkempt beard. He looked like he gone crazy

Mash: senpai? What happened to you?

Rex: ...I lost her

Mash: Quetzalcoatl? What happened? How?

Rex: I-I rather not talk about it. I've been trying to get her back for so long now.

Mash: ...how? Without Chaldea or a grail you can't summon a servant so easily.

Rex: ...come with me, I'll show you.

They went upstairs to the attic, passing by a broken door. What Mash saw was a horrid sight. Skeletons all over the place. Pictures of the couple all over, tho most were damaged. And in the center was a bloody magic circle with an altar nearby and Rex's catalyst. Along with the dress Quetz wore on their wedding day.

Mash: ...senpai... what have you been doing?

Mash was horrified by what she saw. What happened to her senpai? Did losing the love of his life damage him so much? Could this also have come from the stress of having to protect the world from before?

Rex: I NEED her Mash. There's been foolish mages snooping about lately. No doubt because the bounded field went down after I lost her.

The former master talked like he was deranged but also in a very sad manner aswell. It was clear he had gone off the deep end.

Rex: mages are a very good source of mana. So I've been using them to slowly collect enough to get her back again.

Mash: senpai this isn't right! You can't do this just because she's gone. I'm sorry for your loss but you can't go around d killing people.

Rex: I don't care! I NEED her! She was my everything! My entire world! Now she's gone!

Rex: ...you know. I even contemplated ending me myself to maybe get back to her. The only reason I don't is because it would break her heart.

Mash: senpai what you're doing now would break her heart! You really think she wants to see you in this state?

Rex got a funny look in his eye, as if he just realized something. Something he shouldn't have.

Rex: ...y'know. You must have a decent amount of mana yourself.

Mash: ...what are you saying?

Rex: you were made to hold a servant, you had one in you for the longest time. You even became your own servant essentially later on. I'm sure the amount of mana you hold would be more then enough to finally help get her back.

Mash: senpai! Stop! You don't know what you're saying

Rex: I know exactly what I'm saying. Won't you help your sen-

But before he could finish, Mash knocked him down with the broken door from earlier. He was unconscious.

Mash: I'm sorry senpai. But you're not thinking straight.

Then out of nowhere she heard a sound from her phone

Mash: huh? *looking at her phone*

???: hello? Is this working?

Mash: BB?

BB: hello Mash. Long time no see.

Mash: what are you doing in my phone?

BB: I put myself in from Senpai's devices.

Mash: huh? You were with him?

BB: kind of, after everything ended I decided to follow him. Make his life easier while still being able to bully him a bit. He never knew it was me tho. I just pretended to be Siri or Alexa or whatever.

Mash: so you essentially reincared but as a simple ai?

BB: basically. But now I need your help to help our senpai.

Mash: did you send me that message?

BB: yup. It took forever since most devices have been damaged by lightning. For some reason it's been storming way more often lately.

Mash: what do you want me to do?

BB: first off, you need to put senpai away for the time being. He'll only make things more difficult.

After Mash tied him up she locked him into his room.

Mash: now what's the plan?

BB: what he intended to do but in a not so bloody fashion.

Mash: how exactly?

BB: I actually had something we could use hidden a bit away from the house.

Mash: really?!

BB: yeah, but thanks to same damage I couldn't tell senpai. And even now, he's so far gone I don't know how helpful he'll be to himself.

Mash: what do you have that can help?

BB: the last grail from our time at Chaldea.

Mash: seriously?! How the hell?

BB: it pays to think things ahead. I intended to use it to help get back to the mooncell when Senpai passed but this is an emergency.

Mash: what about when that does happen?

BB: we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Mash; why help anyways?

BB: silly Mash, the same reason you're helping. I care about Senpai. I just show it differently. But now's not the time for these things.

Eventually Mash was outside digging up the hidden grail. It was locked in a box with a code.

Mash: it's locked.

BB: to keep it safe from mages. If they got their hands on it who know what would happen.

Mash: what's the code?

BB: 1231

Mash, trying it out: got it! There's the grail.

BB: great! Now to get back to the circle

Then the earth shakes

Mash: what the hell?

???: MASH!!!!

Mash: senpai?!

Rex?: get back here! I still need your mana!

BB: oh no! I didn't think he'd go that far.

Mash: what do you mean?

BB: senpai never fully got rid of his pseudo-servant powers. He and Quetz just locked them away. But he unlocked them again ever since he lost her.

Mash: really?!

BB: yeah, it's how he's been killing the magi in the first place

Cipatli Rex: MASH!!!

Mash: we gotta get back before he finds us

BB: cut through the forest. It's thick enough he might not see you so easily.

Mash: ok!

Mash ran through the nearby forest in an attempt to get to the house without getting caught by the monster that was her senpai.

Cipatli Rex: get over here! Why won't you help me!?

Mash eventually made it to the house, it seemed the storm was raging even more all of a sudden.

Finally she made it to the attic, tho it seemed Rex figured out where she was.

Cipatli Rex: I'll get her back! No matter who I have to sacrifice!

BB: hurry! Start the ritual before he gets here!

Mash: on it!

Mash was ready to start the ritual, only for some bad luck to appear. Lightning struck and ended up destroying the catalyst and starting a small fire.

Mash: NO! The catalyst!

As she says this she stomps out the flames.

BB: now how do we summon her?!

Mash: there's still a chance she could come!

BB: but we could end up with someone else! Maybe even someone who would make things worse. We need another catalyst!

Mash: wait a minute! The wedding dress!

BB: oh yeah! That'll do it!

Mash: this probably has even stronger attachment to her then the feathe ever did.

Mash placed the dress at the center of the circle. Starting up the ritual. As the circle starts up Rex finally busts in

Cipatli Rex: there we are!! Wait, you started it up! How?

Mash: that's not important right now!

The summoning ritual starts up, the pillar of light forming, showing the rider class card.

Rex reverted back to his normal self. With the hope of finally seeing his wife again

The light subsided and there she was.

Quetz: mi amor? What happened to you?

Rex broke down, hugging her the tightest he possibly could.

Rex: you're here! You're finally here! It's been so painful without you!

Quetz: it's ok, everything's going to be ok.

Eventually, Rex was taken to therapy. His mental state was still shattered and he needed time to recover. But with Quetz back, he could start the path to recovery.

Rex: ...I did terrible things. I felt empty without her. I was so desperate to be with her again, no sacrifice was too much.

Kiara: hmmm, it seems that maybe losing her was the breaking point after having to endure the trauma you faced while saving the world.

Rex: you think so?

Kiara: she had always been your biggest comfort, so her loss must've been too much and without help you snapped. But don't worry, we'll work to get you in a better place.

A/N: so like I said at the beginning this was inspired partly by a horror game. This story is a kind of what if scenario, this isn't canon with the main events of the RexCoatl timelines. But it was still very interesting to explore.

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